When the cars disappeared from view, Lin finally sighed and returned to his usual expression. He turned toward the door and patiently waited for it to open.
After a short while, Lin heard soone approaching the door. When the figure stopped, they quickly opened it and said:
"Boss Lin! I knew you’d co back!" The door swung open, revealing a tall, slim figure with a decent-looking face and black hair.
Lin gave a slight smile and entered the house. He looked at the figure and asked:
"Nal, has anything happened recently?"
Nal nodded several tis and slowly began to explain the recent events Lin had missed while he was in the Magic World.
"After your disappearance in the Magic World, many of our people panicked and didn’t know what to do without you. Fortunately, Zon cald them down quickly, and they all returned to their usual work."
Lin nodded and waved his hand for him to continue.
"We resud our search for Ilan, but unfortunately, the search is still ongoing, and we haven’t found any leads that could help us locate him." Nal sighed and clenched his fists in anger, but then released them.
"Still no sign of Ilan..." Lin looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with rage.
Ilan was a terrible person — worse than many criminals and maniacs. When Lin was ten years old, Ilan kidnapped him and forced him to participate in death matches where he fought against other children like himself.
The fights were brutal — so brutal that they had to fight and use anything they could to kill their opponents. In that arena, no one cared if you were a little girl or a rich boy. If you ended up there, you either got killed or beca the killer.
Because of the savagery and twisted entertainnt of these fights, they were quite popular among people with... unusual tastes. There was always a large audience, which drove up the demand for battles rapidly.
Lin spent around three years there. But eventually, he managed to escape and create his own group, which quickly grew and beca quite wealthy. The group’s primary goal was to find Ilan and punish him for all his deeds. Though the search had not been successful yet, at least they managed to shut down the arena fights.
That was also one of the reasons Lin hated the Matrix family — because they never did anything to stop it, even though Lin was sure they knew everything about those fights.
Lin snorted coldly and asked Nal:
"And what about Egro? What happened to him after I disappeared?"
"Well, that kid was quite ambitious. He tried to convince the Awakened not to close the Gate, since you were still in there. But he failed, and it hit him hard. He shut himself off and fell into a bit of a depression, even though we kept telling him there’s no way you’d die just like that."
"A week ago, he told us he gained a Title. But he didn’t say which one — he said he wanted to tell you first."
Lin paused for a mont, thinking over Nal’s words, then smiled and said:
"Tell him I’m back. Have him co see tomorrow."
Nal imdiately nodded.
"As you wish."
Lin walked to a fancy door and waited for Nal to open it. When the door opened, it revealed the first floor of Lin’s house, with a small hallway leading to a large kitchen and guest area, both connected in an open space.
As he walked through the house, Lin smiled and asked Nal:
"And where’s Zon? Isn’t he supposed to be ho?"
"He’s currently on a mission and will be back soon," Nal answered quickly.
Lin nodded and sat down on a chair, starting to think about his next steps:
"I’ve realized that my skills haven’t progressed in the three years since I left the death matches, and I need to fix that. But... what should I work on? My body? No, it’s already in great shape. Combat skills? Possibly. I’ll probably start learning a wider variety to be fully prepared. And... swordsmanship. I used a sword in battle and did quite well with it, but I can still feel I haven’t reached the top."
"So, swordsmanship it is. But with swordsmanship, it’s especially important to choose the right sword — one that suits your style. While my sword wasn’t bad, I feel like a two-handed sword doesn’t suit ... I need sothing fast, sharp, and light..." Lin looked at Nal and asked:
"Nal, do you know of a sword that’s fast, light, and very sharp?"
Nal thought for a mont and answered:
"Fast, light, and very sharp... I know one type of sword — well, it’s more of a blade."
"And what is it?"
"I think a katana fits your description."
"A katana?"
"Yeah. I’ve seen a few people wield them, and it looked aweso. The only issue is that they’re really hard to handle. If you ss up a single strike, the blade can bend or even break."
Lin thought for a bit and then said to Nal:
"Order several katanas in different sizes. I’ll test them all and let you know which one fits."
Nal nodded and curiously asked Lin:
"Boss, why katanas? Have you decided to focus on swordsmanship?"
"Yeah. I’ve realized that my skills aren’t enough, and I need to improve. So I’ve decided to take up swordsmanship," Lin confird.
"Then would you like to try a duel in the "Arsenal"?"
"Arsenal?" Lin repeated.
"Yes. They say there’s been a major update that added a lot of new modes. I’d love to spar with you using swords."
"I’m in. I need to test my skills." Lin imdiately agreed, seeing it as an opportunity to develop. He was also curious what this "Arsenal" was and why everyone praised it so much.
Though he didn’t know much about Arsenal, he was familiar with so information.
Arsenal was a fully imrsive virtual ga. The CEO of the company that developed it was a mber of the Arsafon family — one of the five major families in the world. The ga featured many modes focused on competition, combat, battles, etc. It was especially popular among youth without Titles, as Arsenal allowed them to beco great warriors without any special abilities or powers.
Though it was mostly an entertainnt ga, it also helped develop combat skills and reflexes thanks to its 100% imrsion.
Lin had never been interested in the ga and avoided it as much as possible. But now, realizing he needed to improve himself, he figured it was ti to give it a look.
That’s why he agreed so quickly.
"Then I’ll order two gaming capsules right away!" Nal said enthusiastically and ran to another room, phone in hand.
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