Skye watched as the man was surrounded by Jenny and Kai, a smile on her face.
Even though she wasn’t on her own turf, she wasn’t the least bit afraid of the rats who ruled this area.
A few months ago, she might have felt a little intimidated by the numbers the men here commanded; though weak in individual strength, in a group fight they could prove very dominant.
But after she experienced Elysium through a stolen helmet that the Silver Lotus had intercepted, Skye felt it would only be a matter of time before she completely dominated the Lower Zone, establishing herself as the sole dominant voice in this wretched place and bringing real improvement to the people here.
Upon discovering the advantages of this game, Skye wasn’t selfish and let everyone in the Silver Lotus share the helmet, also creating characters in that game and slowly becoming more powerful both in the game and, surprisingly, in real life.
Since reducing each person’s playtime would slow down their rate of progress, it would be much better for Silver Lotus to improve their collective power by a small margin than to have only her with individual power far above the rest; after all, she couldn’t be everywhere at once.
Unfortunately, she discovered that unlike her—who received a large portion of the power obtained in the virtual world in the real world—most of the gang members received only a small fraction of that, with rare exceptions like Zach, Jenny, and Sara, who had an Uncommon Class, a Rare Class, and a Rare Race, respectively.
From what she understood, the higher a Player’s Base in Elysium, the greater the level of power that person could wield in the real world, and as a Player with an Epic Race, the level of power her real body received was far greater than that of everyone else.
That was why she was confident she could dominate the Lower Zone.
Given how rare people with powers like hers were, and how expensive Elysium’s neural helmets were, so far this man was the only person from whom she had sensed the slightly bitter scent of dark Mana.
And because of that scent, she was almost certain that this man was part of the Asphyxia Gang’s sewer rats... having only ever sensed that scent on dark monsters in Elysium, she couldn’t imagine a good person having a scent like that.
Seeing how the man stopped when surrounded by Jenny and Kai, Skye grew even happier, eager to see him finally submit.
With the hatred she felt for the Asphyxia Gang—after everything they’d done to her and her sister—seeing one of their members suffer was deeply satisfying to her.
But suddenly, a wave of odors far more intense than the previous one she had sensed flooded her senses.
The slightly bitter smell wasn’t even present this time, but rather a mixture of sweet, acidic, metallic, sour smells... and others that at that point she couldn’t even distinguish!
’What’s happening? How is he producing so many different smells?!’
All the monsters or people she had faced in Elysium usually had a unique, distinctive scent.
People involved in nature magic had the fresh scent of wet leaves; people involved in fire magic had pungent scents; monsters related to wind elements had soft, fresh scents; while the monsters with dark elements she had encountered had a slightly bitter scent, like that of this man she had found.
Smelling that scent, Skye had already formed a prejudice against him, thinking he was a Player involved with dark magic, and since Elysium’s AI provided hints based on a person’s personality, having a scent like that only further confirmed that this man was not a good person.
But this flood of different scents completely shattered her theory.
---
There she was, sensing the scents of wildflowers and morning dew—an ethereal sweetness reminiscent of the pure vitality of an untouched forest, emanating from the [Natural Energy Core] pulsing beneath his skin.
Soon after, Skye felt the air suddenly turn cold, laden with a metallic scent of ozone, like polar air before a snowstorm, stemming from Lohan’s affinity with the ice magic of his [Magic Core].
Behind that lay the dry, mineral scent of volcanic ash, exuded by the density of the [Obsidian Exoskeleton].
Finally, a sour, viscous note of concentrated poison rose up her nostrils.
’This is impossible!’ She grew more and more shocked with every new layer of scent she sensed.
That man didn’t give off the scent of a single Base or element... he smelled like an entire ecosystem compressed into a single vessel!
As Skye tried to process that sensory overload, she noticed that despite his seemingly slovenly posture, he gave off the impression of being ready to attack at any moment.
Not only did Skye realize that this man was ready for combat, but Jenny and Kai, who were blocking Lohan’s path, realized it too.
Confident in Elysium’s newly acquired power, neither of them hesitated.
Especially Jenny, who had a Rare Class, which meant she received even greater power from the game; with a quick thought, she accelerated the motorcycle forward, ready to attack this "sewer rat."
"WAI..." Skye’s scream hadn’t even finished when the scene in front of her took a dramatic turn!
Jenny revved the sport bike, its jet engine emitting a high-pitched screech that echoed off the damp walls of the alley. To her, Lohan was just a stationary target, a "rat" about to be run over by the technological superiority and superior power of a Rare Player like her.
However, Lohan didn’t back down... his muscles contracted in perfect synchrony, preparing a response that defied common perception.
In the millisecond the motorcycle was about to strike him, Lohan utilized the integration of Halon’s stats to reinforce his current physical structure, activating [Body Density] to the limit available in the real world, feeling his muscles suddenly become heavy and rigid as rock, increasing his inertial mass.
With an almost imperceptible movement, he fired a single strand of [Magic Weaving], so thin it was invisible in the twilight, latching it directly onto the motorcycle’s side stabilizer while twisting his body with the agility of [Viscous Flow].
Although the weight and exertion were too much for his body, causing intense muscle pain, the motorcycle did not hit him; instead, the thread anchored to Lohan’s massive weight acted like an arresting hook on an aircraft carrier.
The vehicle jolted violently in the air, losing its stabilizing balance.
Jenny was thrown forward by the impact of inertia, flying over the handlebars before crashing awkwardly into a pile of metal boxes.
The flying, out-of-control motorcycle spun in the air and scraped its left side against the rough brick wall, producing a screeching sound of metal being torn apart that completely destroyed the silver Lotus Flower’s paint job.
Kai, seeing his partner knocked down so humiliatingly, roared with fury and leaped off his own bike, charging forward on foot with a punch charged with energy.
Lohan dealt with him in a manner opposite to Jenny’s aggression.
Instead of dodging, he simply raised his right palm. At the moment of impact, Lohan activated [Non-Newtonian Resilience] and the [Obsidian Exoskeleton] just beneath the skin of his palm, making it as rigid as volcanic rock.
Kai’s punch struck Lohan’s hand with a sharp crack, but the humanoid Slime didn’t even move his arm. It felt like he had punched a tank’s armor plate!
Lohan clamped his fingers around Kai’s wrist with a strength far beyond that of a normal human. Kai paled as he realized that, despite facing a relatively thin man from the Lower Zone, the strength holding his arm was definitely superhuman... and worse, on a higher level than his own!
"I remember you!" Suddenly, a high-pitched, surprised voice interrupted the fight.