Vincent first slipped into an empty corner. After confirming his solitude, his figure silently vanished as he entered the Stealth state.
He moved toward Star Luck Tower. The building's entrance had security guards, but since they were ordinary people, not Professionals, they were utterly blind to Vincent's presence. The Stealth skill only degraded at close range when facing other Professionals; for civilians, he was effectively invisible.
Reaching the unit building's security door, he pressed 1002 and waited.
After a short wait, a woman's voice crackled through the intercom: "Who is it?"
Vincent's eyes flickered. He kept his voice steady and polite. "Hello, is this Lyra?"
The woman was momentarily stunned. "Who are you?"
She hadn't denied the name. It was her. Vincent breathed a quiet sigh of relief; she had escaped the carnage at Rabbit Town. Now for the crucial part.
He shifted his tone slightly, injecting a hint of intimate knowledge. "Your sister asked me to bring you something. Would you mind coming downstairs to get it?"
The use of "your sister" was the perfect, irrefutable entry point revealed by the character biography. Just as he predicted, a sharp thud sounded through the speaker.
"My sister? Who are you?!... I'll be right down!" Her voice was trembling with urgency.
"Understood. I'll leave the item—it's a letter—by the door. I have other errands, so please hurry," Vincent said, hanging up before she could ask more questions.
He quickly produced the prepared envelope, which was simply inscribed with 'Lyra Personal'. He slid the letter beneath the security door, then retreated just ten meters, maintaining his hidden vantage point to ensure the target retrieved the item.
Vincent didn't wait long. Barely a minute later, the unit door burst open, and a figure anxiously scanned the empty entrance. It was Lyra.
She was still in her standard priest's attire, but her usual composure was gone, replaced by frantic urgency. Since Vincent was outside the detection radius, she saw only an empty doorway. She immediately looked down and spotted the letter by the security door.
Vincent smiled faintly as her gaze locked onto the envelope, then turned and gracefully melted away, maintaining his Stealth. The execution was flawless. A keen anticipation settled in his chest for the next step.
Lyra was reeling. Four years of silence, and now news of her missing sister had arrived. She had been mentally exhausted after yesterday's chaos in Rabbit Town, and the news of the escalating war—where foreign races explicitly targeted human geniuses—only magnified her private pain.
She knew this truth deeply: her own sister, an Epic Professional genius, had been hunted relentlessly by the God Advent Sect four years ago. The foreign races and the Sect were two faces of the same existential enemy.
Lyra had long since convinced herself her sister was gone. An Epic Professional who should now be Tier 3 or 4 would have had the power to contact her. The fact she hadn't fueled a crushing self-blame. Lyra had only awakened as an ordinary support Priest. She was stuck at Rank 0, not even qualifying for her Tier 1 promotion quest. She often woke up despising herself as 'useless,' a burden who couldn't help the one person she desperately loved.
It was no surprise the word 'sister' had made her drop her phone. No one in Iron Fang City knew about her sibling. The messenger was legitimate. Without a second thought, she threw on her Professional gear over her pajamas and rushed downstairs. Excitement warred with dread: if her sister was safe, why use a mysterious messenger?
Her heart pounding, Lyra reached the first floor and yanked open the main door, ready to barrage the messenger with questions. But the outside was deserted.
Her initial excitement froze. She scanned the empty area frantically before her gaze caught the letter lying by the security door, marked 'Lyra Personal'. Recognizing the promised item, she snatched the letter. Her brows furrowed. Where was the messenger?
A moment of silence passed. Her sister had fled the God Advent Sect's persecution; this mysterious delivery could be related to a current, dire situation. She couldn't risk exposing her sister's message. Better safe than sorry.
Ignoring the urge to search, Lyra turned and entered. She didn't feel safe until she was back in her apartment, the main door locked, and finally, locked inside her own room.
Her hands trembled with a mixture of dread and hope as she tore open the envelope. It wasn't the personal letter she expected.
Instead, she found an exquisitely crafted invitation. Made of an unknown, deep jet-black material, the invitation seemed to absorb all light, radiating an unsettling density. Its edges were traced with golden filigree patterns that shimmered faintly, looking impossibly alive. The intertwining black and gold created an aura of immense luxury and profound mystery, immediately giving her the feeling of an item forged from rare dungeon materials.
Pondering its purpose, her eyes fell upon the center. Her expression froze, then widened in astonishment.
In bold, beautiful gilded script, two characters dominated the center:
Paradise.