Welcome Home!

(As time flies, Yinlong then awakens from his in-game coma as he then notices Kyilei sleeping by his side and the dark night sky shining down on him as he checked the in game time, 2:36 AM and the date was April 9th of 2000 as the Tower of Combat was on April 2nd, seven days ago.)

"Yinlong: ...I was out for a week..? Damn..."

(As Yinlong then stands on his feet after getting out of bed, he'd open the window to sit on the small balcony and embrace the cool air breezing through his hair and around his body as he then pulls out a 6 star accessory, "Amulet Of Blood", allowing Yinlong to engage in conversation with his Vampire familiar.)

"Yinlong: Hey Nerata, you there?"
"Nerata: Yeah, what's up?"
"Yinlong: I had a thought on something, how does dying work in this world now? I'm aware that in the game, when you die, you respawn at either the nearest spawnpoint or at the cathedral."
"Nerata: Hm... While you went back, I did some research on that and apparently, if players die in this world, you die entirely."
"Yinlong: Oh... Wait, research? How did you research this? Did you eat another human again?"
"Nerata: WHA?! NO! I'd only eat you...~"
"Yinlong: Nerata. Did you drink another human's blood?"
"Nerata: Yinlong, I promise I didn't. I killed a goblin and experimented."
"Yinlong: ...Never mind. But when I was in the Tower of Combat..."

(Yinlong looked back to the very second he was eliminated.)

"Yinlong: That was exponential power.. I haven't encountered a player like that in years."
"Nerata: It was so unexpected for him to challenge you so early..."
"Yinlong: You know him?"
"Nerata: ...Before, yes. He was my previous clan's top member before he went onto become a Stray. If you ever encounter him again, do not engage."
"Yinlong: Oh trust me, I know... Not to change things quickly, but is there any update on Solar Magician?"
"Nerata: He was taken to the Wizard Tower after his elimination, he's not awakening from the coma you put him in."
"Yinlong: ...Oh... Ouch. You know what, when I'm free to go, I'm going to find The Umeni's first. Then I'll return to the village."
"Nerata: That's a good idea, hopefully I don't get starved on the way over..."
"Yinlong: You'll be fine..!"

(As the two then ended conversation, Yinlong climbed back in bed and tries to go back to sleep. Morning then approaches as Kyilei was then waking up with the sun gleaming on her face as Yinlong was unaware of her awakening.)

"Kyilei: Mm... Y-Yinlong..?"
"Yinlong: Hello Princess, I'm sorry if I've scared you."
"Kyilei: ...W-Wait..! How are you-.. Y-you're alive...!"
"Yinlong: I've taken attacks like that at point blank range before, it'll take even more than that to kill me."
"Kyilei: ..."

(Kyilei then chokes up in tears as she then apologizes out of concern for pushing Yinlong into competing into the Tower of Combat as Imani was leaning on the wall, listening to the two conversate. On the same day, time flies by as Yinlong was then released from the hospital and escorted back to the Region Of Dawn by carriage as Imani was drinking herbal tea and enjoying the view, Kyilei asleep on the ride back and Yinlong reading watching a broadcast on the results of the Tower of Combat along with previous news.)

"Female Newscaster: As the Tower of Combat has come to an end, we have our official six combatants for the Gladiator Royale in the 100th Realm. With our six contestants already declared and prepared for battle within three months from now, fans within the District of Wizardry and across the "Realmverse" are ready to witness such a colossal battle between this year's batch of executive warriors!"

(As Yinlong then looked at the final six competitors, he was surprised to see Rakuzora, Ruked and Asmedai as half of the competitors which gave him further relief.)

"Imani: Yinlong, if I may?"
"Yinlong: Hm?"
"Imani: Your level, it's not 500, isn't it?"
"Yinlong: ...You're more eagle-eyed than you look. Yes, I lowered my power level for a reason."
"Imani: ...?"
"Yinlong: Out of all my former clan members, only four of them are able to point out its genuinely me, even if I change personas."
"Imani: So what's the point of lowering your level?"
"Yinlong: The more I'm seen as a weakling, the more no one would want to interact with me. To strengthen my persona's alibi, I live in the Commoner Fields as its protector and realm owner."
"Imani: ..mm... It's quite an interesting play. But you know, the Counsel of Origin will still remember you, no matter how many times you change personas."
"Yinlong: I'm aware. Because I'm what changed the entire dynamic of this game and is the reason why there are unspoken laws of this game now."
"Imani: ..."

(Yinlong pulls out the Realm Deed to the Commoner Fields and shows it was under divine protection by the Counsel of Origin.)

"Yinlong: Realm owners are given the deed by the counsel. If destroyed, the realm owner would suffer divine wrath."
"Imani: They've been silent for a very long time now, do you think they'd care?"
"Yinlong: Remember what happened to the 87th Realm, a Militia member ripped up that realm deed and that realm owner was never heard from again."
"Imani: Hm..."

(After the long trip back, the carriage arrives at the front of the castle as the Dawn Region Knights arrived to guard and welcome the three back from the Tower of Combat. As Yinlong then takes the time given to do whatever until called by the princess, he'd return to the District of Wizardry's suburban areas and notices The Umeni's home with busted windows and signs of vandalization. As Yinlong then opens the door, he'd notice a sound of quiet sobbing and glass being slammed onto a table as Yinlong walked closer to see Sonata, depressed and drinking.)

"Yinlong: ...Sonata?"
"Sonata: ...! Y-YINLONG..!"

(Sonata then confusingly throws an empty wine bottle at the wall as he then collapses onto the floor, drunk and sobbing. After minutes of cleaning up the house, repairing the living room then sobering up Sonata, Yinlong and him then talked.)

"Sonata: ...W-While you was gone... We attempted to go down the dungeon further, then we got separated a few floors down... Only then to find out, Yawasoko was cheating on me for months with Cekashi and Nisato... It ended up becoming a whole fight, she took the kids with her... Now I don't have anyone left..."
"Yinlong: ...I- I'm sorry I couldn't make it back sooner."
"Sonata: D-Don't be... It's not your fault Yinlong... When we heard you were selected to be part of the Tower of Combat, we didn't stop you... We wanted to come and support you but we couldn't..."
"Yinlong: ...What does this mean for you...?"
"Sonata: I'm... I'm done adventuring for now... I don't want to leave this house for a while."
"Yinlong: Sonata..."
"Sonata: Yinlong... Before you go, please take this..."

(Yinlong then takes an envelope he was given and opens it, reading a letter from Hiro and Yuhito before their departure. Yinlong then hides the letter back in the envelope and without saying anything else, leaves the house then returns to the Commoner Fields, to the main village as he was surprised to see everyone at the entrance of the village waiting for him.)

"Village Chief: ..Welcome back, Yinlong."

(As Yinlong then smiles at all of them, he was approached by all the children of the village whom huddled to hug him as he couldn't resist smiling at each and every last villager still living peacefully.)

"Yinlong: I'm back everyone, I'm sorry for being gone for so long..."
"Village Chief: We're just grateful you've made it back alive and okay... What do you say to a celebration feast to how close you came to winning?"
"Yinlong: After the fighting I've had? Save me an entire buffet."

(As the villagers agreed to Yinlong's request, they'd all then cheer and prepare decorations, drinks, food and much more while Yinlong introduced his friend Nerata to the village as they'd all begin to celebrate. Meanwhile in the lost realm of the Counsel of Origin, ten counsel members were present as they were discussing about incoming updates to the world.)

"??? (Male): Are we in agreement with these updates?"
"??? (Female): Increasing the adventurer level cap to 10,000 does seem a little too much..."
"???: (Male #2): It may seem like much, but there are players whom are too powerful and requests stronger enemies, so I say increasing it is a good idea for us and the players."

"??? (Female #2): If I may interject on another update, are we sure that we shouldn't change these new world bosses? There has been reports of higher ranked monsters appearing in lower level realms."

"Sanyei (2nd Member of the Counsel of Origin | Race: ???): Everyone, everyone. All these problems will be taken care of before we release this next update. But before anything else, we must discuss the Yinlong boy."

"Thyla (5th Member of the Counsel Of Origin | Race: ???): Ah yes, the young lad who has recently participated in the Tower of Combat?"

"Zendros (7th Member of the Counsel of Origin | Race: ???): Now that we're actually speaking about him, should we have a conference with Yinlong? He is the reason why these updates has came out quicker than before."

"Cunther (3rd Member of the Counsel of Origin | Race: ???): Correct. However, he'll come to us himself eventually. But we must focus on the fact he's accelerated his Human's 4th Awakening faster than any other human, isn't this a code against our system?"

"Izhena (8th Member of the Counsel of Origin | Race: ???): There's no violation towards an individual accelerating their cooldown if a passive is active. Otherwise, a violation against the Players Versus Players Regulations would've been announced. In fact, to keep the topic on Yinlong, there are several players looking for him as we speak, three of them being a top Clan leader, would this spark a potential Realm Warfare?"

"Sanyei: It could but as long as we're watching over the conversation, I believe things will go smoothly... I pray."

(Meanwhile in the Animatronic Spawn Realm, lies an adult long red-haired female animatronic, leaning on her clan's banner pole at the tallest building in the realm and gazes into the skies above , smirking at the imagination of a fight she could have against Yinlong. In the Water Folk's Underwater Paradise Realm, a King of the Seas was interested in hearing of Yinlong and his attributes and a powerful Buddha player venturing alone to the Commoner Fields to locate Yinlong as a bigger storm of challengers were approaching to test Yinlong's true abilities.)