Soulless Players

The man's gaze remained locked on Philip, waiting for an answer. Although this was only for the investigation, a work-related one, he still could not hide his excitement and curiosity. He wanted to unveil the children's secrets and dissect their bodies for experimentation.

His look was like a predator eyeing his prey, hungry for knowledge.

However, seeing the child's dazed look and broken state, the man felt anxious for the first time.

'It seems I overdid myself,' the man frowned. Looking at Philip's bloody appearance, he could no longer excuse his misconduct. His way of incapacitating Philip was too overkill and no longer in the realm of the ordinary.

The man's face instantly became dark upon realizing what he had done. He didn't mean to be too much to Philip, it was just he was too eager about finally meeting Philip.

Due to the organization's restrictions, he could not even let himself be seen by Philip. The only thing he could do was spectate from afar for years. But now, with Steve's order as a loophole, he could finally meet Philip face-to-face.

Moreover, another excuse for overdoing, he could only shrink himself guiltily. It was because he was too aggravated by his sudden cursed luck that he forgot to control his strength.

Earlier, when he was pursuing Philip, a lot of unexpected misfortunes transpired to him. From blazing tree branches falling, being stuck in animals' stampede, and him barely surviving a lightning strike, all of it had happened to him.

Seeing Philip being unresponsive, he became even more apprehensive. If he could not bring any evidence regarding Philip's hidden power, he would surely be punished by the organization for hurting a normal person.

'What to do?' The man quickly thought of a solution. He doesn't want to be punished.

After some thinking, he recalled the child waiting at him in the village.

'Right! If I bring this child to Steve right now and see what Steve would do to him, maybe I can get proof of their powers. And if that would happen, not only could he do anything to Philip, but also to Steve,' The man thought proudly,

'This is hitting two birds with one stone!'

At first, the man had no intention of following Steve's order and was just trying to fool him into getting more money. But now, sensing he was in a tough spot, he could only depend on Steve.

Following Steve as a temporary subordinate, he had already sensed Steve's malicious intention to Philip. For reasons unknown to him, Steve wanted to slay Philip with his own hand. This was also the reason why they were ordered to capture him, not kill him.

The man, especially the organization, doesn't want this to happen. If Philip died, they would have one less living body to experiment with. This would be a big no as the organization was also greedy for more specimens.

After a while, the man finally made a decision and bent his body to pick up the child. He would bring him to Steve and see what would happen.

Philip noticed the man's movement and woke up from his daze. Although his ears were ringing loudly, he was still able to guess the man's objective.

Philip tried to struggle but had no more strength to use. Coupled with the man's strength, he could not see any other way to break free.

'Is this really the end?' Philip thought depressingly. He doesn't want to die at his enemy's hand, especially to the killer who murdered his parents and destroyed his peaceful life.

Feeling the pain in his body, Philip felt sorrowful. If only he was older and had a mature physique, he would have fought them with force rather than escaping.

Philip thought of the body he had in his past life. His body might look slim on the outside, but in reality, his body was loaded with muscles from within.

From a young age, the government kept on tempering his body to become stronger yet thinner than it should be. They said it was for his enemy to easily open up and look down on him. Thus, when the need arises for his enemies' death, he could easily slay them through brute force.

Philip was filled with regrets, if only his body was like his body in the past, he could easily overpower the man. But alas, all of these were just his wishful thinking and had no chance of becoming a reality.

When the man was about to pick him up, Philip saw through the man's greed. It was like the man wanted to eat him alive.

Seeing this sight, Philip's mood became even more downcast. It was transparent from the man's gaze that Steve and other players in the world weren't his only enemy. His enemies also include people with hidden and dark intentions.

Philip had an excellent understanding of psychology. He could easily pinpoint the man had other motives.

At first, Philip was stunned at how Steve managed to have a powerful person under his wing. But after seeing the man's eyes, he realized the hidden danger lingering around Steve.

'I'm sure he also has his eyes on the other child,' Philip pondered, his breathing became more relaxed upon discovering that Steve might also end up like him.

'Although it still had an unpleasant taste to die from my parent's murderer,' Philip considered, repulsed by the idea of dying from Steve's hand.

Having no other choice, Philip could only force himself to comply with his fate. The only thing that made him better was knowing that he had the same fate as Steve.

'I guess, this is finally my end.' Philip assumed for the nth time.

However, after Philip had thought of this, the sky suddenly flashed, making the surroundings yellow and bright. Philip immediately closed his eyes to protect his sight.

When Philip felt the light go dark and was about to open his eyes, the sky suddenly roared, making his eardrums burst from the loud noise.

"Arghh..."

But what surprised him the most was not the sky's sudden movement, it was the man convulsing and groaning on the ground behind him.

It was then Philip confirmed that when the man was about to pick him up, the man was unexpectedly struck by a thunderbolt!

Philip's eyes widened, surprise was evident on them. He finally remembered the bizarre luck that was following him!

Philip was in ecstasy. He had no idea why this was happening to him, but the sudden lightning had brought him hope. He just tossed the strange occurrence at the back of his mind and focused on his goal!

Escape.

However, upon realizing his injuries, Philip was instantly reminded of his state.

He could no longer escape. This fight was his loss, and he could no longer join the battle again.

Philip went silent for a few seconds. His mind tried its best to procure the next best course of action.

After a short while, Philip's eyes became resolute. He decided that in this situation, death is the only solution.

'I would rather die by my own hands…' Philip firmly regarded.

However, Philip became hesitant upon recalling his parents' death as he would surely regret not having his revenge done by him.

But, he quickly settled himself after seeing the man regain his consciousness.

'Someone is bringing my revenge for me.' Philip could only settle on this as he had no other choice.

Philip was not surprised by the fact that the man had survived a thunderbolt as he knew the world was not as normal as it seemed. For someone to survive that tragedy was already an indication that the world might be more f*cked-up and engulfed with mysteries.

Seeing the man was about to gain control over his body, Philip quickly crawled toward the cliff.

After some time, Philip arrived at the edge, one small movement would result in him falling down to the bottom of the mountain.

Philip stopped and looked back at the man's bulged eyes fiercely looking at him. He smirked at this sight and said,

"Adios!"

Philip fell, leaving the man's furious cry behind him.

***

Basking under the morning sunlight, Steve sat in a reclined chair, looking listless beside the window of an inn he was staying in.

Unlike his relaxed posture, his face was totally the opposite of it. With Steve's pale face and dark eyelids, clearly, he had never slept the whole night.

After a few moments of inactivity, Steve finally stood up and opened the window. Glancing around at the people passing down below, his eyes turned gold.

However, when he could not find what he was looking for from the crowd, he turned his sight up to the mountain.

From his vision, the mountain that was supposed to be all green glowed into gold. But Steve seemed to be uninterested in this sight as all of his focus was on the topmost part of the mountain.

The mountain peak didn't glow as brightly as the others. Steve could even glimpse under its hue the original charcoal color on it.

Looking at the dark and burnt trees afar, Steve scowled in annoyance.

A while later, after not finding the thing he was looking for, Steve screamed out loud from the window,

"Where are they?!"

The crowd below jumped in fright and looked above at the scene of the child shouting. Assuming it was just a child's tantrum, they later turned around and continued their own work.

Steve didn't mind the people's reaction. He was too angry to care about them.

A little later, when he had slightly calmed down, he said under his breath the words,

"Open System."