Chereads / Assassin Simulator: I Deduced the Accidental Formula! / Chapter 19 - 18: Countdown to Death, Start Now

Chapter 19 - 18: Countdown to Death, Start Now

Two in the morning, late at night.

In the alley of a run-down garage.

I received a message on the dark web with a string of numbers, representing a logistics item.

"It's coming!"

"That kid really chose express delivery!"

"Let's go!"

The three of them followed the logistics location in their car. To avoid the courier being intercepted, they kept close to the delivery vehicle the entire time.

...

Two days later.

At dusk once again, a figure stood waiting at the bus stop.

Arthur smiled slightly, holding a large stack of McDonald's flyers, pretending to distribute coupons, handing them out to anyone who passed by.

"Hello, McDonald's discount—30% off for today's member day!"

He glanced at his watch subconsciously, the corners of his mouth rising slightly as he murmured under his breath, "It's almost time!"

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The second hand of the watch ticked away.

He looked up and saw the 563 bus in the distance. This bus passed by the elementary school, so it was always crowded during school hours.

Seven or eight third-year students in school uniforms got off at this station, which was part of a transfer stop.

Arthur's eyes immediately locked onto four little kids.

If he didn't intercept and guide them here, those brats would run over to the construction site and jump into the sandpit, which would completely ruin his entire plan.

At that moment, Arthur deliberately walked over to the group of elementary school students, smiling as he said, "McDonald's is having an event today!"

"Big brother has a lottery in his hand!"

"Do you kids want to participate?"

"I have five tickets. Three say 'thank you for your patronage,' one is a half-price family bucket ticket, and the last one is a free family bucket!"

"As long as you cooperate and scan the code to become a store member, you can enter the lottery!"

One of the chubby boys jumped up excitedly, "Yes, yes!"

"Can we each draw one?"

Arthur couldn't help but laugh. This little guy was greedy—there were four of them, but only five tickets, so he wanted to get all the prizes!

Although the coupons were free to give away, he couldn't just hand them out too easily.

He shook his head and said, "No, only one person can draw!"

The students huddled together and eventually chose the boy with glasses to draw. Their reasoning? He had the best luck—just last week, he opened a box and got a rare item in a game!

"Alright, this one!" The little boy with glasses nervously pulled out a ticket.

The next second, the group of students erupted in cheers!

"Yes!"

"Bingo!"

"Awesome, man!"

"Fourth, your luck is on fire!"

"It's really a free family bucket!"

Arthur smiled and nodded, "Congratulations! The free coupon is only valid today. Our store is just over there."

He pointed toward the city in the distance, where there was indeed a McDonald's a few hundred meters away.

Sure enough, the students couldn't contain their excitement and ran off with the boy in glasses leading the way.

"Let's go eat at KFC!"

"Idiot, it's McDonald's!"

"Hahaha, you fool!"

Watching the group of students leave, Arthur shook his head with a slight smile, then glanced down at the remaining coupons in his hand, quietly hiding his success and fame.

In fact, all five cards were free coupons, and the students would win no matter which one they drew.

The entire rhythm was under his control!

Arthur glanced at the time again and joked to himself: "Three hours and six minutes left!"

With that, he walked toward the tallest building in the distance, where he could use a telescope to watch everything happening at the construction site.

...

One hour.

Two hours.

As night fully descended, it reached 8:30 PM.

Arthur arrived at the highest point on the top floor of the building. Wearing a trench coat to fend off the cold, he used infrared binoculars to occasionally glance at the abandoned factory over a thousand meters away.

His gaze deepened, and in a low voice, he muttered: "One hour and five minutes to go!"

"By now, the express delivery should have arrived!"

He opened the mobile app and entered the logistics number for the delivery.

[The delivery has been signed; recipient: security office of the community (contact me by phone)]

A light breeze slowly blew.

He took a deep breath and recalled all the steps of his plan, visualizing the scenes from the earlier deduction.

With a snap, he silently lit a cigarette and began to smoke.

Whoosh—

The process of waiting is always lonely.

Arthur felt like a predator lurking in the dark, quietly waiting for its prey to appear so he could strike the fatal blow.

Tick.

Tick.

Time passed in silence.

As the clock neared ten o'clock, the number of pedestrians on the street gradually thinned, and even fewer vehicles passed by.

"3 minutes and 20 seconds left!"

Arthur took a deep breath and glanced at his watch, his emotions becoming more intense as he looked toward the abandoned factory.

"2 minutes!"

"59 seconds!"

"31 seconds!"

As time inched closer, his eyes were fixed on the corner of the intersection, every critical moment locked in his mind.

If anything went wrong, he could lose everything!

The cigarette in his hand grew shorter, until only a smoldering butt remained, the smoke stinging his eyes.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

At the very last second of the countdown, a spark of anticipation lit up in Arthur's eyes. The corners of his mouth curled slightly as he whispered, "Here we go!"

Then, right on cue, a black pickup truck appeared around the corner, its low beams illuminating the road ahead.

Approaching from a familiar angle, the same model, and following the exact route—though it was more than a thousand meters away, Arthur could accurately determine that this was the vehicle he'd been waiting for.

Excitement surged through him. He crushed the cigarette butt beneath his foot and smiled: "The target is in sight!"

"The countdown to death starts now..."