...

    shin swept his gaze at everyone, trying to see what they were planning. from his observation up until now, these guys were not the problem. it was that mysterious hooded person, who suddenly disappeared under the shade of the trees.

    he knew that that guy did not leave and just hid in the dark to observe.

    ''drugs? are they carrying something like a berserk medicine?'' he thought as he squinted his eyes.

    on the other hand, the wolfkin berserker named jorn refused to admit that he was weaker than those famous godlike players, who were being worshipped by players.

    he was one of the top titled rankers under the banner of the lighthouse guild, which quickly became a super guild that was right below the powerhouse guilds.

    he had to admit that those godlike players were strong, but he still believed that he was not weaker than them after undergoing the special training that the seven seas corporation had prepared for them.

    he might not be one of those chosen talents that were specifically nurtured by the corporation, but he believed that he was not that inferior to them, especially when he had already gained the unique powers from his hidden ascended class.

    he then raised his hand, giving out a signal to use the drugs that were given to them by the corporation. he might not be willing to use his, but he knew that these weaklings at least needed to rely on it to be able to withstand a blow against a monster like the one in front of them.

    without any hesitation, the assassins took out a vial from their respective inventory bag before quickly uncorking it and swiftly drinking its contents.

    from shin''s perspective, this blue liquid looked like a mana potion based on their appearance alone. but at the same time, he could also feel something strange from the contents of the vials, which greatly reminded him of the dark powers of corrupted monsters.

    he did not make a move to stop them as he was curious about what these mysterious drugs could provide these players.

    roar! roar! roar!

    not long after, the players, who had drunk the drugs, started releasing a vicious aura around their bodies. the black auras were visible to the naked eye, making shin slightly raise his brows as they found this somewhat familiar, but he could not accurately recall when he had seen them.

    as he was distracted with his thoughts, uno''s voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

    [unforgiven ones. their auras are similar to the unforgiven ones from the real world, who are the evil practitioners that slaughtered countless lives of innocent children to artificially create a ''seed of hatred'' before letting it consume them.]

    [these powers may be inferior to what the true unforgiven ones possessed, but the characteristics and energy fluctuations that they are releasing greatly resemble one another.] enjoy new stories from empire

    hearing those words, shin could not help but frown deeply. "why are they in possession of such a drug within the game? moreover, is it possible to have such a reaction just by drinking it within the virtual world?"

    this question confused shin greatly. how were these people able to project such power within the game when it was supposed to be something that could only be found in the real world?

    uno, on the other hand, seemed to have an idea. he then solemnly informed shin.

    [there is only one explanation for this. these guys must have undergone an experiment that let them host such powers in the real world. then it is triggered by those drugs so that they could project these evil powers into the game through their corrupted consciousness.]

    shin might not have fully understood what uno meant, but he could at least grasp the major principle of those words. "you mean to say that these guys have activated the powers of their artificial ''seed of hatred'' in the real world while playing the game?"

    ''jade kirin scripture: quick draw (void) – (enlarged) flash firmament''

    swoosh! swoosh! swoosh!

    not long after, a series of sword flashes filled the air, cutting through the space and slicing through the bodies of the players who were still in the middle of their berserk transformation.

    the range of the sword flashes covered the entire interior of the dome, not letting anyone escape.

    aside from jorn, who was able to quickly respond and block with his powerful defensive technique, and the elven archer behind him, who had executed a mysterious foot technique to dodge every sword flash coming their way, no one was spared by this attack.

    when everything settled down, the expression of jorn and the elven archer turned solemn as they warily looked at shin, who seemed to not have moved since the beginning and maintained his standing posture.

    they seemed to have finally realized the true might of someone who stood at the peak of the hall of fame and possessed a very high standing within the godly ranking list.

    "i don''t know if you are aware of it, but letting your subordinates undergo such an immoral practice, i don''t know if you are worthy of your position of being a leader," mumbled shin with a sigh.

    he did not know if they voluntarily underwent such an inhumane experiment or if they were unaware that they had become such guinea pigs after being fooled by their superiors. either way, he could not forgive any of them for sacrificing countless lives of innocent children in exchange for power.

    "sigh~! my mood is now completely ruined. i no longer have the time to play with you. let''s end this so that i can talk with the person in charge," he said with a cold voice.

    hearing the chillness from his tone, jorn and the elven archer could not help but shudder. they were under intense pressure that seemed to have crushed them to the ground under the gaze of this monster in front of them.

    from their perspective, shin seemed to have transformed into the silhouette of a humongous monster with cold eyes.

    it was looking at them as if they were nothing but a pair of bugs that could be crushed anytime.

    gritting their teeth, they rolled their tongues in their mouths, taking out the black pill that they had always hidden with through special methods. this method was inspired by those ancient assassins during the cultivation era.

    shin raised his brows and wanted to stop them, especially when he could sense a much denser aura coming from those pills compared to the liquified drugs that their subordinates had drunk earlier.

    but he was a step too late. the two decisively bitten the pills and swallowed them, leading them to another transformation. it was similar to the other players'' earlier one but with a much more exaggerated scene.

    even if shin wanted to attack now, he would be unable to stop them due to the black transparent membrane that suddenly surrounded the two.

    he could only squint his eyes further as he watched them undergo a metamorphosis.

    within the shadows, the mysterious player, who was accompanying the group earlier, watched everything unfold while recording the entire process with a high-end spying stone.

    he watched intently at the scene before mumbling to the call that was currently connected. "experimental trial number one. asking to monitor the subjects'' parameters."

    at the same time, the person from the other side of the call quickly responded. [the monitoring team is on standby. initiation of project beta is in progress.]

    ......