The Paper Puppeteer stood with both feet submerged in the water. "Corpses" of mycelium kept drifting past him. Though I couldn't see his eyes, I could still sense his gaze lingering briefly on each "corpse."
"Are you mourning this woman because you had feelings for her?" he asked.
"No. I'd only known her for a day. She was a woman worthy of respect," Xu Huo replied.
The Paper Puppeteer made no comment. Instead, he said, "The item you used looks a lot like one owned by a member of the Ghastly Sound Knights. His item was called the Life Core. I wonder if yours has the same name."
The Life Core's effects were so unusual that if its previous owner had been even a little famous, more people would remember the item. To be cautious, Xu Huo had changed his face before using it. He hadn't expected to run into a Super Player at an E-class instance site.
"Are you the Paper Puppeteer?" he asked. "Do you have ties to the Ghastly Sound Knights?"
The Paper Puppeteer denied it. "I don't concern myself with the likes of the Ghastly Sound Knights. They're just a bunch of desperadoes."
Xu Huo's gaze shifted slightly. The Paper Puppeteer turned to look at the "corpses" of mycelium surging up from underground. "In less than a day, these fungi will contaminate the entire city. But the fungi in the underground nest are mixed together. They can disrupt the balance, but they can also maintain it."
"This is a symbol of death and opportunity standing side by side. I call it fate."
"Fate isn't an empty notion in the game. It's the invisible attraction between objects, imperceptible to humans."
"People, too?" Xu Huo asked.
"People, too." The Paper Puppeteer continued, "Before coming here, I went to