Faceless Phantom 25 Chapter 22 - Dawn Of Phantom 2

The place was always stacked with people. And a lot of merchants built their stall here and there. I built one in an empty place near the square. Then I wrote something on my stall to look appealing.

[Repair - 50 copper each]

[Repair a set = chance to get a skill!]

Well, this kind of service was actually hard to make a customer. Many players knew that there was a chance it was a scam. Of course, it was safer to repair your equipment to NPC. NPC wouldn't scam and steal your equipment. Another option was report them to Adventure's Guild. If what you reported was true then the scammer would gain infamy points and a bounty, but some people preferred to avoid it. Better be safe than doing a risky business. However, once you got a customer and they trusted you, it would be easy later on. Many customers would come by themselves to your stall.

I already expected it. Some players cussed me. Sometimes, having Eavesdropping Skill could be really annoying.

And then there were these two players. One was human warrior, and the other one was elven rogue.

"Ahahaha what the f.u.c.k. Get a skill for repair? It's definitely a scam." Said the elven rogue while scoffing and smirking.

"Yeah look at the stall owner. It's an Aphu." The human warrior giggled.

'Hey I can hear you...' I said in my mind.

"Hey, maybe you can try it..." The elven rogue suddenly had a strange, no, a good idea.

'Eh?'

"What? Are you nuts?" The human warrior frowned at his friend.

'He probably is.'

"If he can't repair your equipment, or even worse –stealing them– we can just report him to the AG anyway." Said the elven rogue, trying to convince him.

'A logical person. I like you. But if you report the former problem, the AG just gonna laugh at you.'

"Well, you're right." The human warrior sighed and accepted his friend's idea. "But let's just repair my secondary equipment. I don't wanna lose my main one."

'Great. You don't have to worry, you can absolutely trust me. Come to papa!'

"Alright."

The two began to walk closer to my stall with a smile on their face. Once they were in front of the stall, the human warrior tapped the stall.

"Yo bro! Are you scammer?"

'You wanna pick a fight or you wanna repair your equipment?' Of course, I didn't say that out loud.

"Umm... You can tell by reading the sign." I said while pointing at the words I had made.

"Bro! You can tell that getting a free skill is too good to be true. Are you a dwarf? No, right? Then it means your sign is literally telling everyone that you're a scammer."

"Trust me, I can give additional stats and a skill to your equipment."

"AHahahahhaa... Oh my G.o.d, this guy is crazy!" The elven rogue bursted his laughter.

"Give additional stats and a skill to equipment you said? d.a.m.n you must be a GM!"

"It's 50 copper each."

"Ahahahaha I can't... This guy is too funny. Just do it man... Give him your d.a.m.n equipment." The elven rogue was holding his stomach.

He couldn't handle me who he thought I was stupidly an obvious scammer. Somehow, I was calm and didn't really hurt by it. Perhaps it was because I already got used to be being laughed at.

The human warrior gave up toying me and then put his sword on the stall.

"Hahaha alrighty then, give my sword a skill!"

"Repair a set, then I can give you a chance to give you a skill to your sword."

"Fine fine... Just do it." He put a set of light armor on the stall.

"Okay, just wait a moment. I'll repair your equipment now."

First I repaired the armor set one by one.

[Repair success!]

[Good work! Repair success!]

[Perfect Hammering! Repair success!]

[Repair success!]

It was a simple patch up and polis.h.i.+ng. They were D quality equipment so I wouldn't easily fail repairing them. Furthermore, good or perfect repair gave equipment additional stats for certain durability points. It was still depending on my DEX and how careful I repaired the equipment.

'Good. Next the sword.'

Then I repaired the sword and infused a monster soul to it.

[Good work! Repair success!]

[You have successfully infused a soul to Iron Sword!]

[Astral Infuse level has increased!]

The Wild Boar's Rush Skill was imprinted into the Iron Sword. Moreover, I leveled up my Astral Infuse.

I immediately opened my skill.

[Astral Infuse]

Level 4

Active: Infuse a soul to an item. The item will be possessed a skill of infused soul.

>Infused skills will be random.

>Additional effect will be given if the item is perfectly matched with the soul.

Infused Soul Effect: 40%

MP Cost: 500

Cool down: 3 hours 30 minutes

Then I used Astral Eyes to see the sword's description.

///////

Iron Sword (Common)

Quality: C

Type: One-handed sword

Restriction: Warrior 25 STR

Durability: 120/120

A sword that was made from refined iron. It is imbued with Wild Boar's Soul.

Effect:

+100 P. Attack

+10 STR

Wild Boar – Rush Lv. 1

Active: Rus.h.i.+ng toward your designation way. If you use it toward your opponent, they will be stunned for 1 second.

Misc:

Good Repair!

+5 STR and AGI for 20 durability

///////

'What a luck.'

A good fortune was on my hand. It was a good start for the business. I unconsciously smiled.

Noticing my expression, the human warrior was skeptical.

"What are you smiling for?"

I gave his equipment back while keep smiling.

"It's a success! Thank you for the business! Please come again."

I said it fast without mistake as if I already memorized it. I tried to imitate Heiden for some reason.

The two were dumbfounded. When the human warrior checked his equipment, he was becoming more shocked.

"Hmph!" The human warrior then instantly walked away.

The elven rogue followed him with a confused face. I could hear them talking in the distance.

"Hey what happened?"

"It's real! Look at my equipment!"

"Holy s.h.i.+t! Isn't that a monster skill? This is even way better than your main one."

"I bet that Aphu has a special skill."

"d.a.m.n. I wanna try to repair my equipment too!"

When the elven rogue tried to come back. I began to change [Repair a set = chance to get a skill!] sign. I gave additional words to it.

[3 hours 30 minutes cooldown]

He stopped and saw me changed the sign. His face was stiff as if he was disappointed, so they left without a word.

Because of them, rumor began to spread. And more customers were coming. Of course, some of them was coming to gain a skill for their equipment. Though I already said it wasn't a 100% success rate. Some of them were still cursed or cussed me. If it was me in real life, I would be hurt by it. So I didn't really care about what they said, I just wanted to level up my skills.

Many customers came and left. And then there was this guy. He was...unique, or maybe normal in the eyes of RPG players. He was a human who was wearing wizard's hat, heavy plate armor, leather gloves, shorts which looked like a boxer, and f.u.c.king wooden sandals.

People who saw this man would think he was crazy for sure. But perhaps the equipment had amazing stats, so it didn't matter if you had to put shame on yourself to be that way. People who played a lot of RPG would know and understand the situation. However, they, of course, would still laugh at him at some point because of how ridiculous his character looked like.

He piqued my interest, so I used Astral Eyes on him.

///////

Liúxīng

Race : Human

Job (Cla.s.s) : None

Hobby : None

[Stats]

HP : 2550/2550

MP : 1100/1100

STR 57 VIT 55

DEX 59 AGI 58

INT 55 WIS 55

///////

He had great stats. To be able to evenly raise his stats that high without a job was incredible.

'He's amazing.'

Most players would just focus on what their job needed. For example, as a warrior you needed STR. Because warrior's skills mostly depended on STR. Another example would be myself as an Astral Artisan. I should be raising my DEX more, because crafting and repairing item needed the dexterity of my hands. Skillful in using my hammer, and the accuracy to pin point while kept hammering. There would be a higher chance to fail if I didn't improve myself. Thus, raising all stats would be wasting of time.

Just like a saying 'Jack of all trade, master of none'. It meant someone who could do many things but s/he was master of none. But still, it wasn't actually all true. Being all-rounder had a really big advantage in battle. You didn't know what was up on their sleeve. They could use any kind of skill to win the battle.

The man named Liúxīng didn't say anything while taking off and putting all his equipment on the stall. His face looked stiff. After that, he just stood and waited for me to repair them. So I immediately did my job. I also successfully infused Eortel Bidun's Soul which imprinted Ground Stomp skill to his wooden sandals. Finished, I gave all his equipment back.

"Thank you for the business! Please come again."

I acted as polite as possible. However, he just retrieved his equipment and left without a word.

I was bitter. Of course, there was those kind of customers too. Being ignored was a common thing for an introvert, but it was still annoying and I tried to not overthink about it. I kept doing my job while using Astral Eyes on anything that interested me.

There was a wide variety of players just by looking at their weapons and equipment. Some chose good effect, some chose damage, some chose attack speed. But then, there were some who chose how amazing the weapon look despite its terrible stats or effect. Nonetheless, they all had various kind of stats. It was uniquely differed.

From what I got, most players in Orbania had an average stats around 50 points. The higher one was about 60 points.

///////

Zeroth

Race : Aphu

Job (Cla.s.s) : Astral Artisan

Hobby : None

[Stats]

HP : 2550/2550

MP : 2272/2272

STR 78 VIT 45

DEX 54 AGI 57

INT 70 WIS 73

///////

'My stats is unexpectedly slightly higher than I thought.'

It wasn't my pure stats, but it was still good enough for me. Also, my DEX which was the second lowest growth rate began to catch up. It was because Astral Artisan increased its growth rate. I was satisfied, of course. Now I just needed to make a good armor set and tested it. I would be all set to go to Mining Canyon again.

・・・

Mirage came and wanted to help me with the stall. It seemed she was bored at the inn. I told her that I was fine alone, she could be with me here or enjoying the town. However, she didn't know where to go. So then I suggested that it would be great if she visited Carol, and she agreed.

Once in a while she was back from there, and she would tell me about what she had been doing. Especially with Lena, it seemed they became best friend somehow. It was good that she was opening herself to people little by little.

A few days had pa.s.sed. My Repair skill was eventually hit a wall. It was hard to raise anymore. So I didn't have a choice but readied myself to repair the ring.

[Repair success rate is 60%]

'Here goes nothing!'

I put the ring on fire, then I poured Mithril which I melt it beforehand. I hit the ring lightly with hammer because I was afraid that the ring was too fragile.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Burn. Hammering. Burn. Hammering.

Everytime I hammered the ring, the emerald would s.h.i.+ne. It emitted a green aura which then wrapped the ring. As if it helped the Mithril being absorbed. I hit as precisely as possible.

Burn. Hammering. Burn. Hammering. And lastly, polis.h.i.+ng.

The ring was s.h.i.+ning. Once the light was dim, it revealed a beautiful silver ring with eye-shaped emerald on it. The ornament was also there as if it was newly engraved.

[Repair success!]

I wiped my forehead and smiled. I used Astral Eyes on the ring.

///////

Ring of Harmony (Unique Mythical)

Quality: ?

Type: Accessory

Restriction: None

Durability: 317

One of Belgram's finest works for his wife which is also known as Artifact of Melleth. It is specially made to prevent a plague from spreading.

>Only Zeroth can equip this item

*If durability drops below 250, the ring's capability is disabled.

Effect:

50% chance to negate all status ailments depending on the user's INT

+10 HP & MP regeneration per minute

Item Skill – Soul Connect

Active: Linking two souls who have the same ring and sharing each other abilities for a certain duration.

Effect: Sharing all skills

Duration: 1 hour

Cooldown: 1 day

Curse: Anyone who equips this ring without the owner's permission will be cursed.

///////

'I did it!'

A new option was revealed. Just like what was Heiden said, the ring indeed had a curse.

'So that's why they were seeing a ghost. They were cursed.'

And then there was additional words: 50% chance to negate all status ailments depending on the user's INT. That meant it wasn't 50% chance.

'So... If I don't know what the debuff is, the 50% chance will not activate. And if I know the 50% chance will activate. Is it really like that? Or perhaps every debuff has different INT requirement to be negated?"

The probability was actually random!

This game was really depended on stats after all. It was still a good effect nonetheless.

With this done, I closed the stall and back to the inn.

・・・

In front of Mirage's room, I knocked the door three times. Her voice was faintly heard from inside.

"Zeroth?"

"Yeah it's me."

"Come in."

I opened the door and went in. I saw Mirage was sitting on the bed. She smiled at me while tucking her hair behind her ear.

"How's work?"

"It's good." I smiled back at her. "Anyway, I..."

"...?" She tilted her head, waiting what I wanted to say next.

"I repaired the ring."

"You did? That's amazing!" She gently smiled. "So now the ring's effect is active, right?"

"Yeah, can we try the skill?"

"Right now? Alright."

I sat a bit far beside her and lift my left hand up to my chest. I looked at the silver ring on my ring finger for a while then turned my gaze to Mirage.

"Ready?"

"Yes..." She nodded.

"3... 2... 1..."

"Soul Connect!"

Both rings emitted green aura and linked to each other. The stretching aura was like a thread connecting our hands. Then suddenly, my vision was blurred as if something was sucking me into oblivion. Darkness was the only thing I could see. Then little by little, the darkness was blanketed by mist. It was like standing inside a borderless white fog.

Within the mist, images were projected. They were Mirage's memories. There were a lot of blurry and vague ones. I could guess they were the forgotten ones. And there were some which were vivid. She told me about her memories when she remembered one, so I knew most of them already. However, seeing them directly had a whole new different experience.

Again, the place was distorted as if I got pulled by a black hole. The next thing I knew I was in a room. It was a familiar room. Laying on bed, I saw my...former self.

It was my own memories.

I wanted to get out... but I couldn't. Then I heard myself speaking. He was talking to himself inside the room.

"Thanks for always be with me... Nightshade..."

'Nightshade?'

At the same time, something appeared beside my former self. Pale humanoid being with black clothes. A familiar creature without...a face.

A sudden realization injected through my mind. My eyes widened and, in an instant, I came back to the inn.

I saw Mirage was kneeling down. Her face was dim and shocked. I rushed to help her.

"What happened?"

She looked up slowly. She then forced a smile at me.

"It's fine. I just, a little bit dizzy. The skill seems exhaust me. Ehehe..."

She grabbed my hand and got up. She then sat on the bed.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah. I want to take a rest. Can you leave me alone? Please..."

"Okay..."

I sighed and stepped my foot outside. Before I left the room, I looked back at her.

"Hope you get well soon."

She didn't say anything but nodded. She really didn't look well. So I closed the door and went to my room.

The skill was very strange. It said we would share our skills but there was no buff or anything at my buff window. My skill window was still shown my own skills. I tried to chant some of Mirage's skills in my room. However, it was nil. Nothing happened.

I put away the thought and called a night.

・・・

Days had pa.s.sed. Mirage seemed avoided me for some reason. She visited Carol more often than before. Everytime we were together, she didn't say a word and acting strange. Something had to be happened during Soul Connect. She might remember a very bad memory and didn't want to say it. I didn't want to force her to tell me. So I just kept silent too.

Perhaps, it was best to distance ourself. We would probably bid farewell someday. I didn't want to get attached.

'Time to make a new armor I guess.'

I brushed the problem off my mind and focused on my new armor.

I wanted a flexible armor where I could move freely. So obviously, light armor was the only option. For the appearance, I tried to imitate a bulletproof vest.

First, I used leather as the base of my armor. I used iron cord to put them together. I also used nails at some parts. Then after that, I put thin iron plate for the outer layer. I used nails to stick them together.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

I used the same material for the shoulders, gloves and boots. For the pants, I used thick leather as material. It took me six hours to finish. I was kind of rush it, but it looked good to me. So I checked the armor first with Astral Eyes.

///////

Unnamed Leather Armor (Common)

Quality: E

Type: Light Armor

Restriction: None

Durability: 50

A badly made leather armor.

Effect:

+50 P. Defense

+1 VIT

+1 AGI

///////

'...'

The description made me speechless. But I agreed though. It was clunky, and the stats was also terrible. It wasn't perfect but maybe it was still a good armor for beginner, probably.

I sighed as I recycled everything.

'Yay. More grinding...'

I cheered myself with emotionless face. I kept crafting until I made a good armor set. Of course, detail and patience were needed to craft a good item. And it would take a long time...

・・・

Night time, Hunting Arrow Inn.

Mirage and I were eating our dinner at the inn's restaurant. It was strangely quiet and no one but us was there.

Mirage was silent. She was usually like that, but it was different this time. She was acting strange since we used the Soul Connect skill. During that time, I was watching my memories. So I thought that she probably remembered another painful memories.

However, her behavior made me uncomfortable. It was really awkward yet unbearable. And it wasn't a good thing.

'Yeah, I don't want to get attached but...'

I was inconsistent. I always full of doubts. But of course, that was why I came to this world. I wanted to change. I encouraged myself and tried to break the ice.

"How's your day?"

She was silent.

"Why did you acting strange?"

She was still silent. So I called her name with a soft tone.

"Mirage..."

"W-what? I'm sorry... I was s.p.a.cing out." She startled and began to open her mouth.

"You're acting strange. As if you keep your distance from me a lot recently. You changed since we did Soul Connect. Did you...remember another bad memories?"

I had to be straightforward to solve this problem. Or else, we would keep our silence forever.

I looked at her in the eye. She looked at me back for a moment and turned her gaze elsewhere, then she nodded lightly.

"I... It's just..." Her sorrowful eyes didn't go away anytime soon. She bit her lips and knitted her eyebrows as if trying to construct her words. A moment later she sighed and finally opened her mouth again.

"I saw something when we activated the ring. I...I saw... I saw your memories..."

I slowly opened my eyes wide open.

"I saw your past."

I began to feel those kind of feelings again. The feeling when people reject us after they know who and what we really are. It's always like that, because situation determine who we are in the eye of public. A good example of that is disabled people. Some look at them with pity and empathy. Some look with disgust. And some just don't really care.

It's the same as our past. When people know our past, what do you think will happen? It's as good as seeing scars on our body. Just like seeing our disability, they will have mixed feelings about it.

I was scared about what she was going to say. However, I had to accept it. I tried to look at her again.

"You've been through a lot..."

She faintly smiled at me as the tip of her eyebrows went up. She was holding her hands together. They were shaking.

"I'm sorry... I'm just really afraid..."

She averted her teary eyes, and her lips were shaking.

"This world is just a data. A virtual reality. Even though there is 'reality' in its name, is it even real?"

Her tears overflowing from her eyes down to her red cheeks.

"Am I really exist?"

Her words stung my heart. It was unpleasant.

I didn't know what to say.

I didn't know what to say.

I just kept silent for a while. I kept silent.

My life had been a mess. Everything shattered so I had to make my own world. A world where I would live at peace. I didn't even know what was real anymore. But, I had to believe one thing was real in my life.

"You are right." I said while looking down. "This world isn't real."

'This world is real.'

I could feel my body was trembling. And my heart was beating fast. Tears began to fill my eyes. I tried to hold it and continued.

"But one thing I'm sure about... I came to this world. Then I found you inside the cave. We traveled together. It was awkward sometimes and we still are. However, I becoming to know more about you little by little. We learn about this world together. We met Halton. We met Heiden. We met Carol and her kids. You accompany me in my adventure. Our adventure."

'This world is real.'

"Just like any other games I played. Even if it's just a fiction. A fantasy. But the emotions the creator have poured are real. It makes the characters they created come alive."

'You are real.'

"It's the same with you. You are here with me. I can talk to you. I can hear your feelings. I can see your smile. I can see you cry."

'You are real.'

I stretched my arms, and gently holding her hands.

"Look at you crying. Your emotions are real. I can even feel your warmth." I faintly smiled at her. "You can feel mine too, right?"

'You are real.'

"This world is real. You are real."

Mirage hid her lips and her eyes became narrow. More of her tears rolling down on her red cheeks.

"Sobs... sobs..." She leaned her head on my chest while faintly sobbing.

I sighed deeply and gently caressed her hair.

・・・

"Have you calmed down yet?"

"Unh..." She nodded lightly.

"It's a lot to take in. I..." She shook her head for a moment and continued. "I didn't know you were suffering that much. And I... I also... I'm just..."

"I understand. You don't need to continue..." I sighed. "You know. I have already decided to live in this world. So this is my real world now."

I recalled every bittersweet memories.

In real life, some people were struggling with their life. They couldn't do what they want. Even though they could, there would be another hurdle to leap on. There would be another cliff to climb on. People kept saying 'That's life'. However, some people just couldn't handle it, you know. They just needed a rest, but life didn't want you to rest. Life kept pus.h.i.+ng, forcing you to be able to eat every single day.

I recalled every memory whenever I was eating. Different kind of food was in front of me. I remembered I was once eating only with salt seasoned rice or just a small bread. Then I remembered further back, when my father bought me different kind of tasty foods to eat. Those times were the happiest, but it was the most innocent part of me. When I grew up... I realized that happiness just lasted for a moment. It was just a luxury which could go at any moment.

'Those times will never come back.'

I was still glad. I have made my decision to be here. If I didn't, I would be back in my room with nothing to do. Alone.

I sighed and tried to hold my emotions together.

"You're right." Mirage then held my hands and smiled at me. "I'm here with you."

That was enough for me. Those words gave me a strength to do what I liked in this world. And the most important thing was... I was happy to meet her. She was here with me. She was real. Even if it was just a game, this world was real enough for me. It was my second life.

・・・

Running Ranger Bar, Orbania.

"f.u.c.king s.h.i.+t!" A heavy-armored human hammered his fist on the table. His face was red and bitter.

"He's nowhere to be seen. No one even knows him." A robed elf said as he was sighing.

"He's not even player! We lost to a f.u.c.king NPC." A wolfman said while growling, showing his sharp teeth and fangs. "Let's search for him again and kill him."

"He didn't loot our item though. And it's useless, we don't have a single clue about him." A female sleethar said. She crossed her legs while swirling her hair.

"But we still PAID a lot to clear our chaotic name!" Said the wolfman, looking at the female sleethar in anger. "He needs to pay us back!"

"It's unavoidable. The guards can't be bribed or seduced after all." The female sleethar pouted her lips.

"There has to be someone who knows him." The wolfman still didn't want to let loose his grudge.

"Just forget him already! Let's just punish another NPC. They're the same anyway. An AI." The robed elf suggested an idea. "Make them pay by reminding them where they belong."

"Oh, yes. Bring some nice NPCs back to Lawless City." Light armored human added another idea.

Lawless City. It was a place where there was no law. Slavery, illegal trafficking, pleasure house, killing publicly in daylight, torturing, and any other immoral things were not forbidden. It was a place where criminals gathered. It was where this party came from.

"Great idea." The heavy armored human agreed on the idea. "Let's work tonight! Make sure there is no witness."

"Well, it's simple. If there's a witness then we should bring them too."

"Or just kill them." The wolfman agreed to the robed elf for once.

It made sense. If you killed a player, he would be revived again and would be telling someone had murdered them. So you'd get chaotic value for killing players even without a witness. But for NPC, they couldn't be revived if they died. If there was no witness, then your crime wasn't added to your infamy point. If you were with another person while killing an NPC, as long as they –player or NPC– didn't tell about what you did and you didn't confess, you wouldn't get any points.

"Hahaha..."

Their laughs filled the bar. And then they hit their beer gla.s.s in unity.

Clink!

"Cheers!"

・・・

The next day.

I tested my new equipment by fighting multiple monsters. To see how good my self-made armor set was. And so far, the armor was actually pretty decent.

Until we met an annoying monster.

Lanarea Dire Wolf.

They were smart. Ignoring the front line, they were targeting the rear instead. Mirage had a hard time avoiding their attack. When I almost killed them, they were howling. It was a calling for help, and more of them were coming. It was almost a never ending battle. So I acted fast.

I killed about 6 wolfs simultaneously. When the last one tried to let out another howl. I rushed and tried to interrupt the howl. Noticing me getting closer, they growled and changed into offensive position. As they leaped toward me, I lift my sword to receive their claw. However, they averted their attack. They immediately rushed toward Mirage and attacked her. It was fast. I tried to follow but I couldn't catch them.

Scratch!

Mirage fell on the ground. She had no more mana to heal herself. The last mana she had was given to me when I was in critical condition. She chose to heal me even though she could die at any moment. Thankfully, it seemed that attack was the wolf's last stamina. After that, their movement were sluggish and they desperately tried to run. Noticing that, I pursued and finished the wolf immediately. I leaped and pinned my sword through their back.

Stab!

The battle finally ended. My skin that wasn't covered by armor was full of wounds. I wiped my sweat on my forehead while panting heavily. I saw Mirage down on the ground, when she was trying to get up, she immediately fell.

"Eh...?"

"W-what's wrong?" I asked while running toward her.

"I think I sprained my foot. Ehehe..." She looked at me while smiling wryly.

"Let me see..."

There was a rip on her left boot. I took off the boot and looked at her bare foot. Her ankle was bruised with purple color, on top of it was a claw mark. Red blood was coming out and dripping down to the ground.

"Ah this is bad..." I sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

"It's fine. There were too many of them. It was a hard fight even if I used all my skills."

She was smiling brightly even though there were also some wounds on some parts of her body.

I took out a cloth from my bag and ripped it. I used it to patch her ankle and the other wounds.

"You don't have to. I can heal once I have regenerated enough mana."

"It's to stop the bleeding. And you will probably heal me first. I don't want that."

"Ehehe... Thank you..."

"Alright. Let's go back to Orbania." I turned and squatted. "I'll piggyback you."

Mirage just smiled and hopped on my back.

I was glad. Experiencing this kind of thing wasn't actually that bad. Even though just a moment of happiness, I enjoyed this game. I really enjoyed my second life.

・・・

Lanarea Forest Outskirt near Orbania City.

Four people were tied on the ground. Three women and one man. Those NPCs were going to be sold, raped, or even killed in Lawless City. Their fate was already decided that way when they were kidnapped.

The only man in the group was struggling and talking loudly.

"The f.u.c.k are you doing!?"

"Let me go!"

"You'll pay for this!"

"Don't you know who I am?"

Hearing the man kept spouting those words, the wolfman was p.i.s.sed and annoyed by the man's behavior.

"SHUT UP! Do you want to die, huh!?" The wolf man shouted at him in anger. "Behave like a dog or we'll kill you."

"f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. You dare doing this to me. Let me go!"

"You piece of s.h.i.+t! At this rate, someone will hear this f.u.c.king idiot." The wolfman said as he kicked the man. "Boss, can I kill him?"

The man face became dim. His eyes widened and his mouth immediately shut.

"Do whatever you want. But if we kill him then it will reduce our income." The boss, the heavy armored human, answered him while coming closer to them.

"f.u.c.king bandits. I'll give you money. But please, release my daughter. Or I'll f.u.c.k your life."

"Grrr... This f.u.c.king guy really wants to die, huh?" The wolfman growled at him.

"Your daughter? You mean this girl?" The boss said as he was ogling a girl who was behind the man.

The girl was terrified, so she buried herself behind her father's back. Long haired brunette human with a beautiful pair of hazel eyes. Her clothes were torn here and there, exposing her curved body and fair skin. It was because she was struggling when she was kidnapped. And that was when her father barged in. Hence, her father also got caught.

The boss began to look at her with l.u.s.t. Then he tried to grab her up.

"W-what are you doing!?" The man was surprised.

The girl gasped and reflexively tried to struggle. However, the boss was too strong for her.

"Please no! I beg you... Please release her!" The man was trying to intervene. But then the wolfman kicked him.

"Daddy..." Her voice was shaking.

"NOOO PLEASE, TANYA!"

"SHUT UP!!"

Thump!

Once again, the wolfman kicked him, but this time, the man fell unconscious.

"D-DAD!?!"

The girl was shaking. Her eyes were wide open, looking at the scary boss in front of her.

"Let's have some fun shall we?" The boss grinned while licking his lips. "Oh don't worry, I'll make you become a fine woman."

・・・

Mirage was humming joyfully the whole time. She seemed happy.

It was actually unfortunate for me. If I remembered to resupply, I could still hunting monsters on the way back. I was too excited to test my own self-made gears, so I forgot to buy supplies and teleport scroll. Nonetheless, I was actually enjoying this moment. Sometimes, I needed this kind of experience too. It was the joy of adventure.

"Ah... I just remember something."

"One of your memories back?"

"Yeah... Ehehe..." Mirage giggled.

It seemed it was a good memory.

"Father was once piggybacking me. It seemed we were going to collect ingredients. We were laughing and playing joyfully. And then..." She stopped.

She was silent for a moment. I did not want to interrupt so I waited her to continue. However...

"Aaaaahhh no... Please stop..."

Suddenly, a scream was heard from afar.

・・・

"Aaaaahhh no... Please stop..."

The girl was struggling. Alas, the boss was stronger and her efforts were useless. But the girl didn't give up, she tried to kick the boss.

"You bandits should just die!"

Annoyed, the boss slapped the girl.

SMACK!

The girl's cheek turned red. And she becoming more aggressive. Trying to move and attack the boss in every ways.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Let me go! Let me go!"

Tears starting to fill her eyes. The boss didn't care and pushed the girl down on the gra.s.sy ground. He sat on top of her and then ripped the girl's clothes. Her bountiful chests were exposed. The man smiled and licked his lips.

"P-please... no..." The girl pleaded. She had no power left. Her faint voice was shaky and her eyes were overflowing with tears.

The boss took off his pants and began to show his ugly-shaped dagger. But then, one of his grunts interrupted.

"B-boss..." Said the light-armored human.

He was a newbie who just entered the party. It seemed he had no value in his eyes, so the boss ignored him and continued stripping the girl's bottom. The girl tried to close her legs, but the boss spread them forcefully. The boss licked his lips with a wide smile on his face. However, once again, his grunt called him.

"BOSS!" It was the Wolfman this time.

"Tsk! What the h.e.l.l do you want!? You will not get your turn if you don't shut your G.o.dd.a.m.n mouth!"

"Please boss, l-look be-behind you..." The wolfman said.

The boss turned his gaze toward where his grunt pointed at.

From the forest, chilling air was blown softly. The cold breeze brought something more... White mist was spreading, blanketed the outskirt forest as the temperature became colder.

As the mist already filled the gra.s.sy outskirt, a voice was softly heard from the forest. The faint sound was slowly becoming clear.

A beautiful high-pitched voice.

A soothing song as if an angel was singing from heaven. It was so beautiful yet it was so scary. Anybody would get gooseb.u.mps hearing the unknown song. And then, within the mist, a shadow appeared. Even though the shadow seemed walking, no footsteps were heard. Slowly but steady, it revealed its figure.

Around two meters tall humanoid figure. They were wearing unusual black armor with a hood on. One thing was noticeable and unique from the armor. There were white ribs on it. On the right hand, the figure was holding one meter black sword which was similar to a needle.

The figure was slowly walking toward them. Slowly, the mist no longer covered the tall figure and revealed what was under the black hood...

Their face was faceless. Pale white faceless being.

The player killer party didn't know. But they would soon realize, that they had witnessed what it seemed to be their nightmare.