Chapter 14: The Stranger I Remain
"Aww the tentacle girl ran away." Vea frowned. "I blame Nurul for this."
Nurul was too tired to reply, as she sponged the most hits for the team and now she was planting her head to the ground because of the withdrawal from using too many berserker abilities.
"Still, this game is pretty complex huh. The last patch actually made the game move more lively than it was." The staff-freak darted his eyes to the tall mountain. "There is an ecosystem here and all of that. I admit that I felt bad when I saw the 'Imaginary Friend' trait, that child must've developed it when there was nobody to talk with. It felt a little bit close to home when some of them have a humane trait."
"If only one of us had a Tamer built. We could probably give her a tour of Amor City..." Vea sighed. "Well, can't fret every spoiled egg."
Meanwhile, Jack had traveled a few hundreds meters to the east. He managed to bring three of the good-looking jagged blades out of the destroyed one due to the explosion.
He decided to leave the precious Pumo's pelt and other materials in exchange for the blades and the truffle. Jack hoped that he could retrieve his resources later in the night after those players were gone.
Thankfully, he still had his utility tools on his apparel. With just a little bit more scavenging for material, he was able to fix his equipment again.
As he began to fix the former double-bladed staff that only had one blade after the incident, he snack on the earthy truffle that was surprisingly delicious if eaten bit by bit.
[I'm surprised that you didn't choose to stick with them to uncover more cultures of this world. You might be made into a pet or slaves but it will surely allowed us to extract more information.]
"They made me uncomfortable, you know?" Jack took a munch on the truffle. "Their eyes made me uncomfortable."
[Something bothering you? What with their eyes?]
"When I looked into their eyes, it felt as if they didn't see the world as their own. Just like that of an eye of a spectator, who doesn't feel any dread of life nor death.
"Eyes that didn't truly exist within this world, the eyes of an immortal without any urgency in life. Hahaha. When you live long enough, you will know what is within their psyche in just a single glance. Although they were not bad youngsters, I'm afraid that my ideology of life will be in conflict with theirs."
[I can back up your words on this one. Their souls felt artificial. Not to mention, this world didn't see a metaphysical existence from the outside like me to exist in the first place. There must be something that act as a core to this world_
[Thanks to today's event, I suggest that we avoid any contact with the Players of this world. We could start to interact and blend with their community when the situation is allowed, huge benefits. Preferably if you are stronger, Jack.]
"Ahahah, indeed." Jack then did a finishing touch on his equipment before pondering. "Could I see my Level within this world again?"
[Sure do, Jack.]
[<<Name: Jack
<<Species: Mollusian
<<Level: 29
<<Type: Psychic Beast
<<Strength: 1.1
<<Agility: 1.7
<<Intelligent: 10.7
<<Survivability: 2.8
<<Fortitude: 67.2
<<Ability: Tentacle Summoning | Spear Proficiency | Tool Crafting | Sword Proficiency | Blackhole Metabolism | Stealth Proficiency]
[It seems like everything that you've achieved and cultivated in this world will automatically be recorded. We might probably want to be more secretive about the Tentacles System when interacting with another living being of this world_
[Unfortunately, I can't do the same information clairvoyance like the real Appraisal Gem do. Mostly because I don't have any authority over the information without this world.]
"You did well, now give me the stats of those Players."
Jack then compared his stats with the stats of those four Players.
<<Name: Vea Nushen
<<Species: Player
<<Level: 178
<<Type: Flag Bearer
<<Strength: 18.1(+17)
<<Agility: 20.7(+18)
<<Intelligent: 7.1(+2)
<<Survivability: 80.8(+30)
<<Fortitude: 20.2(+19)
<<Ability: Stats Enhancement | National Zone | Area Claiming | Wind Of Glory | Flag Pole Proficiency | Area Enhancement | Healing Wind | Healing Ray | Supporting Enhancement]
<<Name: Jeffon William
<<Species: Player
<<Level: 318
<<Type: Cannoneer
<<Strength: 40.4(+38)
<<Agility: 20.7(+18)
<<Intelligent: 5.1(+3)
<<Survivability: 160.8(+100)
<<Fortitude: 60.2(+57)
<<Ability: Cannon Expert | Shell Modifier | Projectile Enhancement | Vast Perception | Brutal Precision | Elongated Vision | Infrared Perception | Magic Shell Creation | Huge Jump | Explosion Mastery | Survivability Amplifier]
<<Name: Nurul Amalia
<<Species: Player
<<Level: 332
<<Type: Magic Berserker
<<Strength: 80.4(+60)
<<Agility: 40.7(+30)
<<Intelligent: 6.7(+4)
<<Survivability: 260.8(+100)
<<Fortitude: 120.2(+57)
<<Ability: Bloodlust Manipulation | Vengeance Amplifier | Madness Targeting | Immortal Anger | Weapon Tracing | Weapon Amplifying | Weapon Enlargement | Anger Revival | Strength Amplifier | Survivability Amplifier | Ghost Trait Interaction | Fire Elemental Mastery]
<<Name: Dominic Girard
<<Species: Pseudo-Player
<<Level: 370
<<Type: Spellmaker
<<Strength: 30.4(+20)
<<Agility: 50.7(+40)
<<Intelligent: 9.7(+7)
<<Survivability: 180.8(+100)
<<Fortitude: 340.2(+300)
<<Ability: Elemental Conjunction | Elemental Mastery | Elemental Mixer | Fire Proficiency | Water Proficiency | Wind Proficiency | Darkness Proficiency | Light Proficiency | Soil Proficiency | Stone Proficiency | Lightning Proficiency | Rapid Casting | Spell Overload | Brutal Casting | Teleportation Array Knowledge | Spell Circuit Enhancement | Spell Formation Creation | Survivability Amplifier | Fortidude Amplifier]
"Ahaha, my numbers are horrifyingly low." Jack sighed. "What with the caged numbers that have a plus on it?"
[I think it was one of the perks that they were talking about when saying that they've found a new unknown species.]
"I see, so they could attain strength by completing an achievement of a given target. After that, the world or something rewarded them with power."
[Your hypothesis is as close as mine, Jack.]
"What about the level?" Jack nervously grinned. "Everything on my screen is really low. It's like comparing a baby with an adult."
[But, you're still a baby, Jack.]
"Pfft! You're not wrong on that one." Jack stood up and closed the screens with his intent. "This information will be valuable. Although their values are still as cloudy and misty it could get."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Yokoyokai
Yokoyokai I personally didn't like showing much stats and numbers excessively but I feel like it wouldn't be immersive if I didn't for this chapter. Not every chapters will have stats and all of that though and Jack only opened them when needed