As a No Class skill, [scan] was considered by most to be the most useless. Whereas [dash] and [charge] had obvious and immediate uses in battle, [scan] rarely presented any information that couldn’t be gleaned on one’s own. And while it allowed players to predict attacks, so did paying attention to your opponent’s footwork or weight distribution.
Most importantly, there were other skills available that had obvious improvements on it. [Libra] was an arcane skill available to mages which presented important data like weaknesses, remaining health, and remaining mana. [Hunter’s eye] highlighted weak and strong points on enemies.
Based on what he’d seen until now, it was only a matter of time until Jinyoung’s [scan] skill offered him the same benefits of most if not all other similar skills.
Outside of battle, [scan] was quite boring and the upgrade he had earned seemed like a useless addition compared to the ability to detect lies. But, now…
Player Killer.
Jinyoung’s blood ran cold.
By the time Jinyoung had become a cadet, the PK practice had been outlawed for years. The memory or mention of it was a black mark on humanity.
The organization of clans and hunting parties came about relatively quickly after the Break. Humanity had just suffered the greatest loss of life in history and its immediate response was to come together to protect one another.
But after a time, players discovered that hunting monsters and completing quests wasn’t the only way to progress. Killing other players resulted in a significant increase to one’s stats as well as experience to level up.
It also resulted in a mark that could not be removed.
When the practice was at its peak, nearly 40% of all players were marked as “PK”. It wasn’t until the Player Society was formed that the practice was heavily discouraged. Soon, guilds and clans no longer welcomed marked players and merchants would no longer trade with players suspected of engaging in PK. Eventually, corporations removed marked players from their active player lists.
With the exception of players in his father’s generation, there were few if any PK marked players. The practice of killing other players in order to progress faster was essentially disallowed.
Jinyoung couldn’t keep this to himself. He’s marked, Hana.
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The reaction was immediate. Hana flinched, but tried to recover.
“Do I scare you, my dear?” Henry taunted.
To her benefit, Hana’s face never faltered. “Just a shiver, some of us can still feel cold.”
The shadow walker shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t miss it. If anything, [warmth] was worth all the trouble of becoming a [rogue].”
Jinyoung could hear the edge in the man’s voice. Every word dripped with poison and each motion he made made Jinyoung want to act. He finally realized why the sight of Henry affected him so. Everything about the man telegraphed one undeniable truth: the man was a killer.
He’s buying time, Hana.
Hana smiled, but talking to Jinyoung in clan chat at the same time as Henry was a strain.
So are we. By now, the others should be on their way down. Every second we wait here, our backup gets closer to joining us.
A sudden rumble made Jinyoung turn his head, temporarily taking his eyes off Henry. The control center had a wall lined with windows facing an open lab. The cradle sat underneath the gate which appeared like a blackhole, bending and tearing the fabric of reality.
The gate sparked and bolts of energy sparked off it, striking the distant walls and even bouncing off the reinforced windows. For a moment, the light held his attention like a trance. And then he realized his mistake.
Jinyoung turned his head and immediately moved to draw his sword. But it was too late, Henry’s hand was already streaking across his body and a dagger was hurtling through the air.
***
“Are you sure?”
The duo moved quickly and quietly. And while the question was certainly asked and heart, it wasn’t answered.
“Have you tried clan chat?” Seunghyo tried again, this time with a hint of annoyance. The catwalk was left behind and Seunghyo peered down the tunnels leading to the cradle. He tried not to think of the last time he was down here. He’d barely made it out alive and spent the next two days being hunted.
Meanwhile, Willow did her best to block out Seunghyo’s voice. About twenty minutes ago, a marker appeared along with a quest notification. It had to be Jinyoung, she reasoned. Nothing at the Academy had prepared her for half of what she’d seen with Hana and Jinyoung, family drama included.
“It has to be this way.”
That was enough for Seunghyo. “Let’s keep moving then.”
Seunghyo’s senses were heightened in the silent tunnels. His eyes looked for movement while his ears tried to pick out sounds that didn’t belong.
The pathfinder class was technically an ambush class. Enhanced senses meant he could detect enemies at long distances while his active skills were specifically designed to take advantage of unknowing enemies.
In that sense, he wasn't very different from shadow walkers. But, whereas pathfinders were hunters, shadow walkers were assassins. For that reason, Seunghyo had always avoided working with Henry. It wasn’t just the man’s immoral attitude, it was that their classes were unnervingly similar. And being reminded of his similarities to a murderer wasn’t appealing.
“What’s he like?” Willow finally asked.
Seunghyo hestitated. Henry was a predator, through and through. The few conversations they had shared felt like interrogations. Like the man was digging for weaknesses or advantages.
“Dangerous,” Seunghyo replied. “Shadow walkers are close-quarters combatants. They specialize in assassinations, but also uneven combat against superior numbers and these corridors are exactly where you don’t want to deal with them.”