Adonis was strong.

He was extremely intelligent, handsome, charismatic, and most of all… he was kind.

He had the qualities of a good leader, and he was easily the perfect leader of the Otherworlders.

"Not for long, though. Hehehe…" Adam chuckled as he imagined punching out Adonis' perfect white teeth.

The silhouette before him nodded.

"Killing him won't be easy, but I have just the thing for it."

"H-hold on… killing? We're killing him?"

Adam was shocked to hear all of this. When he heard the word "eliminate", he simply thought they would remove him from the position of leader.

… Sort of like a social sabotage or something of that nature.

"Oh? Are you scared?" As soon as he heard the voice, Adam stiffened.

He could sense some measure of condescension, and he didn't like it one bit.

"No! Of course not. I just thought you meant it the same way 'destroying someone' could mean ruining their reputation."

He wasn't a softie or anything!

'I'll do anything for my goals. As long as it is necessary…'

"Is killing Adonis really necessary, though" Adam asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, it is. And killing him now, while he still has a low Level, is the best time."

Adam already knew it would be difficult to compete with Adonis with the way things currently stood.

Adonis was perfection itself, while he had fallen from Grace in a lot of ways.

'I guess I have no other choice, huh?'

"Once you kill him, you'll be able to get his EXP, but I have a special Item that can allow you to convert the EXP into specific forms of power."

As Adam heard this, his ears perked up.

"S-specific forms of power…?"

"Yes. Like Class or Skills."

"You mean…"

"Yes. You can obtain Adonis' Hero Class, or even get his Skills."

Adam's eyes widened as soon as he heard this. He didn't realize it when his teeth were already being displayed as a sign of excitement.

"Now do you see why he has to die?"

"I do indeed! He'll be a stepping stone for my rise to power!"

Adam started to chuckle, and then began to laugh so hard that his throat hurt and he coughed.

"Sorry. Take it easy…" The silhouette kindly retorted, to which Adam smiled.

"Thanks, man."

The relationship between the two of them was purely driven by self-interest, but the more Adam conversed with this anonymous stranger, the more he felt like they truly understood each other.

"Why are you doing all of this, though? Helping me and all…" He muttered.

"I already told you. I wish to go outside. If you become the leader, you'll be able to guarantee my freedom. That's the deal, right?"

Adam nodded slowly, but he was still a bit puzzled by the stranger's goals.

'Just for that? I guess he isn't really ambitious…'

They had been in contact for about a week now, and everything seemed to flow exactly as the shadow said.

He was clearly smart.

'But I guess I'm still the one with the most cards. He needs me…'

Adam felt good just from that conclusion.

"Here. Take this."

A blackish mist appeared in mid-air, as if it was made from thick smoke—the very same material that shrouded the hooded figure.

From within this mist, a dagger appeared.

"Ah… this is the Item?"

"Yep. Use it to kill Adonis and focus on the aspect of what you want from him."

Adam was already licking his lips as he heard this.

"You can only pick between his Class and one of his Skills…"

Adam felt a little disappointed by that. If he could get at least one Skill along with Adam's Class, that would have been much better.

However, this still wasn't a bad deal.

"Which do you think I should go far? Class or Skill?"

"Hmm… it's up to you, really."

Adonis had an SS-Tier Skill, but he had an S-Tier Class.

In terms of rank, the Skill was much better. However, a solid Class would mean Adam's overall build would take a huge jump.

Besides, he didn't really have enough Mana to handle an SS-Tier Skill.

"I think I'll go for the Class. 'Hero' doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

"Right? That's a good choice…"

Adam chuckled some more. He really was brilliant if he put his mind to it.

"So, with this Ite… hold on…"

The moment he thought about the silhouette's goals, and cross-referenced it with the plan at hand, something seemed off.

"Where did you get this item?"

None of the students were allowed to hold Enchanted Items outside class. The only way he could have gotten an item as potent as this was either by going outside, or…

"I stole it."

"Ahh… I figured." Adam smiled.

That was his guess as well.

"Seems like you recognize the plan. You'll strike the night before our expedition to the Royal Dungeon."

"Any particular reason why that time is the best?" Adam responded with a question.

"Adonis has been training hard all week, so he's been pretty stressed out. I'm sure he'll want to have a good rest before the hectic next day."

When Adam heard this, he nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. You can leave the rest to me." He grinned while speaking.

"I'll use my Skills to get close and finish the job."

"I'm counting on you."

Both men exchanged understanding glances, and the silhouette began to make his exit.

Black clouds of mysterious energy swirled around him as he began to vanish.

"Wait. One last question…"

The vanishing paused, almost as if it was stuck in frame.

"What is it?"

The voice of the silhouette sounded the same, though something about how he was suspended made it clear that Adam was bothering him.

But what did the future leader care about such trivialities?

"Why Rey? He's a nobody, right? Wouldn't using someone with a higher profile benefit the plan more?"

"…"

For a moment, the shadow said nothing.

However, this silence only lasted for a while as a brief giggle escaped the lips under the mask of darkness.

"Well, he ignored me."

"I-Ignored you…?" Adam felt surprised to hear that as a reason. "What do you mean?"

"Upon our arrival here, at the Skill Exhibition… he displayed his Skill and I told him it was impressive. I tried to talk more to him, but he brushed me aside and ignored me…"

Adam couldn't quite understand what he was hearing.

"T-that's all…?"

"Do I need some other reason?"

'Well… yeah.' Adam wanted to say, but he decided against it.

"I guess he must have hurt your feelings, huh? Didn't peg you to be a softie…"

Adam felt secretly happy, though. If this person was emotional, then that meant he could be manipulated.

"I suppose you could say so. I'm a huge softie…"

"Hey! I'm not judging." Adam shrugged, a big smirk on his roguish face.

"…"

No one said anything for a while, and the mood began to grow heavy.

Before it could devolve even more, though, the silhouette's voice emerged.

"So can I leave now?"

"O-oh! Sure!" Adam felt joy within himself that his partner needed his permission before leaving.

It reinforced his feeling of importance, and he couldn't help but imagine how everyone else would treat him once he got the power he craved.

"Alright then. Bye…"

~WHUUSH!~

The shadow vanished into oblivion, leaving Adam all alone in his room.

"What a guy… or maybe he's actually a girl…?"

Adam could only picture a girl being so petty, so he decided to just label the mysterious stranger with the stereotype.

'Once I kill Adonis, I'll make her reveal her face to me. Hopefully, she's a cutie…'

If she was, they could eventually deepen their relationship.

At that point, no girl would be able to resist him.

He could have Alicia, Belle, even Trisha

Whoever and whatever he desired!

'After all, who doesn't want to get with the Hero?'

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