For a while, Valyr was left at a slight loss on what he should do next after reading the contents on the screen that appeared in front of him. After all, with him now being back to his original body from the time Greater Beyond had just been released to the public, it could be said that all of the progress he'd made as Valyr Zeihardt had been lost.

With that, he wanted to see for himself if his identity as Valyr Zeihardt was still accessible, even though both Adam and Eve had already assured him before they parted ways that he'd be able to do so.

Aside from that, one of the other reasons why he wanted to return to Greater Beyond as soon as possible was because he wanted to improve his strength as his player self.

Sure, he was more than thankful to the two that he was finally able to return to Earth after spending a few years in the world of Greater Beyond.

However, that came at the cost of basically starting all over again on a new profile, rendering all of the efforts and hardships he'd been through as Valyr Zeihardt useless.

Plus, in regards to the final battle, there wasn't really much he could do here at the moment that would be able to improve the chances of their side winning it. After all, he needed both the finances and the reputation to do that first.

And that, unsurprisingly, would only start coming about once he made a name for himself in Greater Beyond.

'Well… Adam and Eve are Administrators.' Thankfully, after a whirlwind of thoughts surfaced in his mind on what to do next, Valyr was eventually able to calm himself down, reminding himself of the kind of status the people he talked to earlier had.

'I should at least trust them that they'd follow through their words.'

'Then again, it's not like the maintenance is that long,' thought Valyr to himself, glancing at the screen in front of him once more before removing himself from the gaming pod. 'It'll only last for three and a half hours, which is like a single day in Veldanyr.'

'Aside from that, I have a strong feeling that the reason behind the maintenance might have something to do with me,' continued the young man with a slight shrug, letting out a slightly bitter chuckle soon after.

After listening to everything Adam and Eve shared with him before being forced back to Earth, it did not surprise him that they spent a lot in order to fuse both him and his past self together.

After all, from what they told him, their interaction had broken the laws of time paradox in the universe of Greater Beyond, which would have greater implications if they were left unchecked.

Hearing that, the young man imagined the two of them working together to stabilize the chaos their existences were causing before fusing both him and his past self together.

Add on the fact that his body on Earth had appeared in the world of Greater Beyond thanks to Adam's actions, the cost they incurred only grew greater. In fact, when Adam did that, Valyr immediately began to feel a sense of rejection from the universe, which he presumed was only being kept at bay by the two expending even more energy to let him stay there.

"But to think that the cost they ended up accruing only amounted to a few hours of maintenance… quite insane," said the young man at the end of his train of thought, only for a faint smile to appear on his face soon after.

"Well, they are Administrators for a reason."

Deciding not to think about the matter any further for now, Valyr swiftly made his way towards the sofa before turning on the television.

Tuning into the channels that were focused on VRMMORPGs, the young man soon found himself watching almost every one of these channels talk about Greater Beyond going into maintenance all of a sudden.

"This is Antoine Caelius from Second Reality News, keeping you up to date with the latest news on Greater Beyond." Stopping on the channel he used to often watch in the past, Valyr raised his eyebrow in slight curiosity as a pair of men appeared on the screen.

On the left was a man in his thirties whose entire appearance immediately screamed he worked for the channel he was watching, donning a brown suit that made himself look like he was attending a formal party later that day.

As for the man on the right, he wore a dark blue business suit that complemented his neatly-combed hair. Adding on his serious expression and aura, there was no doubt that anyone watching would think that the man was a higher-up in the business industry.

"We are here today with Mr. Azazel Silvers, the CEO of the company behind Greater Beyond, Blackflower Company," said Antoine with a kind smile. "Now, I suppose you already know the reason why we've asked for your appearance, right?"

"Of course," replied Azazel through the microphone Antoine pointed at him, nodding as he let out a bit of laughter. "Even I'm curious as to why the game went on maintenance all of a sudden."

"Eh?" Hearing those words, the news reporter looked back at him in confusion. "Are you telling me you don't know either?"

"In a way." Azazel faintly nodded. "After all, Greater Beyond runs on a network of quantum supercomputing servers in order to give everyone the lifelike experience they've enjoyed so far."

"With that, there's next to no oversight from the company while the game is running, leaving it up to the artificial intelligence we've tailor-made for this very purpose."

"So, you're telling us that this artificial intelligence is the one that caused the game to go into maintenance?" asked Antoine, to which the man nodded in agreement after a bit.

"You could say that," clarified Azazel. "After all, that artificial intelligence pretty much controls the entire game. Of course, if it decides that the game should go into maintenance, then I'm sure it did so for a very good reason."

"I see." Antoine nodded in slight understanding before facing the camera once more.

"Well, there you have it, folks. Since even the CEO of the game company doesn't know the reason behind the maintenance, then I suppose all of you should make the most out of the time the maintenance gave you."

"Whether it's to grab some food, do some exercise, research on topics for when Greater Beyond comes back up again, or talk with friends in advance to prepare for a dungeon run, I'm sure those three hours would pass by as if it were only ten minutes."

Feeling like he'd gotten the point he wanted across, Antoine eventually beamed a smile. "Once again, I am Antoine Caelius from Second Reality News, bringing you the latest news on Greater Beyond."

"…I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I'd hear something different from this side." As the channel he was on continued to play in the background, Valyr found the news segment just now quite amusing.

After all, the information shared by the man was a stark contrast to the information he obtained from Adam and Eve. Of course, it went without saying that the differing pieces of information between the two sides made him doubt what he knew for a bit, though such doubts only last for a short while.

Instead, he thought about the man's words from a more logical perspective, eventually concluding that sharing the information he did made a lot more sense.

"It would sound incredibly absurd if the CEO of the game company began to talk about the existence of the two universes, after all," muttered the young man to himself with a slight chuckle. "I'm sure no one would take him seriously if that were the case."

"Now then… how am I going to pass the remaining time before Greater Beyond opens again?"

Taking a quick look at the clock, Valyr noticed that half an hour had already passed since he found out that Greater Beyond was currently in maintenance.

Slightly taken aback by how quickly that much time passed, the young man went ahead and fashioned himself something to eat, only to bitterly smile once he decided to take a look at what things were in his fridge.

"…I should really take the time to earn a bit of money for myself once Greater Beyond's up again."

Seeing that the remaining things in his fridge were what he felt was the bare minimum of keeping his thirst and hunger satiated, the young man inwardly made a promise to himself as he slowly ate and drank his fill, realizing at some point that the dining experience was different between the two universes.

"…And with that, an hour has finally passed since the maintenance began." Meticulously washing all of the dishes and utensils he used while eating, Valyr thought about what he should next, wondering if he should watch one of the many movies available on the World Net.

After all, there was still two and a half hours before maintenance ended.

However, at the end of his train of thought, a random thought instead surfaced in his mind, causing Valyr to realize that there was a way for him to improve their chances during the final battle in his current state.

"They shouldn't be busy around this time, right?" With this thought in mind, Valyr hastily grabbed his phone before dialing a number in excitement.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!

Report chapter

Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter