...…

The next day, the hype of the third stage of the Shadow Ranking Cup was all time high; especially with the highlighted matches that were going to get covered by some entertainment company.

And as everyone was waiting for the battles to start, the broadcasting of all of the upcoming battles was already starting. And as the number one entertainment company of the gaming world, True Sight Industries would surely be a first choice of all of the viewers.

But the moment they saw which battle they were covering, these players started to become doubtful. But regardless of this, these guys still chose to remain on their channel. And given that reputation that they had, there might be a reason why they chose to cover such a battle.

And the man in question was obviously Shin. Shin's battle finally got a spot for being a highlighted match!

Naturally, Shin would get a notification about this matter as both the entertainment and gaming companies were going to ask permission for this. And why would Shin refuse such a good offer? So, he welcomed the offer with open arms, especially that he would get a portion of the income shares.

*******

Meanwhile, Shin was currently in a deep thought. He was re-watching his opponent's battle clips for another time so that he could study her strength and battle style even further.

"From what I can see on the surface, her class really looks like an illusionist. So, if I based her battle style with this, I should take a look at what kind of music she is playing so that I can see what kind of illusion she is going to use."

After reaching this point, Shin re-played the battle clips once again. But this time, he was trying to see if he could get good information from this. He couldn't hear anything from the battle clips since it was being protected by the game. But even if this was the case, Shin still could fish out the things that might be useful to him.

As a music lover, it was still quite easy for Shin to know what kind of music was Janine playing by just looking at the movements of her fingers while playing her flute. And since he was trained in Black Serpent Mafia with different kinds of instruments, he would be able to picture what kind of music she was currently playing.

With this, Shin was able to see more of the trick that Janine was using during her battles. "So, that was it, huh?"

And with the help of this new information, he now figured out the real tricks behind her strange battle style.

After further studying his opponent, Shin now has some extra time to relax his mind and condition his mindset before his next battle.

...

After a few more moments of waiting, the system notification that everyone was waiting finally came. And without further ado, Shin immediately hit the accept button without having a slightest bit of hesitation.

Swoosh!

A moment later, Shin was immediately sent towards the next battle arena. And when he arrived at the place, he was caught in surprise at what he saw. Instead of being in a gladiator's arena with a plain design, he was now standing inside a ruined church with broken wooden benches scattered everywhere.

Opposite to him stood a woman with a hooded cloak. Her entire figure was being covered by the cloak, so it was quite hard to tell her physical features.

When Shin saw her, he couldn't help but frown his eyebrows a little as he felt it was strange. 'She is not wearing a cloak during her previous fights. Is there a reason why is she wearing one now? Maybe this cloak possessed a special ability.'

While Shin was thinking about this, Janine suddenly opened her mouth and said to him. "You should quit while you still have enough time to save some of your face. You might be strong but you will never be able to beat me with that kind of strength alone."

Shin was caught off-guard the moment he heard that. He didn't expect to hear those words from her. Then he raised one of his eyebrows as he muttered to himself. 'Such bold words coming from a girl. Isn't she being a little too confident with those claims?'

After that, Shin started chuckling and said to her. "Aren't you being too overconfident?"

Hearing that, Janine suddenly smirked and said. "Heh! Why not? None of my opponents so far manage to figure out a way to beat me. And you will be the same."

The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched the moment he heard that and thought to himself. 'Why every woman that I encountered these last few days all have a princess syndrome?'

After a moment of pause, Shin suddenly smirked before giving his reply. "I wonder about that."

And before Janine could give her rebuttal, the timer of the battle arena finally hit zero. And right after hearing the sound that signified the start of the battle, she immediately did a couple of hops sideways. Together with that, she also raised her flute as fast as she could while planning to start playing music.

Meanwhile, Shin didn't immediately do his opening move this time. It was because he knew that his opponent might probably have studied his style just like what he did earlier. And Janine's movements proved him right. If he made a quick move and used his 'Moonlight Splitter' skill, his attack would surely fail to hit its target given how timely his opponent jumped to the side.

Shin also didn't choose to attack even if he read where Janine was going to dodge. It was because even if he tried to attack her at that time, he was sure that something terrible would happen to him.

He chose to remain standing on his spot and just watched her hopped to the side. And when Janine saw that, she couldn't help but become confused. 'Huh? Why is he standing still?'

Then she remained standing on her spot after her feet landed on the ground. After that, she raised her head a little to look at Shin before asking with an arrogant tone. "Why are you still standing there? Unable to move due to your fear? How about forfeiting this match now?"

'Purposely provoking me, huh?' Thought Shin to himself the moment he saw her action. 'I am not sure about it earlier but it looks like my guess is right on the mark, huh?'

Then he made a smirking sound, which was enough to be heard by her before saying. "Heh! How about you? Why not start playing your flute right now?"

Then he paused for a moment and spread his arm a little widely before saying. "How about start attacking me using your so-called 'illusions'?"

Janine was taken aback when she heard those words; especially when she heard the sarcastic tone that Shin had used to emphasize the last word of what he said. But she immediately regained herself quite quickly and said to Shin. "What do you mean?"

Hearing that, Shin suddenly grinned behind his mask. With those words, he seemed to finally confirm some of his suspicions. And to further prove it, he immediately asked. "Where is your arrogant tone now? You have your confidence about your illusionary techniques, right?"

Shin trailed his words for a moment as he tried to see how Janine would react to his words. And when he saw that she didn't have any reaction, he added with a smirking tone. "Or should I say that there are now actually illusions?"

Janine was stunned the moment she heard that. She didn't believe it at first but she immediately moved away from Shin when she saw that he was tightening his grip with his sheathed sword.

"You!" Janine was too shocked and confused at how Shin figured out the secret of her skill. She thought that it was impossible for someone to discover about it, but from the looks of it, it seemed that Shin really knew the trick behind her battle style.

Given that, she asked with full of shock. "How did you know?"

When Shin heard that, he started grinning even further as he finally got the answer that he was waiting for. And given how Janine had acted, he was sure that he was right on the mark.

A moment later, he gave his reply. "Simple."

He raised his right hand and pointed at the flute that Janine was holding and said. "Because that thing that you used to cover your real class and skills, exposes you in the end."

And before Janine could say something, Shin immediately added. "You did great at using the same song piece whenever you are using the same skill, and use a different piece for another skill."

"In fact, you perfectly hide your skills since you are using different songs for each of your skills. Unfortunately, that was also where you messed up a little."

Then he trailed his words a little before continuing. "You are indeed using the right songs for the designated skill that you choose, but you also failed to realize that sometimes you are actually playing a different verse of the song when you are using the respective skill for it."

Janine was too stunned when she heard all of that. And when Shin saw that, he suddenly started smirking and said. "So, what now? Should we wrap this up so that we will not waste both of our time?"

And as if rubbing more salt in her wounds, Shin suddenly added. "It is still not too late for you to forfeit his match to save some of your face."

...…