158 Soul Hourglass

Small mini note. My friend's computer has my Webnovel account saved on it. There were a few lines in the previous chapter that didn't pertain to the story. He admitted to writing those random things. He won't delete anything important like chapters or add anything not suitable to the audience like NSFW. But, he will continue changing random lines so that I can improve my so-called "editing skills."

Not every chapter will have those mistakes. Every once in a while, he'll log on and add something to one of my chapters. I'm paraphrasing what he told me.

If you ever see any random piece of text that doesn't fit in or makes no sense, then assume it's either him adding stuff or me not being a good editor/writer. Rant over. You may read the previous chapter without any weird grammar sentences or words.

P.S. Also shoutouts to Attiq for noticing lots of errors. One of those errors was my fault. "Homed in" is correct instead of "Honed in." I'll do my best with these chapters, and I hope you'll bear through anything weird.

Now onto the chapter.

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"The guy who's a part of the Dark Ones is a friend of mine. He goes by the name Absolute Zero. If you haven't realized by his name, he has the powers of ice. He's always interacting with ice and thriving in it," J said.

"And, where can I find him?" Emile said.

"He lives in an ice home he created for himself. I haven't talked to the true him for many years. We only talk about the next task we need to do for the Dark Ones. He's the guy who told me to lure people in and kill them. The most recent kill was going to be you."

"Was I picked randomly or was there a reason for picking me?" Emile asked.

"I think they picked you for a special reason since when we kill, we like to kill people that look weak. After fighting against you, I don't think you're weak at all."

"Why do you guys kill?" Emile wanted to know what reason they had to kill random people. These people should know that by bringing someone to a secluded place and murdering them had dire consequences. If anyone noticed the killings, then they could report to the mayor, and the mayor would act against the people. It was risky for the Dark Ones to do this.

J took out an hourglass which had a purple liquid inside. He held it in his palms with care. J spoke.

"This is a Soul Hourglass. It holds the souls of the people killed. It stores their anger, unwillingness to die, and their agony inside the glass."

"What does that thingy do?"

"It's an energy creator. The hourglass is one of the most efficient ways to get lots of energy, but they banned it throughout the world. For an obvious reason. I don't know why the Dark Ones want lots of energy."

"Can you free their souls?" Emile asked with wonder as he stared into the half-empty glass of purple liquid.

"Yeah, but-"

Emile cut him off and spoke.

"We need to get lots of items or gold coins to free their souls?" Every time Emile heard the word "but" he assumed that it was an indicator of a quest.

The person he was talking to would list off multiple things they needed to accomplish their goals.

"Not really. You can break the glass to free the souls of the people. I wanted to say that we should get closer to the bodies before we destroy it." J said as he scratched his head.

"Oh... I assumed wrong," Emile said with a laugh.

"Yeah. Not everything is complicated in life," J said with a laugh.

J walked over to the bodies and split the hourglass open. He didn't need the hourglass anymore since he wasn't under the control of the Dark Ones.

The purple liquid floated into the air and disappeared somewhere into the atmosphere.

"Wait. I realized that we shouldn't have broken the glass that quickly," J said as he scratched his head.

"Why?" Emile asked.

"I don't know if the Dark Ones can track down the hourglass or have a method of identifying if someone broke the glass or not," J said. J didn't think it through. Emile didn't know too much about tracking items, so he didn't try to stop him from breaking the glass.

"Well, if they can track it, then it's too late now since you already broke the glass. So don't fret about it," Emile said as he shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't too worried about the Dark Ones since they wouldn't want to waste their people's time to track them down.

"Now, tell me how to find Absolute Zero," Emile asked.

"You've heard of Sunrise City? He lives around 1000 meters away from the city. Take the East exit and walk on the path until you see the sign. Go behind the sign and walk straight. You'll soon find a blue home that radiates the cold. That's where he lives." J said.

[Quest is updating. Fight Absolute Zero. Rewards updating. You will receive Title: Duo City Protector]

Emile assumed that the Duo City Protector title came from saving two cities. He already saved White Star City by stopping the killings.

Emile expected that the energy from the hourglass would be used to destroy the city the same way as they destroyed Pyaka City.

"All right. I don't know what you're going to do. You should repent for your mistakes," Emile said. He wouldn't let him get away scotfree since the man did kill multiple people.

He had to accept some punishment for his actions.

J nodded. He expected to go to jail. He was willing to repent for his actions even if he didn't do any of them.

Players could also go to jail. They will only go to jail if they killed lots of people. Around 10 kills would cause the city guards to place them in jail.

Emile's status as a noble allowed him to avoid the punishment. Though, if he killed more than 100 players at once, then the city guards would apprehend him as well.

The game used this as a measure to stop a player from having too many kills. Players could still kill as many as they want, but their risk grew higher and higher with each kill.

Emile brought the man to the city guards. J didn't escape. He admitted his crimes and what things he had to deal with.

They sent J to the jail for further trials. They wouldn't give him the death sentence since that was cruel for a man who couldn't control his actions. He would stay in prison for many years.

Emile told his party about the Absolute Zero. He tried sharing the quest again, but the system stopped him.

He couldn't give them the quest, so it was another individual quest.

Flower Queen found a quest that the party could accomplish, so they were busy completing that quest. It would yield a few Rare items and one Red Silver item.

Emile moved on with his personal quest by using a Space Gem to travel to Sunrise City. He visited this city a few days ago, so he didn't need to take the teleporter to that city.

Emile followed the directions by heading towards the east exit of the city. He walked along the path until he reached the sign.

He walked behind the sign and continued walking forward. After some time, he spotted the home.

The light reflected off the ice. There was a small moat around the home with water in it.

Emile assumed that whenever the house melted due to the sun, the water would flow into the moat. This was why the man had a moat around his home.

The man had to fix his home constantly since it melted. He could practice his ice skills every day because of the way he created his house.

The man's method of living wouldn't be suitable for a lazy person since they would have to repair the house.

Emile circled the house to see if there was a path towards the front entrance which was a door made of ice. There wasn't.

There was a water moat with flowing water inside. Emile couldn't walk on water since his water skills weren't at that level. It would make his life easier if he knew how to do that.

Walking on water was a skill he would get later on. For now, he had to leap over the moat. Emile leaped over the ditch and walked towards the ice that looked like a door.

He knocked on the ice door. It didn't seem like he was going to an evil man's home and attacking him.

Emile would judge the man based on his actions before taking any action. The system couldn't control him. He would decide if he should attack the person.

Emile let his guard down as he waited in front of the door. Ice spikes shot up from underneath his feet. Emile reacted quickly and hugged the right wall. Only two of the spikes hit him which dealt a lot of damage.

'Definitely evil.' Emile thought in his mind as he hugged the ice-cold wall. The door opened, and a man chanted a spell.

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Author's Note

Synopsis V3. Shoutouts to Attiq (again) and Kiroji for the final few edits it needs. I don't think it can get better than this. Just in case, I'll be asking for your opinion again.

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In the distant future, on a vastly different earth from ours, lived a young man named Emile Reeder who's driven by his pure love for Martial Arts.

Emile's father, his only remaining family member, trained him from a young age in hopes of reviving their family. When his training grew near completion, he sent Emile into the latest Virtual Reality Game, Nirvana, with the premise of challenging stronger opponents.

Little did Emile know, a deep secret hid within the game capable of changing the world. A secret connected with his deceased family.

Follow Emile's journey as he travels through the game world meeting new friends and rivals, challenging powerful adversaries, all in an attempt to grow stronger not just in the game, but also in the real world.

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And that's the synopsis. What do you guys think? Also if anyone didn't know how to pronounce Emile, here's how I pronounce it. E-meal.