New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Outside the game, Alex and Kary had just left the penthouse, and were now walking to the breakfast restaurant Alex raved on about. They had a few blocks to walk, but it was a nice day and the weather was quite nice, too.

Downtown Montreal was relatively busy this early in the day, as most office jobs were about to start. It was a lovely morning, around eight-thirty in the morning, and Alex and Kary were enjoying a pleasant talk.

That was, until Alex’s spine tingled, and his mind slowed down immensely on its own. Seeing everything slow down around him, Alex became puzzled.

‘Did I activate Thousand Thoughts unintentionally?’

His eyes caught his reflection in the bank window next to him, but his gaze was already looking through the glass. Something big and gray was flying right at him and Kary.

It took him only a moment to realize what it was. The huge vault door was flying at them fast!

Alex didn’t have to think much, as his mind worked at super speed, his body transforming in a heartbeat. Even though his mind was working much faster than his body, he was still able to grab Kary and jump out of the way of the incoming multi-ton object.

With his skill still active, and his senses picking up on every little detail, he heard the screaming inside the bank the vault had just flown out of. Peeking his head through the window, he saw the cause.

Standing in front of the now-open vault, a scrawny teenager was grinning like a maniac. At his feet to the left, a guard was sprawled on the ground, his head split in two, dead.

A large blood splatter along with some pinkish-gray matter slid down the corner of the marble wall. Astaroth could guess what that was.

But he was wondering how a small teen could crack a skull like that, and how that vault door ripped off its hinges. Then it clicked.

‘Another player. He’s found out he can use his strength outside the game. I need to get Kary away.’

While he was still watching him, Alex felt his body emit a pulse of mana, and as it did, his mind suddenly knew the name of the teen’s in-game character, as well as his level.

*Skull Crusher*

Race: Demonoid

Level: 41

‘I just scanned him!’

As Alex thought this, the teen turned around, his gaze locking on him.

‘Shit! He knows!’

To make matters worse, Alex’s Thousand Thoughts skill ended. Now that everything came back to normal speed, he could hear the teen laugh.

“AHAHAHA! You! You are like me!”

Alex wanted nothing more than to get away from this place. He didn’t want more unwanted attention.

But as he was about to turn around and leave, another guard inside the bank turned his gun towards him.

“Stop! If you are with him, drop to your knees with your hands up!”

Hearing the other guard shout, the teen snapped his head towards him.

He put his hand on the counter next to him, and the next second, he was ripping it out of the floor.

ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm

Alexander could no longer stand by or leave. He couldn’t stomach letting an innocent man die.

Dashing into the bank, at a speed far greater than the flying desk, he put himself in front of the stunned guard. His clawed hand slashed forward, exploding the desk into shards, saving him and the guard behind him.

Alex turned his head to the man, who was slack-jawed at what he was seeing.

“M… m… m… Monster!”

“If you are okay, just leave already.!”

The guard was too stunned to move, and only ended up falling to his ass.

Kary was standing outside the window, her eyes wide. It did not surprise her to see Alex transform, but the fact that someone else was insanely stronger than a normal human should be very much so.

The kid, seeing his attack wielded no result, growled in fury.

“Why are you interfering?! If you are like me, then you should do the same! The world belongs to the powerful!”

Alexander looked at him with anger.

“You think that because you are suddenly stronger than most, you get to decide who lives and who dies?!”

“If they get in my way, yes! Are you getting in my way, too?!”

“Tch! I don’t care what you do, but you put innocent people at risk with your stupidity!”

Police sirens were already resounding nearby. The teen heard them and decided to take care of his obstacle before he could finish his robbery.”

He dashed toward Alex, rage in his eyes. But his opponent was not a normal human this time.

And he miscalculated his foe’s strength. Reaching Alex, the teen punched forward, thinking he was much stronger than him.

His face paled when Alex caught his fist in a single hand, not moving even an inch backward. The teen’s hand was locked inside Alex’s clawed hand, and he panicked.

He started trying to punch Alexander with his other fist, only ending up looking like a flailing kid. Alexander punched him once in the face, and a second time in the stomach, knocking him out instantly.

By the sound of the police sirens, Alex knew they were close by. He also knew he couldn’t leave this kid to them.

They could never hold him, and would either end up losing him or shooting him. So he made a snap decision.

Alex lugged the kid on his shoulder before dashing out of the bank. He grabbed Kary’s waist, who yelped slightly, before launching himself into the alleys nearby.

He ran out of downtown as fast as he could, startling the people he ran past, since he was moving extremely fast. When he could hear sirens no more, he stopped on a side road.

Kary was looking at him furiously.

She wasn’t furious at them taking off, since she knew it would have been too much trouble for them to be caught there. But she couldn’t understand one thing.

“Why in the hell did you bring him along?!”