He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist when he thought about how he needed to hide what he was capable of. He didn't like it at all.
But then he thought of the things that revealing his identity might cause. He thought of how he would be besieged by players in the game and demigods in the world.
It is something he has seen happen to the previous paragons. Demigods and powerful people will hunt them in the world and also force every player that will participate in the same game with him to make sure that he fails or that he dies.
He can handle the threat of death from his peers. It is not going to be good, but he can handle it.
What he can't handle is being ganged up on and forced to fail because if he fails, he will die. He is not like the other paragons who had the grave of failing. He will die if he is forced to repeat a league.
Then there is the hunt for demigods. If he reveals his other abilities in the game, he must not show those same abilities in the world, or it would be linked to him, and he would be hunted by them.
It is not a risk he is willing to take unless he is sure that demigods can't reach him at the core of the world. Unfortunately, there is no one around that he can ask.
"If Wrath were around, maybe I could have asked her. Maybe she would know, or maybe she wouldn't. It doesn't matter anymore since she is gone."
"I guess my best bet is to get in touch with a god and ask them. Hopefully the god that accompanies us to the foreign battlefield next time will be open to chat."
He has a favor that he can cash from Aganju of Earth-10, but he is not willing to waste that kind of favor easily. Besides, he doesn't have anything that might interest a god yet.
He can't just drop by Aganju's place to chat with him. He has to at least bring something worthy of a god.
But if he can find something to give Aganju, he would rather ask for something that can protect him from demigods than ask if demigods can reach him in the core of the world.
He shook his head and decided to check his destiny report.
Name: Kelvin Thorn.
Health: 905,188,728. Stamina: 905,188,728. Focus: 3,620,754,912.
Class: Physique. Tier: 2 (Expert League)
Level: 29 >>> 30
Strength: 10%. Constitution: 20%. Speed: 10%.
Endurance: 10%. Vitality: 10%.
Mind: 40%.
Kill Count: 83,142 >>> 83,144
Fans: 657 >>> 3,629
Game Points: 1,730 > > > 7,517
Power Rating: (3,629 × 83,144 × 3) = 905,188,728 (A-rank)
Abilities:
A. Power Shifting (Divine): Shadow Clones.
1: Solid Material Shifting (Omega Ability): Fuse 0/20. Remove 0/1.
2: Juggernaut's Force (Omega Ability): Fuse 0/80. Remove 0/1.
3: Mind Overseer (Omega Ability): Fuse 0/80. Remove 0/1.
4: Life Domination (Omega Ability): Fuse 0/80. Remove 0/1.
5: Extraordinary Perception (Omega Ability): Fuse 0/20. Remove 0/1.
6: Spatial Anchor (Omega Ability): Fuse 0/10. Remove 0/1.
7: (Open 0/1280).
He is no longer in the expert league. With this promotion came some changes.
The first change is that his league bonus increased from 2 to 3. When combined with the increase to his fan count and his already massive kill count, it increased his power by up to 9 times.
His power rating went from 110 million to 905 million. It is a lot of growth, but he is still in the A rank.
Most of this increase to his power rating is because of the increase to his fan count. It got him thinking.
He said to himself, "My kill count is enormous. The best way to make good use of it is to increase my fan count. If I can, my power will shoot through the roof."
Because of the hype before his game and his performance in the game, his fan count increased from 657 to 3,629. That is an increase of 5.5 times.
But it can be more than that if he puts in certain efforts into publicity. For example, the person who wrote the game guide for him in both the text and video formats also asked him about setting up a fan group.
She wanted to set up an organization for his fans to get together and maybe meet up with him. He doesn't mind the organization, but he is not going to meet up with anyone.
Her request for them to meet is why he previously ignored her. But now he is willing to lead her on.
He didn't think it was worth the effort before, but now he is willing to put in some effort in lying to her about meeting with her and his other fans. He will promise that as long as she grows the fan group and his fan count.
After making up his mind, he reached out to her. It was just a text message. He didn't have a live audio or video chat with her for fear of her using it to acquire information about him.
From the guides that she sent him before, he can tell that she is smart. It would be unfortunate for him to underestimate her and fall into a trap. So he took precautions.
Despite his communication with her being a text message, she was very happy to hear from him. She said so in her first text message.
"I am so happy right now that you reached out to me. I am so happy I could die."
Kelvin rolled his eyes. He wasn't moved at all.
It didn't matter that she was a real fan who was sincere about her feelings or that she was a fake fan praising him to make him let down his guard; he is determined not to let her scheme work on him.
He texted back, "I think it is time to set up that fan group."
"Really? What should we call it?"
He thought about it and said, "The Church of Augustus."
She sent some emojis of her laughing.
Then she said, "You're funny."
He didn't think he was that funny, so he texted her, "I wasn't joking."
"Oh. I guess you're right. The Church of Augustus is good."
He doesn't think there is anything wrong with calling his fan group a church because he will become a god in the future. This fan group is the budding form of his religion and believers.
So he thinks it is just right that they assume a name that signifies their great purpose, which is to make him stronger up till when he becomes a god.
His chat with her was fruitful. She was quick to set up a page for the fan group on many social media platforms and even began work on a website.
There were already plans for merchandise and advertisements for his upcoming fight. He was very impressed with her work attitude.
He thought to himself with a sneer, "Either she is sincere or she is sincere."
He is still not sold on her identity as a fan. So she is either a sincere fan or a sincere spy. Either way, he is just going to use her and give nothing back.
After that came his decision to sign up for the foreign battlefield. He didn't spend time thinking about it at all. He was already determined on the matter.
He clicked that button to sign up beside the information for his next game.
He received a prompt immediately after clicking on the button.
- Are you sure you want to sign up for the foreign battlefield?
- Note that this decision cannot be reversed.
He chuckled and said, "Yes, I'm sure."
He received another prompt.
- You have signed up for the foreign battlefield.
- Your deployment is being determined.
The prompt stopped there for a while.
This wait caused some anxiety to build up within him. It wasn't much, but it reminded him of how anxious he was the first time he signed up for the foreign battlefield.
At that time, he was a nervous wreck. There were too many unknowns, and he could die.
But now he is looking forward to it. After having experienced the foreign battlefield before, he knows that it is dangerous, but he is also confident in keeping his life.
He said smugly, "That time, I only had the Blood clone to save my life, but this time I have the spatial anchor ability and speed force ability. What is there to fear?"
Finally, the system finished determining his deployment and gave him another prompt.
- You have been recruited for the first invasion of the Umbra world.
- You have gained access to Level 1 classified information about the Umbra world.
- Note that this information is classified and must not be revealed to anyone else, or you will be charged with treason.
- You have 1080 hours, 21 minutes, and 10 seconds to prepare for the invasion.