[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-online-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons":3,"chapter-online-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons-online-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons-chapter-363":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1650590,2114,"Chapter 363: Global Fracture","online-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons-chapter-363",363,"\u003Cp>The photon weapon hummed in Arthur's hands, energy cells glowing brighter as it prepared for sustained combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, dimensional portals flickered and died one by one. The defective demons that had already entered stayed, and those that wanted to, no longer could.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gates frowned as he watched the last portal seal itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Arthur... this is bad for us. Your merge information was inaccurate. We're going to lose a lot of credibility from those who saw the video.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Political ramifications. Of course.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The military will take advantage of that and move public opinion against us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur's jaw tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The timing discrepancy hadn't been his fault, but perception mattered more than truth in the information age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fifty minutes became forty-five. Five minutes of hell that I couldn't predict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I couldn't have predicted that demons would bypass universal laws,\" he muttered with a frown on his face from the unpredictable variable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not one minute early, but five.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system itself was compromised. How?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gates nodded with grim understanding. Politics could wait when survival was at stake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sigh... I know. Our current situation isn't ideal. Let's worry about that later. No one has time to pay attention to credibility right now.\" Arthur continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aftermath will bring consequences. For now, nobody has time to worry about that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This will have repercussions after the merge... which hasn't even started yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gates's expression grew solemn, but trust radiated from his posture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright. If you say Don't worry, I won't worry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arthur's countdown timer continued its relentless march; seconds felt like hours under the assault of the demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two minutes until everything changes for real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>New York City - Manhattan\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sarah Anderson pressed herself against her apartment's reinforced door, listening to inhuman shrieks echoing through the hallway outside. Her hands trembled as she clutched her infant daughter closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They're in the building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her husband Michael stood by the window, his beta player ring glowing faintly on his finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a C rank awakened; he had the talent, Enhanced Reflexes, nothing spectacular, but enough to survive in Armageddon's early zones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could log out. Escape to safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The ring's still active,\" Michael whispered, his voice cracking. \"I could... I could get to safety. Come back when this is over.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When this is over. Will it ever be over?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sarah's eyes widened with understanding and horror. \"You're thinking about leaving me and your child? Are you serious?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm thinking about surviving!\" His voice broke completely. \"Sarah, I have a C-rank talent. I can't die in there. I can wait this out, level up, come back stronger.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his mind, he was being a rational human. Girls could be replaced, and children could be obtained again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in reality, he was nothing but a selfish, weak and pathetic man, at least that's what Sarah thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside their door, something scratched against wood with claws that sounded like rusty metal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"W-What about us? Y-You... can't leave us...your child...how could you...\" Sarah's voice barely rose above a whisper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael's face crumpled with guilt and desperate calculation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You have the safe room. Enough supplies for days, don't worry, it's just a few minutes. Once it's all over, I will come back...In the meantime, the military will—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The military is gone, Michael. Look outside.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knows. He knows, and he's still considering it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through their window, Manhattan burned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smoke pillars rose from dozens of buildings where defective demons had breached. Emergency sirens wailed endlessly, but no help was coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael's hand moved toward his ring, the motion unconscious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He's already decided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry,\" he whispered. \"I'm so sorry, but I can't die here. Not when I have a chance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ring flared with light, and he was gone, like he was never there in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sarah stood alone in their apartment, holding their daughter, listening to demons tear apart their building floor by floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her facial expressions crumbled as her own husband betrayed her and his child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abandoned. But alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She moved to the reinforced safe room, sealing the door behind her. Inside, enough supplies to last a week.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the question was whether she would last those five minutes of hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, hell continued its advance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some choose family, whilst others choose survival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jerusalem - Old City\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David had never touched a video game in his sixty-three years of life. But when the portals opened above the Dome of the Rock, releasing creatures from humanity's oldest nightmares, he understood that he had to do something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weapons. We need weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around him, his community had barricaded itself in large houses. Families huddled together, parents shielding children from sights that would scar souls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uncle David,\" young Isaac approached, his beta player ring catching candlelight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I could go. Get help. Bring back...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He, too, was thinking of escaping, but his consciousness demanded he got approval first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Bring back what, Isaac? This isn't a place you leave and return to unchanged.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaac's D-rank talent, Barrier Creation, could protect dozens of people once the merge has occurred. His absence would mean death for half the families present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I could find other players.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David's weathered hand found Isaac's shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look around you, son. See this woman holding her grandchildren. See the Khalil family sharing their food with strangers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>See what you're abandoning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaac's eyes filled with tears. \"Uncle David...I don't want to die for people I barely know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A-Am I a stranger to you Isaac? Really? Are your sister's strangers for you? Is your mother, who had held you in her belly for nine month's a stranger to you? The one who took care of you until now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just because the world has changed...it doesn't mean that you should change...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The choice that defines character\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, defective demons pounded against the walls. The stone that had stood for centuries groaned under their assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isaac stared at his ring, then at the family depending on his barriers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some rise to occasions. Others flee from them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gritted his teeth, willing to stay with his family and his community.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'll hold,\" he whispered. \"God help me, I'll hold.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1009,"2026-06-06T12:00:36.158Z",1,"novelbin.me","d7d56d498bf8107e14632ff6c32d505c648840ad33eeab19958a959308ed4ed4","online-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons-chapter-419","online-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons-chapter-418",601,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fonline-game-starting-with-sss-ranked-summons-cover.jpg"]