...…

Atlas World

Shin just finished reflecting his previous battle and was now taking a short break. After taking a quick look at the game clock, he discovered that it was about time for the next battle. And in the very same moment, he received an invitation from Owen.

Ding!

System: Player Owen is inviting you to spectate the upcoming match of the Shadow Ranking Cup. Would you like to accept?

Seeing that, Shin raised one of his eyebrows and muttered. "Looks like this guy is somewhat diligent, huh?"

The tournament participants didn't need to buy any tickets if ever they wanted to watch another match. There was even a special VIP room reserved for each of the participants.

After Shin accepted the invitation, he was immediately teleported at the VIP room where Owen was located. And when he appeared in that place, he immediately observed his surroundings out of habit.

And naturally, Owen was able to notice that. So, he suddenly started chuckling and said. "Come on, bro! You are not in any battlefield right now. There is no need to check everything like that."

Shin ignored him at first since he was still sweeping his gaze at the surroundings. And he only looked at Owen when he was finally done.

"Well, it is just a part of my system. You can't blame me," said Shin while shrugging his shoulders.

A moment later, Shin noticed a woman standing behind Owen. She was a beautiful girl with a stunning figure. And based on the equipment that she was wearing, she seemed to be an elf with an archer class.

But what really surprised Shin after seeing her was the dangerous aura coming from her body. And from the looks of it, her strength was seemingly as strong as Owen.

'This girl is quite strong,' thought Shin before whispering to Owen. "Your girlfriend seems to be stronger than you."

The corner of Owen's mouth suddenly twitched uncontrollably the moment he heard that. Then he threw a weird look at Shin before saying. "You really are a battle maniac. Noticing her strength first before her beauty? You are hopeless."

This time, it was Shin's turn to have a twitching mouth. And before he could even say anything, he suddenly saw Owen leaned forward dodging an arrow that was coming after his head. And right after flying past Owen's head, that arrow flew straight at Shin's face with a great speed.

Seeing that, Shin instinctively leaned his head to the side, barely dodging the arrow. Then he stared at the girl behind Owen with a stiff face while thinking. 'Yeah, she might look good. But, oh boy, she also looked a little dangerous.'

The girl hanged the bow on her back before saying to Owen. "Stop introducing me as your girlfriend or else I will kill you."

And with a 'hmph' sound, she suddenly turned around and started walking on the seats not far from them.

On the other hand, Owen raised his head once again and said to Shin. "Don't worry, bro. You still guess it right. She is just in the denial stage."

Shin then looked at Owen with a weird expression on his face and asked. "Did you just invite me here to become your third wheel"

Then he paused for a moment before adding. "If you want to set up a date with her, you don't have to drag a stranger like me. So, I guess I need to get out of here right now to give you some space."

But before Shin could even raise his hand to summon the system, Owen immediately prevented him from doing so and said. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Hear me out bro!"

Owen turned his head to the side to look over his shoulders and see if the elven girl was looking at them or not. And when he saw that she was not, he immediately whispered at Shin. "Bro, help me just this once and I will help you in the future in return."

He pointed his thumb behind him while talking. "That girl right there is a classmate and a friend of mine. I am a solo player but I still form a party with her along with our other friends from time to time."

"So~?" asked Shin while looking at Owen with a rising eyebrow.

Owen released a painful grunt and said. "Isn't it obvious that I like her? And this is the first time that she agreed to join me, so this is finally my chance to get a little closer to her. And-…"

He was still in the middle in talking when Shin suddenly asked with a raising eyebrow. "That is what I am talking about. Why the heck did you ask me to come if you can spend the time alone?"

Hearing that, Owen suddenly squinted his eyes and said. "Can you at least let me finish first and not cut in?"

Regardless, he still continued at what he was saying. "Well, what I just said was the original plan. But it turns out that she is not going to come if we are just going to watch. She is the type that always wants to put everything into a research material – a studious type of girl if you put it on the other words."

"So, you called me for a little bit of extra 'insights'?" asked Shin while maintaining his raised eyebrow.

At this point, Owen took another quick look at his back to check on 'his girlfriend' before looking back at Shin. He then cleared his throat a little before saying with a very soft voice. "It is like this; some of her 'experts' friends invited her to watch the fights together so that they can 'exchange' some 'insights'."

"But since she already agreed to watch the preceding fights with me, she can't accept their invitation. But at the same time, she also can't bluntly reject their offer."

He paused for a moment and tapped his chest while saying. "And since I am such a good person – I suggested for them to come and join us instead-..."

And before he could complete what he was saying, Shin already picked up what was going on. "So, you invited me so that you can exchange some insights with me to make yourself shine, right?"

Hearing that, Owen's face suddenly turned stiff and unable to reply. Seeing that, Shin couldn't help but shake his head and said. "Don't worry, I have no problem with that – as long as you are going to give some really good and reasonable comments regarding the match."

After that, he patted Owen's shoulder and walked past him to take a seat. Seeing that, Owen became a little excited and immediately followed Shin to take his own seat.

Naturally, he sat beside his 'girlfriend'. And right after seating beside her, he immediately said. "Hey, Joyce! Where are your friends? Why-…"

He was still in the middle talking when he suddenly felt an immense threat coming from his side. Given that, he immediately leaned back on his chair, dodging an arrow which was being stabbed at him.

"Can you not call me with my real name when we are inside the game? What is the point of having an IGN (In-game Name) if you are going to call me with my real name in the end?" said by Joyce while glaring at him.

Hearing that, Owen raised both of his hands and said. "Alright, alright. I got it."

He then paused for a moment before adding. "But why are you so sensitive today? You are acting too violent too. It is pretty much unlike you. My friend may misunderstand you."

Joyce threw a vicious look at him but didn't say anything. On the other hand, Shin gave a pretty much idi*tic side comment. "You should be careful. Maybe she is on her days."

Even if he was quite far from them, his voice could clearly be heard by the other two. And right after those words, an arrow suddenly flew towards him with a great speed. But even if it had an extreme speed, Shin was still able to catch it in between his fingers.

Then he threw it towards Owen without looking while also saying at the same time. "See? I was right."

And after a slight pause, he immediately added. But this time it was in a private message. "You should be thankful that she is not like my Big Sis. If she does, you should already be running for your life."

Reading the message, Owen started chuckling while saying to himself. 'So, he still has some sense of humor, huh?'

When Joyce saw that he was laughing at himself, she suddenly squinted her eyes and asked. "What are you laughing about? Is there something funny?"

Owen still wore the cheeky expression on his face while replying. "Nothing really. I just notice that the more I look at you the more beautiful you become."

Joyce didn't reply but she continued to stare at him with a pair of squinting eyes. A moment later, she turned her head back at the empty arena, ignoring Owen. "Hmph!"

Seeing that, Owen smiled while moving his eyebrows up and down, sending some signals at Shin. And when the latter saw that, he couldn't help but shake his head helplessly.

They waited for more moments before Joyce's friends finally arrived. And the moment they entered the room, Shin immediately felt that things were not as simple as what Owen had said.

"Looks like my 'best friend' is coming on my way once again, huh? I wonder why trouble loves me so much," muttered Shin while observing the newly arrived group.

...…