## Chapter 20 **Persuasion**##
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The moment Vivaan Sharma saw the expressions on the trio's faces, he knew—absolutely and completely—that any persuasion was pointless. Their stubborn confidence radiated from their eyes like an immovable wall. No matter how much logic he tried to feed them, they had already made up their minds.
A part of him truly wanted to walk away. Just leave them to their own decisions, let them face whatever danger they insisted on charging toward, and mind his own business. After all, he wasn't obligated to babysit anyone.
But reality wasn't that simple.
If Devansh Kapoor, Yuvraj Chauhan, or Kabir Sinha ended up dying inside the dimensional zone on the day of an official test, it would absolutely affect the assessment for every participant present. Even though he himself wouldn't be directly blamed, the evaluation system would still record the outcome of the group. If they died, their entire squad would be tagged as unstable, irresponsible, and unprepared.
And that would ruin his own chances at ranking high enough to enter a top school.
Even worse—Arvind Rao had been the one who had personally introduced Vivaan for this team assignment. If Kabir Sinha died because of reckless decisions, everyone around would definitely assume the mentor had arranged an incompetent match. Kabir's influential family would absolutely throw some blame in Arvind Rao's direction.
Vivaan couldn't allow that.
*I can only hope they don't go too deep,* he thought with a quiet sigh. *As long as we avoid the area where that Skeleton General lurks, they should come out alive.*
With that, Vivaan didn't say another word. He simply followed behind the trio as they continued moving through the endless corridors of the Ancient Imperial City's dimensional zone.
Seeing him silent, Yuvraj Chauhan smirked in his usual mocking tone. He interpreted Vivaan's silence as fear—fear of being left alone, fear of fighting independently, fear of responsibility.
"When you're a burden, at least admit it," Yuvraj scoffed with a hint of contempt in his voice. "Just follow us quietly and don't start whining again."
Vivaan simply didn't care enough to reply. He had neither the time nor the interest to argue with someone who wasn't worth his breath. Instead, he pulled out his mysterious phone, pricked his finger discreetly, and let a drop of blood fall onto the screen.
Instantly, the game interface opened, transporting his perspective into the Ancient Imperial City game dungeon.
He wasn't playing to pass time. He was preparing—he wanted to get ahead of the real group's pace inside the game so he could test strategies against the Skeleton General. If he could find even the tiniest method to survive its terrifying spear attack… that would be enough.
If he somehow found a way to kill it—that would be a miracle.
But even if he couldn't, studying its movements in-game would drastically increase his chance of surviving in reality.
Meanwhile, Devansh Kapoor and Yuvraj Chauhan were walking ahead, cutting down every Skeleton Soldier that appeared. Each one charged like mindless undead machines, but the duo's combined strength made clearing them almost effortless.
Since they were dealing with all the danger, Vivaan had nothing practical to do. Even if a stray Skeleton Soldier reached him, he could eliminate it easily with his current strength.
So he played.
The danger was nonexistent—at least for now.
As Vivaan walked behind the group, he didn't bother hiding his screen. The people in front wouldn't understand anything they saw. The game interface looked cartoonish, stylized, and far too different from reality for anyone to associate it with the actual dimensional zone.
Kabir Sinha glanced back and noticed Vivaan gaming, and he couldn't resist commenting.
"You're seriously playing games right now?" Kabir laughed. "In a place like this? Bro, you're addicted."
"I have nothing else to do," Vivaan replied casually without looking up. His focus remained on controlling the blood-colored avatar riding the Mutated Vigor Ant, charging ahead at impressive speed.
Ordinary Skeleton Soldiers couldn't stop the Mutated Vigor Ant. Their brittle bones shattered the moment they made contact, flung aside like fragile sticks.
Vivaan didn't waste time finishing them. His only goal was to reach the Skeleton General's location as fast as possible.
"I should game too," Kabir declared suddenly, pulling out his own phone. The game he opened remained a mystery, but he started tapping away with great enthusiasm.
Kabir gaming wasn't an issue. But Vivaan gaming as well—that set Yuvraj Chauhan off.
"This is ridiculous," Yuvraj muttered angrily. "This is the so-called number one genius of Guide High Institute? And he's acting like some obsessive gamer nerd?"
Their progress was significantly slower than Vivaan's in-game journey. They were dealing with physical fatigue, potential injuries, and the pressure of conserving stamina. Even with their strength, clearing hordes of Skeleton Soldiers required caution.
But Vivaan? In-game, he was blitzing everything. In about half an hour, he reached the exact spot where he previously encountered the Skeleton General atop its skeletal horse.
Just like before, the instant the Skeleton General saw the blood-colored avatar, it charged—with horrifying speed. Its bone spear glowed with frightening power.
Vivaan focused intensely. He wanted to analyze the attack pattern.
But before he could dodge, the spear pierced straight through the avatar's chest.
Instant kill.
*That's too fast.*
Vivaan's eyes narrowed. That speed and precision—it had to be a Primordial Energy Skill. No ordinary spear technique could achieve such instantaneous lethality.
*So, a speed-type skill? Maybe some kind of acceleration burst… definitely stronger than the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. Even that creature never used Primordial Energy Skills.*
He revived instantly, hopped back onto the Mutated Vigor Ant, and charged deeper into Ancient Imperial City once again.
With each attempt, he replayed every tiny detail of the last death. He analyzed angles, timings, distances—everything.
If he couldn't defeat the Skeleton General, he at least needed to find a way to survive.
This time, Vivaan dodged sideways. He wanted to test whether the skill was restricted to frontal thrusts.
He was wrong.
The Skeleton General swung its spear in a crescent arc—a flash of bone and light—and instantly decapitated the avatar.
Another instant kill.
Mistakes were never fatal in-game. That's what made the mysterious phone priceless. It allowed him to fail, retry, experiment, and learn—without risking his life.
But even so, this monster was troublesome.
*It's not just a thrust. It can cleave horizontally too. The attack angle is flexible… this is going to be difficult.*
He pricked his finger again, letting another drop of blood fall. He felt slightly dizzy. A month of constant blood loss was finally catching up.
*I need to find a solution for this… If I keep going like this, I'll end up fainting or dying from anemia.*
But there was no solution at hand.
While Vivaan experimented repeatedly inside the game, the real-world group continued their progress.
Skeleton Soldiers emerged endlessly from the dimensional rifts—but because the rifts weren't completely stable, once a wave was cleared, no new enemies appeared for a short while. This allowed the trio to advance steadily without interruptions.
Every two to three hundred kills, they found a Strength Crystal. They couldn't measure its value accurately, but they could roughly tell its type.
Naturally, the Strength Crystal went to Kabir Sinha. With even one crystal, he easily claimed first place in the team.
As they approached deeper regions, Vivaan recognized the surroundings. His heartbeat tightened slightly.
They were getting dangerously close to the Skeleton General's territory.
"We've already hunted enough Skeleton Soldiers," Vivaan said firmly. "We're far beyond the designated range of the test. We need to turn back if we want to finish the exam properly. Let's not continue forward."
His voice carried urgency—not fear, but a calm understanding of exactly what awaited ahead.
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