God-Tier Extraction Talent: Reincarnated in a Game-like World! Chapter 488: White Phantom Vs Black Star?

Step. Step.

Gabriel steadily walked toward the body. Reaching it, he promptly yanked off the mask from the face, exposing a woman of plain looks.

The fact that the corpse remained intact solidified Gabriel's previous guesses. A player would have shattered into data particles upon the assassin's death.

He began carefully searching her form. The effort yielded nothing but poison vials and blades. Though of superior quality, they weren't anything thrilling.

After some probing, Gabriel's fingers brushed against an object. Eyes lighting up with curiosity, he drew it forth.

A white headband emerged.

Spotting the headband gave him a clue about his assailants' identity. He turned it over slowly, and there it was. Recognition sparked in his gaze.

The headband bore a black serpent emblem.

That coiling snake mark had terrified Gabriel and fellow players in his former life at every sighting. Even now, in this era, their reputation remained dreadfully infamous.

They were known as the Black Star Clan.

'Now it all makes sense,' Gabriel nodded, grasping why their skills had been so sharp and ruthless. Yet, this realization also puzzled him. Why target him?

The Black Star Clan primarily hunted players. Their patriarch harbored intense loathing for otherworlders, viewing them as intruders in their realm.

In this timeline too, the Black Star Clan pursued their mission to eradicate players, causing countless casualties.

Players had even begged the developers to eliminate them, famous for relentlessly spawn-killing until deletion.

Should they mark you as a major danger and attach a tracker, your only escape was character deletion and a fresh start—they'd pursue you across the globe.

This explained why, despite his power in this life, Gabriel felt a twinge of caution toward that emblem.

Gazing at the headband with narrowed eyes, Gabriel pondered what slight could have provoked this group to fixate on him so abruptly.

'If anything, wouldn't it make more sense for them to recruit me against these invaders?' He mulled it over for minutes, drawing a blank.

Gabriel stared at the body motionless for moments. His face stayed composed, yet a sharp chill now glinted in his eyes. Their attempt on his life irked him deeply.

'The Black Star Clan,' he whispered softly.

They hadn't confronted him openly in this existence. Not straight on. But that meant little. Past-life grudges lingered, and this incident fueled them further.

With them scheming from the dark, another strike loomed inevitable.

He held no fondness for most players—that remained unchanged. Still, their survival and power mattered. The crises ahead demanded masses of might, not lone heroes. True catastrophes would test numbers and force.

Factions like Black Star, who snuffed out rising stars prematurely, only eroded humanity's collective power.

Thus, Black Star needed eradication. By any means.

Gabriel knelt by the corpse, resting his palm upon it.

'Extrac...'

A subtle purple glow flickered briefly before vanishing. He fell silent afterward, rising to peer toward the archer's escape route. Night breeze whispered over rooftops, city glows casting a soft sheen on structures below.

True to his earlier detection, a silhouette dropped silently behind him.

The descent proved feather-light, precise, and assured. Sound was minimized expertly.

Gabriel held off turning right away. The aura alone identified the arrival. After a beat, he tilted his head and glanced back.

There stood the raven-haired swordswoman, Scarlet.

She positioned herself nearby, locks swaying gently in the breeze, stance casual despite leaping building to building.

Gabriel's brow furrowed faintly as he muttered, 'Right... this is her turf, after all.'

Scarlet folded her arms, eyeing the ground corpse then him.

'White Phantom,' she stated evenly, voice flat as ever. 'You're stirring trouble in my city.'

Gabriel pivoted to confront her fully. Only Legendary Logan knew this guise of his. Thus, Scarlet remained a total unknown here.

'They struck first,' Gabriel answered softly.

'I see that,' she responded, flicking another look at the arrow-pierced corpse. 'That's why I'm here while others inspect the hotel room.'

Gabriel stayed mute. Scarlet studied him briefly, gaze piercing yet steady.

'Seems someone silenced that one before interrogation,' she observed.

'Yes,' Gabriel agreed. 'They aimed to hide their affiliation.'

Scarlet dipped her head once, then fixed him with a graver stare.

Gabriel recognized that expression instantly and inwardly groaned. 'Not this routine again?'

As anticipated, Scarlet's follow-up words validated his hunch.

'Even so, protocol demands it,' Scarlet declared. 'You'll come with us to the Adventurer Guild for questioning.'

. . .

(The Black Star Clan was mentioned in Chapter 30: Crimson Judgement, then subsequently appeared again in Chapter 246-247 as well.)