Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 176: Just Like That

<...there was actually also money involved. The authorities can take or confiscate them, we don’t care anymore. But all these people saying bad things about him, that’s just not true. We refuse to believe any of that—because that man they’re talking shit about? When we found money from the smugglers’ truck, he only took like five percent of it and gave the rest to us. He...>

"You did something like that, man...? Wait, how much money are we talking about here?"

The television screen flickered as Grace’s testimony continued, her voice steady despite the tremor of emotion beneath it. Adam didn’t really do any of those for recognition, not at all. But now, seeing someone come to his defense... he felt a warmth he couldn’t really understand.

<How many? How many of you people who talk badly about him would do the same thing? I don’t think he was even a Hero back then, and he fought for us. Come here, and tell us to our faces that that young man is evil.>

"Holy shit," Harvey whispered. "She’s really going for it."

And Grace wasn’t finished. The news anchor tried to interject, but Grace seemed to have a lot to say.

In the end, however, the broadcast cut to a commercial before she could continue. The RLRD members turned to look at Adam. He stood frozen, the Shion still in his hand.

"Well," Evan said, drumming his fingers against his leg. "That was something."

"I don’t think they will be the last." And surprisingly, Mira spoke up, crossing her arms as her tail popped up from behind and started wagging slowly.

"I’ve seen firsthand what Adam does during our operations—I don’t think they will be the last to speak up for you, Endless."

And she was right.

It took a day to destroy Adam’s reputation. It also took a day to restore it.

Grace wasn’t the last to speak up. Soon, more people revealed themselves—survivors from the cleanup sites, families of those who’d died in Leaks Adam had cleared, even some of the addicts from his old apartment building who remembered the cash he’d thrown from the window.

Unlike the horrifying accusations against Adam, the people he helped had receipts. Photos, videos, witness testimonies. Real evidence.

"Look at this," Harvey said, scrolling through his phone. "This guy’s got security footage of you lifting that concrete slab off his car. And this woman... she’s got medical records showing her daughter would’ve died if you hadn’t gotten her to the hospital so fast."

The insane part was, they all kept coming.

Every hour brought new testimonies. New faces. New stories of Adam’s quiet heroism that had gone unnoticed until now.

Adam watched the screen, mesmerized. This time, he was looking at a familiar face—Marianne, the server he’d helped back in that small town.

<He could have just ignored their threats to me; I am used to those boys bothering me. But Mr. Adam? No. He stood up for me. He helped me. And then he helped the town when those evil demons came.>

Something was weird with Marianne, however. She was holding a photo of Adam—not a screenshot from the Game footage, but an actual printed photograph.

"Uh... why is she holding a photo of you, man? Wait a minute..." Harvey said, leaning forward. "Bro, they’re all holding pictures of you, man!"

The other members of the Church of Administrators of the town were behind her—and Harvey was right, they were all holding images of him right next to their... rosaries.

"That’s... unsettling," Derek muttered.

"They’re treating him like a saint," Selena observed, "How deliciously blasphemous."

Half an hour later, another step forward. It was one of the creeps from the other team in his first Game—a woman who remembered how Adam had tried his best to save them even though they were enemies.

But what the news kept coming back to was Grace. More specifically, her mention of the Hospital.

How could they not, when Grace had also told them some men in suits had come to her asking questions about Adam. The other women with her said the same thing.

They all told the public that right after the incident, they started asking questions about Adam—they were sure those people were from the Hospital.

And now, almost everyone tuning into the news about Adam knew the Hospital existed.

And now, everyone was asking questions about the Hospital. Where it could possibly be, does the president know about it, were they still experimenting on people.

All of them were now going to the internet and posting—#releasethefiles.

And it didn’t end there. A day later, people were now even protesting near the White House and shouting the same thing.

As for Adam, well, he wasn’t out of the gutter yet.

While it was true his reputation was salvaged, and the hate was manufactured, it was still true that some guilds had become dissatisfied with him, as it felt like he was directly competing and racing against them. His actions were still being reviewed by the IBAA’s disciplinary board.

And so, right now, Adam was only able to respond to actual High-risk Leaks.

"Are there any more?" Adam asked while on the helicopter, watching the landscape blur beneath them.

Harvey groaned. "You want to do more?! Dude, we’ve cleared three today already."

"Everything seems quiet," Beatrice said while scanning her tablet. "I’d advise going back to rest. New Leaks would stop appearing soon, as the next Game nears."

Harvey celebrated. "Finally! We get to rest for a few days."

Adam could really only sigh at this, then look at the floating words in front of him.

[Free Status Points: 59]

He’d been hoping he could at least reach sixty, but alas. He could only sigh again and agree to return to the RLRD.

Sadly, Beatrice was right. An entire day passed without incident. No High-Risk Leaks. No alerts. Not even a minor rupture anywhere in the world.

The silence was almost unsettling.

By afternoon, the members were gone. After all, it was only in days like these that they could afford to take a break.

A break that Adam found himself restless in. And so, he did what the others did. He left.

He kicked his motorcycle to life and rode toward the city, letting the wind press against his jacket and clear his thoughts.

There was a market Harvey had mentioned more than once—a market where they sold random materials from Leaks, as well as equipment made from them.

Harvey had claimed he’d once found something interesting there, but he didn’t say what when Adam asked him about it.

He only said it was something that "changed his life".

That alone made Adam curious.

And perhaps... that curiosity was a mistake.