Unchosen Champion-Chapter 329: A Friend of Life

As the rough walls of the caves gradually smoothed out and Coop approached the pearlescent chambers at the center of the subterranean zones, he noted the distant echoes of people hard at work. The banging of hammers, what could have been drilling, and the shouts of workers organizing with each other drifted through the tunnels, aided by the reduced obstructions of an undeveloped level.

Coop found himself intrigued by the difference in textures as he moved closer to the chasm beneath Ghost Reef. The contrast between the pearlescent chambers and their adjoining tunnels with the more naturally formed caverns was pretty significant, even to his untrained eye. It seemed as though the Ruin Excavators had been attracted to the source of mana that the chasm represented and their collective actions had progressively eroded the surfaces, sanding down the rough rock the closer they drew to the center, especially bolstered by the Field Bosses that had formed before human parties entered the darkness.

The direct connection between the surface and the Underlayer made the chasm a funnel of energy that the Primal Construct invaders sought out. In order to evolve into more advanced forms they needed the increased concentrations of mana, and especially at the start of the assimilation, the chasm was certainly a potent source. Their attraction led them to carve out their nests directly beneath the fort, eventually culminating in an early Infestation with a Field Boss that Coop had encountered when he first explored the basement with Jett.

Meanwhile, the expansion of Earth had left vast gulfs within the crust of the planet, and the resultant caverns were more jagged, as if formed from natural tectonic movement that should have occurred over millions of years but had instead appeared overnight. While Coop hunted monsters in the darkness, it felt like he was really exploring complicated cave structures that had never been seen before. Once he was back in the smooth tunnels, it gave the entire underground a different feel, like the difference between a wild forest and a cultivated garden.

Eventually, he made it back to the edge of the traditionally lit cavern, the glow of the smooth walls shining slightly brighter thanks to the extensive use of small mana torches. This particular level was barely developed, having only been assigned to a new group of residents in the last few days. Despite that, they were exceptionally organized, having become refugees all together. They had committed to joining Ghost Reef long before they arrived and to be fair to their limited progress, it was over 100 levels beneath the surface.

Rather than the frameworks of their first new buildings, they almost seemed to be working in reverse, constructing smaller furnishings before even their foundations. Instead, executive groups reviewed plans and others sectioned off what Coop could only imagine to be the future location of relatively large structures.

Coop was spotted quickly, and he could see the fact of his presence spread like a wave through the workers until it reached someone that had apparently been looking forward to greeting him. The way the message passed so smoothly through the assemblage left him somewhat impressed, considering this group was large enough to be granted all four chambers of the layer at once. They were well-coordinated. His mere presence triggered a pause in all of the construction, replaced instead by a surge of movement.

“Chairman Coop!” An outspoken man called out as he waved and led a small group of professionally dressed individuals through the parting crowds of more eclectic workers. If Coop looked closely, he could see how their clothes had been frayed, singed, torn and repaired, but he respected that they were conscious of outward impression, though he really couldn’t relate.

“Chairman?” Coop questioned in response, confused as to how he got that particular title. It certainly wasn’t one from his status.

“That’s right.” The man confirmed as he settled in front of Coop with his hand out to shake, two people flanking him, each with their own entourage trailing behind. “It’s good to see you again.” He added with a wide smile on his face as Coop took his hand.

“Sure.” Coop happily agreed, regardless of any actual recognition on his part. “Um, sorry, who are you again?” He asked as they shook, assuming he should have remembered and feeling a bit ashamed that he didn’t.

The man at his side, who curiously had one arm immobilized within a cast, laughed out loud at the question. “Hah! I knew it.” He leaned over to the woman on the opposite side and nudged her. “I believe your Sang-hoon overstated his relationship with the world famous Coop.” He slapped the other man on the back. “Never change, old friend.”

“Bah, don’t speak nonsense, Min-jun. Not all of us can be idols like you, with such annoying, excuse me, ‘charismatic’ personalities.” The first man responded drawing an unaffected laugh from the other. The man that had greeted Coop first stepped back to be shoulder to shoulder with the others as he reintroduced himself. “I am Head Secretary Cho Sang-hoon. We met beneath Gangcheon during the Underlayer event.” He bowed his head slightly before expertly directing Coop’s attention to his two companions. “This is Representative Che Min-Jun, former singer turned director of our entertainment division. Don’t let his pretty face charm you.” He indicated the injured man who bowed his head, eyes squeezed shut with a brilliant smile. “And this is President Na Ho-jung, formerly the Champion of Gangcheon.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She stepped toward Coop and shook his hand as well.

“Nice to meet you too.” Coop responded, surprised by the firmness of her grip. “If you don’t mind me asking, why former Champion?” He asked.

A quick inspection of their auras revealed impressive levels, all above 250, which was comfortably within the broader range of Ghost Reef, far ahead of the global average, and barely outside of the top 1000. He supposed they had to be special to establish one of the largest settlements on the planet and their levels were proof enough.

“Gangcheon is no more.” Na Ho-jung responded rather dispassionately.

Coop tilted his head to the side. “Gangcheon is no more?” He repeated in surprise.

“That’s right. There was an internal conflict with one of our subordinate factions.” She explained, realizing that Coop was unaware through his reaction. “We underestimated their commitment to their alien sponsors. When we confronted their treachery after the Underlayer was secure, they sabotaged the civilization shard in an act of terrorism once they realized they couldn’t face us directly.” She gestured to the many workers who were arranging the open-air workshop tables into long strips. “These are one third of those who were in Korea and chose to align with our company rather than the Knights of Time.”

Coop found himself wincing at the quick explanation. First of all, there was a massive number of people who would have been displaced if one of the largest settlements on the planet fell just like that. It was lucky Ghost Reef was able to pick them up. Second of all, the fact that there were still people committing such unhelpful actions when they had other major threats to worry about frustrated him deeply. He added another faction to his mental list of potential enemies.

He shook his head in frustration. How was the nature of the assimilation not obvious at this point? He supposed that, despite it being obvious, there would still be people seeking to use the circumstances to their advantage, even if it meant they had to act selfishly. There were plenty of people who saw chaos as opportunity.

“Wait a minute.” Coop glanced beyond the group of three, at the masses that had collectively stopped working, spread through all four chambers, as they shuffled what seemed like tables around. “This is one third?” He confirmed, eyeing what could have been an army that matched the others he had seen throughout the assimilation. “What happened to the rest?”

“Correct, Chairman.” Sang-hoon answered, arms folded behind his back. “This is the top of the three floors assigned to us, so the rest are spread in the other two layers. We didn’t leave anyone behind, don’t worry. We will make sure to bring Ghost Reef major success to prove the investment in us is worth it.” He proudly boasted.

“How many people stayed with those Knights of Time?” Coop had to ask, shocked by the massive number of people that had already become residents.

“Though they have roughly an equal number of people, they are composed of dozens of competing organizations. Unlike us, they lack a singular executive structure and further internal strife will undoubtedly continue.” President Ho-jung responded, focused entirely on giving Coop accurate answers rather than diplomatic ones. “We have shared all the details of who and what they represent with Ghost Reef’s advisory board.”

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Coop nodded, suppressing his surprise that so many people were involved. Despite being confronted with the incredible progress of Ghost Reef, it seemed like the first time he was getting a clear picture of just how much was happening without his involvement. Millions of people had become part of Ghost Reef, just like that, and at the same time, millions more were out there. Humanity had received a devastating blow, but there were still more than 400,000,000 people all struggling in their own ways, experiencing adventures that probably weren’t too dissimilar to his own. It was crazy to think about.

“Well, welcome aboard.” Coop offered, not wanting to ruin what had seemed like a positive mood while realizing that even just Ghost Reef was too much for a single individual to really oversee.

“Please, would you share a drink with us?” Ho-jung requested, directing Coop to the long bar-like tables that had been arranged when he arrived. “It’s something of a tradition for the entire company to toast to a new Chairman’s success.”

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“Ah, I really should get going…” Coop tried to escape, but it was clear right away that they wouldn’t let him avoid participating. There were probably two million people in this layer alone, waiting expectantly. They hadn’t been constructing their first buildings as much as they had been creating a temporary party venue while outlining their future projects in one grand plan.

“We won’t take much of your time.” She insisted. “Let me pour you the first drink.” She offered as she slid a small shot glass onto the table that had appeared right behind her and her companions.

Someone handed her a large green bottle and she held it in both hands to pour. When the glass was filled she lifted it and held it up almost to Coop’s chin, practically forcing him to take it with a tenacious smile, the kind that revealed a hint of stubbornness that didn’t seem worth crossing.

As Coop took the glass, she continued. “Maybe you haven’t had soju before, but it’s what we call a friend of life. We didn’t bring enough for everyone, but we monopolized the Brewmaster for the last several days to make sure they could supply our demand. It was a worthy expenditure to start our connection on the right foot.”

Coop looked around, holding the shot glass between his fingers, realizing how much they were anticipating his participation. He shrugged and took the shot, not wanting to disappoint, and found the drink slightly sweet compared to what he expected.

People cheered as he put the glass down on the table and started pouring drinks for each other all across the makeshift courtyard. They were toasting to each other, clinking their glasses together, as they downed the shots. “To the future! To success! To the Chairman!” and before Coop knew it, there were a dozen more women insisting that they pour his next drink while Min-jun, the suave entertainer waved them over.

Coop’s mere presence on the 101st floor had triggered a massive party as the huge group of mostly Korean refugees acknowledged a turning point in their shared experience of the assimilation. It didn’t take too long before Sang-hoon arranged for his escape, recognizing that Coop must have had other responsibilities, but it wasn’t until after he had taken half a dozen more shots. Even with mana, he was feeling it a bit as he bid farewell to Na Ho-jung and the other Directors and accessed a teleporter to the surface.

He strolled through the warm evening atmosphere, crossing Balor’s Bridge while better understanding how much was happening beneath his feet. As he went, he got the attention of a messenger wraith and arranged for them to bring Jones to the citadel. Meanwhile, he took his time, watching people come and go before entering the citadel.

It was too early for the sunset, but the sky was already tinged with a deep pink, unevenly spread from horizon to horizon. To the west, the sky was blue, but directly above Ghost Reef it was closer to purple, and the darker eastern sky really demonstrated the concentrations of mana.

While he waited for Jones to join him, he wondered if maybe he should visit all the different levels. Who knew what kind of customs he was preventing by being absent. He chuckled to himself still feeling the warmth in his stomach when Jones arrived.

“What’s going on?” Jones wondered, having been inside of the Town Hall when Coop sent him the message.

“Settlement upgrade is ready.” Coop responded, a smile plastered on his face.

“Already?” Jones asked, smiling back in reply to Coop’s infectious merriment. “What exactly have you been up to?”

“Some of our new residents introduced me to soju.” Coop explained, not drunk, just a bit happy.

Jones laughed. “Ah, be careful with that one. A bit too smooth for its own good. I suppose they were the ones that put us over the top? We needed 10% of the global population within our territory and our subordinates.”

Coop shook his head, amazed by the growth, and frankly, a bit scared. “Jones, are we actually responsible for 43,000,000 people?”

“We’re all responsible for each other.” Jones reflected. “No need to think about it too much. Do the upgrade. I’m sure it will help.”

Coop nodded as they walked up the ramp into the citadel. Once inside, he approached the civilization shard and went ahead to turn in the upgrade quest, placing his hand on the subtly glowing shard, converting Ghost Reef from a City to a Metropolis.

He hissed through his teeth when he reviewed the requirement, forgetting about the 125,000,000 credits he had to spend, but when he pulled them from the settlement’s coffers, the total number they had accumulated didn’t even move. Ghost Reef was quite wealthy thanks to the failed attention of the galactic community. Coop turned the quest in and waited for a moment as the shard hummed, glowing brighter as it charged up.

After a mere second of preparation, a pulse of energy built from the shard, traveling straight through solid objects as it created a visible field of tamed, spectral flavored mana. It might have been the alcohol, but he thought he detected a whisper of the abyss as well, perhaps reflecting his own influence as Champion. The energy palpitation outlined where the settlement territory both originated from and extended to, blasting outward with a relatively subtle glow. It expanded in all directions, illuminated with a ghostly aquamarine that often appeared in the twilight hours around the island, quickly pushing beyond what Coop could see, rising higher into the clouds, and cascading down the chasm.

These days, they weren’t as concerned with the primary territory established by the core civilization shard since they were bolstering the area with a constant stream of mana pylons. The primary territory was buffered by hundreds of what were essentially Outposts and even subordinate shards once it reached the mainland. Still, Ghost Reef’s territory expanded so that there were no longer any gaps between the island and the majority of the Everglades. The oil rig pirate base was also fully connected, well-within the perimeter of their new territory. Even the Yucatan Peninsula was just barely beyond the edge of their official holdings.

As Coop admired the overhead view of their settlement, a second pulse suddenly echoed from the lighthouse, like a reverberation as the energy returned back toward its origination. Then a pillar of mana climbed into the sky from off the shore, slightly beyond the sandbars, expanding into the clouds before losing momentum and trickling back down with sparkles of black and green that evaporated still thousands of feet in the air. The light spread across their territory, like a fountain illuminated from below. It was the gentlest firework display he had ever seen, though he only witnessed it through the angled windows in the top corners of the citadel at first.

“What’s that?” Jones wondered, equally curious about the surprise reaction.

Coop wandered away from the shard, with Jones following, and leaned out the southern doorway of the citadel to gaze over the roof of the coffee shop and watch the fountain of mana as it glittered in the diminished sunlight. It seemed to have emerged from the mana well, but he couldn’t see beyond the fort walls to confirm. Nothing they had ever done before had interacted with the pocket domain created by mana, so he had no reason to anticipate the settlement upgrade to have anything to do with the Coral Forest. Its entrance had been within their territory since the beginning, more or less, but the well’s own source isolated it from the rest of the world.

Coop hummed to himself as other residents and phantoms watched the occurrence gradually fade away, until it seemed as if nothing had happened at all. Coop wasn’t sure what to think of it. At first he wondered if he was only seeing it due to his mana sight, but the fact that other residents stopped what they were doing to take it in seemed to indicate otherwise.

“You saw that too, right?” Coop thought to make sure.

“Of course.” Jones answered, having followed him out. “It didn’t seem dangerous, but it’s quite unlike the system to provide any festivities, is it not?”

“Pretty weird.” Coop muttered, but the mana well was his next destination anyway. He’d be sure to investigate any other changes after he confirmed the obvious ones.

His title went from Champion IV to Champion V, adding a modest number of flat stats across the board. Instead of granting +100 to all stats, it now added +175. He always underestimated the Champion title, but +175 to all stats was more than 1000 total, and that was before the portion allotted to his Mind stat was redistributed by his passive skill. It was nothing to look down upon.

He went through a dozen new City Titles, all providing minor bonuses that may not have seemed significant, but would be spread to millions of individuals. The settlement itself also gained four additional Guard Captain slots, and indicated that it had increased Guard Captain Alaric’s level limit from its previous cap at 5,000 to 11,111. Coop blinked at the notice, suddenly feeling a little bit inadequate about his own gains. The haunted armor manifestation was actually insanely strong and now he would have four friends?

“Sheesh.” Coop muttered, before explaining why to Jones.

When he was done, Jones wanted him to reveal the next quest. As Coop read it outloud he realized its impossibility. In order to upgrade the settlement from a Metropolis to a Global Capital, Ghost Reef would need to have 100% of the global population of humans to be residents of itself and its subordinate shards.

“Well.” Jones muttered. “I suppose that’s even more unlikely than this was.”

Coop just nodded along. “At least we can save the three billion credits it would cost.”

Jones chuckled. “Not like we can’t afford it.”