Chapter 57
“…Stand down.”
The Emperor furrowed his brow upon hearing the report.
The swindling incident he experienced in Maple Leaf Story a few days ago.
He had secretly tracked down the perpetrator through his informants.
“<God of Electricity vv>…”
According to the report, the culprit was identified as <God of Electricity vv>.
A veteran player of Maple Leaf Story and a key member of the Zatum Expedition.
However, the nickname of the user the Emperor had traded with was not the same.
It turned out the culprit had scammed others multiple times and changed nicknames afterward.
Since the player was of a high level, finding them wasn’t particularly challenging.
If the swindler was indeed <God of Electricity vv>, capturing them would be easy.
He knew who they were, thanks to their involvement in the Zatum Expedition.
A noble from a minor kingdom.
He even knew their name and family.
“Summon them.”
The next day, the Emperor immediately had them arrested.
After executing <God of Electricity vv>, the Emperor was left with an unsettling feeling.
The individual was indeed the <God of Electricity vv> he had seen during the Zatum Expedition.
However, something about their demeanour seemed off.
Of course, knowing that they had swindled the Emperor would explain their behaviour.
But the unease felt different somehow.
“…Your Majesty, wasn’t that person undoubtedly <God of Electricity vv>?”
Rikal, who had come to see the Emperor on state matters, spoke after finishing his report.
Recently gaining recognition in the Imperial Palace, Rikal was solidifying his position.
“…Yes.”
The Emperor had handled this matter very discreetly.
He certainly did not want the world to know that he had been scammed in a game.
Nevertheless, the news had leaked, and the incident had already spread across the world.
Soon, word of the culprit’s capture and execution would also follow.
Regardless, as the Emperor, he had no choice but to conceal the incident.
“But why… Ah.”
Understanding the situation roughly, Rikal trailed off.
To Rikal, <God of Electricity vv> was practically an old comrade.
Though he felt regretful about their execution, Rikal, knowing their actions, believed it was inevitable.
Especially since they had dared to scam even the Emperor.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave…”
“Rikal.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You started playing Maple Leaf Story right when it launched, correct?”
“…That’s true.”
“Then you must be quite high-level. Were you acquainted with <God of Electricity vv>?”
Rikal worked hard to maintain a composed expression.
As he had begun mingling with people in the Imperial Palace recently, he had been getting many such questions.
“Yes, well… I’m not particularly skilled, so my level isn’t that high.”
“Is that so? Even so, you must still be higher-level than me. Perhaps you could carry me someday…”
“-There’s a state council meeting soon, so I must take my leave, Your Majesty. Farewell.”
Rikal quickly fled.
The Emperor, thinking it rude for Rikal to cut him off, let out a sigh but said nothing.
Compared to before, it was tolerable.
“Your Majesty, the state council meeting is about to begin.”
“…I’m troubled today, so I will leave it to the Crown Prince and the Prince.”
“…Understood.”
The Imperial chamberlain responded as if accustomed to such situations.
This wasn’t the first time.
“Sigh… I need to clear my head.”
The Emperor then instinctively reached for Maple Leaf Story.
He sought to relieve the lingering discomfort after executing <God of Electricity vv>.
He hadn’t recovered the money lost in the scam.
Not that money was scarce for the Emperor, but finding a new trading partner was bothersome.
“…Had I known, I should’ve taken the item before the execution.”
Thus, time flowed on in the Imperial Palace.
And a few days later…
“…What did you say?”
The Emperor, conversing with other Maple Leaf Story players, was stunned by what he heard.
“You know the player who got executed by the Emperor for scamming?”
The fact that the Emperor had executed a player for scamming was widely known.
However, it was still a secret that the Emperor’s in-game nickname was <Ordinary Adventurer>.
Feigning calm, the Emperor continued the conversation.
“And?”
“Someone said they saw that player near the Temple of Time. People are saying it’s a ghost.”
“…Hmm?”
It was quite a notorious rumour.
The player executed by the Emperor was reportedly still playing the game.
While these were merely scattered eyewitness accounts, the player had not been seen participating in party quests or raids recently.
The tale had become something of an urban legend.
Given the player’s high level, it garnered considerable attention.
“Hmm…”
Pondering, the Emperor discreetly launched an investigation into the rumour.
And not long after, he received a report confirming the legend’s truth.
The nickname was exactly the same as when the player had scammed the Emperor. Speculation arose that this was due to the game’s policy of restricting frequent nickname changes.
“…Hmm.”
The Emperor, deeply troubled by the report, mulled over the situation.
If this were true, it could mean that he had executed the wrong person.
Alternatively, it could mean that an actual ghost was playing Maple Leaf Story.
Despite his countless experiences on battlefields, a chill ran down the Emperor’s spine.
“Send a letter to the Illusion Magic Tower.”
Ultimately, the Emperor decided to summon Riot, the Illusion Mage.
He was well aware that the Illusion Magic Tower did not disclose user information.
This was why the Emperor had handled matters personally until now.
But this case was too perplexing to resolve without the Tower’s assistance.
A few days later, Riot arrived at the Imperial Palace.
“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
“Illusion Mage Riot. It’s a pleasure to meet you again. Have you been well?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Have you been well?”
The two engaged in a somewhat cordial conversation.
After a bit of meaningless chatter, the Emperor brought up the main topic.
“…So, can you figure out the situation regarding that user?”
The Emperor explained everything that had happened so far.
After a moment of consideration, Rai opened his mouth to speak.
“Hmm… As I’ve mentioned before, we cannot access user information.”
“…Is there truly no way? There could be an issue with the game system.”
“Even if there were a way… it would be difficult. I assume Your Majesty wouldn’t want your character’s identity revealed either.”
Since the Emperor also hid his identity while playing the game, he empathized with that concern.
The world was gradually embracing the concept of anonymity.
While it had its risks, many sought to hide behind that anonymity when necessary.
“But one thing I can confirm for certain is that it’s impossible for a ghost to play a game. There’s also no bug related to that user. Thanks to the recent update, we thoroughly checked the server until yesterday, so I can say this with confidence.”
“…Then that means it’s truly a human.”
“All I can conclude is that the one Your Majesty thought you executed wasn’t actually <God of Electricity vv>… I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“No, you’ve been plenty helpful.”
After some more discussion, Rai departed.
The case had only deepened into an unsolvable mystery.
“…Find this person no matter what.”
In the end, the Emperor gave the order to locate the scammer and could only wait.
***
<God of Electricity vv>. He was an early user of Maple Leaf Story, famous since the Zatum Expedition.
The first scam he committed was almost instinctual.
“Hey, could you knock off 5 million?”
“No way. This is already a bargain.”
The trade partner, persistently haggling over what was a relatively small amount of money, annoyed <God of Electricity vv>.
While dealing with this tiresome person, an idea popped into his head.
“Alright.”
“Nice! Thanks.”
As the partner placed the money, <God of Electricity vv> pretended to put up the item. At the last moment, he swapped it with junk and quickly confirmed the trade.
“Huh? What? What’s this?!”
Leaving the bewildered victim behind, <God of Electricity vv> fled.
The thrill of deceiving someone and gaining a profit brought him immense pleasure.
After that incident, scams began to spread in Maple Leaf Story.
While it didn’t happen often enough to become a big deal, <God of Electricity vv> occasionally changed his nickname and continued scamming.
To him, these misdeeds were an intoxicating pleasure.
‘Heh, seems like a rich noble from the Empire.’
The turning point came during a deal with <Ordinary Adventurer>.
Despite having a low level, the trade partner had an immense amount of money.
From their manner of speech, it was obvious they were a wealthy noble from the Empire—precisely the kind of person <God of Electricity vv> despised.
Knowing that causing a stir in this anonymous world wouldn’t lead to significant consequences, he scammed them and fled as usual.
It would have been just another day—if it hadn’t been revealed that the trade partner was the Emperor.
“What?! What did you just say?!”
In truth, he had been using a stand-in.
Back during the Zatum Expedition incident, when anonymity wasn’t as firmly established, <God of Electricity vv> had sent another noble from the same kingdom to stand in for him.
Thanks to that, the noble gained popularity, and their family’s status rose.
Thus, they continued playing the stand-in role without complaint.
***
“Count Horio has been executed. The Emperor, after being scammed…”
“The Emperor, you say?!”
The royal official who delivered the news was drenched in cold sweat.
<God of Electricity vv> felt immense guilt over Count Horio’s death.
To avoid involving him, <God of Electricity vv> had changed his nickname long ago.
Who would have thought that someone could trace over five nickname changes and uncover his identity?
No one should have that capability—except perhaps the Imperial Family, who wielded the continent’s supreme authority.
But <God of Electricity vv> had indeed scammed the Emperor.
“Still, since Count Horio was executed, I don’t think the matter will escalate further… It’s best to exercise caution in Maple Leaf Story from now on.”
“But the cooldown for my next nickname change still has a long time left.”
“For now, avoid party quests and raids. Only use channels with no players.”
<God of Electricity vv> had no choice but to heed the royal official’s advice.
If his true identity as the scammer were exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The royal official had only learned of <God of Electricity vv>’s scams after Count Horio’s death.
Naturally, <God of Electricity vv> hadn’t revealed his scamming activities to anyone.
The official’s priority was to ensure the situation didn’t spiral further out of control.
“…There’s no other way.”
Long ago, the Turk Kingdom was ruthlessly conquered under the Empire’s continental expedition.
Barely surviving as a vassal state by appeasing the Empire, its king now carried a secret.
<God of Electricity vv> was none other than the King of Turk.
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