"You idiot!" I turned my head toward the man who just came out of the shop. He was as tall and muscular as Son Tae, and I would've definitely mistaken him for Son Tae if he wasn't bald. He hit the bearded man's head and bowed.
"I deeply apologize for his immaturity." If you're sorry, then stand up. Your shiny head is going to blind me like the blue-haired danger magnet(AKA hero)'s face.
"Brother!" the cliche NPC said. "Why are you apologizing to a kid?" Apparently this was the "powerful brother" he mentioned earlier. I'm not impressed.
The bald man stood up straight and smacked the bearded man in the head again. Now that I got a chance to look at the new stranger, I realized he was wearing a red spider lily pin like me, except the outline is bronze.
So he's a Woke?
I quickly used appraisal to confirm my theory.
[Appraisal: Bi Suk, 34 years old Human. Title: (none)]
Ah, he's not a Woke, but he works for them. That's why he is low ranked.
Wait? He's only 34? He looks like he's in his 50's!
The big bald man spoke again, this time to his brother. "This 'kid' is part of the association I wanted to introduce you to!"
I thought about Park Hyun, and how an idiotic misunderstanding snowballed into a series of unfortunate events, leading to his death.
"Might as well give up on being a Woke if you're that stupid." I muttered, remembering the dead glasses man.
I flinched when the bald man turned towards me with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, you're right…" He gave a half-hearted chuckle, "My stupid brother really doesn't deserve to be a part of the association. What a fool!"
Association? More like a cult. I held my tongue. I'm not going to insult the cult of Wokes in front of a person who works with them. I'm not that stupid.
"Right," I answered. I had to think of a way to leave before that man accused me of being a fake.
[Ding! The Host owns the Art, "Shadow Step".]
I knew that! I used it for stealing- I mean, borrowing the bald man's stuff!
I looked at the two men who were almost twice as tall as me. The NPC's face was blue, and beads of sweat dripped from his chin. The other gave an awkward smile and rubbed his hands together like a scamming door-to-door salesman.
"Don't do any shady stuff!" I blurted out without thinking.
Way to go! Of course, you have to tell them not to work with Wokes!
I quickly mumbled, "Shadow Step" before running away.
No. In every language that Rosetta offers, with every single definition of the word, N I just 'borrowed' a load of valuables from those two dudes. Am I really gonna hang around these weirdos any longer than I had to? Definitely not!
I ran away. I know a normal person in my situation was supposed to be panicking, but I had a massive grin on my face. After taking a sharp turn into a dark alleyway, I checked to make sure there wasn't a single person chasing me. The Art I had activated turned off the moment I took a sigh of relief.
After my adrenaline rush died, I realized what I just did. I just "stole" a ton of stuff and got away cleanly. No wonder some people will try to steal things. This feeling of getting away after stealing was very thrilling.
Oh sh*t. Oh f*ck.
I'm not even religious, but Jesus Christ. I just stole something.
It's fine. It's fine. I'm fine. I'm totally okay. There's no police or the government here. I'm in a lawless city, in the black market with garbage rules. I'm safe, because I have this stupid pin. I've never been more glad that I picked up garbage from a random dude who tried to kill me.
It was quite ironic how I felt safer in a criminal city where people rob each other in broad daylight than staying in an academy filled with professional guardians of the city.
My current situation aside, what is that stench? It smelled worse than the Chinese takeout I'd forgotten in the back of my refrigerator for over a year.
I pinched my nose and looked towards the darker part of the alley. There was a rotting carcass of a cat-like animal laying on its own pile of hair. Its bones peeked out from underneath the brown skin and what used to be fur has now turned into fine dust. The body had been there long enough that the eyeball decomposed into a puddle of mush.
I knew murder was legal here as long as you clean your mess up. Whoever did this definitely didn't obey that rule –even though it's a cat–. The corpse would definitely ruin the appetite of anyone, especially because it was right in the center of the shopping district.
But that was definitely not the cause of the stench.
I looked around more. I was surrounded on both sides by brick walls, but I had a feeling that someone was watching me. As I was about to ask the System, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared out of the darkness, making me jump back a few steps before activating "Appraisal" out of panic.
[Appraisal: Park Rhea, 17 years old Hu₥₳₦? Titles: Archmage, Walking Trashcan.]
I then sighed in relief.
It's someone I know.
...
OH SHIT! IT'S SOMEONE I KNOW! The Woke girl from my class is here!
The pair of eyes got closer. I was about to plead for mercy and maybe painless deaths, but the nauseous odor almost made me throw up.
"Damn it, Rhea!" The pair of eyes flinched. "Go get some perfume or something! You stink!" I shouted.
Then the rest of her body appeared out of the shadows, revealing her long dark hair and beautiful purple eyes.
Purple? Wasn't it red earlier?
[Ding! When using Dark Arts such as "Shadow Steps" or "Shadow Inventory", the Host's eyes will temporarily appear red.]
Got it, don't use Art around people, because Art equals Demon Worshippers and Demon Worshippers equals death.
Wait, so she just used Art. What did she just use?
[Ding! Park Rhea just used the Dark Art, "Shadow Step", to sneak up on the Host.]
How long had she been watching me?
[Ding! Since the Host used "Appraisal III" on Bi Suk.]
God, that's embarrassing. She saw all of that!
"-ow?" Apparently she was saying something. I stopped staring blankly at the air and slightly turned my head in her direction.
"How do you know my name?" She asked again, with a frown on her face.
Her name? Doesn't everyone know?
[Ding! Park Rhea uses the name "Park Dae" in public.]
That's stupid. "Rhea" is definitely a better name than "Dae."
[Ding! The Goddess of Death, Morte, facepalmed at the Host's thoughts.]
What? I'm right!
"I haven't told my real name to anyone!" She then shouted.
Dammit! You being on the other side of the classroom is already making me nauseous. Now she's practically spitting on my face. I'm going to die to something stupid like this.
I continued to pinch my nose. "You low, having your lame under appraisal really does it help you (You know, having your name under appraisal really doesn't help you)."
She gave me a look full of disbelief. "I know you have Arts and we have more important topics to talk about, but why are you pitching your nose?" She asked.
F*ck! I can taste the foulness of the air.
I took five huge steps back. Park Rhea still had a frown on her face. As she tried to follow, I raised a hand to stop her. "If you want to be anywhere within six feet of me, you first owe me a gas mask."