Child of Destiny

While most of the World Gaming Organization departments were busy with the ‘countermeasures’, those assigned to organize the United Cup were busy taking care of the tournament and ensuring everything was going smoothly.

The first few rounds of the early stages were already in full swing, eliminating those weaker teams.

The top teams and those with decent potential were already making their presence known, attracting some attention in the process.

Currently, two of the well-known teams would be competing against each other for the first time in the double-elimination round.

Arthur and Leonard were gathered inside Shin’s room as they wanted to watch the competition together.

“Hey, Shin. Did Cloe scold you that much? And why did she look so angry when she left?” asked Arthur as he sat on the nearby sofa.

Leonard sighed as he answered for Shin. “Isn’t it because of you, who insisted on coming here despite knowing what is happening?”

Arthur shrugged his shoulder. “I am just worried about this guy. Cloe has become so violent these last few days. What if she beats Shin to the point that he falls into a coma once again? I don’t want to deal with that freak once again.”

“You mean Uno?” asked Shin, knowing who Arthur was talking about. He then smirked. “For your information – that guy can hear you right now. We shared the same body, after all, and we can switch places at will, so you better be careful with what you say.”

“Tsk!” Arthur clicked his tongue but did not say anything more.

On the other hand, Leonard looked at Shin with an amazed look before saying. “An alter ego. I don’t know that something like that still exists in this era. And to think that it is someone that I am close with.”

“Have you met some Mentalist Doctors to check on you, Shin Bro?” asked Leonard.

Shin chuckled as he heard those words. “Hah! It is not a problem or illness to deal with. Moreover, I like it better this way.”

“Uno and I have been together since I was young. We are no different from being brothers, so I will appreciate it if you guys get along well,” he added.

The three chatted as Leonard and Shin set the virtual screen.

“What’s so good about the teams that will be competing today, anyway? For the two of you want to watch their battle,” asked Shin.

Despite being considered one of the top gods of the game, and possessing an official Godlike Title, Shin was still relatively new to the circle compared to these two veteran gods of the virtual world as they had played quite a lot of games already.

Arthur thought for a moment before replying. “There is not much to look at if you ask me. After all, this is just the early stages of the tournament and it is a double-elimination format, so there is no need for either team to reveal their trump cards.”

“But I just want to confirm something from this battle,” he added as he leaned on the sofa.

“And that is?” asked Shin

“The current gap that we have from other players,” said Arthur before adding. “As you already know, our group is somewhat ahead of the outers since we have discovered quite a few things before the others did.”

“Take the hidden mechanics that you have told us – the special combat states – for example. The Reality Manifestation is already powerful enough to create a huge gap between apex experts within the game despite them supposedly having on the same level.”

“There are also some divisions between our combat states and others. So far, the most powerful combat states within the game are the ‘Reality Manifestation’, ‘Hyperactive Immersion’, and ‘Perfect Demonification’ – as the physical and ability enhancements.”

“Then there is the ‘Magical Formation’ for mental and magic-related enhancements which is divided into multiple categories just like Alice’s ‘Elemental Ignition’ and Flouree’s ‘Magic Circles’.”

“These are just a few that are known to us. We still don’t know how many are out there, who have their respective versions.”

He then paused for a moment as he recalled something before continuing. “Then there are the lesser ones that are learned from the regular Mysterious Instructors. However, they are quite inferior to what we have since we have discovered ours on our own.”

This time, Leonard remembered something and chimed in. “There is also another hidden conditional mechanism that is not inferior to the combat states just like the ‘Demon Contracts’ of the Demonic Players and the ‘Dark Corruption’ of those from the Corrupted Cult.”

“These two have become popular these days after those players that sided with the Evil Faction discovered them. Some even popularized it during the ongoing war.”

“Those who sided with the Righteous Churches, on the other hand, match it with ‘Divine Blessing’ and ‘Holy Possession’.”

Leonard paused for a moment as he knitted his brow. “The tricky part is those who have discovered the suitable combat states can’t use these conditional mechanisms for some reason.”

“Or to be more precise, they felt quite restricted when they tried using those under their respective combat state, resulting in their abilities being weakened instead. This is why they choose to use their combat state rather than using these external helps.”

Arthur nodded when he heard this and added. “I have also tried it, but the result is the same. It seems like my Reality Manifestation is incompatible with the Divine Blessing of my faction even if it is meant for my race and class.”

“I’ve tried comparing the two when using them independently, and I still rather use my combat state rather than using the latter since I can showcase my full potential that way.”

Shin frowned a little as he commented. “The gap between the regular players and the experts somewhat shrinks due to this, don’t you think?”

“The true experts managed to find their respective combat states while those players with weaker abilities chose to use external means to match their level.” Find adventures at empire

Hearing his assessment, Leonard and Arthur nodded their heads

“Now that you have put it that way. It does feel like it is meant to be that way,” Arthur repeatedly nodded. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.

He then stretched his body and arms while commenting. “It seems like those developers are cooking something, and it is quite good for once. I am quite excited about it.”

Seeing the disgusting smile on Arthur’s face, Shin could not help but shake his head and say. “You-… wipe that smile of yours. It seems like you are planning to cause some trouble somewhere.”

“Are you not excited about this? I think this game is much better than all the games that I have played since young,” said Arthur.

Hearing this, Leonard paused before nodding his head. “I also feel that way. And it is now felt much harder than «True Era Online» now that we are in the Awakened Continent.”

Arthur paused before nodding his head. “Yeah. It seems like it.”

Then both Arthur and Leonard fell silent before the latter added. “I just hope that it will not end up with the same fate as that game.”

Hearing those bitter words and sensing the strange shift in the atmosphere, Shin turned at the two before asking curiously. “Why? What happened in that game? I have been curious about this for quite a while, especially when most of the top experts in the virtual world seem to be from that game.”

The two exchanged looks with one another before awkwardly laughing.

“Ha, Ha, let’s forget about it. It is not much of a big deal.”

“I think we are getting way off our topic. What are we talking about earlier again? Ah! We are talking about the teams that will be competing in today!”

The two tried to change the topic to the best of their abilities, making Shin more suspicious and curious about it at the same time. ‘What are these two trying to hide?’

But he did not press further as he knew that they would tell him about it when the time was right.

Not long after, they finished setting up everything for the watch party. But the broadcast that they were waiting for had yet to start, so they could only wait while watching some random battles that were currently being broadcasted.

During that time, Cloe came back along with Lorraine, who was quite excited about this gathering.

“It has been a while since we hang out like this. What are we watching this time?” Lorraine sat shamelessly beside Leonard right after putting the snacks that she had brought on the table in front of them.

Cloe silently sat beside Shin, seemingly occupied with different thoughts filling her head.

At the same time, Lorraine recalled something and asked the three. “Are you guys not going to training inside the virtual space that you have prepared? I think your team is already training there.”

“There is still a lot of time before that. Let me watch these old buddies first,” replied Arthur nonchalantly while opening a bag of chips.

“Old buddies?” asked Shin with a frown.

Leonard pointed his chin at the virtual screen before answering. “One of the teams competing later is from the group he played with from the previous games.”

“Are they good?” asked Shin again.

Hearing that, Arthur smirked before flashing a smug look on his face. “Heh! Since when have I played with trash players? Of course, they are good.”

Shin’s interest was somewhat piqued this time after learning that Arthur had some history with these players.

……