''Goodbye…'' The bare-chested man grinned with a bloodied hand. He spun around and strode away with a relaxing look.
''Ugh…'' Isaac coughed out blue blood, and when he believed his life was slowly slithering out, an unexpected notification popped up.
[White Death Activated!]
His weary eyes became hyper-focused. In his pupils, light bluish snowflakes emerged out of nowhere.
He quickly scanned the nearby space and noticed the bare-chested man slowly stepping away.
'I can't win!' The first thought arose after a split second. He quietly stood up and ran away—his steps making no sound whatsoever.
''Hmm, where is the notification?'' The bare-chested man finally noticed that the notification of his kill didn't appear. He opened his interface and saw his XP being the same.
He twisted his body halfway and noticed that the white-haired boy had vanished!
''Hmph…'' His eyes turned brutal as he started pursuing Isaac. His body became blurry as he maneuvered past the trees, bushes, and boulders.
Isaac ran deeper into the forest. His hyper-focused eyes surveyed the whole nearby area within a split second. Behind him, he could hear the distinct screaming sounds. However, he wasn't concentrated on them.
Even though the forest was as dark as it could get, with the help of White Death, he managed to see everything as clear as day.
Some distance away, he noticed a tree with a broken trunk. The trunk was barely intact and could fall from a single push.
Isaac shifted his path and ran past the damaged tree, but before going further away, he spun around and punched at the trunk.
He shook his sore hand and resumed running away.
Several seconds after, the bare-chested man reached the broken tree. However, when he was about to pass, the tree trunk finally couldn't hold it in.
Crack!
The tree dropped directly to where RealSwinder was!
''Eh?!'' RealSwindler's body froze, and he took a second to realize his current peril. He placed his arms above him and caught the falling tree.
''Grr!'' His blood vessels protruded as he tried to keep the tree from falling.
BANG!
RealSwindler looked directly in front and saw a flying bullet!
''Shit!'' He moved out of the tree's way, allowing it to fall. However, the bullet still managed to hit him in the thigh!
Blood started streaming out from his bleeding thigh.
''FUCK!'' RealSwindler was enraged. He vaulted over the collapsed tree and ran toward the noise.
Once he reached the location where the sound came from, he found nothing. But then, his foot landed on something slippery, causing him to slip!
''Ah!'' He fell on his butt but quickly rolled to the side.
His previous spot exploded once another bullet landed on it.
RealSwindler rotated his body around and saw a shadowy figure moving in the trees.
''Bastard!'' He stood up and smashed the nearby tree into oblivion!
CRACK!
The tree cracked in half and fell. However, the shadowy figure had already vanished.
Sniff. Sniff.
He sniffed the air and managed to smell the scent. RealSwindler quickly pounced forward and ran after the smell.
Soon, he left the forest and came to a stop. In front of him was a ridge with a deep lake at the bottom.
Splash!
RealSwindler bent forward and saw water splashing, ''He jumped down..? What a crazy guy!''
Thump!
''Oh…'' RealSwindler's body froze, and he slowly lifted his arms. Isaac was right behind him, holding his sniper rifle, the barrel touching the back of RealSwindler's skull.
''How?'' He asked. Honestly curious how Isaac managed to outsmart him, but there wasn't genuine fear on his mug.
''Look next to you,'' Isaac spoke and moved his finger to the trigger.
RealSwindler glanced next to him and saw rocks, but one of the rocks was obviously scooped out and thrown away.
''I see.'' He said without any emotion in his tone.
''Any final words?'' Isaac asked.
''Yes.'' RealSwindler said and suddenly grinned, ''But not from me.''
''Eh?'' Isaac frowned and had a bad feeling.
Bang!
He pulled the trigger and saw the bullet drilling through RealSwindler's skull. However, his face immediately changed.
RealSwindler's body slowly faded away from existence, but not how it was supposed to. Usually, the corpse of the Player would turn into pixels.
RealSwindler's body disappeared like he was never there.
Stab!
''Ah!'' A figure wearing a top hat appeared behind Isaac and plunged his dagger deep inside his exposed back. Blue blood flowed down from the openings of his teeth.
''Hehe…'' The figure laughed and took out his dagger. He pulled out a napkin and cleansed the bloodied blade.
Isaac's body became paralyzed as he fell down with almost no life signals. His eyes kept moving. However, his body was completely motionless.
The surroundings changed drastically. The ridge vanished, the lake faded, and the surroundings disappeared.
Isaac's eyes quivered as he noticed the surroundings looked very familiar. He was lying amid ice and blood.
He also noticed the solidified smoke. Somehow, he had returned to the battlefield, where he fought the wolves and four Players!
''Incredible, isn't it?'' The unknown figure showed a little bit of his face as he smiled, ''You must be confused.''
Isaac attempted to open his mouth, but his tongue and lips didn't move. He couldn't even lift his finger. He was completely paralyzed!
''Well… You see.'' The figure showed his glove, ''I had you under my spell…''
Isaac's eyes shook, 'Spell…? What?!'
''I am Trickster.'' He stood up and spread his arms around, ''Hahaha, that battle was marvelous!''
''I am truly impressed that you managed to outsmart my creation, RealSwindler! Hahahaha!''
Isaac's hyper-focused eyes raced. He scanned every tree, rock, leaves, and even drops of water from the nearby area.
''That name…'' The Trickster chuckled, ''RealSwindler… Did you see that hint? Swindler… Kukukuku.''
He sat down next to Isaac's paralyzed figure and patted his soft white hair, ''How did you survive my killing blow? When RealSwindler cut through your throat, it was actually me moving behind you and slitting your throat with my trusty dagger.''
Isaac's concentration was slowly slipping. His shock couldn't be described in words. He remembered Hecate saying he shouldn't underestimate illusions and when he finally witnessed it.
It was absolutely ridiculous!
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Check out my good friend's new book, ''Land of Nowhere'' By: Ullyr. You won't be disappointed!
