Knock knock knock.
The van window responded to Rohan’s knock with a whirring sound as it rolled down.
A thick smell of cigarette smoke wafted out from the vehicle.
“What the hell are you doing?”
The sharp voice and the glaring stare were something to behold.
His hand trembled slightly, as if he was about to pull out a weapon at any moment.
“Why aren’t you answering the phone? The elders want to hear some news directly, so they sent me.”
I spoke in a calm voice, delivering the rehearsed lines.
Knowing who sent these guys and what the outcome would be, I skipped the middle steps and went straight to the point.
Unlike the protagonist, I’m not a nameless extra, so I took a route that doesn’t even exist in the game.
The mention of “elders” lowered their guard.
The man in the driver’s seat checked his phone and replied with a crumpled face.
“Phone? There’s nothing here.”
“I wouldn’t know. Anyway, they’re really upset that you didn’t answer.”
“Hey, if they’re suddenly mad, it’s a problem for us too…”
The clear hierarchy was palpable.
The driver’s face twisted in discomfort.
He then turned to the man in the passenger seat, seemingly seeking his opinion, and started talking.
Rohan eavesdropped on the meaningless conversation and confirmed his suspicions.
‘Just as I thought.’
He was sure from the moment they reacted to the word “elders.”
These were the guys you encounter in the tutorial.
The Yard-Pound brothers.
Men who’ll commit any crime if you pay them enough.
“Brother Yard. I’ll relay it like that.”
Had the conversation inside ended?
The driver turned his head back.
“There’s nothing unusual. No calls came in… Go back and tell them that.”
“If it ends like this, I’ll be in trouble for being the middleman.”
Rohan felt his resolve for what was to come slowly rising as he quickly scanned his surroundings.
As expected, there was no sign of the presumed protagonist. It was a late hour, and the alley was deserted.
‘Well, I was going to do it anyway.’
Rohan quietly adjusted his breathing under his mask.
The various moves he had honed while catching ability criminals during his Hunter days filled his mind.
“Hey, tell the elders it’s because of Lord Seolho’s daughter. We want to gather information quickly too, but those types can sense something’s off just by looking at us from the car. We’re trying to be careful and take our time to earn our pay…”
“Enough.”
A voice came from the side.
The man in the driver’s seat stopped his lament and shrunk back as if he’d made a mistake.
“Pound. You’ve always had a loose tongue. That’s the problem.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Enough.”
Clunk! The passenger door opened, and a man stepped out.
A mechanical prosthetic arm occupied his right side, and his clothes hung loosely.
His appearance was familiar to Rohan. It was Yard, one of the Yard-Pound brothers.
The guy who’s been dragging Pound around in the driver’s seat, acting like the boss.
The guy started closing the distance, his cheap prosthetic arm creaking and spinning. Whether he was angry or not, hostility flickered in his pupils.
Rohan sat still, staring at him.
Yard, who had approached at close range, opened his mouth with dissatisfaction.
“Until now, they’ve never called during work. They always wait for our report time to vent all their complaints.”
“So?”
His eyebrows twitched at the sudden rudeness.
Recalling the commission fee in his head, Yard took a deep breath and continued.
“They never even told us to receive any specific number when we go out for work.”
“Hmm.”
I nodded as if it were obvious.
Of course, they’d contact us with a new number every time.
They just don’t realize it themselves. To those old men, we’re just disposable pawns.
They pay well, so we just think they’re cautious clients and follow along.
“This job has only been underway for two hours. Yet they come here out of nowhere to complain. Are they trying to nitpick and cut the commission fee like last time?”
“Even if they cut the commission fee, we should be grateful.”
“What?”
“Even if we sit here, far from the dormitory, to observe, they’ll forgive us. If we got any closer, we’d be dead by Frozenheart’s hand.”
A vein popped on Yard’s forehead.
He took another step forward and pushed Rohan’s chest with his prosthetic arm, as if threatening him.
“Brat, say that again. Who’s going to die?”
The stench of pride from those who’ve lived by breaking the law.
Rohan let out a quiet laugh under his mask at the familiar scene.
“Is this punk crazy? Are you laughing?”
“Yard, bro! If you mess with him, it’s just going to be trouble…”
“Pound. Shut up.”
Rohan quietly watched Yard, who was spewing curses in anger.
If we ignore them and leave them be, I don’t know how things will unfold, but it’s obvious they’ll turn into corpses the moment Noah gets involved.
The difference in skill between the Yard-Pound brothers and Noah isn’t something you can bridge with cheap tricks.
One flick from Noah, and their prosthetics and heads would be smashed.
‘If we let them go, they’ll just cause more trouble.’
Rohan clenched and unclenched his hand, checking his surroundings one last time.
He didn’t even consider the idea of letting them live.
He had no intention of revealing his existence to them.
[A quest has appeared.]
[Battle Chick]
◇ Quest Details: You’ve discovered a group trying to spy on Noah Frozenheart. Punish the brothers who’ve lived by doing wrong.
◇ Category: Tutorial
◇ Success Reward: Erase battle traces, 1 Positive Cliché, 300P
◇ Failure Penalty: None
‘Alright.’
Just as he made up his mind, the quest appeared at the perfect timing.
The rewards were completely different from Abyss City, which used to give experience and currency, but now Rohan has no such rewards.
‘It was already a hassle to clean up.’
I don’t know what the reward of a positive cliché is.
The existence of quests seemed to fuel my actions and will rather than forcing me, which I really liked.
“No matter who sent them, I can’t believe I’m being treated like this by some damn errand boy…!”
Rohan, who was watching Yard raise his voice in anger, moved his hand without hesitation.
*Squish!*
Rohan’s thumb dug into one of Yard’s eyeballs without warning.
“Ahhh!”
Yard’s hands flew to his face in shock, and in that moment, Rohan’s kick struck his groin.
*Crack!*
His not-so-small body collapsed to the ground, writhing.
“───!!!”
He trembled, unable to even scream properly from the pain.
Seeing him scratching the floor with his prosthetic arm, it looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“Hey, Yard bro!?”
Pound frantically tried to open the driver’s seat door, struggling to get out.
Rohan’s kick forced the door shut.
*Thud!*
Sandwiched in the door.
The knife in Pound’s arms clattered to the floor with a metallic sound.
*Swish!*
Rohan picked up the gleaming knife, fixed his wrist with magic, and slashed it forward.
*Stick!* A sticky sound.
A hole was pierced in Pound’s neck, who was stuck in the driver’s seat.
“Gurgle…”
Rohan retracted the blade, turning his eyes away from Pound, who was foaming at the mouth.
Yard was getting up, rubbing his wet lower body.
“You son of a bitch!”
*Whoosh!* The metal prosthetic arm swung with a heavy sound.
The momentum was good, but the large movements made it less threatening. It clearly showed he had no professional training.
“You little rat…! You bastard!”
With one eyeball and testicle crushed, it seemed his intelligence was shattered too.
Yard swung his fists wildly, spouting crude curses.
‘I thought it might be a bit challenging, but it’s literally tutorial level.’
Rohan didn’t feel the need to use any skills.
Dodging the punches, he slashed with the blade.
A few seconds of low-level scuffling ensued, hardly worthy of being called a fight.
Yard’s breathing grew rough.
“Huff! Grrr…!”
A glance at Pound, who had slipped from the driver’s seat and died.
It seemed the excitement had finally subsided.
‘It’s already too late.’
Yard’s body, embracing the red lines carved by the knife, was oozing blood.
“Let’s finish this quickly. I need to go to sleep.”
As Rohan spun the knife and closed the distance, Yard suppressed his anger and let out a strange breath, dominated by fear.
“Eek…!”
A bulky prosthetic arm swinging around.
Even with the power to flip a vehicle in one go, Rohan and Yard follow the usual routine.
Rohan dodges, Yard gets stabbed.
*Thud!*
Just like Pound, Yard, with a hole in his neck, staggers around like he’s drunk.
Then he collapses to the ground, lifeless.
“Good, good. No one passing by.”
Rohan, folding his knife and pocketing it, is grateful for the lack of pedestrians as he opens the van door.
*Thud! Thud!*
After roughly tossing the body into the van.
Rohan gets in and starts rummaging through the vehicle.
Impossible in a game, but reality offers endless possibilities, right?
But it’s underwhelming.
Rohan clicks his tongue.
“These beggars… not even a single pistol.”
Maybe they keep all their money in their accounts.
After going through the pockets and the vehicle, all he found was 6 coins. That’s 60,000 won in Korean currency, not exactly a great deal.
Illegal drugs, presumably, are not worth taking, so he leaves them.
Exiting the vehicle, Rohan smashes the brother’s smartphone and tosses it into a designated trash bin.
[Quest completed.]
[Rewards acquired.]
[Combat traces eradicated.]
Just in time, the notification window pops up.
Rohan stands still, watching the situation unfold. And he’s impressed.
“Wow!”
He thought only bloodstains would be cleaned up, but…
The Yard-Pound brothers’ van completely disappears, and even the scattered blood on the ground is neatly cleaned up.
Plus, the coins and knife he kept didn’t disappear—that’s 100 points. The bloodstains on his clothes are gone—that’s 1,000 points. The smashed smartphone in the trash bin is gone—that’s 10,000 points.
“Good job.”
The place is spotless, as if nothing happened.
He feels like giving a 5-star review and writing a testimonial.
With one task completed, Rohan starts walking back to the dormitory.
On the way back, it hits him.
“Ah, what about later?”
Thinking about the future, it would be nice to have a companion or two.
