As he toured Colossia City during the night to better familiarize himself with the situation and the citys layout, Sila suddenly collapsed on the ground. His strength left him, rendering him completely immobile like a doll with its strings cut, his head hurting as if soone were banging drumsticks on it. Soon, a light enveloped him similar to when he logged out.
W-Whats happening? Sila was shocked.
Opening his eyes, he found himself in a white room with absolutely nothing inside beside him.
Sorry for such a drastic asure, Sila, but its really necessary, Joshua said as he suddenly appeared.
Mister Joshua?
Sila, sothing urgent has co up, so I used my right as a Ga Master to temporarily force you to log out. No worry. It wont take long. I, too, dont have any ti to spare.
What is the urgent matter? It was the first ti Sila had seen Joshua looking distressed. The mans usual calm deanor was nowhere to be seen.
I just adjusted your synchronization rate to its maximum level. I actually have been gradually adjusting it in order to let your brain flawlessly adapt to the new value. However, that would be too slow. Doing this way is faster, but cos with a downside. You will notice the difference imdiately. Originally the idea behind virtual reality technology is to initiate virtual movents using brainwaves. By forcefully accelerating your brainwaves, you will feel the burden. I guess you will feel like your body has beco heavier and you cant execute movents properly. Still, it will be fine once you successfully adapt to it.
Sila frowned. Is there a need to do that?
Mn. The organization is starting to move. The association doesnt have much ti left. If its possible, I want you to end the war as soon as you can. Actually, please dont make it longer than one month, in-ga ti.
One month?! Sila loudly exclaid. But... our underground raid alone needs a whole month for the tunnel to be ready. This is without ntioning the next phase, when well invade the Magic Kingdom.
If the digging is going to take that long, then you must help them dig, Id say. Im telling you this because I wish you well. The sooner the selection cos to an end, the more ti youll have to cope with the organization.
Sila was deep in thought. Actually, idly waiting was never his style. If he managed to solve the goblin problem within a few days, his next assignnt would be helping Cross raid. There were as many strategies as there were stars in the sky, so maybe he could find so way to accelerate the end of the war.
Thats all I have to say. Oh, another thing. Dont trust anyone too much. I know for certain that there is a traitor close to us. Its unfortunate that I cant discern their identity.
Sila nodded. Before he could say anything, however, Joshua forcefully expelled him from the room.
Still in the sa room, Joshua opened his system window and continued his work. In order to not raise Zizs suspicions, he mustnt contact Sila or Montra until after all of this was over.
This way, Silas synchronization rate is now on par with Typhons. The rest is on him as to how far he can push himself with it. As for Montra... his brain scanner is a normal model, so I cant directly interfere with him. Still, even if he is not aware of it, Cynthia gave him the special reward. Beyond that, I can only hope that he doesnt get caught by Ziz.
Within the organization, Joshua was one of the core mbers in the Research and Developnt Departnt. He had been spending a significant amount of funds, provided by the organization, on his personal project. Each technology he provided them was a degraded version of the original. For example, the brain scanner that Typhon had used was worse than what Sila was currently using. Thus, the realm that Typhon reached in ten years would be within Silas reach after only a few months.
Joshua had done everything he could think of. The future would be decided by the victor of the war event.
***
Sila reappeared on the cold, hard street of Colossia City. He slowly got up and swept dirt from his Beggars Cloak. It took him an instant to understand what Joshua told him. Despite everything being the sa, he clearly felt that rely moving his muscles required more effort. It was as if he was an athlete who had stopped working out for years. His senses were still as sharp as before, but that only made the sluggish state of his body clearer.
Well, its fine. I have always thought that I need to train harder. This feels like I have weights strapped to my body.
Sila tried moving his body around. He discovered that his qi still circulated at its usual speed, and only his movents had beco slightly unsmooth. It wouldnt make much of a difference in normal situations but would prove to be fatal during battles against soone of Kawin or Montras caliber.
This made Sila more eager to train himself diligently. He kept circulating qi even when he walked around, staying focused on qi concealnt. At the sa ti, he deliberately gradually released magic power from his skin. This way, from the eyes of high-level magic-type players who had attained the essence of magic, he wouldnt look any different from other magic-type players.
There is no need to overcomplicate things. Sila opened his system window and contacted Bluebird.
Before Joshua forced him to log out, Sila was preoccupied with how to get his hands on the consolation reward. It was a reward for the squad that placed last, so no one really cared about it. Thus, he planned to bluntly ask Bluebird, the host of the activity, for it. He was willing to trade it for sothing of higher value.
Listening to Silas proposal, Bluebird opened his system window, then he showed a distressed expression.
Too bad. Sorry, pal, but I cant do that.
Why not? Sila didnt understand. He saw no problem, especially when this was about the reward for the last place.
You still dont get how Colossia Citys tournant system works. The host like us can request the system for the type of tournant and add rewards, butto prevent cheatingthe system will handle the rest. You can say its like were sponsoring the system to hold a tournant. We can add rewards, but we cant withdraw them.
Sila frowned. Is there a cheating prevention asure? Why now? Back then when I participated, Cross cheated ti and ti again. He had no issues making my life harder.
The Royal Armant Guild didnt cheat you over the rewards. They just bent the rules, which can always be adjusted. The system will ask for the participants permissions though. Do you rember?
So I have no choice but to participate, I guess.
Bluebird looked up the details of the tournant. Mn. By the way, this tournant is not a direct fight. Its more about asuring each squads overall ability. Even if you try your best, your squad might get last place anyway. There should be no problems if youre aiming for that reward... Ah?
Sila was about to feel relief that things were going well. Noticing Bluebirds sudden frown, however, his worry grew.
Whats wrong?
This is bad... Who included such a rule? Boss, maybe. Bluebird swept his eyes across the details again, sighing. Tough luck. There is no leeway for this.
Leeway what?
Listen, about this tournant, its okay for your teams score to be the lowest. However, at least half of the teams mbers must advance to the final round in order for the squad to be able to obtain any reward. In your case, your squad has five mbers, so it should round up to three.
It depends on the other mbers, then? Sila beca more worried. He was very confident if the result would be decided solely by him. On the contrary, he didnt know what he could expect from his teammates.
So squads have many mbers while so dont. I guess Boss included this rule to make it a fair ga, speculated Bluebird.
Sila started reading the details again. They were written in small letters and could be easily overlooked. Nevertheless, the rules indeed stated this much.
What kind of activities are included anyway? This notice doesnt explain much. All I know is that the tournant will asure mbers abilities, the squads performance, and the leaders ability.
Bluebird showed a distressed expression again, Honestly speaking, I also have no idea. Were busy with many things, so we leave everything about the tournant to the systems care. Unlike other events in other cities, Colossia Citys tournant can be randomized, which I guess is for the sake of excitent. Well, its a lot cheaper, so we let the system randomly decide what kind of mini-events the tournant will contain.
Random? Wont that be dangerous? The Shadow Army shouldnt risk competing against themselves too much. What if there is an accident and people die?
Easy, man. Its gonna be fine. We already inford the system about it and they said there is no need to worry. There wont be any fights to the death. In any dangerous mini-events, they will give each participant a substitution doll. Its an event-exclusive item. When one dies, it will break, and the owner of the doll will live on, but be eliminated from the event.
Sila sighed. He had been talking to Bluebird for quite a while but got nothing useful. Since he didnt have to sleep, he planned to use his ti wisely, finding more clues in the city.
Whatever. I will find a way. Maybe I will try to purchase it from the squad that gets the prize.
Oh, smart move. That should be easy. My role ends here, right? Its late at night, youre not being considerate at all. I only slept for a few minutes before you ca along.
You can sleep in my mansion, you know. That place has a high recovery rate. Sleeping a couple of hours there will refresh you, suggested Sila.
I dont want to feel refreshed! I want to sleep! The more I sleep, the less I have to work. Who in their right mind would want to work a lot?
Sila was close to Bluebird, but he was still fed up with the man.
Up to you, then. One last question though. Are there strange things happening in Colossia City? It can be anything, even trivial matters. Im searching for sothing that might or might not be hiding in Colossia City.
Bluebird yawned, wiping a teardrop from the corner of his eye. Are you looking for fireflies?
Fireflies?
Outside of the city in the north, there is a small grass hill. Fireflies have recently been coming out at night there. The view is exceptionally beautiful with them around. It has beco one of the ten most romantic spots in Monster Soul. Youll get a good score if you bring your date there. Bluebird gave Sila a thumbs up.
Sila felt it was rather dumb. Anything else?
Well, you should already know this, but goblins are setting up camps on the west side. Be careful if you plan to go in that direction.
Thanks. Before you sleep, please send the information about fireflies, Sila requested as he closed his system window. He had expected to hear useful intel from Bluebird. However, as it turned out, he got nothing aside from the sudden appearance of fireflies.
Zarnak, are fireflies related in any way to the Goddess Igsia?
I think not.
The intel soon arrived in Sila's system window. It was unexpectedly well-written. Key ssages were highlighted and the docunt was well-organized. It was the kind of work that Bluebird wouldnt do.
Fireflies didnt just show up yesterday, so they shouldnt be related to the release of Demonic Armants. So people have already investigated the spot but discovered nothing. They can only speculate that the area is sohow special since monsters have never shown up.
Such a phenonon ans that the area is under Lady Cynthias divine protection. Most human habitats are like that.
I guess so. Well, I heard that monsters have been invading so cities lately. Im starting to wonder whether the Goddess is really protecting humanity or not.
Sila walked slowly to the north of the city. The world was at war, so the atmosphere was quite tense. He could spot mbers of so squads stationed on roofs and walls. Fortunately, he had the leader badge, so no one ca to question him. This was the first ti he was thankful for the fact that he was appointed as a squad leader. At least he could roam free in the city to so degree.
The main gate located on the north side of the city was shut tight, but a small gate next to it was still open for entering and exiting, albeit having a security check. The Shadow Army didnt care about peoples past or their real identities, so guards only checked the validation of the badge. One of the guards ca to touch Silas badge once, then let him go.
The grass hill had a gradual slope, glowing under the moonlight and several groups of fireflies. So couples had chosen to take so ti off, escaping from the brutality of the war to enjoy the srizing sight.
Sila heard a whistle. This place had many people, so he didnt expect soone to call him.
Nero I an, Leader! This way!
At first, Sila forgot that his alias was Nero. It took a couple of seconds before he realized it and turned his head to see the speaker.
As expected of our Leader. You even tracked us to this place, comnted Isaac.
Surprisingly, all of his squad mbers were there, leaning on the city wall. Sila approached them.
I thought you were at the headquarters, Sila greeted them. As a matter of fact, he didnt use the search function of the leader badge. Coming across his squad mbers was a total coincidence.
Its no fun there. Co, Leader, sit with us and watch the show.
Sila sat down, next to everyone. Alpha turned to Miki. Leader is with us this ti. Dont make a mistake.
Miki showed a victory pose and grinned. She donned a mask and a cloak, then approached a particular couple. Confused, Sila was about to ask what she planned to do but was stopped by Alpha.
Miki stopped in front of the couple. She sobbed. Seeing you happier this way, I can finally be at ease. Farewell, my darling. I will never forget you.
As the couple were thoroughly shocked and didnt know how to respond, they couldnt stop Miki before she ran away, her eyes gradually tearing up.
Sila wondered. Erm... Why did she do that?
For the sake of our job. Just wait and see.
The couple started to fight as expected. The woman slapped the man and rushed back to the city while the only action the man could do was call out at her. He actually tried to follow her, but stumbled on the grass, falling.
Sila noticed that Isaac had controlled the grass to catch the mans ankle beforehand. By the ti the man had gotten back on his feet, his girlfriend was long gone.
Alpha calmly approached the man. Did your girlfriend catch you having an affair? Too bad, bro.
What? Im not having an affair. This is just a misunderstanding. I will explain it to her later.
Alpha tapped the mans shoulder. Man, seeing this sure brings back painful mories. You know what, bro? I also broke up with my girlfriend because of a misunderstanding like this. Won wont listen to us when theyre angry.
Oi? Really? Will this dumb misunderstanding lead to us breaking up?
From what I saw just now, I think she really isnt going to listen to you. How about this, bro? My squad is quite free. Do you want to explain it to her in your place?
The mans face was brimming with hope. Can you? Thanks! I will return this favor later.
There is no need for that, bro. I just want to help. By the way, Im Alpha from the 99th squad. This is my na card. You can keep it. Alpha handed the man his na card and agreed to et again later in a restaurant.
Alpha returned to the team. He didnt have to see through Silas mask to know that his new leader was making a doubtful expression right now.
No need to worry, Leader. Miki already followed that woman. She will apologize to her for mistaking her boyfriend for soone else.
Isaac explained, This way, later when he has so trivial jobs, he might ask us to support his squad and share so of the earnings.
Have you been doing this a lot? asked Sila.
If you an this approach, then no. We dont always do this since the success rate is rather low. We have to observe whether the woman is hot-tempered. Most of the ti, we let Isaac run in front of a caravan and cry like a little girl, asking for compensation. Other tis, we let Midnight act depressed in a restaurant, begging for sympathy, Alpha explained.
I didnt cry like a little girl!! I was just completely imrsed in the character! Isaac argued loudly.
Sila shook his head, wearing a dumbfounded expression. Apparently, his squad wasnt just the weakest. Even the squad mbers themselves were troublemakers. As their leader, he believed he had to do sothing to fix this.
If he failed to properly guide these four people, he wouldnt dare to imagine the future when he beca the Wulin Lord and had all of the people in the underworld working under him.
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