Chapter 150: [150] Gathering Of Players

For a moment, Ark considered telling them about his ties with Lady Freude, but he knew that saying that would only get him bundled up and tossed away like a bag of trash.

Especially when the first guard seemed to idolise her.

He frowned. "I’m serious. We drove here together..."

"Yeah, sure." The person behind him jeered. "Like you actually know someone from the Fable family!"

"Couldn’t you have at least come up with a better lie...?" Another person, a woman this time, voiced.

"Please, sir." Although the guard said ’please’ there was nothing polite about his tone, or the way he stepped forward like a fat battering ram.

"I will need you to step away from the line. You can wait for this ’*Soo-jin.*’" He said in a mocking tone as he pointed his finger to the back. "At the back."

The other guard shook his head as he muttered underneath his breath, "Pfft, young men these days are still fantasising over the Fable sisters..."

Seeing that there was no way to explain to them without sounding like a liar, Ark turned around to leave, when the door suddenly sprang open.

"Ark Karras." Came a familiar voice, one that caused his blood to run cold.

He turned around to glare at the man standing at the doorway... the vice commander of the association.

Tristan.

Everyone stared at him in shock.

— What is the Vice Commander doing outside?

— Does he know that kid?

— He called him by his name, didn’t he?

Tristan smiled warmly as their eyes met, only to turn icy as he regarded the guards. "I hope you guys didn’t give him trouble?"

The atmosphere grew colder.

"N.. no sir!" The first guard’s knees trembled.

"We d-didn’t know you knew him..." the second stuttered, sweat running down his back.

Tristan sighed, and then the atmosphere lifted. "This young man is a very special guest of mine. Come in, Ark, I’ve been expecting you."

Just as Ark was about to go in, he felt warm arms wrap around his own, and something soft press against him.

Soo-jin came out of nowhere, appearing by his side.

Her eyes swept past the crowd, just before she stared up at him and smiled.

"My dear~ Did you have to wait long?"

This time, the guard’s eyes went so wide that Ark was afraid that they would fall right out of their heads.

’How come she is already back?’ He mused.

From the way Soo-jin hurried away from the car, Ark was sure whatever business she had was urgent.

Was it possible for her to have concluded it already? He noticed that Isabella and Satella hadn’t returned, perhaps they were handling things on her behalf...

He sighed, and since she was shorter than him—everyone was shorter than him—he had to lower his gaze a bit.

"Next time, give me your ticket, you made me look like a liar."

"My apologies." She glanced at Tristan and eyed him for a few seconds, before inclining her head ever so slightly.

"Vice Commander," she said dryly with a strained smile. "Greetings."

Soo-jin was clearly not even making an attempt to hide her animosity for him. It seemed Tristan’s hatred for the top families was not one-sided.

Tristan’s face remained friendly, although it was clearly a facade.

"Daughter of Fable." He folded his hands behind his back. "I hope your mother is well?"

"Hmmm." Soo-jin let out a breath, then cocked her head to the side. "My name is Soo-jin. But I’m sure you already know that."

"..."

A few seconds passed in uncomfortable silence, with Ark standing right in the center of it!

He took in a long breath, then he suddenly grabbed Tristan’s hand, surprising both him and Soo-jin as he pulled them both towards the entrance.

"Enough with the pleasantries, we are going to be late if we stay here smothering ourselves with *kindness...*"

So with Soo-jin by his right hand, and the Vice Commander of the Player’s Association by his left, Ark walked right into the party.

Only to regret it later...

He had acted in the heat of the moment to cool down the tension between them both, but Ark had not even for a second thought what the implications of his actions would be.

Walking into a party with Soo-jin by his side was already enough to turn heads, but to have the vice commander, the one known as the Phantom Assassin, a man who most people couldn’t even approach, clasped by his side like a bosom friend—

Ark was blinded by the flashes of cameras before he could even fully process the implications of what he had done.

— Isn’t that Vice Commander Tristan?! Did he leave the hall to personally escort that kid?

— Are you surprised about Tristan? What about the girl next to him, that is Soo-jin Fable!

— You’re right! Isn’t there friction between the top guilds and the vice commander? How did this kid bring them together?

— I know who that is! He must be the mad skeleton! The one who won a sparring competition against the vice commander despite being a copper ranker!

’Beat Tristan? Who the hell is making this shit up?’ Ark hissed internally.

In that very moment, he felt like digging a hole and burying himself alive, because he knew that by the next day, the rumours would only get worse!

— He is also the youngest guildmaster in Eden, he must really be a generational talent!

’Come on, I haven’t even announced our guild! Who keeps spreading these rumours?!’

Soo-jin trembled with laughter beside him. "I see you are not just a genius of combat, you are also a genius in politics."

Tristan nodded. "To think you would use both of us to boost not just your reputation, but the standing of your guild. Truly impressive."

Ark stared blankly into space. "Don’t you guys think you are misinterpreting this situation just a little bit?"

"Come, let me introduce you to some members of the Association, I am sure they will like to see the newbie that defeated me in a brawl..."

Tristan tugged at his arm, pulling him right.

"My siblings are waiting to see you, come, I’ll introduce you to the big players in the awakened society..."

Soo-jin pulled him to the left.

And just like that, Ark was being stretched like a rubber ring.

But thankfully, before they could pop his arms, someone walked up to them, completely silencing the crowd.

The young man had black horns, curving towards the back of his head, flawless white skin and an eerie aura about him.

"You..."

The sight of the young man caused a dark feeling to settle inside of him.

He could still remember everything that had happened back in the tutorial, how he had tried to sacrifice Soo-jin just to save his own self...

Ark knew that this was a meeting of the top awakened, but he had never considered that he could potentially run into him.

Ark regarded him with an uncaring gaze, as the young man gave him a performative bow, just before a small smirk appeared on his face.

"Cain Order, Demon and Warlock. It has been a while, Ark Karras..."

He raised his head a bit. "Or should I call you the Mad Skeleton?"