...

After a long time of chatting, the group immediately dispersed and went to do their own things.

Arthur and Leonard went to their respective rooms and planned to do a few minor quests in the game while waiting for Shin to complete his preparations for their next destination.

Meanwhile, Shin led Jerimiah and Vincent to one of the unoccupied rooms where they were going to stay. Fortunately, there was already a bed in there so they were not going to trouble themselves on buying. At the same time, they could also move the bed from one of the rooms downstairs since they were not going to use those anyway.

After helping the two settle in that room, Shin left them to unpack their bags before going to the other room where David was also busy unpacking his luggage.

"Do you really need to freeload here? Can you at least stay somewhere else? I already have a lot of mouths to feed," he said while leaning on the jamb of the door.

He then pointed his thumb behind before adding. "At least, those two are going to pay some rent and share some of the bills. How about you?"

Hearing that, David could only release a helpless sigh before nodding his head. "Alright, I get you. I'll also pay for my stay here, happy now?"

After that, he clicked his tongue before complaining. "You're such a stingy person."

Shin remained quiet for a couple of moments before asking. "Senior Brother, have you played any VR games?"

"Eh!?" David suddenly paused what he was doing as he was taken aback at Shin's sudden question. And after a brief moment of silence, he suddenly nodded his head. "Yeah. I've played a couple of games before. But I stopped playing any games when I started traveling to different places."

"After all, I don't have the leisure time to play games when I'm too busy challenging all of the young talents around the world," he added with pursed lips.

He then turned his head towards Shin before asking smilingly. "Why are you planning to invite me to play some games?"

Shin immediately nodded his head without any hint of hesitation before saying. "Yeah, have you heard of «Destiny's Fate»? That game is quite fun and there are a lot of strong people in there. Will you play it with us?"

David thought for a moment before replying. "I'll give it some thought. There are still a lot of things that I need to take care of, so I really don't have time to play any games for now. But I'll make sure to tell you if I'm done with everything."

Hearing that, Shin immediately became overjoyed and rushed towards David before holding his hand while saying. "You've said it, alright? You'll contact me first when you decide to play the game. Make sure to keep your word and don't get swayed by others."

David suddenly wore a weird expression on his face when he saw Shin's actions before saying. "What's with being so worked up? Stop acting like that, you are creeping me out!" while pulling his hand from Shin's grasp.

Shin was about to leave the room when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Before I forgot. Make sure to contact us first if you are planning to join a team. Me, Arthur, and Leonard are planning to create an Adventurer Team, so please consider joining us first before deciding to join other groups."

"Yeah, yeah! I get it already, so get out right now before I change my mind," said David while pushing Shin out of his room.

Outside, Shin bumped into Jerimiah and Vincent who were about to head downstairs.

"You guys already finished unpacking your bags?" asked Shin.

"Yeah," nodded Jerimiah before quickly adding. "We are going to fletch the Gaming Cabins that we brought with us. We asked the agency to deliver it here earlier. Now, they said the Cabins are already outside."

"Oh! Do you guys need some help at setting them up?" asked Shin, offering some help.

"Nah! We are going to be fine. We can handle setting them up on our own. You can do your own thing instead," said Jerimiah, not willing to trouble Shin anymore.

He then proceeded walking towards the stairs alongside Vincent while adding jokingly. "It's a good thing that you guys picked a good villa. The spaces inside the rooms are wide enough to fit everything in it."

After that, he went back to his room, planning to immediately hop inside the game. Cloe was waiting for him for quite some time already, so he was afraid that she was going to scold him, now that he was coming so late.

"Let's just hope that she is not going to scold me too hard," muttered Shin as hopped inside his Gaming Cabin and waited for it to close its doors.

Immediately after that, Shin closed his eyes and muttered quite loud. "Initiate Login!"

...…

Swoosh!

Shin appeared inside his room at the Mayor's Manor as usual. He then immediately headed towards the office to ask Ribbit a few things before sneaking out of the place before swapping all of his equipment with his other set.

At the same time, he also put his mask into its invisible mode so that he could hide it from the eyes of others.

After that, he quickly opened his friend list and contacted Cloe.

"You finally remember me?" said Cloe right after she answered the call.

Hearing that, Shin immediately put up his brightest smile before saying. "Come on~! I already told you that I have some visitors at home, so I can't go online immediately."

"And who are these so-called visitors of yours that you even set me aside?" asked Cloe with squinting eyes.

"Brother Lawless and Brother Faker just arrived. They are going to stay with us until the Exchange Student Program is over," replied Shin honestly.

After that, Shin immediately tried to change the subject since he knew that he couldn't afford to stay on this topic. "So, where are you now? Send me the coordinates and I'll head over there."

But Cloe still insisted and asked. "Are you sure that this is not a form of revenge for making you wait in the airport?"

'I knew it,' cursed Shin to himself as the corner of his mouth was starting to twitch uncontrollably. 'Why are girls so talented when it comes to remembering things and able to connect them with everything?'

Regardless of his thoughts, Shin still maintained his smile before replying. "Come on~! Am I that kind of person? Just tell me you are so that we can start your quest."

"It's done already," replied Cloe with a hmphed.

"Eh!? What did you say? You already finished it?" asked Shin, surprised.

Hearing that, Cloe suddenly threw a sharp glare at Shin before replying. "So, you now understand how long I wait for you?"

Cough! Cough!

Shin couldn't help clear his throat when heard those words as he didn't know how to respond. And before he could even defend himself, Cloe suddenly added. "Actually, there is another thing that made me quite upset too."

Shin's face started twitching even more as he started to feel bad about this matter.

Meanwhile, Cloe ignored the face that Shin was making and continued immediately. "How come the three of you have some fun with the Blind Abyss Empire while leaving me behind?"

'Says the one who locked herself inside her room all day long, sulking,' refuted Shin inside his head before saying. "I really want to ask you to come with us but you're still not online at that time. And since we are in a hurry at that time, we don't have enough time to contact you."

Cloe was about to say something to take advantage of this situation. But Shin knew her too well, so he skillfully dodged the situation by saying. "Actually, we are planning to head on an expedition, you join us if you want. What do you think?"

Suddenly hearing that plan, Cloe couldn't pull her tricks anymore since she knew that the situation was against her favor.

Seeing the hesitant look on her face, Shin put a little more pressure to 'force' Cloe to give up on her tricks. "So, are you joining us or not?"

'This cunning wolf!' thought Cloe to herself before gritting her teeth and saying frustratedly. "Alright! You win! I'll join!"

'Better luck next time, sly fox,' sneered Shin inside his head before saying. "Then you better start making your preparations now as we are heading there as soon as possible."

"Why do I feel that you guys are only going there to make trouble?" asked Cloe while throwing a suspicious look at Shin.

"You guys just made a huge ruckus in the Blind Abyss Empire, yet you are still planning to cause trouble somewhere else? You three really don't know how to become tired," she added with a little helplessness.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but chuckle a little before replying to her. "As if you don't know us."

Cloe smirked a little when she heard before planning to end the call. But before she could say bye to Shin, she suddenly remembered something and immediately asked. "Where are we going anyway?"

This time, Shin started grinning from ear to ear before pointing at the sky while saying. "To the Sky Island."

...