Soulless Players

Chapter 61: Preparations

"Open System"

______________

Name: Philip Mckenzie

Story: The Misery behind the history of Britannia

Profession: Undercover Agent, Dreamwalker

Level: 13 (1202507/1638500)

Stats:

Physique: 18 (+50) [>]

Mental: 29 (+14)

Mana: 0

Spirit: 1

Attributable Points: 13

Karma: -09

Uniqueness:

> Mystique Identities - Active (Lv. 3)

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

> Golden Eyes - Active (Lv. 1)

-See through the value of things.

______________

Ding!

[Hidden Quest Complete: Became a Mentalist]

Reward: 100,000 EXP

...

Philip gazed at his system with a sense of accomplishment. 'I finally became a Dreamwalker,' he murmured with a smile on his face.

In addition to his Profession, Philip noticed his mental attribute had surged by 14, far beyond his initial expectation of 5.

At first, he had anticipated reaching a mental strength of 20, based on the common one-third increase when one became a Dreamwalker. However, to his astonishment, the stat points he had previously allocated to his mental stats had been included in the calculation. This boost had then returned 12 of his attributable stat points.

Seeing this, Philip immediately invested one of these points into his mana stat, ensuring that none of his attributes remained at zero.

______________

Stats:

Physique: 18 (+50) [>]

Mental: 29 (+14)

Mana: 1

Spirit: 1

Attributable Points: 12

______________

After this, Philip also noticed his negative karma had decreased and quickly checked his log to confirm.

[Helped someone to have a peaceful sleep. +1 Karma]

'This can also be done like this?' Philip wondered, the smile playing on his lips becoming wider.

If placating restless sleepers and turning their nightmares into sweet dreams would increase his karma, he was more than willing to take on the role of a Dreamwalker every night, as Sam had suggested previously.

'Speaking of Sam,' Philip's expression turned serious as he glanced back towards the distant floating island.

'Why didn't he warn me about the potential dangers lurking within my space of consciousness?' Philip asked internally, his fists clenched in frustration.

Philip knew how grave his situation had been earlier. If it weren't for the tiny island waking him up, he would have made a life-threatening mistake. Although he didn't know that dying within his own mind could lead to physical death, his instincts screamed danger.

His instinct told him that if it wasn't death, he might live the rest of his life insane!

Philip narrowed his eyes at the swaying pampas grass around him, his fist tightening.

'You can't really trust a person based on first impression.' Philip scolded himself with a wry smile.

He didn't know why Sam had done it, but regardless of his intentions or those of his mysterious backer, Philip resolved to be more cautious.

'I should only trust myself,' Philip murmured, 'And yes, I should see this as motivation to learn back my skills...'

Since Philip had finally realized that his skills were just fragments of memories and never his own, he decided to actively learn them, starting from the basics.

Raising his hand, Philip beckoned one of the floating purple crystals to approach him.

Once it rested in his palm, he examined it closely. The crystal was the size of his thumb, with razor-sharp edges, and emitted an enchanting purple glow, alluding to its transformative prospect.

'What's this?' Philip tsked and lamented his lack of knowledge once again.

Although Philip didn't know its other use than its seeming transformation ability, he still summoned all the purple crystals to hover around him and began to count them.

'Approximately 35,000.'

Philip tapped his foot repeatedly on the ground as he pondered, but he couldn't discern their purpose without additional information.

'I guess it's time to go to the dreamworld.' Philip decided.

As a full-fledged Dreamwalker, Philip could intuitively access a door to the city where dream citizens and other mentalists gathered. Additionally, he discovered he could sense movement within a 25-meter radius of his physical body in the real world.

'With this ability, even if I am roaming in the dream city, I can detect any lurking threats and immediately return to my real body to confront them,' he mused.

Shortly, Philip firmly grasped the crystal in his hand and, just like before, instinctively transformed it into something else: a mask.

After donning the mask, he summoned a portal leading to the city.

The door this time was different from what he had summoned the first time. It appeared as an unassuming brown door, almost indistinguishable from an ordinary one. If Philip didn't know it was a portal leading to the city, he would have mistaken it for a normal entry door.

As he was about to open it, he halted and delivered a sharp slap to his own cheek.

While looking at the mask that had fallen to the ground after the slap, Philip winced in pain, then swiftly dismissed the door.

He'd nearly made a grave error again. He couldn't risk entering the dream world with his Conrad appearance, as someone might recognize him, even with the mask. This was his take upon realizing his thoughts were presuming everything was ordinary.

'I should stop seeing everything as normal and practice more vigilance.' Philip thought while gritting his teeth.

Moreover, he knew nothing about this mysterious city, except that it was city-like in essence. Venturing without preparation could lead to dire consequences.

Philip took a deep breath as he returned to his physical body. Confirming that Maris was still asleep, he sighed and projected his astral body, leaving their room.

What he was planning to do right now was to find a suitable body to mimic, a means of concealing his identity as Conrad's copycat.

Philip realized the importance of maintaining his anonymity. Initially, he'd considered using his Raven identity or his original form, but both were compromised.

Raven's face had been seen by the magician Emile and some mentalists during their confrontation, posing a significant risk.

Additionally, using his true form was out of the question, as it was not only disabled but also his real self, exposing him to even greater danger to whoever knows about the identities of soulless players.

Thus, with limited options, Philip traversed in his astral state and ascended the stairs to the guest rooms of Alma Inn.

He chose the guests of Alma Inn as his target for his new disguise, as it was within his proximity, sparing him the need to travel on the city streets and inadvertently reveal his astral domain to the other mentalists on duty.

Furthermore, what he needed the most was a naked body he could observe to study. Alma Inn was the only place he knew that was renowned for hosting newlyweds, offering a luxurious honeymoon experience.

Not only did the inn occupy a central location within the city, but it was also conveniently situated near the church, just two blocks away. With this, Alma Inn was the preferred choice for most newlywed couples seeking to embark on their first honeymoon.

Of course, Philip felt it was very perverted of him to watch others having intimate moments, but what other choice did he have? This was the only idea that came to his mind that offered not only safety but also convenience.

'I'll just compensate the couple for something like free accommodation or free breakfast. Yes, yes, this is only to alleviate my guilt...' Philip pressed his palms together as he quietly phased through the door and saw a well-lit room with loud and lively commotion inside.

***

A few minutes later, Philip emerged from the room, returning to his corporeal body. He was in a daze as if he couldn't believe what he'd witnessed.

Realizing his abnormality, Philip shook his head.

'Yes, while my mental age is that of an adult, I am still a child. It's natural to be shocked by such explicit and wild scenes,' he mulled, patting his shoulder to calm his chicken-like skin.

Once he composed himself, Philip then willed himself to change his body and facial structure to that of a man in his thirties. He gave himself brown hair, brown eyes, a slight paunch, and average height.

Philip then went back into his space of consciousness and took some crystals to transform them into clothes.

Shortly, when he put the mask on his face and clothes on his body, he summoned the ordinary brown wooden door and prepared to step through it.