Child of Destiny

...…

Coffin Maker, who was currently disguising as one of the students of the Magic Ace Academy, was currently inside his temporary hideout. He was sitting in front of an advanced computer, looking at the series of data displayed on the screen.

After a long time, he suddenly contacted a number from his advanced watch. It did not take long for the other side to answer the call, and he quickly said. "The intel is true. The World Research Center is currently in possession of the 'Black Heart'."

"I don't know where they have hidden it, but all the research data is under heavy protection of the multiple security measures. If not for me sneaking inside to steal the data, I don't think I will be able to find it."

"And even with all of that, I am only able to steal a portion of the research. It even pokes the hornet's nest as a lot of forces are already on high alert because of this. I don't think I will be able to get the rest of the data."

The person on the other side remained silent for quite a long time, waiting for Coffin Maker to complete his report.

Not long after, they suddenly said. "Keep a low profile for the time being and wait for the huge 'event'. I am sure that you can make your move at that time as everyone will have to focus on it."

Even before Coffin Maker could give his reply, the person on the other side of the line immediately ended the call.

Coffin Maker clicked his tongue before mumbling. "Then it is no different from going with the plan. Tsk! I've got a bad feeling about this."

…

World Research Center

Elias Stuart just arrived at the scene where the said thief had stolen the data from the center. He swept his gaze at the surroundings while using an observation Mentalism Technique. His eyes shone brightly as his eyes scanned the entire place, looking for clues that were left behind by the thief.

But to his surprise, he could not find anything – not even the tiniest clue. "It seems like we have underestimated this little thief."

At that moment, one of his subordinates entered the room and reported. "Sir, all the security cameras don't get anything. Even those that can detect even the stealth skills of the strongest assassins have not caught anything."

Elias slightly nodded his head before asking. "How about the data that are stolen? Have they already checked which data are stolen?"

His subordinate raised his wrist and opened a virtual screen before reporting. "Based on what we have checked, it seems like there are a lot of data that are stolen. But the most important ones remain protected aside from a few that we suspected to be the real target of the thief."

"Which data are they?" asked Elias.

"Most is about the research on the Black Heart while the rest are research about the Revival Project and Vessel Project," answered the subordinate before pausing to open more virtual screens.

A few moments later, he continued. "There are also more, but most of the projects are still in their early stages unlike the first three that I have mentioned."

"We have also discovered a similarity between all of the stolen data – all of them are projects led by Professor Henry, so we suspect that the thief is targeting the projects under the professor's name."

Elias nodded his head before instructing. "Continue looking for clues, but make sure to make it as discreet as possible. Follow the arrangements of Senior Henry and act as a volunteer for a joint project."

"Report directly to me if you find anything no matter how small it is. I will accompany Senior Henry for the time being," he added before leaving the from.

Elias felt that the thief was not only targeting the projects that Professor Henry had. He felt that this initial incident was just a probing tactic before showing their real objective.

Since they could not find any crucial clue, he would then stick close to the center of everything while patiently waiting.

…

Meanwhile, Shin just woke up from his nap. He stretched his body right after standing up before going for a quick shower to freshen up.

After that and changing into comfortable clothes, he quickly headed to the gaming cabin, quite excitedly. This time, he would be challenging another apex expert, which would test his limits once again.

After lying inside the gaming cabin, he quickly set everything up before closing it and getting in a more comfortable position.

When he relaxed his mind and felt that he was already at his peak form, he closed his eyes and mumbled. "Initiate Login!"

Swoosh!

His consciousness was immediately sucked toward another world, arriving back inside the virtual world.

…

Swoosh!

When he opened his eyes once again, he found himself in the place where he left. He quickly heightened his guard up and spread his senses in every direction, scanning the surroundings.

But after quite a while, he did not find and presence within the vicinity, which indicated that there was no enemy around.

He then glanced at the digital clocks in the corner of his eyes. He saw that there was still a full hour before the agreed time with Ashura in the real world, which meant that he still had to kill three more hours within the game.

As for the event itself, a total of eight hours before it ends.

Based on the rules that the system had given him before the start of the event, he would be kicked out of the independent place if he exceeded the designated time for it. It would also pause the timer until he exited the said place and resumed the hunting game.

But since he will be issuing an official challenge against Ashura, he felt that it would most likely pause the timer and wait for him to exit the said place before everything resumed.

There would still be five whole hours remaining before the event ended, so he would be most likely to fight a little longer after his duel with Ashura.

But Shin was not worried that he would be ambushed by his opponents right after he exited the duel grounds since he trusted his friends.

He knew that given Arthur's personality, this brother of his would surely head to this place and join the fun after learning that Shin was having fun on himself once again. Leonard would be the same as he would not miss such a huge 'party'.

They would most likely drop whatever they were doing and head here, especially when Shin had already revealed his identity to everyone.

He was not sure about the rest of the Empyrean Talons, but he felt that they would most likely join too, especially with the current situation at hand.

Glancing at his friend list, he saw that, aside from Arthur and Leonard, Cloe, Alice, Diablo, and Alucard had already finished their respective promotion quests and became Tier 3 themselves.

He was aware that Diablo was already in command of the Hyperactive Immersion given that they had already fought each other, which was also the time when the latter fully awakened his potential and reached that combat state.

As for the other three, he was not sure about them. He had already taught them about the Reality Manifestation and even gave them information about the Mysterious Instructors and how to find them. He was just wondering which path they had taken.

As for the rest of the group, he was not sure about their current statuses, especially when none of them informed him or shared their experiences in the team chat channel.

He could only guess that Akailu was following the clues that he had given and seemingly trying to walk the path of Perfect Demonification since Shin felt that it was most likely the perfect combat state for the guy, especially when the latter's class was related to beasts and summoned monsters.

Owen and Ithilien seemed to be still busy with their respective tier 3 promotion classes while the duo of Archimedes and Daulla was still unreachable.

As for Chaotic Luck, this insanely lucky guy seemed to be off the grid after informing the rest that he wanted to explore more of the Kingdom while doing his promotion quest.

The last time Shin heard from the guy was the latter saying that he wanted to try playing «War Tactics» Online because he wanted to learn more about war strategies and battle formations.

It had been a while since the group had gathered, so Shin felt that it was about time for them to meet.

However, he still had to leave it to luck since he was not sure if they were done with their respective businesses. Aside from Arthur, Leonard, and Cloe, who would drop anything and lend him a hand without question, he was not sure if the others would do the same.

…

"I guess I should burn the first two free hours in the city. I can also resupply my potions and scrolls before heading out," he mumbled as he glanced at the clock once again.

"I logged out of the game after the system last revealed my coordinates, so I have exactly two hours before the next one. As for the final hour, I can take it as a warm-up before the main event."

After making plans inside his head, Shin went along with the plan and crushed the return scroll to head back to the Holy City.

…

In the meantime, the moment when he re-logged back into the game, the parties involved in the event immediately received the notification from the system.

They quickly went on full alert while the leaders of the Corrupted Cult and Demonic Churches issued a series of commands.

"He is online! All units proceed according to plan!"

"The target appeared! Move! Move! Move!"

"Set up the formation! Don't let him escape this time. Summon all the undead beasts! We are going all out this time!"

…

On the other hand, those players from the Supreme Temple and Martial Alliance felt a little confused.

The target finally appeared, yet the notification that they received from the system was rather strange. It seemed like both factions gave up on capturing Shin and recalled the issued quest.

"What the heck is going on?"

"Why does the faction quest suddenly disappear? It neither informs us of our failure nor our success! This is strange."

"What the heck? Even the mission issued in the faction board disappears!"

"Is this for real? I haven't received my contribution points yet!"

…

While these people were proceeding with their respective businesses, there was a group of hooded players appeared at the Teleportation Hall of the Holy City.

The moment this group appeared, the entire atmosphere of the hall was suddenly affected. It was as if their appearance had changed the entire place.

The air either became very heavy or somewhat suffocating.

"Hey! What are you doing, you musclehead? Are you announcing to the world that we are here?"

"As if you are the one to talk, you sword maniac! Keep that sword intent of yours under control or else you will be branded by red name for accidentally killing players inside this hall."

"Ah! Sorry about that. We just finished an intense battle on the island, so I still haven't exited my combat mode. You can't blame me for that."

"Can you guys keep quiet? Given your loud voices, I doubt that we still haven't blown our covers."

"Sigh~! Let these idiots do whatever they want. It is not like we are here for trouble anyway."

"That is exactly the reason why we are here, slowpoke."

"Eh!? Then are we going to be punished by the commander? I suddenly regret coming here with you guys! Let me go back!"

"Idiot! We precisely come here much earlier to avoid the commander. There is still at least an hour before he comes online – that is three hours inside the game. That's plenty of time already, we can find the target before it happens!"

"How dare he go back on his word and look for fun alone, leaving us behind? We will spoil the fun before he can have it!"

"Tsk! I have a bad feeling about this. I really shouldn't have come."

...…