***
As Lorn headed towards the research center to log in, he received a call.
"Elan…" he muttered with a sigh. "What does he want?"
He let the phone ring for some time before picking up reluctantly.
"Good morning," a sonorous voice said from the other side. "Are you heading to the research center now?"
"Yeah?"
"Where exactly are you?"
Lorn gave his general direction. He didn't want to waste time talking to Elan, but he knew he couldn't let the man realize that. He only hoped he wouldn't bother him too much.
"Alright, keep walking, then. I'll meet you on the way. Wouldn't want to keep you away from your fun."
The call ended, and Lorn stared at the phone for a bit.
'What the hell does he want?'
Sighing again, Lorn kept on walking. At some point, a black van appeared right next to him and dropped Elan off. The Asian smiled amicably at Lorn, waving his hands. There was a bruise on the man's cheeks, and an extra scar near his eyes. Lorn smiled, seeing his misfortune.
"Is that the car you use for kidnappings?" Lorn asked.
"Oh!" Elan replied smilingly. "Yes! How did you know?"
"…"
Elan seemed to be in a good mood. Granted, the man never stopped smiling, but today seemed to be an especially good day for him.
"Nice weather today," Lorn said.
"Indeed. Anyhow, I decided to enter the experiment myself."
Lorn paused.
'Ah… shit.'
"I knew it," Elan's smile turned wider. "There's something fun going on and you don't want me to be a part of it."
"…"
"You're such an unreliable friend, Lorn. How could you do this to me? We've been friends for how long? Really."
Lorn didn't know what happened for Elan to suddenly make a decision like this. But he did know that if Elan appeared in the One World, he would do countless things to find an edge inside the game world. If he deems it necessary, he would even go as far to bring in his henchmen into the One World, so he could come up above the others.
Lorn grimaced at the thought.
'But… I'm still too far for him to reach in-game. He can't bully me like he does in the One World.'
As Lorn consoled himself with such words, Elan pulled him closer. Leaning into his ears, he whispered.
"I'll be waiting for you in Vexis. Come find me. I'll be waiting for you with my Spirit Partner."
Patting the dazed Lorn on the shoulder, Elan trotted away. A couple dozen thugs came out and greeted him. Elan said a few words to them and they all headed towards the research center.
"Fuck… Fuck. Fuck…"
Lorn couldn't understand what was going on.
'How does he know all that?'
Lorn took a deep breath. He needed to calm down.
A moment later, he thought about the situation once more.
He could only assume that Elan was playing the game for some time now. And perhaps he stumbled upon Spirit Bonds like himself. It wasn't impossible.
'But how does he know what I know about Spirit Bonds?'
Elan's tone and word choice suggested that he knew. He was basically oozing sadism, like he felt immense pleasure in fucking over Lorn. The man's greatest joy was to bring misfortune upon others. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Lorn was all too familiar with how Elan's mind worked, so he wasn't so confused about why Elan would 'tease' him like this.
But the problem remained.
Lorn naturally doubted the ones who knew him. Han Jihye, Mark, and Yara.
The most suspicious was the Korean lady. She was an ambitious woman who was willing to do anything to get on top. And from what Lorn could tell, she wasn't so interested in the One World. She wouldn't mind giving away the secrets of the game if she could find some advantage in reality.
'If by some unlucky circumstance she was indebted to Elan, she could've convinced Elan to enter the experiment himself, then sold the information without angering the One Country.'
Mark wasn't suspicious, but he was prone to getting bullied. He could've been forced to spill the beans somehow.
'If Elan was connected to him… it would be a piece of cake for him to control Mark however he wanted.'
But in both cases, Lorn would have to meet them to know exactly what happened. Since that was impossible, he could only work with empty theories.
He wanted to put Yara out of the list, but he was unable to. Lorn was confident she wasn't the culprit, but he knew he couldn't rely on that. It was impossible to guess exactly what she was thinking.
He also consulted a few psychiatrists on the meanings of colors as emotions. He sometimes received varied answers, but black always had negative associations. Most associated with psychopathy or sociopathy, some with the lack of will to live, and one said that it was perhaps a sign of insanity.
Orange, though, was interesting. It either represented sociability, humor, adventurousness, and creativity. They were emotions that fit how Yara behaved. But since the orange only applied to her head and her heart was filled with black, Lorn couldn't wholeheartedly think that she was the bright and playful girl she made herself to be.
With heavy thoughts, Lorn reached the research center.
'I should focus on surviving that ordeal for now…'
At the gates, he met Yara. They repeated the plan to each other and went to meet their respective researchers. They were led to their tanks soon after and logged in at exactly 09:58.
Lorn found himself in a noisy place. Shouts and growls filled the area and Lorn immediately shook himself up.
"They're back!" Adrian was shouting.
Lorn looked around and saw the three in his party fighting off against a herd of ogres. There were also a lot of unfamiliar faces.
'They managed to find help…' Lorn thought with relief.
It was shortlived, as he saw that the number of ogres were much more than he expected. There even seemed to be some monsters flying in the air. Now that he noticed, the battle that was occurring was very intense.
Lorn realized the severity of the situation and forced himself up. Beside him, he also saw Yara logging in. Thankfully, there wasn't much deviation in the timing. He helped her up and the two joined the fight.
'But I have to keep my abilities low…' he reminded himself.
He grabbed a sword and Yara grabbed a shield. They walked into the middle of the team which was clearing out the monsters, shouting out to Sybil.
"Do we kill the monsters here or do we run?!" she shouted after seeing the two.
"We'll kill them all, but we'll move the battlefield closer to the city!"
The person who replied was a knight in shining armor, literally. He was wearing a full plate armor that seemed made of diamonds, with how much it shone and glistened. Lorn couldn't see Diamond's face from inside the helmet, but he couldn't help but imagine a sleek looking blondie with a gorgeous face. Someone similar to Danton.
Lorn shook the thought away and tried to integrate himself into the fight. To not give away his true strength, he only used Spirit Burst and Strengthening while in everyone's sight. He could also use his fog skills because he planned to act as a Fog user, but his fog would only serve to hinder his own teammates. But, while making his Spirit Imperceptible, he could use his mental manipulation skills.
It was much worse fore Yara, who could only use Strengthening, as an F-rank.
Lorn dodged the wide sweep of an ogre and shot two Spirit bullets at its neck. They lodged themselves in the ogre's throat pipes, not even allowing blood to spurt from the wound. The ogre fell on the ground, clawing at its neck, but Lorn's eyes were already on the next enemy.
Some sort of Possessed eagle trying to claw at the Hunters with its bloody claws. It was almost twice as large as a normal one, and it even felt faster and more intelligent than its lesser counterparts. Its next target was Yara. As it dove down towards her, Lorn induced 'Fear' on it.
It moved awkwardly in the air, trying to fly away from Yara, but being unable to because of its momentum. It hovered in one place, trying to find its balance, and Lorn shot it dead with one Spirit bullet.
Bright lights flashed from somewhere. Diamonds was using a pure white spear that shot beams of light each time he made a thrust in the air. The beams were powerful enough to leave holes in the ogres' bodies.
At the edge of his vision, Lorn caught another ogre swinging a club at him. He dodged down and shot at its face. It blocked with its free hand, forcing Lorn to stab at the thing with his shortsword. With the strength of 15 men, Lorn's thrust pierced through the ogre's arm and lodged itself in its face.
A disgusting feeling overwhelmed Lorn's senses as the attack connected. He ignored it as much as possible and pulled out his sword, seeing the next club swinging at him.
He felt his body moving unnaturally by itself, slightly leaning to the side and preparing for a spinning slash, leaving his ribs wide open. Lorn panicked, as he briefly lost control over his body. But when he prepared to take the club to his side, it hit an eagle instead. Immediately after, Lorn was in the perfect position to slash off the ogre's neck.
He completed the spinning slash and stood dazedly.
'Probability Alteration!' he suddenly realized. 'The name doesn't fit at all!' he immediately complained.
He didn't have much time to think. The next enemy was coming at him. Lorn also had to worry about the eagles flying high above them. There were at least three dozen of them covering the sky. He tried shooting at them, but they easily dodged his Spirit pellets.
Lorn thought of an idea. He rushed to a random warrior.
"Cover me for ten seconds!" he told him.