Chapter 1042: Brushing Someone Off
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Following Wu, Kieran reached the corridor connecting the inn and the living room behind it.
Wu stood under the only lamp. The dark red carpet was emanating a soft tender feeling under the dim light.
"Your cape is nice. The crow feathers are very dazzling," Wu said slow.y
"It's a mantle."
Kieran frowned as he corrected Wu.
"Mantle? A mantle without a hood? It's really something special, just like how I met you here… 2567, do you believe in destiny?"
Wu's rough and low voice sounded got even slower, it seemed like she was reminiscing.
Kieran's furrowed brows got tighter.
He clearly felt Wu purposely said that to draw out the word "destiny".
Destiny?
Kieran didn't believe in it, just like he never believed life was fair for everyone.
It may be cruel but it was reality.
However, Kieran didn't like to discuss these matters with a stranger, nor did he want to fall into Wu's tempo.
"So is that [Lucky Card] real? Or just a joke?"
Kieran deliberately considered his words as he changed "trap" into "joke.
Of course, if it was really a joke, even with Rachel acting as the mediator, Wu would have been blacklisted by Kieran.
Fortunately, it wasn't. Wu stared at Kieran for 2 seconds, her stare was tense, it as if she was going to go through the system blur and see Kieran's true face.
"It's not a joke. I just want to talk more with you."
As she spoke, Wu started a trade.
[Lucky Card] appeared in the trading column and Wu had already accepted the trade.
All Kieran needed to do was to confirm the trade at the moment and [Lucky Card] would be his for free.
It would be a gift instead of a trade!
Yet Kieran didn't take it for granted.
After a glance at Wu, Kieran placed all the Points, Skill Points, [Danian's Grip], and [Phantom Stinger] into the trading column; he then pressed accept.
The vigilance Kieran built up all after this time was suppressing his rash and stingy heart.
He didn't know why Wu would offer the card for free but he knew how much it was worth.
He also knew both of them were just strangers with very few meetings.
However, the two points were enough for Kieran to behave properly. No matter how big the value or benefits, Kieran still knew how to behave in front of a stranger.
He could not accept a stranger's gift without any reason, after all, it had exceeded the range of sympathy and giving.
More so, even if it was sympathy and giving, Kieran would reject it as well.
Why though?
His pride, his ego perhaps.
His pitiful, laughable pride and ego, it was the only thing Kieran had left and he tried not to lose it.
"The value might differ, but it won't be much. If you are still not satisfied, I can compensate with more," Kieran said.
"No need, it's enough." Wu shook her head.
"Um, see you." Kieran nodded, turned around and walked to the door.
Wu gazed at Kieran's back and saw him through the door before she muttered to herself, "Exactly the same, the same… is this the gift of destiny?"
Cards then flew out of Wu's pocket when she muttered to herself.
12 cards surrounded Wu like dancing butterflies from the forest, the images on the cards kept changing as they circled her.
In the end, the 12 cards stopping moving and the images stopped shifting.
12 cards were separated in half and arranged themselves on the left and right respectively before Wu.
Starting from the left: cloud, river, forest, wilderness, peaks, dawn.
Starting from the right: famine, war, catastrophe, plague, darkness, chaos.
All of the cards were distinguishable from each other yet it wasn't the end.
The 12 cards then swiftly overlaid on each other, shifting back and forth as their images changed again.
Amidst the new round of shifting images, there were; knight, devil, beast.
Other than that, there were; palace, scepter, crown.
When the shifting finally ended, the final image that was shown was…
…
As the door was shut, Kieran didn't care about Wu anymore.
From Kieran's viewpoint, Wu was just a player that he finished a trade with, nothing else.
After moving around the bar counter, Starbeck immediately jumped up from the floor.
"2567!"
"I…I…"
He wanted to explain the incident when he was drunk but as the words gushed up to his mouth, his awkwardness and shyness prevented him from uttering a sound.
Starbeck even shrunk aside after that, returning to his old harmless, cowardly look.
Starbeck during normal times was exactly like this, cowardly and shy, even describing him as small animals was an insult to the animals themselves.
However, Starbeck in his cowardly form was the Starbeck that Kieran was most familiar with, the same went for Lawless.
Lawless who was still wet from the ice pail on his head was sitting on the round bar stool, leaning on the counter with his arms on it as well. His mouth was chewing a cigar but it didn't affect his speaking.
"How was it? How was it inside? That mean old Rachel didn't want to let me in! Screw her rules!"
Lawless ranted.
"So so, not as good as this place."
Kieran said while greeting the other few acquaintances around before he passed Lawless the bag of loot he got from his previous adventures.
"As usual," Kieran said.
"Aye mate." Lawless signaled an "OK" sign before contacting the buyers.
Starbeck, on the other hand, was looking at Kieran with a restless heart. He didn't know what happened after he got drunk but he knew it was nothing good.
Whether it was his family or those hypocrite friends he had in real life, after that one time Starbeck got drunk, none of them allowed him to touch alcohol anymore, though his alcohol tolerance was very good…
"Let's go," Kieran said.
"Huh?" Starbeck looked up to Kieran, confused.
"Let's go, I'll send you home. The city may have the cyber law enforcers but its flaws are too big," Kieran said as he walked towards the exit.
Starbeck looked at Kieran walking further away and got stunned for 2 to 3 seconds.
When Kieran touched the handle of the exit, it was only then that Starbeck came to his senses.
"Wait for me, 2567!"
Starbeck caught up quickly and both of them vanished beyond the exit.
…
Humming an unknown melody, a figure was walking in the streets with light steps as he was heading towards Harvest Inn.
It was a place he didn't like but didn't hate either.
"It would be great if I can go in and have a drink."
The person muttered and the melody he was humming got happier, faster.
Even when the person saw Kieran and Starbeck come out from the inn, his mood didn't change as if both of them were people of insignificance.
Both parties brushed off each other.
The person walked into Harvest Inn without pausing but Kieran paused his steps for a while.
"What's wrong?" Starbeck asked.
"Nothing."
Kieran frowned but he didn't say anything else, he didn't even look back and instead continue his walk.
Starbeck again followed tightly behind Kieran as they truly left.Chapter 1043: 7th Dungeon
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Days and weeks flew by like an arrow.
"Blade of the Daybreaker", the Unique Title did cause a huge commotion in the big city but as Kieran refused to show himself, the matter quickly was quickly forgotten.
Some rumors even said that Kieran didn't actually acquire the Unique Title, while some others spread the rumors of Broker having two Unique Titles as if it was the fact.
However, similar to Kieran, after the title dungeon [Blade of the Daybreaker], Broker didn't show himself in the city anymore, as if he vanished from the game but those who really understood Broker knew it was just a temporary calm before the storm.
When Broker returned, his appearance would definitely shake the heavens and earth.
Every organization and faction was taking precautions carefully against that potential outcome, therefore the big city entered an unprecedented "peaceful period".
Other than small squabbles between individuals, organizations and factions agreed to restrain their men without prior discussion, including Rachel's and the guardians.
Both sides were holding back at the moment but all the veterans and high-rankers felt the anxiety of the calm before the storm.
Fisherman, J.Pearlman once again sent multiple invitations to Kieran, asking him to join Freedom Alliance.
In fact, not just Freedom Alliance, several more high-ranker organizations sent their invitations to Kieran, wanting him to join them, including the two groups that Rachel mentioned during their previous chat: Scorching City and Oath Calvary.
But all were rejected by Kieran without exception.
Strangers meant distrust.
Kieran didn't want to spend more time and effort to get in contact with those useless organizations and people.
What he had now was enough for him.
Entrusting Lawless to sell the normal goods, he was able to set up a small selling session in Harvest Inn and for those high-value items, the small living room was also an ideal place, though there was a strange Wu around, it was still better than random strangers.
More so, after the trade with Wu, Kieran emptied his pockets. So for the rest of the time, Kieran didn't step out of his room anymore as he trained his skills and familiarized himself with his equipment while waiting for the dungeon cooldown.
When Kieran received the notification telling him the cooldown was reset, he started his final check on his bag again.
After buying enough potions, munitions, and consumables, Kieran was left with 20K Points and 15 Skill Points after getting the profits from Lawless' sales.
With the lack of Golden Skill Points, the few skills that Kieran had in mind to upgrade were put on hold for now and it somehow fueled his anticipation for the upcoming new dungeon.
Under the familiar light, words appeared in his vision again.
[Entering single player dungeon!]
[Dungeon difficulty: 7th dungeon]
[Background: This is a strange world, heroes and villains that exceed commoners exist and both sides were always at conflict for their respective ideals. You are an inexperienced young man who stepped into this world with an unrealistic fantasy, so "you" have paid the price…]
[Main Mission: Get minimal recognition within 6 weeks. (The higher the recognition, the higher the rating)]
[Temporary language pack, Disappears upon exiting the dungeon.]
[Clothing, backpack, weapons, and other items remain unchanged, Temporarily altered appearance, returns to normal upon exiting the dungeon]
[Note: This is your seventh official dungeon. You can fail the Main Mission, but you will have to pay 700 Points as a penalty and your highest attributes will drop by 2 ranks. If your points are insufficient, the system will deduct from your equipment. If your equipment is insufficient, you will fail.]
…
The blinding light dispersed and when Kieran felt his feet on the ground, he was standing in a slightly broken alley.
The alley was very long and arrow, only two people could pass at a time and the garbage bin placed at the exit completely blocked it.
Similarly, it also blocked out people's view of the alley.
At the deepest part of the alley where shadow enshrouded all, a body was lying down in a puddle of blood.
The body was facing down but the outfit and the physique caused Kieran to raise a brow.
The outfit was extremely similar to his temporarily altered looks and items.
The physique also closely resembled his as well.
Huuu!
After a deep breath, as he ignored the bloody stench that filled his nostrils, Kieran flipped the body over.
Despite the crown of the head being blasted off with a single shot, the remaining face was enough for Kieran to tell the body in front him shared almost 80% of his looks.
"So this is the price I paid? Realistic and cruel I see…"
Kieran exclaimed as he quickly searched the body.
He got a leather case, a cigar case with four cigars inside and the set equipment from the search and nothing else.
Kieran then touched the fatal wound on the body, inspecting the killing blow carefully.
"The hair, the skin at the back of his head have scald marks, means he was shot to death with a gun pointing at the back of his head. The splattered blood and brains mean he was shot right here but there are no footprints around…from the body or the killer…"
"Heroes and villains, that exceed common humans?"
Kieran muttered as he took another glance at the new dungeon background.
It seemed like extraordinary powers in this world were quite common to the people's eye.
The body in front of Kieran was someone that exceeded common humans, so was the killer.
So if Kieran who had almost the same face as the dead person appeared in public, what would happen?
The answer was self-explanatory.
Potential ceaseless attacks one after another would frighten one off easily, but not Kieran.
He didn't have an identity nor any memories in this dungeon world unless he planned to cover his face throughout this dungeon, otherwise the identity of the body in front him would be the best for him to adapt.
If it was another dungeon world, Kieran didn't mind going the nomad way by choosing the former option but this dungeon world obviously had extraordinary powers existing in common public, if he were to cover his face throughout the dungeon, it might attract more attention and caused a bunch of unwanted troubles.
Kieran wasn't a superhero who could wear a tight suit underneath his shirt, change his hairstyle and take away his spectacles to fool people.
Choosing to inherit the identity of the body in front of him would cause a series of predictable troubles while catching unwanted attention would cause a series of unknown ones.
Kieran chose the former option based on his habits.
He opened the leather case and found 3 hundred dollar bills and some coins together with a key and dozens of name cards of the same name.
The front side of the name card has "2567" written on it with bold fonts.
There was only the name on the card and it made it looked extremely clean. If it wasn't for the poor quality name card and the printing error that made "2567"'s "7" looked like "1" instead, it would definitely catch one's attention.
Obviously, the printers of the name card worked roughly on this yet tried to imitate a really delicate look.
Fortunately, the back of the name card had an address written on it: 99th Smorewill Street.
After getting the intel he was searching for, Kieran raised the devil flame on his left hand.
Fooosh!
The devil flame then burned everything at the scene, including the body and the bloodstains around the walls, nothing was left behind.
After double checking for any other leftovers, Kieran strode out of the alley but before he walked around the garbage bin, it was toppled over.
A person that followed the toppled garbage bin, staggering to a fall in front of Kieran.
Chapter 1044: Wishing To Be Discovered
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The person fell to the ground after staggering for a bit.
The jacket and T-shirt were cut a while ago and the wound on the back had blood gushing out ceaselessly. As the person fell to the ground, the light from the street lamp shone on the face for a fraction of a second, revealing slightly stout features with very short hair. Even with a nose ring on, it did very little to conceal the person's gender.
Whether was it the bulging part at the chest or the petite physique, all signs were telling Kieran the person who had just passed out on the ground was a lady.
However, as long as the target was a stranger to Kieran, regardless of man or woman, he or she would not get any kindness from him.
A gentleman would give appropriate care once the fallen person was identified as a lady, Kieran admired those gentlemen quite a bit but would never become one of them.
Just like the so called heroes, they were praised by people because they became famous after their death.
Therefore, Kieran was cautious about the situation, he didn't want to die without knowing why and more so, the little incident happened too coincidentally.
He just found a body in the alley and at the next moment, someone barged in uninvited.
Kieran's SSS+ Intuition clearly told him the lady was running towards the alley from a dozen meters away.
Aside from the alley being a special place that could provide sanctuary for the lady, what else could drive a heavily wounded lady here?
The answers were a hand full and Kieran chose the worst of all choices: discovering "his" body.
Of course Kieran wouldn't spare checking the surroundings when he was searching the body but nothing of interest was around.
Therefore, there was a high chance the lady came for "his" body but it didn't discard the possibility that it wasn't her own intentions but a skillful arrangement.
So who arranged the lady to come here and discover "his" body?
It should be the killer who killed "him".
However, as the speculation formed, more doubts and question popped up in Kieran's heart.
"The killer wished for someone to find the body?"
"Why?"
"It doesn't make sense."
"Is the killer showing off? An egocentric person?"
In normal situation, after killing a person, the killer would not want others to discover the body out of self-protection and if the situation permits, the killer might very well destroy the evidence and the body altogether.
Only a minority of twisted people would act the exact opposite but these minority couldn't have committed such a crude act.
The sick-minded killer had their own persistence and sought after specific things, their act should be meticulous and flawless. They also wouldn't have chosen a careless and useless assistant.
After a glance at the fainted woman, Kieran looked towards the direction of the street, there stood a man with a dagger without the slightest intention of concealing it as he chased after her in the bright day.
When the man saw Kieran, he smirked viciously and shouted, "I knew it, this bitch has an accomplice! You are also a dead meat!"
The threats subsided and the man jumped towards Kieran.
The man's physique was tall and big and his jump was quite ferocious for a common man, but for Kieran it was filled with flaws.
The man didn't only lack technique, he didn't even utilize the advantage of his strength; he was like a raging bull crashing around blindly.
So, how could an extraordinary human that could kill "him" pick an "assistant" as reckless as this man?
No, no, perhaps the reckless man was the most suitable to lead the attention to the body; he was reckless and stupid.
When a reckless stupid person killed the unconscious lady and discovered a body in the deeper part of the alley, what would he do?
He might simply deal with it, leaving behind more flaws to lead more people to discover the body.
Thoughts were spinning rapidly in Kieran's mind and while he was in deep thought, his look struck the man as he was astonished by the sudden strike.
The man grew bold and raised the dagger higher up, readying to deliver a fatal blow to Kieran.
However, it was natural the dagger missed its target.
Kieran moved his steps to the left and swung his hand towards the jumping man.
Pak!
A clear sound later, the man fell to the ground after suffering a chop to the back of his neck.
Even though Kieran knew the value of the information he might get from this man would be extremely slim, it didn't stop him from trying.
After another glance at the two unconscious people before him, Kieran went over to the lady and simply patched her up, making sure she wouldn't die because of excessive bleeding before grabbing the two of them, vanishing into the shadows.
…
99th Smorewill Street.
A small building located at the edge of the wealthy district and compared to the big houses in the central wealthy district, the building wasn't just old to the point that its exterior has bricks falling off, its garden was messy and dirty as well. It couldn't even compare to the civilian apartments that were connected to the wealthy district.
Thanks to the many road signs and map boards around the street, Kieran returned to "his" accomodation after a mere 15 minutes.
Similar to the broken exterior, the two storey interior was just as broken.
Wooden floorings that would produce squeaks when one stepped on it, stair handles that would shake after one slightly gripping it, the loose and torn carpet, the chairs and tables that were missing arms and legs respectively plus the sofa which had its springs poking out of the leather.
Fortunately, the only thing worth celebrating was the refrigerator being filled with food and the medical box in the bathroom having sufficient necessary medicinal supplies as well.
After using bandages and alcohol to properly treat the lady's wound, Kieran took out some instant oats, milk, and bread in addition to throwing a few pieces of ham into the microwave oven.
He didn't really do any complicated cooking with the ingredients though, the milk was poured into the bowl with the instant oats while the bread and ham formed the most simple sandwich ever without cheese and vegetables.
Simple cooking meant faster speed.
Two minutes later, Kieran brought the instant food to the living room.
The wounded lady was lying on the sofa because of Kieran's generosity, while the reckless man was thrown on the floor.
Kieran was slowly eating his bowl of oats as he stirred it with a spoon and took bite after bite of the crude sandwich.
The oats that was soaked in the milk became very soft, Kieran took a big scoop of the oats and milk, the richness of the milk and the earthiness of the oat instantly filled his taste buds. Seizing the moment, he quickly took a bite of the crude sandwich and even without the freshness of lettuce or tomatoes, the savoury taste of the ham was enough to make Kieran satisfy.
Amongst the meal, the most surprising one was the bread which he didn't re-toast.
The soft bread absorbed the milk in his mouth and instantly turned into a substantial texture, allowing Kieran to have a perfect chewing sensation.
After gobbling down his self-made dinner with speed that would render one speechless, Kieran looked at both his captives.
The reckless pursuer was still unconscious while the injured lady's breath suddenly turned fast.
Finally, the lady opened her eyes and supported herself up to have a proper look at Kieran in the chair.
"Did you save me?"
"I'll repay you for this! If you can help me once more, I can repay you with an even more luxurious reward!"
After asking the obvious, the lady started to tempt Kieran by giving effort in sticking her huge chest up but her attempt to tempt Kieran didn't do any good except hurting her wound even more.
When she saw Kieran's calm to cold eyes, the lady slightly leaned back to the sofa; she didn't give up.
"I don't have money now but I will soon! I will get a huge amount of money soon, as long as you promise to help me, half of it will be yours…"
"Question. Why did you go there? The alley."
The lady who leaned back still wanted to bargain with her offers but was interrupted by Kieran before she finished.
"That is a private matter!" The lady emphasized.
Kieran however didn't buy it and just as he wanted to teach her a lesson about how cruel reality was, his face suddenly changed.