Targeted

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/A few minutes later in the middle of the streets…/

"It's cold… And it seems it's going to rain." Dale said as he looked at the sky

'Besides this, it's almost time for me to log back in, I need to go back quickly…'

"Haa..."

Dale took a quick breath and exhaled, making a faint mist in the air.

Once he saw that, he realized just how cold it actually was, but for him, it felt comfortable, the cold didn't pinch his skin like before…

The more he thought about it, the more he thought about his current body, and how much of a 'monster' he had become.

Don't misunderstand, Dale isn't in the middle of a life crisis, he likes his body very much, what is simply going through his mind are the consequences and the repercussions of it…

What did it mean for him to be this strong, and what did it mean for the rest of the world as well?

The mystery that he once thought to be connected solely to him, a green box on his field of vision, and a game company, have now started to spread outside…

Or perhaps it always was, and Dale simply refused to believe it, after all, it can be too much to take in at once, even when he had a whole year to think it through…

For all that's considered, he may have thrown it to the back of his mind, forgetting to consider outside factors, such as Azimuth's game company's role in all of this.

In the end, what was his role in all of this?

…

/10 minutes later.../

"Come back again!" The clerk of the convenience store said as he left through the front door

"Mission complete, good job me, Soap would be proud…" Dale said as he looked at his bags

'Drinks… Bacon… I got everything.'

'Time to go, I should at most have 20 more minutes until the time limit I set for myself…'

He looked around, realizing there were very few people walking around.

"Is it because of the cold?... The weather is indeed a bit bad..."

'In the past, mother always told me to be wary of my surroundings when walking at night…'

'But compared to that damn forest, this looks more like a playground…'

He shook his head with a small smile.

'Look at me, I'm getting arrogant.'

'Just because my body is like this, I can't look down on people.'

'I never tried to see how resistant I really am, and I don't really want to find out with a 9mm pointed at my head, nor do I want to try being stabbed.'

He then cringed slightly.

"It got oddly dark rather quickly…"

...

After taking one more glance around, he left towards his home, it was just 6-7 minutes walking, being 2 blocks away…

But mid-way through, Dale thought with a sharp gaze:

'Someone's stalking me… And it doesn't seem to be an ordinary thug.'

But why was Dale so sure?

First, the strange feeling on the back of his head, he had felt the same thing when he was in the forest...

That was his instinct, telling him something was wrong.

And to confirm that, the faint and far noises of someone walking coming from the alleyways never once disappeared.

The same noises, with the same intensity and frequency… It was coming from the same person, someone who was doing his best to stay hidden...

Of course, this could just be a coincidence, perhaps, there was someone else being observed and he just had to be there as a coincidence…

But Dale learned always to assume the worst…

By making a quick estimation, he assumed his pursuer to be using the series of low houses on his right to move around while keeping a close look at him.

He looked sideways towards the ceiling of one of the houses, it was only for a moment, but he saw a dark figure jumping into an alley.

'No one can move up and down from the ceiling of these houses silently even if they were parkour masters, much less without getting hurt... Unless they use an Exoskeleton.'

'But those are military products, there are some used by Civil engineers but they can't do that, so why would someone with access to such a thing go after me?'

Even though he knew he was being stalked, Dale didn't react in any strange way, instead, he acted as per normal, gazing around the place before crossing the road, yawning, and just being normal…

"..."

'After this street, I'll be at my street block, and before arriving at my house, there are at least 2 more alleys he could use to hide…'

'After that, he'll be unable to stalk me, since he'll be met with a tall apartment blocking his way unless he can pass through walls that is.'

"..."

'Since that's the case, why not say hi?'

Dale maintained his expression, but inside, he was smiling.

He wasn't being rash, but instead, he was trying to figure out what was happening as soon as possible.

Instead of leaving behind an unknown variable observing him and potentially his family from afar, he preferred to take action and see if he could neutralize it.

Otherwise, how was he supposed to enter his pod safely, or be calm when his brother leaves for school and his parents for work?

He had to determine his intentions right here, right now.

It was dangerous, but so was returning to his home thinking nothing happened at all…

There was a higher chance of nothing happening if he simply ignored the man or woman, but what about in the future? Would this person or whoever's behind him/her remain silent for long?

…

"..."

/Step step step…/

'He's there… Heh, good, approach me as much as you like…'

But Dale noticed a problem.

'Wait a moment… That's too close for someone who's just stalking me… Ahhh, I see.'

He smiled.

Right next to the alley was a black van, it seemed inconspicuous with the many other cars parked on the 2 sides of the street, but Dale could hear it, the faint whispers coming from within the car, the smell of recently burned fuel…

There were people inside, waiting.

'They're trying to kidnap me… Well then, it looks like I have no choice but to act.'

He started looking around, trying to figure out his environment, but some things couldn't help but pass through his mind:

'What about my parents? What are their goals? Why are they after me? Because of my current fame in the game? Or due to something else?'

Dale never hid his face, nor his name inside the game, due to this, as long as someone knew him, it wouldn't be hard to pinpoint his location.

Of course, it's not simple to recognize someone through the screen unless it's blatantly obvious, but he knew that the many videos and images about him floating on the web were more than enough for that.

He was even waiting for the day his brother would come and ask him about it, his friend, Ermin was the first to realize that, calling him not so long ago.

And soon enough, some of his other friends will call and ask what was going on…

His identity can't be kept forever, nor was that his goal in the first place.

Still, that did not explain these people, they were clearly trained, having the tools, the means, and the time, all planned out.

After all, they had to move in a hurry, from the moment he left his house to now, less than 15 minutes had passed.

In Dale's hypothetical scenario, they were informed of his movements and moved here to lay their ambush, all in less than 15 minutes considering the smell of gasoline in the air.

This meant they have been observing him for a while now, something that made Dale pissed, because until not so long ago, he didn't feel anything at all.

1 step, 2 steps… 5 steps…

'I need a weapon… That will do.' Dale thought to himself

The 7th step… He felt it, now was the time, his lucky strike.

Dale dropped his bag to the ground, and before it even fell on the ground, Dale rushed forward with everything he had!

…

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Notes