Kadar opened the Quest's details for the third time, scanning the log for any additional information that he may have missed out. It was a curious thing, appearing out of thin air whenever he consciously willed it to, and disappearing with a small *blip* when he looked away. But though strangely addicting, Kadar kept it to a minimum, just in case any hostile Harvesters possessed supernatural hearing.

The actor crept several paces forwards, marking the position of each Harvester in his mind, and committing it to memory. The same way he would 20 years ago when escaping from daycare (The carer did have abnormally good hearing.)

His first thought was to wait in a safe hiding spot to see if there were any movement patterns to those glowing humanoids, or possibly a time they'd begin to disperse. But the timer sitting at the top corner of his peripheral vision would have none of it.

Even though he didn't know how it exactly helped, he'd played enough games in his past life to know that it was some sort of boost. To increase his odds of escaping the Chamber, Kadar needed every trump card he could get his hands on, and there was no time for waiting.

The biggest problem was how the hell he was going to travel a mile in 8 minutes.

Kadar quickened his pace into a jog, then decided to mix in a couple of short bursts of speed. Among the many orbs and humanoids, there were large clumps of debris that looked like good hiding spots. Kadar decided to memorize their location as well. The creatures did seem to rely on sight as much as he did, after all.

However, just as Kadar was about travel a few metres more, he noticed a different Harvester pair nearby, walking in his direction.

Damn.

Kadar immediately dove for the closest object, an oddly shaped boulder, and flattened himself against its damp exterior. The footfalls of the creatures were now extremely close growing louder and louder. Then they stopped, moments away from his cover.

"Huh," one said confusedly. "Thought I saw something in the shadows."

"Your tiredness must be getting to you," The other replied "I don't blame you. We've been trying to meet the Harvesting quota for a couple of days already."

"You're right. I'm completely exhausted."

Holding his breath, Kadar waited. The moment this NPC dialogue was over, he planned to make a beeline for the exit immediately. He was losing precious seconds.

"Any plans after this? I'd like to meet my Mother if I could."

Seriously? How long were these bastards going to continue talking here?

"I would too, except I doubt mine even cares about me anymore."

Hey, I'm sure she loves you to pieces. Just gettt outtt...

"Sounds rough. Just go visit your Daughter or something. She's been wanting to meet you for years."

I agree. Daughters are super important people. Meet your daughter right now. I demand you!

"Ehhh... I might just do some overtime instead."

Noo...Weren't you supposed to be tired??? I don't... It's not... fdgdyhfyhhhgjds

Eavesdropping was making him lose brain cells. 

Kadar knew these sorts of people and hated them with a passion. People who expected you to sympathise with them then proceeded to ignore any kind of input you had, deserved nothing less than to drown in sewage water. The amount of crap they'd force down your throat was unbelievable...

But his inward rant was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a group of orbs. Until now, he'd been avoiding the balls of light to stop them from revealing his position. But this time Kadar didn't dare move from his spot. As he wordlessly prayed that none of the Harvesters noticed, the orbs clumped up around him, their low humming growing in intensity. Then, they darted into his body, dematerializing in the process

Kadar had somehow absorbed them.

What...?

Now, what the hell is Soul Sowing?

The System window suddenly changed.

Seems like you can access some sort of dictionary with your thoughts.

It was a real shame he didn't have access to this a decade ago. Maybe then he could've avoided going into a trashy career. Like acting.

"Did you hear that?" One of the two Harvested whispered, in a hushed voice. "Someone's Harvesting in our territory!"

"Yeah... I think it came from that rock. I'll check it out."

Kadar swore to himself and leaped out from behind the boulder.

"Soul Sowing!" He said at the top of his lungs, fingers dancing theatrically in their direction. The two glowing humanoids backed off in surprise.

It was his best bet. And most importantly, it worked like a charm.

The fifteen orbs Kadar had just collected spilled back out of him, and then melted into a pink liquid, before shapeshifting into something resembling a young woman. One that he had actually seen recently.

It was the girl with the pink streak in her hair. One of the twin sisters whose lives he'd evidently failed to save.

And now, he was using her to save his very own...

I'm pathetic, aren't I, Iris?

Could he really do this and still call himself a man?

"Etoile," The phantom girl began, bowing respectfully towards him "At your ser--"

"Sorry. Can we just get round to killing those Harvesters already?"

"Yes, Master,"

Apparently, yes.

Pride and guilt meant nothing to him, compared to the threat of dying again. Kadar was an exemplary human being.

Etoile immediately wrenched a spectral halberd from the ground and swung it around, just in time to deflect two shadow bolts that the enemy Harvesters had sent toward them. The two humanoids yelped, retreating a few paces backward before conjuring another array of shadow projectiles. But they were too slow. She had already closed the distance.

"Damn it!" one barked "Finish her off!"

Without skipping a beat, Etoile stepped into their guard, dodging projectiles point-blank as she hooked one by the neck with her polearm and yeeted him across the chamber.

The other stood rigid. Probably too transfixed by the phantom's savage beauty to respond. He was dispatched with a bonk to the head and a powerful kick to the side.

The actor couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. Not because of their stupid sob stories. But because, thanks to his manager, Kadar knew the feeling of being overworked all too well.

Still, one of them truly deserved it.

As much as Kadar would have liked to stand by and yell "You go girl!!", the tumultuous roar of Harvesters now rushing towards them, brought him back to reality. They were greatly outnumbered. And Etoile's time was running out.

Kadar and his phantom bodyguard sprinted towards the gate, which was slowly closing. He made sure to gather as many orbs as possible and was summoning Lvl 1 phantoms repeatedly until his voice grew hoarse. But the distance between them and their pursuers was rapidly decreasing. Kadar inwardly thanked the stamina he had gained from regularly oversleeping and rushing to work, for bringing him this far.

"Etoile!" He called breathlessly as she caught up behind him. "Know any way I can reach the exit in 5 minutes?"

"Master, I can carry you," she mused. Several shadow bolts detonated dangerously close to them. "However, it'd make us an obvious target. And we still wouldn't make it in 5 minutes."

Kadar knew she was right. The only other reason they were lasting for so long was, due to the decoys he was summoning. Bringing any more attention to himself was a bad move. But he was running dangerously low on soul orbs and the enemy would soon surround him.

If only they could somehow fly.

Suddenly the image of Etoile launching the Harvester drifted into his mind.

"Etoile," Kadar said, already regretting his decision. "Do you think you can throw me? Like, at the exi-"

He wanted to add "without hooking my neck to the axe head, please," but Etoile's processing speed was frighteningly fast. Sadly, her telepathy was very limited.

Within seconds, Kadar felt the curve of the halberd's spectral steel against his neck, then found himself airborne, making way for the exit at the top speed of a fighter jet.

That's some bloody good precision.

The good news was that his head and torso were still connected. The bad news was that roughly thirty Harvesters were now ready to receive his landing.

"Soul Sowing!" Kadar yelled.

He managed to intercept their first volley of shadow projectiles by conjuring a shield of phantom minions. But then...

Damn it...

He had no more Soul Orbs in stock.

As Kadar reached the ground, using his surviving phantoms to cushion the fall, the enemy moved in to encircle them. It was only a matter of time before they'd be close enough to slaughter his puny army.

"Master," Etoile materialized behind him causing Kadar to flinch. "I have arrived,"

"How..."

Kadar thought he'd lost her.

"I can return to my Master's location wherever it may be," She explained. "Unfortunately, the rest are too low-leveled to teleport."

"Then this is all we have?" He asked.

"Yes Master, I'm afraid so."

He only had around 2 minutes left before [Harvester's Blessing] wore off, but the exit was now a mere hundred metres away guarded only by a small contingent of Harvesters. Kadar had to strike before the enemy could regroup. Before his own army was surrounded.

"Alright, people. Captain Kade here." He announced, addressing the phantoms gathered behind him. "We're blitzing the exit. Move out!"

His tiny army, let out a ghastly war cry and charged forward in unison. What happened next could only be described as pandemonium.

The Harvesters seemed to have upped their firepower, using magical lasers and explosives to rip the phantoms into Swiss cheese. Kadar tried his best to replenish his ranks with whatever Soul Orbs he could find, but the biggest factor in maintaining their battle lines was clearly Etoile.

"Everybody! Follow the girl with the big-ass halberd!"

She spearheaded through the Harvesters, batting them aside like bowling pins and cutting them down with concise and nimble strikes. Every kill she obtained seemed to level her up, enhancing her movements until she began to blur. The girl had become an arc of pure grace and destruction.

The moment she was able to engage the Harvesters in melee, it no longer became a bloodbath. It was a performance. A spectacular one at that. And Etoile was the star of the show.

I know enemy reinforcements are coming, but just keep it up for a while longer.

Now that all the conditions had been met. It was time for Kadar to act.

In theory, the technique he was planning to use was relatively simple. It wasn't just used in acting. Similar methods could be found in warfare and modern magic (Like street magicians, not actual magic). It was also the technique that Iris despised the most. He could almost hear the fuss she'd probably make if she saw him right now.

"Kadar, your way of acting makes me want to puke. I hate it. What's the point in being an actor if you're always hiding behind the performance of others?"

"Well, it's still acting, isn't it? It makes the leading stars stand out more. You're still deceiving the audience for their own entertainment, "

"Pffft. You must think you're so smart, using actors and actresses like they're your playthings. Is that what you enjoy? Don't you wish your own talents were properly recognized?"

The actor smiled to himself. To bypass the Harvesters' defences, he was merely shifting his 'spotlight' onto Etoile to erase his own presence. All he had to was contrast her strong and deliberate movements with his weak ones while keeping close by. Of course, there was a bit more to it than that, but the rest of the details relied on one's ability to read the atmosphere. Something the actor had a natural talent for.

Still, Kadar couldn't help but appreciate how perfectly things had been set up.

The brighter the star shone, the more effective the technique became. And sure enough, Etoile was dazzling. She was already possessing the aura that Kadar had witnessed from so many celebrities before. One that screamed 'Look at me and no one else!'

Etoile had singlehandedly arrested the attention of the entire enemy army. And he was going to exploit it as much as possible.

Using this method, he almost managed to get within arm's reach of the exit. But of course, things never proceeded as planned.

First of all, Kadar was losing too many troops, which was extra bad. You can't shift people's attention onto others if you're the only one onstage.

Furthermore, one of the female Harvesters had not completely fallen for his ploy and noticed him sneaking out of the melee.

Tch, it's always the females who notice.

Kadar blamed his good looks.

He tried to leap through the gate but a sudden pull to his legs forced him to drop halfway.

"I'm not going to let you escape!" The female Harvester gloated. "I'll suck the soul out of you!"

Now under normal circumstances, Kadar may have been slightly happy if a beautiful lady had said that to him. But this was different. She appeared to be vacuuming him in with the same force they used to harvest Soul Orbs. Kadar could feel himself growing cold and numb, as fragments of his soul were leaving his body.

"Master! Get up!"

What do you think I'm trying to do, huh? You think I enjoy this?

He looked at Etoile who was not doing too well anymore, one large gash evident in her right thigh and a gaping hole in her left shoulder. With one last-ditch effort, Etoile chucked her halberd at the creepy female humanoid, who effortlessly stepped out of the way.

Heh, what a good girl. Iris should take some tips.

But I guess this is it...

I was so close...

Kadar reached out to the closing gate, fingers mere centimeters away from it. All the remaining phantoms he had summoned, were disintegrating

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

"Huaaaagh!"

Kadar immediately pulled himself up and landed a devastating haymaker on the female Harvester. The impact resulted in a massive shock wave, scattering the entire enemy force.

"Haaah... Haaah..." he panted, breathing heavily. "What the bloody hell...?"

Kadar chuckled to himself briefly, still struggling to process what exactly happened.

Then without looking back he jumped out of the Chamber, and into the next world.