There's a saying that goes:

—Too many captains, and the boat ends up in the mountains.

The scene inside Ark's meeting hall… was exactly that.

An uncontrollable mess of chaotic freedom.

The loudest voice seemed destined to win.

Looking at this, it was painfully obvious how a mission as critical as the "lockdown order" had been so sloppily handled—just because of the words of a man claiming to be Kyle, who'd appeared barely a week ago.

Jhin stifled a hollow laugh.

Ark didn't just have too many captains.

It had no one steering the ship.

At least Storm was doing his best to rein in the wild horses that were the Players, trying to pull things back together. But it clearly wasn't easy.

It was apparent that Park didn't hold any significantly higher authority than the others.

…That's a problem.

And the root of it?

Probably the sheer number of people who had died.

Three months ago, the "dungeonization" phenomenon swept across the entire Earth, sparing no one regardless of status or age. No one was safe from monster attacks.

Didn't matter if you were smart.

Didn't matter if you had money.

Didn't matter how much power you held.

What mattered now—was whether you could fight monsters.

Even the President of a nation could be toppled easily if he lacked the survivability to withstand a dungeon.

And in such a world, only one type of person could rise to the top.

Players.

And here came the chronic flaw of that system.

The age of the Players—most of them were in their teens to twenties. Older generations were typically unfamiliar with online games.

So while they had plenty of gaming experience… they lacked life experience.

Indeed, the Players sitting in this very meeting were mostly young. The oldest among them might be in their late 30s, at best.

And even then, most of them were middling in terms of actual skill.

And none of them respected each other.

Everyone was around the same age, everyone had comparable abilities. So who was supposed to lead? Who was qualified to give orders?

Each was strong in their own right. Each made their own decisions.

Ark had only survived this far because Thousand Beyond Thousand's Bellatris had aligned herself with Storm.

But now that Bellatris had been away… the chaos was back in full swing.

They're nothing but a band of unruly misfits.

In that respect, Exodia 1 had been much simpler.

That world was a caste society—kings and nobles, commoners and slaves. Decisions like lockdowns were not made on whims. No chaos. No shouting matches.

And new blood ousting old? Practically unheard of.

No wonder the fake Kyle was able to gain control here so easily.

Everyone was strong and talented… but no one wanted to take responsibility. That was Ark's current state.

And in that vacuum of leadership, an unqualified fraud strutted around, playing king.

Feels like I've boarded a sinking ship.

In any case, with Millie's appearance flipping the mood between boiling and freezing over and over… Bellatris's arrival pushed the meeting into yet another turning point.

Jhin swallowed dryly as he looked at her.

She looked exactly like she had in the game.

Always went around calling herself a genius, and maybe she had a point…

She couldn't be taller than 160 centimeters. Tiny, practically scampering up to the podium—yet her presence overpowered the entire room.

Bellatris.

The genius mage of Thousand Beyond Thousand.

She furrowed her brow like she couldn't be more bothered and said:

"Can't we just let both of them be Kyle?"

"…What?"

"Why are we being picky? Just let 'em both be Kyle."

She was as absurdly unpredictable as ever—even compared to her in-game self.

What followed was Bellatris's trademark: seemingly nonsensical logic that somehow made you nod your head.

"…You're suggesting we acknowledge both of them as Kyle?"

"Yup. No rule says there has to be only one. Is it really that important who the real Kyle is?"

"Of course it is. Kyle was Rank 1! No one can replicate his massive experience, and—"

"Blah blah."

She casually cut off Storm's argument and spoke bluntly.

"The point is—Kyle was just really good at the game."

"…That's true."

"What we actually need right now isn't the #1 on the Exodia 1 rankings. We need someone who's better at clearing dungeons."

"…That's also true."

Even as he realized he was falling into her rhythm, Storm couldn't help but agree.

Bellatris looked around at the crowd, her expression full of pity.

"What matters isn't which one's the real Kyle. What matters is—who's more useful?"

Her eyes flicked from Jhin to the fake Kyle and back again, razor-sharp.

"In that regard, both are decent. Their combat abilities are supposedly similar, right?"

The brief battle in the corridor between Jhin and the imposter had already spread like wildfire.

A fairly even fight.

Even if not everyone was ready to admit Jhin was the real Kyle, no one dared look down on him either.

Whatever else he was—he was strong.

"So let's just call both of them Kyle. One can be Domestic Kyle, and the other can be Import K."

"D-Domestic Kyle…"

"Problem solved?"

But the looks aimed at Bellatris were still full of unresolved questions. She wrinkled her nose and asked:

"…Do we really have to decide?"

"Well… from a practical standpoint, you're not wrong. But Kyle's position carries a lot of weight. We can't have two heads."

K's influence was bigger than most realized. Even the rogue "Import Kyle" was being treated with respect—just because he bore the name "Kyle."

He was Rank 1. That carried a kind of assurance—being near him meant you might not die so easily.

That, perhaps, was the difference in perspective between Bellatris and everyone else.

To her, Kyle wasn't that important.

"Ugh, what a pain…"

Bellatris muttered, clearly fed up. Then she suddenly snapped her fingers.

"Fine. We'll just figure out which one's real."

"…You have a method?"

"Yup."

"Oooh…!"

Faces across the room lit up at her confident tone. Despite her young age, when she spoke, people listened. And it wasn't just because she was Thousand Beyond Thousand.

Jhin watched her, intrigued, wondering what solution she'd suggest.

She really is a genius.

Her achievements in the game came back to him. Entering New Capital National University at nine. Passing her Ph.D. course at ten. NASA asking her for advice.

Bellatris was, in truth, just as famous in Corelands as Millie.

"Import Kyle has the Meteor Blade of Calamity. Domestic K has Clark's testimony. Both are strong arguments, right?"

"Yes. It's hard to declare one as definitive. …Unless there's some other clue that could distinguish them."

"There isn't."

"…What?"