Soulless Players Chapter 23: Before his end (2)

Chapter 23: Before his end (2)

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 ti 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 sa 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 ti you read this letter is the ti we bid our goodbyes to you. Our monts together may be short but the mories within are enough to say we enjoy the days with you.

Don't imprison yourself with guilt as this has already been predicted by . 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 co. 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 et 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 co 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 rember 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 rember that your ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ might help, possibly save us, in the future.

Be careful with your adventure. Let's et 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 ga.

'So Auntie is a prophet… does that an she knew about 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 an by saving them? Will they encounter a death-like situation in the future?'

Philip was even more confused as there were so 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 ga? What if after the ga 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 aning to say.

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

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

Knowing that so residents knew about the truth made Philip guilty and determined to win the ga.

'I'll not only win this ga 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 ga 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 cri, this still didn't make him back away from him. After all, Steve was the only person he knew about the rules of the ga.

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 movent above, Philip gritted his teeth as he forced himself to move into a dark alley.

Afterwards, Philip beca 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 dicine bottle, and drank the remaining contents in it.

Imdiately, 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 welco him.

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

'The dicine 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 ti for his transformation, "Eight hours. It took 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 troubleso 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 movent beca faster.

A little while later, Philip left the alley, leaving behind the dried blood on the ground and an empty dicine 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 beca 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 'Recruitnt Office.'

After days of observing Steve, Philip had co 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 co to him?' This was the first thought that ca 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 assu 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 so 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 co up with a plan that turned Steve's personal and greatest advantage into a disadvantage.