[Moments Earlier]

"It's about time…"

Adam Sanchaz rose up from his bed with a resolute expression on his face.

As his eyes stared into the distance, his face directly confronting the door that stood meters away, he had a vacant facade.

His lips trembled slightly as he hid the special dagger in his pocket.

'It's pretty late now. It's the perfect moment to strike…'

To prepare for this moment, he had been granted another Enchanted Item by his partner—a Stealth Necklace.

Using that, along with his sole B-Tier Skill, Adam figured he could get the job done.

'No matter how strong he is… Adonis will be vulnerable in his sleep!'

The floor seemed to creak as Adam took steps forward. It could have been his imagination, but he felt like it took longer than usual to get to the door.

Once he did, however, he gently placed his hand on the knob.

"Haaa…" He took a deep breath and relaxed himself.

Right now, he didn't need to have any useless thoughts. His goal was simple, and the stage was set for him to perfectly execute it.

'Just think about tomorrow… and the day after that!'

The image of himself being the new leader, impressing everyone with his abilities in the Royal Dungeon, as well as being promoted to Alpha Class, filled his thoughts.

Soon, Adam was able to forget the final vestiges of fear that clawed at his heart.

"Let's begin."

He activated his Stealth Necklace and instantly became invisible.

Enchanted Items came in various grades, depending on their effects. This one was among the top of the highest grade Items, so its potency surpassed regular Stealth Necklaces.

Unless someone used a special Skill, it was practically impossible to tell where he was.

He twisted the doorknob and went outside.

It was dark.

The living room had no one occupying it at such an hour, so Adam could understand why there was no light to greet him.

To his relief, no one was in the living room—except one person.

'Billy?! What the hell is he doing there…?' Adam nearly had a heart attack once he noticed the boy's slightly slouching silhouette.

Billy was currently standing in front of Rey Skylar's room, his fists clenched tightly.

He had a scary expression on his face, one that caused Adam to shiver a little.

'He looks pretty upset. But he's also distracted, so I don't have to deal with him.'

Billy's intense gaze didn't even blink. He simply kept staring hard at Rey's front door, so Adam was convinced that he wasn't a threat.

'I wonder what business he had with Rey, though…'

He quickly shrugged aside the thought and approached the door of his target.

'Here we are!' Adam grinned with satisfaction, as if traveling from his own room to Adonis' front door was some sort of achievement.

Anyhow, since he had come this far, Adam proceeded with the second stage of his plan.

Infiltration!

Everyone's rooms were made exclusive for them, and they were also pretty study, so they couldn't be broken down.

Even if they could, Adam wasn't stupid enough to alert Adonis—and potentially his other sleeping classmates—by making such a racket.

At times like this, he wished he had Justin's Skill or [Assassin] Class. He could execute tasks like this much better.

Unfortunately, Adam wasn't blessed with such luck.

His [Brawler] Skill was unsuited for covert operations, which was why he needed an Enchanted Item to even make it this far.

However, he wasn't particularly stranded.

He already planned an alternative to the solution, using the only Skill at his disposal.

'[Force]!'

As a B-Tier Skill, this ability had two special functions.

Push and Pull.

'Now then… Locke and Key, baby!'

The type of mineral used to construct doors like this made them resistant to Mana, but thankfully for Adam, he wasn't directly applying Mana to the door.

He was simply influencing the force around the door.

And so, he pulled it towards him.

~CREEAAAK~

The sound it made was much louder than he expected. It caused Adam to look behind him, hoping Billy did not hear anything.

Fortunately for him, the guy was still angrily staring at Rey's door.

'Whew!'

Adam kept applying his Skill, a bit gently this time. He had practiced [Force] for so long, to the point that he was extremely familiar with it.

Since it was his only Skill, this was a given.

'Well… once I get the Hero Class, I'm sure that won't be a problem any longer!'

Adam could feel his Mana drain very quickly, but thankfully he was able to open the door enough for him to squeeze himself through the small opening that had formed.

Adam swiftly took his chance and slipped through, gently undoing the effects of his Skill as he entered enemy territory.

"Huff… huff…"

It was a lot more difficult than he expected, but Adam just succeeded in the second phase of his plan.

His lips curled up to form a smile as he took in one more deep breath and approached his target's bed.

Adam took his time looking at Adonis' room while he advanced.

'It's a lot more normal than I expected. Pretty much the same as mine…'

He had heard that Adonis was offered a separate—more luxurious space—to live in, but the kind and humble Hero declined.

He wanted to be as close to his classmates as possible, so he chose to remain here.

'Whatever! Once I'm Hero and I'm offered the chance, I'll take it!'

For Adam, it was important to display hierarchy.

Leaders at the top, followers at the bottom—that was how order was established in any society.

'I shouldn't get careless now that I've come this far…' Adam tiptoed as he neared Adonis' bed.

He knew it was unnecessary since the Stealth Skill already erased his presence, but Adam kept doing it anyway.

… Until finally, he stood right beside Adonis.

'There you are, Hero!'

The room was dark, so seeing was a little difficult, but it was clear that Adonis was fast asleep.

It was just as his partner said.

The perfect time to strike Adonis down was now! Adam knew he wouldn't ever get such an easy chance, so he readily pulled out his dagger from his pocket.

He couldn't help the snake-like grin on his distorted face.

'This will be too easy!'

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Thanks for reading!

Seems will be the last chapter of this Arc.

Oops…