Soulless Players

In a nearby village, the adult Philip was seen walking holding a jewelry box with him. The morning sun was starting to rise, signifying the time for people to wake up.

While the stores began to open their doors, Philip stood steadily in front of the inn. His head was raised, gazing at the opened window.

Inside this room was a chair, laying on it was a child Philip had been observing.

The child was Steve, the same person who made Philip's life miserable.

Although Philip was watching the reason behind his family's destruction, his eyes weren't showing any wrath or anger, but rather complete calmness and serenity.

The reason behind this emotion lay in the box in Philip's hands, more specifically, in the letters hidden inside of it.

After Philip read their contents, his heart that was once burning with fiery vengeance had slightly extinguished, turning itself into a heart filled only with sorrow and regret.

[Dear Little Philip,

By the time you read this letter is the time we bid our goodbyes to you. Our moments together may be short but the memories within are enough to say we enjoy the days with you.

Don't imprison yourself with guilt as this has already been predicted by me. Your enemy's coming is an unavoidable event that both you and us, including your parents, must experience to grow.

So worry not as we have been preparing for this day to come. Of course, about your parents, they are still alive, only living on the other side of the world.

So instead of deluding yourself with vengeance, why not be strong enough to meet them there?

Your future is filled with mystery that even I can't fathom its degree. Although I can not clearly see how your life will go in the future, I am still sure that your existence is an important matter for the world's salvation.

You may come to us looking for help, and our help may look like a whim to you, but in reality, your coming has brought change and hope to us.

Little Philip, this may be sudden to you, but may you grant this old lady's selfish request?

In the future, when you feel lost and blue, can you not remember the sadness that the world brings to you, instead ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■?

This request may be odd to you and I apologize as I can't say the specifics.

But only do remember that your ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ might help, possibly save us, in the future.

Be careful with your adventure. Let's meet soon.

Loving you,

Marissa Evangeline, witch prophet]

What his Auntie Marissa wrote to him greatly changed his psyche. After knowing that his parents were still alive, Philip felt relieved and less tense.

Even though he had no way of knowing about their location, knowing about their condition significantly reduced his guilt for involving them in his game.

'So Auntie is a prophet… does that mean she knew about me being a player?' Philip pondered. Although the letter had brought him the truth, it had also given him a problem that confused him.

'What does she mean by saving them? Will they encounter a death-like situation in the future?'

Philip was even more confused as there were some words he couldn't read even after turning the letter around. It was as if its content was restricted to him.

'Is this related to the game? What if after the game is done, the world will crumble, destroying all the people living on it?' Philip speculated trembly. If this was the truth, then Philip understood what his Auntie Marissa had been meaning to say.

'It must be hard for her knowing the future.' Philip frowned upon thinking this. The existence of the game was a danger to the residents of the world.

Although other players saw this place as fake and a mere battlefield, for the residents of this world, it was their real home.

Knowing that some residents knew about the truth made Philip guilty and determined to win the game.

'I'll not only win this game but also save this world.' He decided.

Overall, after reading her letter, Philip decided to be strong enough to know the secrets of the world. And to achieve this, he must know about the game rules and the 'magic word' first.

Philip's eyes narrowed as he sharply looked at Steve's location.

Even though he had already absolved Steve of his crime, this still didn't make him back away from him. After all, Steve was the only person he knew about the rules of the game.

More to that, Philip also wanted to let out the accumulating fury in his heart. He wanted nothing more than to see Steve suffer!

However, when Philip was about to enter the inn, pain suddenly coursed through every fiber of his body.

ARGHHH!

Philip howled. His body hurt so much that he almost dropped and passed out on the ground.

But when he felt a movement above, Philip gritted his teeth as he forced himself to move into a dark alley.

Afterwards, Philip became small and blood quickly gushed out from his left leg and right hand.

It was then Philip finally understood what had happened to him.

'The transformation has a limit!'

Seeing his deteriorating condition, he quickly opened the jewelry box, grabbed the medicine bottle, and drank the remaining contents in it.

Immediately, the cut on his limb and arm healed and closed, stopping him from dying of excessive blood loss.

Philip leaned on a wall out of breath, his eyes were in a trance looking at the blood accumulated on the ground.

'I almost died.' If he was late by a second, he was sure that death would welcome him.

While trying to stop his body from trembling in fear, he observed his incomplete body.

'The medicine wasn't enough to create new limbs,' Philip thought dejectedly. This was a big disadvantage to him. A disabled child like him was only food to the strong, especially to the person he was supposed to attack.

'It's a good thing I knew my power's limitation earlier,' Although disappointed, he was also greatly relieved at his misfortune. If it wasn't for this, he would have remained ignorant of his newfound power.

Philip calculated the overall time for his transformation, "Eight hours. It took me eight hours."

However, Philip was forced to stop his mulling as a loud shout was heard from the window he had been observing before.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Philip jumped out in surprise upon hearing Steve's cry. It was so loud as if Steve was standing near him.

While calming his heart, Philip took a quick glance at Steve. And seeing him return to his chair, Philip sighed in relief.

Steve's presence near him had awakened Philip from his thoughts. He knew that if Steve found him in his current state, he would surely be placed in a more troublesome situation.

'I have to leave,' Philip then pushed himself up from the ground. His hands leaned on the wall for support as he slowly hopped away.

When he found a stick tall and sturdy enough for him, then his slow movement became faster.

A little while later, Philip left the alley, leaving behind the dried blood on the ground and an empty medicine bottle rolling near it.

***

The next day, Philip was seen standing on the side road of another bigger town. His gaze followed the horse carriage moving at the center.

When the child riding inside turned his head in his direction, he quickly hid himself, covering his whole disabled body with the shadow of the building.

After the carriage moved far away, he stepped out from the dark, looking steadily at the back of the carriage.

Shortly, Philip's body became bigger and taller. He then whispered to himself, 'I have eight hours left to complete the task.'

Philip moved his feet towards the building with a big sign on top that said 'Recruitment Office.'

After days of observing Steve, Philip had come up with a conjecture about him.

'He is in a hurry as if he is anticipating a tragedy will befall him,'

'He's scared. But why? Did he expect that I would come to him?' This was the first thought that came to Philip. But after observing his enemy, he quickly denied it.

'No, it's much graver than that. It is as if he is about to face his death.'

However, after not finding the reason, Philip quickly moved to his next action.

'I have to get closer to him and know about his power,'

Philip wasn't dumb enough to assume he was special enough to have a superpower. Instead, he speculated that this power was granted to every player like him.

At first, he thought Steve had a similar transformation ability like him, but after some thinking, he realized that it wasn't.

'His power is obviously related to sight,' Philip declared. After watching Steve for days, Philip noticed his peculiar and annoying action of looking around, as if determining which person would be helpful to him.

It was also with this that Philip had come up with a plan that turned Steve's personal and greatest advantage into a disadvantage.