The distance between Lenny and the abandoned building, near the fence where he stood, was approximately 25 meters, enough to fit a tennis court.
The area was spacious, and the henchman had circled the building through the courtyard, putting the distance between them at around 50 meters, enough to fit two tennis courts.
Before Lenny could fully process his thoughts, he found himself sprinting for his dear life toward the abandoned structure.
"Bastard! Stop!" The Chinese-looking henchman sporting a buzzcut screamed in the distance.
Lenny barely registered the distant shouts as he entered the dark, four-story structure.
Although enveloped in complete darkness, using the faint glow of his phone screen as a guide after switching off the torch to hide himself, he quickly located a staircase, cluttered with debris with railings mostly deteriorated, and raced upward.
Lenny's mind frantically raced, still shocked by the unexpected development.
'...What the– what the heck?! Didn't Boss give me three days? Then why are his men here? That–That sly old man must have lied! He's hell-bent on selling my organs…!'
As this realization struck, cold sweat trickled down his forehead while he ran.
Reaching the second floor of the building, he paused, gasping for breath, his dim phone screen serving as his only source of illumination.
He scanned the area for a suitable hiding spot with great care, wary of weakened floors or potential obstacles.
This floor boasted a wide corridor with numerous rooms lining its sides. What had once been a pristine hallway and rooms had now succumbed to decay, filled with debris, shattered glass, and the remnants of broken furniture.
Advancing cautiously at a moderate pace, Lenny felt a growing sense of unease.
There were hidden dangers aplenty in such an abandoned location, and given that he was being pursued, he wouldn't be able to thoroughly examine his surroundings before moving forward.
"Dammit! Nothing ever goes as I want. Now I'm really fucked, aren't I?" he muttered.
Reaching the middle of the hallway, he spotted a faint pinkish light emanating from a distance, a soft glow escaping an opening that likely led to another room… or corridor. He couldn't be certain as his visibility was severely limited.
'...Now what on earth is this?' he thought.
Apprehensive, he slowed his pace and cautiously pressed on.
Arriving at the second-to-last room on the left, Lenny cautiously peered inside, the soft pink glow reflecting on his face.
"How the hell…?"
To his surprise, there in the room… was a working vending machine!
'What in the world…? What is this doing here…?' Lenny pondered as he observed the machine.
The face, where the items were to be shown, was completely covered by the image of pink graffiti that formed a title along with a retro-design female cartoon character with golden-curled hair. The image emitted a faint pink light.
Seemingly forgetting about his pursuers, Lenny unconsciously voiced, "...How is it even being powered? This building has been abandoned for quite some time now. And that cartoon lady, isn't that…"
Suddenly though, from the far end of the dark corridor—where he had just come from, a small, bright flashlight beam landed on him, causing him to sharply turn.
"Idiot. This time, I will crack your skull," said a deep voice, which Lenny recognized as that of the goon with the scar across his face, causing his skin to crawl and his hair to stand on end.
Without sparing a second thought, he dashed toward the end of the corridor, pivoted to his left, and ran up the stairs.
He didn't halt until he reached the fourth floor, where he hid in a restroom.
In the darkness, Lenny couldn't discern the restroom's condition, nor did he care. He quickly entered the last stall and squatted on the old, grimy, and partially broken toilet seat so that his legs couldn't be seen from the stall door opening beneath.
'...I have to calm down… I have to calm down…'
Covering his mouth with his hands, he attempted to control his labored breathing, all the while straining his ears for the sound of approaching footsteps.
He counted each second and did so for over a minute. Then, he began to analyze the situation, searching for a means of escape. Ideas raced through his head.
'Should… Should I call the cops…?' Lenny contemplated, but shook his head. '...I could be long dead before they get here. And… And I don't want to die!'
Scared for his dear life, he fell deeper into thought, '...Maybe, I can use all my viral points to upgrade my strength or agility, so I can maybe fight them off one by one or run away before they can catch me. But… one of them was holding a gun, oh God. What can I do against a gun? Even if I upgraded all my attributes to the max, I don't think I'll be able to ever outrun a bullet…'
At the realization, he held his head in despair. Still, he had to do something at least.
Carefully, he retrieved his phone from his pocket, but just then, the sound of footsteps approaching reached his ears.
…
On the east wing of the second floor, the dark-skinned goon nervously scoured the area with the beam of his phone's torch.
Seeing the discolored and peeling walls, broken medical equipment, and scattered furniture sprawled everywhere, he hissed with annoyance and frustration.
"Wh-Why did we even split up to find the bastard? I didn't sign up for this shit."
Cursing under his breath and shaking his head, he reached a room with a rusted cradle positioned in the center.
A cold chill ran up his spine and settled around his head. He gulped audibly.
"Hehehehe…"
Suddenly, an eerie, almost maniacal laughter filled the air, bouncing off the walls and numerous objects in the abandoned structure, and sounding as though it came from a distance, yet didn't.
"Who's there?!" The goon screamed, his face contorted with fear. He knew there shouldn't be anyone here at this time of night.
Frantically, he swept his torch around, searching the area.
"F-Fuck, I knew I should have stayed in the car…" he muttered to himself as he cautiously walked past the room and moved to the next one.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a figure!
Quickly, he pointed the light in that direction, but there was nothing there, just a crow perched on a broken windowsill.
He swallowed hard and turned back to face the corridor, advancing forward.
Abruptly stopping in his tracks, his phone flashlight shone on a shadowy, inhuman figure further down the corridor.
The figure slowly turned only its head at a 180-degree angle, like an owl, revealing a pitch-black wide-eyed creature with purple spiral irises. It wore a disturbingly elongated smile, literally stretching from one ear to the other, showcasing an unnaturally wide mouth and long white teeth.
…
[Rule #3: Pointer status is non-transferable and cannot be sold, exchanged, traded, shared, or undone.]
…
The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder as the person drew closer to the restroom where Lenny was hiding. Then, abruptly, the steps came to a halt.
Lenny's frantic eyes trailed down and widened in terror. The beam of a phone's flashlight was now directed at the restroom floor, revealing faint footprints leading up to the front of the stall he currently occupied.
'...Oh God, no…'
His heart raced as he tried to assess the situation. With the light from the unknown individual drawing nearer, he could see the immediate area around him.
He wasn't certain the goon had noticed the footprints yet. Desperation coursed through him as he searched his surroundings for anything that could be used as a weapon.
The building had clearly not been cleaned in years, and the tiled formerly pristine floor was covered in thick blackened wet soil and the walls were covered in dust.
Creeee~
A chilling creak filled the air as one of the stall doors was swung open.
Then, the light from the phone torch continued to advance methodically, accompanied by another ominous creak of the next stall door.
Lenny's thoughts raced in terror, 'Oh, fuck. I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead…'
The faint creaks of the restroom stall door hinges, along with the growing intensity of the light streaming in from beneath the stall he was in, signaled that the moment of reckoning was fast approaching.
As expected, much to Lenny's dread, the footsteps and light drew nearer and stopped in front of the stall right before the one he occupied.
His heart pounded violently in his chest. With the light shining brighter than ever and the big feet he could see from below the stall door, he knew the towering goon with the gruesome scar had finally caught him.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as panic surged through his veins.
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
Just then, a distinct shrill cry of a desperate man resounded throughout the abandoned structure.
Lenny could see the feet outside the stall door sharply pivot and hastily move away. It seemed that the towering goon believed he had been apprehended or that something had gone awry with one of his accomplices as they tried to deal with him. In either case, the goon seemed to believe that reinforcements were needed.
Hearing the sound of footsteps gradually fade, Lenny released a trembling sigh of relief.
'…I'll–I'll stay here till the sun rises,' he vowed to himself.
But then, an unexpected sound broke the fragile calm of the moment.
Ting~
Lenny's phone screen suddenly brightened, startling him. The message on the screen was clear and ominous:
[Task #1: Defeat Boss Falcone's three goons.]
Difficulty: Medium.
Reward: 15 VP.
Ending In: 59 mins 59 secs.