Raji tapped the tablet in front of her, and a hologram appeared in the middle area of the round table.
There was a graph table showing various sets of data in the hologram.
"As you all know, the last ’Meeting Of Gods’ discussed a very important topic: the number of dungeon gates is drastically increasing in recent times..."
"The density of mana is increasing at an alarming speed... but the worst thing is that the density of miasma is also increasing at a very fast speed..."
Raji showed satellite images of the ’Forbidden Edge’ of the demon continent, where hundreds of thousands of demons were present.
"There’s a sudden spike in the number of demons wandering around the ’forbidden edge’... the density of miasma concentrated in the demon continent has started to rise tremendously since the Chronos incident..."
"Many SS-rankers think that the ’strange building’ that Demon Prince Alverto summoned caused some ’change’ in the world..."
Alverto only managed to keep the altar activated for just a few dozen seconds, yet those few dozen seconds were enough to cause a stir in the entire universe.
Causing changes in the ’laws’ of the ’world’ creates massive chaos and trouble for everyone.
That small time frame has caused a recoil strong enough to boost the already increasing density of mana and miasma in the world.
Which in turn will give rise to the opening of new dungeons.
"Not counting the lower-rank dungeon, the number of S-rank dungeon gates has increased by 2 times in the last month and there are new SS-rank gates that have opened recently in a frequent manner..."
"This has caused us to have an increased shortage of manpower..."
Not only do they have to now deal with the increased number of S-rank gates, but they still have to keep quite a few S-rankers stationed near the Rex Mansion at all times.
Rio is taking care of the criminals and terrorists, but even then, the shortage of manpower is getting more and more serious.
"Last week, a party of five S-rankers was wiped out when raiding an S-rank dungeon... we are keeping that news secret right now, as the nation has only just stabilized..."
"But the problem won’t just disappear even if we hide it from others... all existing S-rank dungeons have become more stronger and powerful due to the increasing concentration of mana in them..."
Rio glanced at the picture of the profiles of the five dead S-rankers and found that he actually knew those faces.
He had met the five of them in the graduation ceremony, and they had come to him to invite him to join their guilds.
Each one of them belonged to a different guild, but all five of their guilds were working together to improve their combat power.
’To think that an entire party of S-rankers got wiped out... just how much did that dungeon get boosted by the increase in miasma? That’s way too insane...’
Rio could feel the other S-rankers tense up after hearing this series of devastating news.
The issue with the demon continent was something that was bound to happen with an increase in the density of miasma, but that was something that SS-rankers would need to worry about.
The increase in the difficulty of S-rank gates will affect all S-rankers instead.
Not only will raiding S-rank dungeons become more difficult and dangerous than it already is, but it might even make some S-rankers stop raiding dungeons and create even more manpower shortages.
Even if Rio himself raids several dungeons a week, he is also just one person in the end; he can’t always be everywhere to close so many dungeons before they go into their berserk mode.
’Sigh, after entering the adult world, life has become filled with more troubles and responsibilities...’
Rio couldn’t have cared less about this matter when he was still an academy student, but now he’s also an S-ranker, and even he will get affected by such matters.
"In the context of the demon continent’s problem, the world alliance has issued an alert that all nations remain in war-ready states in case of sudden demon outbreak..."
"If a large-scale demon outbreak happens, S-rankers will be the ones holding the frontlines, as we SS-rankers will have to deal with the demon king and his possible hidden underlings..."
Raji sighed at those words and continued in a solemn voice,
"In the absence of an absolute deterrent like ’Ashtel Rex,’ we can only rely on our military and powerful logistics to deal with this matter..."
"I request you all to stay in a vigilant state of mind, as we might have to enter a new ’Demon War’..."
Hearing those words, some of the S-rankers couldn’t take it anymore and started rubbing their temples in panic and depression.
Some looked too shocked to even speak anymore, and some were already regretting their every life choice.
Everyone knows that if a war happened, the ones who would go on the front lines would suffer the most casualties.
Every S-ranker is not like Rio, who’s always in the mood for combat and is always trying to improve his skills.
Most S-rankers are old fellows who have been through many hardships to reach this level, and they have already made up their minds to retire and live a comfortable life.
Reaching S-rank can give you a respected and privileged lifestyle; most of them have gotten used to this peaceful life. No one wants to let go of this sweet honey like ’peace’ and enter a death match with demons and monsters.
Not everyone is like Rio, who has massive room for future growth; most of them have already exhausted their talent by barely reaching rank S, and they have no hope for future progress.
In such a situation, fighting in wars will be just a struggle to constantly survive with no real benefits and better future profits.
As they say, no one wins in a war; it’s just a lose-lose situation for every party, as many innocent lives get sacrificed.
Rio looked at those disheartened S-rankers and felt a bit of sympathy for them.
’We are only considering the situation as hypothetical right now and they are already this depressed... I wonder what will happen to them when ’that being’ will descend on this world and even SS-rankers will be left powerless...’
Rio hoped to delay that situation as much as possible, but it was going to happen eventually; there was no point in thinking up nonexistent possibilities of it not happening.
"The S-rank dungeons have increased along with low-rank dungeons; this means the dungeon clearance quota for everyone will be increased, causing your work to increase..."
Upon hearing Raji’s declaration, one of the despairing S-rankers immediately raised an objection.
"B-but how can this be!? We are already way too busy and understaffed for this! You also know that the danger of S-rank gates has increased!"
Raji only nodded her head at those words and replied calmly,
"I am telling you all about this so that you can prepare yourself mentally. I am not asking you about your opinions; this is something you will have to do whether you want or not..."
"All of your families also live in this nation... even if you all can leave, what about your loved ones, if the entire nation gets destroyed because no one stepped up to work harder in times of difficulty..."
"Wouldn’t the entire world get destroyed if such mentality spread everywhere?..."
Raji sighed and continued speaking.
"Look at the brighter side... We humans are still one of the luckier ones... take a look at those weaker races who barely have a few dozen S-rankers at most..."
"They might even go extinct in the coming few decades..."
Raji knew that a new age of chaos was coming and there was no stopping it.
’There’s so much trouble brewing in the dark everywhere, that many will be unable to keep up with the changing times and will perish in misery...’