Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 47: The undisputed number one!!!

"Alright, Kevin, let’s keep this professional," said a cold, detached voice from the figure standing atop Energy Elemental.

"Yes, Captain..." Kevin Reed, an associate professor at Harvard University, immediately shut his mouth.

The cold-eyed man shifted his gaze to Ethan, his eyes flickering with interest. Then, with a swift leap, he landed right in front of Ethan and spoke in a measured tone. "Let me introduce myself—Logan Brooks, Vice Captain of Boston’s Heroic Sentinel Corps."

"Captain Brooks, nice to meet you. I’m Ethan," Ethan replied calmly, his tone neither humble nor overbearing.

"Can you tell me what happened here?" Logan glanced at the two trembling figures in front of Ethan and asked.

"They tried to kill me," Ethan said with a casual smile, pointing to the street below. "But they weren’t much of a challenge. There are surveillance cameras down there—check the footage, and you’ll see for yourself."

"Give me a moment." Logan turned away, pressing a finger to his earpiece and murmuring a few words. After a short pause, he turned back to Ethan and nodded. "Got it. We’ve reviewed the footage—this was clearly self-defense."

"Appreciate it." Ethan nodded with a smile before asking, "Captain Brooks, does that mean we’re free to go?"

"You are..."

Logan hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but ask, "Wait... in the game, you’re already a Blue Rare hero?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire area fell into a stunned silence.

Everyone stared at Ethan in shock. Not a single sound could be heard.

A Blue Rare hero.

In Glory Lords X, there were three types of Blue Rare heroes—NPC heroes, unit heroes, and player character heroes.

The first two were native to the game world. While rare and valuable, they weren’t unheard of—over the years, players had encountered quite a few. So, while impressive, it wasn’t something that would leave people utterly speechless.

But Logan wasn’t talking about those.

He was referring to the third type—player character heroes.

And that was an entirely different story.

Because up until now, across the entire world, the highest-ranked player character hero anyone had achieved was SSS-tier Blue Rare.

In other words, globally, among all players, Ethan was the only one to have reached Purple Epic rank.

That fact alone spoke volumes about the sheer value of a Blue Rare player character hero.

And on top of that—Ethan was young. He didn’t even look thirty. And youth meant potential. It meant talent. It meant limitless possibilities.

That was why Logan had to ask.

A player of this caliber—any major faction would kill to recruit him.

"Yeah," Ethan answered casually, without the slightest attempt to hide it. He smiled, then swept his gaze across the gathered crowd and said in a calm but firm voice, "But I’d appreciate it if you all kept this to yourselves."

An invisible pressure radiated from him.

Everyone felt it. A silent shock rippled through the group as they stared at Ethan in disbelief.

This guy... his presence is incredible.

Logan, too, studied Ethan for a long moment before finally nodding. "Don’t worry. We’ll keep it to ourselves."

"Thanks." Ethan smiled, then grabbed Emily—who was still frozen in shock—and leapt off the rooftop.

"Captain..." After Ethan and Emily had left, a sharply dressed older man in his fifties, his hair neatly combed, frowned and spoke up.

"Enough. I know what you’re about to say," Logan interrupted, his voice steady. "But let me give you some advice. And that goes for the rest of you, too—forget everything that happened here today. Forget everything about him."

Logan’s expression remained calm as he continued, "A Blue Rare player character hero under thirty—you all know exactly what that means. If word gets out, every major guild, even the military, will come swarming to recruit him. And if he’s lucky enough, he might even make it onto the Monarch Leaderboard and become an S-rank powerhouse.

"A guy like that—he’s got no quarrel with us. So why go looking for trouble?"

Silence.

No one said another word.

But the sharply dressed older man still wasn’t willing to give up. He spoke again, unwilling to let the matter drop.

"But I only wanted to recruit him for my organization. Wouldn’t that be a good thing for him?"

Logan’s expression remained indifferent. "Disrupting his life for your own agenda—that’s already crossing a line. And besides, with his potential, do you really think he’d be interested in something as small as Vanguard Holdings?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Logan leapt back onto the Energy Elemental.

And as he left, he added in a calm, almost indifferent tone, "Do whatever you want—I don’t care. But if there are consequences, or if he comes looking for me, I won’t cover for you. Whatever happens, you’ll deal with it alone."

"Kevin, take them. We’re heading back."

...

One by one, the members of Boston’s Heroic Sentinel Corps departed.

Only the older man remained, standing in place for a long moment, silent. Then, finally, he let out a bitter chuckle, shaking his head as he muttered to himself, "Forget it. No point digging my own grave just for Vanguard Holdings."

With that, he leapt onto a Tier-6 Dragon Fly and disappeared into the night.

...

Meanwhile, down on the street, Emily was staring at Ethan like he was some kind of alien.

Her wide-eyed expression sent a shiver down Ethan’s spine.

"Alright, enough already. Haven’t you stared at me long enough?" Ethan finally said, exasperated.

Emily, still in shock, didn’t even blink. "So this is the ’surprise’ you were talking about? A Blue Rare hero?!"

Her eyes were practically bulging as she gawked at him, as if she were dreaming.

Pure disbelief was written all over her face.

At this moment, Emily was truly shaken to her core.

A Blue Rare player character hero.

Did she even need to explain what that meant?

Even though she was considered a gaming prodigy, famous across the country for her talent, compared to this... it was like an amateur guitarist trying to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show—completely different leagues.

Because the number of people who had managed to push their player character hero to Blue Rare rank was insanely small.

Even among the top guilds, many high-ranking veterans—people who had been in the game for years, who had already made a name for themselves—still hadn’t reached that level.

That alone showed just how ridiculously valuable it was.

"Blue Rare hero?" Emily repeated, still trying to process it.

But to her shock, Ethan just shook his head and muttered, "That’s not really the surprise..."

"Not really?! Why?!"

"Because I’m not a Blue Rare hero," Ethan said casually. "I’m a Purple Epic hero."

Purple. Epic.

Emily’s eyes snapped wide open. Her voice instantly shot up several octaves—

"PURPLE EPIC—?!"

Before she could finish, Ethan reacted instantly, clamping a hand over her mouth.

"Would you keep it down?" he said, exasperated.

To him, being a Purple Epic hero wasn’t that big of a deal.

But to everyone else? It was huge.

After all, he was the first in the world. That alone proved a lot of things.

Which was exactly why he didn’t want this getting out—at least, not yet. Not until he was strong enough to handle whatever came next.

What Ethan didn’t realize, though, was just how hard his words had just hit Emily.

Her brain was short-circuiting.

"Bu-bu-bu-but... but... but..." Emily stammered, staring at him like she’d just seen a ghost.

For a long moment, she was completely silent, her mind struggling to catch up.

Then, all at once, she ripped Ethan’s hand away, her eyes blazing with disbelief.

She stared at him, her voice dropping to a hushed, trembling whisper.

"Bro... you... you’re really a Purple Epic hero?"

"As real as it gets," Ethan said without hesitation, nodding. "Otherwise, how do you think I managed to one-shot a Tier-4 Obsidian Gargoyle right after starting a new account? Even a Blue Rare hero couldn’t pull that off."

And honestly?

He hadn’t even gone all out.

If this were the game, he could probably solo three or four Tier-7 units by himself.

So two measly Tier-4 Obsidian Gargoyles?

Child’s play.

Emily just stood there, silent. Her chest rose and fell as she took deep breaths, trying to process everything.

Then, finally, she lifted a hand—

And gave him a huge thumbs-up.

"Holy. Shit."

It was crude.

But honestly?

It was the only thing she could say.

Because a Purple Epic player character hero...

That wasn’t just a big deal.

That was number one.

The undisputed number one!!!

In this world, being number one carries a weight far greater than second or third place—just like an Olympic champion who becomes famous overnight. As for the runner-up and third place? They’re just the green leaves that make the flower stand out.

And because of that, being the first person in the world to become a Purple Epic Hero was a game-changer. Once the news got out, his status alone would be enough to rival the top-ranked powerhouses on the Monarch Leaderboard.

Maybe even... the leaders of the Top Ten Guilds.

But more importantly, a Purple Epic Hero meant potential. It meant the future. It meant standing above everyone else.

It even meant invincibility. Unmatched supremacy.

Why?

Simple. Everyone knew that when a Blue Rare Hero leveled up, they only got one attribute point. But a Purple Epic Hero? They got two.

That was an innate advantage—one that no one could ever catch up to.

And the higher the level, the more obvious the gap became. As time went on, the difference in power between Blue Rare Heroes and Purple Epic Heroes would only grow wider—until it became an outright crushing disparity.

Then there was the level cap.

A Blue Rare Hero could only reach level 50.

A Purple Epic Hero? Level 60.

That extra 10 levels meant 20 more attribute points—and that was on top of the 50-point gap that already existed by level 50.

Once those numbers translated into actual combat power, the difference was like heaven and earth. Like a lake and an ocean.

Completely different leagues.

And then, the most important factor of all—Tier Suppression.

What was Tier Suppression?

It was a mysterious force in the world of Glory Lords X—a hidden mechanic where higher-tier units and heroes would naturally suppress lower-tier ones.

A force that widened the power gap to the absolute limit.

So far, Earth’s players still didn’t fully understand the mechanics behind Tier Suppression.

But one thing was clear—it was an extremely high-priority, overwhelmingly powerful force in the game.

Stronger than any attribute boost.

And that was why being a Purple Epic Hero was such a terrifying, earth-shattering thing.

At that moment, Emily was completely stunned. The shock was too much—she just stood there, frozen.

But at the same time... she felt a little disappointed.

Because up until now, she had always been the talented one. The strong one.

And now, that title had been taken away.

Even though the person who took it was her brother—the person she loved and admired the most, the one she should be happy for—she still couldn’t help but feel a little...

Left out.

Like a little girl who just had her lollipop stolen.

"Not happy?" Ethan reached out and ruffled Emily’s hair.

"No," Emily quickly turned her head away, trying to adjust her emotions.

"Don’t be upset. If I get the chance, I’ll make sure you become a Purple Epic Hero, too! No—scratch that. It’s not a matter of ’if.’ I will make it happen."

Ethan’s voice was firm, without a shred of hesitation.

"Really?" Emily’s eyes lit up, and a bright smile spread across her face.

She stood on her tiptoes and planted a big kiss on Ethan’s cheek.

"Mwah! My brother is the best! I’m so lucky..."

Beep beep. Beep beep beep...

Just then, Ethan’s phone started ringing.

He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

It was Isabella.