Soulless Players

Chapter 56: Astral Domain

After Alisha's response, the crowd turned their attention to Conrad, who was actually Philip in disguise. However, when they didn't see any reaction from him, they could only continue their discussion.

"Then what's the current situation with the Evans? Have they been absolved of their crime?" another man asked.

"Yes," Alisha answered. "It was found out that the Evans knew nothing about the firearms as they were buried way before the Evans bought the estate. You can say that they just got unlucky."

Philip listened intently to the gossip but didn't stay long. After getting his milk, he proceeded to Alma Inn to rest.

As he walked, he couldn't help but ponder about the sudden misfortune of the Evans Family. He joked to himself, 'It's as if the heaven is helping me.'

He had always been curious about the actual truth behind their downfall, but since he lacked information, he kept his curiosity to himself. He decided to wait for Conrad's return to ask if he had done it or if he knew who did it.

***

While taking a short nap, Philip woke up with a sudden pain coursing through his body. He didn't panic and just waited for the transformation to end while gritting his teeth.

He checked the mechanical clock above and saw it was already 10 p.m., he stood up and leaped to his study table.

He spent half an hour immersing himself in piles of books, memorizing them one by one. However, as he read on, he felt increasingly nauseous.

Philip decided to take a break and muttered to himself, "I should rest. I've been studying for the whole day." He then contemplated what to do next.

'Since I'm done with my job here and the Davies are not in immediate danger, I should start looking for a new identity.'

Philip then wrote his requirements on a piece of paper,

'1. New identity: It should be someone who has no family but is well-known in the city. He should have a few social circles and can easily enter into a new one. Most importantly, he has to be dead but his death hasn't been published yet, or had just died shortly.'

For now, Philip had no plans to leave the city as he believed it was brimming with opportunities. Just look at him, he had only stayed for five days yet he had already become a half-dream walker. How much more if he stayed for a month or a year?

Additionally, he had invested in the street children and wasn't willing to suffer a loss. He was only waiting for the news to start building an information syndicate.

'Yes. I should also employ an adult. I can't just use all the child labor.' Philip pondered.

Then he wrote, '2. Look for a trustworthy person to run the syndicate.'

Philip then considered, 'Next, after I become a complete dream walker and enter into the dreamworld, I should start actively looking for other soulless players.'

While he had always kept the soulless game in mind, he had never actively searched for other players as he believed he lacked the necessary strength to face them.

However, after pondering, he realized that the other players were likely still in their infancy stage of preparation like him. He believed that the earlier he acted, the better his chances of winning.

Philip then wrote, '3. Look for players.'

Lastly, Philip had been considering using his last uniqueness card. 'Since my karma is stable now and the Evans has been dealt with, I think it's time to use it.'

Philip started to realize the limitation of transforming into two identities per day. Although he had been coping well till now, who knows about the future? He might required to change into multiple identities in a day.

Initially, he planned to wait until he reached level 15 before using the card. However, after pondering, he soon abandoned the idea. He believed that it was better to upgrade his 'Mystique Identities' further. After all, he had only two choices and felt out of the two, his second uniqueness had no use in countering whatever danger there was.

Thus, without hesitation, he opened the system and finally used the card.

Ding!

[ Upgrading Mystique Identities to level 3 ]

Ding!

______________

[ Mystique Identities - Active (Lv. 3) ]

-Transformed physical body to body the player is familiar with.

(2/5)

______________

Just like always, the system lacks a detailed description of the ability. He believed he was already lucky that it showed the number of how many uses he had left for the day.

Philip then transformed back into Conrad as he required concentration and didn't want to suffer from restlessness for the moment.

Shortly, he glanced at the jewelry box on the corner and opened it. When he saw that the bottle of medicine wasn't back yet, he heaved a sigh of relief.

'So far, there is no problem with the children. Yes, our agreed meeting is on Sunday, so I still have to wait for 3 days.'

Afterward, he leaned down and retrieved the metallic briefcase he had hidden under his bed.

'My spoils from Alisha total 100,000 doli.' he murmured as he counted the bills inside the briefcase. He then took the purse on the corner and counted the coins inside.

'The spoils from Steve are 100 gold coins.' he said and examined the coins in his palm.

Unlike normal gold coins he had seen in the past, Steve's coins were heavier and more intricately designed. In front, an eye is engraved within, and embedded in the middle is a small white crystal that acts as its pupil. In the back, extended wings are etched, making the crystal in the middle appear to have wings as well.

He had previously asked the people around and learned that each coin was equivalent to 10,000 doli. He also learned that these coins were globally accepted, unlike the local currency, the doli, which was only acceptable in the Northon Kingdom.

So overall, his total asset is 1,100,000 doli, enough to buy a moderately luxurious house and live without working for a decade or more.

'And this doesn't include the bills I have in my pocket, the money I gave to the street children, and Loen's and Emile's spatial rings. Hmm.. come to think of it, once I enter the dreamland, I will also actively search on how to open them.' Philip then took the paper and wrote it.

After returning his treasures to their hiding place, he opened his system. However, when he saw that his mental state was still stuck at 14, he closed his system in disappointment.

'Now, all I have to do is increase it to 15,' he thought to himself.

Philip then created an astra domain, causing pinkish flakes to appear in the air and a milky blue light to envelop him from the ground up.

And when he transformed into an astral state, he felt a deep connection to the light below. Whenever he moved outside of the 25-radius encirclement, the blue light and pinkish flakes followed him, connecting his astral body to his physical body.

'So that's how other mentalists know my body's location. There is literally a light connected to me,' Philip realized.

In his astral state, he could not touch anything. However, he can pass through the wall as long as there is a window or a hole. If the room is fully enclosed in which the naked eyes couldn't see, then he could not pass through it. This made him discover that astral travel is highly linked to sight.

Philip floated to Maris' bed, where she was sleeping with a frown on her face, and surrounded her with the blue light. Soon, her expression changed, seemingly having a good sleep.

Seeing this, Philip also smiled. What he used earlier was his ability to soothe nightmares and turn them into pleasant dreams.

Philip then hovered and went up to the roof. He wanted to see the city in his astral state. When he reached the roof he was left stunned by the surrounding.

It was dark, only the gas street lamps and a few lit windows illuminated the city. However, in his eyes, there were milky blue streaks of light connecting from one place to another, and the tips of these streaks moved from building to building.

'This... Is this what Sam meant when he said that other mentalists can perceive you and locate your physical body?' Philip frowned as he looked at his foot glowing with bluish light.

'While this ability is great for infiltration, it isn't omnipotent.' Philip thought. He decided to be careful when using this ability.

He then looked back at the city and counted, 'So far, more than 20 mentalists are roaming around.'

When he reflected on the night he confronted Emile the magician at Evans Mansion, a wave of discomfort washed over him.

'If that was the case, was I found out by mentalists when I fired the gun?' Philip felt scared and admonished himself for his past ignorance.

Despite this, he still tried to be optimistic, 'No, that time it was dark and the mentalists, especially dreamwalkers, don't seem to possess night vision. Maybe they didn't see me?'

But when he recalled how he had escaped that time, he felt like crying.

'Wasn't I too high-profiled jumping from roof to roof in the past? I am sure that one or two mentalists found out and followed me to the Alma Inn. Perhaps they have even been watching me in my room that time?'

Philip trembled and quickly returned to his physical body. Once he woke up, he anxiously searched for any signs of mentalists watching him. And when he found no one, he let out a sigh of relief.