The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 540: Troublesome girls

“Did Prince Caspian really send you?” Nova asked as warily as she followed the masked Tom through the town, heading towards its outskirts.

“Of course!” Tom said, throwing her something without even looking back. It was a Golden Heavenly sect token, something only those with a high rank could have. Behind it, the name, CASPIAN DRAKE, was engraved, and by looking at it, a few lines appeared in her System Notification.

HEAVINLY EMPIRE / HEAVINLY SECT #12154B99009 TOKEN

HEAD DESIPLE

“This is a sign given only to the prince’s people!” he said. The token was real, given to her... No, to him by Caspian. Heʼd better leave this place soon, or the mentality of being a girl would start to harm him!

Seeing it, Nova felt much more confident as she had seen a similar, yet less grandiose one before. It belonged to her mother. It was supposedly impossible to forge. “So where are we going?” she asked as she nodded to her friends and then hurried after him.

“A safe place first, the water here is deeper than you think!” he said as he really guided them toward an old, half-destroyed inn to the side. “This place has a tunnel connecting straight to the sect!” he said as he hurried his steps.

The four girls nervously walked, looking back every once in a while to make sure they were not being followed, and ready to take action if something wrong were to happen!

It was just that their preparation was not enough. The moment they entered the inn and inhaled the strange fragrant incense there, they lost consciousness and fell to their knees one after another.

Tom, walking behind them, sighed in relief, watching them fall before looking up toward the woman sitting at a table in the destroyed hall, clearly waiting for him.

“You are the one….?” he hesitated as he watched her stand and quickly move toward Nova to check on her. A month ago, the system offered to send him “A GREAT ASSISTANT’ to help subdue Nova, and he agreed. But when he asked the system about this ASSISTANTʼs identity, the damn System’s whimsical nature kicked in, telling him that it would be a pleasant surprise!

“Yes, thanks for contacting me…” the woman replied, sighing in relief after confirming that Nova was the real one!

“Ah…. Yes…..” Tom swallowed. He had no idea how or why the system contacted this woman. How the hell was she a great assistance? The system should be telling him that fact now, but… Looking at the timer for the system maintenance mode, he silently cursed. “Should we move with the plan?” he asked, acting as if he knew everything.

“...” The woman hesitated, then, as if strengthening her resolve, she stood up and removed her Veil, making Tom gasp in absolute shock.

“WAIT…WHAT! Lady Luliana…” He exclaimed, taking a step back as he naturally recognized Nova’s mother! Damn system! It should have told him!

“You are Tom, right?” Luliana asked directly. She clearly knew his identity.

“Y....Ah…. What.... How.....” Did the system tell her? DAMN IT!

“I have my channels... You should mask your voice better when connecting to dark organizations!” she said.

”Ah...” SO IT WAS THE FUCKING WHIMSICAL SYSTEM... He never contacted anyone!

”Donʼt worry, your secret is safe...” she said as she reached forward and pulled Tomʼs mask.

He didnʼt stop her, allowing her to reveal his face. His real one. He was back to being old Tom thanks to the dispelling Pill the system gave him.

“Are you really in love with my daughter?” Luliana, who nodded to herself after seeing his looks, got straight to the point.

“Eh…” Hearing her, Tom swallowed… “.... Yes… Kinda… I… ” he stuttered, scratching the back of his head as he answered. Damn Whimsical System!

“I see…” Lulizan sighed.

It all started a few months ago, right after the wedding, when she got a note to contact a mysterious organization called Fragrant Shadow, which knew something about her daughter.

And that was what she did right after!

What she got was a thick file and a contract!

The file contained all of Nova’s dark past after she escaped from home, things that one would not know without Nova confessing it herself. And the contract had very few terms.

The ‘Fragrant Shadow’ would help her reunite with her daughter and ensure Nova’s safety in exchange for five things.

1- total secrecy. This deal should never be known to any third party.

2- Party A would provide all possible information about the Fate sect.

3- For the next 10 years, Party A shall assist Party B in spying on the Von Astrom family upon request.

4- Party B shall ensure that Nova will be safe and provide all necessary information about her to Party A

5- Party B shall help Party A cure Nova from her weird, weird obsession with Prince Caspian and help hide her from the latter.

At first, Luliana was hesitant, as she had no idea what those guysʼ true goal was, but with all her other sources failing to get any info, she finally reluctantly signed the contract. She never cared about the Fate sect or the Von Astrom family to begin with, so selling them out was not that big of a deal if it could save her daughter.

After that, Fragrant Shadow stopped contacting her, telling her to wait until one week ago, when they informed her that they helped the real one escape her captors (who, according to them, were a fantastic demon worshiping organization that wanted to extract her bloodline). It sounded like a far-fetched story, but thatʼs all she got, and she could only wait until meeting with Nova to make things clear.

Unfortunately, after escaping, her stupid daughter didn’t head home but decided to head toward the Heavenly sect, infuriating her mother, who expected her to at least make a call!

At that time, Fragrant Shadow revealed that they had contacted the fake Nova, who was Tom, whom she read about in the thick file they provided her! The one who slept with her daughter to dispel that aphrodisiac a year ago! Investigating this guy was easy, and through her other sources, she was able to confirm most of the info about him! Other than being a womanizer, he was not that bad!

To tell the truth, she was really shocked by how dedicated that guy was… Sacrificing his own chastity! At that moment, she realizes that this guy might be the right one for her daughter. Who wouldnʼt want to have a son-in-law who would even sacrifice his anal chastity for his wife! She was not 100% sure, but her stupid husband would never do that for her!

Anyway, apparently, Tom was also in contact with Frangnatʼs shadow, and he had a crazy plan to save Nova! A plan that might really work!

Hearing about all of this info, Luliana was hesitant at first as she was clear that her daughter and her might be under manipulation from some third party who had some hidden agenda, but with no other options, she decided to play along, and that’s how she ended up here!

“So…” Watching Lulizan go silent, Tom asked worriedly. Could it be that she didn’t like him?

“I want to thank you… “ Luliana said out of nowhere.

“Eh… What…” Tom didn’t see that coming.

“Without sacrificing yourself to save my daughter, she would have surely been taken away by that Demon Caspian!” Luliana said solemnly with clear gratitude. Before this, she knew that Caspian had some dark hobbies, but the things Fragrant Shadow found and showed her were beyond shocking!

“Ah…. It’s ok…” he blushed a bit.

“If you really cared about her, you should have come directly to us and proposed…” she said, eyeing him. That would have saved them a lot of trouble.

“Ah… I… I really should have…” he scratched the back of his head, not expecting a meeting with his mother-in-law so fast. “Then what should we do about her… Will you take her home or...?” Tom asked, knowing that Luliana was here, he was hesitant about his plan. It involved some dark shit that no mother would want her daughter to go through…

“...”

“Did Capsian and his father already leave the sect?” she asked.

“Yes…”

“Then we will go with the plan…!” Luliana said, biting her lip.

“Are you sure…”

“This is the only way to make her see the truth… And it would not be here who will suffer most, but little Morrisia here!” Luliana said, looking at the ‘Fallen’. She knew his real identity thanks to Fragrant Shadowʼs info. Although she didn’t know how he ended up with her daughter, or like ‘That,’ she didn’t mind using him as she knew quite a few things about his past!

“...” Tom swallowed. Morrisia…. No, this guy’s name must have been Morris. Damn it, being a Fallen was really bad. “Well… I think it can be done, but I will have to wait for a day to get ready if that’s ok with you…” He said. To use the system’s power, he needed to wait until it finished its maintenance!

“.... That would be ok…” Lulia bit her lip, glancing at her daughter. This was all for her own good!

***

The world was burning… Literally! Everywhere was engulfed in crimson flames as scattered bodies filled the streets of a foreign ruined city under the moonless purple night sky.

A masked girl with long blond hair crossed over the cut-out tentacles, giving each an extra stab with her spear as she made her way toward HIM, slowly removing her strange white mask to reveal a familiar face as beautiful as the moon with long eyelashes and dark golden eyes.

“Isn’t it about time you surrender?” she asked.

“..............” he didn’t talk, he couldn’t, he could only feel endless anger at this bitch who interrupted its meal, and cut his newly born fledgling tentacles! “Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……..” He screeched in a loud voice, trying to intimidate her.

It didn’t work.

“What do you think Master would reward me with after this mission… Would he finally take me to his bedroom?” the girl asked, making HIM screech a bit as he realized that this one might have some screws loose… No, she definitely did!

“....” He wanted to use the chance to attack her, but…. “Kryaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…………….”

The moment he moved his three remaining tentacles to attack from three impossible angles, they were cut in one sweeping move! Not by the girl but by a newcomer!

“Alexis, I swear, you should stop daydreaming inside dungeons…” the familiar blue-haired masked girl spat angrily as she sheathed her sword.

“I am not daydreaming! I am just stating my goals!” Alex stated, not feeling offended at all.

“Nova! Talking with this idiot is futile…” another strange girl said as she appeared behind ‘Nova’. “Those phoenixes only have mating in their chicken heads once they hit puberty…. That’s the kind of offspring you get when you forcefully integrate a Racial Spark and raise your bloodline’s purity beyond 100%.”

“YOU ARE THE FUCKING CHICKEN HEAD, JASMIN! HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY GRANDMOTHER!” Alexis spat at the third girl, totally disregarding him, who only had his head left, and was calculating how he could use his last trump card.

”Just speaking facts....”

”YOU....”

“ENOUGH!” an authoritative voice sounded, making all the girls freeze, then turn and bow toward another newcomer. It was a tall, big-boobed masked girl dressed in a strange, tight leather outfit, with black stockings that could barely cover her long legs that poked from under that very tight mini skirt. For some strange reason, he felt a familiar air around. Yet strangely enough, he couldn’t recognize her at all. WAIT, why would he recognize any of those girls? This was his first time entering this world; how could he get to know any of those bitches…. “The Guardians are getting close, and Alicia is barely holding them at bay with the others. Let’s wrap things here and extract the Concept Master needs out of this one…” she said as she walked toward HIM.

Using this chance, he tried to self-detonate to spread his SOUL SEEDS, but it couldn’t… It was as if all of his powers were frozen!

“Sorry, you lost this round!” the girl said as she slashed him with her dagger.

BAM!

***

“She is here!” Mimi said, alerting Victor, who was taking a nap with his head on Ruby’s lap as the latter helped heal him. They were on the roof of the teacher’s dormitory.

“Oh…” he quickly sat up and looked around, a bit absent-minded. What was that dream about… Was this just a random thing or a premonition…. Slowly, he remembered seeing Alex, Nova, and hearing familiar names like Alicia and Jasmine… And…. In it, he was not a human, but…. ASTRAN!

Frowning, he felt that this might be a memory ... One he inherited from Astran as he devoured his soul… And if his guess was right, it was from the other timeline!

Nove being there would mean that the Master they were talking about was… Caspian? Yeah… They did mention Alicia, who really did work for Caspian back then…. Was Alex also a part of Caspian’s team?

What was that about the Concept they wanted to extract? Was Caspian working to become a lord or something? And… That place didn’t seem like the Von Rosen ancestral lands! Could it be that Astran escaped that dungeon in secret?

Well… He was not in a position to inquire into such secrets back then, but…. Who was that last girl… He could swear he knew her, but those long legs and large breasts… It didn’t ring any bells.

“Young master…. What’s wrong…” Ruby asked worriedly,

“Nothing…” he shook his head, deciding to investigate this later. “Where is Polina?” he asked, sighing.

Mimi pointed down towards a hidden part behind the building where a short cute girl with brown dyed hair and wearing a black tracksuit was using a rope to scale the school fence.

POLINA von Weise BLACK

STR 11

INT 16

LUCK 3

CHARM 21

Bloodline: ELDER DRAGON (UNAWAKENED)

FATE:

FATE’S POWER: S (DARK SCION)

DEFINED FATE: WILL BE KILLED BY BILL VON WEISE

DESTINY LIST < 10 ORDER POINTS TO UNVEIL>

“Mimi, you stay here…” Victor said as he pulled Ruby close, then jumped off the roof and floated toward his target, keeping in the air. “Damn it…”

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked as she watched Polina successfully cross the fence in a well practiced manner.

“Two things, first this girl is way smarter than I first presumed, secondly… She is a dark scion!” he said, then, after hesitating for a moment, he paid 10 order points! She better be worth it!

>> DARK SCION: YOU ARE A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN! OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!

>> BECOME A VESSEL TO KAYAL THE ABSORBER.

>> FIND THE REAL ONES BEHIND MY DILEMMA AND GET REVENGE AGAINST THAT GARDNER WHO DRUGGED AND RAPED ME THEN CLAIMED THAT IT WAS MY DOING ALL ALONG!

>> THE VON WEISE FAMILY SHALL PAY FOR NOT BELIEVING ME!

>> GET REVENGE AGAINST FATHER AND UNCLE FOR NOT BELIEVING ME, LEAVING ME IN THIS SHITHOLE!

>> ALL MEN ARE TO BE USED BY ME!

“Holy shit….” Victor frowned. This mess was bigger than he ever expected! What to do? He paused there as he watched Polina, who was totally unaware she was being followed, quickly hide the rope she used to scale the fence, then make her way toward a thicket right beside the school. “Should I just kill her?” he asked.

“Young master… Is it really that troublesome?” Ruby was not aware of what Victor was thinking, but his soul was very turbulent.

“Let’s just say that she is holding a grudge… Her actions are a kind of revenge!” he said. No wonder those porn movies made their way to the world. She was doing this on purpose!

She wanted revenge, and what better way to ruin her father than revealing the truth of her being alive than appearing in a Porn!

One might presume that this was an act of someone desperate! Still, wasn’t this a bit stupid?

And what was that fate of being a Vessel for someone whom he had never even heard of? Was she going to turn into a demon in the future? Well, that never happened in his past life, as the world Fate really managed to finish her off!

But… Seriously, what is wrong with this world? Everyone around him is turning into scions or some shit!

Thinking again, Victor activated his Fate Vision, making the world fill with all kinds of threads originating from him… As he made more and more moves, those threads were getting thicker and more notorious.

Anyways, there were no strange threads around Polina…. And none other than a thin normal thread was connecting to him.

Was he overthinking things?

“What do you think?” he asked Ruby.

“Young master… I think you can help her!” Although she didn’t know the full story, Ruby had faith in Victor, like all the little girls working for him.

“Let’s do that!” Victor thought for a moment, then took his phone and made a call. He had no time to deal with this bitch by himself, so he had to find a helper!

“WHO IS IT?” an annoyed voice came from the other side.

“YOU BRAT YOU CANʼT EVEN RECOGNIZE YOUR MASTER’S VOICE?!” Victor spat, changing his voice into that of the old Master, making Ruby beside him raise one eyebrow.

“Ah…. Yeah… Master….” the other side replied in a troubled and awkward way. It was none other than Jim, the guy who tried to imitate Gary a few days ago. To balance a Dark Scion, what was better than a real Scion?

“You are still in town?”

“Ah…yes, just leaving…” Jim lied. He was with Lumia… after she went missing, he realized how much he cared about her, so after he couldn’t help hugging her and then… Things progressed naturally!

“Head south…” Victor said directly, then began to give him the instructions toward this place.

“A girlsʼ boarding school?” Jim frowned as he heard Victor finally mention the name of a school. “What should I do there?” he asked in a weird tone. He was not into that perverted shit!

“There is a girl whom I want you to take in, I will recruit her to the sect as a named disciple… So just come here and help her escape!” Victor said as he saw a man head toward the thicket where Polina was waiting. “I will mail you the info later… Just head here!” Victor said as he slowly declined while keeping his disguise.

“Al!!” she quickly said as soon as she saw him, throwing herself into his embrace.

“Polina… I really missed you!” the man asked as his hands began to move around her body. He was a totally normal guy…. Just a pervert.

“Wait…. First things first…. Did you get the camera?” she asked as she pushed him back.

“Yeah!” Al nodded as he took a cheap digital camcorder from his backpack. “Are you sure you want to do this here this time?” he asked, clearly not sure if this was the right thing to do.

THIS TIME? Victor’s face turned black. How many times did they do it already?

“...Yeah…. This is the only way I can help you pay your loan…!” she said as she bit her lip and looked at him with upturned eyes. “We shall always be together after that!”

“Ah…. Yeah… “ he nodded as he turned his head to begin to set the camera’s tripod. Like hell he was going to take this slut as a wife! Once he made enough money off her and had his fun, he was going to disappear to the Whiteshore islands, where the legal age is just 13! There, he was going to begin a new life and build a harem like that of Victor White!

“...” Victor sighed as he watched Al’s expression, easily reading his perverted mind. The poor guy was going to die in some very brutal way. His uncle might appear like a nice guy, but he wasn’t!

“You are going to let them do it?” Ruby asked in a weird voice as she watched Polina take position and begin to prepare.

“Let’s do it…” Victor said.

“DO WHAT?” Ruby asked as Al moved from the camera to setting up the lighting, using two large ring lights.

“Just watched…” Victor smiled and said as he descended.

“Ready?” Unaware of his grim destiny, Al asked as he finished setting things up and walked toward the Camera again.

“Ready…” Polina, who was only covering her body with a bed sheet at the moment, said.

“ACTION!” the man said to himself as he turned the camera on and aimed it at Polina.

“Name and Age?” he asked in a slightly altered voice.

“POPCORN… AGE 17…. No… 18…. ” she bit her lip shyly.

Victor sighed. THIS BITCH WAS DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!

“Why do you want to do it here?” Al asked, totally unaware that the girl’s cousin was at the moment standing behind him with some not very nice expression.

“I want to show the world that I am a free woman… Can you set me free?” she asked bashfully as she began to unzip her tracksuit’s jacket as if she couldn’t wait.

“Well…” the now naked Al placed a black surgical mask on his face, then slowly walked toward Polina, finally appearing on the video frame. “As long as you want!” he said as she watched her squat next to him. “We will start by a fe….. Ahhh…………………………………”

Before Polina, who fell to her knees, could touch him, Al fell to the floor,

“What’s wro…. KYAAAAAAAAAAAA……….” she screamed and fell backward as she finally noticed the fountain of blood that began to sprout from where his head was! “A….” she quickly scrambled backwards, falling down, and looked up, then screamed.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA……………………….”

There it was, right over her head, a giant man-sized spider with 8 legs dangling from the tree above, in its mouth was Al’s head. All of its eight eyes were eyeing Polina!

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………NO! HELP!”

Turning around, she scrambled to her feet, but before she could move any more, she stumbled and fell, face-first into the leafy forest floor.

“NO!” Her mouth full of dirt, she turned to witness the monster right above her. She could even smell its foul breath as its saliva began to drip over her.

“No….” she gasped then…

SWISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!

The Spider’s head was cut a moment later as a fat young man in a lousy casual dress stepped out, holding a long sword. “DAMN IT, this one made it into a populated area…” he cursed as he approached the spider’s body that began to disintegrate, pulling something that fell on the ground in its place as it turned into smoke… a dagger! “Well, at least the drop is decent!” he said, turning and finally noticing Polina, who was looking at him with shock.

“...”

“WHAT WAS THAT…WHO ARE YOU?” she asked as she scrambled to her feet, looking around as if ready to bolt out of here.

“I am the one who is going to ask questions here…” he said just as she turned to run, but stopping as he appeared right in her path!

“PLEASE donʼt kill me…. I will do anything….” she said as she pulled open her tracksuit jacket.

Victor’s face nearly turned black as he ignored her. “Stay here…” he said as he picked poor Al’s head that was right at her feet. “You are going to escape and leave your partner alone?”

“Ah….KYaaaaaaaaaaaa….” Polina, who was in shock, quickly remembered that Al had just died, screamed again, and took a few steps back as she looked at the corpse. “No, I…”

“Drop the act, I have seen murderers look sadder at their victims than you…. Was he not your boyfriend?” he asked.

“...” she swallowed as her eyes began to look for some exit. She had no idea what had happened here, but she knew she should escape! “Just an acquaintance…”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I deal with his corpse…” he asked as he threw the head over the body.

“....Feel free….” she said as she got ready to run as soon as this guy got busy.

Ignoring her again, Victor just flicked his finger, making poor Al burst into fire before turning toward the camera. “You were filming porn here by any chance?” he asked as he took out the memory card, then smashed the poor thing with one hand.

“....For private use only…” Polina lied. Damn it, this guy kept his eyes on her the entire time!

“I see… I used to do that in my youth, too,” he said to himself as he finally began walking her way again. “Now…”

“Please don’t kill me… I swear I will say nothing about this…” she said, taking a step back. Although she was not sure what that monster or this guy was, she came from the Von Weise family and knew how mysterious powers dealt with things! “I… I belong to the von Weise family….”

He paused, then began inspecting her from head to toe before taking his phone and taking a picture of her. A moment later, it rang, notifying him of a new message.

“Polina von Weise… You should be dead!” he said in surprise.

“I….” She was a bit surprised. Did her uncle really kill her on record? He did tell her to stop using her name…

“Killing you shouldn’t be a problem then…”

“You canʼt, my uncle and father would never forgive you….”

“Well, I will just have to show them this flash card, and I bet they will say nothing…” he said, flashing a small memory card that he slipped out of the camera earlier. “I bet they would forgive me…”

“...” Polina swallowed again. “I will do anything…. Anything at all…”

“It’s not that I am doubting you or something… But I have just seen you disregard that ‘Aquaintance’ of yours without showing any remorse, you don’t seem the most trustworthy type…” he said as he began to walk toward her again. “Any last words…”

“PLEASE DON’T….” She closed her eyes and began to tear up.c “I SWEAR I WILL BE A GOOD GIRL AND WOULD NEVER GO AGAINST YOU….”

“Now really?… Would you sign a contract?” he asked.

“I… Wait what…” she opened her eyes to find the fat man’s ugly face just in front of hers, looking her straight in the eye.

“I am asking, are you willing to sign a life and death contract to be my slave?”

“...” Polina squinted her eyes. “You…. You were after this from the start, werenʼt you?” she asked directly. She was clearly not as stupid as she made herself appear.

“After what?” Victor said as he cursed silently. Damn it… This is why he hated smart girls.

“After me… That monster was your doing, wasn’t it…. “ she said, changing her tone in a second as she suspected him.

Victor was taken aback. “You have some wide imagination… Why would I care for a slut! “ he kept to his story. “Since you don’t want to, let me send you on your…” he began to speak as he pulled his sword again.

“I WILL SIGN IT!” she quickly said. Damn it… Could it be that she was wrong?

“...”

“...”

“Let me get it ready…. I have one here…” he began to speak as he searched his pockets, finally taking a stack of neatly folded papers. Picking one of them, he put the others back in his pocket before taking a pen. “Let’s see… Polina von Wise…” he said, using his own belly as a cushion to write her name, allowing her to take a peek at the very tightly written contract.

“What does it say?” she asked.

“Does it matter?”

“...”

“It is that you will join my sect as a servant…. If you do good, you will have a chance to become a disciple…” he said as he gave her the paper.

“Sect?”

“Aha… The Ancient Sect, a sect dedicated to fighting demons and protecting the world!… That’s all you need to know”

Frowning, she turned to the contract. It was a long one! “Can I take my time to read it?”

“You can, but I will kill you in 1 minute 30 seconds if you don’t sign it!” he said.

“....”

“Come on, you don’t have a choice… Unless you like to meet your boyfriend early!” he said, turning to the spot where Al was, and now was only a pile of ash.

“He was not my boyfriend…. Can you at least promise me one thing if I join the sect?”

“What? If you want revenge against your family, then forget about it!” he spat. If she wanted to kill his stupid father, he would be in trouble!

“Not that…. I want to investigate something… Just an investigation… You seem to have a very strong intelligence network!” she said, glancing at the phone in his hand. Being able to find out her identity this fast meant that he might know something about those bastards who tricked her!

“.... I can’t promise you that… But if you do good and manage to become a disciple, you will not need my help!” he said, squinting his eyes. Her story might be similar to Laraʼs, with some nefarious force behind it, but since Polina was a dark scion, he couldn’t make things easy for her. “Now do it!”

Polina bit her lip, then used her knee as a cushion to sign her name.

“Good…. Now we fix you up!” he said as he took the contract back with a smirk. Although this thing had a lot of conditions, it was well balanced….. But before he could make the system accept it, one last step was needed.

“What….”

Before she could understand what happened, she felt his hand touch her back then…

SYSTEM INITIALIZING…..

REGISTERING A NEW PLAYER!