Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Hunter in Action
While the other players gathered in a private screening room, occasionally heading out to complete a weird tale, the fifth player, Lone Ranger, was operating on his own.
In the public cemetery of Xuanxiao Mountain, a dense gray mist seemed to hang motionless, flowing silently through the quiet graveyard.
There was nothing in the Mist. Not even the sound of the wind could be heard, leaving only silence itself.
In this silent environment, Lone Ranger moved through the cemetery with a lantern, searching for his target.
Lone Ranger himself was a shadowy character. Now, dressed in a white hooded robe—the standard attire of an Assassin—he seemed to blend in as part of the cemetery.
Weaving through the cemetery, he slowly read the inscriptions on the tombstones until he came upon an empty grave.
The grave had just been dug; the soil piled beside it was still a fresh, dark color. An exquisitely crafted coffin rested inside.
However, the coffin lid was open, and there was no body inside.
After standing by the grave for a moment, Lone Ranger’s gaze swept over the adjacent tombstone, where he saw a line of text starkly inscribed:
"Lone Ranger, January 1, 2113 – July 1, 2131. Cause of death: Pierced through the chest by a sharp blade."
The moment he finished reading, he felt a searing pain in his chest, forcing a low hiss of breath from him.
Another version of himself materialized from the thick Mist, a blade identical to his own piercing through his chest. It then gently pushed him into the waiting coffin.
The coffin began to close, and the surrounding earth moved on its own, filling the grave until the coffin was completely buried.
Having done all this, the other "Lone Ranger" chuckled softly and turned to leave, only to hear a familiar, mocking laugh.
The next moment, the fake Lone Ranger found his surroundings plunge into darkness. He was somehow inside the coffin.
Not only that, but black nails were sealing the lid shut. The trap meant to imprison Lone Ranger had now become its prison, a fact the fake couldn’t begin to comprehend.
On top of that, it felt a sharp pain in its chest. The wound that should have been on Lone Ranger was now suddenly on its own body.
Before long, it heard footsteps from above.
Someone was treading on the earth over the coffin, speaking in a voice it could hear. "You’re a weird tale, a Doppelganger, right?"
"..."
"It’s fine if you don’t answer. I’m actually quite a fan of weird tales, so I know what you are. You’re a creature that lures in its target, then kills them to steal their identity. But you picked the wrong target. I’m not someone you can just replace at will."
Taking out a Zippo-style lighter, Lone Ranger fiddled with it deftly, flicking it open and closed, making a series of sharp CLICK-CLACK sounds.
The Doppelganger tried to escape, but the coffin had apparently been sealed with a special method. A dense Supernatural Power blocked its escape routes, trapping it within the narrow coffin.
An excellent hunter often appears in the guise of prey.
Thinking back on what had happened, the Doppelganger realized that from the moment it laid eyes on Lone Ranger, it had been led by the nose. Unwittingly, the hunter had become the hunted.
The Doppelganger chuckled softly. "Since you’ve caught me, then..."
"Yeah, no. Don’t try to bargain. I’m not here to make a deal."
"Then what do you want?"
"My Profession is Shadow Assassin, and this Profession has a Skill with the same name as you: Doppelganger. Its effect is to leave behind a physical duplicate while the real body turns to shadow and escapes to a safe distance. It’s a Skill with a prerequisite—and that prerequisite is to capture a Doppelganger."
"...What are you talking about? I don’t understand."
"You know exactly what I’m talking about, so why play dumb? Now then, become a part of my Skill, Doppelganger."
A sudden, violent banging erupted from beneath the ground. The trapped Doppelganger was making a last-ditch effort, but it still couldn’t break free.
It let out a deafening roar from below and began to Curse Lone Ranger’s very existence, but its efforts were as futile as a child’s tantrum.
Supernatural Power condensed in Lone Ranger’s hands. A massive Array enveloped the grave, and black shadows morphed into chains. They pierced through the earth, through the coffin, and bound the struggling Doppelganger within, transforming it into a card.
Plunging his hand into the soil, Lone Ranger gave a sharp tug and pulled out a black card.
He stroked the metal card with satisfaction, admiring the black shadow depicted on its surface for a moment before opening his skill tree and placing the card inside.
As the metal card was sacrificed, a Skill on his Profession’s skill tree lit up: Doppelganger.
Nodding in satisfaction, Lone Ranger had completed one of his objectives for this instance.
With this life-saving Skill, his options for escape would now be far more diverse.
He opened his quest panel and confirmed his mission.
"Main Quest: Trigger and resolve as many weird tales as possible.
Current Weird Tales Completed: 1.
Main Quest complete. Your Talent, Hunter, has been activated.
You have triggered an additional quest: Hunt other players. For each player you kill, you will receive bonus experience, Game Coins, and possibly even a treasure chest.
Please note: If you are killed by your target, you will lose a certain amount of experience and Game Coins."
Lone Ranger, the 11th-ranked star player.
"Star player" wasn’t an official term in The Abyss. The developers hadn’t even implemented a leaderboard feature. Rather, it was a term from the forums, where a group ranked players by various metrics and published the lists.
The creators of the rankings were an unofficial organization called "Madhouse." Those guys had somehow obtained player information from somewhere and published parts of it.
Lone Ranger was not happy about this.
He just wanted to play the game quietly by himself, slowly fading his presence into the shadows, with absolutely no desire to be noticed.
But those guys from Madhouse had stripped away his cover of shadows, thrusting him into the spotlight as a star player. To him, it was tantamount to death by a thousand cuts.
Fortunately, however, his most important trump card had not been revealed.
That was his innate Talent, [Hunter].
This Talent had two activation conditions: first, completing the main quest, and second, the presence of other players in the current instance.
Once those conditions were met, he would receive an additional quest: to hunt other players for bonus rewards.
Thanks to this Talent, every instance he completed was like receiving double the rewards. As a result, his level, Equipment, and items were all far beyond those of other players.
To hide this Talent, he had deliberately cultivated the persona of a total bastard—an Executioner who would kill at the slightest provocation.
Straightening his clothes, Lone Ranger walked out of the cemetery and began to hunt for the other players.
The Hunter was on the move.
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