[The sudden opening of the passage between the Overworld and Underworld, which had been sealed for over a decade, has caused a massive uproar.]
[The city is in turmoil. The news about the Underworld has completely overshadowed the rumors about you and Ron. No one is discussing you anymore.]
[You keenly realize that Ron was the one who did this.]
Bronya was taken aback, staring at the text on the screen, finding it all utterly inconceivable.
If the lockdown between the two districts was suddenly lifted, it would indeed throw all of Belobog into chaos. It was only natural that no one would care about the rumors her mother had been pushing.
However, reopening the passage wasn't necessarily a good thing...
Bronya couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
The two districts had been sealed off from each other for over a decade... After so much time, no one knew what the Underworld had become.
Moreover, the Overworld faced a grave threat from the Fragmentum. While the Underworld had been relatively safe when it was sealed, that might not be the case after it was opened.
Setting aside the potential conflicts between the people of the Underworld and the citizens of the Overworld, the mere possibility of the Fragmentum invading the Underworld would be incredibly difficult to resolve...
It created too many new problems.
Bronya looked at the text with a sense of unease, wondering for a moment if Ron had been forced to make such a choice out of desperation...
But the new text that appeared on the screen dispelled Bronya's doubts:
[The Underworld's armed organization has clashed with the Silvermane Guards. Panic has gripped all of Belobog, but your personal guard, Ron, has temporarily stopped the conflict.]
[To resolve the issue, Supreme Guardian Cocolia Rand attempted to communicate with the Wildfire organization but was explicitly refused.]
[They have taken control of the Geo-Marrow supply, seizing this month's shipment that was meant for trade. The threat is self-evident.]
[The new leader of Wildfire, Seele, and the terminal of the automaton defense line, Svarog, have released a statement—]
["Faced with the approaching Fragmentum disaster, the Overworld and Underworld must cooperate."]
[They have designated you and your personal guard, Ron, as liaisons and are only willing to communicate with the two of you.]
[Forced by the pressure, you have been reinstated to your original post and are once again permitted to wear the commander's insignia.]
Staring at the text on the screen, Bronya was stunned.
There was... a solution like this?
---o---
While Bronya was still in a daze, on the other side, Ron had already wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and collapsed onto his bed with a long sigh of relief.
"Finally turned the situation around..."
Faced with this sudden crisis, he had been caught completely off guard and was a bit flustered himself.
Fortunately, he had quickly regained his composure. After discovering that the rumors were clearly being spread by Cocolia, Ron had acted immediately.
Under the cover of night, he had slipped into the subway station that had been out of service for over a decade. Following the long-abandoned cable car ropes, he had single-handedly climbed his way down to Rivet Town in the Underworld.
There, he had found Seele, the new leader of Wildfire, who had just concluded peace talks with Svarog. Using "opening the passage between the districts and fighting the Fragmentum together" as a bargaining chip, he had reached a cooperation agreement with them and returned to the Overworld.
But even now, it still felt a bit unreal to Ron—because it had all been too simple.
His original plan had been to get to the Underworld, physically persuade Svarog, then talk to Natasha to convince Wildfire, spend a day gathering the miners, and then return to the Overworld.
He never would have guessed that the moment he arrived in Rivet Town, he would find that Natasha had already stepped down as the leader of Wildfire, and Seele had taken her place... and this had happened six months ago.
In those six months, Seele had used decisive methods to solve many of the practical problems in the Underworld and had even successfully negotiated peace with Svarog, reaching a cooperation agreement.
Wildfire had even trained a large armed squadron for the purpose of returning to the Overworld. While they were no match for the Silvermane Guards, they were more than capable of handling ordinary people.
Her efficiency and ability were far superior to Bronya's... How on earth had Seele managed it?
Did she have such a major highlight moment in the original game's plot?
Ron scratched his head, slightly puzzled, but since this was a game simulation, he could only chalk it up to the butterfly effect.
"Whatever, it's just one simulation. It's a good thing this huge mess was resolved so quickly. Who has the energy to worry about the details..."
With a liability like Bronya holding him back, Ron didn't have much time to think about other things.
Before, he had been thinking, with such an overwhelming advantage, how could we possibly lose?
Then Bronya had proceeded to show him exactly how to "throw away all your advantages at once and give yourself an even bigger stage to perform on."
Ron would be damned if he believed Bronya hadn't inherited something from Cocolia. That talent for being a terrible teammate was truly a family trait...
Though on second thought, Bronya's personal ability was probably even a little worse than Cocolia's.
After all, Cocolia had ill intentions from the start and was deliberately pushing Belobog into a fiery pit.
Bronya, on the other hand, was simply too incompetent to find a solution and ended up causing trouble with good intentions.
Honestly, if this were some competitive game and Ron encountered a rookie teammate like Bronya, he would have silently surrendered and started the next match long ago.
...But who could blame him when Bronya was so good-looking?
This Life Simulation Game was like a dating sim. As he continued to raise her affection, Ron could genuinely feel the NPC's behavior towards him change.
Just like in reality, if Ron had broken the law and been thrown into a Belobog prison, the Bronya with an initial affection of 40 would have been nothing but a cold, merciless interrogator.
But the Bronya in the simulation, with an affection of 82, would open his cell door late at night and tell him dejectedly that she was "unclean" now and couldn't be a worthy Supreme Guardian anymore.
Although the AI controlling the Bronya NPC was truly terrible, he couldn't deny that the feeling of "training" someone like this was incredibly satisfying!
With the lewd mentality of a gamer, Ron had no intention of abandoning Bronya. In fact, he was eagerly looking forward to what kind of "play" he could engage in after getting her affection above ninety.
Just as Ron was lost in his thoughts, new text appeared on the screen:
[You and the commander of the Silvermane Guards, Bronya, have arrived at the Goethe Grand Hotel and met with Seele and Svarog.]
[Because you had reached an agreement with them beforehand, the conversation is very pleasant.]
[Supreme Guardian Cocolia suddenly issues eighteen consecutive military orders, demanding that Captain Gepard quickly lead the troops to the front lines and advance into the Fragmentum.]
[However, based on their prior agreement with you, Seele and Svarog issue a statement demanding that the Silvermane Guards first enter the Underworld to help clear out the Fragmentum monsters. Otherwise, they will continue to withhold the Geo-Marrow supply.]
[Cocolia is unwilling to comply and continues to issue orders to advance into the Fragmentum.]
[But the Silvermane Guards, knowing the importance of the Geo-Marrow, do not act rashly.]
[You and Bronya, representing the Overworld, agree to Seele and Svarog's demands.]
[The Silvermane Guards dispatch a squad to the Underworld to clear out the Fragmentum creatures. No one obeys Cocolia's military orders.]
[With the help of the Underworld, you have temporarily sidelined Cocolia's military authority.]