At the exit of Forbidden Ground No. 6, two guards were chatting lazily.
All of a sudden, a streak of golden light flashed at their side.
Both of them snapped to full alert in an instant.
"Who goes there… what the, a golden legend?!"
They stared hard, only to realize that the golden glow was actually spilling out from the gateway of the Forbidden Ground itself.
"You have got to be kidding me. Did the Forbidden Ground just… bug out?"
Smack.
The guard on the right slapped the back of his partner's head.
"Bug out? Your brain bugged out. The Forbidden Ground does not. What do you think this is, a video game?"
"Right, right, this is the Forbidden Ground… wait, hold on. If there is a golden glow here, doesn't that mean someone just cleared the highest difficulty mission and, uh… that a big shot is about to walk out?"
The guard slapped his own forehead as it finally clicked.
"What are you spacing out for then? Hurry up and report this. This could be exactly the person the top brass has been looking for!"
"I will go see if I can, you know, kind of maybe block this big shot for a second. You, move it!"
With that order barked at him, the guard on the right rushed forward and planted himself in front of the exit.
He thought about it again. Standing directly in the way of a monster who cleared a highest tier trial probably was not the smartest social move, and might even offend the guy for no reason.
So he shuffled aside a couple of steps and lowered his stance a bit, trying very hard to look respectful instead of confrontational.
His partner fumbled a communicator out of his pocket, jabbed a few buttons and waited anxiously for a response.
Beep, beep, beep.
"What is it?"
A calm, steady voice came through the other end.
"General, sir, we have a golden legend at Forbidden Ground No. 6, I repeat, a golden legend has appeared. Someone just received the highest evaluation. It is very likely this is the person you were looking for!"
"What?!"
A crash sounded faintly over the line, as if someone had bumped into a desk.
Then there was the flustered voice of a woman, probably a secretary, picking things up off the floor.
"Forget that, leave it. Send people to Forbidden Ground No. 6 right away… no, I will go myself. It will show more sincerity that way. Listen to me, you must convince this expert to cooperate. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely under no circumstances can you allow any conflict to break out. You know exactly what the consequences would be."
"Yes, sir, of course, we will do our best… huh? Why are you back already?"
The guard with the communicator stopped mid sentence, staring at his colleague who had just walked back over looking completely defeated.
On the other end, the general had been about to hang up, but that last line made a very bad feeling creep up his spine.
"What happened?"
His tone turned sharp.
The guard who had tried to greet the "big shot" let out a long sigh, shoulders slumping.
"The expert is already gone."
"What?!"
Bang.
On the other side of the line, the general stomped hard enough to crack the floor tiles.
"You mean to tell me you did not stop him?"
The guard took the communicator back and answered miserably, "General, sir, he was too fast. I had not even figured out how to start the conversation before he was gone."
"Too fast?"
The general went quiet for a few seconds, then asked again in a grave voice, "That is… not impossible. Did you at least see what he looked like?"
"He was too fast. I blinked and he was gone. I did not see anything at all."
"You… forget it. From now on, the two of you do not have to guard that entrance anymore. Report back to camp. If your strength is not at least two tiers higher than this, do not come back out here."
The line clicked dead.
The general turned to his trembling secretary and said coldly, "Send out my orders. We are reselecting all guards for the Forbidden Ground entrances. They must be stronger than the current batch, have better eyes, and move faster. And while we are at it, pick ones who can actually talk."
Meanwhile, Vance Hart had already turned down three streets in a row and wandered into a quiet corner of the city.
Only after carefully checking his surroundings did he finally relax, pull off his cap and take off his mask.
"Good thing no one noticed me. That would have been a mess."
Vance shook his head and sighed.
Fame is trouble, same as fattened pigs are trouble, and he was no exception.
If news got out that he had received the highest evaluation in Forbidden Ground No. 6, there was no telling how many people would try to recruit him.
Especially the big shots in the military. They would absolutely mark him as one of the most critical assets at this stage.
If he agreed to join them, there was a very real chance they would lock him down under full control. His day to day life would become non stop regimented training, with his personal freedom effectively gone.
If he refused…
Well.
There was no way the military would just let such a powerful, uncontrollable threat run loose in their backyard.
He would probably have to file a report just to leave his house, and be under surveillance twenty four seven.
He pictured the scene.
He was out on a date with his girlfriend, and the whole restaurant was full of strangers, all "casually" watching his every move.
Just imagining it made his skin crawl.
So the best solution, by far, was to stay under the radar. Hide as long as he could.
Once his strength was overwhelming enough to sweep the world, showing his face again would not be too late.
Thinking that, Vance headed home.
The first thing he did when he got in was lock the door.
Then he collapsed onto his big soft bed.
The best remedy for mental fatigue was sleep.
One nap did not fix it? Then take two.
One day was not enough? Then sleep for two.
No matter how much mental energy he burned, as long as his mind was not actually damaged, this method would eventually work.
It did not take long before he slid into a deep sleep, completely shutting out the world, focused only on the sacred act of sleeping.
He slept straight through until noon the next day before finally waking up, slow and lazy.
"Nothing beats sleeping at home."
Vance stretched hard, then got up.
After a quick wash, he moved on to the most important part of his daily routine.
Training.
Ten kilometers of running, squats, push ups, sit ups…
The same familiar routine, not a single item skipped.
Once he finished, Vance could feel the tiniest bit of growth in his body.
"Not bad. It is not some explosive breakthrough, but this steady climb is not bad at all. Slow and stable progress is still progress."
He sighed in satisfaction, headed downstairs for a late breakfast, then slung his backpack over his shoulder and set off for school.
Even though he had just finished the grueling battle of Forbidden Ground No. 6, he had no intention of giving himself a vacation.
While his fighting spirit was still burning hot, he wanted to at least see what the next Forbidden Ground looked like.
Even if he did not dive in immediately, he could still gather intel on Forbidden Ground No. 7.
More information never hurt anyone. If anything, it would just make him better prepared when the time came.
Besides, his cute little girlfriend had dropped him a message that morning, saying she would be going to campus today.
Maybe they could bump into each other.
It did not take long for Vance to arrive at the school.
Winter break had already started. The campus was almost deserted.
The teachers, however, did not get a break. They stayed on specifically so that students preparing for Forbidden Ground trials could come in and ask questions anytime.
After flashing his student ID, Vance passed safely through the gate.
He pulled out his communicator, found Professor Joe's contact, and tapped out a message.
"Professor, are you on campus today? I want to learn about Forbidden Ground No. 7."
The reply came quickly.
Vance opened it and saw a long block of text.
"Well now, what is going on today? You two lovebirds came to find me at the same time. Did you plan this together?"
"Just come over. I will brief you both at once. I am not on campus."
A location ping followed right after.
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The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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