"How is the viewership looking?" The masked man asked Hyeon, his bald assistant.
"Even better than we had expected, sir," she replied. "Thanks to the media surrounding Logan, many people want him to die. Well, they are not random people but admirers of his ex-fiance who want him dead."
"Haha, of course they do. How dare he curse at their idol?" The masked man chuckled. "I wonder what would happen when they'll get to know about what actually happened between them."
Everything was going well, with Logan's inclusion on Tartarus Online, not only the viewership, but the subscriptions had also increased astronomically.
It was just like Hyeon said since Logan's 'crimes' were fresh and committed within the community he helped cultivate, it was obvious people had developed a personal interest in what happens to him next.
While some believed in his innocence and were praying for his safety, most of the world wanted him dead. That's why they needed to make sure he did not die just yet.
"He's our golden duck and a dark horse." The man mumbled. "Let the resentment against him build up. We'll think about what to do with him later. What about the rest?"
Hyeon quickly flipped through her holographic tablet and read out the stats of other players in the tutorial.
"So far, only the top 10 players in the ranking have shown some potential to earn big." She said. "Apart from Logan and the Helenskis are a hit. Viewers, mostly men, also want to see more of Izna, for obvious reasons."
"Blood and beauty always go hand in hand. Anyone else who stands out a bit?"
Hyeon shook her head. Since the broadcast was done under strict supervision, not a lot of criminals had any idea about what they would do inside Tartarus. Thus, despite being killers, sexual assailants and whatnot, most of them were clueless what they had to do to survive the test.
Most of them spent their time running and hiding from the zombies. It was something the viewers had no interest in watching hence, only those who were doing something unique were being watched. For example, about half of the viewers were watching Logan and his veteran knowledge.
Another reason they were watching him was because of Izna and her provocative clothing. Since they had teamed up together, most of the crowd was cheering them on.
Meanwhile, some viewers wanted them to get hunted and maybe someone would end up having some adult fun with Izna in the process.
"What is Logan doing?"
"Running away, hunting zombies while he's at it."
A smile formed across the man's face, even though no one could see it. "He is dead set on getting all the titles he can. Exactly what I expected from him."
***
In the meantime...
"Why are we running away? We can take them on!" Izna yelled at the top of her lungs as the trio rushed through an alley.
"Yes, we can. But there are more important things at stake here." Logan retorted and kept running.
Thanks to being chased by a group of five assailants, Logan had already wasted his precious time. With only ten minutes remaining on the clock, he still needed to hunt down 20 more zombies to achieve an impossible feat.
Once he did that, his preparation for the next round would be complete, and then he could focus on taking care of the people that wanted his ass.
Wait... something feels a bit off.
Thinking so, Logan slowed down and instructed Izna and Snake to do the same. Simultaneously, the speed of the ones chasing them decreased as well. After confirming his suspicions, Logan conveyed his thoughts to his party.
"They ain't chasing us," he whispered in Izna's ear. We're being followed. They know if they try to fight us, they're screwed. That's why they are tailing us on someone's behalf. Probably for the Helenskis."
"Why would they do that?" Izna asked before realizing the reason herself. "They don't want us to get any stronger."
Logan nodded. As he was already much stronger than them, it was obvious they would want to halt their progress while they themselves increased their levels and stats.
It was a classic pressuring move that was usually employed in-game by different guilds to stop someone from progressing further. While their key players farmed for resources, the rest of the guild would often harass the members of the opposite guild by continuously indulging in PK.
"Looks like our opponents know a thing or two about these games as well." Logan mumbled. "That's why the five of them only attack us when we are around zombies. They don't want us to kill any more of them and hence stay stuck to our current level."
"Then what should we do?" Izna urged for an answer.
Logan had been on the receiving end of the in-game cockblocking for quite some time. Thus, it was no surprise that he had an answer in his head. Kill them before they could kill you. The only problems were the time constraint... and his moral dilemma.
Logan would have killed the chasers with no problems. But knowing that killing them here would also result in their deaths in real life made him think twice about doing something harsh.
"Do you think the two of you can hold them back for a while?" Logan questioned the two of them.
"How... long..." Snake replied before Izna could.
"Three minutes, five at most."
"Will do."
Saying so, Snake turned around and fearlessly charged at the ones chasing them. Since none of them could have any weapons, Snake knew he could at least hold them back for some time, while Logan did what he needed to do.
"You better not ditch us," Izna warned Logan, and ran to support Snake.
"Who do you think I am? I might give an entrance exam to enter the prison, but I ain't no liar!"