As Simon continued walking along with Ludovicus, viewing the auditorium in satisfaction, he nodded inwardly.

‘That should be enough for now. It isn’t much, but at the very least, this should allow for my name to spread.’

As of this moment, he could sense six motionless bodies around him, who were the mercenaries sent to assassinate him.

In truth, this was his plan from the get-go. Now that he had used the mercenaries, and indirectly, Lydus as a stepping stone, his fame would definitely spread quickly within the higher rungs of society. A mage capable of instantly killing 6 men silently and effortlessly was definitely big news, after all.

After this incident, people would know that he was strong - but not the exact depth of his strength. To him, such a situation was ideal; with his strength being a mystery, he had the option of appearing weak while strong or strong while weak, should he need to in the future. As a result, his options were more flexible when proceeding with his plans.

As for failing this operation?

Simon had never considered it for a second.

The magic that had been developed in his old world for countless generations was not to be taken lightly, after all. And as one who knew the reputed strongest assassination spell in the second tier of his previous world, and other equally strong spells, how could he possibly be afraid of a few measly mercenaries?

Thankfully, this specific tier two spell was much easier to cast when compared to the twin dragons. Thus, Simon only faced minor fatigue and a loss of a fifth of his mana reserves in using the spell.

-----

A handsome man with an imposing and majestic aura was currently sipping wine within a luxurious lounge, along with a few other men with similarly impressive auras.

“Lydus, I heard that some fool tried to talk big to you today. Do you have anything in store for him?” A chubby man in his thirties asked Lydus with a chuckle, between generous sips of wine.

The news of the recent incident had already spread to many ears. After all, many paid attention to Lydus, the heir to the Utopis company.

As a result, something like a blatant provocation would serve to prove his capabilities to an extent. If he could deal with the situation, people would know not to mess with him. If he couldn’t? His reputation would be in shambles.

Not only was his public image on the line, but even his own family were watching this cautiously!

“Of course, you don’t have to worry about him. He’s merely a frog in the bottom of a well.” Lydus replied with a cold smile.

“Haha, that's only to be expected. What a fool.” the chubby man laughed with a pitying expression when he thought of the fate of the man who had recklessly offended him.

But suddenly, Lydus took out his phone from his pocket and read the contents of a message. Just a moment later, he stood up abruptly.

“I have something to do, please excuse me.” Lydus suddenly proclaimed as he hurriedly left.

...

As he departed from the building, Lydus could hardly believe the message that he had just received.

‘How is this possible?! This man has no backing whatsoever! He was homeless for most of his life and his parents are long dead for f*ck sake!’ Lydus thought, frustratedly clenching his fists.

Indeed, he had just received the mission’s result, as well as the final transmission from the last surviving mercenary. Seeing these, he felt an insatiable urge to strangle his intelligence agents.

‘Who is this guy?! Homeless loser my ass! He’s a f*cking mage!’ he thought in a foul mood. Even the Utopis company would have to tread lightly around mages, let alone one that was as strong as Simon.

If the news spread that he failed to deal with a man that was homeless just months ago, his reputation would definitely take a hit...

And so, he decided that to redeem his reputation, he could only try convincing the headmaster to rescind Simon’s membership or reveal the truth of the matter!

However, he would still have to verify Simon’s strength before admitting defeat and revealing the truth. After all, there was no footage of the man’s actions. How could he tell for sure that he was a mage?

…

Soon enough, within the highest office within the Veracity Compound...

Knock. Knock.

Lydus knocked the door to the headmaster’s office respectfully, awaiting a response.

“Come in.” Donato’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.

Nodding, he entered the office and was met with Donato, who currently wore a stern and serious expression; this was how he typically acted around members of the Research School.

“Young man Lydus, what have you come here for?” Donato asked expressionlessly.

“Well, I am sure you know of the incident between me and Simon, yes?” Lydus immediately said, not beating around the bush at all.

Donato chuckled, before giving Lydus a sharp look. “Regarding that man, I’m afraid that you can’t do anything about him. If you hope to take action against him, the Veracity Team will side with him, not you. However, I would recommend against doing so.”

Hearing this, Lydus sighed and he looked as if he had aged a couple years. What he feared most was essentially proven true; if even the Veracity Team sided with Simon, that man must definitely have secrets. In that case… he most likely did have the capabilities to back up his words.

Though Lydus was brash, he was not an idiot. Clearly, the time to cut his losses was now. In any case, a loss of reputation was not the end of the world.

However, as he left the office, rage was still burning within his heart. He had only suppressed it for the time being.

‘Damn you Simon Ji! If there ever comes a time where we cross paths again, I will not let you off lightly! Don’t believe that I, Lydus Lucus, will not improve in the future!’ he swore inwardly, more determined than ever.

...

After a long day of viewing the various compounds of Veracity City, Simon thanked Ludovicus and headed back to the airport before flying back home. He now had an idea of the various compounds up for grabs within Veracity City.

As he made his way back, he was in a rather complicated mood.

After all, this day was a rather unique experience. He had unearthed the shocking foundations of people in this world and had also begun spreading his reputation in the real world.

‘I suppose this isn’t entirely bad... At least, I may be able to benefit myself from the Veracity Team.’ he thought amusedly as he shook his head.

…

An hour later, Simon had finally returned home. The stars were currently out, adorning the night sky with a myriad of shining lights. However, for some reason, they appeared more purple than white...

Woosh!

Upon entering his room, Simon jumped forwards, soaring through the air and onto his bed, simultaneously slapping the VR helmet onto his head.

‘Enter Virtual World!’

Sure enough Simon suddenly found himself back in his virtual hub.

Ding!

Upon appearing in his cabin, he immediately received a notification.

[You have been invited to enter [Veracity Virtual World]. Do you wish to accept the invitation?]

‘Oh.’ After a moment, Simon nodded. ‘This should be the invitation. Accept!’

Ding!

[[Veracity Virtual World] has been added to your home page.]

‘Great!’

He quickly navigated to his home page and indeed, there was now a [Veracity Virtual World] option included within the page.

Although it was already fairly late - long past nightfall, he still wanted to first explore the world before actually taking the various courses of the Veracity World.

But after a bit of thought, he decided to first check on his island before entering the Veracity world.

‘Alright, enter Island Ascension Online!’

…

Upon returning to his island, Simon was quickly greeted by Jake, who had hurried over upon hearing that he returned.

As the two sat in a well adorned room with luxuriously carved furniture, sipping cups of tea, Jake briefed him of the Island’s progression.

“Master, while you were away, our plans proceeded smoothly; the town is being completed, and the jungle explored. But as for our progress to a level 5 island core...“ Jake sighed helplessly, massaging his head at the thought of their situation.

“We are nowhere close. The amount of rare materials that the level 5 upgrade requires is simply absurd!”

Simon chuckled. “This is no problem! In fact, I would be surprised if you guys managed to get close whilst I was away.”

He was not disappointed in the slightest. After all, the amount of resources required for a level 5 island core was infamously stringent.

Upon achieving a level 4 island core, one would be faced with two options on further island core progression: The technological path, and the magical path.

These two choices represented two different methods of island progression, which were of course, developing technologies versus developing magic!

Islands that embark on the path of technological progression have the opportunity to reach the limits of a technological civilization; to be sovereigns capable of producing unthinkably advanced technologies.

Islands that embark on the path of magic progression have the opportunity to reach the limits of a magical civilization; to be overlords capable of achieving unfathomably awe-inspiring feats of magic.

Though they were considered to be equal in power, to Simon, who once lived in a magical civilization, it was a no brainer. Of course he would embark on the path of a magical civilization!

But with each path, there were of course, advantages and disadvantages.

Technological civilizations had a higher requirement for quantity of materials, whilst magical civilizations had a higher requirement for quality of materials.

Of course, some technologies require materials of exceedingly high quality, and some magic require materials in exceedingly vast quantities. But most of the time, it was the other way around.

What this meant was that… Simon would have to obtain no small amount of rare resources before every island core upgrade from now on.

With his vast amount of wealth thanks to the Tier 1 Wealth Token, obtaining common resources in high quantities was no problem but… getting rare resources was considerably harder, as they were hard to come across in the first place.

‘Ugh…’ Simon had fostered a headache over this situation. After all, the easiest way to get such rare resources was through connections. But in order to get connections, he needed power. And yet, in order to get power, he needed connections!

It really was a maddening truth.

‘It seems I’m due for a trip to the core zone soon…’ he thought resignedly.

He hadn’t wished to truly reveal himself to the various powers of Island Ascension Online so soon. However, it seemed like not doing so would be akin to shooting himself in the foot.

After all, without risk, how could one possibly expect results? The path towards strength was not an easy one, nor was it a safe one.

After Jake finished briefing him of the island affairs, Simon issued new orders and once again left the game.

…

At this moment of time, Simon’s finger was hovering over the [Veracity Virtual World] option, with a glow in his eyes. After all, this was precisely what he needed to rapidly improve his strength!

‘Let’s see how impressive it really is!’ he thought as he excitedly pressed downwards.

His vision then darkened as a system notification rang out.

[Loading Veracity Virtual World… Please wait]

When his vision returned, he suddenly found himself in a night sky, falling downwards!

‘Huh?!’

As he looked around, startled, he realized that he was rapidly falling atop a sprawling metropolis, which just so happened to give him an exceptional view of the city.

This metropolis was easily the size of the real Veracity City, with buildings that were far more majestic and advanced than any in reality. The vast buildings made of glass and metal towered over the streets, seemingly reaching endlessly for the skies, and the sublime, glowing city under the night sky made for a particularly glamorous sight.

Above the spacious streets within the city, the occasional hovercraft could also be seen following paths within the air. Along with these hovercrafts, there were also robots and mechs which flew about, carrying out a variety of tasks.

‘So this is the Veracity Virtual World, huh. Damn!’ Simon calmed down when he realized that nothing was astray. New members probably spawned in the air in order to display the full magnitude and brilliance of the world.

But still, Simon couldn’t help but to think that this was too dramatic! They had scared him for no reason...

Soon enough, his descent slowed as he fell into a domed building with a hole atop of its center.

Thump.

When he softly landed, he was met with a simply adorned and spacious circular room. Within this area, there were a couple levitating robots roving about aimlessly.

“Welcome to the Veracity Virtual World.” One of the robots quickly made its way up to him, and spoke out in a monotone voice. “My name is M4346, and I am responsible for introducing you to the Veracity Virtual World.”