Martial Online.



'It worked!' Jesse looked thrilled at the frozen world. He then focused and summoned his slumbering soul from his body. This soul was a little bit different from its Martial Online counterpart.

The soul, when floating, was hunched over and looked sickly, as if it had some kind of illness. Even this soul was suffering from an incurable disease—Humanoid Imperfecta!

'Alright, let's try closing the gate. I wonder how much more difficult that is.' He thought and then remembered the instructions.

To close the gate, he would have to imagine what the gate looked like, and when the imagination was perfect, the gate would manifest in the world of souls. Then, he could attempt to close the gates by pushing the doors shut or by imagining the doors shutting down.

It all depended on the person.

Jesse chose to try to use brute strength to close the gates, as he thought that was his strongest attribute. He didn't think he should rely on his imagination, as according to the Wisdom King, he would have to rely on only his imagination for the next gates as well.

However, if he used strength, he then had to rely on his strength to overcome the following challenges. He felt way more confident using brute strength than relying solely on his imagination.

The Wisdom King said it heavily depended on the person. At the Honorable Dojo Temple, over 90% of the disciples relied on their imagination rather than brute strength. It was the most commonly chosen one as well.

There was a good reason for that.

One didn't have to train their imagination. If one were born with a vivid imagination, they would have a much easier time. There were also many tricks to improve the imagination that didn't take too long to learn.

While the ones who only used brute strength had to train tirelessly to improve their physical strength. Thus, it was also slower method as it might take some over ten years to develop their physical strength to the level required to close or open the gates.

However, imagination required luck. It was one of its biggest downsides. There had been people stuck in First Gate for thirty years because they couldn't understand what they lacked.

Meanwhile, strength users knew exactly what they lacked. If they couldn't close or open the gates, they knew that they simply lacked strength and would train even harder.

Thus, when the First Gate manifested in the world of souls, everyone had to make a choice whether to try imagination or strength.

'Let's try.' Jesse took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He imagined the outline of the First Gate. He always thought it would be a black, tall metal gate with intricate designs.

During the first manifestation, everyone would get to test both imagination and strength. To manifest the First Gate, they would experience the first imagination attempt, and when it finished manifesting, everyone often tried pushing the gate shut.

If one didn't feel comfortable with imagination, they would often go with strength. However, if one felt like they would never be able to close the gate with their strength, they would go with imagination.

There had been instances when people didn't feel comfortable with either one of them.

Those people often never made it to the Second Gate.

After several hours of trying to manifest the gate, Jesse stopped for tonight as he was beginning to feel exhausted. One good thing about meditation was that it somehow eased his hunger, so that didn't bother him.

However, before going to bed, he planned to get some food and recharge his energy for the next day.

...

"Huh..." The Brown Inquisitor woke up from his meditation in his small room that only had a bed, a window that overlooked a nearby street, and a desk with a dimly lit lamp.

As shadows danced across the walls, the Brown Inquisitor covered his head and murmured. "Strange. I can't feel his soul scent anymore.

"It should be a few more days before it vanished. However, for some reason, it is now gone.

"I couldn't see him through soul projection a few days ago, but I simply thought Honorable's from that temple obscured my vision. Now, I realize that I can't feel his soul scent anymore."

That was very strange, but he had a hunch why that happened.

"Did they teach him how to hide his soul scent?" The Brown Inquisitor thought out loud. "That's impossible. He was a complete novice, as he didn't even know others could jump into his world of souls!

"He couldn't possibly learn it in a couple of days...

"Yeah, not possible. The Honorable's must have done something to obscure my view."

He shook his head and put his brown top hat on his head.

"That doesn't matter. That criminal will be brought to justice." He said with determination in his eyes. "He is an outsider, and Dojo Temples don't take kindly to outsiders.

"I will know when he has left the temple. No one can hide from my tracking, not even the ones who have mastered hiding the scent."

...

At Marvelio Residence in Nocklund.

Alice lowered her phone after reading the message from Cerberus. She silently looked at the plushie in front of her, its innocent smile mocking her.

'I should have never accepted his invitation...' She grabbed the plushie and tossed it over to the other side of the room. She then laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, overwhelmed by regret.

'I am sorry, Jesse. I have no other choice...' Alice whispered to herself and opened a certain app on her phone. It had medical information about Jesse, which included his address.

'Terran's Street, Apartment Number 3.' She thought and then hugged the phone against her chest. 'I will visit him tomorrow...'

'There is no escape from Zahhak. They will still haunt your nightmares...' Alice hid her face and bit her lips with such force that she could taste blood in her mouth. 'Maybe I can convince Jesse to quit the game and to return the rewards to Zahhak.

'It might ease Cerberus' anger... maybe.'

...

At Whispering Pages Bookstore in Yatagarasu.

The night had fallen on the dark bookstore. However, one room still had a light on.

Bella sat on the rough carpet, flipping through pages of the book she planned to lend to Emma tomorrow. It was the latest addition to her book collection.

"I hope she likes this!" She placed the book in a safe place on the bookshelf, and then she returned to the bed and killed off the fire on the nearby candle.

As she laid down on the bed and covered her body with the blanket, she couldn't help but turn to the side and look at the brown bounty poster on the wall. It had a sketched image of a familiar-looking young man.

'I wonder what he did to get a bounty.' Bella thought to herself as she stared at the poster. 'He is a man of many mysteries.'

Bella couldn't help but feel a strange sense of curiosity and intrigue.

'I wonder what he is doing right now. Perhaps running away from bounty hunters?' Bella curiously thought before smiling. 'That sounds pretty exciting. I wish I could have a thrilling adventure like that someday.

'Unfortunately, I can't...' Bella sadly smiled. 'I have to trust in my father that I will be treated in the hospital. I have to prioritize my health and follow his advice...

'Well, at least I hope I can hear more about his adventures from Emma or either via the newspaper.' Remembering something, Bella excitedly sat back up and took a newspaper from her drawer. 'I can't wait to read about all the incredible things he's been up to!'

She was confident that Ambrose's name would appear on one of the pages of the newspaper someday. The newspaper, after all, showed the accomplishments of players.

Thus, she was certain that one day Ambrose's name would show up. Perhaps even on the front page, that might shock the whole world!

'Perhaps I am his first fan?' Bella giggled to herself and looked at the brown bounty poster, her cheeks turning slightly pink. 'He will become a legend. Everyone will know his name.'