Saved by the Shadows

It was not even half an hour since he was inside the game.

Blake has only taken a shower inside the game, he was trying to relax as time flowed differently inside the game compared to the real world. However, his door was knocked again when the police officers had just left.

Regaining back his consciousness in the real world, he blinked his eyes a couple of times.

Sitting up in his seat, he then turns his head to the side.

Salana came back inside the room, passing through the wall before shrugging her shoulders. It seems like it was not the police officers from before, "Someone is outside, I think you should check it. Might be someone you know"

Upon hearing this, Blake's eyes lit up.

'Is it Angel...? How did she know my house?!' he thought in excitement.

Out of all the people that he knew in his life, there was nobody that has ever been coming to visit him here in his apartment room. Due to that, he attributed it to Angel, but he knows that it was hopeful thinking as his mind is never right when it's about her.

But seeing Blake's excited expression, Salana clicked her tongue and crushed his hope.

"It's not Angel you dumbass, it's a man, and he seems to be your neighbor or something" Salana gave him the bad news and was satisfied seeing that Blake's expression completely dimmed when she mentioned that it was not Angel.

Not wasting a single second, he went over to the door and opens it lazily.

Just as she said, it was a man.

Looking at the man from top to bottom, he's quite sure that the man wasn't from his apartment building or the other apartment buildings in this complex. Despite not going out much, he's familiar with the people living here.

Even though it was hot, the sun is scorching, the man wears a black jacket.

'Wow, is he a bodybuilder or something? He's quite big and muscular'

Blake praised inside his head, the man's body is developed especially his pecks that are sticking out of his black shirt underneath the jacket. However, the man doesn't seem to come here with any ill intent, so he was relaxed.

Smiling lightly, the man then raised a bucket of snacks and sweets.

"Hello there, my name is Hunter, and I'm your new neighbor upstairs. Here, I want to give you this and introduce myself," the man said with a polite tone. Similar to Blake that has purple eyes, the man also has quite a rare eye color, he has bright emerald eyes that are quite sharp.

As a person who has a unique eye color, he acknowledges the man's unique color.

Realizing that he was a new neighbor, Blake smiled back as there was no reason for him to be rude when the man is trying to be polite and get to know the people living here, "Oh, a new neighbor. My name is Blake, nice to meet you" he replied and receive the gift.

While the two were exchanging pleasantries, another man stepped up from the stairs.

Blake glanced at the man on the side.

The man wears a black shirt and a black hat, he's also as muscular if not more muscular than Hunter, "I moved here with my little brother, Damon. I hope that we can get along well in the future" he introduces and turns his body sideways to show Damon.

In response to this, Damon raises his gaze and bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you"

Just as Blake was about to answer, his body tensed.

Click!

A very light clicking sound suddenly penetrates his ears, he turns his head to the side a little in response, it came from his right. But he was confused as to why his body is reacting strongly when he heard the clicking sound. It was an instinctive response, almost as if he was in danger.

Glancing around, he didn't find the source of the clicking sound.

'What is that clicking noise? And why am I feeling uneasy?'

Blake wanted to find the source of the clicking sound but he couldn't find the source, nobody is on the floor besides him and the two brothers. It's almost as if the clicking sound came from afar, and he somehow managed to hear it.

Noticing Blake's weird expression, Hunter then asked, "Is there any problem?"

"I- I'm sorry, it was nothing" Blake replied awkwardly.

Just then, Hunter then speaks up again, "If it's okay with you, can we talk inside for a moment? I still wanted to know the rules of the apartment complex, and there doesn't seem anyone else here that I could talk to. So if you can be so kind and spare a moment for us?"

But this makes Blake weirded out even more, this situation feels odd.

Salana approaches him from the back when she realized that he was acting weirdly.

Although there shouldn't be any trigger around, she feared that Blake was hit by the vampiric thirst again. However, that doesn't have to be the case, he was more of feeling uncomfortable instead of lusting for blood.

Instead of hearing what Hunter said, Blake's ears are ringing violently and muffled.

'What is this...? I think this sensation is familiar'

Blake still has his mind on the clicking sound he heard a moment ago, and the sensation he was feeling right now is very familiar. He has felt this sensation, but he forgets when he felt such a sensation.

Just then, he now hears someone's calm breathing.

It was not from Salana or the two men in front of his room, it comes from somewhere else.

Under such a weird sensation, his head started to slightly feel dizzy, it was almost as if there was someone breathing right next to his ears. But then, his eyes shifted over and landed on Hunter again who is waiting for his answer.

Both of them fixed eye contact, and his sharp emerald eyes becomes familiar.

Now that he inspects Hunter closer, Blake seems to recognize this man, he has seen him somewhere before this day, 'No... I've seen these people, but from where? Did I really have met them before?'

Glancing at Damon, Blake then saw that his right hand was bandaged.

Realizing that Blake is looking at his bandaged right hand, Damon hides it behind his back. But it was then, Blake's mind jolted awake as he instantly recognized these people, 'Shit! These people... they are the mercenaries from that night!'

Just then, Hunter looks over him and saw the VR Helmet on his gaming desk.

Blake also turns around to see the Limited PK VR Helmet that is in the line of sight from the door, his heart then started thumping even harder realizing that he's in trouble, "Salana! Grab the VR Helmet!"

In an instant, Damon touches his earpiece, "He has the VR Helmet!"

While he was about to close back the door, Blake suddenly saw his own shadow on the wall beside the door seems to whisper to him. It made him frown, he now realized that the sensation was the same as during the night he fought the assassins that were after Linthia.

The shadows were talking to him, signaling that he was in danger.

BANG!

Out of nowhere, Blake heard a loud banging sound rushing from the right, and his burning instincts force him to throw his head to the left, dodging a hot blurry object by a hair's length before he crashes to the floor.

Brak!

Looking at the wall beside him, Blake widened his eyes in absolute surprise.

'What the heck...? A Bullet?! Someone is sniping me?! I'm not even the president but someone is sniping me in broad fucking daylight?!' Blake screamed inside his head, seeing a sizzling hole in the wall beside him.

Similarly, Damon and Hunter were completely stunned when they saw this.

Both of them have their eyes opened wide, seeing Blake who is on the floor panting heavily, 'D-Did he... d-did he just dodged the sniper bullet? Am I dreaming? I-It's a sniper bullet for God's sake, this... this is impossible!'

Finding that Blake somehow dodged the snipe, the two were completely flabbergasted.

It's definitely inhuman for him to be able to do that.

Just earlier, Hunter and Damon thought that taking Blake out will be an easy one. Since there shouldn't be any witnesses during that raid night, they've come back to take Blake out. But turns out things have gotten more complicated than they initially thought.

Not only was Blake has the Limited VR Helmet, but he also dodged a sniper bullet.

The more the two think about it, the more they were surprised by this supposed normal person in front of them. In order to dodge the bullet like that, then he must've reacted in a fraction of a second.

Blake was acting weird earlier, yet the two don't mind about it.

Contrary, now, the two suspected that Blake could actually hear their comrade cocking the sniper from the apartment building across the street, and that's completely not inside the realm of possibilities.

If he died right there, then this will be a good day as they also find the Limited VR Helmet.

But he didn't, and now they need to finish it or they'll be in trouble.

Moving in a trained and decisive manner, Damon and Hunter takes out the knives from their pockets and dashed into the room, closing the door behind them. Years of training seem to allow them to hide their killing intent perfectly.

Just like that, Blake was trapped inside the room with the two usurpers.

"How the fuck did he do that, Hunter?! Is that even normal?!"

"I don't fucking know! But we have to kill him now and take the Limited VR Helmet, we can't fail again or we're going to be screwed!"

Knowing that their backs were against the wall, both of them turned serious.

Glaring at Blake fiercely with their sharp eyes, the aura around them becomes dark as they didn't bother to hide their killing intent. It was thick, showing that they have killed people before this.

Not intending to give Blake time to recover, the two of them launched their attacks.

Blake pushed himself up from the ground and started dodging the two knives being swung at him repeatedly, his mind is a mess and his heart is thumping so hard, he can't believe what was happening.

Tilting his body to the left he managed to dodge a slash down from Hunter and pushes him.

Although he was successful in defending himself somehow, Damon managed to sneak in and slash him right on the arm. A light hiss escape Blake's mouth as he felt the sting of the knife, yet another force struck him to his stomach.

"Huaahk!!"

Blake grunted as he got flung back a couple of meters and tripped on the sofa.

Damon managed to land a reverse kick on him solidly on his chest, he was gasping for air after receiving that kick, his actual body was not trained like his avatar, and of course, this hurts him very much.

'Shit, I'm going to actually die if I don't do something!' Blake exclaimed inside his head.

It's clear now that these mercenaries disguise themselves as new neighbors and visited him in order to kill him silently, they were already aiming that from the start. If the shadows didn't warn him, then he would've been caught off guard.

Maybe due to the abundance of police officers, these mercenaries become restless.

Remembering the police officers, Blake clicked his tongue.

'I can't scream for help'

Even though his life was on the line, he couldn't scream or else the police officers would be searching the entire room, and would definitely find the Limited PK VR Helmet. Either way, the outcome wouldn't be good for him, the stake is his life.

If he lost the Limited VR Helmet, Salana seems to be certain that he would not survive.

Grabbing his throbbing stomach, Salana then suddenly instructed from the side, "You are in a battle to preserve your life. Just for now, forget the rules inside your world. Common sense doesn't matter. Think like if you're inside the game, and you need to kill these two. Remember, your avatar and you are connected. His skill is also your skill. Also, don't forget, you are a Spectral Vampire. Your world is merging with the game"

"If you try enough, then you could access its natural abilities" she added.

Upon hearing this, Blake's purple eyes flickered as his survival instinct kicks in.

Standing up firmly with a dark expression, he raised both of his hands in a fight stance. Despite the blood sizzling down his right arm, his eyes are calm, and his breathing also started to become steadier and steadier.

Hunter and Damon paused for a brief moment, their experienced instincts reacted.

Even though the two know that Blake is someone who has no training whatsoever, the air around him suddenly changed, and both of them could only grip their knives tightly as they realized something is off about him.

'Am I supposed to believe this nobody is a normal person?