Child of Destiny

……

Shin continued to read through the rest of the patch notes and found nothing more interesting than the ones above. The rest was more like additional buffs to certain types of monsters and a certain increase in difficulty when clearing a dungeon.

After reading everything, Shin finally stood up and looked at the rest. “Alright, this should where it ends. Good job, everyone! We can now have a proper rest.”

The group nodded their heads as they sighed in relief. Black Hand and S.Tigris even walked over to Shin before the latter said their thanks. “We are grateful that you guys bring us on this quest even though we have not done much during the entire adventure.”

Shin laughed when he heard those words and spoke. “What are you talking about? You guys helped a lot, especially Black Hand. Without him, things are going to be complicated.”

They chatted for a while Lawless walked over alongside Faker. “I guess this is where we are separating again. That is a good adventure! Let’s play again together next time!”

Shin smiled and nodded his head. “That sounds fun. I think we are going to work together again in the Awakened Continent. Based on the patch notes, the monsters, and dungeons there are much harder than the ones on this side.”

“Surely!” said Lawless before walking away with Faker.

‘Alright, we are done with our job. The next step now is to negotiate with Big Sis when building the city. This time, I will not give her a mile since I now have someone to manage the city for me. I also prepared everything that I need, so I will be having a better edge in this negotiation,’ Shin was currently thinking about what he was going to do next when Arthur suddenly called the attention of everyone.

“Alright! Now that we finished everything, it is time to wrap this up with a farewell party!” said Arthur, attracting Shin’s attention.

Shin was could not help but furrowed his brows as he could sense something was not right. He knew this brother of his very well and was sure that this guy was plotting something.

But before he could even think about what it was, he suddenly noticed that some of the members of their group were walking towards Arthur’s side. They seemed to be dividing the group into two smaller teams.

On the other side, he saw Leonard, Zero, Black Hand, S.Tigris, Ara, Chaotic Luck, and Charlotte, grouping together. And from the look on their faces, Shin could not help but have an ominous feeling. He could already see what was going to happen next.

“Hey! What is the meaning of this? I have too tired of your nonsense. I don’t have time to play with you,” said Shin with a solemn tone.

Arthur chuckled after hearing those words. “Don’t worry. We will make sure that this is going to be quick.”

He paused for a moment and kicked the ground so suddenly, launching himself toward Shin while thrusting his spear forward.

Swoosh!

The expression on Shin’s face quickly turned serious and swiftly unsheathed his sword to block the incoming attack.

Cling!

Sparks flew in the air as Shin locked his gaze on Arthur’s. And when the latter saw that, he continued to chuckle. “You don’t have a choice for this.”

The moment when those words left Arthur’s mouth, the surroundings suddenly changed as an energy boundary enclosed a certain part of the city to create an arena.

Then Arthur continued. “I’m sorry but I don’t have a choice either. This is one of the conditions that I have to complete for Eira to become my Dragon’s Partner. I have to fight a Transcendent Being in that condition.”

“There is no risk on this either. Even if we kill each other, we will not suffer any kind of penalty as it is a special quest scenario.”

“Don’t take it personally, alright? I’ll treat you something good later when we log out of the game,” he added as he distanced himself away from Shin and re-grouped with his ‘team’.

The corner of Shin’s mouth suddenly twitched when he heard those words before asking. “If it is only challenging a Transcendent Being, then can’t you just make it a one-on-one duel against the others? Why make it into a group battle?”

Arthur shrugged his shoulders and answered nonchalantly. “Well, it is more fun this way.”

Pausing briefly, he pointed at the guys behind him and the ones behind Shin. “See? They are quite eager to try it.”

Hearing those words, Shin turned his gaze toward the guys behind him and found that the guys behind him were already preparing to fight. Cloe, Lawless, Faker, Ember, Ravier, Alucard, and Owen – there was clear excitement in their eyes despite showing some signs of being tired.

Shin could only sigh helplessly when saw that. He was someone who liked fighting strong people too, but he was not in the mood right now. He was too tired for it. Aside from the events inside the game, he was also physically and mentally exhausted in the real world too. He really wanted to have a proper rest after finishing the Empire Quest.

He did not even bother to check on his rewards for clearing the quest!

Left without a choice, Shin could only agree to it. He glared at Arthur and warned. “You better compensate me properly later. If not, let’s see what I will do to your precious collections.”

**********

Psh!

In his room, Shin got off his Gaming Cabin fully exhausted. The supposedly simple scuffle turned out to be a chaotic battle with both sides giving out everything they had.

Even though some of them could not fight at their full strength after entering a weakened state, the entire event turned out to be an intense battle. But despite the complaints that Shin had, he still enjoyed the entire battle.

He could only curse his luck for treating such a troublesome guy as a brother.

Shin threw everything about the game at the back of his head as he collapsed on his bed and close his eyes, planning to take a rest. The servers of the game would be undergoing a major update, so he did not have to worry about in-game matters for the time being.

Right now, he needed to focus on recuperating from his internal injuries and adjusting himself to his current state.

His Martial Arts were currently sealed alongside Uno, so he had to familiarize himself with not having it for the time being. The questions that he had for Uno also needed to wait until that time.

Thinking deeply about it, Shin found that it might be for the better. He could adjust himself to new Mentalism Techniques this way and focused on familiarizing himself with them, especially the sword-drawing style from the Jade Kirin Scripture.

“Now that I think about it, I guess I need to have a talk with Senior Brother about this Mentalism Method,” muttered Shin to himself.

The ‘familiarity’ that he was sensing from the sword-drawing style really bothered him. It seemed like the Jade Kirin Scripture was hiding more secrets aside from the ones that he already discovered.

The more he learned about this particular Mentalism Method, the more mysterious it became to his eyes. It was like diving into a bottomless abyss where he could not see its depths no matter how hard he tried.

Looking at the windows and seeing the morning that was about to start, Shin forced himself to stand up from the bed. Even though he suffered some internal injuries from the berserk energy within him last night, it was not that serious that it would prevent him from doing any kind of activity.

With his healthy physique, it would not take much time for it to heal. At most, he would not be able to do his morning exercises for the time being. But he would be able to focus on meditating and hone his Mentalism this way.

He did not know why, but he felt that he could not afford to be left behind by Uno, who was currently sealed inside his body. He had to become even stronger and more skilled at Mentalism Techniques for the days to come.

Having that in mind, he sat on the floor and meditated for a couple of hours to compensate for the morning training that he would be missing for the day, before heading to the bathroom to shower.

When he got out and changed into a new set of clothes, he quickly walked out of the room and headed down to chat with the others about the new update of the game. 𝑏𝘦𝘥𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑜𝑟𝘨

But when he climbed down the stairs, he saw Leonard and Arthur, who were in the middle of going out of the house.

“Hey! Where are the two of you going? You still owe me a meal or two for what you’ve done earlier,” shouted Shin, stopping the two.

The duo halted in their tracks and turned back. There was a constipated look on their faces as if they had eaten something rotten.

Leonard sighed for a moment before replying. “The Combat Depart just contacted us. They want us to come to the campus and meet our seniors. It must be a similar event that happened in your department.”

“Tsk! Damn it! Why do we have to go there when we can just do it during the start of the semester!” complained Arthur before saying to Shin. “Don’t worry, we will be back before the sky darkens. We will fetch you later and head to the famous seafood restaurant of Ace City.”

“For now, you have to think of a way to burn the time while waiting,” he added before turning around and walking out of the door.

“See you later, Shin Bro. The earlier match is quite exciting,” said Leonard before following after Arthur.

Shin clicked his tongue and headed to the kitchen to look for ingredients that he could use for a simple meal. But just turned around when he saw Jerimiah and Vincent walking down the stairs one after another.

“Yo, Brother Shin! Planning to cook something?” greeted Jerimiah before quickly adding. “You are injured, right? You shouldn’t move much and take a rest.”

Shin shrugged his shoulder and answered. “It is not that serious. Just minor injuries and it will immediately after a day’s sleep or two. I better move my body rather than lie on my bed all day.”

Jerimiah thought for a moment before suggesting. “Then let’s go eat something outside. I want to test the local delicacies here since the time I arrive. Come and join us since we don’t have anything better to do. The game servers are going to be in long maintenance.”

“But Arthur and Leonard are going to treat me later. I will not feel good if I eat seafood from breakfast to dinner,” Shin replied before adding. “It is just a matter of my palate. I don’t like eating the same type of food on a day.”

Jerimiah laughed when he heard those words before waving his hand. “Then that’s it. Vincent and I will be heading out of them. See you later!”

After that, he walked toward the front door alongside Vincent. The latter gave Shin a slight smile and nod before he left.

It was at this moment that David suddenly appeared beside Shin out of nowhere. “Junior Brother. I have a favor to ask.”

Shin almost hit his Senior Brother due to being caught off-guard. Fortunately, he was able to stop himself from doing it when he recognized the person who appeared beside him like a ghost.

“Can’t you appear normally like the others? Are you planning to kill someone from a heart attack?” commented Shin before answering. “What is it? Quick, spit it out! But let me warn you – this does not mean I am going to help you.”

David cleared his throat for a moment before continuing. “Your Senior Sister created a mess and I have to clean it up before Master hears about it.”

Shin blankly stared at David for a couple of seconds before finally reacting. “Huh~!?”

…