Kenneth opened the door of the room. He steps inside and wandered around, stopping at the small trash can near the bedside table.
Again, same as what he found in Soledad's room. But this time, he found burnt remains of a picture. He compared its remains on the picture he found on Carmen's bag and just as he thought, it matches.
Huh...
So two people found out that their significant others had an affair. Carmen's partner probably contacted Soledad at some point and then both planned their revenge.
With that thought, Ken contacted Shaira immediately.
Ring...
Ring...
Ring...
Ken waited and waited but the call just continued to ring.
He ended the call in silence.
Shaira... Marco...
-----
Meanwhile downstairs...
Angelo continued using
[???]
[A rift in dimension]
[???]
[A rift in dimension]
[???]
[A rift in dimension]
This...
What the heck?
This
Of course, he already surmised why that's so. He may be lazy but that's not mean that he is dumb. He's just complaining for complaining's sake.
He figures that the Analyze skill takes in the various data his body perceived and uses all the knowledge and information stored in his brain to compare and assess all the variables.
Like a computer running a background process to analyze all the data and then displaying the resulting output in the glowing panel, he sees each time he uses the skill.
He further hypothesizes that if his mana is activated, he can get more data in his environment, thus making the
Of course, to further cultivate this skill, reading more knowledge and facts is essential.
Probably the reason why Transcenders wanted academic NPC's as a subcontractor.
With a skill like Analyze, scientific research will be much more efficient, thus further-reaching their goals.
"Uugh..."
Angelo turned to the cannibal who's stirring awake.
Mr. Mariano opened his eyes only to see black apathetic eyes bearing down on him. He immediately jerks away as his tied-up body permits. His heart beating erratically.
Focusing, he instantly recognized the young man who defeated him. A surge of anger flash through him and his face contorted into a snarl, his eyes flashing red.
Angelo stared at how the middle-aged man's face instantly turned monstrous. The man snarls at him, lunging and pouncing whenever he got close.
"Calm down old man. I just want to ask some questions..."
As an answer, the man just snaps at him, his eyes murderous.
Angelo sighs at his reaction.
"Chill Mr. Mariano, just answer my questions and you won't get hurt"
Mr. Mariano widened his eyes in surprise, not expecting the young man to know his name.
"Who are you?!"
"Hey, I'm the one asking questions here not you..."
Angelo grumbles. He stared impassively at Mr. Mariano and ignored his fussing about.
"Now, now, Mr. Mariano. I just want to ask what are you doing here?"
Mr. Mariano did not answer. He did not know how this young man knows him but he is not a fool to just answer whatever this young man asks.
Angelo sigh. He summoned his Skill panel, trying to find a skill he can use in this situation.
Hmmm... he could use <
Mr. Mariano watches as the young man seemingly taps something in the air.
What is this kid doing?
Angelo tap
<< Persuade
The act of causing someone to do something or believe something by asking, arguing, or giving reasons.
---
* People with high WILL/WISDOM stat will be harder to persuade
* The higher the Charisma and Will, the higher the chance of succeeding
>>
Yeah, he could use this...
Angelo turns to Mr. Mariano with a strange gleam in his eyes. Activating <
"Mr. Mariano, what are you doing here?"
Mr. Mariano was about to snap at him again when he strangely felt light-headed. Mr. Mariano blinks and his face softens. He tried to shake his head to ease away the sudden buzz in his head, but the voice of the young man before him made him at peace.
Unbeknownst to Mr. Mariano, he had already fallen prey to Angelo's skill.
"I'm here to collect my merchandise"
"Merchandise? What kind of merchandise?"
"Meat…human meat…my product is clean and safe, it is especially sought after."
Mr. Mariano said proudly, his creepy smug face crinkling into a wide smile.
"Oh? Is that so...?"
"Yes, especially ever since I stored my meats here. My high-paying customers say that they are delicious and energizing..."
Mr. Mariano paused, his nose crinkling.
"Quite a strange way to describe my food but eh, they are strange folks. They'll even notice it if the meat I have brought them hasn't been stored here."
The middle-aged man nodded to himself, his annoyance and helplessness etch to his face.
"Yes, they are peculiar indeed, they say that the quality is not the same at all, and the meat is from the same carcass even. But they are paying customers, so whenever I killed a prey, I stored them here for three days before selling them."
"..."
Angelo paused and just stared at Mr. Mariano. He sat in silence as he digest what he has just heard. In the end, he just muttered a single syllable.
"Huh..."
Angelo drags his hand across his face and continues interrogating Mr. Mariano.
"How did you find this place?"
"Oh! I just found this place by chance", answered the cannibal as he told Angelo what happened.
"I was dragging my prey near here when I noticed this place. This inn is abandoned and was partially hidden by the foliage around its vicinity. Out of curiosity, I explored the place and found that the furniture and appliances left behind are still usable so I immediately made this inn as my hideout."
" Of course to further ensure that no one will discover this place, I requested my master's favor and with his blessing, added this place as my territory." Mr. Mariano added, his voice revering as he mentioned his master.
Master? The Busaw?
"Who is your master? ", Angelo asked.
"Master is master..." answered the cannibal, his face full of reverence.
Angelo tried again but Mr. Mariano just answered the same.
Tch, it's no use...
Seeing that he can't find anything about this master character, Angelo continued his line of questioning in a different direction.
"What do you know about the Game?"
"What game are you talking about?"
"Do you know anything about the Transcenders?"
"Oh, that international non-government organization? What about it?"
Getting no answer, Angelo asked about the rift.
"What rift?", questioned the perplexed cannibal.
Angelo sigh, mumbling troublesome under his breath, and asked,
"How did you get here? Did you find anything odd when you came here?"
"Aside from finding you here, no, nothing...but I did almost got lost coming here which is odd. I was running circles and couldn't find this place until I contacted and asked my master about my little predicament. And as expected of my master, I have found the inn again."
The master again...Is it possible that the Busaw knows about the Game?
Angelo halted <
Wait a minute, why is he thinking about this anyway. What he needed to do now is to finish this trial, complete the Cleaning Frenzy quest, and score high on the leader boards.
Angelo gazed at Mr. Mariano who was coming out of his consciousness.
Now what to do with this guy...
Mr. Mariano blinks blankly at the young man before him. He stared dazedly for a moment before his eyes widen in anger.
"You?! What did you do to me?!"
"Oh nothing harmful old man", answered Angelo dismissively. He stood up and stretched his body, his mind wandering.
Now normally from what he reads in mangas and light novels, most protagonists will just kill this old man if they encounter them but seeing that this is real life...
Meh...he'll just toss this problem to the Transcenders. It's their instance, they deal with this.
With the decision in mind, Angelo knocked out Mr. Mariano again.
Now, how's Ken is doing?