Soulless Players

"Hello. Do you need help?"

The young girl turned to face the voice, clearly taken aback by the unexpected offer. Her eyes were filled with confusion and innocence as though not accustomed to receiving such kindness from strangers.

Noticing the girl's reaction, Philip could not help but smile. He had always had a soft spot for children, especially those who started working at a young age.

Having been in a similar situation in his previous life, he could empathize with her struggles and hardships. He found himself unconsciously recalling his dream in the past where children didn't have to work and could instead focus solely on their education.

As he watched the girl struggle to carry a pile of dirty blankets taller than her, Philip's wish was reignited.

"Let me hold this for you," Philip quickly took the blankets from her arms, not minding the surprise in the child's eyes.

"Where would you like me to put these?" Philip smiled. The girl, who was still in a daze, gestured towards the stairs ahead of them.

"There. Down to the basement."

As they made their way down, the girl appeared uneasy and restless and took the lead. Along the way, she would occasionally glance over at Philip.

Philip chuckled at her shy reaction and asked, "What's your name? Why are you doing this alone?"

From the girl's attire, he surmised she was not as poor as he had initially assumed. He has speculations about whether the girl's parents own the inn they were staying at.

"Uhm-mm. My name is Maris," The girl responded with a hesitant tone, "My brother is occupied at the moment and I want to be of a little help."

Curious, Philip inquired further, "What about your parents then? Where are they?"

Maris halted and lowered her head, "My father passed away just last month, and my mother is currently working far from home."

Philip frowned and internally slapped his face. He realized that his question might have caused Maris more discomfort and could not help but feel a pang of guilt.

However, before he could apologize, his system rang, alerting him of a new quest. When he was about to take a look, a loud voice boomed ahead of them.

"Maris! What are you doing?"

The man who had greeted Philip at the front desk moments ago had appeared and was now standing beside Maris, giving Philip a suspicious glare.

Seeing a familiar face, Philip speculated that the man was Maris' brother. Thus to avoid any misunderstanding, he quickly told him what had happened earlier.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your father, Maris," He took his hat and bowed his head sincerely, "If you need any help just look for me in Room 3 on the third floor."

However, this action did not help in lowering the man's vigilance. He took the blankets in Philip's arms and said,

"No need. And I appreciate it if you mind your business next time."

Without waiting for a response, he quickly departed away with Maris.

Philip froze and could only sigh and watch as their back disappeared from his sight.

He then glanced at his system and noticed an array of new notifications, awaiting his attention.

Ting!

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[Quest Complete: Help the poor little thin girl!]

> +5 Experience points

[The Player does a good deed! +1 Karma]

[Chain Quest: Investigate Maris' father's death.]

Reward: 10 Experience points

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'Nice. If I do more good deeds, I can erase all my negative karma,' Philip thought enthusiastically. But when he read the chain quest, he instantly became downcast.

'So there's something wrong with their father's death,' Philip wanted to investigate and help them, but he could not do so as he was preoccupied with his own problems.

He had to prioritize himself first and find a quest that posed no immediate danger.

After a short while, Philip left the inn to search for new missions. He didn't need to look hard as he was quickly bombarded with a plethora of options upon exiting the building.

Some of the quests were straightforward and required minimum effort such as helping a lady who lost her child, removing stones from the road, and feeding the stray dogs. These were the missions that the system had recommended Philip to do.

Philip smirked. They seemed too easy for him and wasted no time and went straight to the lady who had lost her child.

***

An hour later, Philip was seen walking towards a restaurant, his demeanor was totally opposite from before. His face was pale and drained of color, and his hands were trembling uncontrollably.

Philip skimmed through his system with a dispirited face. How could he not be sad when he was greeted with these?

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[Quest Complete: Help the lady find her child]

Reward: 1 Experience Point

[Player helped the kidnapper lady!: -1 Karma]

[Quest Complete: Clean the stones and pebbles in the middle of the road]

Reward: 1 Experience Point

[Player took the stone that was temporarily used to cover a small sinkhole: -1 Karma]

[Quest Complete: Feed stray dogs]

Reward: 1 Experience Point

[Player fed the poor animals: +1 Karma]

[Player violated the city ordinance to not feed the stray animals!: -1 Karma]

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Although he was happy to receive some experience points, he still could not help but be grumpy as he noticed his karma decreasing.

Moreover, his karma continued moving negatively the more he let the citizens misunderstand him with the circulated wanted poster.

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[Player's fame as a criminal increased!: -1 Karma]

[Angers an unknown organization. Revenge is coming!: -1 Karma]

[Player's fame as a criminal increased!: -1 Karma]

[Player's fame as a criminal increased!: -1 Karma]

[Mercenary Guild knows about Raven's existence: -1 Karma]

______________

'Hahh,' Philip let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Not only do I need to be careful of Loen's organization but also for the mercenary guild."

Philip knew the reason why his karma decreased with the Mercenary Guild knowing his existence. It was only logical that they would come after him as he deceived one of their employees in the small Recruitment Center.

Perhaps, like Loen's Organization, they also wanted to seek vengeance against him.

Feeling dejected from his fruitless efforts, Philip decided to take a break and replenish. His stomach had been grumbling for a while and could not help but feel the need to serve it with food.

When Philip entered a red restaurant building, he was immediately enveloped by the good fragrance of the dishes.

"Welcome to McRonalds! What can I do for you, sir?" A lady greeted him with a respectful smile. However, Philip felt her smile was strangely ominous and scary.

'What am I thinking?' Philip tried to shake off the thought and looked up at the menu board plastered above.

"Meal B please," He said, hoping to get his order over.

Philip noticed that the lady's eyes flickered. But it was too quick for Philip to figure out the reason behind her sudden change.

"Meal B is one grilled chicken, one burger, and one pineapple drink. Would you like to upgrade your drink to a large one, sir? It only cost you 50 cents."

"Uhm okay…" Philip hesitated for a second before agreeing, not wanting to appear rude or difficult.

"How about your burger, sir? We can also add more tomatoes and more cheese. And if you like, we could add one more patty for half of the price."

"O-kay…" Philip unconsciously nodded his head in agreement.

"We also have a promo only for you sir! Just add 1 more chicken and…."

"..."

Philip was in a daze, feeling overwhelmed by the lady's rapid-fire questions. The lady spoke too fast for him to follow and could only answer her with a series of affirmations.

A little while later, Philip sat on a chair with a surrender look on his face. Placed on the table were piles of food he ordered 'unconsciously'.

'Wait, why do I have a soup?' Philip's eyes widened as he looked at the food on his table. He quickly took the long receipt and saw a bold amount written at the bottom.

"30 doli!" Philip's surprise was undisguised. He was shaken by how expensive his meal had become.

'Meal B is only 3 doli. How did this happen?!'

15 Doli could feed him three full meals. This meant that this dinner cost him two days of his meal allowance.

'Was I just been duped into spending more money than I had initially intended?'

He took a glance at the lady on the counter. His hands shivered at the sight of her smile.

He realized that ordering food in this restaurant was like a battlefield!

'And in this battle, I am the loser.' Philip chuckled dejectedly.

Soon, he steeled his mind to take revenge. He would not let this happen again!

'I promise I will return and defeat you,' Philip whispered while simultaneously eating and gazing at the smiling lady.

This petty action of his continued even until he finished dining and left the establishment.