Child of Destiny

…… 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟ｅｌ．𝚌ｏ𝚖

The gaming industry had progressed a lot since its first successful launch. And though the passage of time, the improvements that it made even affected the lives of the players in the Real World.

Since the virtual games were a stimulated Real World, a lot of players started to notice some changes on their real bodies.

Due to that, a lot of research was made regarding this matter. With that, the researchers discovered that someone could stimulate their hidden potentials by playing a suitable virtual game.

Though, the said hidden potentials still reflected their progress on their respective Martial-Arts and Mentalism Arts.

And since the game could affect a player’s progress in the Real World, it was also possible for the other way around. The more skilled a person in the Real World, the greater a player they could become.

That was also the very reason why most of the top players from different virtual games were either a Martial-Artist or a Mentalist in the Real World.

But it didn’t guarantee that a top player was a skilled Martial-Artist or Mentalist in the Real World, since there were still some exceptional individuals who were too skilled at playing games despite being ‘untalented’ in those two major disciplines.

Though, that still didn’t mean that these individuals would remain unskilled at Martial-Arts and Mentalism. And that was where the Gyms and Dojos started kicking in.

Since a player’s skills and techniques were reflected by their strengths from the Real World, training their respective Martial-Arts and Mentalism Techniques became a must. And due to that, different kinds of public training gyms, martial-art dojos, and mentalism zendos started to become famous once again.

At the same time, the exceptional individuals who were said to be only good at playing games, started attending these public trainings. And since the virtual games were able to stimulate someone’s hidden talent, these exceptional individuals started making some progress on their respective disciplines bit by bit.

Given all of these, the industry of different training halls started to grow alongside the gaming industries. And one of the most famous public training halls was the ‘All-Gamers’ Gym’, which was a place specialized for training the players of the virtual world.

The All-Gamers’ Gym was not only one of the most famous ones, but it also belonged to the biggest training halls since it had a lot of branches in different parts of the World.

Right now, Arthur was currently on a branch of the All-Gamers’ Gym on the Soaring Continent. At the same time, the uproar made by the people who were crowding earlier finally died down.

Previously, these guys were quite excited when they learned that there was such a famous individual present of the lower floors of the gym. But the moment they calmed themselves down, they immediately went back at minding their own business.

Meanwhile, Arthur was accompanying the newcomer who said to beat the troublemakers earlier.

It was a young man with the same age as Arthur. His black hair was quite curly and seemingly messy to look at. This guy had a lean body with pale-colored skin. And no matter how hard Arthur looked at him, he always found this guy as a weak person in his eyes.

‘Tsk! I thought he is a strong Martial-Artist given how he was described by that guy earlier-…’ thought Arthur to himself while observing the newcomer beside him.

Then he looked at the pair of glasses that the newcomer was wearing which had a thin golden frame. He couldn’t help but release a helpless sigh the moment he saw this guy’s nerdy look.

Feeling that gaze, the newcomer seemed to be able to read what was running inside Arthur’s head and said. “Did you know that there is a saying that ‘Looks can be deceiving’?”

Arthur suddenly started chuckling the moment he heard that before saying. “Of course, I know about that. But given your appearance, I can easily tell that you are not a Martial-Artist. Instead, you are mostly likely a Mentalist.”

“What’s wrong with being a Mentalist?” asked the newcomer.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders while giving his reply. “There is nothing wrong with being one. The problem is you being in the Training Hall of the Martial-Artists instead of being the Zen Room meant for Mentalists.”

The newcomer suddenly clicked his tongue the moment he heard and said. “Tch! Those kinds of places are so boring. You don’t have anything aside from meditating. Even our sparring matches are nothing but some image training.”

He paused for a moment and released a dejected sigh before continuing. “I came here since I heard that Martial-Artists and Mentalists can exchange some pointers on this place.”

Hearing that, Arthur suddenly came into a realization and said. “Oh~! Is that so? Then you are in the wrong place since those kinds of things are only meant for the members who are in the higher floors.”

The newcomer suddenly became excited when he heard that. “Really? Then how can I go on the higher floors? Can you help me?”

Arthur pursed his lips as he thought for a moment before giving his reply. “Well, that is actually not that hard. But this place is being run by a strict rule, so I can only help you arrange some things.”

“Oh~… I see,” the excitement of the newcomer suddenly died down the moment heard that.

Seeing that, Arthur suddenly added. “But if you are strong enough, then you can become a ‘Regular’ directly.”

“Regular?” the newcomer suddenly became confused when he heard that. Then he suddenly remembered something. “Ah! Now I remember! Those guys are calling you a ‘Regular’. What does it mean?”

Cough! Cough!

Arthur immediately cleared his throat the moment he heard those words. It was as if he was waiting for the newcomer to ask that question. “Actually, Regulars are-…”

But before he could even finish his words, an unexpected voice suddenly cut in their conversation. “Regular is the term used by the All-Gamers’ Gym to address the members who reached the higher floors of this place.”

Hearing that voice, Arthur’s eyes suddenly turned sharp and turned his head at the direction where the voice came from. And the moment he confirmed the identity of the owner of that voice, he suddenly became hostile and said. “And what are you doing here, Mr. Super Ordinary? Why are you not dwelling inside your cave this time?”

The new guy that arrived was a young man that was a few years older than Arthur who also had a very muscular build. He had the common military haircut that looked quite neat.

When this guy heard Arthur’s words, the corner of his mouth couldn’t help twitch uncontrollably while looking at Arthur fiercely.

But that was the only thing that he could do since he knew that he still couldn’t beat this annoying guy yet. So, he could only force a stiff smile with his twitching lips while saying. “I heard from the old guard that you just came back and went on this floor, so I came here to take a look.”

Seeing that, Arthur suddenly raised one of his eyebrows and sneered. “Oh~! You missed getting beaten into a pulp? Don’t worry, I will deal with you later once I am done instructing my new recruit,” while patting the shoulder of the newcomer guy.

Knowing that he only couldn’t beat Arthur even in the war of words, ‘Mr. Super Ordinary’ immediately decided to make his exit. “Ah! I just remember that I still need something. So, I will be leaving you guys now.”

But before he could even turn his body around to walk away from the duo, Arthur suddenly stopped him from doing so and said. “Wait, I still haven’t said that you can leave now.”

The Mr. Super Ordinary was suddenly frozen in place the moment he heard that. He refused to move even for a bit despite knowing that he was completely in trouble.

He couldn’t help but blame his stupidity for coming here. He thought that he was going to witness Arthur being beaten up by the Core Formation Experts who were causing a ruckus here. But from the looks of it, he put himself in trouble instead.

Seeing that, Arthur nodded his head satisfyingly before turning around with the newcomer guy. After that, he immediately whispered. “Hey, you want to have a sparring match with the other Regulars, right?”

The newcomer immediately nodded his head after he heard that. And when Arthur saw that, he quickly added. “But before you can do that, you need to get on the higher floor first before gaining the right to challenge them.”

“Then how can I go on the higher floors?” asked the newcomer almost immediately.

Arthur suddenly grinned the moment he heard that and said. “Simple. You just need to pass the trails designated on each floor before you can advance on the higher floor. But you can’t skip any trails, you need to do them successively.”

The newcomer pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. After that, he immediately asked. “On what floor can I find the strongest Regulars?”

Arthur suddenly started chuckling the moment he heard that question. “I see. You are also a greedy individual, huh?”

But the newcomer immediately refuted. “It is not that I am being greedy. I just need to know how many floors I need to beat before I can find some decent opponents.”

He suddenly paused on talking due to some hesitation. But he immediately continued after a brief hesitation. “Actually, I don’t have much time to do all of the trials. I just sneak out from home, so I need to find at least a single opponent with great skills before my personal guard can find me and bring me back home.”

Arthur started chuckling more when he heard that and even gave the newcomer a thumbs up. “A rebel kid like me, I like that. What’s your name?”

The newcomer hesitated for a moment before replying. “I-I am… Molton Potter.”

“Aright, Junior Molton. I can help you skip the trials of each floor and advance on the floor where the finest Regulars are located,” said Arthur almost instantly.

Then he paused for a moment to check if Mr. Super Ordinary was still standing on his spot. And after confirming that the poor victim was still present, Arthur turned his head at Molton and said. “But before that, I need you to acknowledge me as your Senior Brother. How was it?”

Molton immediately nodded his head repeatedly the moment he heard that. As long as he could spar with some strong guys, addressing this strange guy as his Senior Brother was not a big deal. “Please instruct me, Senior Brother.”

When Arthur got the confirmation, he suddenly started grinning even widely while saying. “Alright, my dear Junior Brother. Just follow my lead and I will make sure that you will achieve greatness on this so-called tower of gamers.”

….