Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

Ark knew all about player killers. They were disgusting people who would camp outside newbie areas and hunt them while they had little to no knowledge about the game.

Back on Earth, where it was all a game, player killers were already very much hated, but here in Eden? They were absolutely loathed.

Some player killers killed newbies within the safe zone, meaning they would have the opportunity to respawn.

But that didn’t mean it was alright. Even with the opportunity to respawn, the experience of dying was more than enough to scar anyone psychologically for life.

The feeling of the weapon digging into your body, grinding into your bones before bursting your organs apart... there was nothing merciful about it.

Worst of all were the newbie killers that used more... creative means. There were also player killers who hunted players outside the safe zone.

”Player killers hunt newbies all over Eden,” Ark said in a steady tone. ”But we both already know that...”

Thalia laughed. ”That is quite an innocent view you have of them, darling.”

”What do you mean?”

A few seconds passed before she answered. ”It must feel nice to die so easily. To be killed so readily by a player killer is mercy.”

Ark was confused by her words. Thalia was obviously a victim of player killers, why then was she considering their atrocious acts mercy?

”I don’t think I follow—” Ark paused when the realization hit him. ”Don’t tell me...”

Thalia smiled, her fangs resting over her lower lip. ”Yes, yes, yes...” Her tail rattled as she began to circle him again, only that this time, it was slow.

”Do you really think player killers would really stop at killing their prey?”

A cackle filled the air.

”How truly naive.”

Although the guilds had been making efforts to put the players under control, by their very nature, players were arrogant and wild. Eden was largely in part a lawless land.

Humans were animals by nature.

Rules, guidelines, laws and regulations were what created a semblance of sanity in the modern world.

But even then, even with morals that clearly dictated good from evil... if there was no one to enforce the law, a greater, wilder animal to put the lesser animals under subjection... humans would revert to their animalistic nature.

Now what would happen if you not only removed the rules, but also created a world where it was difficult to implement them?

Thalia was a result of such a world.

Ark let out a breath, his mind a mess of thoughts. But regardless of what had happened, it did not change what she had become.

”And that is your justification for this? Is that the reason you decided to walk the same path as them?”

”I never wanted to be a player!” Thalia suddenly screamed, her aloof facade falling in an instant. ”I just wanted to live in peace, and yet, and yet!”

She ripped off her shirt, revealing her inner garments as well as a mark etched into her right shoulder.

It was a black inscription very much like a tattoo, made in the shape of the infinity symbol.

It was the mark all awakened bore. Ark had the same one on his abdomen.

”I was branded by this curse mark. Sent into the trial like a slave without a will!” Her voice grew lower, her eyes gleaming dangerously. ”I lost my friends during the tutorial...”

”Only to get here and be reduced to a mere plaything. Stripped of any form of dignity by the very players who were to be our seniors, our mentors.”

Just thinking about it made Thalia feel like escaping her own skin. She felt disgusted with her own self, she felt foreign in her own body.

Another crazed laugh escaped her lips, a stark contrast to how she truly felt inside. A cover to hide her bubbling insanity.

Olivia stiffened by the side as she listened to their conversation, but she said nothing, no words were coming to her mind.

”Where are they now?” Ark asked coldly, negative thoughts clouding his judgment.

”...” A second passed in silence.

”Dead of course.” She smiled. ”One. By. One. I paid them visits... I made them experience my hell.”

”Some deaths were slow, grueling and painful. Others too fast for me to gain any pleasure from it.” Her voice became airy as she remembered the past...

”By the end of it.” Her voice grew sombre. ”I was not the same person I once was.”

”You had reached 100% synchronization...” Ark said out loud as he reached the conclusion.

Once a player reached 100% synchronization, they became more beast than human. Their actions, their thoughts, everything about them became clouded by their race.

But maybe Thalia was not completely gone? What were the chances that the Thalia they knew, the klutz who seemed timid and afraid was the real her, the girl that existed before the change?

Ark knew that there was no way to get her back, but maybe something could be done about this situation?

”You are sick, Thalia, your Synchronization rate is the reason you now have a taste for human flesh. There is a way... there is a way to correct this.”

”You want to fix me?” Thalia looked like she had heard the most hilarious joke ever told. ”Trust me, dear, I am in perfect health—”

All the wounds on her body immediately healed, and her violet eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

”Actually, I feel better than ever.”

Rattle—!

”All humans are animals, all Eden does is reveal who we truly are inside. You are cold, emotionless... you can kill me after hearing my little sob story because you lack a heart, just like a skeleton.”

Her eyes moved to Olivia. ”She is fickle, unstable, vibrant and deadly... just like a bird of prey.”

”And me? I simply accepted my reality. So don’t try to change me, dear, this is who I truly am.”

The rattling of her tail intensified, and Thalia stared at him with murderous eyes. No one needed to tell him that their conversation was over.

Ark felt conflicted deep within himself. Thalia only had this twisted belief system because of what she had gone through in Eden.

But her experiences did not justify the murders she had committed, the countless lives she had taken with her own hands...

She was the anomaly behind the missing players.

What was the right choice to make? Judge her for her crimes? Leave her, which would allow her to carry out more atrocities?

Ark had no idea.

He raised his glaive as their eyes met once more. ”Very well, you have made your choice, and so I will make mine...”

There was a short pause as Ark settled his thoughts.

”You’re coming with me, and we are going to fix that thwarted personality of yours. Whether you like it or not, even if I have to drag you back kicking and screaming.”

”I will not kill you, not because you don’t deserve death, but because this is simply my decision.”

Ark had chosen to be the bigger, wilder animal.

He had decided to establish his law.

[Race Synchronization has gone up to 25%!]

[Player will experience a greater connection with his race, dampened emotions, less emotional sensitivity, greater pain tolerance, as well as a host of other race-related effects.]

A strange emotion flickered in Thalia’s eyes, and then she smiled.

”Then let us dance the dance of death. Two animals, moving to the horrid tunes of this cursed world...”