Chapter 65: Card 2

A man from the Slums, who’d raised a tiny monster carrying extraordinary talent.

At first, people had assumed the man was simply lucky, but apparently, he was actually some hidden master concealing his true power?

’Absolute nonsense!’

Daren smirked to himself quietly. He’d seen all those hoax reports before, even laughed out loud at how ridiculous the whole thing sounded. He didn’t buy for a second that some man who’d appeared out of nowhere had suddenly become a hidden master.

Managed to kill a Rank-D monster?

’Clearly just a staged setup by that low-tier academy trying to drum up popularity. Quite the little game they’re playing, huh.’

So, seeing the man in question standing right here, especially holding a card that should only ever belong to a VIP or a great family from the Elite Region, Daren couldn’t hold himself back at all.

’This man clearly stole that card somehow.’

And if Daren thought about whose card might’ve gone missing, it was obviously Lord Lurker’s!

A great family that invested in and had provided significant support to the company being developed by Daren’s own family.

So, taking all that into account, Daren wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by. He was confident this man would be caught the instant he tried using that card to enter, and just as confident that the man had no idea it was a VIP card specifically reserved for great families.

Only a fool would think he could sneak into the finest section and receive top-tier service there.

But unfortunately for that fool, he had no idea how this event actually operated behind the scenes. If he tried entering the VIP area, that alone would be enough to expose him instantly.

Which was exactly why Daren wasn’t going to let him through, nor was he going to let Lord Lurker handle this matter himself.

’I’ll take charge of this whole thing, gain a nice boost in popularity for exposing this fabricated lie, and in the end... Lord Lurker will be grateful for what I’ve done here.’

What a perfect stepping stone to elevate his own standing.

Daren couldn’t hold back the laughter bubbling up inside him, raising a hand to cover his own mouth as he listened to the crowd gossiping, wondering what was going on.

Without a shred of hesitation, Daren opened his mouth again.

"Could you provide us with any proof, anything at all, explaining how this card ended up in your possession?"

The man, Julian, simply stood there in silence. His expression stayed flat, showing no sign of speaking anytime soon, which only reinforced Daren’s belief that the man had genuinely stolen it.

’Too scared to even speak, huh?’

His smirk curved even wider, his expression darkening slightly.

"If you can’t explain anything, then I’m afraid I’ll have to apologize for having you detained for questioning."

The moment those words left his mouth, Julian, who’d stayed silent until then, finally opened his lips.

"It was given to me directly by Lord Lurker. Is that answer sufficient enough?"

That statement made Daren freeze silently, his expression showing pure disbelief. "Given to you? Haha."

Then he began laughing, amused, trying to hold it back so it wouldn’t look too obvious to the onlookers.

"Are you joking? How exactly would Lord Lurker ever hand his own card over to someone like you? Some fool from the Slums being exploited by some low-tier academy? Do you genuinely expect me to believe your so-called reputation and start worshiping you as some hidden master?"

His smile vanished, replaced by a cold, disgusted glare. "As if, you absolute fool. Know your place. You should’ve just come here calmly as a Guardian, why bother resorting to theft?"

At that last part, Daren deliberately raised his voice, doing so to make sure the crowd heard him clearly, to make them realize that everything they’d believed was nothing but a lie.

"What’s this? What’s happening? Is that hidden master actually trying to steal Lord Lurker’s card? But how?"

"What else would it be? I’m not like you people, falling for hoaxes. It’s obvious everything we’ve heard through social media is just a scam, do we even have a single video of that man defeating a Rank-D Invader? Nothing! Just rumors with no proof at all."

"Ewww... in the end, Slums trash stays Slums trash, they never know when to be grateful."

"This is honestly disappointing."

Hearing all of that, a satisfied smile returned to Daren’s face as he glanced at the man.

’There we go. You should be starting to feel terrified right about now, show them your pathetic, tear-streaked face.’

But what Daren had been hoping for never came. The man still showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever, standing there completely blank.

Daren’s brow furrowed, irritation building, when suddenly the door leading into the event room swung open, revealing someone Daren instantly recognized.

It was Lord Lurker.

"What’s going on here?"

Without a moment’s hesitation, Daren snatched the card from the guard, approaching Lurker with a beaming smile and holding it out to him.

"Lord Lurker, I found your card, it was stolen by that fool from the Slums."

Lurker paused for a moment, his brow furrowing. He took the card and froze completely in place. Daren, oblivious to any of it, kept rambling on.

"Haha, I’m glad I could help you out, I don’t want anything in return for—"

Shove—!

"Eh?"

Daren was startled, his body shoved back so forcefully he nearly went stumbling sideways.

Fortunately, somehow, Lurker had managed to hold back from doing anything worse.

"Lord... Lurker...?" Daren murmured under his breath, then looked at Lurker, his eyes going wide the instant he saw Lurker bow his head before Julian.

"My deepest apologies for this accident, Lord Julian. I genuinely had no idea this would happen."

Lurker’s tone carried real gravity, humbling himself completely, even addressing Julian as "Lord" right in front of everyone present.

This was clearly no joke, leaving Daren’s expression spiral further and further out of control.

’H-huh!? W... What!? What’s happening here...?’

He wanted to ask, but right then, Lurker shot him a brief glance, a look cold and brimming with fury, silently demanding he keep his mouth shut.

Daren felt his heart pound, cold sweat drenching his entire face, his whole body feeling as though every ounce of strength had drained out of him.

There was no way this was actually happening, right?