''Undying, have you heard?'' A man with silver/gold armor asked from a man next to him.
A figure with the name of Undying raised an eyebrow. He had short black hair with red and gold armor with a golden cape.
''Apparently, KingOfGames is playing Arena!'' The man with silver and gold armor said with excitement.
''He is?!'' Undying was shocked.
Undying also has quite special identity— his real-life identity is Aether Nightside!
A name tag was floating on top of the figure with silver and gold armor.
[Spiritless - Level 398 - Legendary Hero]
On top of Undying's head, a similar name tag was floating.
[Undying - Level 399 - Legendary Demon Slayer]
They were currently in Demon Extermination Mission.
They were standing in the middle of a dark forest with dirty and slippery ground. This forest is called Demon Forest, and it is the birthplace of terrifying Demons and terrifying Monsters.
'Ichiro playing Arena... I would like to fight against him.' Undying's sparkle of interest was ignited.
''Should we continue this Quest later? It is very rare when we get to fight against the King!'' Spiritless said with excitement.
Undying nodded, and an interface appeared in front of him.
[Disband Party]
[Accept/Reject]
Undying pressed Accept, and a message popped up.
[Quest Paused!]
Spiritless and Undying pressed arena and solo and got teleported to a luxurious room with hundreds of screens and couches.
The room was already crowded with players, and every player had one thing in common.
Their armors were all expensive-looking and majestic!
Every player in the room was also over 380 Level!
Undying and Spiritless sat down in one of the couches.
Their figures caught a lot of attention.
Two nametags kept floating on top of their heads.
[Spiritless - Level 398 - Points: 15869 - Rank: 3]
[Undying - Level 399 - Points: 16001 - Rank: 2]
''Undying!'' A figure sat down next to Undying. He had long red hair with piercing yellow eyes and beautiful golden armor. His shoulder pads had a dragon logo, and his shield had the same symbol.
A nametag was floating on top of his head.
[Dragon - Level 399 - Points: 16021 - Rank: 1]
''Dragon,'' Undying said simply.
They were watching the screens which only showed one player's matches.
KingOfGames!
His points have already reached 6506!
''I wonder whether I can defeat the King,'' Dragon asked with a smirk.
Undying shrugged, ''Not sure, even though the Arena's level limit is 400, and you guys will be in the same level... King's Mechanical Skills are unrivaled.''
''That's what everyone says, but I haven't shown the limit of my skills, who knows... I might be able to overpower him.'' Dragon said with a smirk.
''He reached the Top 500!'' An excited shout was heard.
They looked at the screen and saw KingOfGames ranking entering the Top 500!
''I wonder what his real-life identity is... He cannot be nobody.'' Spiritless said.
Undying smirked, 'He is my brother-in-law!' He shouted internally.
''Does not matter— he is a mountain that needs to be crossed.'' Dragon unsheathed his sword and grinned, 'I will be the one who destroys the mountain.'
...
[MATCH OVER!]
[Winner - KingOfGames!]
[KingOfGames - Level 415 - Points: 7047]
Ichiro took a deep breath and put the console on the ground.
''I am tired!'' He exclaimed.
He played for 3 hours, and finally, the exhaustion kicked in.
Azura was still innocently sitting on his lap.
''You should rest,'' Azura said with worry.
Ichiro nodded and used the controller to quit the game.
Out of nowhere, he moved his hands underneath Azura and started carrying her in a princess carry.
''Kyaa!'' She was surprised— she tightly held Ichiro's head.
Ichiro walked towards the bed, put Azura gently on the bed, and lied down next to her.
He hugged Azura's petite figure and closed his eyes.
Azura blushed and felt her heart pounding like never before.
Soon, Ichiro's breathing went calm, signaling that he fell asleep.
Azura was still trapped in his hug, but she didn't mind.
She looked at his sleeping figure without blinking.
...
''He went offline!'' Disappointed sighs came from the room.
''7000 Points in one day... That must be a record.'' Spiritless said with an impressed look.
Dragon clicked his tongue and stood up, ''I wasted too much time here.'' After those words, his avatar turned into pixels and disappeared from the room.
''Are we going to do that Quest now?'' Spiritless asked curiously.
Undying shook his head, ''Let's do it tomorrow.''
Spiritless nodded, and both of their figures turned into pixels.
...
Aether stood up and left his luxurious room.
He and Abyss were living in a mansion that was even bigger than Azura's and Alena's.
Servants and butlers were working without stopping, but Abyss was nowhere to be seen.
Servants and butlers bowed deeply while Aether was walking in the corridors.
He went straight to the training room.
He is still a Martial Arts Practitioner, and he needs to train every day.
Usually, he spends 5 hours ingame in Night's End, and the rest of his time he spends training.
If he wasn't Martial Arts Practitioner, then he might be on the same level as KingOfGames!
He is not like Spiritless and Dragon, who has nothing to do except play Night's End.
Aether entered the training room and went straight towards the middle of the room where three figures were standing...
The three figures were pale white without facial features!
They were Puppets from Gensa's Time Attack!
These three puppets are Peak Martial Leader ones!
Aether pressed the red button located on the Puppet's head and turned them on.
The three puppets went into their fighting stance.
Aether stood some distance away from them.
''Start,'' Aether said simply, and the three puppets bursted into motion.
The first puppet did a flying axe kick, but Aether simply blocked it with his right arm.
The second and third puppet appeared next to him and punched towards his ribs.
Aether suddenly jumped and did a spinning roundhouse kick.
His kick hit both of the puppets heads, which sent them flying to the training room's walls.
Only one puppet was remaining.
The puppet went into his boxing stance and unleashed dozens of jabs.
[Night Style - Throwing Tantrum!]
Aether used his fists and hit every incoming jab with perfect accuracy.
His fists made the puppet's fists crack, which caused the puppet to stop punching, and that was all Aether needed.
He slammed his foot deep into the puppet's torso, which sent the puppet flying to the nearby wall.
Even though Aether easily defeated the puppets... He didn't look pleased.
''Slow... Sloppy...''
''Come here,'' Aether said, and the puppets stood up without any injuries on their bodies and appeared in front of Aether.
His training has only begun.