Evertale, the first and only VRMMORPG, was a game that burst into the market without any information about the game at first. No promotion, no beta test, and a mysterious game. No one knew who were the creators and developers of this game.

The concept of using virtual reality at that time was not yet proven. Yet, a game was suddenly released fully supported by it, making many big companies worldwide tried copy and crack the mysterious developer of this game, but no one managed to find the truth.

It is quickly becoming the most popular game worldwide as it gives absolute freedom to the players. You can create your own business, kingdoms, empires, and countries and create strategies to develop and protect them from invaders or other domains. Brainstorm with your comrades on how to solve puzzles and discover the unknown.

Choose your unique job and upgrade your class to unlock your unique traits and ability, become the best and strongest in your class, and become famous worldwide.

The game offers unlimited types of skills, and the only limit is your imagination. Every class can learn general skills with enough level and skill points and unique or special skills that can only be understood by completing some conditions.

No restriction on your job class and race as you pick anything. There was no restriction on how many classes you wanted. What matters is how you level up and master each of them. Soon, a group of notable players who were the strongest in their own respective classes emerged and dominated the game, and Astrea was among them.

It's already been a month since Astrea stayed in the town. Right now, she has an idea of how the world works and including about her own self. Astrea was considered a vampire classified as a progenitor, in other words, a royalty among vampires with the highest status. They have the most potent in terms of power, speed, and skills, and they were pure blood among their races.

Not only that but just like the other vampires, Astrea was also attracted to the scent of the blood. But because she refused to drink one, she thought of different possible solutions for her thirst for blood.

With countless experiments, she realized that she could also feed the essence of life from any creatures without drinking their blood directly. Instead, she just needed to absorb them, where we can use an example of mana drain for a better understanding of how to absorb the essence of life.

She also did countless experiments on how her power worked during this time. She realized that there is no limit to the application of skills one has as long you have a strong and abundant amount of Ether to visualize and materialize your imagination.

But the most crucial part is that the people of this world use mana from their body to fuel their skills, unlike Astrea, who were able to use Ether, a different source of magical power. Not only that, but for an unknown reason, she can charge Ether from absorbing the essence in the surroundings as if she was familiar with this technique.

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On a starry night with a full moon illuminating the whole area, a wounded man in his forties was running along the alley with his pursuers. From their fluid movements that contain no sound, they were definitely experts in this kind of field.

The people chasing their target were dressed in plain shirts and long pants, but from how they moved, they had good coordination with one another, which makes it wonder if they were some kind of unit on a mission in disguise or something.

But the more impressive one was the one being chased by them, as he could still escape from them despite the disadvantage of numbers. The one being chased was wearing ragged clothes and a cloak covering his body.

Even though the other party lost the target, they didn't stop of search each corner of the alley in the hope that they capture their target, and yet it looked like there was no hope as they couldn't still manage to find him. And if they still can't manage to track him down as time pass, it will become much more complicated with every second they waste. There's a possibility that the target has already managed to leave the area.

The man who managed to escape stopped for a second to rest for now. He was confident they would not be able to find it for now, but there was only one problem. It was that he had received a fatal wound from the battle earlier. The blood stains on his shirt made it clear that the injury was fatal as his complexion started to pale.

It looks like he was unlucky and was wounded by them. Even though he was lucky to escape from them, it seems he would still die because of the wound he received.

He collapsed on the ground, and he started to lose strength in his body while he still had consciousness. He began to crawl as he gripped his hand and gritted his teeth, showing great perseverance to live. Damn it! I can't die yet! I haven't finished my revenge yet! I will kill them all!

While strength was leaving on his body, the only thing he could do was curse his enemies. But while he was cursing, he heard a weak sound of a footstep. And the sound became stronger from time to time, which meant the footstep was coming in his direction.

The man couldn't see who was walking in his direction as the surrounding was dark. Not only that, he could not move anymore at all, as he couldn't take a look at the one who was approaching him.

While the footsteps were getting closer and closer, a sinister alluring voice started to speak. "I see that you have a problem. Your life is starting to fade. Do you want me to help you?"

"W-who are you?" He tried his best and put strength to make a voice as he replied to the other party as he was vigilance. Even though he was wounded, he was strong enough to escape from his pursuers, yet the person in his front found him. Is this coincidence? Not only that, but he also didn't sense the presence of the other's party until they started to talk.

"I'm just a guide."

"The guide?"

"Correct. I will guide you on what you desire, but remember, your success and failure on the chosen path still depend on you. I'm only a bystander. I will only show a way to those who are lost."

"How can I be sure that what you say is true?"

"Hmm? I don't understand what you're saying. You have no choice. You're dying. I don't have a reason to lie… No, to be more precise, you currently don't have the power to doubt me." The other party said as if they were stating the fact while having a smile on their face.

Not only that, the way they replied, he realized that he was liked a tool or pawn, to be precise, as the other party replied to him with the further intention of "I will help you because I want to. If you don't want it, then I won't help you." Suggesting that they didn't consider him as their equal.

Realizing this, he had no choice but to gamble and trust them right now. He was going to die anyway. "I-if what you said is true, what I need is power. Give me the power to destroy anything, a power to destroy my enemies. I don't mind trading with the devil as long as I can do my revenge. I will offer everything for power." The man said, showing how desperate he was.

Seeing the man's reaction, the other party made an eerie smile which gave a chill to the man lying on the ground. "If that is what you wished, I will grant it."

Soon, he heard a sinister and malicious voice that came out of this world which gave him chills all over his body and made him experience fear.

AcCEpt mE.

I WiLL gIVe yOu pOWeR.

The man started to feel a headache and sense a very sinister aura. "Ugh. W-what's happening to me?" Soon, he collapsed and lost consciousness.

"Now, the transaction is complete. Don't let me down." The other party said as they slowly walked away.

Just a couple of minutes passed, and the man suddenly opened his eyes and stood up from the ground. "What happened?" But before he could comprehend what was happening, he realized that the wound he had received was gone.

There was still the bloodstain from his clothes, showing that he really was wounded and was on the reaper's mercy earlier. "I see." He remembered the conversation earlier. "The guide, that scene was real, after all." He muttered before he faded and merged into the darkness of the alley.

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At the top of one of the buildings in the town, there was a man who was standing. The focus of his eyes was on the ground where a large number of people were walking. In his front was a long sword sheathed, pointing to the ground, and his hands were lying down on the hilt.

He was covered in silver armor where even the moonlight reflected on it, and his back was a cape swayed by the winds. Judging from his equipment alone, anyone who sees him will immediately know that the man is a knight and has a high position among them.

Soon, a group of people who were wearing plain clothes immediately appeared on his back. One of them stepped up. "Sir, Lindraan managed to escape." 

"Even though he managed to escape, the injury he received was fatal. He won't be able to survive for a long time. Continue the search even if we need to search every corner of the town. He is considered an A-rank, classified criminal. We can't let a dangerous criminal roam around here freely."

"Yes, sir!" After their reply, they disappeared as they continued their search.