Chapter 8: GETTING UP AGAIN.

Umm.. Ethan?..

Hey.. Ethan..

Come on, wake up man…

Ethan??

ETHAN!!..

You think all the blood loss has finally gotten to you cause you keep hearing someone calling out your name.

You can feel the pain running through your very bones and the choir of church bells stabbing at your brain. [Deep breath Ethan, we're all gonna get through this... somehow.]

You frown, why?,cause that wasn't your inner monologue.. no, it sounds familiar though. Opening your eyes you look around at the white ceiling, the hospital machines beeping all around you.

If you aren't going crazy right now, then you're probably in a hospital right now…. But you can help but think instead that you are going crazy cause you're having a staring contest with a half transparent man sitting on a sofa right next to your bed.

(Took you long enough Grim Reaper,.. and stop giving me the stink eye)

Yep, I'm going really crazy right now…

Before you can even utter a word, the man right next to you gives you a warm smile [I'm not a ghost or anything like that if that's what you're thinking]

"Huh??" you were this close to going off into the afterlife just now.

[Relax, I'm talking in a way that only you can hear me]

You nod in understanding…

"So what are you then?" You cautiously ask.

[I'm your guide in the flesh… well, mostly in the flesh. The next few times you see me will probably be like this.] Hercules raises his head in pride.

'I thought that was all a dream, or maybe an illusion due to the blood loss…'

"Okay… but why are you here right now?"

[Are you kidding? My pilot almost lost his life a few moments after he signed a contract with me, luckily I had a lifesaver potion with me back there, whew~ dodged that bullet]

"Thanks for that by the way" you mutter.

[No problem, it's part of my job as a guide.. also, I've been reading a lot of manuals lately about how to guide a pilot and the likes and I've gotten to learn a lot of new things to help guide you to the top so, first up some daily quest]

DAILY QUESTS

[RUN 110KM daily] Starter's discount

KM RAN→0/110

[75 PUSH UPS daily] Starter's discount

PUSH UPS DONE→0/75

[75 SIT UPS daily] Starter's discount

SIT UPS DONE→0/75

REWARD: Low grade vitality potion

SPECIAL OFFERS

[SPEED TEST: REACH 10.34 SECS IN 100M RUN]

REWARD: Low grade Speed potion

[STAMINA TEST: RUN 150 KM IN ONE RUN]

REWARD: 2 low grade Stamina potion ]

Timer: 15 days

PUNISHMENTS

[FAILURE TO COMPLETE DAILY QUESTS→ SPINNING PUNISHMENT WHEEL]

MONTHLY QUEST

[REACH A HIGH LEVEL OF BALL CONTROL]

CURRENT LEVEL: 22%

MISSION LEVEL:45%

REWARD: Basic gift box]

Timer : 30 days

(Yeah, you were definitely reading a manual and not some shitty random webnovels.)

[It looks like we've got a long way to go before reaching our mark, but luckily we have a few more years before you get to play professionally so we'll put in as much as we can now] you nod.

[You might not understand it at first but you'll get used to it in a few weeks, after all that is how all those protagon-... I mean professional players normally learn stuff. Remember to always do the daily quests, trust me you don't want to know what's on the punishment wheel.] He stands and stretches.

"Wait, how am I going to do all this..my leg is as broken as my sister's Christmas present" (btw it's a Barbie doll)

[Oh is it? I'll have you know that it's not, after all my lifesaver potion isn't just a random potion you take from the God mall it's one of a kind] Hercules says, pride practically oozing from his voice.

You're starting to think your guide is narcissistic...

[Oh and before I leave just a point of advice, you need to get out of this place as soon as you can. I can definitely bet that the mayor would send someone to finish you off] as he says that his face turns serious.

[I won't be able to help you since I am a guide not a helper. Anyway I'll leave you to it, I still got a lot of paperwork to catch up on, see you on the flip side] he waves his hand and disappears in a flash of light.

"Wait.." you shout.. but he's already gone.

You observe the screen right in front of your eyes for a few more seconds before closing it.

The door pushes open and soon enough a doctor walks in, he looks at you but looks away shortly after when he sees your eyes still closed.

He checks you up for a few minutes before walking out.

"The patient is not awake at the moment, wait a while for his condition to stabilise before you can question him" the doctor says.

"Why don't you come back in a week, after the kind of accident that took place he would need to be here for at least a week"

"Fuck, another week… I have to be at the trails in a half a month, I have to get the fuck outta here" you grimace at the thought.

"Are you sure we can't talk to him, we just want to ask a few questions an-"a policeman says but is cut by his partner.

"Alright we'll take our leave then, make sure he's awake the next time we drop by. This is a very important piece of evidence for the investigation" the two police men walked out but not before one of them gave the nurse a nod.

The nurse—a fair skinned blonde with green eyes—smiled to herself, she walked towards your ward calmly and with even steps so as to not arouse any suspicions.

As she reached the door of your ward room a doctor suddenly called out to her from the opposite room

"Nurse!! quickly notify the head nurse to rush the patient in ward 456 to the ICU!"

"Bu-but.." the blonde haired assassin stared at the doctor incredulously

'How was this possible, I thought it only happened in movies'

"What are you standing there for!!"

Being the professional assassin she was, she quickly calmed down and said

"But I have to attend to the patient in ward 455, h-"

"I don't care what you were doing before, rush to the head nurse and tell her we have a code blue" the doctor's voice sounded urgent and she could hear the pains of the patient within the ward.

'Fuck, why do I have to be so unlucky…'

...

A calm and silent feel enveloped ward room 455, moonlight filtered in through the windows, shining down on the ward room giving it an eerie, peaceful vibe.

The gorgeous assassin nurse walked into the room dishevelled, her originally well tied bun was now loose and her beauty had diminished a bit, she heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off her head

She had to take part in the operation after calling the head nurse and was almost caught out. After that she had to deliver the patient's document to the doctor and had been going back and forth between giving the patient drips, medications and the likes. Honestly if it was up to her she would have killed the patient long ago instead of wasting her time.

She shook her head to get rid of the thought, if she does her job well she'll get paid. Maybe this time enough to get her crippled brother a surgery with a decent doctor.

(Maybe doctor Hercules can help, I hear he majors on broken femurs, tibia and fibulas)

With that in mind she opened the door and slowly walked in on a sleeping Ethan still on the bed with the blanket covering his whole body.

She brings out a pocket knife out of her.. well, pocket, and raises it high into the evening gleam.

A glint of light passes through her eyes...

"Sorry kid but I have to do th…" she stabs the knife, sinking it into the warmth of the bed,

*Stab*

*Stab*

*Stab*

The blonde haired beauty stabbed at Ethan's mattress repeatedly, somehow it felt too soft to be someone's skin and he felt too——unresponsive. Taken over by her curiosity she pulls the blanket away, but upon looking under it she freezes, why? Because you're long gone…