Accepting A Mission

Wade opened his eyes to a dark place. His eyes quickly adjusted and what he saw surprised him. A city in black and white slowly appearing in his view. Wade started to walk around in the city and he noticed he had his katana along his back and his knives on his waist.

Wade felt safer this way and kept walking through the city until he saw something that made him cringe in disgust. A man had his back toward him and he slowly turned around. A black fire engulfed the man before Wade could see his features.

However, Wade did see something before the man was burnt to ashes. His unusual eyes. Red and silver. Just like his.

*************************

Wade woke up in a sweat and noticed that it was extremely early in the morning. The only thing he remembered about his nightmare was the man's eyes as they burned in the black fire.

Wade didn't know what they symbolized so he shoved the thought out of his mind and walked outside to look at the sunrise. It was Monday and Wade was looking forward to his day.

Wade suddenly received a phone call that jolted him out of his trance at looking at the beautiful city landscape.

"Hello? Wade Raze here."

"Oh, it's your high school friend Hal. I'd like to invite you to our high school reunion. It's next week on Monday. You coming?"

Wade didn't know what to say as he thought about coming to this high school reunion.

"Where is it."

"Oh, you know that hotel next to our school? We booked a room there and everyone from our class is going. You're the last one. So, you coming?"

"Sure, I'll come."

Wade decided to come because he owed a favor to Hal for helping him in school a while ago and since this was Hal's request, he agreed.

Wade wore a bandana and some gloves to hide his identity as he walked to the news center to pick up his reward. Wade wasn't sure that the news channel would recognize him so he wore the same bandana he was wearing when he knocked Johnny Hect out.

As Wade walked into the news station's headquarters, the receptionist looked up from her desk.

Wade walked up and asked the receptionist.

"I'm the one that knocked out Johnny Hect. Can I claim my reward now?"

"We need to verify if you're the real one. We have three umbrellas here that all look similar to one another. If you're the one who knocked out Johnny Hect then you would know which one is real and be able to throw it at the target similar to how you threw it at Johnny."

"Very well, I will comply with your test."

Wade knew this was a very easy test as he just had to pick out the correct umbrella and throw it with the same strength he did last time.

The 1st umbrella was too light, the second being too heavy, and the third had a familiar feel.

However, the third had a slightly different appearance than what it looked like last time when he threw it.

Wade didn't care and grabbed it. He then threw it at the target which was in the shape of a man similar to the size of Johnny when he was in the shop that day. The umbrella accurately struck the center of the target's head.

"Well, it seems that you're the real one."

"There's been other people trying?"

"Yep."

The receptionist confirmed what he had been thinking all along.

"Who wouldn't try to get a few hundred dollars by pretending that they knocked out an ex-criminal."

"Makes sense I guess."

The receptionist motioned for Wade to follow her as she opened a door in the hallway they were walking through.

As Wade and the receptionist walked in, they were greeted by a handsome man in a suit.

"So Mr. Hero. How are you doing today?"

The man asked as he opened a drawer with an envelope inside.

"Good. You?"

Wade found a chair and sat down. He fiddled with his fingers as the man replied

"I'm fine. Anyway, before I give you the money you deserve, I merely have a question. What's your life goal."

When Wade didn't answer, the man coughed and rephrased his question.

"What I mean is, what do you yearn for in your life?"

Wade tapped his fingers against the handles of the seat as he thought about the question the man asked.

"What I want huh? I yearn for, for. Nothing."

Wade truly wanted power. The power to bring back his dead family. The power to get his revenge on the one he couldn't reach.

He had thrown away everything he could've earned for a chance at that revenge but in the end... He failed. He failed to kill the one who ruined him.

"I see. Are you willing to work for us as one of our bodyguards? You have talent in the profession. You'd be a great well-hidden bodyguard."

"I will take the job on three conditions."

"What's that."

"First of all, I will be a bodyguard only during the day. Second, I choose where I'm defending the client and who I'm defending. Finally, the pay must at least be 100,000 USD a month. My services are high but they are certainly worth it."

"I will accept these conditions if you can prove to me how good of a bodyguard you are."

The man then grabbed a cane leaning on his desk and swung it towards Wade.

Wade was surprised and leaned back as the cane flew over him. He could see a sharp tip from the bottom of the cane and when the cane passed over him fully, Wade took out a knife, he had been hiding behind his back, and tackled the man.

When Wade tackled the man, he head locked him in mid-air before they touched the ground. When they slammed into the ground, Wade knocked the man's cane away before taking his combat knife and placing it at the man's throat. The man tried to push the knife away but Wade kept it there before throwing the man off and getting back on his feet.

"Well, it seems you're qualified."

The man coughed as he staggered before waving someone into the room.

An old man walked in then asked Wade a question.

"Have you heard of the saying, si vis pacem, para bellum?"

"Of course, it means "If you want peace, prepare for war." (hidden meaning to why the man asked the question, you'll see in the next chapter :D)

"Good, good. My bodyguard knows his stuff."

The old man laughed before nodding to the man on the floor that he wanted Wade as his bodyguard.

The old man picked up an envelope on the ground and handed it to Wade after patting some dust off it.

"My number's in here as well. Meet here tomorrow. Wear a suit as well will ya?"

"Alright, thanks"

Wade thanked the old man before leaving with a smile. Today, he had gotten a nice job as well as some money to last him a few days.

***********************

The afternoon, the same day

Wade decided to enter the game as he had once again finished everything he needed to do and he still had a lot of grinding to do in-game.

There was a new notice from the game creators as Wade joined in.

[When the first 10 people reach level 15. The Leaderboard feature will be unlocked.]

The only thing Wade needed was armor and maybe some potions. Potions were one-use items that could boost your stats or give you a unique effect for a temporary amount of time.

Wade currently had no potions as they were quite expensive and he didn't need them to survive or deal loads of extra damage.

However, it was good to just have some for insurance. Wade went to the potion store again and this time instead of buying potions, he walked over to the book part of the store where they showed various herbs needed for potions as well as the brewing process and success rates.

Wade took a book called [Brewing Basic Potions] off the shelf and started reading while his [Beginner Alchemist] sub-class started leveling up.

[Brewing Basic Potions studied]

[+1 Alchemist Experience]

[+1 Alchemist Experience]

[+1 Alchemist Experience]

[+1 Alchemist Experience]

[+1 Alchemist Experience]

***********************

After he finished the short book, Wade checked his [Alchemist Experience] level.

[Alchemist Experience = 300/100]

[Beginner Alchemist profession upgraded to Intermediate Alchemist]

[Alchemist Experience = 200/1000]

Wade wanted to create [Uncommon] level potions as they were one higher tier than the ones they sold at this beginner village.

He pulled out more basic tier books about brewing and the herbs needed and as he read it all, night fell.

Just as Wade finished his last book, a man walked up to him.

"Sir, we are about to close the store, I'd like you to leave."

"Sorry, I'll leave now."

Wade was surprised that it was the end of the day as he had only read about 10 books.

He checked his experience bar.

[Alchemist Experience = 2000/1000]

[Intermediate Alchemist profession upgraded to Master Alchemist]

[Alchemist Experience = 1000/10000]

Wade didn't even want to gain experience. He merely wanted to know what kind of herbs he needed to make potions and the process it required.

It seemed that his [Instant Learning] ability made it 10 times easier for him to learn various sub-class skills than his peers.

Wade then went to the inn and rested before waking up in the real world again.

*******************

Wade walked up to the mirror and brushed his teeth as his long hair slid over his eyes. After brushing his teeth, Wade took a shower and his long hair slid down to the back of his neck. He then dressed in a suit and slid a brown bandana on his face before leaving to the news station's headquarters once more.

As Wade arrived at the building, the receptionist beckoned him into the same hallway as before opening the door for him to go through again. Wade walked in to notice the old man talking to the handsome man in the suit that Wade fought before and a blonde woman that Wade recognized from the square where he bought the VR necklace.

The blonde woman looked at him before shaking her head and looking at the floor once again.

"Well hello, there our unknown bodyguard. I can tell you right now that this old man and his daughter are going to be your clients for today. Also, since I didn't have time to introduce myself and the others yesterday, I'll tell you right now. My name's Brad an-".

"No, Brad. I'll tell him my name and my daughter's as well. My name is Nicolas King but you can refer to me as Mr. King. My daughter's name is Samantha and you can just call her Ms. King. Now then the details of our operation start here."

The old man then pulled out a map of the city as he laid it flat on the table. Wade walked over to take a look and he saw many lines that all led to one point. The stage.

"It seems that these lines represent visual points that you can be sniped from. I assume that you're quite a popular person and that you're afraid of death?"

"I am not afraid of death but my daughter's happiness. If I were to die, what would happen to my daughter. She can't take care of herself."

"Hey, I'm a better businessman than you, Dad. Why are you saying I can't take care of myself."

Samantha replied as if she could do things better than Mr. King but Wade thought that she said that because she still didn't know the dangers of business.

"You don't understand the dark world, Samantha. Why do you think we have bodyguards? To protect us? Or just to scare off those potential maulers in the streets."

"Uhhhh."

"Exactly."

Mr. King proved his point as Samantha couldn't even come up with a comeback.

"Now back to the plan here. As my bodyguard, you will help me see if any people who are occupying these spots are a danger and whether any people in the crowd look suspicious. If you find any, report to this transceiver, and my other bodyguards will sort them out immediately."

Mr. King handed Wade a transceiver and Wade placed it in his pocket.

"We will be setting out this afternoon at 2:00. Be prepared. If your services satisfy then let me just say. You'll get a promotion."

Mr. King laughed before walking out of the room with Samantha in tow. Brad was left with Wade and they both glanced at each other before walking out. When Brad passed Wade he whispered

"Don't mess up this operation. It would be bad for our bodyguard services. We requested Mr. King to talk about the things he knows in public so we can expose a few people here and there. If you succeed in protecting Mr. King, we will reward you handsomely. Take this money to prepare and also as your early payment."

Brad handed Wade binoculars and a stack of cash that Wade knew what he wanted to buy with it.

"Thanks."

Wade walked out with the cash in his pocket and the binoculars in his hands.

Surprisingly when he walked home, he didn't meet anybody who wanted to steal the money in his pocket. It was quite uneventful for a walk home.

*************

An hour later

Wade walked to one of his gang's black markets. This black market was hidden underground beneath this unassuming shop. A man smoking near the door tried to stop him but Wade flashed an unassuming token at the man and he backed off. This token was proof that Wade was part of the Searing Snake gang. It had two snakes in a yin-yang fashion with one snake biting the other's tails.

Wade flashed the same token at the cashier and he nodded before pressing a button on the bottom of his register.

Wade walked to the back of the store and a secret door opened underneath one of the crates. Wade closed the door above him before climbing down the ladder to a tunnel.

This tunnel had many stalls lined up on the sides of it with many people sitting in chairs with various weapons and goods on their tables. Wade recognized one of the dealers and walked up to him.

"Who're you?"

"The Shadow."

"Back from the calm world huh? What do you need? I got everything here."

Wade's code name in the Searing Snake gang was Shadow and this man was his dealer. The dealer waved his hands at all the weapons on his stalls with sniper rifles, sub-machine guns, and assault rifles making up the most of it with a few knives here and there on the sides.

"Any new bullets or suppressors?"

"I'll give you the best, after all, you were my best client, breaking all your tools after a mission."

Wade usually broke tools after a mission to simulate to the target's companions that it was a close fight and that Wade was probably not involved with it due to his extremely high success rate.

"Don't mention it."

"Anyway, I got a new bullet. One of our clients made it and it's tested. It combined with this new suppressor can make your bullet almost untraceable. The suppressor is slightly better than the one at the top of the market right now. It can fully hide muzzle flash as well as reducing the speed so that the bullet doesn't reach sonic levels. You may think that this is bad but the bullets that come along with it make it a formidable weapon. The bullets have a rocket in them that allows them to increase their speed at the end of their flight increasing their range and power by a considerable amount. The rocket will activate the second the speed of the bullet starts slowing down, increasing its speed to a maximum of hypersonic speed and a minimum of subsonic speed depending on which rocket is used. Of course, these bullets are expensive but-"

"I'll take 1 bullet that increases the speed to subsonic. I'll come back if I need more."

"20 bucks a pop for a subsonic rocket bullet."

"Here. Give me the old build."

"Which one, the power or silence."

"Power."

Wade received a futuristic-looking sniper rifle with a black suppressor on it. Beside it was 50 bullets with one bullet with a red mark on it. One could guess what the one bullet was. The new rocket bullet. Ever since 2021, when a new gun was released, no one calculated how much power a shot could do. The gun's power was almost 2x higher compared to other guns. It could even pierce through many layers of steel plates provided you used the right bullets and modifications.

Wade had created this gun and it was a one of a kind. He had given it to his dealer for safekeeping and he had modified it so it did 3x the damage that the best sniper rifle could do.

Wade had integrated solar energy absorption into this gun and it could fire its own energy bullets but using traditional bullets could increase the damage it could do. Wade didn't use solar panels to absorb energy but used plasma instead.

It was not the plasma that was in your blood. (Also the many theories that I am suggesting here are all fiction so do not take them seriously :D) Plasma would mainly absorb the energy of the sun but would also absorb minor amounts of other energy. These minor amounts would add up to be half the amount the gun would regenerate with the other half being solar energy.

Whenever Wade shot out a bullet made of plasma energy it would be a gray color just like any other bullet. One could not tell that it was plasma until it hit their bodies. The plasma would burn a small hole into the person and spread out throughout their body eventually burning the body apart. Sometimes, the energy wouldn't take over the body and the body would instead absorb the energy but this reacted in again, the small hole, and if that didn't kill them their bodies would explode due to the overloading of energy from the plasma.

Wade took his custom sniper rifle and the bullets and placed them in a case before slinging it on his back and walking home.