Chapter 39: Kill the shadow victim.

The Skeleton Knight, Hamr, moved to the side, the heavy clanking of his armor echoing in the stone corridor as he presented to Kai the locked room where Emilya had been kept inside the castle.

“Here you go, my Lord. The room you requested.” Hamr uttered with utmost respect, his voice deep and raspy, resonating from within his helmet.

Looking at Hamr, the once mindless skeleton now evolved into a high-tier Skeleton Knight, Kai couldn’t help but be impressed.

Unlike before, where he was mainly just made of brittle bones and nothing else, now he wore a full set of black armor that clouded and hid his entire skeletal body. He also had a voice and a distinct consciousness.

Just like he was proud as he walked around the grand castle to see all the intricate changes Carlotta had done, seeing his subordinate grow stronger also put a smile on his face.

[Hamr.]

[HP: 35,000/35,000.]

[Level: 400.]

Compared to Kai’s other two summons—Lyra at Level 999 and Carlotta likely near the same—Hamr was nothing. But when faced against other capable players, it would be quite clear to see the vast difference in their strength. A Level 400 tank was a raid boss for most.

“You may go.” Kai commanded as he fully faced the ornate wooden door.

However, Hamr remained, bowing his head as he spoke.

“Please allow me to guard this door until you are done. I believe I will rest easier knowing I am not too far from you if anything were to come up.”

Kai still kept his gaze to the front, but he understood the sentiment.

It was quite clear.

None of the monsters trusted the human that had infiltrated their hideout, especially with their Lord of all things. To them, she was a variable, a potential assassin.

“Very well. Do as you wish.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

Kai sighed internally. His subordinates were loyal to a fault.

He proceeded to open the door and walked into the room.

As soon as the door closed shut behind him, he was met with an entirely different view from the cold stone hallway.

The bed that was present in the center of the room was so big that it nearly looked like a building on its own, draped in silk sheets. The paintings on the walls were beautiful masterworks depicting dark landscapes. Lush rugs laid on the ground, a crystal chandelier hung from the roof, and even paintings of Kai in his Shadow form were plastered on every corner of the ceiling.

Honestly, looking at the entire thing just made Kai truly wary of the potential the dungeon had that he had no idea about.

Then again, Carlotta was human in her former life, which would explain all the extravagant designs he had seen so far.

Moving on, he didn’t waste his time worshipping the beauty of the room, even though, in all honesty, anyone would.

Instead, he looked towards the corner of the bed and noticed Emilya was already seated there, hugging her knees. She had spotted him too.

Upon merely laying her eyes on him, she glued her back to the headboard, the fear slowly beginning to show on her face as she trembled.

’Right. I doubt she would be able to have any meaningful conversation with me if I am in this form.’

So, to ease her tension, Kai willed his body to shift. The dark mist receded, flesh knitted together, and he returned to his handsome human form.

He slowly approached the bed, pulling up a velvet chair.

Seated at the corner, not too far away from where she was, he stared at her for a while, letting the silence settle.

At least it seemed like she was not as afraid as she was before.

“I hope my subordinates treated you well?” he asked, his voice calm.

Emilya nodded frantically.

“Very well then. I have taken this human form so we can have a discussion together. Do keep in mind I can force you to speak without your consent. But for the good of formality, I will refrain from that. Should I take it as you will cooperate with me?”

Every word Kai spoke felt like a velvet-wrapped threat to her. There was no way she could say no, not unless she didn’t value her life.

She knew Kai brought her here to save her life from the PKers, but she also knew she was now in the belly of the beast. As such, she could never dream to jeopardize that delicate safety.

Emilya nodded once again.

“I am glad we can come to an agreement. For my first question, I would like to understand a statement you made earlier in the city. You said something about dying in the game. What did you mean by that?”

Kai kept a keen eye on her.

’I should first get something from her before I lay everything on the ground. I need to verify if her info matches what I suspect.’

Emilya, with a bit of hesitation, decided to answer his question. Her voice was small, barely a whisper.

“It happened a few days ago…”

She began, her eyes distant.

“I was on a mission with my friend when we were suddenly ambushed by Forest Goblins. We tried to fight back, but the Goblins were too much. Our only option was to log out of the game as quickly as we could in order to avoid dying and losing our gear.”

She swallowed hard.

“That was when we noticed the Log Out button had been removed. It was just… gone. There was no way we could disconnect from the game. Many of us died in that ambush, but a few of us managed to survive and flee.”

She paused, tears welling up in her eyes.

“When we arrived at the city, the news of the Log Out button being removed began to spread like wildfire. Panic set in. Many people began to join guilds just to gather information. That was when we learned what was happening. We were stuck in the game. And we were told that if we die here… our real bodies die too.”

“How were you able to get this information?” Kai pressed.

“Someone from a High-Ranking Guild spread the information to the rest of the players. He said he used to be part of the production team in the real world, and he was the only one who could access the Developer Forums for us to read.”

“Where is he now?”

“He was killed. By the Ascension Cult.”

Kai paused.

He remembered them. Those were the Red Players he had killed in the forest.

’So it is a worldwide thing. How come I didn’t hear anything about it? I know I should be shocked, but for some reason, this doesn’t move me one bit. Maybe because… I was already dead to begin with?’

Kai looked away from Emilya and towards the system interface floating invisibly before him.

There were obviously multiple notifications he had not touched since he went to Rambosa City. He ignored the dungeon logs and skill updates, searching specifically for the Forums from the Live Chat tab.

And he saw it.

In fact, there was no other chat than that specific one there. A global announcement pinned to the top of every player’s interface.

[Sender: Game Dev]

[Subject: The Great Purge]

[Good day to you, fellow gamers. This is a direct message from the CEO of Summoner Guild Online speaking, so you would do well to listen attentively.]

[The Great Purge has begun.]

[Many of you may be wondering what that could be. I am afraid even we don’t know fully. We are currently facing a threat unlike any we have ever seen before. The game, currently, has been overrun by an unexplained Virus. A Virus capable of surviving on its own and expanding beyond confinement. As long as the game is running, this Virus will continue to spread until it has taken total control over every technology on Earth.]

Kai kept reading, his eyes narrowing.

[In order to save the world from this danger, we have decided to use you all as bait for the Virus and lock you within the game. As of the moment you are seeing this message, you will no longer be able to log off from the game.]

[Yes, you are trapped inside Summoner Guild Online.]

[But there is good news.]

[The Virus has already made its way into your bodies and has been connected to you on non-physical terms. Meaning as long as you remain alive in the game, your body will be kept alive in stasis. A symbiotic relationship.]

Kai scrolled down to the next paragraph.

[I know many of you are panicking right now. But there is also a way you can leave the game. There is one condition for your freedom.]

[Kill the Source.]

[Kill the Shadow of Victims.]

“…”

Kai stared at his own name glowing in red letters at the bottom of the message.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep