...

    as cloe and alice were currently discussing inside the virtual space, shin could not help but frown his brows deeply as he saw that neither of them was online. "eh!? that''s strange. i am sure that the two of them are about to go log in to the game after our training session."

    confused, he connected with his real-world number, planning to call cloe through her contact number in the real world.

    but before he could even do that, he suddenly sensed something. his eyes suddenly turned sharp as he quickly swept his eyes in the surroundings.

    he just got out of the city gate and planned to hunt some monsters to test his gains from the real world and apply the fully fused five-elemental breathing technique into the game while waiting for cloe and alice to respond.

    he might still have not fully perfected fusing the five different breathing techniques to complement each of his innate attributes before this. but after his transformation earlier, he was able to find the perfect method to fully fuse them.

    it might be able to call it a true fusion of the five techniques. it was more of a special method that formed a unique cycle that fused between the five breathing techniques, where he could smoothly switch between them just like the natural flow of nature while transitioning between seasons.

    he had somewhat done it before to a certain extent, but it was further perfected after his body took a metamorphosis earlier.

    "heh! it looks like i don''t have to trouble myself to look for some monsters to be my test subjects. some idiots seem to have volunteered," he mumbled as she squinted his eyes while marking some trees inside his head.

    after seeing shin suddenly halt his tracks, those players hiding under the shades of the trees suddenly appeared one after another.

    since they had most likely been discovered by their target, it was better to reveal themselves now and get this over it.

    "you have finally revealed yourself. we have been running around to look for your traces, but everyone in empyrean talons seems to be skilled at hiding your tracks," said by the leading figure of the group.

    looking over, shin saw that it was wolfkin who seemed to have a berserker-related class. given that pair of huge battle axes on his back and the leather armor that he was wearing, it was easy to tell their major class.

    after briefly glancing at the other party, shin swept his gaze at the individuals appearing one another and saw that each of them was at least a level-155 expert.

    from the mainstream players'' perspective, these people belonged to the top-notch experts of the game. but for someone like shin, who was one of those who currently stood at the peak of the rankings, these players were nothing but a bunch of decent training dummies.

    aside from this leader and those two other players standing behind him, the rest were just meant to for decorations in shin''s eyes.

    then there was the military forces under the springfield family, which was one of the most recognized forces in the world and was even feared by most organizations.

    neither of these backgrounds was afraid of the seven seas corporations, which was one of the leading corporations of the deep blue continent in the real world.

    even if he was not using these forces to flaunt his background, his identity as the adopted son of the springfield family alone was more than enough to deter some organizations from provoking him.

    then there were those old monsters behind him such as his martial master, mentalism teacher, sword instructor, and academy professor.

    shin could not hold his laughter after imagining how these people would react after learning about any of this.

    well, he was not planning to use those identities anyway, so there was no need to make it that big. he just could not believe that someone had the gall to say such words to him.

    but setting that aside, shin felt that those big organizations in the real world seemed to be actively getting involved in the game. they seemed to be investing more money and effort to absorb many guilds within the game, steadily growing their power.

    some were even getting bolder as there was some news of them trying to take over some teams that managed to pass the preliminary rounds of the united cup.

    the seven seas corporations was just one of the business goliaths that did such a thing.

    setting that thought aside, shin scratched the surface of his mask while looking at everyone. "anyway, let''s get down to business."

    "are we going to fight? or do you guys want to continue chatting?" he asked as he looked at those assassins, who were getting ready for an ambush.

    "if it is the former, then i can entertain you a little. but if it is the latter, you guys can look for someone else as i am quite busy," he added.

    seeing this, the elven archer behind the wolfkin berserker walked over and whispered. "i have already told you, captain jorn. talking to him is useless. there will be no hope of acquiring their adventurer team. let''s just crush them just like everyone else."

    "i must warn you first. the title battle god is not unfounded. you guys better be careful and prepare for the worst," the voice of the hooded person not too far behind them also sounded, reminding them not to underestimate shin.

    "i suggest you use that drug as soon as possible before things get ugly, or else you will never know how you have died," he added as he stepped back, entering the shades of the trees and disappearing from the shadows.

    ......