[ Step out of the mall ]
"The strange force field will not let me through."
[ It has been taken down, that was an attempt to get your attention ]
Without further questions, Arsenal headed in the same direction as the forcefield, but it was absent. So he continued until he was out of the mall into a deserted street.
"Okay?" He mumbled, scratching the back of his head and wondering where he was going to start searching.
"Why is the street so empty?" He pondered,
"Like there was an apocalypse and everyone fled!"
[ ! Ohana approaching ]
"What?" Before he could turn his head around, a young lady ran past him faster than he could stop her or even say hi.
Still in shock, he heard the voices of a few men from the corner where she had run from. Uncertain about their identities of intentions, Arsenal went back into the mall and just in time too.
Four men in what looked like military uniforms ran past the front of the mall, and it was obvious that they were after Ohana.
So without asking why, Arsenal stepped out, and began to follow them quietly from behind. Who knows how dangerous these men could be? Even their weapons look advanced.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Someone called Arsenal's attention from their window.
"Do you want to die? Or are you part of those trying to become agents?"
None of these made sense to Arsenal, but he replied,
"I'm headed home right now!"
"Whatever you say! It's you who will die !" The lady scoffed and slammed her window shut immediately.
"That's strange," He thought, was there a reason why she reacted that way?
"System, is there something going on today?"
[ There is a rule in Gnoman that restricts everyone from leaving their homes on the last day of the week. Unlike Earth, five days here make a week, so the people work for four days, and on the fifth day they all stay at home while the Agents collect taxes. Anyone found outside will be killed.]
"Ha!" Arsenal laughed, while still keeping up with those he was following.
"Why would they give you one day to rest at home and you insist on going out?"
[ Those who can take the risk will leave their houses to avoid paying taxes. An average man in Gnoman makes one thousand silver Gnoms a week, and has to pay seven hundred silver Gnoms as tax, leaving him with three hundred Gnoms, which is barely enough to feed himself for a week ]
"What the hell? Why?"
[ Eldrith has no reasons, he gives instructions and you follow it without question. ]
Arsenal raised a brow in confusion, he stood behind a building when it seemed that the agents had stopped moving.
"I think they caught her." He said
"Wait, one more question, if these policemen collect the taxes, don't they keep it for themselves? How are we even sure that Eldrith knows about this?"
[ Two things, firstly, these Agents must submit every single Gnom to the regional General, who will then submit it to someone in a higher position until they get to Eldrith, if a single Gnom is missing, the man who stole from it will die mysteriously so no one dares to take a single Gnom.]
"Ah!" Arsenal exclaimed in shock,
"What's the second thing?"
[ If Ohana dies, you will fail your first task, And I promise not to take it easy on your punishments. I can't let you make the same mistake that others made.]
"Oh, that!" Arsenal stole a glance at the scene from behind and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still alive.
The Agents have surrounded her from all angles, and from Arsenal's perspective, one of them seemed to be making advancements toward her in a way that looked inappropriate.
"So there are perverts everywhere," He uttered, and began to scroll through the system tab. He had never done this before, but how hard could it be?
He paused when he saw the option that allows him to upgrade his strength with points, so he asked
"How many Aether coins do you think will be enough, or too little… or even too much?"
[ That is something you will have to figure out]
"Ah!"
Arsenal's heart skipped a beat when he heard Ohana's scream, so he quickly closed his eyes and said,
"I'm a very terrible fighter, I don't even the strength for this, I want yo upgrade my strength for this on, make it like 15?"
[ Upgrading your strength to 15 will cost 50, current coin balance: 10]
"Uhh?" Arsenal scratched the back of his head, it appears that a single upgrade cost ten coins and he wasn't sure how well that would work for him.
"Make 11 then, what's the worse that could happen?"
[Upgrading your strength to 11 will cost 10 Aether Coins. Would you like to proceed with the purchase?]
"Yeah."
[ Purchase successful! Your strength has been upgraded to 11 for 10 minutes]
"Did it work?" Arsenal wondered, wondering why he never felt a tingling sensation at his fingertip, or a surge of electric current flow through his veins.
"Only one way to find out," He said to himself, while holding onto the fact that this was still a dream and he'd wake up soon.
He walked out of his hiding place and cleared his throat so loudly, just to declare his presence, and immediately, all eyes turned to face him, including Ohana whose eyes were covered in tears as she held onto a piece of rock, so close to her chest.
At first glance, Arsenal almost jumped out of his skin. From afar, these agents looked just like normal military men in uniform, but close up, they looked like beats out of a horrendous painting.
Their dark eyes without pupils, the scales on their exposed skin, every part of them made his skin crawl with irritation, but Ohana looked pretty normal.
"Leave the girl alone, and face me instead," He said, feeling like a savior out of the blues. It took a lot of courage to let those words out of his mouth, and yet they were lines that he picked up from a few superhero movies.
No one moved, even Ohana was staring at him like he had just made a fool of himself. He was unaware that an Agent was behind him, and they were all just waiting for him to drop dead.
[Warning !]
"Oh shit !"