Chapter 1024 Lurking In The Shadows (Part 1): Future Plans

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Shin brought his keys with him as he knew that he needed to drive this time. The two were too exhausted to worry about that. They quickly hopped Shin's Black Panther, heading straight to their destination.

Unknown to them, someone was observing their movements from a room in a villa near theirs. That person tapped the earpiece that he was wearing when he made sure that the black car left and spoke. "The target has left riding a Black Panther. He is accompanied by the young master of the Springfield Family and the suspected Crimson Demon of the previous underground boxing ground, so be careful."

The person on the other side of the line did not say anything and just hung up, quickly getting in the work after receiving the information.

They had been waiting for this for a couple of days already. Their client was also very impatient with it, putting a lot of pressure on them. If not for the people of the Springfield and Cilvana Families stationed around the vicinity of the villa, then they had probably made their move a long time ago.

Naturally, they were also aware of the fairly strong young men staying in that particular villa, but they were confident that they would be successful in the end, especially when they were the ones taking the initiative. But they could not do their ambush due to the special guards monitoring the surroundings.

Those veteran soldiers from the Springfield Family and highly skilled special agents sent by the Cilvana Family were not a force that they could face with their current people.

They might be veteran mercenaries and hitmen, but they would never underestimate the special forces of this country, particularly the ones from the renowned Springfield Family, a family famous in both martial arts and military circles.

Now that they had the opportunity to take down their target, they would never let it slip it away from their hands. This was their only chance after all and they would never have another one again if they failed.

Failing was one thing, but being hunted by the Springfield Family which was filled with world-class 'monsters' was not going to make them experience the living hell.

…

As those guys were plotting something, the trio was currently heading to the Ace City to look for the Seafood Restaurant that Arthur was boasting about earlier. Shin wanted to see if their famous seafood recipes were worthy of their reputation.

"So, what do you guys think about the new update?" asked Shin while driving, trying to find a good topic to discuss.

Arthur, who was sitting on the passenger seat, pursed his lips a little before commenting. "It is quite interesting. But since we are already expecting most of it, I am not that hyped about it."

"The Battle state changes are going to make PVP-ing more realistic. Though, we already experienced insta-killing someone due to our overwhelming advantage in stats. It is not that surprising anymore."

"The wounded state is the only that makes it more interesting. Now, players will have to worry not only getting killed in a single attack from both powerful players and high-level monsters, but they also have to think about minimizing the injuries that they can get during every battle."

"I can already see most of the casual players crying because of it. They may even submit some complaints because of it," he added with a mocking tone.

Then Leonard quickly voiced out his thoughts. "The role of every class is going to be more balance too. Every one of them will now have a huge impact in battle. But the classes that will get the most benefit will be Berserkers, Assassins, Thieves, Mages, and Priests."

"Berserkers, Assassins, and Thieves will be the kings of the prolonged battle. The Berserkers will become stronger the more they battle while their opponents will be weakened during a frontal confrontation."

"On the other hand, the Assassins and Thieves will be torturing their targets with bleed and poison effects – they will be chipping away the health bars of their enemies if they could not kill them with their burst damage."

"As for the Mages, they will still be the kings of large-scale battles. But the prolonged battle will also further enhance their strengths indirectly since their powerful spells can cripple their opponents, slowly or immediately."

"There is nothing to say about priests and other healers since their importance is already been shown in all of those situations, especially their Revive Skills! With the current update about the death penalty, dying will be a huge setback for every player."

"It is not mentioned in the update, but the longest time a player can wait in their spirit form while waiting to be revived is only 30 minutes. Since it is not mentioned in the patch notes, then it will most likely be the same when the servers are up again."

Arthur nodded his head and added. "The ones who will benefit the least from this are the Knights and other Tank-related classes. They are in an awkward spot since they have to be always on the frontlines in every battle, soaking all of the damages for everyone."

"They have to keep their health bars in, or over, 60% if they don't want to be in danger. Any lower than that can make their entire party pay a heavy prince. The debuffs of having a low health bar can instantly change the flow of the battle."

"If those tanks became a cripple even for a second, their entire party will be wiped out, without a doubt," he added before continuing. "As for the swordsman classes – they are in a strange spot too. I think they don't have a clear benefit from this battle state update. They seem to have a lot of indirect nerfs too."

"Even when dueling the other melee classes can become a little harder for them, especially Berserkers, Assassins, and Thieves. A prolonged duel will bound to be against their favors."

"Unless they have special skills to negate the special effects of the 'wounded' states or skilled enough not to get injured during a fight, then they are bound to have a hard time in any type of battle."

Reaching this point, Arthur could not help but look at Shin and sneer. "It looks like the developers have some gauges against Swordsmen."

Hearing that, Shin quickly refuted. "As if a meat shield like you will be having a good time. Will suffer more compared to us."

Arthur wanted to defend his class but found it hard to find a good counter for those words. Thinking deeply into it, his situation would be more terrible during the battles. Fortunately, he was among those overpowered characters who could ignore such disadvantages.

Seeing that Arthur was unable to open his mouth, Shin quickly changed the topic. "Actually, I am more interested in the Life Style update."

"With such a massive change, the production classes will benefit a lot. The materials will surely become more expensive as well as all kinds of products crafted by those classes, especially weapons, equipment, and potions. With such high demand, their prices will surely skyrocket."

"Moreover, gathering skills are going to be a must for every player, especially the guys who will be hunting in the wild. I can already imagine some of the wealthy ones hiring some players who specialized in that field. Porters and Gatherers will be in high demand soon."

Shin then could not help but pause for a moment as he suddenly remembered something before quickly clicking his tongue. "D*mn! Big Sis must be jumping with joy right now. This update just boosted her businesses inside the game. Her trading firm will practically benefit a lot from this update."

Arthur also smacked his forehead and agreed. "She will become even richer when the servers are up again!"

He then turned to Shin and quickly asked. "What about the City that we are planning to build?"

Shin smirked at those words as he could read what Arthur was thinking. "Don't worry, everything is going according to plan. I will still have the edge when proposing the business to her. I have all of the cards needed for it."

"As long as it is not the same outcome as the Calderock Town," commented Arthur.

The corner of Shin's mouth twitched when he heard that and quickly defended himself. "Hey! That is my private property, so I can do anything I want with it."

"As for why I shared 50% of the profit with Big Sis is because I don't want to manage it during that time. Big Sis is practically the one running the whole town alongside Ribbit."

"Ribbit is running the administrative office and manages the NPCs while Big Sis is controlling the flow of the players. With them around, I am more like a lazy owner while leaving all of the work to the managers."

Arthur waved his hand. "Alright, alright. I understand. You don't have to be too defensive about it."

He then paused for a moment before asking. "So, what do you plan to do next? Should we tackle the quests required for entering the Awaken Continent?"

Shin thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "We are pretty much qualified for it now. Given our stats, skills, and everything else, we practically have a free pass for it, so there is no need for us to rush into it. All we need to do is pass our advancement quests."

"Even if there are others who beat us at arriving there first, there is nothing much they can do to explore the whole area. We have to remember that this is a high-ranking region and when we get in there, we will be the weakest in that place."

Arthur found it understandable but still refuted it. "But there are always good rewards when discovering a certain place first. There are also the pioneering rights which are what we have gotten when exploring the Frozen Kingdom."

"That is good and all, but do you honestly believe that there is a need for the 'pioneering rights' for the Awakened Continent?" countered Shin with words.

He did not even wait for Arthur as he continued. "Based on the announcements that we have, everyone is going to start on the same region, the Divine Empire. It will be a starting point in that continent. And if that is the case, even if there are some rewards for the players waiting there for being the first arrivals, it shouldn't be that big."

"To put it in simpler terms, that place is slightly the same as being the 'Beginner's Village' but with absurdly powerful monsters and NPCs."

"What is more, there are still new mechanics to explore. If you are going to head into an unknown region without understanding all of the changes added to the game, then it is no different from committing suicide. Especially with the new injured state update on the next patch."

Shin gave Arthur a sidelong glance before saying. "I know that you are a veteran when it comes to games, but I have to say that you need to change your view when it comes to this one. After all, this game was slowly turning into a second world with its too realistic features. It is no longer the same as those virtual games that you played before."

Hearing those words, Arthur could not help but fell into deep thought and re-evaluate the game and his view of it. He found that Shin was right and listened. "So, what is your plan?"

Shin pursed his lips and answered. "What I am thinking is let the members of our team do their own thing for the time being and train separately. We just went through a lot during your Empire Quest and the previous ones that are similarly tiring – I am sure that everyone is pretty much exhausted."

"Even though we will be having a long break due to the week-long update – quickly hopping on another intense and long quest will quickly exhaust everyone."

He then paused briefly before continuing. "We should let everyone adjust first on the new update and get familiar with the new mechanics. Then we are going to teach them how to enter the Reality Manifestation as this will be our great advantage over everyone."

"We are already familiar with it and understand the advantages that it has during a battle. Letting the others experience it too will greatly increase their overall fighting capabilities."

"Then we will proceed on our respective advancement quests when everyone is ready. We will also be having an easier time exploring the new regions at that time."

At this point, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh! We also have to let the others do their individual quests too! Archimedes has to strengthen his class. He mentioned before that he will be getting the full inheritance of Garuda after clearing a solo quest."

"There is also Owen. He did not have the time to finish the quest to get his special class – the one that Justin previously have. It is a pretty strong class and I suspect that it can evolve into a powerful Ascended Class."

"Alucard too! Dracula said that he will be giving his inheritance to one of my comrades. I forget about it earlier because we are too focused on clearing the main quest, but I am sure that he receives a special reward after the quest is cleared. He is one of his 'kins' after all!"

"Tsk! Given that Dracula is a Sovereign Being, that guy must have received something really good," he added while clicking his tongue repeatedly.

Leonard suddenly added. "We should distribute the proof of qualifications too. Those special classes can turn the others Class into an Ascended Class or promote their current classes into their respective Tier 3 Classes."

"It is one of the requirements for the Tier 3 Promotion Quest after all. Of course, excluding us who have Transcendent Classes," he added as he remembered the prerequisites for the next advancement quests.

Hearing that, Shin could not help but fall into deep thought. He was trying to recall the classes of each member of their team. Then he quickly said. "Out of our members, Daulla and Ithilien are the only ones who don't have a special class or race, we should give them one of those beads."

"As for the rest, we can save them for the future. Who knows if we can give them to our future members? Especially the ones that we get from Caelum and Nel," he added after careful thought.

There was a brief silence before Shin spoke once again. "I also have to think of a way to lure Diablo at joining us. He will be a great addition to our team."

Leonard and Arthur also nodded their heads, completely agreeing with it. Their adventurer team did not lack that much, but a skilled assassin was definitely one of them. And if they successfully invited such a top-tier assassin into their team, then their overall strength would skyrocket by a few stages.

At the same time, Arthur suddenly remembered something. "Oh! What about the matter that Wing's Alliance requested from us? When are we going to lend them a hand on it?"

"It is going to be a good business opportunity for us, especially that such a huge guild has deep pockets and possessed a lot of things that can't be found anywhere," he added as he grinned evilly.

...…