Going for Gold or Going for Blood?
Alex keeps moving forward. As he is about to enter the hospital, he spots multiple people carrying medical equipment out of it. It looks like some employees are using this opportunity to haul away anything of value, huge stacks of drugs (medicine), and expensive medical gear.
Alex smiles at this unexpected jackpot. "The system mentioned the value of items. Who cares if it's medicine, medical equipment, or pure gold? It shouldn't matter, should it?"
As he approaches the looters, who have already gathered a large pile of supplies and are loading them into several vehicles, most likely stolen, they immediately confront him. "Hey, you weird-looking freak! Are you some kind of nerd dressing up as a knight? Get off our island now, or we'll show you how we handle idiots like you around here!" one of them yells.
Alex examines them closely. Some carry baseball bats and knives, and he's sure a few have guns tucked away. "Doesn't matter," he calculates. "I've gotten stronger, and the Frost resistance of my newest conjuration has improved. I'd rather pay a few hundred more FC to let 1337 patch me up after this mission than take unnecessary risks. A stray headshot or a bullet hitting my eye could still kill me. I can't afford to take chances."
Sealions Icewing Embrace lvl 2.
His entire body becomes encased in sharp, gleaming ice shards, his armor enlarging, and wings of ice extend from his back. Cold mist seeps from his body, creating the usual imposing, ethereal aura—this time with a slightly stronger effect, thanks to his upgrade from lvl 0 to lvl 2.
His MP drains by slightly over 50, leaving him with more than half of his MP. At the moment, he can only use this ability since he's already conjured the maximum number of grenades. Alex chooses not to be stingy; he can recover his missing MP within an hour or so.
The looters panic, confused and glancing nervously at one another. Alex doesn't give them any more time to react. He draws his [Sword of Pluto] and [Shield of Pluto] from his back, both now infused with the cold aura radiating from his conjured armor. He immediately slashes at the looters.
With a weapon and magical enhancement like this, there's no need to track damage numbers. His Alexandrian Royal Swordsmanship lvl 2, combined with Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 2, his STR of 9 + 1, and the frost effect make each strike deliver a devastating blow of 70 to 80 damage at the minimum. Even the strongest ordinary human wouldn't survive a single hit. These looters have no chance.
Alex spins, using the element of surprise to strike multiple enemies in a single sweeping attack. He quickly uses his superior Basic Footwork lvl 2 and AGI to dash toward the remaining looters, swiftly cutting down anyone in his path. As more people emerge from the hospital, he slaughters them too. A few of the dozens of looters manage to flee. Alex pulls out his [Mr. 5's .44 Caliber 6-Shot Revolver] and shoots, taking down most of them, only letting two escape due to his limited ammo capacity.
Then, he feels his trusty [Commander Shepard's Dog Tag] activate, alerting him to two looters hiding inside one of the vehicles—easily detected by his heightened SNS.
"Where are the weapon stashes? You have three seconds," Alex demands.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, MONSTER!" the man answers, panicking. Alex can tell he's telling the truth—sadly, this one really doesn't know. Alex then shifts his aim to the other looter.
"I DON'T KNOW EITHER... I...," the second man stammers, and Alex instantly knows he's hit the jackpot.
"Tell me, and I'll let you go if you do an additional task for me," he says calmly.
"I'm not sure if it's about weapons, but... my brother told me about a weird container they put up in front of the golf course, next to the museum."
"I'm not familiar with this area. You'd better give me your best directions to get there... or better yet, just give me a working phone, and I'll look it up myself. You can go once you hand over a working phone. And make sure to tell everyone—your friends, brothers, comrades, I don't care, if they approach this hospital or the golf course and museum you mentioned, they won't make it out alive."
Alex glances towards the hospital and notices a group of female looters, likely part of the same gang. "Take them with you and help spread the message. I'm giving you five minutes to clear out this building and hand me a working phone soon... or else! NOW MOVE!"
He then turns back to the first guy. "Show me your most valuable loot. I'm not interested in mediocre stuff, just the best you have. If you do, I'll let you collect the rest after I'm done here. I'll be leaving the hospital at 10 PM. After that, you and your gang can come back for the leftovers. But if you try to hide anything valuable from me..." Alex swings his sword, the frosty aura surrounding it causing the ground to freeze even though it doesn't make contact.
The looters panic, quickly scrambling to bring out their most valuable items. In just a few minutes, Alex fills his special inventory with high-quality medical supplies and drugs. He also drags in a whole MRI machine, Alex knows that they cost a fortune. He's not entirely sure what their street or retail value is, nor which number matters for the system, but he grins at his haul. He decides to pack his inventory to the brim, leaving only a small amount of space for additional items. "I can always throw out some stuff later," he reasons. He uses the special inventory feature to sort the loot in order of perceived value. After nearly fifteen minutes, his icy armor collapses, and he relaxes slightly.
Even so, Alex only manages to grab less than a third of the available loot before his inventory is maxed out. He's then handed not one, but two phones by the frantic looters, who waste no time running away. They flee just in time before Alex hears a loud, obnoxious sound: "MEEEEEEEH, MAAAAAA, BAAAAA, MEEEEEH!"
Alex laughs maniacally, recognizing the "sheep" sound as part of a signal. He immediately mimics it, using a German pronunciation: "MÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄH!"
Rishi approaches him with a smile. "Looks like you made it. I saw you were at the airport south of here, but I figured you were headed for the hospital. Are you 13 or 1, by any chance?"
Alex bumps his fist. "Yeah, I'm 13. Who's 1? I was kinda busy until a moment ago," he says, pointing to the bodies lying on the ground.
"Why bother with those fools?" Rishi asks.
"Take a look at the stuff they were stealing. My inventory is already full, so you might as well take the rest. You can always replace it with better things later on!"
As Rishi fills his inventory with Alex's help, they discuss the situation. "I'm leading in the ranking, of course... and we're alone in this mission starting now. I decided the helpers weren't of much use and didn't want to risk them getting killed by our enemies, handing them free points. So, I took care of it myself," Rishi says with a grin.
Alex gulps. "I knew I wouldn't end up working with those three... Rishi really handled them like he said he would. Not only did he get three new empty contracts thanks to his item, but it also looks like their deaths earned him three bloody chests and 3 points. Let's check the ranking."
[Current ranking:
1. Player 3 - 5
2. Player 13 - 2
2. Player 1 - 2]
"Wait... you're 3? So you got two others as well," Alex questions.
"I saw a bunch of suspicious people hiding behind a window... tossed in a grenade. Two for the price of one. Your babies are insane," Rishi responds, smiling widely—an expression that still creeps Alex out, despite knowing him for over a month.
Alex hands Rishi a smartphone, already having confirmed that the combination to unlock it works. He shows it to him and asks about their next targets.
"The north is where the real action is. The southwest is the safest area, probably where level 1 players spawn, so we should head there first and rack up some points. Let's aim for numbers 1 and 2!" Rishi suggests, his taste for blood driving him to win the contest. He clearly sees the other players not as people but as targets.
"Sounds good... we could head west, cut them off, and then move down a bit to intercept them. I also got some intel. Between the museum and the golf course to the west, there's supposed to be a special weapon stash. The NFFA, the movie 'villains' who set up this first Purge, dropped them to stir things up. Could be useful for the mission even if we are not allowed to keep those weapons. And when I hear 'museum,' I think of valuable stuff. Not sure what kind of museum it is, but if they have jewelry or anything valuable, we might as well grab it."
Rishi smiles, and this time it feels different to Alex—less exaggerated and more genuine. "Looks like I underestimated you a bit... time for me to pull my weight, or you'll get all the credit. While you may not be a genius like me, you've got a good head on your shoulders. I'm a bit surprised. Let's do it this way"
Alex kind of expected this. Rishi, while well-behaved on the surface, has slowly revealed his true personality during their time together. This kind of insane, nihilistic behavior doesn't surprise him anymore. Rishi is super intelligent, decisive, and ruthless. Still, with Alex, he's always honest, knowing that deception will only lose Alex's trust. "At least he's straightforward," Alex thinks. "And considering his real-life accomplishments, calling himself a genius isn't far off... it's even a bit of an understatement."
Rishi finishes packing his inventory with the remaining loot from the hospital, and they begin jogging west, using the GPS on their phones to navigate.
"Check out the museum and the weapons stash near the golf course on the way, then go for more points!" They agree, setting their plan into motion.
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