...…

The next day, Shin woke up with a sore body. He tried to stand up but failed to do so since he also couldn't find enough strength to do it. "Ugh! D*mn! It is painful everywhere."

While he was in that state, a voice suddenly sounded and said to him. "Awake already? I guess that you are alright since you look quite energetic to stand up."

Shin looked at the source of the voice and saw Nathan sitting on the sofa nearby. 'Ugh! Why do I feel like this is a déjà vu?'

Seeing that, Nathan stood up from his seat and said. "You exhausted yourself too much trying to complete your 'Sacred Diamond Bones' that is why you collapsed last night. Don't do any training for now and try to recover strength first."

Walked near Shin and continued. "You may notice some changes on your body but you don't have to worry about that. It is just your body responding to the Reinforced Bones that you have; especially with your dantian."

���If you have some questions regarding it, go ask Professor Plum when you regain some of your strength," he added before heading out the room.

But before Nathan could walk out of the room, Shin suddenly remembered something and asked "Wait, Uncle! What about the guy that was in here last night?"

Nathan suddenly paused his steps when he heard that question that he was somewhat expecting. He thought for a moment before replying. "Oh~! Him? Don't worry, he is a friend of mine. He is here to visit me yesterday and just happened to bump into your situation last night."

Shin paused briefly before asking another question. "So, he is the one that helped me out of that situation?"

Nathan didn't reply immediately as he observed Shin's expression for a moment. Then he sighed helplessly and said. "Yeah, he helped you survive your situation last night. Completing the 'Sacred Diamond Bones' in that state of mind is quite reckless of you."

"Isn't it written in the manual that you can't complete the whole set of runes if your state of mind is unstable? Yet you still proceed on doing it. If not for him being present at that time, you may suffer a serious injury that is very hard to recover."

Shin lowered his eyes when he heard that. He knew for himself that it was very dangerous for him to complete the entire runes if he was in an unstable mind. But even if he was aware of it, his insecurity had got over him last night; he was afraid of being left behind.

When Nathan saw that, he shook his head while smiling bitterly. Then he resumed walking out of the room while saying. "Alright, you are quite fortunate to survive it so there is not much to think about that problem. Just focus on recovering yourself. You might be able to move properly later this day, but make sure not to do any kind of martial-art experiences. But mental meditation is not prohibited."

Shin just nodded his head when he heard Nathan.

And when Nathan walked out of the room, Arthur suddenly entered and walked straight beside Shin's bed. "Heh! I heard that you overdid it this time. What? Scared of being left behind."

Shin didn't answer him and just smiled bitterly.

Seeing that expression, Arthur couldn't help but click his tongue and said. "Tsk! This is so much unlike you. Aren't you being optimistic about these kinds of things? It is just a one lost."

Shin continued wearing his bitter smile while saying. "I also don't know. When I saw your last move, I couldn't shake it off inside my head. Especially when I am aware that you are still holding back during that sparring match since I can also feel that you can't control that power properly."

Arthur took the chair nearby and placed it beside Shin's before sitting on it. Then he crossed his arms in front of his chest before saying. "What are you so insecure about? Even though I am a Bloodline Possessor, you are still a Dual Practitioner with 'Spiritual Embryo'. If you put it up in the same terms, then we are at least in equal strength and potential."

"Like I told you, I am not sure why I am feeling this way. Maybe it is because of that Old Geezer who kept saying some things yesterday," said Shin.

Then he added after a brief pause. "Don't worry, I am going to get over this after a day or two. So, there is not much to think about."

Arthur shrugged his shoulders after hearing that and said. "By the way, I heard you already applied for the entrance exam of 'Magic Ace Academy'?"

Shin nodded his head and answered in a nonchalant manner. "Yes. I already asked some permission from Auntie and the Old Geezer, so I immediately applied for it when you are gone. And from what I remember, it was also approved. So, I am going to take their exam when the School starts recruiting."

Hearing that, Arthur immediately exploded. "D*mn! Why didn't you say it to me earlier? I almost sent my application to the Top Military School! If not for mom telling me about it, then I may already be taking their entrance exam right now."

"Oh! I thought you already have a final decision of going to that School, so I didn't try to persuade you," said Shin.

The corner of Arthur's mouth suddenly twitched after hearing that and said. "Do you honestly believe that I want to go to such a boring School? I am only planning to go there since dad and Uncle Nathan are pestering me to attend that school."

"What I really want is to go to a more exciting school such as the 'Magic Ace Academy'. There are a lot of geniuses from around the world coming there. So, I can test more of my strength if I attend that School."

"And since you and Leo are going to attend that school, I have more excuses to go there. I can't let our Monster Trio group be split just because of me."

Then he paused for a moment before wearing an excited look on his face while saying. "What's more, there are a lot of beauties in the Magic Ace Academy compared to the 'Top Military School' where only men and amazons are present."

"Plus, the Magic Ace Academy is located in the Eastern Sea Region where a lot of beaches and resorts are present, which is also where we can find some good places for the feasts of our eyes."

Shin rolled his eyes when he heard the latter part of Arthur's words. And naturally, the latter was able to notice that which was why he rolled his eyes at Shin and said. "D*mn! What's the problem with that? Someone like you will never be able to understand the suffering of a person like me."

"Tsk! Even though I am such a very handsome and amazing person, only gold diggers and slutty girls are coming after me. And I also can't understand why all of the good belles are instead lining up for such a boring person like you, who is also lacking in terms of romantic sense. Why is life so unfair!"

After that, the two of them started talking with a lot of random things. Sometimes, Arthur was also sharing his experiences in his special training even though he strangely couldn't remember his master at that time. And what was even stranger than that, all of the things that were thought to by that mysterious man was still vivid in his mind.

And while they were still at it, Shin also asked Arthur a lot of things regarding the game. From the most powerful guilds and powerhouses; together with the strongest adventurer teams and most skilled players of the game.

From this conversation, Shin learned that there were a lot of hidden organizations in the game that were only Godlike Players and strong powerhouses were aware of their existence. He also learned that there were some very strong players that were not ranked in the Godlike Ranking List.

The list was quite accurate since the players ranked in it were really strong and stood at the very top of the gaming world. But there were also some hidden experts that were unknown to the public.

And these players had a list of their own, where only players that were ranked in that list were the only ones that were able to see who were the fellow players ranked in that list.

And in this mysterious list, Zero who was publicly known as the number one player, was only ranked in the fifth place. Whereas Arthur, who was the second player on the Godlike Ranking list, was ranked in the seventh place.

Arthur refused to tell Shin who the other players on the list were; since he wanted for Shin to look at it for himself when he finally reached the stage where his name was also ranked on that list.

But even if that was the case, Arthur still gave him a tip about the fastest way to get ranked on that Gods' Secret List: and that was to beat at least 5 players on the top 20 of the Godlike Ranking List.

The rank of the player that he was going to beat was needed to be at least 2 ranks higher than the previous one that he had defeated. Of course, his rank on the secret list will depend on how strong were the players that he was going to beat.

That might sound crazy, but that was just one of the words that could describe the players ranked in that God's Secret List; all of the players there were absolute freaks and unquestionable monsters.

...

During this conversation, Arthur was finally able to see that Shin's mood was going for the better.

And when he saw that, Arthur finally stood up from his seat and said. "Alright, that should be enough. I'm going now for now. After all, I still need to prepare the things that I need for my entrance exam application."

After that, he proceeded walking out of the room. And that was when he heard Shin voice saying. "Thanks."

Arthur suddenly paused his tracks for a moment before shaking his head while mumbling to him. "What a sissy."

Then he resumed walking out of the room and said to Shin. "I will be waiting for you to challenge me for a place on the God's Secret List," while waving one of his hands.

Shin watched Arthur's back until he was gone, before muttering to himself. "Looks like I need to get used to chasing after your back this time, huh?"

Then he stared at the ceiling of his room while raising his right hand with great difficulty. And when he finally raised it up, he formed a fist with that hand and said to himself. "And the next time I catch up on you, I will make sure that defeating me is not going to be easy."

...…