The ABN Corporation or the Arcanos Broadcasting Network Corporation was one of its subsidiaries that helped them become the world's most powerful company.
The contents of the ABN News were mostly about what was happening inside Arcadia.
People watched this network for different reasons.
Finding tips from the achievements of other players.
Tracking down the top players that they admired.
Waiting for themselves to come out on TV.
Or just trying to look for players they would like to sponsor as sponsors would get a fraction of the Player's earnings in Arcadia. This was the reason why most players would reveal themselves in the Global Rankings.
But their ratings would always peak every time there were monumental events that were happening in Arcadia. And it happened.
"Good morning, Paragons! This is Mark Hoffman of ABN News Reporting about the very shocking event that happened here in the Red Border!"
Since Arcanos employees were banned from playing Arcadia, reporters like Mark Hoffman would always be on Level 1 while being protected by bodyguards around level 500.
"For those who didn't know, the Red Border have been a hot topic because of the sudden assault on Princess Morgana Synderium's fortress, the Sunflower Hive, by Warlord Tetsuya's men."
Mark Hoffman turned to the side to show the viewers the scorched aftermath of the battlefield, which contained many dead NPCs from both sides.
"After years of conflict, Tetsuya finally gained the upper hand by having Vulcan, the Top 80th Player in the world rankings, join his side and led his army. This battle also revealed that Vulcan managed to acquire a hidden Vampire Epic Class. But the brutal battle concluded in a very unexpected way. Who do you think won this battle?"
Multiple clips of people being interviewed were shown on the screen. Some of them were in real life while some were interviewed in Arcadia. These people were asked who they think won the battle.
"It was probably Princess Synderium since she was one of the most powerful NPC out there."
"Of course, Vulcan will win. How can he lose against an NPC? Plus, he got a newfound power."
"Princess Morgana should win since she was beautiful."
"I feel bad from Morgana. I hope she wins."
"Vulcan will probably win. He was the Top 80th Player, after all."
"Vulcan might've won, but he's still an asshole! I met him in Arcadia once!"
The Park family was also watching the TV while eating their lunch with Kane was beside them. Sunmi spoke,
"Ah, look at that. People all over the world are crazy about this."
Her Jae Joon, her husband, replied,
"Why? I'm also following it!"
"Yeah, yeah. You have a lot of time, why don't you help us in the shop?!"
"I don't know how to cook!"
PAK!
San Mi smacked Jae Joon in the face.
"Do you think we know how to cook?! That's why Kane always complained because no one knows how to cook! Why don't you study how to cook since you have so much time!?!?"
Jae Hwan intervened.
"So, dad. What do you think? Who will win?"
"Morgana was able to hold her fortress alone for years, and she's about level 300. But facing Vulcan who gained an Epic Class, her defeat is inevitable."
"Hmmm, I'm not updated to the current event, but I also think that Vulcan will win. I feel bad for Morgana tho, even if she was just an NPC."
Jae Joon suddenly pointed at Kane, who was quietly eating the shitty food.
"Hey, you! You're currently playing, right? Who's your bet?"
"I don't even know who these two were."
"What?! Why didn't you know them? You should watch news! Watching the news will help you!"
After hearing that, Kane took a peek at the screen and saw Vulcan's face.
"W-What the? I think I saw that guy before."
Jae Joon smiled while scratching his chin.
"Yeah. Yeah. You probably saw him from an ad somewhere. You should watch news and get tips from people like him so that you'll also get rich and famous!"
But Kane was still looking at Vulcan's face.
'Hmmm, where did I saw that guy? Is it in the game? But why would I meet the top 80th in the World Rankings? Hmmm, probably just met a lookalike.'
The family momentarily paused eating as Hoffman was about to declare who the winner was.
"And the winner in the battle between Morgana's side and Tetsuya's side is... NO ONE!"
"Motherfucker!"
SLAM!
Jae Joon suddenly stood up after banging his hands on the table. He started cursing at the TV after Hoffman revealed the winner.
Sunmi started laughing while her husband had his eyes bawling out in disappointment.
"This Reporter?! How can you joke on Live TV?!"
But it was not only him who was disappointed. Everyone worldwide who was watching it was all annoyed that they felt like they were being mocked.
While everyone was fuming mad at the reporter, Hoffman revealed the unexpected twist.
"The winner is no one because it was another person! The victor was from neither faction, and it was only one person!"
The viewers were all shocked and surprised that their infuriation temporarily subsided to listen to Hoffman.
"During the climax of the battlefield when the full-blown Vulcan in his Vampire mode clashed with Morgana in her powerful enraged mode, that person came! He came and defeated everyone in the battlefield! I know it was hard to believe, so we gathered some witnesses to tell us what happened."
Hoffman called another man into the screen and gave him the mic.
"Uhh, my name is Circulus, and I am a level 261 Paragon."
"So, what was your role in this battlefield?"
"Uuhhh, me and my friends were supposed to be mining in a nearby mountain. Suddenly we heard some explosions. That was when we decided to watch the battle from the woods."
"Basically, you guys are just spectators?"
"Yes. Even if we joined that battle, we would be easily crushed since I'm just level 261. I saw their powers. It was monstrous. I feel like they were even level 400 or even 500 when I saw them fighting."
"So, what happened afterward?"
"When Morgana and Vulcan brutally fought each other, I really thought Vulcan would win because of his incredible Vampire abilities. Suddenly, Morgana entered her Enrage mode that Vulcan couldn't do anything. He was about to get killed until..."
"Until what?"
"Explosions suddenly appeared in Tetsuya's camp. In just seconds, Tetsuya's military encampment was obliterated."
"What? Did you see who did it?"
"I think some guy in grey armor and helmet ran out of the smoke so fast that I could barely see him. Morgana sensed that the guy would fly and attack her, but she defended herself and fought that guy. But that person had weird attacks."
"Weird attacks?"
"Yes. It was like, he was copying her attacks."
"Okay. Then what happened next?"
"Seeing that the guy was too powerful, Vulcan and Morgana joined hands to defeat that guy. But in the end, they were all defeated. Vulcan got killed and disconnected while Morgana got knocked out."
"What? They lost even though they helped each other?"
"Yes. Then that man flew away in the sky like he was just there to show off."
"Okay. Thank you for the information, Circulus."
"Thank you, too. I would like to say hello to my frie—"
Circulus was still saying something, but someone that was not caught in the TV grabbed him and pulled him away.
The Park family were all confused, but the silence broke as Kane gently placed his empty plate on the table.
THUD!
"Thank you for the food."
Seeing that he was suddenly going out, Sunmi had to ask.
"Where are you going?"
Kane sat on the doorstep to remove his slippers and proceeded to wear his shoes.
"I gained some money overnight. As thanks for letting me live in this house, I'm gonna buy pizza for us! Huehuehuehuehue!"
'This poor brat?! When did he learn how to laugh that bad?'
Kane tried to sound intimidating once again but ended up sounding stupid.
"You brat! Make sure you come back home with a lot of them! We can heat 'em up tomorrow if there will be leftovers."
"Right. I'll be right back."
Kane left the mansion while the Park family continued watching Mark Hoffman.
***
Before going to the Pizza store, Kane proceeded to another familiar building first. It was the Majima Dojo. He looked inside and saw that it was still closed.
He took out a thick enveloped and slipped it between the closed glass doors with the headmaster as the recipient.
***
Back at the ancestral mansion beside the Chickenfighter, the Park family were still listening to Mark Hoffman.
"According to our sources, the B33FK1NG guild apparently tried to track down a player that gained an Epic job as a Mirror Knight. Could this be that ma—"
But Hoffman suddenly stopped talking. He started mumbling something as he placed his hand on his earpiece. Hoffman's eyes widened as he learned something big.
"We have Breaking News! Apparently, something big happened in Herald City! We received multiple reports that Arcanos Corporation was totally in chaos because of it. Accord—"
RING! RING! RING!
Jae Hwan's phone rang, and saw that Erick was calling him.
"Hey, man, what's up?"
"Are you watching the News?"
"Oh, yes. I'm watching it now with my family."
"You won't believe this!"
"What?"
"Apparently, some people crossed the Heraldian Ocean alive! They killed the Heraldian Horrors!"
Erick continued talking on the phone, but Jae Hwan was no longer listening as he was focused on the headline shown on the TV.
[BREAKING NEWS: NEWBIES BREAKS WORLD RECORD BY DEFEATING THE HERALDIAN HORRORS, REACHING MIRANDA KINGDOM SAFELY.]
Because the whole world was focused on the events of the Red Border, no one realized that something big happened in the Miranda Kingdom. When Arcanos found out about it, many players already exploited the situation and crossed the Heraldian Ocean.
***
Kane managed to order a Pizza and was just waiting for it to be cooked. Because he had nothing to do, he just chose to half-heartedly watch the news.
"...rift in the game that allowed Players to instantly cross the Heraldian Ocean. Because of this, people are tracking down the person responsible for such a feat. We heard that the guilds were already dying to meet that person. Any information regarding that person is needed. Please call..."
After seeing that may people were dying to meet him, Kane got hyped up that he took his phone and dialed the number on the screen.
"Hello, this is ABN News Support, how can I help you?"
"Hello! I am Kane! The man that you are talking about!"
"What is your full ID and level?"
"Ah, I am L-L-Leve..."
"Sir, can I help you?"
Kane was initially embarrassed to say his level. But something on the TV made him speechless. Kane listened to the anchorwoman on the TV while his phone call was still on.
"This wasn't the first time this game-breaking event happened. The late legendary Player, Bastion, also managed to cause an uproar by hiding in a ship 15 years ago. He was the..."
Kane lost focused and subconsciously answered the phone.
"It's... level 9."
*CLICK*
Since his level was too low, the caller thought it was a prank call.
Upon seeing Bastion's face, Kane felt the chills in his spine.
At that point, he realized that he was following the footsteps of a dead man without even knowing.
From meeting them at the Frozen World up to receiving a Class made from a blank skill book brought by Kaiser up to breaking the system of Arcadia just like what Bastion did 15 years ago, Kane has been following their tread without even knowing.
If what Bastion said to him before was all true, Kane has been following a footstep of a man who got murdered in the real world.
At that point, there was only one thing that entered Kane's mind.
'Will I also get killed?'
Kane took the stack of pizza that he ordered and hurriedly left.