Chapter 76: Mutation
The center of the table crackled and smoked as thin slices of marinated beef and pork were expertly cooked by Sun-young. Her hunger took hold of her, dipping a piece of bulgogi into a small dish of sesame sauce and placing it onto the grill.
Kazi watched, his brows set in concern. "Jack..."
The name seemed to echo between them. Marta sharply exhaled while Sun-young started to dig in. It was like comfort food. She didn’t want to talk unless she had food in her mouth first.
"The witches mentioned he was a child of an earth monster. I think that spoke less to his abilities and more to his personality. In all probability, they didn’t understand what he was. He killed them unlike anything and anyone. An inhumane."
"Mm." Sun-young silently ate.
"W-was he really a player?" Marta asked. "Isn’t it possible that it was some hidden boss o-or a glitch? You know, like that thing in the Shadow Hall."
’The Wendigo? I doubt it.’
"Possible but improbable. I countered a glitch, remember? Same blood lake and everything. I don’t think he came from there."
The larger issue was if he was a bonafide serial killer. Not that it was impossible, but that it was impossible to track. There was no list of players nor a list of when players entered gates. No hospital or ID or check-out that everyone went through. If two or three or twenty extra players died, no one would know and no one would get blamed for it.
"His fighting style..." Sun-young murmured. "And his skills seemed to be like a player’s. Like yours, Kazi." She locked eyes with him. "You’re able to manipulate the mana inside you. Jack did the same thing, except on a whole other level."
’I think that’s what William did too. He overpowered me because he was using an advanced version of Mana Flow. Is it a coincidence that this Jack also had it? Was it Jack that caused William to change?’