Morning training had never felt so complicated.
Rama stood in a public park at dawn, going through basic combat forms while trying to look like a dedicated low-rank Hunter doing standard exercises. In reality, he was practicing the advanced techniques Yanto had drilled into him, just slowed down enough to appear normal.
The problem was that nothing felt normal anymore.
After four days of training openly with other Players, hiding his abilities again felt suffocating. Every movent had to be calculated. Every skill activation concealed. Every stat advantage carefully suppressed.
He’d been ho for less than twenty-four hours, and the weight of deception was already crushing.
"Looking good!" called an older man jogging past. A regular at the park who’d seen Rama training here before. "You’ve gotten way better!"
Rama forced a smile. "Thanks. Been working hard."
Too hard, apparently. He was drawing attention just by moving naturally. He needed to dial it back even further.
His phone buzzed. ssage from Sekar.
[SEKAR: Morning! Don’t forget—guild evaluation session at 2 PM. I want to see what you learned. Love you! ❤️]
Rama’s stomach dropped. She wanted to see what he’d learned. In a controlled environnt. Where she could observe closely.
This was a test. She suspected sothing.
[RAMA: I’ll be there. Love you too.]
He finished his training routine—carefully diocre—and headed ho to shower. The penthouse was empty. Sekar had left early for etings.
But sothing felt off.
Rama couldn’t identify what exactly, but his [Combat Sense] was pinging softly. Not danger. Just... wrongness.
He did a quick sweep of the apartnt. Everything appeared normal. Nothing moved or missing.
Except.
The drawer where he kept his old training gear was slightly ajar. Not much. Just a centiter. But he distinctly rembered closing it fully yesterday.
Soone had been in here. Going through his things.
Rama checked the rest of the apartnt more carefully. His laptop—untouched but the angle was slightly different. The bookshelf—one book not quite aligned with the others. The closet—hangers spaced differently than he’d left them.
Subtle. Professional. If he hadn’t been trained by Budi and Yanto to notice details, he’d have missed it entirely.
Sekar had searched the apartnt.
His wife, the S-Rank Guild Master, had gone through his belongings looking for evidence.
The realization settled like ice in his chest.
She knew. Maybe not everything. Maybe not about the System specifically. But she knew he was hiding sothing, and she was actively investigating.
This changed everything.
Eternal Bond’s evaluation chamber was a specialized room designed for testing Hunter abilities under controlled conditions. Mana-dampening walls. Reinforced floors. Holographic training targets.
And observation windows where guild officers could watch.
Sekar stood in the main chamber wearing combat gear, her S-Rank aura carefully suppressed but still overwhelming. Five other guild mbers sat in the observation room above, including Joko and Dina.
"Ready?" Sekar asked, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.
"As I’ll ever be," Rama replied.
"Good. Show what four days of intensive training taught you. Don’t hold back—I want to see your real abilities."
The trap was obvious. If he held back too much, she’d know he was hiding. If he showed too much, she’d have evidence he was beyond normal.
He needed to thread the needle perfectly.
"Start with basic forms," Sekar instructed. "Let see your stance and footwork."
Rama went through the movents Yanto had taught him, but deliberately added small imperfections. A stance slightly too wide. Footwork a beat too slow. Enough improvent to justify the training, but not enough to seem impossible.
Sekar circled him, observing with professional detachnt. "Better. Much better than before. Again, but faster."
He repeated the forms at increased speed, letting his true skill show a bit more.
"Now with a weapon. Dummy targets will spawn." Sekar moved to the observation area.
Holographic enemies materialized—basic forms designed for D-Rank evaluation.
Rama engaged them carefully, using only his base stats and standard techniques. No System skills. No fusion combinations. Just fundantally improved combat ability.
He destroyed the targets in forty-three seconds.
"Impressive," Sekar said over the intercom. "Your efficiency improved dramatically. Now let’s test your skills. Use whatever combat abilities you have."
Here was the real danger. Any System skill would register differently on the chamber’s sensors. He needed to use only his officially registered skills—[Taunt], [Iron Skin], [Last Stand]—and nothing else.
More targets spawned, these ones faster and more aggressive.
Rama activated [Iron Skin]—officially upgraded to [Steel Body] but he made sure to use it at the docunted E-Rank power level. His skin hardened to a dull gray instead of the tallic sheen his true ability produced.
The targets struck him. He absorbed the damage, used [Taunt] to cluster them, then eliminated them with basic sword work.
Sixty-two seconds this ti. Good but not extraordinary.
From the observation room, he heard Joko say sothing to Sekar. She replied quietly, then activated the intercom again.
"One more test. This one will be more challenging. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
The chamber’s difficulty setting changed. The air grew heavier with artificial pressure ant to simulate high-rank dungeon conditions.
A single target spawned—an Elite-class hologram rated at C-Rank.
This was beyond what an E-Rank Hunter should face. Even an E-Rank who’d gained seven levels.
"Fight it seriously," Sekar said. "I want to see your limits."
The Elite rushed him imdiately, faster than the previous targets.
Rama engaged, and for the next three minutes, he fought the most difficult battle of restraint in his life.
He had to look challenged. Had to appear to struggle. But couldn’t actually lose or take serious damage, because that would reveal his HP pool was far higher than his official stats suggested.
He let attacks through his guard that he could have easily blocked. Made his dodges look desperate instead of calculated. Used his skills defensively rather than the aggressive combinations he’d learned.
The Elite struck him hard across the chest. Rama let himself be thrown backward, rolling with the impact, making it look worse than it was.
[HP: 134/143]
He’d taken barely ten percent damage from a hit that should have hospitalized an E-Rank.
But from the outside, it looked brutal.
"Rama!" Sekar’s voice had genuine concern.
He forced himself up, activated [Last Stand]—his ergency skill that prevented death—and went at the Elite again with apparently desperate determination.
The skill wasn’t actually necessary. But using it sold the illusion that he was genuinely threatened.
He managed to "defeat" the Elite through what looked like luck and stubborn refusal to give up.
The hologram dissolved.
Rama collapsed to one knee, breathing hard—not from exhaustion but from the ntal strain of the performance.
Sekar materialized beside him instantly through the chamber’s rapid transport system. "Are you hurt? Let see—"
"I’m fine. Just tired." He waved off her concern. "That was intense."
"That was C-Rank. You shouldn’t have been able to beat it at all." Her eyes searched his face. "But you did."
"Barely. And I had to use my ergency skill."
"Still impressive. Your improvent is remarkable." She helped him stand. "Let’s get you checked by dical."
In the dical bay, a B-Rank healer examined him while Sekar watched like a hawk.
"Superficial bruising. Minor muscle strain. Nothing serious," the healer reported. "His HP recovery is quite good, actually. Must be high Vitality."
"How high?" Sekar asked.
"Hard to say without detailed testing, but I’d estimate around seventy or eighty based on his recovery rate."
Sekar’s expression remained neutral, but Rama saw her eyes flicker. His official stats listed Vitality at eighty. The healer’s estimate matched perfectly.
Too perfectly.
She was testing him. Comparing his claid stats against what dical examination revealed.
And he’d passed. Barely.
That evening, Sekar was unusually quiet over dinner.
"You did well today," she finally said. "Better than I expected."
"Thanks. The training really helped."
"It did. You’re almost ready for real guild raids. Maybe in another month or two, you could join us on D-Rank missions."
"I’d like that."
Sekar set down her fork. "Rama, I need to ask you sothing, and I need you to be completely honest with ."
His heart rate spiked, but he kept his expression neutral. "Okay."
"Are you taking any enhancent drugs? Any illegal potions or mana-boosting substances?"
"What? No. Of course not."
"Because your growth rate is triggering so flags in the association’s monitoring systems. Rapid level gains often indicate either exceptional talent or artificial enhancent."
"It’s just the training. Yanto’s program is really effective."
"I believe you." She reached across the table, taking his hand. "But others might not. So people in the Hunter Association are... suspicious of rapid growth. They investigate. They ask questions."
This was a warning. She was telling him that he was drawing attention.
"What should I do?" Rama asked.
"Keep training, but maybe slow down the visible progress. Don’t clear too many dungeons too quickly. Space out your level gains." She squeezed his hand. "I just want to keep you safe. The less attention you attract, the better."
"I understand."
They finished dinner with lighter conversation, but Rama’s mind was racing.
Sekar knew sothing was wrong. The association was watching. His growth was too fast even with the elaborate cover story.
He needed to be more careful. More strategic.
And he needed to figure out what Sekar had found when she searched the apartnt, because she definitely had found sothing.
Later that night, lying in bed with Sekar asleep beside him, Rama pulled up the Player Network.
[RAMA: Need advice. Wife is investigating . Association flags on rapid growth. How do I handle this?]
The responses ca quickly.
[SARI: Slow down visible progress. Keep System activities completely hidden.]
[BUDI: Your wife is S-Rank. She’s not stupid. Eventually she’ll figure it out.]
[DEWI: My husband knows I’m a Player. Honesty might be better than constant lying.]
[YANTO: Your choice. But rember—control the narrative or soone else will.]
Rama dismissed the ssages and stared at the ceiling.
Seventeen days left until his hidden quest deadline. Twenty-two levels to gain. And now his wife actively investigating while the association monitored his progress.
The walls were closing in.
He needed a new strategy. A better way to hide. Or maybe—
Maybe Yanto and Dewi were right. Maybe honesty was the only path forward.
But not yet. Not until he was strong enough that even Sekar couldn’t cage him "for his protection."
Just a little longer.
A few more levels.
Then he’d tell her everything.
He hoped.
[Hidden Quest Progress: 12/30]
[Warning: External observation detected]
[Recomndation: Reduce visibility]
Even the System was warning him now.
The ga had gotten infinitely more dangerous.
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