The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Suddenly, the last moments of his past life came to mind. The moment he acquired the three mythical items that first appeared in Connect. He was forcibly pulled out of the capsule and lost his life in vain to men in suits.

And now, the situation had changed. The man who had led the men in suits to the demise of Bae Dohyun was now groveling at Raul’s feet.

“Kim Changsik, right?”

“Yes, but what the hell is this!”

Kim Changsik, the man in the suit rolling on the floor, screamed with an expression of grievance. Well, it was understandable, considering he had suddenly been dragged in front of Raul and was getting beaten up.

The fact that Raul could directly confront Kim Changsik, a person from Earth, was due to the power of the capsule. The newly developed ‘standard communal capsule’ by Connect Corp.

Unlike the previous capsules, which could be used solely by one person, the new capsule was a groundbreaking device that allowed anyone to easily connect to Connect.

However, there were significant functional limitations. The synchronization rate was basically below 20%, less than half of that of the previous standard capsule.

This meant that the player’s reaction speed and sense of immersion naturally dropped.

Moreover, additional functions such as nutrition supply, sleep, internet access, dedicated platform, and self-power generation were completely absent.

It was purely a connection-only device designed to allow more people to access and experience Connect. The problem was that the man in the suit, Kim Changsik, had been forcibly dragged into Connect through this yet-to-be-released capsule.

‘It could certainly cause problems if known to the world. It could be misused. But so what?’

From the start, this operation was carried out with the active cooperation of Alex Song, the chairman of Connect Corp. As the global rescue operation began, another covert operation, the core suspect arrest operation, was carried out.

They had separately detained intermediate-level executives and persons in charge from each confirmed kidnapping faction. This included the operatives who directly executed the kidnappings, the leaders, and the key researchers of the labs.

They were secretly captured by First Security and transferred to an island in the Pacific, where Connect Corp’s headquarters was located.

And now.

They were forcibly connected to Connect and delivered right before Raul’s eyes.

Slam!

Raul once again delivered a powerful soccer kick to Kim Changsik.

“Ugh! Gurgle.”

A master’s kick was nothing ordinary. Kim Changsik spat out blood and lost consciousness, possibly due to broken ribs and ruptured organs.

But no one stopped Raul, and no one took care of Kim Changsik.

Then, at that moment.

Crunch.

Kim Changsik’s caved-in chest and abdomen suddenly convulsed and restored themselves to their original state. This was the Free City of Mira.

A place blessed by the gods. Wounds healed quickly, and even the dead could be resurrected—a place of miracles. However, for some, it could be a place of curses.

“Wake him up.”

At Raul’s command, Philip stabbed a small dagger into his thigh.

“Gah! Hah, hah.”

Kim Changsik, now conscious, had an exceptionally pale expression. Seeing what looked like his own blood and pieces of his organs, his pupils dilated.

“Wh-why are you doing this to me? At least tell me the reason… keck!”

But he didn’t even have the right to ask that. Raul kept beating him until his anger subsided.

‘There’s no way you’d remember what you did in your past life. But the things you did can’t be forgiven with just this much!’

Even in this life, Kim Changsik’s behavior hadn’t changed. As a member of a gang, he had bullied countless people, and after becoming someone’s lackey, he didn’t hesitate to take lives.

It was hard to imagine how many victims had suffered until Raul finally captured him. But everything that begins must also end. After venting his anger on him for a while, Raul eventually stopped.

Getting worked up over a mere underling only deepened the futility.

“Kane. Take over.”

“Yes, master. I will assign the best experts to make him recall even the memories he doesn’t have.”

Leaving it to Kane, who was known as the best in this field, ensured that no one could avoid confessing what they knew.

‘If necessary, we’ll even use mental magic!’

It didn’t matter if the man broke down in the process. Reynaldo Heart, the Mayor of the Free City of Mira, had already agreed to cooperate with Raul, so no one could stop them.

In a certain prepared place, dozens of related individuals were already receiving the attention of experts, and it was only a matter of time before results were produced.

The clueless captives were calling for their lawyers and asking, “Do you know who I am?” but that only worked on Earth.

Human rights? Law? Procedure?

‘This is Connect. Don’t think Earth’s laws and order apply here.’

At least in this place, Raul was the law. And he had no intention of treating criminals with any respect. They would experience earthly hell, confessing everything they knew or didn’t know, and would finally meet their lonely end, locked away in an unknown place.

Raul coldly watched as the bloodied Kim Changsik was dragged away, then turned on his heel. His steps seemed slightly lighter as he walked out.

*

Bang! Crash!

“Damn it, what the hell is going on!”

The office was in shambles. The secretaries gathered in the chairman’s office quietly bowed their heads, as this was not a rare occurrence.

“Is this the best you can do? This has been going on for days!”

On the front page of the newspaper the chairman had thrown was his face in large print.

The headline read:

– Large Corporation Under Suspicion. Summoning Investigation Imminent for Chairman Han Sangyong!

Suspicion articles that had been running for days were irking the chairman.

“Chairman, please calm down. They are just baseless speculations. If there were real evidence or suspicion, the prosecutors would have already… ugh!”

“You son of a **! The only reason those prosecutors are hesitating is because of the money I’ve fed them over time! And what about this newspaper! Why can’t you shut up these useless journalists, you incompetent fool!”

It had been a month since the Connect kidnapping incident was made public. The media had been relentlessly churning out stories about the incident. Details of what was handled in the labs.

Stories of the kidnapped individuals. The entities behind the unauthorized private labs. The lapses in the government’s security system. There was no shortage of sensational articles to capture people’s attention.

The problem was the progress of the investigation. Numerous videos secured during the rescue operation. Related individuals apprehended on the spot.

The rescued victims.

Evidence from the labs.

There were plenty of crime facts and material evidence.

But the investigation into who was behind it all was making little progress.

Firstly, the lab itself was unlicensed.

Secondly, the location of the lab was not owned by real people. It was unclear how they had bought the land or obtained the sales permission.

Lastly, the involvement of various groups caused information to become muddled. The investigation efforts varied by country, and with global corporations and various nations involved as targets, it took an eternity just to agree on procedures and order.

Of course, the most decisive factor slowing down the investigation was undoubtedly the ‘invisible hands’ at play.

Enormous global corporations and influential figures, who even governments had to tread carefully around, were covertly obstructing the investigation, causing it to stall on the front lines.

– Global Kidnapping Scandal. But is it merely media sensationalism?

– The conspiracy theory is fabricated. It’s just a bunch of similar incidents being grouped together to create a conspiracy narrative.

Moreover, various diversionary articles began popping up, attempting to blur the core issues.

However, the public wasn’t fooled this time.

“You think you can quietly sweep this under the rug? Not a chance!”

“Who do they take us for? A research group kidnapping test subjects from around the world is just a private lab? Are they kidding?”

“Isn’t this actually the work of governments? It’s suspicious how long this investigation is taking.”

As the backlash threatened to turn against the governments, they hastily intensified their investigations. And then, crucial informants and witnesses started to come forward.

“I-I’ll turn myself in! I’ll tell you everything I know, please just protect me!”

“I couldn’t stay silent any longer; my conscience wouldn’t allow it. I’ll testify to everything and pay for my crimes.”

As if on cue, decisive witnesses began surrendering simultaneously. The field commander who led the kidnappings. The businessman who supplied the lab with materials.

The actual owner of the ship used for transportation. Key witnesses, who had gone into hiding after the incident, were beginning to surface one by one.

And most importantly, certain documents delivered to investigation teams around the world proved critical.

“What is this? Details on the real owner and funding flow of Island? Is this for real?”

“Documentation on the funding sources of Lab. The true employers of the researchers?”

“Records of slush funds paid to the kidnapping organization and lists of connections?”

With the sudden influx of documents that seemed impossible to find before, the investigation teams began to regain momentum. Naturally, these documents were the result of Rabel filtering and hacking online data, analyzed and organized by the brains of First Company and First Knight Order.

And those who had turned themselves in were among the individuals dragged into Connect and experienced the ‘Room of Truth’, leading to their repentance.

In reality, it was those with lighter offenses and critical clues who turned themselves in out of fear.

Even now, some of the individuals linked by the information they provided were being invited into Connect, and after the investigation, some of them would return to Earth to surrender. This process repeated itself.

As a result, prominent names began to surface in the media.

Qinghua Group from China.

UD Software from the USA.

Messica, the German automobile group.

Granat Pharmaceuticals from Russia.

And Daesung Corporation from South Korea.

These five global corporations, along with their related affiliates and subcontractors, came under suspicion as the main culprits in this incident.

However, their stance was resolute.

“This is an absurd slander. I truly know nothing about it.”

“I can’t understand why our company is being implicated. We will respond to these false accusations with defamation lawsuits.”

“I swear I have never seen nor heard of such a lab. Funding? Do you even know how much our company allocates in a year, to be scrutinizing this?”

No one admitted to the suspicions, nor was it likely they would. However, the situation wasn’t improving for them.

“Did you know that the slush fund account created by the chairman 15 years ago was used in this incident?”

“What do you think about the fact that the president of the company that regularly supplied materials to the lab is an old school friend of the chairman’s sixth cousin?”

Seemingly minor clues were gradually converging to a singular point. Of course, there was no concrete evidence to definitively label them as the culprits.

But with new facts revealed daily, it became increasingly clear who the real perpetrators of this incident might be.

“It’s merely a coincidence. I stake my entire reputation on fighting these absurd media attacks through legal means. However, I apologize on behalf of the presidents of some affiliates found guilty. I promise thorough verification to prevent such incidents in the future….”

Han Chang-yong, the chairman of Daesung Corporation, with an expression suggesting he knew nothing, continued to deny everything, infuriating viewers to no end.

And as a result.

Smash!

“From now on, I will not use any products produced by Daesung Group. And every day at this time, I will hold an execution ceremony for Daesung Group products!”

Numerous ranker players running individual broadcasts began boycotting products made by Daesung Corporation, and the ripple effect grew steadily.

Not only players of Connect but also the general public commenced a boycott against the five corporations implicated in the incident.

Additionally, the government began large-scale raids and tax investigations into these companies and their affiliates to apply pressure.

-Related company advertisements were completely pulled from broadcasts.

The plummeting stock prices were inevitable, and questions about the responsibility of the management emerged.

And finally.

“The management of our company, recognizing the severity of this situation, will voluntarily resign to express our apology and remorse to our customers.”

In just six months, all of the top executives of the five large global corporations were replaced.

Of course, the legal liabilities of the chairmen and their families were still not fully addressed, but this alone was a significant blow to them.

‘Don’t think this is over. This is just the beginning.’

Raul’s eyes remained cold and unyielding as he watched the screen displaying the bowed heads of the chairmen.

(To be continued)