Riven hadn't expected Lyra to arrive in the Land of the Abandoned Gods so soon.
And not only that—she had made it to Shell Town and even joined Marcus's party!
Riven instantly understood Lyra's intention.
"Is she trying to get close to Shadow and build a connection?"
"What other reason would she have to come to Shell Town?"
"Still, she was sharp enough to notice my connection to Lina. At least she's not completely clueless."
Riven let out a cold laugh.
In his past life, he had spent years with Lyra and knew exactly how her mind worked.
Back then, before he had risen to power in Eclipse of Eternity, Lyra had been eager to join strong parties, constantly seeking out powerful allies—until Riven had put a stop to it.
Fortunately, it hadn't taken him long to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with, and after that, Lyra had obediently stuck by his side.
"Looks like the timeline has shifted this time around."
The unexpected development surprised Riven, but he quickly regained his composure.
Since Lyra was now in Marcus's party, he decided against selling them any Priest equipment.
Even if it was just a coincidence, Riven wouldn't let Lyra get any advantage from him.
Nor would he show any sign of recognizing her.
Too many people were watching the name Shadow.
"I haven't extracted my powers into reality yet."
"If my real identity gets exposed now, the consequences could be disastrous… even deadly."
"But once I hit Level 10, I'll be able to extract my stealth skill, that'll give me at least some means of self-preservation in the real world."
Even a simple handgun could end his life.
Revealing himself too soon would be suicide. But Level 10 wasn't far off. Soon, he would be able to bring supernatural power into reality!
A little over ten minutes later, Riven arrived back in Shell Town. By now, it was already afternoon in the Great Empire of Ross.
In Riverbay City alone, hundreds of starting towns had been activated. That meant tens of thousands of players had entered Eclipse of Eternity.
But…
Riven hadn't expected Shell Town to be this crowded.
The place was packed with people, a dense sea of players.
And the moment Riven appeared, clad in his eerie Ghostfire Leather Armor, the entire town turned to look.
"Shadow! Shadow! Shadow, can we add you as a friend?"
"You're Shadow? I'm the chairman of Rounding Group in Riverbay City. I'd like to invite you to join our company…"
"Shadow, do you need a sidekick? I can stay on the sidelines and cheer you on all the way!"
"Boss, this is my sister! She's a huge fan of yours! She just wants to meet you, no hidden motives!"
…
Riven used Shadow Slash, instantly covering thirty meters and vanishing into stealth mode.
He slipped away from the crowd and messaged Lina, arranging to meet in a secluded spot.
A short while later, he arrived at the designated location—an abandoned building.
Marcus, Lina, and the rest of their party were already waiting. Standing behind them was Lyra.
The girl looked anxious and excited, fidgeting with her hands and scanning her surroundings nervously.
Riven stepped in front of Lina, his gaze sweeping over Lyra—his eyes filled with nothing but indifference.
He didn't say a word.
Instead, he pulled out a pile of items from his inventory.
After adding Marcus as a friend, he messaged him privately:
"This is a Golden-tier Warrior set with solid attributes. The normal price is 300 days of lifespan. I'll sell it to you for 280."
"This is a Golden-tier Archer skill. It's not the best, but still decent. The normal price is 550 days. I'll give it to you for 520."
"And this…"
Riven dumped the rest of the equipment he had saved up, listing the prices one by one.
All of them were fair.
Marcus grimaced. "Boss, I only have 925 days of lifespan right now."
"That's fine. You can just buy it on credit from me."
Riven replied casually.
The total value of the items exceeded 2,200 days of lifespan, but Marcus's official connections would let him pay it off soon enough.
Marcus hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Thanks for trusting me, boss."
He transferred 900 days of lifespan to Riven and took the equipment and skill books, expressing his gratitude repeatedly.
With these items, their party's combat ability would soar.
Even silver-tier bosses would become manageable!
"Damn, Shadow is insane! I can't believe I'm already wearing Golden gear!"
"This Golden-tier skill is amazing! My damage just tripled!"
"And he even let us buy on credit… He actually trusts us! I'm gonna cry…"
Marcus and his team were ecstatic.
But then, someone noticed something odd.
"Hey… where's the Priest gear?"
Lyra, who had been eagerly waiting, froze.
No priest gear?
Riven didn't react at all.
Without a sound, he activated stealth.
His figure vanished.
In reality, he did have Priest items. A Golden-tier Priest staff. Even a Golden-tier Priest skill book.
But there was no way in hell he'd let Lyra have them.
Not only would he refuse to give her anything—he planned to find another Priest to forcefully replace her in Marcus's party.
After all, Riven still needed Marcus's official connections to sell off unwanted gear and skills in bulk.
If Lyra remained in the party, she'd eventually become a hindrance.
But just then, a system notification popped up.
[Player 'Lyraa' has sent you a friend request!]
[Verification message: Hi, boss! I'm the Priest in Marcus's party~]
Riven frowned.
"She's so polite to outsiders."
"But with me? She was always impatient and rude…"
"You've really outdone yourself, Lyra."
He completely ignored the request.
Didn't accept it.
Didn't reject it, either.
After all, his friend request list was already flooded with names.
Treating Lyra like a random stranger and ignoring her was enough.
If he specifically went out of his way to reject her, that would be giving her way too much importance.
By now, Riven had reached the town square.
He was ready to teleport to Firefly Town.
That was where Elias had started the game.
Just yesterday, Elias had been in another city performing a concert. After his show, he had hooked up with two girls and partied all night…
And when Eclipse of Eternity descended, he was placed into Riverbay City's zone, landing in Firefly Town.
"Now that town teleportation is open, how could I not pay Elias a visit?"
A cold smile spread across Riven's face.
In his past life, it was Lyra who had given him the Soul-Wandering Water—but the mastermind behind it all had been Elias.
Lyra's stupidity was one thing.
But Elias?
He was Riven's true target.
And if Riven wanted to eliminate him in the real world…
He'd have to first break him mentally in the game.
If Elias stayed online indefinitely, he'd be untouchable in real life.
Riven had to kill him so many times that he'd be too terrified to log in.