Child of Destiny

…

In-game, Atlas World, Awakened Continent.

While Shin was currently under the long meditation state to master the Heart Realm Technique that Professor Henry had passed onto him, Arthur and the rest were currently facing some issues within the game.

Right after escaping the hellish dungeon of the Dark King, Arthur, Leonard, and Chaotic Luck immediately went to do their respective businesses.

However, before they could even go deep into their pending quests, a certain news suddenly spread throughout the game.

The first portal that seemed to lead toward another realm, other than the demonic portal in the Dark Cloud Kingdom of the Aurora Continent, seemed to have been discovered.

Moreover, this portal seemed to have been discovered by a local power, and they seemed to have found the portal on the Aurora Continent as well.

This local power was called the Rise Guild, a middle-rank guild that happened to be an ‘overlord’ of a small kingdom at the outskirts of the Aurora Continent, the Lesser Kingdom of Juron.

Being a small kingdom, its resources were quite limited. It also did not have any kind of unique products that could attract any major powers within the game, which was why none of the big guilds and other huge organizations bothered with them.

The location of the kingdom was quite lackluster as well, which was quite isolated from the other big kingdoms and empires, making trade quite impossible as well.

Such kingdoms might arouse the interest of some random Dark Guilds, who could build a base in this place, but it was not that profitable for them to set it as their main headquarters in such a barren land.

Only small forces, just like the Rise Guild and other small groups, would be interested in these places.

After all, they did not have the power to contest against powerhouses of the game, so it was better to settle on these kinds of places that were far from competition.

However, who would have thought that they would stumble on such an ‘opportunity’?

Given their background and how important these so-called portals leading to other realms had become due to the hype behind them, the Rise Guild knew that they were in deep trouble.

It would be perfect if no one else knew about this. They could even monopolize such a big treasure trove by themselves, which could also be their biggest break yet.

However, it was common knowledge that there was nowhere within the game that the big guilds and huge organizations could not reach. Aside from the other powerhouses that were on the same level or even stronger than them, everything else was under their watch.

Moreover, there was never a lack of people who wanted to curry favor with them. A lot of people would take the initiative to contact them and sell their respective guilds, particularly important information like this one, in exchange for a meager benefit that they could get.

…

Felix, the guild leader of the Rise Guild, was currently facing the greatest ordeal of his life due to the current situation.

He knew that their guild could be considered as a local power within the Lesser Kingdom of Juron. They could bully the other guilds, adventurer teams, and mercenary groups that were based in the same kingdom, but it was a completely different case when the powerhouses within the game got involved.

Moreover, he was quite disappointed that the people within their guild had sold off the information about the portal that they had recently discovered through a quest, which included quite a lot of people in higher positions.

He understood their positions, but he was still disappointed that they had not put the interest of the guild in the process. After all, they could just sell the information to some powerful guild or organization and let them handle the rest, which was the ideal situation.

They could even act as the vanguard team if they had pleased the selected powerhouse quite decently.

After all, the said realms were still an unknown land for everyone, so there should be some risk involved in the process. An extra hand or cannon fodder was required to do such work, particularly scouting.

It was a bit too late now since there were quite a lot of powerhouse guilds and other organizations gathered in this place, particularly the ones that were eyeing the ‘key’ in his hands.

This ‘key’ was someone would get after clearing a series of chain quests, which would also lead them toward the secret realm beyond that portal. Without this key, no one could enter that side, which also gave Felix a decent card that he could use to somewhat discourage these foreign powerhouses from taking drastic measures against him.

This key had become his shield that let their guild survive up until now. It had also become a hot potato that put them at risk.

Even though these powerhouses would not force him to hand over the key to them, it could push them toward their rivals and only strengthen his resolve not to team up with them.

They had to take the ‘gentler’ process, which was bribing some elders of the guild, who could also help them ‘persuade’ him to join their side.

In the name of the ‘greater cause’ and ‘for the guild’s future’, they kept on pestering him to join the side that had bribed them.

“Tsk! Tsk! This is getting more complicated as time goes on,” Felix could only sigh after recalling the events that had happened recently.

“Fortunately, we can still hold out because of the cards that we have,” he mumbled, recalling the key and the ongoing quest that they currently have.

Regardless, the problem would only grow bigger once the truly big fish joined the prey.

Up until now, they had only met with some first-rate guilds and decently strong organizations, but the true powerhouses of guilds, especially the ones in the ranking lists, had yet to make their move.

“They are most likely busy with their respective business for now, but once they arrive here one by one, things can get ugly if we don’t handle this well,” he squinted his eyes, feeling a great pressure when he thought about those hegemonic existences within the game.

“A single powerhouse expert from their ranks can easily wipe out our existence within the game,” he sighed once again, not knowing what to do with the current situation.

It was at this moment that someone else within the room had spoken. “This is why I suggest selling the key and the questline to one of those guilds and let them deal with it.”

“We don’t even know if that portal is truly leading toward one of those realms or some sort of dungeon in the first place. It is those traitors’ fault for spreading such unconfirmed information that leads us to our current situation.”

Hearing this, Felix could not help but turn toward the direction from which the voice was coming.

From the veil of the shadows, there was a hazy figure seemingly hiding its presence. Bit by bit, this person slowly made their way toward the light and revealed themselves.

Then, a woman in mage robes suddenly materialized as she dispelled the stealth magic cast on herself.

Swoosh!

Water seemed to have fallen from her body, revealing his true appearance, which seemed to belong to an Ocean Race.

From her outward appearance, she seemed to be far from being an Ocean Naga, which was the common race that was widely spread everywhere within the game since it was the first ‘fishman’ race that had become available to the public.

Her appearance shared some similarities with that of a regular Ocean Naga, such as their humanoid appearance and patches of blue scales on different parts of her body, particularly her neck and arms.

However, her ears were a bit different since they seemed to have some fins attached to them, while a segment between her neck and behind her chin was showing some gills unique to a real ‘fishman race’, which was widely acknowledged as the Ocean Race by the players of the game.

Looking at this beautiful woman, Felix shook his head and refused. “There is no need for that. This questline is triggered by you, which is also done without the help of the guild.”

“It is something that is solely yours, so there is no need to be too concerned about this predicament.”

“It is my fault for trusting the wrong people. If not for me involving them in this quest and letting them benefit from it a little, then we should not have been in this position at all.”

“It is my incompetence, dreaming about building a guild of my own when I am not even qualified to be a guild leader at all,” he added alongside a helpless sigh, clearly showing the self-blame for this incident.

Seeing him act like this, the woman from Ocean Race stepped forward and wanted to say something to comfort the other party.

Unfortunately, she could not find the right words to voice her concern, making her unable to say anything.

Noticing her action, Felix shook his head and said. “It is fine, Felicia. I know my limits, which is why I chose to settle in this remote place in the first place.”

“It is your brother’s greed that we have ended up in such a situation,” he added while shaking his head.

Not long after, a sharp and cold look suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he added fiercely. “However, if they think that they can push us around that easily, then I will make them suffer the consequences for underestimating us.”

Sensing something wrong, Felicia could not help but ask in concern. “What are you planning, brother?”

“Hmph! They are holding our guild as ‘hostage’ for their own benefit, then let’s just take the initiative to ‘kill’ the hostage ourselves,” he answered, along with a vicious look on his face.

…