Child of Destiny

……

“Come, try and take it from me,” said Shin with a sneering tone while also making a provoking gesture at the mysterious player.

‘I can’t read his information? This guy is not your average John Doe then,’ he thought to himself when he failed to read the basic information of the guy even with the help of ‘True Sight’ observation Skill.

On the other hand, the mysterious would naturally recognize Shin since he was not wearing his signature mask to hide his identity.

“Don’t get too cocky, newbie. You are just a little cub who barely reached the pinnacle of Virtual World,” said the mysterious player who seemed to be mocking Shin’s actions.

Shin suddenly knitted his eyebrows when he heard those words. ‘An old-timer like Arthur?’

At the same time, he also saw that the mysterious player was swapping out the special items on his hand with a real weapon this time; and it was a pair of daggers.

Seeing that his opponent was getting ready to battle, Shin also started making his preparations and took his battle stance.

Due to that, the temperature inside the room dropped sharply as the auras coming from the bodies of the two started clashing against each other.

When the mysterious player saw that Shin was able to negate the aura that he released, he suddenly started grinning from ear to ear before saying. “You sure are one hell of a guy. Our group is already keeping an eye on you, but we still can’t figure out your real strength – especially with that insane growth rate that you have.”

Hearing that, Shin couldn’t hold his curiosity anymore and asked with a solemn tone. “You know who I am?”

Then he suddenly remembered the thing that Leonard had said about the members of a notorious and mysterious organization. “Are you from the ‘Pandemonium Descendants’?”

The mysterious player couldn’t hide his surprise when he heard the words from Shin. He then started chuckling before saying. “This is quite unexpected, to think that a ‘newbie’ player knows our existence? You sure are an interesting one.”

But at the same time, he also remembered Shin’s connection with Arthur and Leonard. “Oh~! No, you probably already heard about us from those two, the famous Dragon God: Siegfried and notorious War God: Simba.”

“Those two really are going to be a problem for us in the future. I guess we now need to turn our focus on eliminating them as soon as possible before they hinder our plans,” he muttered in a soft voice, seemingly forgetting about Shin’s existence.

Seeing that his opponent was slightly getting distracted, Shin wanted to take advantage of that situation and planned to make his move.

But right before he could take the first step forward, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation shrouding his entire body.

“What was that,” mumbled Shin to himself, fully confused.

At the same time, he also heard the mysterious player talking. “It is still too early for you to challenge a ‘Troupe’ member such as myself. If you want to have the qualifications, then go deal with our ‘Head Sweepers’ first.”

After that, a portal suddenly appeared behind him before raising his head slightly to let Shin see the mocking smile that he was currently wearing.

“Just say my greetings to those monsters on your side! And tell them that I’ll claim their heads soon,” he said before stepping on the space portal behind him.

But before fully stepping on it, he suddenly remembered something and immediately added. “Ah~! Before I forget, hold that divine horn for me for the time being. I’ll take it back later, so you better properly protect it from the other ‘fishermen’ around.”

“And in exchange, I will give you my name, ‘Mammon’. Engrave it in your mind very well for I am going to make sure to delete your in-game account in the future,” after that, he continued stepping backward while leaving some maniacal laughs for Shin to be heard.

Naturally, Shin wanted to stop Yama from getting away. Unfortunately, it was already too late, especially that the void gate was already closing.

Moreover, he could also sense some movements coming from the outside. They were probably the guard who took away the other players that didn’t pass the so-called test earlier.

“Tsk!” Even though he was unwilling to leave, Shin didn’t have any other choice since this incident was going to be pinned on him if he didn’t get out of this place as soon as possible.

Having that in mind, Shin immediately used the ‘Dark Cloaking’ skill to enter a sheath state. And quickly after that, he secretly left the tribe leader’s residence before rushing towards the place where he heard the group.

Not long after, Shin met with the others and quickly told them to leave.

“What!? I thought we were going to defeat that Tribe Leader?” asked Arthur, full of confusion. Though, he still chased after Shin who already ran quite a distance.

Following closely behind them was Leonard who was also running on his feet. Meanwhile, Chaotic Luck and Cloe were currently riding their mounts to keep up with the insane speed of the trio.

“He is already dead!” said Shin without even turning his head at them.

“What?” 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝒈

This time, the group became even more confused when they heard those words. But at the same time, Arthur started complaining immediately after. “What the hell man~!? We are supposedly going to take him down together, how come you left us behind and have all the fun?”

On the other hand, the other three were currently wearing a weird look on their faces as they didn’t know how to react to the words that they heard from Shin.

Sensing that Leonard was not saying anything, Arthur couldn’t help but turned his head at him and asked. “Hey! Why are you not scolding him?! Don’t you feel betrayed.”

And that was only when Leonard managed to regain his composure. He then looked at Arthur and replied. “He said that the Tribe Leader is already killed,” emphasizing the main issue.

Hearing that, Arthur immediately nodded his head and said. “That is what I’m talking about! He already killed-…”

And that was only when Arthur realized what they were thinking and immediately turned at Shin with a shocked expression on his face. “Wait!!! How is that possible!? That tribe leader should be a Level-200 Named NPC!!! He should be as strong as a Level-200 King Class Monster!!!”

Seeing that Arthur was starting to freak out, Shin immediately shook his head and denied what they were thinking. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not the one who did it-…”

He then trailed his words for a couple of moments before continuing with a solemn tone. “Another party got involved.”

“Eh!?” This time, the group became even more surprised the moment they heard those words.

Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe already got an idea of who was that ‘party ‘. But they still wanted to confirm, so one of them asked seriously. “Is it them?”

Feeling the heaviness on his tone, Shin immediately nodded his head and replied. “I’m still not clear with the whole details, but they seem to be aware of what is really going on.”

“But one thing is for sure, the ‘Pandemonium Descendants’ really are involved right now,” he added quickly after a brief pause.

The other three turned silent for a few moments before Cloe opened her murmur with a soft voice. “What about their most elite team, the Pandemonium Troupe? Are they in this place?”

No matter how quiet her voice was, the others were able to hear her. Especially with their enhanced senses.

“The assailant says that he is a member of the ‘Troupe’, so he may be one of them,” said Shin immediately after overhearing her. He then slightly turned his head to the side, looking over his shoulders before saying. “He even wants me to say ‘Hello’ for him to the two of you.”

And when he saw that they two were not reacting much, he immediately added. “He also says that he is called ‘Mammon’ or something.”

This time, there were some noticeable changes in the expression of the two when they heard that peculiar name. And when Shin saw that, he immediately asked. “You know him?”

Meanwhile, the two immediately nodded their heads, acknowledging what Shin had said.

“Well, not personally. But we at least know that he is really a member of the Pandemonium Troupe, the Sloth Devil; Mammon,” added Leonard.

“Is he really that strong?” asked Shin curiously.

Leonard thought for a couple of moments before replying. “I really don’t know about his real strength, but one thing is for sure, he is as strong as Arthur and I even when we go all-out.”

“That strong?” asked Shin with a little doubt.

This time, it was Arthur’s tone to reply. “In terms of fighting capabilities at the very least. But it is only because of his insane speed; it is really hard to catch him because of those annoying legs that he has.”

At the same time, Cloe immediately chimed in, say. “But at the very least, having him involved in this is much better than dealing with a bunch of ‘Sweepers’ when we are busy with our own quest.”

“Sweepers? Who are those? I heard from that Mammon guy that I need to defeat their heads or something before I get the right to challenge a ‘Troupe Member’,” asked Shin with a knitted brow.

Hearing that, Cloe immediately explained. “‘Sweeper’ is a term to address the assassins working under the ‘Pandemonium Descendants’. Each one of them is very strong, which is why a party consisting of these assassins can take down a renowned Godlike Player.”

She then took a brief pause to point at herself, Leonard, and Arthur before continuing. “Each of us almost died in their hands before.”

Hearing that, Shin then nodded his head, indicating that he understood. But he still asked another. “What is the relationship between these so-called Sweepers and those ‘Troupe Members’.”

Then Arthur immediately answered. “A Troupe Member is obviously much stronger than the Sweepers which is why they are ranked higher.”

“But they are not working in the same group. When a Troupe Member appears in a certain place, the Sweepers can’t get involved in whatever happens in that place. Because the former is taking it as an insult if they get some help from the members with a lower ranking than them.”

“Moreover, a Troupe Member is always working alone since they are too confident about their skills. That is also the reason why Cloe said that our current situation is still a little better. After all, we only need to concern ourselves with a single guy rather than dealing with a whole group of annoying assassins.”

After that, Leonard immediately cut in and added. “As for that Mammon guy, he is one of the people who tried to assassinate Arthur and me previously. We don’t know who he was back then. But we learned about him just recently.”

Hearing all of those, Shin repeatedly nodded his head, understanding the current situation. But at the same time, he suddenly remembered something and immediately asked. “Wait! How come you suddenly knew about them? I thought they were quite mysterious with almost no information about them.”

Hearing that, the three exchanged glances with each other before Arthur decided to reply. “Someone just recently posted his discoveries about them in a secret forum channel, where only a Peak-Godlike Player like us can access.”

Shin was quite curious about this particular secret channel but he knew that he was still not qualified to gain access to it, so he chose not to do any inquiries. But it didn’t mean that he was not interested to know who was the person who dared to spy on a powerful and mysterious organization such as the ‘Pandemonium Descendants’.

So, with his curiosity, he couldn’t help but ask. “Who is that player then?”

Arthur and the other two remained silent for a couple of moments before the latter decided to fill Shin’s curiosity. “It is-… Zero.”

……