Soulless Players

The next day, Philip could be seen walking under the morning sun. His steps were steady and composed while wearing a brown school sack coat with inner white long sleeves paired with brown slacks. He also wore a black tie and pinned on his chest was an insignia of Bryxton University.

His face wasn't the usual Raven he was using. Instead, it was now the face of a youthful 20-year-old man with delicate features and a mole on his cheeks.

Philip was now in the form of Conrad, the same man whose family owned the inn he was currently staying in.

Yesterday was full of surprises as Conrad asked him to help inform their mother about their situation. He needed Philip's transformation ability to assist him in bypassing Evans' surveillance.

While Philip was hesitant at first, he later agreed.

'Being a college student has its own merits.' Philip thought merrily. Conrad was a student of Bryxton University, a place where learning and research take place.

Philip agreed because he needed a temporary identity to use to roam around the city. An identity that would not make him look suspicious even if he danced in the middle of the street.

With this, Conrad's identity was perfect. As a resident and an owner of a famous inn, he had a social network for Philip to mingle into.

Moreover, Philip had always been wanting to enter a university and experience the life of a student. As he had never done it in the past and will probably not in the future, he somehow wanted to live like how norms usually live.

'Let's enjoy life first,' Philip giggled while holding a thick book in his arms. His steps became lighter and softer, evident that he was enjoying the mission he took.

'Conrad should have left the inn by now,' He thought. The plan was for Philip to temporarily take his place and grab the attention of Evans' hidden men. As for Conrad, he would sneak out and go to Semion's fief to find his mother.

Philip smiled. The mission was easy and beneficial to him. All he needed to do was to act as Conrad for a couple of days.

However, his smile quickly slanted down when he recalled what had happened yesterday.

'Haha. I was even called a pervert with this ability,' He chuckled awkwardly while his fist rolled hard in irritation.

When Philip told Conrad to strip, not only Conrad reacted greatly, but also Maris. They were looking at Philip as if he was a molester.

To avoid any misunderstanding, Philip had no choice but to explain his innate power and persuade them with his plan.

While Conrad was blushing, Philip gulped as he looked at Conrad stripping in front of him.

He wasn't intimidated by Conrad's naked body but by Maris' deadly gaze as she left the room.

'Does she really think I enjoy looking at another man's naked body?' Philip shook his head, disgusted. His transformation ability only works if he has great familiarity with the body structure he is going to transform into. Meaning, he had to observe every detail of Conrad's body.

From his 27 tiny moles to his visible veins, all of it, he had to sculpt everything on his mind.

'It even took me two hours to completely memorize everything,' Philip sighed and stopped recalling. He no longer wanted to think about how he 'caressed' and stared at his body for hours.

A little while later, Philip stood before a tall majestic gate with rows of stone buildings on the far end, with a large green lawn and tall withering trees in between. Above the gate was a metallic plate with Bryxton University written on it.

Philip smiled slightly upon seeing it, excited about what was ahead of him.

'If I win the game and obtain a soul, I can also lead a normal life. I just hope the outside world is normal and has schools,' Philip thought, his determination to win soared up even further.

While Philip was imagining his life, someone tapped him on his shoulder.

"Conrad?" A girl called out behind Philip.

Philip turned around and saw a girl wearing a uniform with a badge similar to his on her chest.

"Oh, it's really you!" The girl smiled widely, her eyes beamed with joy.

"Hello, Elise." Philip greeted the girl shyly. All night, he had been familiarizing Conrad's mannerisms and social circle. And Elise was one of Conrad's classmates in his major class.

"I'm glad you're finally back! Has the problem regarding your family been solved?" Elise asked carefully, her eyes dropped slightly, obviously concerned about Conrad.

"No, not yet. But it's finally manageable to attend class," Philip answered. Conrad had been missing classes for almost a month and it was the first time since the last he attended again.

"Thankfully," Elise sighed in relief. She plucked her hair behind her ears and smiled beautifully, "I hope everything will end well in your favor."

"Let's go." She then turned and walked gracefully ahead of Philip.

Philip smiled at this sight. Elise was too obvious about her intention and couldn't help but wonder why Conrad never talked about his love life.

'Maybe he is shy,' Philip giggled.

But while he was amused, he felt strange the more he walked inside the campus.

"Hello, Conrad!"

"Conrad! You're back!"

"Kyaah! I miss you, Conrad."

A little while later, Philip was surrounded by girls of his age. In addition, some men were also showing great interest in his arrival.

'Why did Conrad never tell me he is famous in school?!' Philip gritted his teeth. He wanted to punch Conrad in his head.

Philip blushed from the attention he was receiving. He could not help it. He wasn't used to people flocking around him.

However, his blush created more chaos among the students.

"Hahaha. You're still the same as ever."

"The tomato is back!"

The students laughed out loud. Later, a tall man walked towards Conrad and pinched his cheeks hard.

"Cute…" Adolf said with a cold and expressionless face.

Philip widened his eyes upon this sight. Ever since Adolf entered his proximity, he had been alert against him.

Conrad told him that Adolf was a big bully and had always been maltreating him. With this, he readied himself for what was about to come. But when his 'maltreatment' was just about him telling he was cute and pinching his cheeks, Philip's worldview began to crumble.

'What the heck is this!' Philip trembled in anger. It was then Philip knew what was wrong with Conrad.

'What a slow-witted and dense person!' Philip realized. The reason Conrad did not clearly tell him about his affair was just that Conrad didn't know about their interest, whether it was about friendship or love.

'No. no. It's more than this... He is just an idiot!'

It was then Philip finally understood why Conrad didn't react fiercely upon discovering his transformation ability. 'He was just a dumb person with no survival instinct.'

'Can he even safely reach Semion Fief?' Philip began to worry about this mission.

Later, after a few twists and turns, Philip finally got into his classroom.

The room was filled with 20 armchairs, seated on them were Philip's classmates, with a majority of boys over girls.

In front, a huge chalkboard is attached to the wall. It had white markings written, mostly about numbers and formulas on them.

On the side were three windows showing the balding trees and orange leaves floating and slowly dropping to the ground.

Philip sat near the middle window. Behind him was the tall Adolf minding his own business. Additionally, his classmates were starting to disperse around him and take their books and notes to read.

Seeing this, Philip sighed a relief. Conrad's unexpected close relationship with his classmates bothered him. He needed a time-out to compose himself and renew his identity.

'Based on Conrad, he is supposed to be a loner with no close friends to mingle with. In addition, he stated he was always being bullied by his classmates... But from what I see, his classmates obviously have good contact with him.'

Philip felt frustrated with Conrad. Conrad was like a deeply introverted person surrounded by extroverts who wanted to adopt him.

'Maybe Conrad misunderstood their intention and closed his doors from them,' Philip mulled. He then recalled his first interaction with Conrad, specifically the time he helped Maris with her job.

'Obviously, Conrad is like a cat at first who doesn't want others to meddle with his life. But after meeting the second time, he accepted him easily and asked for help...'

'So what changes? Is it because he aided him with Evans' men?'

Philip stopped thinking about it as it frustrated him even more.

Only Conrad could understand himself the most. Philip was only an outsider whom he met twice. It wasn't enough for Philip to know everything about him.

When his classmates were busying themselves with their notes, a woman with a fierce expression entered the room.

She wasn't wearing a uniform intended for students but a red long frock coat with a badge of a tower pinned on her left chest. On her arms held a thick book and index cards were inserted on them.

When the students noticed her, they all stood up and greeted her,

"Good Morning, Miss Leffindor."

Philip immediately followed suit. Thankfully, none of them seemed to notice him greeting late.

Miss Leffindor gestured, and the students sat at the same time. She also sat on the chair and took out the piles of index cards.

She gazed at the students and announced,

"Let's start the oral examination.'