Sky Valley Mountain.
The entire city had sunk into a deep, late-night silence.
In a five-star luxury hotel, the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows offered a stunning view of the scenic Mountain.
Click.
A cigarette was quietly lit, its smoke curling lazily into the night.
Standing by the window was a man with a rugged beard. Marcus Young stared out into the night, his eyes deep with thought. His laptop sat nearby, the screen buzzing with activity from a forum filled with chatter.
But of course, Marcus wasn't contributing to the discussion.
Most of the people in those forums were amateurs.
Real assassins rarely participated. They preferred to lurk in the background, hiding in plain sight. Less talking, more thinking. More waiting.
Marcus was twenty-nine, but his appearance complete with a full beard and a slicked-back hairstyle made him seem like a seasoned businessman in his thirties.
He traveled the world with a simple black suitcase, always carrying an assortment of business cards to mask his true identity.
Lawyer.
Financial consultant.
Hotel manager.
Headhunter.
Each one was a different story, a different cover.
But in reality, Marcus was a highly skilled assassin. In the four years since he started, the bounties on his targets had grown from an initial $150,000 to well over $2 million.
And he'd just completed a job worth two million dollars.
It involved taking out a high-ranking executive at an exclusive nightclub, allowing his client to rake in enormous profits from various business ventures.
Multi-million-dollar deals, stock market swings, the rise and fall of companies... all of it tied to that one hit.
But none of that mattered to Marcus.
The only thing that concerned him was that the man's head was worth two million dollars, and that money was now safely in his "Dark Net" account.
Marcus stretched, chuckling softly to himself. "It's been a while since I've been back home."
"I could use a good vacation."
He lay down on the bed, grabbed his laptop, and swiped across the screen. As a professional, he never let his guard down, even on vacation.
For Marcus, a vacation was just an excuse to catch up with old friends.
A good dinner, some casual conversation.
But the work never stopped. So, he decided to look for a job on the "Dark Net" that aligned with his plans, something in his hometown, a task that wouldn't be too difficult.
At his level, though, anything offering less than a million dollars wasn't worth his time.
After narrowing down his options by location, a particular bounty caught his eye.
---
[TOP4121: $1 million bounty, no deadline, target: casino owner]
[Mission: The target is the owner of three private illegal casinos. He uses rigged games and predatory lending practices to trap gamblers in debt, leading them to ruin—suicides, prison sentences, even dismemberment. This has happened repeatedly.]
[Task reminder: The target is often accompanied by two bodyguards and regularly visits his casinos every Saturday and Sunday for entertainment.]
[Hint: Further details are available after accepting the mission.]
---
Marcus's brow furrowed slightly. The reason he became an assassin was deeply personal. His father had died in a car accident, driven to desperation by an enormous gambling debt.
Marcus was only sixteen at the time, having already dropped out of school to seek vengeance for his father.
He learned to fight, studied martial arts, and even trained in the deadly art of killing.
At 24, after six months of meticulous planning, Marcus finally tracked down and eliminated the man responsible for his father's debt, a notorious casino owner.
The execution was flawless. He made sure the man died by his hand, and thanks to his careful strategy, Marcus successfully avoided the authorities.
Since that day, his life had taken an irreversible turn. And now, years later, Marcus never imagined he'd come across another casino owner like that in the "Dark Net."
There was a hint of indifference in Marcus Young's eyes. For him, taking on a job with a high reward was already routine.
But he still chose the task that only offered one million dollars.
Not for the money.
It was because he despised casino owners like this one, who ruined countless lives and destroyed families. These men were nothing but scum.
On the other side of the city.
Interestingly enough, Arthur was also looking for his next bounty while sitting in his rundown, shabby apartment.
"Ah, found it!"
"This is it, a million!"
He confirmed it without hesitation.
---
[Alert: You are intercepting an assassination mission with a reward of 1 million dollars. This mission is high-risk, proceed with caution!]
[Confirm acceptance!]
[Congratulations, you have accepted a new mission. You can now view the details in your control panel!]
---
The world would never guess that the mysterious assassin, known as the "car accident maker" on the online forums, didn't care at all about the analysis and discussions floating around.
In fact, Arthur was already preparing for his next target.
Arthur was still relatively short on cash, since he hadn't yet cleared more than 200k dollars in his account.
Joking to himself, he murmured, "Hopefully no one's going to come after me this time, right?"
"But if, after I complete the task, someone still tries to come for the 10 million-dollar bounty on me, I won't mind sending another one straight to hell!"
Many people are indeed greedy for money, and under the temptation of the 10-million-dollar bounty, some even spend huge amounts on the dark web to buy information about him!
But the dark web is no fool!
They know that as the difficulty of completing a task increases, the cost of purchasing intel on him must also rise.
Which means...
If someone tries to intercept his express logistics information next time, they'll probably need to shell out millions.
And take the risk of failing the mission!
Arthur shrugged with a smile: "It doesn't matter, I'll deal with anyone who comes my way!"
He clicked his mouse and opened up the detailed information about the mission he had just accepted...
---
[Target: Johnny Wilson]
[Target description: Owner of an illegal casino with several underground gambling establishments. He lends money at predatory interest rates, encourages the public to gamble, cheats his clients out of money, and uses threats and violence to collect debts.
More than ten families have been destroyed because of this man.]
[Message from the buyer: My son was lured into gambling at his casino.
He ended up owing more than six million dollars and had his leg broken.
This guy even threatened me, saying that if I went to the police, he'd kill my son.
I mortgaged my company to save him, but in the end, he took the money and still didn't return my son.
Now, I've got nothing left—just my house.
I sold the house and scraped together a million dollars. I hope someone will make this bastard pay the price!]
[Personal information: photo]
[Age: 39]
[Frequent locations: Westgate Commercial Street, Goldleaf Spa, WG Bar...]
---
After reading the description, Arthur took a sip of tea and grinned: "Oh, looks like he's really a bad guy."
"Alright, if God won't take him, I will!"