16 Chu's powers(1)

-Toerbol Swamp, Paragon Online-

As Cyrus left the game, Chu was alone in the dark swamp.

She knew she didn't say anything wrong, nor did she do anything wrong, but a creeping suspicion and sense of guilt arose in the back of her mind.

At this moment, red eyes menacingly fixated themselves on her from a few thick bushes.

Then, a beautiful, but intimidating panther revealed itself.

(Audubon Swamp Panther - Level 11)

Its beige fur erected in the presence of prey, and its swift hind legs flexed, fully ready to charge towards her at an incredible speed.

Chu stepped back and turned her vision to the carcass of the mother arachnid.

She placed her hands on it, and tried to use her necromantic abilities on it, but unfortunately...

(You do not have enough Mana. Use 78 Health Points as a substitute?)

(Caution: May increase Decay)

This was an unfortunate piece of information, and after the fight with the bear, Chu really couldn't afford to overuse her powers again.

She could log off right now, but the moment she logged in, she wouldn't be able to know what predicament she would find herself in.

Thus, she sighed and gave up.

The panther was as cautious as ever, making sure his prey remained stationary and preparing to bolt at her in one quick burst of speed.

'I wonder what the penalty for dying is in this game...'

*BANG*

She heard a high-pitched sound and readied herself for the pain of the fangs tearing her already-broken body apart, but instead, she only heard a bestial groan of pain.

"Man, these guns really are overpowered!" A playful voice echoed throughout the thick swamp.

Chu opened her eyes, confused until she saw the panther miserably walking towards her with a heavy limp.

Blood was flowing down its back legs, and it groaned repeatedly for help.

However, a merciless gunshot pierced through its hind legs this time.

Then...

*BANG*

A fourth bullet mangled the panther's limbs, causing it to fall to the ground.

Chu looked towards the source of the bullet and saw two men walking nonchalantly towards the scene of the battle.

The two were wearing a strange uniform.

It was a black, and tight battle suit, and two bold letters in violet color contrasted with the black of the suit.

'V.A?' It seemed to be an abbreviation of sorts.

The two also had scary wooden ceremonial masks on their faces.

One of the men wielded a gun in his hand and was clearly the one who shot the panther.

Chu felt an existential sense of dread from the man.

He was uncanny, and even with the mask, it didn't conceal the killing intent and ferociousness in his thin pupils.

She stepped back a few more steps but had to halt as her feet sunk into a puddle of deep muddy water.

"Couldn't you have just shot the panther once or twice in its vitals to end it?" The unarmed man asked the gun wielder.

The other laughed loudly and replied, "It's less fun that way, isn't it? I haven't touched a gun in years, fuck those progressive bastards for changing the gun control laws...

The other man clicked his tongue and turned around to leave.

"Wait, what's that?" This man had the eyesight of an eagle, and in the distance, he was able to make out the silhouette of a person.

Chu Wang realized that she had been spotted, and quickly escaped in the western direction that led back to Cape Immergroen.

However...

"Aaaaarghh!" She fell to the ground as an overwhelming sense of pain engulfed her lower body.

Her low Endurance did not help, and she couldn't recover it swiftly enough.

As soon as she mustered up the strength to stand up, a shadow dawned upon her vision.

A tall and muscular man, and the menacing gun in his hand.

"A woman?" The man crouched next to her.

Chu clenched her fist on the wet soil and launched it on the man's eyes.

Unfortunately, he swiped the mud away, and his hands approached her cloak.

"What are you?" The man frowned when he fully saw her face.

"Albert, what are you doing? We need to get back. Now."

The other man came behind him and furrowed his brows when he saw her rotting face.

"Hey, do you think I can get a reward from the church if I send them this thing's head?"

"She's an undead, they'd gladly reward you for that."

As soon as the other said that, Albert glued the gun to her head, and...

*BANG*

She instantly died.

When her body dissipated away, the two looked very surprised.

"That was a player?" Albert had killed a few players before, so he was familiar with the dissipating animation.

'Another immortal?'

______

Chu Wang shivered and shook in the respawning and log-out screen.

In those last few seconds, before he shot her, she didn't see a single hint of humanity in his eyes.

Her neighbors were selfish and apathetic, but at least, they seemed to have a slight hint of human and moral values.

That man lacked those.

When she saw him, it reminded her of the massacre in Bloemfarm Village.

These two had the same composure, and lack of compassion and value for human life.

At her moment of death, she felt like they considered her to be an inanimate object, not a person with feelings, or even the 'lich' they were speaking of.

After contemplating this for some time, she eventually pressed on the 'respawn' button and hoped she wouldn't respawn somewhere very far from Cape Immergroen.

Fortunately, when she opened her eyes, she was at the boulevard where she performed the protection quest earlier that day.

"Hey, woman, what are you doing outside at this time?" A patrolling guard approached her, suspicious of her strange attire and actions.

"I'm a registered adventurer."

Chu showed the man an insignia.

A simple white rectangle made of pristine quartz.

This was the logo of the World Bank, a branch of the Neutrality Ascetics, and this insignia thus had the backing and credibility of the gargantuan organization behind it.

"Oh, I apologize for the bother then, your attire just seemed somewhat strange."

As he left, she thought about the reason she was wearing this attire.

Her power, or more so, her lack of power as a result of this strange class she had.

If she could go back in time, she would never accept that man's proposals.

However, the only thing she could do now was to painfully remember the day of the launch of this game, the day that the trajectory of her gameplay would change forever.