"It's good to see you, everyone. Some of you I know, but there are also some new faces."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Senior."

"Wow, you're Lee Shin-Woo? You look nice. I totally thought a wild animal would show up..."

"Pot calling the kettle black there, Lloyd."

"So that’s Kratia over there? The rumors were right; you are beautiful. I feel like the goddess has been picking heroes based on their beauty lately."

"Hi, unlike Shin-Woo, you’re quite the eyesore. Even his bones are good looking."

"..."

"And you look weaker than Shin-Woo."

"Y-You..."

"Senior Orun, those two are really skilled. Come over here. Don't just sit there shaking."

Aside from Ye Jin-Jin and Silene Viesa, who didn’t participate in the operation due to their low levels, Lee Shin-Woo was able to meet all of the other heroes face-to-face, which was deeply moving. Yasunori Akira wasn't present, of course, but he should be hiding somewhere nearby.

The irony wasn’t lost on him. It had been difficult to meet the other heroes during more peaceful times, but all of them gathered around and chatted when it came time to fight a member of the twelve generals.

"You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to meet you."

"The honor is mine, Senior. Please take care of me."

The handsome middle-aged man, Ethan Cruz, looked right at Lee Shin-Woo and initiated a conversation; in response, Lee Shin-Woo flashed him a bright and confident smile with no impurity. He would never even suspect that Lee Shin-Woo had been conspiring to kill him only a few hours ago!

"I trust you. You'll definitely be a huge help."

"It’s almost tiring hearing how you spare no expense to help your juniors."

Ethan Cruz and Lee Shin-Woo laughed and conversed. Listening in, Jin couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. A big help? Spare no expense? They were both lying to each other, and Jin, who knew the truth, would love to ask them how they were able to keep up the disingenuous conversation.

"Haha, you really do have a silver tongue."

"As I’ve said before, I’ll put my trust in you, Senior. Hahaha."

Lee Shin-Woo was clearly the better swindler, though. He was smiling when he had already seen through Ethan Cruz's plan, while Ethan Cruz had no idea what he was planning.

At this point, Lee Shin-Woo's Acting was not only perfect, but peerless; he was able to convince Ethan that he was a junior who respected his senior. The act was further supported by the modest image he had been projecting in the chatroom! Who would’ve thought that there was a hidden side of him?

Lee Shin-Woo’s unique karma made him the superior con man. He wasn’t showing his darkness mana at all, while Ethan was covered head to toe in chaotic darkness.

As I thought, his darkness energy is ridiculously strong. He sure is good at making excuses...

Ethan Cruz hid his specialty well; he acted like a buffer when he was in truth a specialist of debuffs with darkness magic. Instead of hiding it, he told his juniors that he used some sort of darkness buff.

However, Lee Shin-Woo was able to see the true nature of his magic with high rank darkness magic and his great affinity with mana. He could see eight threads originated from Ethan Cruz and trailed off to somewhere quite far away.

Rem.

[I will start tracking them. Would you like me to do something else once I find them?]

You won’t be able to if they're grouped up. Hm, it seems there are two groups acting separately.

Obviously, Ethan Cruz couldn't let the other heroes see his army of undead, but at the same time he had to mobilize a portion of them. After all, he had to prepare for someone like Yasunori Akira.

If someone learned of what he was planning, Ethan Cruz would have to drop his facade, and he was using his undead to scout out anyone who might interfere with his plan.

In any case, the fact that he's sent two groups out… I have to assume Ethan Cruz is as prepared as we are.

Although Yasunori Akira was hidden, it seems like he hadn't fooled Ethan Cruz. He should've hidden better. If Lee Shin-Woo just let them do as they pleased, Yasunori Akira may be in trouble; it would largely depend on Yasunori Akira's skill.

I can't let that happen. After all, he's a precious ally who could have a huge impact on the battlefield.

Of the Paul Corps under his command, Lee Shin-Woo picked a few of the fastest and most powerful and gave them separate orders.

Their mission, of course, was to pursue Ethan Cruz’s undead heroes and kill them! His subordinates' kills counted as his kills, and thus Lee Shin-Woo had no misgivings issuing the order.

Before the true hunt begins, I suppose I should cut off an ankle or two.

[I will go help them now. Starting the program to optimize fight and flight.]

Alright. I'm counting on you.

Lee Shin-Woo entrusted the task fully to Rem, who borrowed his darkness element and began to search for the undead. Then Lee Shin-Woo turned to Ethan Cruz and gave him a 'naive' smile.

The other six undead heroes were probably with the twelve generals' troops. After all, that was the simplest way to kill the other heroes.

"Hey, Lee Shin-Woo. Show me your skills."

"Oh my, Lloyd's the one challenging him?"

Lee Shin-Woo turned around when he heard someone call out to him. It was a blonde, blue-eyed man who resembled a prince right out of a fairy tale. Lee Shin-Woo wondered why this handsome man was looking at him with such an intense fighting spirit.

So much so that he was overlooking the charming elf glued to his side, Erian Ruparte.

Has he always been this hot-blooded? Lee Shin-Woo thought as he looked at Lloyd confusedly

From what he remembered, Lloyd was always friendly to his juniors. And he was a popular guy who hogged Erian and Prince to himself... What exactly had changed? The man was looking at Lee Shin-Woo like a competitor.

Tilting his head, Lee Shin-Woo said, "Senior, we'll be fighting one of the twelve generals soon..."

"There's still time before their forces show up, and it should be fine. I’m only asking for an easy duel. I want to see for myself the skills everyone is always complimenting you for."

Lloyd sounded cool and collected, but he couldn't conceal the passion in his voice. No matter how friendly he was, once a warrior, always a warrior. Lee Shin-Woo shrugged and raised the Breath of the Lightning God. It would ruin the mood if he was to reject the challenge.

"Hey, Lloyd... Do you have to be so juvenile and fight to decide who's stronger? Are you a little kid?"

"Sit tight, Prince. It's just a duel."

Prince tried to stop him, but he wouldn't budge. Most of the other seniors looked on in curiosity. They all wanted to check out Lee Shin-Woo's skills first hand.

How does the saying go again? A tall tree catches much wind? Putting himself in their shoes, Lee Shin-Woo knew he and Kratia must seem like two powerful heroes who had popped up out of nowhere. It was only natural that they'd want to assess their skills. Nonetheless, it was difficult to test a mage’s ability in a spar, so it seems like all of them had 'aggroed' onto Lee Shin-Woo.

"Damn, you're being a dumbass."

"Why are you getting all worked up over a duel?"

"Hoo... Whatever, go ahead, you idiot."

Prince had already witnessed Lee Shin-Woo's frightening abilities firsthand, so she knew Lloyd would be humiliated if Lee Shin-Woo went all out. She obviously didn't want to see the man she loved suffer such a terrible defeat.

"Shall we go somewhere for the spar?"

"There’s no need. We can fight here."

"Alright."

However, Lloyd hadn't taken notice of Prince's concern and focused solely on Lee Shin-Woo. His body shone as he became stronger than before; it was obvious he had buffed himself.

"Ah, you really are an idiot,” Prince grumbled. “I guess you won't understand until he kicks your ass."

Erian eyed her strangely. "...Prince, aren't you a bit off today?"

"Hah? You want a piece of me? Your ears are long, just like a donkey's!"

"What did you say!?"

While Prince and Erian had a ‘friendly’ verbal spar, Lloyd rushed to Lee Shin-Woo even though he had acted like he would let Lee Shin-Woo make the first move, shouting, "If you're not making the first move, then I will!"

Not only was he level 7, he had also buffed himself. As a result, he was moving incredibly quickly!

Oh, I can track him easily even without Jin's help.

Unfortunately for him, Lee Shin-Woo's stats were always being buffed by Rebellion, and his body was further reinforced by Rule of Bone. His own buffs far outclassed Lloyd's.

Moreover, Lloyd had only just reached level 7, while Lee Shin-Woo had already increased his stats exponentially after reaching level 7; his total stats now amounted to 9,200. Even without using all of his skills, he would be able to take on Lloyd with one hand.

"Hah!"

"Good!"

However, Lee Shin-Woo didn't unleash his full strength, and acted as though he could barely dodge Lloyd's strikes. It was the best course of action to hide his skills before Ethan Cruz. It was for Lloyd’s best interest as well, or to be more specific, for Lloyd's confidence.

I have to act perfectly to that end.

His peerless acting chop made it easy! It was his first time acting like he was unskilled, but it was nice in its own way. Lee Shin-Woo clashed blades with Lloyd, putting up an act to match his swordsmanship.

"You're blocking me well!"

"Keuk, Senior. You're too fast...!"

It would look strange if he lost too easily, but at the same time, winning would count as a loss for him. Lee Shin-Woo leisurely ran around in order to maintain that fine balance. He could only move like that because he had complete control over his body. And...while he continued to ‘barely’ keep up with Lloyd, he felt his abilities improving for some odd reason.

Matching his level of swordsmanship may be improving the precision of my own.

He had spotted many of Lloyd’s weak points, but he ignored them like he wasn't aware of them. He was also guiding Lloyd to attack where he wanted. Again and again, he faked an opening and blocked the coming attack with feigned difficulty. Doing all that naturally was very difficult.

As a result, he improved both his swordsmanship and acting.

[Acting is now Lv19. There is no limit to your acting ability. You can put up the appropriate act in any scenario. You can act as though you are losing to an ant, but you can also bluff a dragon into retreating.]

[High Rank Bursting Thunder is now Lv4. Strength and Magic have increased by 10.]

Lee Shin-Woo’s movements became even smoother. He wasn't turning the course of the duel around, but he made the fight look like a much closer match than before.

"Ah, I guess we should stop here."

Lee Shin-Woo had lost count of the number of times they crossed blades. Eventually, Lloyd gave Lee Shin-Woo a rueful smile and took a step back for failing to overpower Lee Shin-Woo. At the same time, he looked refreshed, which in turn made Lee Shin-Woo feel better.

"Thank you for taking it easy on me, Senior."

"I wasn't taking it easy on you. You really are strong. Then again, there's no way you wouldn't be skilled when your level is so high. I feel like your swordsmanship is at least intermediate level 7..."

"...I don't know what to say."

I reached high rank level 4 because of you…but I can’t say that can I?

"I guess that makes sense. I'm the same. To tell the truth, the goddess has given me another secret skill... It's a skill that always kills its target, so I can't use it on my allies. You have a skill like that too, don’t you?"

"Of course, I don't know if it'll work on you or not, but I do indeed have another skill from the goddess. Please use that skill on the twelve generals."

"Haha, alright. Take good care of me."

"That's my line. Please take care of me."

Lee Shin-Woo and Lloyd exchanged sunny smiles and shook hands. An outside spectator would’ve assumed they were rivals acknowledging each other after a fierce battle… However, Lee Shin-Woo looked like a swindler to Kratia and Prince.

And that's how Lee Shin-Woo completely fooled the other heroes about his capability.