All Adam wanted now was to finish his cake, use the teleport, and return to the Citadel to meet Silvana after a long separation.

It seemed that nothing could prevent this. After a few sips, he would finish his hot chocolate and eat his cake, but... he should have woken up a few minutes earlier to avoid the following encounter:

Step. Step. Step.

A girl and a guy approached him, slightly uncertain.

'Hmm? What do they want?' Adam glanced at them, assessing their auras.

He immediately realized that they were the K3-Phantoms. They barely had enough strength to stray too far from the spire, but if their goal was a nearby mission or they were part of a team, then that was no problem.

"Sorry to bother you, but... are you really Adam Vinter?" the young man asked with a trembling voice.

The girl standing next to him said nothing, but her eyes shone as brightly as his.

Internally, Adam rolled his eyes. He didn't know what would happen next, but he already understood where this was going.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm sure your Operators can easily confirm that in a few seconds, right?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Hahaha." The young man awkwardly scratched his cheek. "That's right, we just decided it would be rude. Although we didn't need confirmation from our Operators, we knew who you were as soon as we saw you! I've practically become your fan lately!"

The young girl nodded, pressing her hand to her chest. "Me too. Before going on this mission to the border of the Tarnished Lands, I saw you fighting. It was... It was inspiring!"

Adam found himself in a strange situation. The young man and woman were telling him about things, expecting him to share their excitement, but he didn't even understand what they were talking about.

"Wait... You watched my fights? Are you talking about old battles?" Adam tilted his head.

He was confused. He knew that a large number of his battles were stored in the government database, but this was the first time he had gone so deep into the Tarnished Lands.

Well, Adam simply didn't realize that this was not only the first time he had been in monster territory for so long, but also the first time he had been away from the Citadel for several months.

Previously, he could go through several evolutions in a few months, moving at lightning speed.

Sure, the fact that he fulfilled all the conditions in one go and created the Second Grand Star was no less impressive, but at his level, it was impossible to achieve such progress faster than in a few months.

Also, most of his battles were seen not only by Silvana and the monsters from Izardo, but also by satellites and Silvana's screens, which she broadcast to the government server according to the rules.

This was standard procedure; anyone could watch how another Phantom fought, how a group coped with a difficult mission. It all depended on whether there was anything unusual about it to interest people.

So, now, from the young man's phone, Adam watched him fight Erada. It was far from movie quality, but for the K3-Phantom's eyes, it was enough to see all the details and important moments.

"Damn..." Adam muttered, pausing the video. "I guess my previous battles are on the servers as well, right?"

The girl nodded several times with shining eyes.

"It was incredible when you fought against the monster at the Forgotten Mills! And that monster city, Izardo, I hope I'll be strong enough to visit it someday!"

"Yeah, me too!" The young man exclaimed as he pumped his fist.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Adam scratched the back of his head, looking at them like children, even though the age difference between them was insignificant.

"You do understand that I didn't go there on a sightseeing trip, right? I stayed in the Tarnished Lands for a long time, perhaps too long... but I went there to achieve certain goals.

"Izardo, it's an amazing city, I can't deny that, but if you're not strong enough and you don't have any friends there, anything could happen to you. You have to understand that."

The young man and girl listened attentively as they nodded deeply.

"Of course, we've been through many battles as well!"

The girl smiled and stood in a fighting stance. "We are very strong! Maybe one day we'll be even stronger than you!"

"Hah, maybe." Adam shrugged. "Who knows what you can achieve in the future?"

In fact, he was looking for a way to end this conversation. He had already drunk two extra cups of hot chocolate and a piece of cake while they explained how popular he had become at the Citadel.

For Adam, this was more bad news than good.

'Now my popularity has grown even more, huh? Well, I'm now a K4-Phantom. I've been one for some time, but a few months and battles have clearly increased my popularity among ordinary people and other Phantoms. Why didn't Silvana tell me anything about this? I'll have to ask her about it.'

Adam leaned back in his chair while the young man and woman argued about something. They were actually acting like children, while Adam felt like he had aged over the past few months.

'I guess it shouldn't be surprising. After all, there are very few K4-Phantoms, especially ones as young as me. Hah... Now I'm starting to understand why Damien hides his identity when he goes out on the town. Damn, that's bad, I don't want to be surrounded by fans like some kind of celebrity as soon as I leave the house.'

"Guys." Adam got up from his chair. "It was nice talking to you, but I need to get back to the Citadel."

"Wait!" The girl exclaimed as Adam's hope of leaving died in that moment. "Fight against us!"

"Yes!" The young man turned around. "Please! Just this once! We promise it will be quick!"

Adam shook his head internally.

'Why am I getting this? Agh... Why can't I just sleep in peace like Silvana?'

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