God-Tier Extraction Talent: Reincarnated in a Game-like World!

”He grew stronger again,” Scarlet murmured under her breath.

She stood there for one more moment, the night air moving lightly around her while the hole in the rooftop and the broken floor below reminded her of how short that clash had been. Then her expression settled again, and she turned away.

By the time Scarlet returned to the hotel, Lilly and Alice were already waiting near the sealed off room. The broken glass had been cleared from the walkway, but the marks from the earlier fight were still there. The two women looked over the moment Scarlet approached.

Alice spoke first.

”Well?”

Scarlet walked closer and glanced once at the damaged room before answering.

”I lost him.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow. ”Lost him?”

Scarlet nodded once. ”He escaped.”

That answer made both Lilly and Alice look at her more carefully. Scarlet was not the kind of person who failed easily, and she was also not the kind who liked repeating herself. The fact that she kept the reply short only made the other two more suspicious.

Alice folded her arms. ”What happened exactly?”

Scarlet looked at her calmly. ”He refused to cooperate. We clashed. Then he left.”

Lilly frowned slightly. ”That is all?”

”Yes.”

The short reply hung in the air. Neither Lilly nor Alice believed that was the whole story, but both knew Scarlet well enough to understand that if she did not want to say more, pushing would only waste time.

Lilly exhaled softly and glanced toward the room again. ”If White Phantom is really in Stellar City and already causing trouble, we should put a bounty on him. At least make it known that the Adventurer Guild is watching.”

”Yes,” Alice nodded. ”I am certain both natives and the weaker otherworlders would swarm him if we put an appropriate reward.”

Scarlet waved it off at once. ”That would be useless.”

Alice looked at her. ”Useless?”

Scarlet nodded. ”If someone like him wants to disappear, a public target will only make him hide better. It will not help us catch him.”

Lilly studied her face for a second. ”You seem oddly certain.”

Scarlet’s expression did not change. ”I am. Furthermore, the same thing that happened in Monkey Paradise would happen all over again.”

Neither of them replied immediately after that, feeling that she made a lot of sense.

There was a quiet pause, then Scarlet turned away from the room and started walking down the corridor.

”Keep looking into the people he came with,” she said. ”Especially the otherworlder.”

Alice clicked her tongue softly. ”We already tried. He vanished before we arrived.”

”Then look harder,” Scarlet replied without turning back.

”She is behaving strangely,” Lilly nudged Alice with her shoulder. ”Do you think she found out something?”

Alice narrowed her eyes. ”Knowing my sister, I think she did.”

Step. Step.

Scarlet walked alone down the hallway of the hotel, her mind replaying the fight over and over again, and for the first time in several years, a competitive gleam shone in her eyes.

”Since he is getting stronger, I cannot afford to be left behind as well.”

. . .

Inside another part of the city, far from the hotel district, a tall glass building stood with the Chaos Knight symbol displayed near the front. The inside was bright, clean, and active even at this hour. Several players moved through the upper floors handling guild matters, messages, and trades.

At the top floor, IceQueen stood near a large window looking out over Stellar City.

Behind her were ChaosCleric, the assistant guild leader, and the armoured knight VV, who had only recently been recruited into the guild. Both were standing quietly, waiting for her to speak.

IceQueen finally turned around and said confidently, ”White Phantom is in town.”

ChaosCleric’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”Are you sure?”

”Yes.”

VV remained silent as always, which irritated IceQueen, but she ignored it and focused on what was more important.

”The reason I called you two here is that I want contact made,” she revealed.

ChaosCleric looked surprised for only a second before his face turned serious. ”You are really serious about recruiting him?”

”I want to speak to him first,” IceQueen replied. ”Do not engage him in a fight. Try to persuade him to meet with me.”

ChaosCleric gave a small nod. ”Understood. What if he attacks?”

”Then defend yourself. Once you see you cannot handle him, run,” IceQueen said calmly. ”I have also got a lead you both can follow.”

There was a visible reaction from VV for the first time.

IceQueen gestured to the door, and a tall, attractive player who could easily pass for a model stepped inside.

If XMan was here, he would recognize her immediately. This was his former party leader, the same one who had suggested he be used as bait.

”She will tell you everything she knows about the player XMan who was spotted with White Phantom.”

. . .

Meanwhile, Gabriel had already changed hotels.

The first one had become too troublesome. Adventurer Guild attention, an assassin attack, and too many eyes on the area had made staying there pointless. This time he chose somewhere quieter. The new hotel was not as luxurious as the last one, but it was clean, discreet, and far less likely to attract more problems.

After checking in, Gabriel entered his room and shut the door behind him.

The room was simpler. A small bed, a desk, a chair, and a narrow window looking over a quieter part of the city. He placed a few items down and stood still for a short while, going over everything that had happened since arriving in Stellar City.

Things had already become messier than he wanted.

After sorting through the immediate issues in his head, Gabriel sent XMan a short message telling him where they would meet next and instructing him to stay careful until then. Once that was done, he put the interface away and walked toward the window.

In his hand was a white headband.

The same one he had taken from the assassin’s corpse earlier.

On the cloth was the symbol of a black serpent.

Black Star Clan.

Gabriel looked at it quietly for a few seconds. The cloth moved slightly between his fingers as a faint breeze slipped in through the gap by the window. He looked outside at the lights of Stellar City and spoke in a calm voice.

”It seems my stay in this city will be much longer than I thought.

...

End of volume 2: New Dawn