I Am A Notorious Hidden Boss In The Alternate World

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[Breaking News] Emperor Thanatos Becomes the First of the Four Emperors to Reach Level 51 Hunter:

After returning from a hunting expedition on the moon, Emperor Thanatos was confirmed to have reached Level 51 Hunter, taking the lead ahead of the other Emperors.

Will this be the beginning of a new power shuffle? How close are the other three Emperors?

...

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Albion read the article, but there was no critical information or anything of interest apart from Thanatos' achievement mentioned in the title and itself.

"Level 51 Hunter, huh? That's about a 51-fold increase in strength," Albion muttered before recalling, "The Four Horsemen were Transcendent Martial Artists, people who have advanced to the Spirit Transformation Realm..."

"In the practice of martial arts, Foundation Realm Martial Arts train their body to be quick and fast. Once the secret of inertia is mastered, Inner Force is generated, advancing them to Initiate Realm Martial Artists..."

"Inner Force is then fused with the Martial Artists' vitality, namely blood energy, to produce True Force, also known as Innate Energy. Thus, becoming Innate Realm Martial Artists, or Grandmasters for short..."

This was also the realm of martial arts that Albion suppressed his cultivation to.

"The Spirit Transformation Realm is the next realm after. By fusing Innate Energy and Spirit, Spiritual Energy is created, thus allowing Martial Artists to embarked on the true road of cultivation..."

Albion continued to revise the essence of cultivation before he muttered, "This is why Spirit Transformation Realm Martial Artists are called Transcendents, huh?"

Achieving the Spirit Transformation Realm was also the first shredding of mortality, allowing Transcendents to live up to 1000 years.

"Early-stage Spirit Transformation Realm Martial Artists with a 51-fold increase in strength is still far from being comparable to the True Immortal Realm..." Albion shook his head after his calculations.

However, shortly after, Albion frowned at the existence of Phantasmium, "Even a dog's bite will hurt if I just let it bite me... At least, I should let it bite my hand and not my balls..."

Ahem, in other words, he should be careful and not complacent, preventing the enemy from striking him where it hurts.

[Is the host finally determined to become stronger?]

Goldfinger suddenly asked with subtle hints of expectation and excitement.

Albion nodded solemnly, "Yes, of course. I will begin cultivating... after five more minutes."

With that said, Albion slumped back in the bed and continued scrolling the news articles on the Hunter World App.

[...]

Goldfinger was speechless.

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[Dimensional Rifts: Can They be Found in the Earth's Crust and Ocean Floor?]

[Breaking News] Celestial Innovation's New Discovery in Outer Space: New substance found on the moon.

[Breaking News] The Inter dimension Beast's Population Has Reached Dangerous Levels on the Glacia Continent.

...

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While looking through news articles about dimensional rifts and beasts, Albion noticed they were all related to the virtual dimension.

Lower dimensions naturally have weak interdimensional beasts, but what about higher dimensions?

"Goldfinger, why haven't I heard about any news pertaining to higher-level dimensional rifts?" Albion asked lazily.

[Due to the immense amount of data uploaded onto the globally shared digital network, there is no room for dimensional rifts beside the virtual dimension to open within the domain of Earth.]

Albion's eyes immediately flickered before he said, "That means..."

[Yes, the possibility of higher-level dimensional rifts existing outside of Earth is high.]

"Earth is being protected by the power of god and anime."

Goldfinger and Albion spoke at the same time.

[???]

Goldfinger was immediately filled with questions.

"Ahem, don't worry about it," Albion coughed, feeling a little embarrassed.

Shortly after, Albion hopped out of bed and headed outside in the open space of the garden before practice the Ashura Empyrean Arts.

Sitting in a lotus position, his eyes closed, his rhythmic breathing steady, and...

"Zzz..."

His snore was shortly heard.

[...]

Goldfinger was speechless.

If Goldfinger was a person, his chest would be heaving up and down in agitation due to the host he was connected to.

Can the host be any more reliable?

Perhaps due to Goldfinger's agitation, Albion was roused awake after his snort bubble popped.

"Oh dear, I didn't expect the Ashura Empyrean Arts' breathing technique would be so relaxing..." Albion exclaimed.

[...]

Goldfinger was silent.

"Oh right." Albion suddenly remembered before he commanded, "Goldfinger, my mission rewards."

[???]

Goldfinger gave the question marks before Albion snarled, "Don't play dumb with me. Give me the mission reward for wiping out the Bloodmoon Gang's Silvercove Branch!"

[...Ding! 1 unit of Divine Energy has been deposited.]

The notification rang after a brief silence.

"Are you messing with me right now? Stop being a stingy ass and give me my full reward!" Albion said snappishly.

The reward for the complete eradication of the Bloodmoon Gang was only 20 units of Divine Energy. Even so, he would not believe that taking out a branch only amounts to a single unit of Divine Energy.

[...Ding! 4 units of Divine Energy has been deposited.]

[Balance: 9/1000 Divine Energy.]

[Goldfinger has never met such a greedy host... Goldfinger is just trying to help the host work harder.]

Goldfinger added shortly after.

"Bullsh*t." Albion rolled his eyes and said, "And I never came across such a stingy system!"

He already got scammed so many times in online games back in his previous life. There is no way he was going to let a system exploit him too.

Thinking back to those days when he farmed enough game currency called 'Mesos' and bought his first set of throwing stars called 'Steelies,' he was overjoyed with his accomplishment.

Alas, the game's Marketplace was a den of wolves.

He did not know much back then and got excited when he saw a fat sheep offering to buy Steelies sets for 25% above market price. As it turns out, it was not a fat sheep but a big bad wolf.

He ended up falling for a scam trick and sold his Steelies for a tenth of the agreed price, and his innocence was robbed that day.

Albion wanted to cough blood every time he recalled the first time he got scammed in online games.

Nevertheless, Albion resumed the Ashura Empyrean Arts' breathing technique shortly after shelving aside those memories, "Fuu... inner peace..."

[...]

As Albion cultivated, he enjoyed the nourishing feeling on his soul like he was taking a dip in cool spring.

Time quickly flew by while he was in this state of meditative focus.

....