“Why? What’s wrong?”

Siegfried grew alarmed the moment he saw Verdandi trembling.

“This potion... It lets you surpass your limits but...”

“But?”

“The stronger the person becomes after drinking it, the faster their soul will separate from their body.”

“Huh? Their soul will separate from their body? What do you mean?”

“What I mean is... Because of the asymmetry between body and spirit, it is like this...”

Verdandi proceeded to give a long, detailed explanation, but Siegfried couldn’t understand a word of it. The concepts of alchemy were far too complex for him. To him, all those complex formulas and laws sounded like gibberish.

However, one thing was clear—the Elixir of Transcendence was not a good thing, and its side effects could cause the soul to detach from one's body.

“And what will happen then?” Siegfried asked.

“The body will become nothing more than an empty shell,” Verdandi replied.

“Like a doll?”

“Yes. The body cannot move without a soul in it.”

“Oh my god...”

“We have to stop this, Father. People must not drink this elixir. Otherwise, everyone who does will get turned into empty dolls,” Verdandi said, her voice sounding urgent.

“I-I understand.”

A chill ran down Siegfried’s spine.

The Adventurers were staking their very lives just to get their hands on an Elixir of Transcendence. Those stuck after hitting the insurmountable wall had no choice but to rely on the elixir.

‘No wonder...’

Siegfried suddenly realized why the Marchioni Empire had been handing out the Elixir of Transcendence to the Adventurers.

Ever since he learned about Emperor Stuttgart’s secret plot, he thought that something was off with these elixirs.

After all, Emperor Stuttgart despised the Adventurers and did not want them to grow stronger. He feared that the Adventurers would grow beyond control if they grew too powerful, which was the reason he plotted to get rid of them eventually.

And yet, that same emperor was giving out an elixir that allowed the Adventurers to surpass their limits and grow stronger?

Something was off about it from the very start. He ought to have suspected them, as the Marchioni Empire had been plotting to eliminate all Adventurers.

‘This is a disaster.’

Siegfried couldn’t even begin to imagine just how catastrophic this was going to be.

He had no idea how the side effects of the Elixir of Transcendence would work.

‘Will they all lose control of their characters? Will their characters be left brain dead?’

Suppressing his anger, Siegfried turned to Verdandi and asked, “Can you make an antidote?”

“I can... But it will take a long time.”

“How much time do you need?”

“At least several months.”

“Can you try making it?” Siegfried asked carefully.

Even though Verdandi was his daughter, he knew it was not right to command her to do something against her will.

“A huge number of Adventurers have already taken this elixir. If they all lose their souls, it could bring about a great calamity.”

“I will try! I want to help you, father!” Verdandi nodded and replied resolutely.

“You’re such a good girl, my sweet daughter.”

“Losing your soul is a scary thing! I want to stop it!”

“Do you think you can do it?”

“Yes!”

“Thank you.”

“I am happy to help, Father!”

Siegfried hugged her tightly and whispered, “I love you.”

Who had she taken after? How could such a kind, upright child even be born to someone like him?

Even though she was her daughter, he couldn’t help but be proud of her.

“I will be counting on you, Verdandi.”

“Yes, Father!”

With that, Siegfried entrusted Verdandi with creating an antidote for the Elixir of Transcendence and immediately set out.

‘I have to tell the world before more victims appear. I must stop this madness.’

Even now, countless Level 299 Adventurers were raiding the Ancient Dungeons within the Marchioni Territory, hoping to get a bottle of the Elixir of Transcendence as a reward.

The situation had already spiraled out of control, but he had to at least prevent further damage.

If he could stop even one more Adventurer from drinking the Elixir of Transcendence, then he had to do whatever he could.

‘I’ll first upload a video on G-Tube. That should raise awareness about the truth behind the Elixirs of Transcendence. Ah, I should tell my guild members, the paladins, and everyone else, too.’

With that, he hurriedly logged out of the game. He had to upload the video that would reveal the secret of the Elixir of Transcendence to the entire world.

***

Siegfried logged out to record a video to upload to G-Tube.

While he was away, a major incident struck the Proatine Empire. An undead legion had appeared in a border city in the Marchioni Empire and crossed over into the Proatine Empire’s territory.

The undead legion struck while Siegfried was busy filming the video that would raise awareness about the sinister secret behind the Elixir of Transcendence.

In response, Michele immediately summoned the Supreme Commander of the Proatine Imperial Army, Oscar, to confront the undead legion.

He also rallied the Head Crusher Guild members and the paladins of the Church of Heroes.

“I, the Supreme Commander of the Proatine Empire, Oscar, will take command in the absence of His Imperial Majesty.”

Oscar led the Proatine Imperial Army to the border.

‘This is a good chance to test the strength of our army without His Imperial Majesty.’

Rather than being dismayed, Oscar welcomed the crisis.

The Proatine Empire needed to assess the combat power of its imperial army before the war against the Marchioni Empire. They had implemented sweeping reforms across the imperial army, but the biggest change came from the restructuring of the units.

The humans, demons, and angels were grouped into three-man combat units, something that had never been done before in the history of the continent.

Thus, Oscar regarded this incident as the perfect opportunity to gauge the imperial army’s combat prowess.

This battle would reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the Proatine Imperial Army, and by using the data collected, the imperial army would grow stronger than before.

And so, the Proatine Imperial Army split into three corps and marched to the border.

The force under Supreme Commander Oscar’s command was nothing short of monumental in scale.

The 1st Corps was led by Carell, who had recently completed his training and ascended to the realm of Masters. The 2nd Corps was under Draculis, the Dragonkin Warrior and a Master. The 3rd Corps was commanded by Nanuqsa, the chieftain of the Blanc Clan.

Three full corps were deployed for the battle against the undead legion.

In addition, they were reinforced by the 1st Mage Division of the Proatine Empire, led by Duke Decimato; the former master of the Magic Tower, Laimian; and the Phantom Singer, Gringore.

Most nations would struggle to field even a single Master on the battlefield, but the Proatine Empire was mobilizing five of them simultaneously.

Of course, many Adventurers became Masters, surpassing Level 400, thanks to the Elixir of Transcendence.

Even so, an army of this scale was truly extraordinary. After all, there was still a massive gap between those who actually shattered the insurmountable wall and simply drank the Elixir of Transcendence.

‘Please leave this matter to your humble servant, sire. I will make sure everything is in order while Your Imperial Majesty takes a break,’ Oscar thought, vowing to fill the void left by Siegfried.

Just because Siegfried was absent did not mean the Proatine Empire would collapse.

This was the whole reason they enacted sweeping reforms and built up their military strength, as the Proatine Empire had to defend itself in emergencies when Siegfried was not available.

“All forces, advance!” Oscar gave the command.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

At her command, the Proatine Imperial Army marched in unison, their boots shaking the ground as they marched toward the front lines.

***

It took less than thirty minutes for the video regarding the secret behind the Elixir of Transcendence that Tae-Sung uploaded to G-Tube to go viral and become a trending video.

However, the reactions were sharply divided, with opinions split right down the middle.

— LeePaul: Huh?! So the NPCs are trying to stab us gamers in the back?!

— KogumaJeo: What?! I already took it. What do I do???

— NoraenaDeulleorae: Crazy... I knew it was too good to be true.

— AmaninaAbiden: Holy shit... I’m never touching that...

— Kkukkiya: I just got one today and was planning to take it! Thanks for warning us!

Many people believed Tae-Sung’s claims, but just as many refused to believe him.

— LeeplayReplay: Does that even make sense? Stop lying lol ㅗㅗ

— HH: Isn’t he just fearmongering? Are you even allowed to post a video like this without any evidence to back it up?

— Justice: Nope, I don’t believe you! I took mine after watching this video LMAO

Even though he attached a recorded conversation with Verdandi as evidence, it was still not enough to gain the truth about every gamer.

— Opps: LOL LOL LOL! Are we supposed to believe this crap? Is it April Fools or what?

— SpecOps: It sounds like he’s lying just so he can remain the strongest...

— 99Toss: I think he’s a Grandmaster now. He’s probably just trying to hog everything.

— PowerRiceCake: Has anyone actually suffered from any side effects after taking the Elixir of Transcendence? Lol... I never thought Han Tae-Sung would stoop this low. Fearmongering just so he can remain the strongest is a new low LMAO. So gross~

The reaction from the gamers could be considered natural. From their perspective, Tae-Sung’s warning not to drink the Elixir of Transcendence was hard to accept.

After all, it was impossible to go from Level 299 to Level 300 without the Elixir of Transcendence.

Aside from breaking through the insurmountable wall, there simply was no other alternative.

“Damn it... They’re going to drink it anyway, even if I tell them not to...” Tae-Sung muttered, biting his lower lip as he scrolled through the skeptical comments.

Gamers were a special breed of people who would gulp down poison if it made them stronger, so warnings about side effects would not really stop them, especially when there had not been any documented cases of anyone suffering from such side effects.

In other words, there was no solid proof.

‘I need to get on TV and do media interviews too. I have to warn as many people as possible.’

Without hesitation, Tae-Sung reached out to reporters and held interviews to speak about the dangers of the Elixir of Transcendence.

He went as far as to reveal that Emperor Stuttgart, who was the most powerful NPC in the game, was, in fact, hostile toward the gamers. He even exposed the emperor’s intentions to erase all gamers from the continent using the Elixir of Transcendence.

It was indeed an unprecedented event.

A gamer in reality was blowing the whistle on a conspiracy led by an NPC inside the game.

[Interview: Pro Gamer Han Tae-Sung! Emperor Stuttgart Should Not Be Trusted!]

[Column: Are the NPCs finally fighting back? Learning politics through the game, BNW.]

[News: Is Pro Gamer Han Tae-Sung Telling the Truth?]

Countless articles about Tae-Sung’s interviews began pouring out, flooding all news outlets.

‘Well, I’ve done everything I can,’ he thought to himself after finishing the interviews.

He had revealed the truth, and there was nothing more he could do now.

Whether the gamers believed him or not was now their choice.

‘I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen next.’

Hoping that the side effects of the Elixir of Transcendence would not be too severe, Tae-Sung hopped into his VR capsule and logged back into the game.

He planned to handle some of the piled-up paperwork before going to bed and calling it a day.

“Your Imperial Majesty.” As soon as he logged in, Michele approached him. “Our imperial army is currently engaged in a large-scale battle near the border with the Marachioni Empire.”

“What?!”

Siegfried was shocked.

Who would have thought that, while he was busy recording a video and doing media interviews, a full-scale war would erupt?

“Did the Marchioni Empire invade? What’s the situation like on the battlefield?” Siegfried asked anxiously.

Michele shook his head and replied, “No, sire. A massive undead legion has appeared from the Marchioni Empire’s territory and entered ours.”

“Ah... So, what’s going on? Are they fighting right now?” Siegfried asked, sounding a bit relieved.

“Yes, sire.”

“I’ll head there immediately.”

Without delay, Siegfried set off right away.

The Proatine Imperial Army was locked in a full-scale battle, so there was no way he could stay cooped up in his office doing paperwork.

‘I just hope there aren’t heavy casualties. We can’t afford to lose even a single troop right now...’

With hurried steps, he rushed toward the warp gate.

Siegfried couldn’t help but feel anxious and concerned. A large-scale battle meant that having casualties was highly likely, so his heart was being weighed down by concern that his soldiers were already wounded in battle.