The City of the Gods (2)
“Not yet. It’s right that we should inform them, but we should make the announcement only after Britain can also connect to the New World.”
President John Graham Hunt, the 52nd President of the United States, was cautious. He also knew exactly what the problem was.
“By the way, how did this New World Project get leaked in the first place?”
“Well, there was an information theft incident at the Pentagon a few months ago. It seems the information leaked then, allowing China and Russia to prepare like this.”
“Hmm. Security is an issue. Have the National Security Advisor take responsibility for this matter. Also, establish a separate New World Advisor position and require weekly reports.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“The question is how much we tell Britain. We can’t tell them everything when there’s nothing for us to gain from them.”
“By the way, how much does Britain already know?”
White House security officials had been working without leaving the office for two days, putting their heads together over the disclosure of the New World Project that the British Prime Minister had demanded.
“Britain obtained the information through a Russian sleeper agent and seems to know everything about the experiments in China and Russia.”
“What about verification that China and Russia have successfully connected? Can we confirm that?”
“We haven’t confirmed it yet, but it’s almost certain.”
“Damn it. We didn’t even notice until they connected. On top of that, we didn’t know about this project until the British Prime Minister brought it up directly.”
The security advisors grumbled that they hadn’t known either, but actual reports had been coming in. They simply hadn’t taken the Cyber Information Command’s reports seriously enough to review them.
“How did they figure out this was a project leading to the New World? You couldn’t even guess from the document titles. And the capsules in China and Russia are supposedly identical to ours?”
“Yes. According to Britain’s data, every single component is identical.”
“This is what happens when we outsource manufacturing to the Chinese. If it’s a copy, can we trace where the hardware information leaked from?”
“W-well, we’ll look into that as well.”
“So you’re saying you don’t know how the information got out at all. Tch.”
The soldiers from the Cyber Information Command couldn’t lift their heads regarding the information leak. The biggest failure was that classified information had been leaking without them even realizing it.
“Then find the leakers. Since we’ll officially announce this after Britain connects, prepare in advance. Hand over all materials related to the connection, the capsule hardware, and every component to Britain.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Also, establish a separate regular meeting between the Changing Group and the Cyber Command and require weekly reports.”
An overall investigation was conducted into where Changing’s capsule technology had leaked from. They discovered that the information had been leaked by a Chinese-American who had been hired as the dormitory cook and a software developer from the Changing Group.
“Sergeant Hobbs is also involved in this leak. He took photos of the components with his phone and sent them to the cook using the phone-to-phone photo transfer feature.”
“Did he receive money from the Chinese? Or was he blackmailed?”
“We’re still investigating, but it might be because of drugs.”
“Damn Chinese bastards. They must have lured him with narcotics.”
“Then how should we handle Sergeant Hobbs?”
Since he had already entered under a god’s authority, he couldn’t be replaced until death.
“How about excluding everyone involved with drugs and civilians this time and bringing in a new special forces unit?”
This was essentially a suggestion to kill all the civilian users.
“That’s impossible. They’ve already accumulated over 100 days of experience and stories, so we can’t just discard them.”
“We can’t just let this slide either.”
“We’ll handle it through disciplinary action. Tell Lieutenant Polman to put Hobbs on the front lines wherever possible.”
It meant they wouldn’t kill him directly, but would arrange for others to do so.
At the air force base in Edinburgh, Britain, people were still being carried out in body bags.
“This is already the 180th. Even with support from retired soldiers, this is too severe. There are more casualties than in China.”
“We have no choice but to accept the sacrifices.”
China had met the god and formed a contract after 120 deaths, and Russia after 80. Since the experiment relied entirely on luck, everyone was struggling. Once the number exceeded 200, even the retired soldiers stopped volunteering. Reports also came in that newspaper reporters, having caught wind of the death experiments, were loitering near the air force base.
In the end, they had no choice but to use criminals in military prisons or those dishonorably discharged for the experiments. Only after the 230th attempt did they finally form a contract with the god that allowed access to the New World.
While the United States and Britain were coordinating their positions to announce the New World, a reporter from the London Post broke the story first.
The black-and-white photo was taken from an ambulance carrying a brain-dead person.
After the London Post article came out, both Britain and the United States were thrown into crisis. That same night, emergency press conferences were held simultaneously in Washington, D.C. and London.
“…We accidentally discovered another New World that isn’t Mars, and this is proof of that world.”
President John Graham placed a potion bottle containing blue liquid on the table. Then a child who had been hospitalized with burns was brought out lying on a bed. The child had second-degree burns with blisters, and the reporters protested, asking what kind of stunt this was even as they took photos.
Elon Busker, standing nearby, exchanged a few words with the child, then opened the potion and applied it to the child’s back.
“What are you doing? Whoa! The bubbles are disappearing.”
“Th-the skin is regenerating!”
As if by magic, the potion healed the burn wounds. After Elon Busker applied the potion to the wounds several more times, the child’s back became completely smooth, as if the burns had never existed.
“Unfortunately, this potion, which is like a panacea, couldn’t heal my legs. Hahaha. But who knows? There might be medicine in that New World that can heal them. For now, we’ll bring back this potion that’s good for external injuries from the New World.”
“Are potions common in that world?”
“Yes, they’re fairly common. However, the energy required to bring them here is enormous.”
“Can they be replicated here?”
“Unfortunately, we tried replicating them but it didn’t work. That place is a New World with magic and gods. For now, we’ll only be bringing back items, but in the future, we plan to create gates so anyone can go there.”
“Gates connecting the two worlds? Oh my god!”
As shocked as the reporters were, the hospital patients were in an uproar. Especially for burn patients, the potion was like a gift from God. In a place that believed in one God, some opposed the idea of other gods, but once it was announced that the potion was also effective against cancer and dementia, the opposition disappeared.
Britain also performed a demonstration treating burn patients with potions, though they were potions provided by the United States. Russia and China, after watching the American and British press conferences, wanted to use potions as well, but they hadn’t secured any yet and lacked the energy to bring them over. So the two countries instead brought plants and flowers that only existed in that world and revealed them publicly.
When news spread that not only the United States and Britain but also Russia and China had gone to the New World, the entire world went into an uproar. The media demanded disclosure of who the Earthlings currently in the New World were and who had been sacrificed in the project. Petitions also poured in demanding the creation of a memorial park for those sacrificed in the project.
“I heard there are two Asians on the American New World team. They got caught in paparazzi shots.”
Tabloid magazines were soon overflowing with gossip about the New World project team. Paparazzi began camping near the dormitory condo in Sacramento, and the long-distance photos they took were also released. It was revealed that there were two Asians among them.
“Huh? Isn’t that person Park Jinwoo, the pro gamer?”
“Park Jinwoo? Who’s that?”
“He’s an LDK game pro gamer. He even made it to the world semifinals once. I recognize his face.”
“Really? Is it him?”
Someone who recognized Park Jinwoo’s face contacted his former agency to confirm and, upon hearing that he wasn’t in Korea, concluded it was indeed Park Jinwoo. Thus, Park Jinwoo’s personal details began spreading across the internet. Not long after, Aoyama, Lucas, and Bortas’s personal information was also revealed. Since they were pro gamers whose faces were somewhat known, their identities were quickly exposed.
That information also reached Korean intelligence.
“There’s a Korean participating in America’s New World project and currently in the New World?”
“Yes, Mr. President. About half of the American team are said to be pro gamers. We confirmed he’s Korean, and even the United States has granted him citizenship.”
“This is unfortunate. But thanks to this friend, we can make demands like Britain did.”
“You mean the capsule technology?”
“Yes, that’s right. As an ally, demand that they share the capsule technology for our New World advancement. Since there’s a Korean on the American team, it might be helpful, so send the Korean ambassador to the Changing Group to request cooperation.”
“Korea, Japan, and Canada have requested sharing of the capsule technology.”
“What does the National Security Advisor think about sharing the technology?”
President John Graham asked his advisors for their opinions.
“Originally, we shouldn’t share it to maintain our vested interests in the New World, but I believe we should share it to gain numerical superiority.”
“Currently, Russia and China are sharing the capsule technology with their allies in the Middle East and Africa, where human rights issues are less sensitive, to build their own factions.”
The advisors were in agreement about sharing the technology.
“So you’re saying we should actively build our own faction to avoid being at a numerical disadvantage?”
“Yes, that’s right. Also, I believe we need to form contracts with gods other than God Busker to increase our numbers.”
“Even if dozens or hundreds of people must be sacrificed for new contracts, you think we should proceed? Even though realistically, the only thing that benefits Earth is potions?”
“Yes. Aside from potions, the benefits we can currently obtain from the New World are still limited. However, as time passes, methods to dramatically reduce energy costs may emerge.”
“Hmm. Then let’s proceed that way. Provide the technology to allied nations and seek cooperation. Also, to maintain numerical superiority of the Transmigrators, gather them all in that territory.”
The place President John Graham pointed to was the frontier of the Splain Empire, labeled as Polman’s territory.