Soulless Players

When the stars began to glimmer in the sky, and the street market started to bustle, Philip could be seen fully clothed in Raven form, running.

Philip carefully scanned the crowd and slipped out of Bryxton City, timing his actions to avoid detection from Evans' men.

It was only when he reached a nearby small town that he stopped running. He breathed a sigh of relief and shortly continued his way forward.

After a while, Philip emerged from the shadow, his fingernails were covered with soil and dirt. He discreetly groped his chest, and when he felt a bulge under his trench coat, he took off and returned to the city.

An hour later, when he made it back to the inn, he kept a watchful eye on the muscular men patrolling outside. Only when he determined they didn't notice him did he let his lips curl up.

'Good thing they didn't catch me.'

What Philip had done earlier was to retrieve the pistol he stashed outside the city limits, the very same pistol he had used to shoot Steve just a week prior.

'Let's see, it still has two bullets left,' he said while fiddling with the gun in his hands.

Later, Philip stopped playing with the gun, cleaned his dirty hands, and changed his clothes. He sneaked out again, bypassing Evans' men surveilling him.

'I have four hours left before my transformation ends. Better make use of it.'

It was 10 in the evening, and the stalls in the night market began to close. The crowd also dissipated, clutching their purchases and lanterns.

In the darkness, most people required a light to see ahead, but Philip was different. His eyes shone with a golden light, and he swiftly made his way northwest, unencumbered by the dark. His second uniqueness allowed him to see the world in bright and gold hues.

'This is really convenient,' he marveled while sprinting.

Shortly, he arrived in a district full of opulent mansions and grand houses, where the wealthy commoners lived.

Philip scanned around, and when his sight caught a building taller and grander than the neighboring structure, he stopped and narrowed his eyes.

'This is it,' Philip thought while looking at the Evans mansion.

Philip went through all this trouble to erase his accumulating negative karma.

The Evans had made him a scapegoat to hide their involvement with the gun that Steve owned and had been declaring through newspapers that he was a terrorist behind the steam locomotive incident. This caused his name to spread, decreasing his karma even further.

'From what I see, karma is heavily related to a player's reputation. The more a player is painted as evil, the more he accumulates bad karma.'

Philip's theory was not without a basis as his system continued to alert him of his decreasing karma.

[Player's evil deed has spread out to the city. -1 Karma]

[The citizens are scared of the player. -1 Karma]

[The nobles read the newspapers and became aware of the player. -1 Karma]

…

Philip needed to clear his name before his karma hit the lowest point possible. And to do this, he had to stop the originator of the falsified news.

'I am sure they are hiding something,' he thought. He speculated that the reason behind the Evans' painting him as a villain was because they were trying to cover up their own guilt. It was possible that they were in possession of illegal firearms or involved in their sale.

'Steve should have got the gun from his estate.' Philip suspected while secretly looking at the dark mansion.

Philip had a plan, and the gun hidden in his coat pocket was an essential material to complete it.

'Isn't it just returning the favor? If they used me as a scapegoat, then I must also use them as my shield,' Philip smirked.

While feeling the handgun on his inner coat, Philip stealthily proceeded to the mansion.

However, Philip was forced to stop when he noticed a person spying the Evans like him.

'What the!' Philip's eyes widened upon seeing the person. He was not shocked by the presence of another spy but by the bright golden light emanating from him.

'For someone to glow like that means he is from Loen's organization or the like,' Philip mulled while looking at the said person. With the light comparable to Loen coming from him, Philip was certain he was not ordinary.

"It's a good thing I noticed him first," he whispered, and a relieved sigh came out of his mouth.

Luckily for him, the golden light emanating from the man was so bright that he had noticed it earlier, giving him time to halt and reconsider his plan.

'I'm not confident in fighting him…' Philip was not stupid he was strong enough to counter the spy with a power presumably comparable to Loen.

Loen's end was because he was so complacent and overly confident that he failed to notice Philip's kick behind him.

In addition, Philip was not sure if his Stat upgrade was enough to close the gap between them. As their power was unknown to him, he needed to invest extra care. He would rather take his time to investigate than place himself in danger.

'I guess it's time to stop the plan and retreat.' he murmured sadly.

However, when Philip was about to back off, his system rang and notified him of something he had been scared of.

Ting!

[ Karma notices the player is doing too well and chooses to make his life difficult. ]

Out of nowhere, an intense gust of wind surged through the area where Philip was taking shelter under the trees, causing the trunks to bend and twist like elastic bands.

Startled by the sudden disturbance, Philip instinctively turned towards the direction of the wind, only to find himself face-to-face with a mysterious spy who had materialized in front of him in a blink of an eye.

The spy's piercing gaze bore into Philip's bewildered expression, his eyes red with suspicion and perhaps a hint of danger.

"Who are you?" he asked.

For a couple of seconds, Philip stood frozen. Everything happened so fast that he had no time to react. His mind was still processing the time when his system informed him about his misfortune. As for what after? He was too stunned to see what was ahead of him.

"Answer my question. Who are you?!" the man put more force into his voice, making Philip shudder in fright.

Philip quickly came out from his stupor and focused his sight on the man standing vigilantly in front of him.

'It's him! He really survived!.'

Philip knew the man. He was the same person who cut his limbs in the forest and was later struck by thunder.

Seeing Emile again, Philip confirmed that he was indeed from Loen's organization and quickly thought of a solution.

After a few moments of deliberations, Philip took the cloth that covered his face and answered,

"I am Raven, the same man from the steam locomotive incident."

When Philip revealed his face, Emile started convulsing, and his eyes became redder.

"It's you!" Emile screamed, his body trembled in anger as the wind furiously gushed around him.

"You killed Loen!"

All of a sudden, the air thickened and condensed to the lowest point, causing Philip to struggle for breath.

However, he didn't show an ounce of fear. He remained standing steadfast among the swaying trees.

"I didn't kill him. I only killed the child," Philip reasoned and continued, "It was the child who killed your companion. I was only there in coincidence."

Emile scoffed, "Hah! As if I believed you."

Even though he said that, the pressure he was releasing decreased slightly, apparently not supporting his protestation.

When Philip noticed this, he clarified further, "It's true! The Evan kid was the one who owned the gun and shot your companion."

Philip then explained why he was roaming in the Evans' property, "I am only here because the Evans has been circulating that I was a terrorist!"

Philip sighed dejectedly and grumbled, "This is so absurd and unfair. Who are they to blame an innocent person like me?"

"So, that's why I am here. You know, hehe. I just want to have a deep talk with them."

Emile became silent, brooding on whether to believe Philip or not. But while he was thinking, his gaze and the wind surrounding him remained sharp and frantic.

"Then why are you in the locomotive? And why are you acting like Steve's guard?" Emile asked after a long silence.

"My apologies as I can't tell you about my mission." Philip bowed and continued, "But I can tell you which clan I am from."

Philip then took something out of his trousers and showed an emblem to Emile.

"I am from the Twin Sword Moon Clan from the Eastern Continent. This is the evidence."

The emblem Philip showed was the same emblem that his father gave to him. He had always been carrying the things his parents had given to him. This was to ensure that when something major happened that needed a change of lodging, he could avoid the inconvenience of returning to the inn.

Emile examined the emblem on Philip's hand and frowned.

A little while later, Emile stopped and looked straight at Philip and said,

"Do you really think I care about what bullcrap you're saying?!"

Suddenly, the air around became heavy and visible. The air formed yarns squirming from Emile's fingertips.

Then, without any indication, the wind yarns moved like snakes toward Philip.

Philip could only grit his teeth as he screamed internally,

'Damn! My bluff did not work this time!'