Once again, Kirou was staring at the roof of his apartment. This was the second day in a row he was doing this. Although he was good at adapting to situations, Kirou still felt it weird for him to wake up in his room, completely refreshed, while he spent the entire night, in-game, hunting monsters, doing quests, and teaching Reya how to work in manual mode.
'I guess this is one of those perks of being able to play a game that puts my body to rest while I'm active in-game,' thought Kirou as he released a deep breath.
Kirou remained in bed for another five minutes before getting up and starting a series of weird movements. Each movement stretched his limbs as far as they could go and he kept this up for a good ten minutes before he stopped, completely covered in sweat.
'This body truly is too weak. Just doing these joint stretches has already exhausted me to this degree. It seems like it'll take a while before I can use my favorite ability.' That was Kirou's thoughts as he released a long sigh in depression.
Kirou rested for a minute before strapping on some weights on his arms and legs, then he left the apartment to do a long-distance jog. He left the apartment at 5:30 and returned at 6:20, having done a ten-mile run. As he entered, Kirou, from head to toe, was covered in sweat. It seems like he pushed himself too hard and this was the consequence of his actions.
"I'm starting to resent Wang Xu a bit. Just what the hell was he thinking, joining a security firm with a body this weak?" complained Kirou as he went to the bathroom to clean up. If the previous Wang Xu had heard his words, he might have choked to death in anger. It wasn't that Wang Xu was weak. On the contrary, Wang Xu's body was very fit. It was just that Kirou's standards were just too damn high.
As a former assassin, while Kirou's main job was to kill as quickly and silently as possible, there would always be occasions where he would have to fight it out with strong individuals, such as Lady Shiva and Alladin whom he fought on his last mission. Granted, his opponents weren't normally that strong but he needed to make sure he was strong enough to put up a fight while looking for a means to escape or to land a solid sneak attack mid-battle. If he had to use Wang Xu's current body during those moments, Kirou couldn't list the number of times and ways he would have died over the years.
Releasing a long sigh, Kirou entered the shower and washed off the excess sweat that had built up on his body during the morning exercise. Twenty minutes later, Kirou left the bathroom and prepared a simple breakfast. The preparations took roughly fifteen minutes and it took Kirou another ten to finish his meal. Kirou spent five minutes to clean up and another five to get dressed before he walked out of the door.
******************
It was approximately ten minutes later, at 7:20, that Kirou got to the subway station. As he was waiting on the platform, he allowed his eyes to roam around. He could see many persons, adults, and students alike, waiting at their respective position on the platform for their trains to arrive. While his eyes roamed, he noticed an action that caused his eyes to narrow slightly.
"Looks like regardless of the age, there will always be a thief roaming about areas congested with people." As Kirou said this, he was currently looking in the direction of a bespectacled woman in a business suit, or rather, at the person currently behind her.
The was a man wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers walking up to the woman. His actions were calm and gave nothing away to the people around him but Kirou could tell what the man planned to do. Kirou watched the man as he approached the bespectacled woman and saw him 'accidentally' bump into her. The man gave a quick apology in order not to attract any suspicion and the woman said nothing about it, but Kirou saw when the man removed a few items from the woman's bag. It was swift and clean, signifying that this man is experienced and the man was currently heading in Kirou's direction.
By all rights, Kirou had no reason to put his nose in this since he could understand why the thief targeted that woman. That being said, Kirou wouldn't leave it alone as he knows the woman. Though their meeting wasn't long, Kirou still recognized the woman that had been waiting for him when he woke up in the hospital that day. It was because of this woman why Kirou still had his job, even after getting into that accident.
'Let's just say that this woman is lucky enough to have me recognize her.' As this thought flashed through Kirou's mind, he started making his way over to the woman. Of course, in doing so, he had to walk by the man who robbed her.
Just as the man did to the woman before, Kirou also bumped into him and gave the man a quick apology. Not noticing anything amiss, the man ignored Kirou and continued on his path, not realizing that he was a few items lighter. Kirou watched him walk away from the corner of his eyes and couldn't stop himself from releasing a sigh.
'It seems that this is a skill that will follow me wherever I go.' As the thought flashed in his mind, Kirou finally arrived in front of the bespectacled woman.
"Hello, Miss. Do you remember me?" asked Kirou as he tapped on the woman's shoulder to get her attention. Feeling someone tap her shoulder, the woman turned around and was greeted to the sight of a smiling Kirou.
"You are..... Mr. Wang, right?" queried the bespectacled woman as she gave Kirou a once over.
"It's good to see you again Secretary Yin. I thought I made a mistake earlier when I saw you but it seems like my eyes weren't deceiving me." Kirou had a smile on his face as he said this to the bespectacled woman now addressed as Secretary Yin.
"Likewise, Mr. Wang. Is there anything I can help you with at the moment," asked Secretary Yin while looking at Kirou in a lukewarm manner. Secretary Yin wasn't all that close to Kirou in the first place but she didn't think bad of him, especially given how cooperative he was with her during the after-effects of his accident earlier that month.
"I've just come to inform you that I have a package to deliver to you when we get into the office and I hope you don't mind me dropping it off after I start my shift." This was the answer Kirou came up with to return Secretary Yin's missing items. Some of them were a bit sensitive and in this way, he can just leave a note with the package and walk away without ever looking back.
"That will be fine. You can turn it in during your daily rounds. I'll be with the boss during a meeting for most of the day so I'll tell my assistant you are coming," responded the woman in a cool manner.
Kirou gave Secretary Yin his farewells before turning around to head back to his original position on the platform, a few meters away from her. Less than ten minutes later, the train leading to their destination arrived and both boarded on different cars, no longer interacting with each other.
******************
Kirou arrived at Sanming Gaming Studio at 8:15. Due to him and Secretary Yin taking the same train to work, both arrived at the same time. This caused a few of the studio's gossip mongers to start whispering to each other here and there. Secretary Yin ignored them outright while Kirou pretended to be oblivious.
Kirou greeted the others as he passed them while heading to the security station on the second floor. After punching in, he went to the locker room to change and a few minutes later, Kirou was donning his security garb. He spent an hour watching the building's surveillance when a coworker reminded him that it was time for him to do some rounds.
Remembering that he still had Secretary Yin's items from earlier, he placed them in a big enough box and wrote a note addressed to Secretary Yin. After this, Kirou left the security station and went to the 4th floor where Secretary Yin's office was located.
Having been told about it from earlier, Secretary Yin's assistant allowed Kirou to enter the office and place the box on her desk, along with a very conspicuous note placed on top of that.
Having done what needed to be done, Kirou left the office to continue his rounds for the gaming studio.
*******************
Yin Jia Rong, or Secretary Yin as addressed by her coworkers, was currently in a very bad mood. This all started after she got to work this morning.
Due to her showing up at the same time as Kirou, a few of the other secretaries in the office has been giving her weird looks and whispering about her when they thought she wasn't listening. At first, she ignored it as she had other things on her mind but that started to change after she cleared up her morning work.
Next was the fact that she had to put up with a member of the gaming department, Shen Jiang, bothering her by consistently asking her out after she has clearly been rejecting him for the last few weeks. Added together with the previous whisperings about her arriving with Kirou, a rumor was started about her rejecting Shen Jiang for a security guard, further irritating her.
And now finally, she was in a meeting with the studio's boss, gaming staff, and other relevant staff and she cannot find the thumb drive with the document she's supposed to give to the boss for a presentation on their accounts in Immortal Era.
Currently, she was heading to her office to search, in case the thumb drive fell out while she was working on her morning files. She highly doubted that that happened but at this point, she was hoping for a miracle.
As she made her way to the office, she had to pass by quite a few people, so instead of the scowl she wanted to make to express her current emotions, she had a frosty mask on in its place. Those that saw the mask knew that she was angry and immediately made way for her, but there was always one idiot who wanted to play with fire.
"Hello, Beauty Yin. Would you like..." started Shen Jiang as he approached Secretay Yin, only to be interrupted.
"I'm currently in the middle of something, Coworker Shen. So I lack the time to deal with you at the moment," said Secretary Yin in a frosty tone that sent a chill down Shen Jiang's spine, along with the frosty look she gave him. Following this, Secretary Yin walked away, leaving Shen Jiang with a scowl on his face that turned into a smile.
'Soon woman. You won't be able to escape from me for much longer. Let's see how you get out of this mess.' These were Shen Jiang's thoughts as he watched the retreating figure of Secretary Yin, with a disgusting smile on his face that was quickly hidden when a few female coworkers approached him out of 'care' from facing Secretary Yin's wrath.
*********************
Secretary Yin had finally returned to her office and flipped it upside down, searching for that thumb drive. In the end, she wasn't able to find it and was now in an even fouler mood as she needs that document for the presentation.
She finally sat down at her desk and released a deep breath, letting all her built-up anger escape from her body.
'I guess I'll have to apologize to the entire boardroom for my mistake and postpone the meeting until tomorrow. And with this, the boss might just demote me back into the gaming team as a means of punishment, where I'll have to deal with that insufferable ass all day,' lamented Secretary Yin as she released another deep breath before her eyes landing on a box with a note on her desk.
Curious, Secretary Yin reached for both items before taking a look at the note first.
It said, 'You were the victim of a pickpocket this morning. He took a few things from your purse while you weren't paying attention. Good thing I was nearby to see all this happen, otherwise you'd probably get in a whole lot of trouble. Please do your best in watching your surroundings from now on. :)'
Secretary Yin was so dumbstruck after reading the note that she unintentionally opened the box. When she returned to her senses and looked inside the box, she found the missing thumb drive, along with a few other personal items in the box.
Looking inside the box, Secretary Yin was both embarrassed and relieved. Embarrassed due to some of her personal items that she never noticed missing being in the box. Relieved that she now had the item she was looking for. Secretary Yin spent a good minute to calm down before storing away the items in the box and making her way to the door. After exiting her office, she made her way back to the meeting room with newfound confidence.
'Looks like I really do owe Mr. Wang for his help this time. I wonder what I should get him as thanks.' Those were Secretary Yin's thoughts as she made her way back to the meeting room, unaware that she had a ghost of a smile on her face.
While Secretary Yin was heading back to the meeting room, she failed to notice a certain security guard watching her from a few feet away. She passed by him without even noticing his presence and said person caught the ghost of a smile that graced her face at that moment. Naturally, this security guard was Kirou.'Looks like there truly was something important in those items I returned. Let's hope she'll pay more attention to her surroundings from now on.' Those were Kirou's thoughts as he turned around and walked away, to continue his current rounds for the building.************************It was already 1 pm when Kirou finally went on his lunch break. After passing by Secretary Yin that morning, Kirou spent the rest of his time, focusing on work. At least, that's what he tried to do.Everything was going great for the first hour after but that went south when a few of the guys from the security d
Kirou was currently on his way home via the subway. He had a smile on his face as he thought back to the events that took place during the day, especially when he passed by that familiar girl.'Hmm, I wonder if I should mess with her later or not. It would be really funny, but I don't wanna blow my cover just yet. Decisions, decisions.' These were Kirou's thoughts while standing next to the doors on one side of the train. While lost in thought, a few threads were dancing around his right hand.Like that, Kirou spent the next twenty minutes on the train. When he arrived at his station, Kirou got off the train and started making his way out. As he was walking out, however, he noticed from the corner of his eye that someone was heading towards him. Kirou recognized this person as the one who bumped into Secretary Yin earlier that morning. It seems like he noticed that Kirou was the one who took back the items he stole and now he wanted to get e
Yin Jia Rong or rather, Navi, was currently in the cottage of the apothecary for Thousand Wood Village. She came here to procure a few plant harvesting kits for her guild. While she was waiting in line, she thought back to that Lycan she passed at the entrance of the village. She wasn't sure why, but he felt vaguely familiar to her.'I wonder where I've seen him before. I highly doubt I would recognize the wrong person when my mind is nagging me so much.' This was Navi's thoughts as she finally got to the counter to make her purchases."Hello, Elder. I would like to purchase a few plant harvesting kits," said Navi as she spoke politely to the apothecary behind the counter."I'm sorry, young miss. It's a rule of the village that each person is only capable of purchasing one plant harvesting kit. I can sell the one to you if you like," replied the elf behind the counter to dark elf Navi.Hearing his wo
[-120]<Bound>[-110]<Bound>[-135]<Bound>That was the result of Kirou's attack on the first group of murlocs. Since he was using his wires, he made it so that they tied all three murlocs together and the damage figures came as a result of cuts being made on the limbs. In this way, all three murlocs were unable to move, but it prevented Kirou from doing anything else. Not that he needed to since he was in a team.[-130][-150]Reya's 'twin shot' skill allowed her to land two attacks on one of the bound murlocs with just one attack while Navi followed up with a simple attack of her own.[-350]That damage figure that rose from Navi's attack caused Kirou to raise an eyebrow. He could tell that she didn't use a skill for that attack, otherwise, the damage figure would have been way more.'Looks like
The trio opened the door and entered the room, only to be greeted to the sight of a giant Murloc with a staff within its hand, sitting on a coral chair with seaweed being used as cushions."WHO DARES TO ENTER MY DOMAIN," barked the Murloc Shaman. In its anger, it rose from its coral chair and gave the trio a vicious look.Looking at the giant Murloc before them, the trio simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air after looking at its stats.Monster: Murloc Shaman Rodrick (Boss)Level: 17HP: 57500Mag Attack: 250Def: 150Skills: Holy Water, Frost Ray, Water Prison, Water Armor, Summon Minions, BerserkHe still had the same level as the monsters the trio just killed outside the door, but that's about it when it came to similarities. While he still had the same skills as the normal Murloc shaman, the extra skills made Kirou furrow his brows.K
Kirou finally got up after lying on the floor for a few minutes. His abrupt actions startled the two women resting beside him, but he paid no attention to that as he had a system message going off in his head at the moment.[System Message: You have leveled up.][You are at level 12]{Name: Kirou}{Race: Werewolf(Lycan/Human)}{Class: Weapon Master}{Subclass: Crafting Master}{Weapons: Gunblade Tonfas, Beginner Knife, Wolf Claws, Enchanted Steel Chain, Threaded Wires}{Armor: Swampland Leather Armor Set (vest, pants, gloves, boots, crocodile helmet), Mysterious Bead(???)}{Level: 12}{HP: 720/720 (420+100+200)}{MP: 600/600 (350+100+150)}{Str: 44 (24+10+10)}{Int: 27 (22+5)}{Def: 58 (23+10+10+5+5+5)}{Const: 35 (25+10)}{Dex: 25 (20+5)}{Agi: 25 (20+5)}{Luck: 55/100}{Skill Points: 35}{Fame: 2600}{Money:
Facing the incoming Murloc elites, the trio brandished their weapons and started an all-out fight with the water-based creatures. All while this was going on, Archmage Anderson was looking at the group with mirth in its eyes. Archmage Anderson never took the trio seriously and after looking at them for a while, he summoned a few more elites then returned to the center of the swirling cloud of mana.As for Kirou and the two lady elves, they were busy fighting back against the Murloc elites summoned by Anderson. While they weren't hard to defeat, it was taking the trio some time to get through them. And as for the new set summoned by Anderson, Kirou saw when they were summoned and couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows.'Just what is that bastard Murloc doing in the cloud that needs him to keep us busy like this. I'm positive he knows that we can kill these guys since we made it here so what is he doing in there that needs us to be stalled?' Th
Kirou and the girls were currently annoyed with their subjugation target, Mutated Murloc Warrior Jake. It's been almost thirty minutes since Jake had equipped the frost armor on his body and his health was currently just above 40%. It had taken the same time for them to drop Jake's health from full to 50% just for that to drop to 40% after he equipped the frost armor. How could the trio not be annoyed with this boss?Noticing that ammo reserves are running low, Kirou decided to stop firing shots at Jake and rushed to engage Jake in close quarters. That being said, he had to be careful with his attacks as the mutated Murloc warrior was swinging his arms as weapons quite wildly."You guys have any ideas. I don't think I can keep this up for much longer as I'm running out of arrows." Reya said this while notching another arrow on her short bow. Unlike at the start of the battle when she was wildly shooting at any visible spot on Jake, Reya was
It's been a few days since Kirou returned to the with his new residents. During this time, both old and new residents worked hard to turn the shallow and empty area into a proper village. With the initial houses Kirou had built as a base and starting area, the village extended a bit into the forest, with the goal being to recover land for both farming and extending the village even further in the future. Unsurprisingly, all residents decided to keep living above ground, leaving the passage that led to the pier being the only path they trod. In contrast, the remaining floors were left for Kirou's purposes after all the excavation work was complete. Speaking of the excavation work, Kirou was given a surprise earlier that day when he explored the two floors situated above the pier and below the village on the surface. It seems that during the time that he was away from the village and holed up in the pier area after returning, his residents had come together to fully ex
The Garuda player and his squad from the guild have finally returned to the Seaside Village. Unlike the trip to the pirate hideout that took 5 hours, the return trip only needed half that time. The Garuda player mainly returned here instead of continuing his hunt or returning to his guild as he was curious to see the results of that quest he never got the chance to finish. He was also interested in seeing if he would be able to meet that strange Lycan player he had initially pursued. Unfortunately, his second wish would go unanswered for quite a time. Upon entering the location of the Seaside Village, what greeted the Garuda player and his squad was essentially a ghost town. The village lacked any sign of life and it looked like its inhabitants were in quite the rush to leave. At this point, one squad member, a Lycan, spoke up, "Looks like these guys wasted no time in making themselves scarce as if wanting to avoid us like the plague. What say you now, Boss?" The G
Returning to the moment the Garuda player and his squad had entered the Drarven Village turned pirate camp, Kirou and the former captives have now arrived at the shores of the Seaside Village. He had already guessed what had happened when he found the Village Head's son as one of the captives on the pirate ship, but seeing the current state of the Seaside Village forced a deep sigh out of Kirou's mouth. Even then, he still had a job to finish, so he shook his mind free of their random thoughts and focused on what was ahead of him. Seeing the pirate ships coming close, the remainder of the village was once again arming themselves for combat. Sadly, there were a lot fewer able-bodied persons capable of fighting this time, so morale was at its absolute worst for the villagers. Even the Village Head, the fiercest fighter in the village in the previous bout, was now struggling to raise his weapon in the face of the returning pirate crew. From a glance, it was quite apparent to these vill
Kirou was currently making his way back to the Seaside Village via the ships used by the pirates. He needed a secure way to transport all the women and children that were captured back to the village without injury and in a timely manner, and .... it's not like the previous owners had much use for these ships anymore. As for controlling and navigating the ships themselves, Kirou had no part in that as he lacked the necessary experience and skill needed to do so. Instead, this job was taken over by the captured women that were previously held captive in the resting area of the camp by those pirates. Apparently, they were part of a crew of sailors that got captured at sea. Their ship had recently gone through a bad storm and most of the crew got injured in the process. Those that survived the storm thought that things would be fine when another ship passed by in their time of need. Sadly, their hopes were dashed as this ship was filled with pirates. When the pirates found and boarded
While all that was going down back at the Seaside Village, Kirou was already making his moves in the enemy stronghold. It's now been fifteen minutes since Kirou initiated his plan. Stealth and subterfuge were the game's name, and Kirou had to make severe commitments to follow through on his plans. He started out by summoning two clones, which he then sent to specific places to hide until he gave the signal. Following this, he rushed back to the cave where the kids were being kept captive. Unlike his prior visit where most of his was spent searching for their location, this time he would be able to deal with them without as much trouble. That said, he remained hidden in a dark spot while watching the actions of the captors and their captives. As he did this, he silently retrieved an item from his inventory. It was a small canister-like object that almost anyone would recognize if they saw it. Besides the main body in this cave, his clones pulled out similar objects, a few of whic
After leaving the village, Kirou has been heading northwest for roughly two hours. During this trip, he made multiple adjustments to his heading after using his skill to investigate his surroundings. The downside of this was that he had to chug down multiple potions to replenish his quickly spent [MP] after each trip. It was at this time that Kirou slowed and silenced his steps. This is because the stronghold for those human traffickers was within his sights. Having stopped behind a tree, Kirou calmed his breathing and steadied his heart rate. After doing so, he peered from behind the tree, gazing at his targets going about their business in the large base. The base itself was an abandoned seaside village that seemed to have been occupied initially by dwarfs. Along with a few lodging houses, there were a few paths dug into the hill directly behind the houses. The houses themselves were spread out and made in a style similar to inns, but the size of the windows
A few weeks have passed since Kirou had the discussion with both Cain and Jackson by the underground lake. Unlike the empty and somewhat desolate space that it was before, the underground lake was starting to look like a proper workspace for ships and people alike. More buildings had been constructed on the land area, with one side set up to properly reflect a shipyard and the other to reflect an underground harbor for ships. As for the water, multiple ports had been erected for both ship and civilian use. Hell, a few small boats were already making use of the new docking facilities that were recently created. As for how this happened, Kirou could only say that he got extremely lucky with his excursions outside the <Phantom Palace>. *******Flashback******* *Three days after the discussion with Jackson and Cain* Kirou was currently farming mining resources points.
It's been a few hours since Kirou and his group, along with the recent additions, returned to the <Phantom Palace>. Kirou only left some instructions with the girls and Mistaken Fox for the former bandits while he invited both Jackson and Cain to follow him to the underground pier. The trio was currently sitting around a small table, Kirou drinking some tea while both Jackson and Cain stared at him in confusion. This went on for a few minutes before Jackson spoke up. "Young Master, would you mind explaining why you've brought both of us down here?" Cain maintained his silence, but he gave a slight nod in agreement to Jackson's words. Kirou only glanced at the duo for a few moments before turning his eyes to the waters of his underground port. As soon as he finished his tea, Kirou spoke, "I'll be leaving for the <Beast Continent> within the next two weeks." T
Kirou and Jackson took a few minutes to work out the finer details of the <Blood Oath> that they wanted Cain to make. During this time, Cain genuinely contemplated committing suicide multiple times. The reason behind this was that neither Kirou nor Jackson bothered to lower their voices during their discussion, allowing Cain to hear all of their depraved ideas to include in the oath. The thought of escaping entered Cain's mind multiple times, only to be dismissed almost immediately. Not counting the fact that he was injured at the moment, even if he wasn't, he still had to contend with the creatures surrounding him. And even if he could somehow get through those creatures, there was still a large group he had to fight through, not to mention both Kirou and Jackson. With those thoughts in mind, Cain resigned himself to the whims of the two bastards holding him captive. Both Kirou and Jackson could see that Cai