The problem was the unique attack Hellscreams could use. The screams emitted by their large mouths could inflict 【Paralysis】, ignoring any resistance granted by equipment.

Hellscreams didn’t attack while screaming, so when facing a single one, the player just needed to attack after it stopped screaming.

When multiple Hellscreams started screaming in turns, however, only players that belonged to a species that granted high resistance to status ailments could move: the others would be attacked one-sidedly, unable to do anything.

They were basically stun-locked.

The only silver lining was that 【Paralysis】 screams could miss, but if they were used in rapid succession it was very difficult to escape them, so without a proper strategy even fleeing from the battle was an arduous feat.

If this was everything, Hellscream still couldn’t pose a threat to Shin.

High Humans were much more resistant to status ailments than other species, so they would rarely if ever be paralyzed, and he also knew how to counter it.

The enemy was also only one Hellscream. Even if it was troublesome, there was no need to fear it.

This Hellscream, however, looked different than usual. It reached towards the Durgin with a hand, and a scream followed. The source was the rotten dragon, Durgin.

Small grains of light emanated from Durgin’s body and were in turn absorbed by the Hellscream’s hand.

It all lasted mere seconds: Durgin couldn’t stand anymore and collapsed on the ground, while the Hellscream, surrounded in black aura, stood above it.

“Okay, I wouldn’t have expected this.”

Shin looked at the Hellscream, which projected a completely different kind of intimidation, and frowned.

A player transforming into a monster was unthinkable in the game era. The drain-like attack used by the Hellscream was something never seen before too.

There wasn’t such a clear gap between Durgin and the Hellscream to allow the latter to attack the dragon so easily. The cause had to be the player.

Judging from the way it transformed, rather than possessed it could be said that it was taken over. It clearly wasn’t normal 【Possession】.

“So this is the mastermind behind it all?”

“I wonder. It wouldn’t have needed cheap tricks like that.”

A horde of Garmag and Kikiuz would be enough to devastate Passner. There was no need for a Hellscream, or to scatter poison in the royal castle.

“No matter what the goal, we have to take this guy down first.”

Shin held his weapon firm and targeted the Hellscream.

Shin considered that the Hellscream might be different from what he knew, so he decided to strike it once without getting closer first.

What he activated was the Flame-type Magic skill 【Spear Maser】.

Six flame beams, each about 10 cemel wide, were shot towards the Hellscream.

It wasn’t a Light magic skill, but the flame beams were rather fast nonetheless.

The Hellscream that Shin knew wouldn’t be hit by all beams, but it would not be able to avoid them all. However, the Hellscream facing against Shin managed to dodge them all.

“【Mirage Step】..”

While floating in midair, the Hellscream moved as if kicking the ground.

It was awfully similar to a Movement-type skill often used by close combat players: it didn’t reduce distance instantly like 【Ground Shrink】, but allowed them to move while leaving behind an afterimage.

The afterimage would linger in the original spot for a few seconds. By moving to the side and then retreating, the user could completely hide behind it. It all fits with what Shin remembered.

There was only one bizarre thing: 【Mirage Step】 was supposed to be a player-only skill.

Some monsters had skills and attacks with similar effects, but the Hellscream’s movements were too similar to the skill in question.

The name of skills used by the opponents was not displayed, so Shin couldn’t tell for sure if Hellscream had actually used 【Mirage Step】.

Not only Shin, but any player who knew the effects of this skill well would have said that Hellscream had indeed used it.

“I guess it can use the skills of the player it took over?”

“That’s the most convincing explanation, yeah.”

Monsters and players shared many skills, but some were clearly different. 【Mirage Step】 was a player skill, but monsters had similar ones too.

Monsters who floated in midair, like Hellscream, would never use skills that implied movement using their legs in the game.

They could float, after all. They could move in all directions, even up and down, with no need to do any steps.

“I see..that was the Tamer’s 【Lifethread Offering】!”

Shin was not too knowledgeable about Tamer skills, but he could recall it because it had left an impression on him when Cashmere talked about it.

When used by a player, this skill would transfer HP from a tamed monster to its master.

In this case, it was a sort of forced HP drain, so the tamed monster’s affection level to its master would decrease.

Cashmere said that a player that treasured their tamed monsters would never use it.

Incidentally, if a tamed monster had high affection levels, they would use it spontaneously when their master was in danger.

“He was under someone’s control, after all. Can a normal monster really do this to a player, though..?”

Shin thought that only a demon or a devil could do something like that.

Undead monsters like Ghosts and Raised were thought to be born when strong grudges fused with magic essence.

This would explain why the Hellscream wanted to attack Passner or torture players.

Scattering poison via Durgin and making the area habitable for Garmags and Kikiuz too could be considered attacks to living creatures.

The royal castle incident too could be explained as a plan to make people suffer.

If scattering poison was the main objective, it would also explain why nothing else happened.

Considering the existence of someone or something that was controlling monsters and players, which the Tamer alluded to, things were probably not so simple.

“I knew that things that didn’t exist in the game or couldn’t be done in the game are possible now, but..”

Thinking back on what he saw and experienced until now, Shin whispered to himself.

At present, without resurrection bonuses, normal people could only grow to a certain point. Even Chosen Ones had an upper limit they couldn’t breakthrough.

Monsters had no such limits, however: their potential for growth was much larger. Most of them had very high levels since their birth too.

For a player like Shin, monsters having fixed levels was pretty common, or rather, it was the rule.

To offer all sorts of monsters, with different levels and characteristics, so that players would not grow bored was normal in a video game.

Monsters attacking people (NPCs) — was a common signal that an event was starting.

Spurred by such a virtual tragedy, players briskly headed to the battlefield.

Some waited for monsters to spawn to acquire rare items, others only rolled the special gotcha added for the event, without participating in the event itself.

In the game, players were such creatures.

Of course, in this world that did not work anymore. Shin understood it well too.

Status ailments still existed and people could be controlled, such as how Milt was manipulated to kidnap the church’s Holy Woman. There was no respawn anymore: being killed meant dying forever.

In the game, getting a status ailment or dying was very common. Both were obvious occurrences. Shin didn’t find it strange that such things happened in this world too.

This time, however, things were slightly different.

It wasn’t a transformation by a monster.

It wasn’t a person of this world-changing either.

A player had transformed into a monster.

This reality shocked Shin.

It was a small thing, not worth being shaken or confused by.

He felt, however, as if he was told that he wasn’t such a special existence anymore.

(I guess that somewhere in my mind, I still believed that players were special..)

When the church’s Holy Woman, Hermie, was kidnapped, the female messenger changed into a monster. People could turn into monsters: Shin already knew that.

That woman, however, wasn’t a former player. Thinking about it, Shin realized he hadn’t seen a former player die in this world.

“I want to get rid of this guy as soon as possible, are you ready to go?”

“..yes, I’m okay. We can’t allow them to get any further, after all. Let’s finish it quickly.”

Shin nodded to Filma and stopped pausing to think for the time being.

He could ponder the situation further after taking care of the current situation.

The Garmags and Kikiuz were still keeping their distance, afraid of Shin and Filma’s strength.

They weren’t opponents that could ever pose a threat to them, but it could be troublesome if they joined in the fight. Their numbers were great, and they would have to face Hellscream at the same time too.

It wouldn’t be an issue if the Hellscream was like the monster Shin remembered, but this one was very different. That was the problem.

Shin and Filma only saw it use a skill, but it could have other different abilities too.

Among the skills players could use, there were some which allowed them to reflect magic.

If Shin used a large scale spell to wipe out the Garmags and Kikiuz, but it was reflected back at them, they couldn’t remain unscathed.

The skills acquired by the player depended on their job. Jobs could be switched, however, and the skills learned in the previous job could still be used after switching.

Changing jobs was not enough to learn skills, of course: it took effort as well. It was the same thing with stats: effort made it possible to learn all skills.

Because of this, the Hellscream — who was supposed to be able to use the skills of the player it took over — could be able to use magic reflection skills.

“(Shin, couldn’t your magic wipe them all out at once?)”

“(If that thing was like a player, yeah. But the way it appeared isn’t normal. We need a lot of power to kill it in one blow, so if it was reflected back we’ll be in trouble.)”

Filma too thought of using magic to destroy all the monsters in one fell swoop.

If the Hellscream was normal, they could do it without needing to think much about it, but because of the unique situation, Shin decided to be careful and use close combat skills.

Since the Garmags and Kikiuz weren’t moving yet, now was the best time.

“(Just in case, I’ll try to turn him back.)”

“(Turn him back from that?)”

“(That’s why I said just in case.)”

To try to undo the 【Possession】 while fighting in close quarters. It was possible in the game era.

Mister XXX, however, had not been affected by the usual 【Possession】.

Shin himself didn’t think he could turn him back. A creature outside the game’s standards probably wouldn’t be affected by game methods.

Shin would try all the same, though. There was much to gain from succeeding and, even if he failed, there was nothing to lose for Shin.

Mister XXX was a former player too, but Shin had no recollection of his name or face. He might have been a relative or a friend of someone Shin knew, but there was no way for Shin to know.

Thus Shin would try to do what he could, and if nothing worked, defeat the Hellscream. Even if he thought about complex things, what he had to do was simple.

“Let’s go.”

After a faintly spoken signal, Shin approached Hellscream.

High-speed movement via the Movement-type Martial skill 【Ground Shrink】.

Thanks to Shin’s stats, he appeared right in front of the Hellscream as quickly as if he was hidden by a drop in framerate.

His sword was already unsheathed. The Ancient-grade katana 『Moonless』 sliced through the air and targeted the Hellscream.

The monster’s silhouette blurred.

What『Moonless』had sliced through was a mirage. The Hellscream used 【Mirage Step】 again, just like it did when avoiding Shin’s 【Spear Maser】.