Child of Destiny

Aoki ignored Riko and Ryoto since these two should be somewhat familiar with these kinds of things, especially when they were working with him on multiple occasions under the Heavenly Taste.

He focused on the three, who were clearly not familiar with these kinds of things yet. Arthur might have some idea due to his background, both within the game and the real world, but it was still far from being enough to uncover most of the secrets that were engulfing the game.

Aoki raised the book in his right hand first before explaining. “This book here is the Secret Manual of the Legends. It is a unique item that can only be found within the game and especially created for tracking certain items or legacies left behind by legendary figures.”

“You can also say that it is specifically created for tracking the hidden legacies that everyone is looking for,” he added.

Hearing this, Arthur could not help raising his brows before commenting. “Isn’t this thing a bit too broken?”

Leonard and Chaotic Luck might not know the importance of such an item, particularly the impact that it could have on the certain balance that all the forces within the game had.

It was such a broken item that not only could it upset such a balance in power, but could also monopolize most of the said legacies hidden within the game.

Seeing that Arthur understood the true value of such an item, Aoki continued. “What you are thinking is right, but it is not as simple as you are thinking.”

“Naturally, such items had quite a lot of restrictions in them,” he added, quickly making Arthur calm down. “Moreover, these restrictions are not easy to deal with.”

Arthur then nodded, understanding what Aoki was trying to imply.

“The most common way to lift these restrictions is to find a multitude of records related or somewhat similar to a certain legend that one wants to pursue,” continued Aoki.

“I don’t exactly know how much effort the Black Market has put into just unlocking the clue related to the legacy of Dark King Tang Hyeon, but I am sure that they have paid quite a considerable amount of attention and resources just to reach where they are right now.”

“What makes it worse, this is only one of the conditions that they had to meet to trigger a response to this book.”

“The most important factor that they have to add when activating this book is a special material with an ancient history, or at least somewhat related to what they are chasing after.”

He then paused for a moment, raising the pearl-like object in his other hand, before continuing. “For example, this thing is called the Ten Thousand Poison Core, an extremely rare treasure that could only be found in a certain region filled with poisonous plants and a home of venomous creatures.”

“I do not know how they have gotten their hands on this thing, but it is extremely close to the one that the Dark King used to have in ancient times.”

“It can also be something that is modeled from the original Ten Thousand Poison Pearl that is mentioned in the ancient records that we have found in the real world.”

“Together, these items generate a unique quest that leads the wielder to a certain legacy of legendary figures of ancient times, which are hidden within the game.”

He then paused once again, sweeping his gaze at everyone, before continuing. “But it is not as powerful as it seems to be.”

“This Secret Manual of the Legends is something that is purposely injected into the game by those figures who have hidden those legendary inheritances within the game.”

“It is something that is meant to help the people who are looking for those legacies. At least that is what it looks like on the surface.”

Pursing his mouth a little, he continued. “It is said that whoever uses this method within the game will be subjected to a certain ‘curse’ that will permanently attach itself to the user.”

“I am not exactly sure what kind of curse it is as well. But from what I have heard, it is a special curse that will make someone super ‘unlucky’ within the game, or at least something like that.”

Hearing this, Riko could not help but raise her brows, especially when this was her first time hearing it. “A curse that jinxes someone?”

“Somewhat,” nodded Aoki before adding. “Or even worse than that.”

“I do not know what the logic behind it is either, but the higher-ups have repeatedly warned me about this.” he went silent for a moment, seemingly reorganizing what his elders had said to him, before continuing. “They said that I will never use these things once I have gotten my hands on them, regardless of the reason.”

“I am actually quite curious and want to try something about. But since even my parents repeatedly warn me about it, then I guess I have to give up on such a thought,” he added along with a disappointed look on his face.

Arthur, who was listening somewhat seriously, could not help but look at the book in Aoki’s hands. He was unable to suppress his curiosity either.

“Anyway, this brings not only bad luck, but something even more terrifying as well,” added Aoki before shaking his head. “Unfortunately, I don’t know much about it either.”

Frowning his brow, Arthur could not help but ask. “Is it just a unique and single item? Or are there a lot of them scattered everywhere?”

Given that Aoki and the organization behind him knew about these pieces of information, there was a high chance that they owned such items or at least something similar.

Seemingly able to understand what Arthur was trying to say, Aoki shifted his gaze away before dodging the core of that question. “I may be the young master, but it does not mean that I need to know everything, don’t you think?”

He was clearly saying to Arthur that they were practically the same. Both were young masters of their respective families, but they still did not have access to the deepest secrets that they had.

Arthur did not respond and just shrugged his shoulders before turning his gaze away.

Aoki smiled when he saw that reaction before proceeding to another topic. “I also picked up quite a few interesting items from Gunner. Does anyone want to know what they are?”

They were items that were guaranteed to drop upon death, so these items would surely be something of great importance.

“Hmph! Are you even willing to share such profit with us?” asked Arthur with a bit of suspicion.

Hearing this, Aoki smiled mysteriously before replying. “That depends on what you can offer in return.”

“So, it is not for free,” said Leonard while shaking his head.

When the others proceeded to this topic, Chaotic Luck somewhat lost his interest and turned his gaze toward the army of jiangshi underneath them.

He knew that this was meant for Arthur and Aoki to rest and recover their strength, but he knew that he could not do the same, especially when he was the only person among their group who could do such a thing.

After all, he had an army of his own.

While the others were discussing the items that Gunner had dropped, Chaotic Luck directed his attention toward the ground and focused more on remotely controlling his Legion of the Chaotic Sun.

At the same time, he was paying close attention to the jiangshi they were fighting, wanting to draw inspiration from them to create his version of an elite undead creature.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Arthur suddenly walked over and tossed something at him.

Chaotic Luck was suddenly caught off guard, almost causing the item to fall. Fortunately, he was able to snap out of his daze and catch it successfully after a bit of struggle.

“Eh!?”

Right after, he could not help but turn to Arthur while gripping that item tightly and hugging the giant dragon’s body, clinging to it for his dear life.

He did not want to fall from such a height and into the middle of such a huge army of jiangshi.

He tried to say something to Arthur, but all he could do was open and close his mouth without making any sound.

Arthur watched Chaotic Luck with a bit of amusement before bending down and helping the latter.

After that, he patted the latter’s shoulders before turning around. “Make good use of it.”

Chaotic Luck was confused at first, watching Arthur’s back for a whole minute, before turning his attention to the item that he just received.

He then later saw that it was another pearl-like object and oddly similar to the one that Aoki had shown them earlier.

However, instead of dark green, this item was pitch-black and occasionally emitted a dark miasma.

He stared at it for quite a while before finally using his identification skill to look into its details.

“Eh!?”

He then could not help but blurt out right after learning what it was.

…