Late at night, in a chaotic world, a young man—somewhere in his twenties—stared uneasily at the scene before him.
Right before his eyes was a virtual panel that seemed visible only to him, unique to this darkened world.
At the top of the panel read the words **[Multiverse Chat Group]** in large, bold characters. The young man was none other than the "omniscient and almighty" moderator of the chat group, who'd recently muted Noah, the mysterious and seemingly gifted new recruit.
Just moments ago, he had received a message notifying him of his upgraded admin privileges.
> **[Notification]** There are now three level-1 members in the chat group. This qualifies the group for promotion! Would you like to upgrade the chat group, expanding the member cap to 20?
The young man was thrilled. Achieving level-1 strength in the group meant the members had surpassed ordinary human limits—an indication of heightened physical abilities or special powers.
Until now, only he and Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun had reached level 1, the other members still limited by their worlds' typical capabilities. He was curious—just who had hit this milestone?
His excitement faded as he noticed the number **1** beside Noah's username. His face darkened as he realized who it was.
"Seriously? How could it be him?" He muttered, barely believing it. "He was muted! How could he have leveled up so fast?" A troubling possibility crossed his mind. "Could he be in an advanced world?"
He scanned the chat group file history. His suspicion grew as he noticed that the **[Purple Cloud Magic Skill]** had six downloads instead of the previous five. His eyes narrowed. "So, the kid's a martial arts genius, is he?"
The young man shook his head, thinking, "Guess I'll need a better plan to deal with this wild card. Upgrading the group can wait."
As he dismissed the chat group from his vision, a line of text flashed in his peripheral view—**Group Level: ???**
---
Meanwhile, Noah was at school, trying to keep a low profile. He made it through the halls, brushing off the attention he'd garnered ever since his abilities began surfacing. After rejecting more than a few love notes, he finally found his seat in the classroom.
The bell rang, and their biology teacher, Mr. James, entered. He briefly addressed the class before glancing pointedly at Noah. "Tomorrow's Osborne tour is important, so I hope no one is absent."
"Absent." Mr. James lingered on the word, his gaze lingering on Noah, who seemed oddly distracted.
Noah, hiding his discomfort, was seated but subtly hovering a few millimeters above his chair in a calculated squat, his core burning from exertion. The diluted sulfuric acid he'd ingested for practice was doing its job on his insides, giving him sharp pangs of pain every few minutes.
As he struggled to appear normal, he tuned into the lesson, letting his mind drift to the chat group. He opened it, noticing a new name on the list—**Crimson Eye**.
Curious, he checked out Crimson Eye's profile and quickly realized this was a level-4 member—easily one of the strongest in the group, second only to the omniscient moderator whose level remained hidden.
Crimson Eye seemed friendly, striking up conversations with other group members and easily winning them over with their casual charm. But something felt off. The topics Crimson Eye raised seemed… too deliberate.
Each question poked at personal worlds, asking about differences between realities and subtly suggesting a meet-up.
Finally, Crimson Eye made a bold offer.
> **[Crimson Eye]:** I asked the admin if we could visit each other's worlds. Turns out, it's possible if everyone agrees. I'd love to meet offline and test some theories. What do you all say?
An invitation notification popped up on Noah's screen.
> **Crimson Eye has sent a cross-reality invitation to all group members.**
Noah checked the system specs, confirming that even if someone was muted, they could still visit another world if they accepted an invite.
To Noah's surprise, most members eagerly agreed. It seemed he and the mysterious admin were the only ones who hadn't responded.
"Feels like a trap," Noah muttered, declining the invitation. He imagined Crimson Eye's expression upon seeing his refusal and grinned slightly.
In another world, the young admin noted Noah's rejection, his expression souring. Yet he quickly regained composure, moving on with his plan.
---
Noah's day passed without further incident. That evening, he made his way to the gym, where Coach Smith was already waiting.
"You skipped yesterday," Smith noted, studying him curiously. "Something up?"
"Nothing big, just got delayed," Noah replied casually, mentally rolling his eyes at the idea of telling Smith he'd been busy perfecting new powers.
Smith raised a brow as Noah headed over to the barbells. "Alright, today's goal: 200 pounds," Noah called over, gripping the bar.
Smith's eyebrows shot up. "Yesterday it was 160. Going for 200 now?" He shook his head, marveling at how Noah seemed to defy logic every day.
Noah laughed off the surprise, shrugging. They'd long stopped discussing his abilities; Coach Smith was content to let the young man push his limits in the privacy of his gym without asking too many questions.
Satisfied, Noah continued his exercises. He'd found solace in physical training, pushing himself as far as he could. And now, with the **Zixia Divine Art**, he felt even more in tune with his growing abilities.
Gone were the days of holding back. Now he could train without worrying about anyone understanding what he was really up to.
---
As the evening wore on, Noah couldn't shake a sense of unease. The chat group had turned quiet after Crimson Eye's invitation. He sensed there was more going on behind the scenes—perhaps even a power struggle he'd only glimpsed.
The real question: Who could he trust in the group? And what exactly did Crimson Eye want with a face-to-face meeting?
That answer, he suspected, wouldn't be as easy to come by.
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All right, my exams for this week are done. So, I will try to consistently upload for maybe the next 2 days. And here is one of the promised Bonus Chapters. There will be more. Maybe...
So, this is my first time doing this. I hope you guys can help me improve by providing your feedback, and some stones would be nice. (づ ◕‿◕ )づ