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The detective hesitated for a moment, as if checking to make sure no one else was around.

Then he lowered his voice, "Yes, Captain, it\'s very strange. The victim was a programmer working for a company in South City. He had just finished his shift and was heading to the elevator to leave the building.

"In the span of just a few minutes—taking the elevator from the 21st floor to the 1st floor—his heart was dug out, and he was found dead in the elevator.

"The coroner confirmed that the heart was ripped out of his chest while he was still alive.

"When we checked the elevator footage…"

At this point, the detective swallowed hard. Despite his efforts to remain calm, his voice trembled with fear as he continued, "There was no one else in the elevator. He took out his own heart! And then the heart just vanished into thin air—we still haven\'t found it."

"He pulled out his own heart? And it disappeared?" Darabont\'s eyelid twitched involuntarily. Now he understood what the detective meant by "unusual cause of death."

At that moment, Luca had just finished comforting Susie, and the two of them were coming down from the second floor.

Hearing about someone ripping out their own heart, Luca\'s pulse quickened.

If he wasn\'t mistaken, this same incident had occurred in Celephais in his previous life, except the victim wasn\'t a programmer coming home from work—it had been a family of three on a vacation trip to a tourist site.

At first, everything seemed normal, but then, as if possessed, the family had pried open their own chests and pulled out their hearts in front of countless tourists. Just like now, the hearts vanished without a trace.

The case had caused quite a stir in Summer Country, with the media covering it extensively until the game\'s arrival revealed the truth.

It turned out the family had been bewitched by a "Charmed Cat Demon," a rare monster, which had driven them to the self-destructive act.

Back then, with monsters appearing all over the world, no one paid much attention to it anymore. Luca had only learned the details by chance.

He hadn\'t expected that in this lifetime, the Charmed Cat Demon would appear so early—much sooner than he had anticipated.

Luca silently heightened his vigilance. Although the Charmed Cat Demon was a low-tier monster, it was still classified as a rare one, and for ordinary people, it was utterly impossible to resist.

This type of monster has an appetite for human hearts and excels at hiding.

Even though the surveillance footage didn\'t capture the cat demon, it\'s undoubtedly still lurking somewhere near that building. If Darabont went there now, his life would very likely be in danger...

As Luca pondered how to keep Darabont from heading out.

Susie, clearly frightened, tugged at his sleeve, her eyes filled with fear. "How could anyone pull out their own heart? That must hurt so much..."

Luca glanced at her and suddenly had an idea.

"In order to save your dad, you\'ll have to make a small sacrifice..." he thought to himself. Then, without warning, he lightly pressed a spot on Susie\'s waist with a precise, hidden force.

It happened so quickly that Susie didn\'t even notice. All she felt was a sudden numbness spread through her body.

"Ah!" she yelped, stumbling as if about to fall down the stairs.

Luca quickly caught her, feigning surprise. "Why are you being so clumsy?"

The commotion grabbed Darabont\'s attention. Seeing his daughter nearly take a tumble, he rushed over, abandoning his coat. Concerned, he asked, "What happened? Did you twist your ankle?"

"I… I don\'t know…" Susie replied, looking distressed. She tried to stand but found her legs weak and unstable. She could only stay upright with Luca\'s help, and even then, just barely.

Panic washed over her as she muttered, "I can\'t feel my legs… What\'s happening to me?"

Seeing how serious her condition was, Darabont\'s rough face showed deep worry. He hastily said, "Don\'t move. I\'ll call an ambulance right away. Luca, take care of her. We\'re going to the hospital."

Luca nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. It seemed his plan had worked…

"Luca… am I going to be…" Susie, leaning into Luca\'s arms, still felt completely powerless. Her face was filled with confusion and fear, too scared to voice the thought lingering in her mind.

Luca, suppressing a grin, replied with a serious tone, "Don\'t worry. At worst, you might be paralyzed. And in the worst-case scenario, you could end up in a vegetative state. But relax, with modern medicine, they can probably fix you."

Susie froze for two seconds, then her lips quivered, and she burst into tears.

"I don\'t want to be paralyzed... I don\'t want to be a vegetable... waaah!" She sobbed uncontrollably, her tears falling like pearls, soaking Luca\'s hand.

Luca, far from feeling guilty for causing the situation, silently laughed to himself.

Suddenly, through her teary eyes, Susie looked at Luca, sniffling and choking on her words. "Luca… if I do end up paralyzed… you… you won\'t abandon me, right?"

Luca gave her a brief glance and said, "Of course I would."

Susie stared at him, stunned, completely unprepared for his blunt response.

It felt as though something inside her shattered, leaving her gaze empty and dull.

"So I won\'t let you end up paralyzed," Luca added with a chuckle. "Relax, if that day ever comes, no matter what it takes, I\'ll make sure to cure you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Luca regretted it. Wasn\'t he just setting himself up for trouble by making such a bold claim?

He quickly retracted, "Actually, forget it. I\'ll just let you fend for yourself."

Susie, who had just felt a little touched, immediately pouted. Her face darkened as she turned her head away, refusing to look at Luca anymore.

At that moment, the sound of ambulance sirens echoed from outside.

Though Luca knew Susie wasn\'t really in danger, he played along for the sake of appearances and carried her into the ambulance. Might as well get a full check-up done.

Darabont went along with Susie to the hospital.

Luca, on the other hand, used the excuse of notifying Donald and Louise to slip away unnoticed.

After letting everyone know about Susie\'s "condition," Luca let out a long sigh of relief, muttering to himself, "Hopefully no one will bother me for the next few days while I play my game…"

By now, the sky was growing dark, and most of the day had passed. Cloudwing Airship was probably nearing Pure River Town.

Back in his room, Luca lay down on his bed and put his gaming helmet back on.

[Welcome, Player "Luca," to Eternal World!]

The familiar message popped up in front of him, followed by a flash of blue light.

When Luca opened his eyes again, he was back in the cabin on the airship.

Cloudwing Airship was still soaring through the sky, the breeze lightly stirring the curtains. Through the window, he could see the vast expanse of blue sky and white clouds, though it was hard to tell exactly where they were now.

Peering out the window, Luca noticed that both Southwind City and Heavenly Pool Mountain were long out of sight.

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Looking down, he saw the endless stretch of the To-Sky River, its waters churning and turbulent beneath thin layers of mist.

Along the coastline, tiny wooden boats, no larger than grains of rice from this height, bobbed on the waves. Further off, villages dotted the landscape, inhabited by people who relied on the river for their livelihood. It seemed they were quite close to their destination now—probably not much longer to go.

Luca pulled his head back from the window, returned to the bed, and crossed his legs to begin meditating.

Meditation was the basic training method for mage-type classes, used to restore mana and enhance one\'s mental attributes.

In Eternal World, the way NPCs and players leveled up and strengthened themselves was different.

Warrior-type classes had to practice breathing techniques to build their physical strength and constitution, while mage-types needed to hone their mental power and perception through meditation.

In the early stages of Eternal World, most players don\'t bother with practicing breathing techniques or meditation. After all, leveling up is as simple as killing monsters, which is far easier compared to how the native inhabitants of Eternal World grow stronger.

However, that doesn\'t mean these techniques are useless for players. On the contrary, the top-tier powerhouses in later years all had deep mastery in either breathing techniques or meditation.

While it\'s easy for players to grow stronger at first, once they reach Platinum level 49, they encounter a significant barrier known as "Class Awakening."

To undergo Class Awakening, players must meet specific attribute thresholds based on their class. Without reaching these requirements, they can\'t continue to level up.

Moreover, every tier beyond Platinum has a similar requirement, with the attribute thresholds increasing as the player progresses. Simply relying on the attributes gained from leveling up by killing monsters is far from enough to meet these standards—it would be a fool\'s dream to think otherwise.

Potions and rare treasures that could boost attributes are incredibly valuable and come with numerous limitations.

Therefore, by mid-game, practicing meditation or breathing techniques becomes the most reliable way for players to enhance their attributes.

The downside is that meditation, in particular, is notoriously difficult to cultivate. It\'s not something that can be improved overnight—it demands continuous dedication, and progress is often limited by a player\'s natural aptitude.

This is why the number of players dwindles drastically after reaching higher tiers. By the time the apocalypse arrives, the majority of those who surpass the Superclass level are still NPCs from the Eternal Continent. It was that way until Luca\'s previous life.

But what posed a roadblock for others was more like smooth sailing for Luca.

Thanks to his perfect aptitude—or rather, his Transcendent aptitude now—his ability to practice meditation was exponentially faster than the average player. As a result, raising his mental attributes wouldn\'t be much of a challenge.

Luca had started meditating now to prepare for his eventual breakthrough to Transcendent.

In his previous life, he had suffered immensely, pouring all his resources into meeting the standards for Transcendent Awakening, nearly bankrupting himself in the process. This time around, he was determined to be better prepared and avoid that same hardship.