Child of Destiny

......

Shin quickly informed the rest of the Empyrean Talons about his discovery and asked them to try finding such NPCs and take the series of errand quests that they had.

He knew that it was quite hard to find these NPCs given his experience. It was just a stroke of luck for Akailu to come across one, which led him to this discovery. But it was worth trying, especially when the gaming company had already released some clues related to the Mysterious Instructors, which was also somewhat connected to these NPCs.

Shin sent everyone compiled data that he had just written, which also narrated his experiences when doing the quest along with some tricks on how to identify these secret NPCs.

He believed that these NPCs could be distinguished from the rest. From what he could remember, the stall where that apple vendor was selling had a distinct emblem beside the name of the stall.

Shin overlooked at first since the emblem was very small and quite negligible, but when he tried to recall what the stall looked like and saw the seal on the letter that he had gotten from the lady NPC, he realized that it must be one of the clues.

With this information, Shin informed the rest of the Empyrean Talons and asked them to keep an eye on those places with similar emblems and try their luck.

If they really got a recommendation letter to meet the Mysterious Instructors from such places, then this was going to be big news.

After informing the Empyrean Talons, Shin hesitated for a moment before sending a similar message to Shiella. He wanted her to do the same for the most trusted people that she had in her guild.

And given the size, power, and resources of the Hand of Midas, it would be better to leave such things to her. With that kind of manpower, she would be able to locate such locations and monopolize them when the other guilds were still unaware of such crucial information.

Moreover, the Hand of Midas was one of the allied forces that they could have, which would also support them in a time of need.

Speaking of allies, Shin also sent the information to Lawless so that he could also use it for their group. Their Slayers Adventurer Team was also one of their close allies after all. Aside from that, Lawless, Faker, and Morgan were their friends in the real world.

As for David, Shin also decided to send the information to his senior brother even though he knew that the guy would not need it.

From what he had heard from Lawless and Faker, David seemed to have unlocked something similar to 'Reality Manifestation' on his own after watching their battles and sparring with those two Godlike Players.

Shin also sent the information to Molton and asked him to share it with his sister, so that they would not be too far behind compared to the rest of the group.

It was only after making sure that he did not forget anyone did Shin logged out of the game.

As for the matters concerning his Tier 3 Promotion Quest and meeting the said leader of the Mysterious Instructors, he saved it for the latter when he logged back in the game.

For now, he had to log out and do his morning routine. Then he would get ready to go to school and attend the classes and scheduled training.

*******

As Shin became the first person to clear the Tier 3 Promotion Quest, the attention of the public turned back to completing their respective promotion quest once again.

Due to the difficulty of the Tier 3 Promotion Quests, most of the players became tired of clearing them. They instead tried to look for the other contents of the game and improved their respective strengths.

This was the solution that the top players had thought. The expert players that already reached the current cap of the game, Level 150.

They all knew that their current strengths were not enough to clear the promotion quest, so they had to find a way to increase it by some means.

These top players found the solution to their problem when they saw Shin fight against Haowin. That battle gave everyone the idea that they had missed a crucial piece of information, which was uncovered by the 'Battle God' and 'God of Carnage.'

This suspicion became stronger when they saw the announcement of Shin clearing the Tier 3 Class Promotion Quest and becoming the first person to reach that tier.

Adding the clues that the World Gaming Organization had released on the official website of the game right after the world system announcement, the top experts of the game started making their moves and did their respective preparations.

The top guilds and large organizations of the game also used their resources to prove their suspicions and look for clues on how to unlock these 'special combat states' that they had witnessed from Shin and Haowin.

This changes the flow of the game once again.

Earlier, these large organizations and powerful guilds were focusing on developing their powers and improving their influence in their respective regions.

The one which showed the largest improvement was the Hydra Guild. They had successfully conquered a land, which would also become their personal territory.

Following their lead, the other guilds and organizations started putting their attention to this matter and focused on it to catch up to this number one guild.

This also gave the Evil Faction – the Demonic Churches and Corrupted Cult – to focus on doing the religion and faction quests that they had, which was also starting to disturb the current balance of the game.

The top guilds and organizations were busy building their influence within the game and developing their forces while the people from the evil faction were constantly clearing the main scenario quests that would bring forth the next content of the game ahead of its schedule.

This gave the game developers a serious headache.

But now that someone had proven to everyone that the Tier 3 Class Promotion Quest was not impossible, everyone started turning their attention back to it.

After all, no one would want to be left behind.

Reaching the Tier 3 Class was one of the keys to reaching the second continent, the Awakened Continent. This was the same as getting early access to the resources that that continent could provide.

And being the sole player who could possibly enter it, the players thought that Shin could monopolize everything.

The top guilds and organizations were also put in a difficult position. They all knew that Shin belonged to the Empyrean Talons, which were composed of highly skilled players. If he shared the method on how to clear their respective promotion quests, then their entire group would be able to enter the second continent ahead of everyone.

To make it even worse, the sources of these powerhouses told them that the Empyrean Talons had a close relationship with the 'Slayers Adventurer Team,' which had the 'God Slayer' Lawless and 'God of Death' Faker, a pair of legendary figures.

Aside from this, they also knew that the Empyrean Talons and the Hand of Midas possessed some relationship. This was proven during the recent huge event in the Saint Heaven Kingdom. These powerhouses were not blind to see the relationship between those two.

All of these had given the top guilds and organizations of the game a sudden sense of crisis.

It would be fine if the only person who could reach the second continent ahead of everyone else was Shin alone. But it was a whole different matter if he brought such groups and powerful guilds along with him.

This would not only put the other guilds and organizations in a disadvantageous position, but it would also leave the rest to dust once everything was set in motion.

The top guilds and other organizations would not let this happen, which was why they turned their attention back to clearing the Tier 3 Class Promotion Quests once again, not willing to be left behind.

With such a tide, the rest of the players would be forced to follow. They would be swept by the strong tide that the rest were riding.

Seeing this happen, the developers of the game could finally heave a sigh of relief.

…

Due to this event, the forces from the Evil Faction were forced to follow and ride the ride since they would not be left behind by the rest.

One such force was the current most active force of the faction, the Pandemonium Descendants.

The leaders of the Pandemonium Troupe, who were also the highest-ranking and most powerful members of the organization were forced to pause their operations and gathered for an emergency meeting.

…

Somewhere in a secret land within the Aurora Continent, a small group of players were currently gathered to deal with the current issue.

They were currently inside a dark cave without any source of light, making the whole place pitch-black.

At the center of this cave was a round stone table with five stone chairs surrounding it. Each chair seated an individual with different distinct features that could not be hidden by the darkness of the game.

Whoosh!

An ember of fire suddenly appeared at the center of the stone table, making the five figures' silhouettes a little clearer.

This also signaled the start of this meeting.

"This is completely unexpected. To think that this newbie will clear the Tier 3 Class Promotion Quest ahead of the rest is quite a surprise," said one of the silhouettes with a complementing tone.

Hearing that, another one slightly nodded his head. "This clearly surpassed our expectations. Moreover, he cleared it way faster than our estimation."

He then paused and turned to his right. "What do you think 'Wrath'? He is supposedly one of your main targets."

The player sitting on his right shrugged his shoulder and said nonchalantly. "We can't do anything about it. Our hands are too full already. Our former friend, Diablo is giving us quite a headache."

He then paused briefly and turned back to that player. "And don't call me 'Wrath.' Call me by my name – Amon."

Even though 'Wrath' was a title that made him known to everyone, he still preferred to be addressed with his real IGN (in-game name).

The first person who talked earlier suddenly chimed in. "Don't try to provoke him right now, Belial. We are currently in the middle of an important matter."

Belial shook his head and clicked his tongue repeatedly when he heard that and refuted it. "Tsk! Tsk! I know what you are thinking, Baal. But you will not be able to trick me."

"Aren't we supposed to point out who is at fault first? This task is to assassinate the targets along with the rest and delay their progress as much as possible. But he refuses to make a move personally, which resulted in our current situation."

"Me and my people are already busy with conquering the neutral regions, I don't have the time to clean up with the other's mess."

He then turned to his left and asked. "What do you think, Paimon? You are doing pretty well at spreading the corruption and clearing the important questlines to open the Dark Portals, but it will be delayed due to the other people, who are slacking off."

That player, named Paimon shook his head and said. "What's done is done. Let's hear it from the leader."

Amon was already doing it at suppressing his anger, so it would be better to end this conversation right now before things could get ugly. Belial and Amon fought, and there would be a huge disturbance, which would give them quite a headache.

And if it even escalated into a more serious situation, then half of their secret base would be destroyed in the process.

Hearing his words, the other three simultaneously turned their attention to the person, who kept silent up until now.

Baal observed their leader for a moment before asking. "What do you think, 'Pride'? How are we going to deal with this situation."

Lucifer, the main founder of the Pandemonium Descendants and the leader of the Pandemonium Troupe, swept his gaze at the four before saying with a commanding tone. "We will move according to plan."

"Divide our forces into two; one will continue with the clearing of the main scenario quest while the other will explore the promotion quest."

"This will slow down our progress greatly, but we don't have a choice since we can't afford to be left behind."

He then paused for a moment before continuing. "And summon Mephisto. Isn't he bored? Tell him that we have a very fitting job to relieve his boredom."

After that, he disappeared, signifying that he no longer had any commands that he had to say. This also indicates the meeting is done.

The four were silent for a moment before turning to each other.

"Tsk! He wants to let that lunatic on loose this early?"

"This is about to get more troublesome."

"I bet no one will want to associate with that battle-crazy demon."

"Amon, you do that job since you are friends with him."

...…