4 | The Insane

The mob before Keen has a considerable quantity of not less than twenty people. Adjudicator Jun was an easy target and the System is not mentioning that this rescue attempt is part of his quest.

'This seems to be a senseless waste of time.' He shrugs.

The only way to know if the people he sees are not NPCs is by looking at their necks. Other Transfers, people who were also brought in Esprit, have one inch thick coal-colored neck cuffs with six inches of chain harnessed to the left side and a golden bell at its end.

Everyone in the mob have neck cuffs, although reason seems to have left their minds. They show no recognizable speech; only mumblings and eerie whispers. The reddish eyes and veiny skin also confirm that something is abnormal about them.

Keen grits his teeth upon the fact that the Black Market has infiltrated even the virtual gaming industry, where people have a false sense of security. And as if to mock them, Esprit has put neck cuffs to consistently remind the Transfers that their very lives are the highest form of commodity here.

"Don't come near me!" The woman's voice is struggling, as if being held hostage by a member of the group.

Time dilates for Keen as his ability activates, meaning no one sees him. He cannot use to these people, because it will kill them in real life. The only combination to his passive skill for now is using his new skill .

He bites his index finger as he runs towards the enemies, producing a whip made from his own blood. His presence should not be exposed to keep his in effect, but with this many enemies, he aims to take down at least half before the others notice him.

By his skillful control, the whip lands on the vital points of two longsword-wielders. He then brandishes his weapon into a thin spear to pierce the legs and arms of three more, including a mage with a wooden staff. He lands decisive karate chops on the necks of four other short range fighters before finally being noticed.

Keen's deactivates as soon as a blonde female archer with long ears catches a glimpse of him. Without saying anything, she draws three arrows and shoots at him. Although his Stats are now reduced by thirty percent, he easily dodged all arrows.

However, another mage is already whispering an incantation that sends two spirit familiars flying towards him; a duo of fire and water spirits in the form of sparrows. Another attack is about to flank him as he sees a pair of spear wielders on either side.

Keen bites his other index finger and creates another .

The sparrows collide, forming a mist. The presence of the arriving spear wielders are also suddenly masked, although they were running with heavy steps before. The sparrows are just meant to confuse his spatial awareness and senses.

Keen is at a disadvantage. His is still deactivated which means he can be seen by the enemy, but he cannot see them. It is also possible that sneak attacks from other directions were executed as soon as the mist occurred.

"There is no time to waste," He takes a deep breath in preparation for his next move. As the two spear wielders plunge their weapon to Keen's direction, the blonde archer launches an arrow induced with wind spell and an assassin stations behind the mist with a pair of cleaved daggers bathed in poison. The mob obviously belong to the same party or guild, given this level of coordination.

When Keen drops his guarding arms, a pair of scarlet-colored orbs start to glow beneath his hood. His relaxed sigh produces a small amount of steam as he bares his fangs.

His mere presence seems to suddenly emanate shockwaves of dominance over the other fighters as they stop in a daze. Even the mage who conjured the familiars earlier has stopped his incantations, dispelling the mist.

Keen takes a step forward as the archer's arrow approach, which he doesn't even bother to dodge. His hooded long coat is now like a compressed scarlet smoke. The arrow simply goes through his body and continues to the assassin's direction, hitting the right leg. Instead of an intelligible response to pain, the assassin only grunts like a wounded animal.

"Please," the woman he is trying to save stretches an arm towards him, as if trying to reach out. A tall, muscular man dressed as a clown is grabbing her by the waist with a single arm. His other arm is clenching a fist while compressing something really hot, like lava. He is almost twice as tall as the others.

"Save yourself," the woman tries to open a bruised eye. Her breathing is too feeble. "They're Insane. They've lost all their original memories. You can't reason with them."

Her statement catches Keen's attention. Her neck cuff doubles his interest. 'She's a Transfer, too. And she seem to know a lot about Esprit than I do.'

"Don't give up," he prepares on both hands while his eyes still glowed sinister red. "I'll save you."

Keen doesn't remember being so engaged in saving other people's lives. He is also in a rush to collect his missing memories before the time limit ends in six months. Even so, this woman catches his interest.

According to Adjudicator Jun's memories, time inside Esprit is the same as the time in the real world. Obviously, he shouldn't be gone from home for too long. His parents would be worried.

He would also be —

'He? Who is that he?' Keen's mind experiences a short moment of bizarre pain.

Seeing the small moment being out of focus, the clown guy drops the woman and leaps to his direction, grumbling as his lava fist prepares to pummel Keen's face. The spear wielders also regain their composure and charges at him as well. The other long range fighters stand by to support.

Keen then smashes the ground with a monstrous punch, creating a five-meter wide crater and causing a great deal of rock debris and dust in the air to hide his presence. His activates again and he takes this opportunity to run towards the woman and secure her from being held hostage. He is by her side in just half a second.

He sees her bruised eye and battered body. Her plain yellow shirt is torn halfway in the midsection, which she tries to hide with her feeble arms. The black, frilly, knee-length skirt she wears is so far undamaged. Upon closely looking, the cinnamon rose color of her hair catches him in surprise. But he realizes the incoming attack.

A male crossbow wielder with a scar in his left cheek and the blonde female archer with long ears shoot a barrage of attacks that resemble the rain. The arrows are just too many!

Keen uses his high agility to dodge most of the attacks. Those he cannot dodge, he strikes with his on one hand as he takes a hold of the helpless woman with the other.

Her lips open, but no sound comes out.

The clown guy and the two spear wielders head back towards him while the mage starts whispering incantations. A melee fighter with an axe and wearing no upper garment starts to charge towards him like a mad beast.

Keen takes a deep breath. He retracts his and smashes the ground once again, making the dust mist activate .

Within a second, Keen and the wounded woman are gone from the vicinity.