The sound was like a bus getting ready to drive off."Reagan has joined the team!""No.1 has joined the team!""No.2 has joined the team!""Zywane has joined the team!"The mechanical voice spoke again as four notifications popped up in the team chatroom."Reagan wants to trade 10,000 Points. Accept? Yes/No?""Yes!" Reagan was obviously the big client that Dealer had introduced. Lincoln was not going to reject the deposit payment.The client did not type anything. It was No.1 who spoke in his stead, acting as his representative to the other team members....No.1: Can we enter the Mission world now?Zywane: Hold up, I need to replenish some supplies!Evilgenius : Same +1!2567: Same +2!No. 1: How long do you need?Zywane: Another hour!Evilgenius : Same +1!2567: Same + 2!Zywane: ...No.1: Then we will enter the Mission world in exactly one hour. Hope that everyone can be on time....The team chat had filled with strangers communicating with each other before everyone went quiet ag
The salty sea breeze blew across the sea, the waves crashing one after the other. The ferry was carrying food, water and medicine as it cruised smoothly towards the island.Captain Ralph looked a little distracted as he stood in the cockpit of the ship, letting the first mate take over the wheel.He kept looking at the room outside the cockpit from time to time. It had originally been the captain’s cabin, but he had surrendered it over to those men voluntarily. He knew exactly why those people were on the ferry.Captain Ralph could not help but shiver every time he thought about it. Those people were on their way to the island to solve the mysteries.As a man making a living working at sea, Captain Ralph had witnessed countless incidents that could not be explained by science. As a result, he was afraid of certain things.One of those things were people who dealt with mysteries...."A ferry? Oh, I’ve missed this kind of transportation!" said a hunky, bare-chested man sucking on a cig
Zywane looked at Lincoln with sharp, glowing eyes.As time passed, his fighting intent and provocation got clearer and clearer.That was why Lincoln had been reluctant to join a team Mission world in the first place. Once there was a conflict of interest, no matter how harmonious the group was, a fight would break out among the team members and things would get hard.Lincoln was sure that if it hadn’t been for the Team Contract, Zywane would have already started a fight with him.Of course, so would Lincoln.It was the strong that had the authority and the right to speak.Survival of the fittest. The law of the jungle.Lincoln had recently gotten a better grasp of the laws of nature.Evilgenius , Zywane and Reagan all abode by those laws too. Every veteran player in the system obeyed the laws of nature.Any players who were unable to obey got eliminated from the system.As long as there was a law or rule, even if that law or rule was unwritten, it was still traceable.At Zywane’s prov
When Ralph handed Lincoln the talisman, item notifications started popping up in his vision.[Name: Knitted Tasliman][Type: Equipment][Rarity: Common][Attributes: When enemies in spirit form appear within a 5-meter radius, it will give you a warning.][Effects: None][Able to bring out of Mission world: Yes][Remarks: This talisman was knitted by the nimble hands of a pure soul. Knitted with Mist Snake Grass under the first light of dawn, it is able to detect paranormal activity near the wearer. Please remember that it will only give you a warning. It will not help you defend yourself.]...The scariest thing about ghosts was the fact that they were formless and undetectable with the naked eye. Had they been visible, given the fact that fire and electricity could destroy them, they would not have been considered scary at all.Although the [Knitted Talisman] could not allow Lincoln to do that, it could still give him a warning whenever a ghost was present. For Lincoln, that would be
At Lincoln’s warning, the atmosphere in the room turned ice cold. The merry scene became chilly in an instant.Everyone froze like a statue with their glasses in their hands, not even making the slightest movement.Reagan threw his glass onto the table, his face turning extremely pale. He backed up a few steps as if he had stepped on a snake.The bloody-red wine splashed onto the table and dripped onto the floor, the sound breaking the spell that had come over them."Impossible! I just got this from the kitchen!"Jack looked at Lincoln, and then at the glass in his hand. He did not dare drink it.Unlike the prison guard, the rest of the team did not doubt Lincoln’s words. They all believed him. Evilgenius , who had a good relationship with him, Reagan, who had hired him, even competitive Zywane did not question him.They knew that Lincoln would not lie in such a situation. A lie would have easily been detected."We can try it and find out, or get a specialist," Lincoln said."Very wel
"Deputy Warden!"The moment the scream was heard, Lincoln could tell who was screaming in agony.His body naturally moved towards the origin of the gunshots. He was like an arrow shooting through the bow, using his D- Agility to the fullest. Zywane quickly followed behind at a similar speed, looking like a horse let loose.The guards and the Warden only started to move when the two of them were about ten meters ahead. Doubts formed in Lincoln’s head while he was running."Something is not right!"As Lincoln recalled the series of incidents that had taken place since they’d set foot on Nithra, his brows were knitted together tight.From the poison in their wine, to the guards drinking it and the Deputy Warden getting shot, every single incident seemed like it had been arranged beforehand."Was the Deputy Warden the target after all?"Out of the blue, speculations bloomed in Lincoln’s mind.Meanwhile, he looked at the Deputy Warden, who was lying between the stairs of first and second f
As the old doctor came out of his office, the Warden, who had been waiting for him on the third floor outside the infirmary, swarmed him questions."Dr. Fenkes, how is he?"After Lincoln had performed first aid to help Old Tom, they had rushed him to the infirmary and allowed Dr. Fenkes to perform emergency treatment on him."He’ll live, but he’s still out cold," the old doctor said, letting out a long breath.As the only doctor at the prison, Dr. Fenkes knew that the odds of Old Tom surviving were not particularly good.Death was Old Tom’s best option now, but that was not for him to decide. He was just a doctor after all. All he could do was carry out his duties to the fullest."Good, very good. As long as he’s alive, it’s all good. If he dies, I’ll have no way to locate his accomplices!" Warden Sherko said with a vicious expression. Warden Sherko was not an idiot. The fact that he had become the Warden of the facility was proof enough of his intelligence. He had been the fastest to
"Welcome to Nithra, everyone. I’m Warden Sherko."When he entered the room, the Warden welcomed everyone like a host would their guests.Unlike the cold, arrogant Deputy Warden’s welcome, the Warden was smiling a lot. However, his smile did not look sincere. It felt like just a show that he had to put on.His tone became more official as he started telling them more."Nithra is not big, and I am responsible for a lot of things around there, so I could not receive you when you first arrived. I am really sorry about that.""Especially after this recent incident. My anxiousness really got the best of me."Warden Sherko opened his speech with an apology before he started to explain why he had hired Lincoln and his team and invited them to the island."Everything started a month ago. I believe Payne Prax is a familiar name to all of you. He was the leader of the infamous Hermetic Praxis Order, a sadistic psychopath with a personality disorder, who caused the suicide of over a hundred peopl
It was Zywane.Although there was a blood-colored pattern on his face, the structure of his head and his clothes allowed Lincoln to quickly recognize his hostile teammate.The blood pattern on his face gave Lincoln a very familiar feeling. Somehow it even felt a little cordial.Lincoln unconsciously stared at the pattern, his gaze suddenly making it come alive.It was wriggling and crawling around like a blood-colored snake, and moving like one too.The bloody snake raised its head and started hissing at Lincoln with its tongue out.Lincoln’s eyes opened wide in shock . The snake’s head had appeared in front of him out of thin air, its tongue close to Lincoln’s lips. A strong repulsed sensation flooded Lincoln’s heart, as if he had eaten something utterly disgusting. It was actually even worse than that.Lincoln quickly grabbed the snake’s head, feeling how slippery it was between his palms.He wanted to toss the snake away or just crush the creature’s head.Contrary to Lincoln’s expe
The window had a wooden frame and glass embedded on it, and the sunlight shined through the transparent glass, shedding light inside.The warm sunlight expelled the cold and darkness all around it. Countless formless souls were swarming the third floor, but none of them went near the staircase window. It was like their nemesis was hiding there.There was nothing there but sunlight. Sunlight! They were afraid of sunlight. Lincoln realized it in an instant, and after rolling to dodge their attack, he used both his hands and legs to jump towards the window.The formless souls tangling with Lincoln had noticed his intention and they let out a screech, flying towards him once again.This time, the formless souls threw themselves at him faster. Lincoln was only two meters away from the window when the souls caught up with him. Not waiting for Lincoln to roll away again, they appeared before him one after the other from beneath the floor.They could pass through walls? Lincoln was shocked as
The hot sensation on his chest made Lincoln turn on his [Tracking].He knew why the [Knitted Talisman] was emitting heat.[Attributes: When a ghost type enemy appears within a 5-meter radius, it will give you a warning!]The description on the item window had stated as much clearly.Lincoln’s vision had turned to revealing mode following the activation of his [Tracking], but he could not see any white tracks, red blood or black gun residue. All he could see was a shadow.It was blurry and only partially visible, but it was heading straight for Lincoln.Lines of sparks appeared around Lincoln’s [Lightning Tiger’s Finger]. Without holding back, Lincoln punched the monster hard.Bang!Lincoln’s punch landed accurately on the black shadow. The feeling was like hitting a gunny sack, and the sound was similar too.The shadow that rushed towards Lincoln shivered with high speed after it was attacked .A scream of agony was heard before the shadow was shredded to pieces and disappeared into t
Jack looked at Lincoln incredulously. He could not believe his eyes.According to his calculations, Lincoln should have been fully occupied grieving for his friend’s death.Why would he be there?The questions on his mind were evident on his face and doubtful gaze."What are you saying, Mr. 2567? What do you mean it’s me? I don’t understand. I am here because I was worried Old Tom’s accomplices would take advantage of this chance and kill him!"Jack looked at Lincoln with a puzzled look, his tone even more doubtful than before.Lincoln slow-clapped. Even though he had confirmed his theory, he really had to give it to Jack. He was a remarkable actor. This was an Oscar-worthy performance."If you don’t understand, you can take a look at this."Lincoln took out the two pieces of paper."What’s this? The paper from the old master thief? That old f*g!"When Jack saw the two pieces of paper in Lincoln’s hand, his ordinary, kind face suddenly turned vicious.He did not try to explain any fur
The unexpected discovery had made Lincoln delighted in an instant.He could not wait to find a secluded place and see what was on the crumpled piece of paper in his pocket.The guard who had knocked down the old master thief came ranting towards Jack."Jack, if you have time to explain useless information, why don’t you come over here and give me a hand? The Warden took too many men from my team, I’m short on manpower!" the guard said as he signaled for Jack to help him."But the Warden has asked me to-""I think the Warden would not object to you helping me."Before Jack could finish, he was cut off by the guard, who was looking at Lincoln deliberately, as if he wanted to make things awkward."I suppose the good sir here would not mind as well?" he said."Of course not," Lincoln said, smiling under the stare of the two guards.He could not wait to see what was inside that paper, so he did not object."Very well. Then follow this corridor straight to the end. You can exit through the
Words...No. To be precise, there was a combination of symbols and pictures before Lincoln.The blood formed two big circles, one inside the other, an inner one and an outer one. In the middle, there was an abstract drawing that looked like a scorpion.Lincoln was not completely sure that it was a scorpion. As a matter of fact, he could not even tell if it was a real symbol or picture that was formed by the blood stain.As for the words?Lincoln had never seen any words like these before. At least not that he knew of."What are these?"Lincoln looked at the gap between the two big circles. There were even more symbols there.The line started with a pentagram and ended with an upside down pentagram. By Lincoln’s calculations, there were about 41 of them.It wasn’t that Lincoln couldn’t be bothered to count them precisely. It was just that the symbols were too alien and complicated, and he could not tell whether they were mixed together forming one meaning, or if they were combinations
Old Tom was unconscious in the infirmary on the third floor. The passageway that led to the cells was also on the third floor.These two reasons were enough for Lincoln to want to visit the third floor again and Jack accompanied him there.He would have preferred to go alone, but once he thought about the cameras in the corridors, he frowned.Even with his Pro Level [Undercover] Skill, he still would not have been able to move freely. He was not invisible after all.The arrangement of the guards had been changed as well, because the Warden wanted to catch Old Tom’s accomplices.Two guards were standing there without the slightest hint of a smile on their faces. They inspected everyone that set foot on the third floor, hoping to catch the culprits.Looking at the new arrangement, Lincoln shook his head in silent disagreement. He doubted that this method would lead to the arrest of Old Tom’s accomplices.Not the very men who had caused all that chaos back there and succeeded in luring t
"Welcome to Nithra, everyone. I’m Warden Sherko."When he entered the room, the Warden welcomed everyone like a host would their guests.Unlike the cold, arrogant Deputy Warden’s welcome, the Warden was smiling a lot. However, his smile did not look sincere. It felt like just a show that he had to put on.His tone became more official as he started telling them more."Nithra is not big, and I am responsible for a lot of things around there, so I could not receive you when you first arrived. I am really sorry about that.""Especially after this recent incident. My anxiousness really got the best of me."Warden Sherko opened his speech with an apology before he started to explain why he had hired Lincoln and his team and invited them to the island."Everything started a month ago. I believe Payne Prax is a familiar name to all of you. He was the leader of the infamous Hermetic Praxis Order, a sadistic psychopath with a personality disorder, who caused the suicide of over a hundred peopl
As the old doctor came out of his office, the Warden, who had been waiting for him on the third floor outside the infirmary, swarmed him questions."Dr. Fenkes, how is he?"After Lincoln had performed first aid to help Old Tom, they had rushed him to the infirmary and allowed Dr. Fenkes to perform emergency treatment on him."He’ll live, but he’s still out cold," the old doctor said, letting out a long breath.As the only doctor at the prison, Dr. Fenkes knew that the odds of Old Tom surviving were not particularly good.Death was Old Tom’s best option now, but that was not for him to decide. He was just a doctor after all. All he could do was carry out his duties to the fullest."Good, very good. As long as he’s alive, it’s all good. If he dies, I’ll have no way to locate his accomplices!" Warden Sherko said with a vicious expression. Warden Sherko was not an idiot. The fact that he had become the Warden of the facility was proof enough of his intelligence. He had been the fastest to