...…

When Shin logged back in the game, he was immediately greeted by a bombardment of messages. He raised his eyebrow a little, thinking who could it be. And the moment they took a look at it, he saw that those messages were actually came from Lawless.

"What is it this time?" muttered Shin before taking a look at those messages.

Lawless: Hey! Still busy?

Lawless: I just want to inform you that me and Faker are going offline for a while since there are quite some things that we need to take care of in the Real World. So, don't panic when you discover that you can't reach us.

The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched the moment he read that. "What is this guy talking about?"

Then he started reading more.

Lawless: It may take quite some time, so we are most probably going to be back after the major update of the game, which is in next month.

Lawless: Oh! Another thing! We are chosen as one of the exchange students for the upcoming school year, so we might be going to the Soaring Continent when the school year starts.

Lawless: And we are most likely going to attend the 'Magical Ace Academy' for this exchange students' program. So, we ask you to take care of us when we get in there.

The corner of Shin's mouth further twitched when he reached this part of the massage. "What am I? Your personal butler or something?"

Regardless, Shin still continued to read the rest of the messages before saving the real-world personal contact information that Lawless had given him, along with those messages. And while he was at it, he also sent his contract information to that number – using his real-world contact number.

After that, he immediately recollected his thoughts before looking at the in-game digital clock. There was still 30-minutes before the semifinal, so he still had enough time to prepare himself for the upcoming battle.

Shin thought for a moment before deciding to review some of the previous matches of the 'Silent Blade: Sairen'.

Yes, not his next opponent, but the matches of his next opponent's previous opponent from the very last round.

"Now, let's see whether my suspicion is right or wrong," muttered Shin while opening a virtual screen in front of him.

…

Shin studied Sairen's previous fights for the rest of the preparation time designated for the semifinals. And when he felt that he already studied enough, the preparation time also happened to be up as well.

But before Shin pressed the accept button, he seemed to grin for a moment while mumbling. "So, I was right after all."

And that was when he hit the accept button to be teleported to the battle arena for his next match.

...

A moment later, Shin appeared at the center of an open grass field in the middle of a forest. After sweeping his gaze at the whole battle arena, he immediately got the whole picture where this fight was heading.

After checking his surroundings, Shin then turned his opponent who was standing a few meters away from him.

Shin observed Roger for a moment before saying to the latter. "That last fight of yours is pretty interesting. And~♪ … somewhat entertaining."

Roger raised his eyebrows for a moment before nodding his head, seemingly acknowledging what Shin had said. Though, his face suddenly turned weird the moment he heard Shin's next words.

"You really put quite a lot of effort to stage that fight."

Hearing that, Roger seemed to be frozen in place for completely being caught off-guard. Fortunately, he managed to recover himself almost immediately. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Though, that reply further proved Shin's suspicion. His lips suddenly curved into a grin as he looked at Roger. And even if the expression on Shin's face was being hidden by his mask, his opponent could still feel the sneering look that he was making.

Roger secretly clenched his hand before replying. "If you are going to provoke me with such words, then you are just wasting your time."

"Though, what you are doing clearly contradicts what you are saying," refuted Shin almost instantly. And after a brief pause, he immediately added. "I don't care what you did in the previous match – what I really want from you is to show me your real strength so that both of us can grow even stronger~…"

He trailed his words for a moment before continuing with a sneering tone. "Right, Unrivalled Sniper: Roger? Or~♪ should I also call you, the Silent Blade: Sairen?"

At this point, Roger's face suddenly became solemn the moment he heard that. He did not expect to hear those words from Shin. In fact, he really was not expecting that there was someone who was going to say those words to him.

The grin that Shin currently had curved even higher the moment he saw the expression that Roger was making. And due to that, he quickly added. "Even though that guy who fought you previously, did a good job at mimicking Sairen's moves – he still made a few mistakes here and there."

"Like for example, Sairen's habit before doing a counter attack, or the manner he was actually doing an upward swing, or even the movements of his feet when doing a certain footwork while maintaining that distance away from his opponent."

Roger's face turned even more solemn the more he listened to Shin's words. Each of the things that he pointed out were the things that he neglected before since he thought that there was no one going to notice such a very small detail.

But Shin was not done yet. And this time, he pointed out what he saw from Roger's battle style. "On the other hand, you also made some mistakes on your part. No matter how hard you try to cover it, some things are bound to be noticed."

"That Gun-Fu in particular-… No, it is more likely the footwork that you are using when executing that battle style. That 'footwork' and the one you are using when executing the 'Sleeping Ghost' combat technique are very similar."

"I understand your train of thought since only people who are too familiar with Military Arts are the only ones who are going to notice such small details. Unfortunately, I am one of them. So, I can immediately guess that your 'Gun-Fu' and 'Sleeping Ghost' are pretty much from the same root, which was the Military Stealth Movements."

Shin then supported his chin with his right hand while continuing. "Though, I also wondered who was that guy that you hired to act as yourself. He really did a pretty decent job at doing those tasks. If I didn't study your battle style before that fight, I am most likely going to be tricked by him as well."

"Is he someone that you specially train? A colleague from the Military? A very close friend with a similar style? Or your twin brother perhaps?"

Roger couldn't help but smile bitterly the more he listened at Shin. Each of the things that he pointed out were right on mark and he seemed not to have a plan of missing. Then he suddenly started laughing before responding at Shin. "You are such a scary individual. To think that you can even notice such a tiny detail. I wonder what your background is in real life."

Hearing the complement, Shin couldn't help but scratch his right cheek a little while muttering to himself. 'Actually, it is not that hard to notice those details as long as someone observes your battle style carefully. In fact, I just met someone who is most probably able to notice the same things before I even do.'

'Hmm… Now that I think about it. That guy really has a pair of sharp eyes which made him perfectly fit to be a great strategist. His ideas are quite on point too since he can immediately respond to my tactics during our strategic meeting on that fallen outpost.'

Shin's train of thoughts was suddenly cut off the moment he heard Roger's next words. "But so what if you know about it? What is the use of that knowledge if you can't even beat me in this battle?"

Shin just shrugged his shoulders the moment he heard that. "We will never know about that until we give it a try."

He then paused for a moment before asking with a serious tone. "Are you sure that you are not going to use your real battle style? You might regret not using it later."

Roger smirked at Shin before pointing his magic sniper rifle forward. "Then how about you force me to use it instead?"

Hearing that, Shin became even more excited. And after a slight pause, he took his sword-drawing stance before giving his reply. "Well, that is what I originally plan."

At the same time, Shin was also adding another thought inside his mind. 'And I am actually quite curious to see what will happen when two different battle styles are merged together.'

...…