Robbers

The middle-aged man pointed a gun at Ash's head with a calm expression.

Ash's body stiffened, and his blood seemed to stop flowing. His mind was racing to get out of this situation.

"Are you going to kill me?" Ash asked carefully.

"Why not? I can have the items you've gathered if you die," he said calmly.

Ash raised his hands in surrender. Cold sweat started to drip down his back.

'Activate Shadow Dance.' he ordered the system inwardly.

Ting.

[Skill: Shadow Dance activated.]

"Wouldn't we be able to get more items if we are together in this?" Ash tried to persuade him.

The man was silent as he looked at Ash blankly.

He lowered his hand holding the gun, exhaled, and then said in a whisper, "I can't kill another human..."

Ash looked at the man with pity.

"I have children and a wife in the real world. Why did I have to be dragged here?" the man started crying.

Ash didn't say anything, he just pretended to fix the bandages on the man's legs, which were already well attached.

The man rubbed his snot and stopped crying.

"We need to get out of this place, it's too damp and cold to spend the night," Ash said when he was done pretending to be sympathetic.

'After all, he pointed his gun at me earlier.' he thought a little annoyed.

"Yeah, but I can hardly walk," he said.

"Hmm. I'll find and make something to make you walk," Ash said after thinking for a moment. "You wait here, okay? I'll be quick."

The man nodded weakly.

Ash left him with some food and canned coffee from his supplies. He walked to the riverside dreamily, thinking about how sad the man's children and wife would be.

He took a deep breath.

'Same with me, how is mother doing there?' he thought. He wanted to go home quickly.

Ash climbed to the top of a tree not far from the river. He chose a tree trunk that was as thick as his fist and had two branches. He wanted to make a walking stick for the man.

'Oh, I forgot not to ask the man's name. I'll ask later.'

Ash was cleaning the trunk carefully when he saw five people walking from upstream. The five people looked like market thugs, all of their bodies were tattooed. They chatted with loud voices

Ash quickly ducked under the leaves, his instincts telling him he must not be seen by these people.

They walked towards where the middle-aged man was!

Not long after, the five people arrived near the hole and found the man. Ash watched them without him knowing what to do.

Two shots were heard, but after that there was silence. 

And the five men left the hole, laughing. They exchanged jokes with each other.

"Game Map," Ash said quietly.

Ting.

The map screen of the game spread out in front of Ash. He immediately pressed 'Show Others' and pressed one of the five red dots that showed the five people.

Ting.

[Player Number: #77926.]

[Profession: Robber.]

Ash furrowed his brows. He pressed the other red dot.

Ting.

[Player Number: #03639.]

[Profession: Robber.]

Ash seemed to understand something. He pressed another red dot.

Ting.

[Player Number: #88264.]

[Profession: Robber.]

He pressed the remaining two dots again, and they all showed the same Profession, Robber. 

Ash gasped. 

'So this is what Robber means? Do they commit a robbery in groups?'

If so, he should avoid players who have the Robber profession, especially if his skill level is still low.

'Ah, that man!!' he remembered the middle-aged man who was injured earlier

Ash climbed down from the tree quickly and ran towards the hole under the rock.

But what he saw, the man was no longer alive with a sharp stick stuck in his chest.

***

It was already afternoon when Ash finished digging a hole near the river and buried the middle-aged man in it. He regretted why he hadn't taken him away sooner.

All of the man's belongings, such as his gun, were gone. The robbers must have taken it.

There was one thing that Ash didn't understand, why the Robbers were only targeting the middle-aged man, but didn't find him, even though he was hiding not far from where the injured man was. Meanwhile, they could immediately determine the position of the middle-aged man.

'Hmm…'

Putting aside this strange thing, Ash gritted his teeth and was determined to hunt down the Robbers.

***

Ash buttoned up his jacket's zip while watching the map screen. The five red dots did not move. He was in a tree close to his prey's position.

They were in a building that looked like a warehouse that was no longer used. The warehouse was on a hill, with no trees around it. On the sides of the warehouse were several large fans, mounted through the walls, and none of them were on.

They lit a bonfire in the warehouse and occasionally Ash could hear their laughter. 

When the moon was above his head, Ash climbed down from the tree and approached the warehouse carefully. He didn't forget to activate his Shadow Dance skill as well.

The flames of the bonfire could still be seen between the roof and walls of the warehouse. The sound of burning wood was heard, but there were no more voices from them.

Ash peeked out from one of the large fans and saw a campfire burning in the middle of the warehouse. The five Robbers were sleeping around the campfire.

This was his chance.

The distance between the fan frame and the gap between the roof and walls was not that far. Ash climbed up the fan and reached into the gap, then pulled himself up so he could sit on the gap.

From where he was now, he could see everything inside the warehouse. There were boxes stacked on random sides of the walls.

Slowly he drew his sword and jumped towards the sleeping people.

His sword immediately pierced one person's chest. The man screamed but his voice was choked with his blood. And he died immediately on the spot.

His friends immediately woke up hearing the sound of screaming and tried to gang up on Ash. 

Ash, with his Shadow Dance skill, nimbly avoided and counter-attacked these people. Not long after, the people lost and fell to the ground, lifeless.

One two three four,...

'Where's the fifth person?!'

"You bastard!" came a voice from behind Ash. It turned out that the person had come out while Ash was climbing the warehouse wall, and came back exactly after Ash killed his friends.

Ash turned around quickly. But the person fired the gun in his hand and hit Ash's shoulder.

Ignoring the pain, and preferring not to die himself, Ash immediately jumped towards the person and swung his sword at the person's neck.

The fifth person's body knelt and his gunshot pointed towards the ground. Then the body fell with a thud in his stomach.

His head rolled away to the side of the warehouse.

Seeing the rolling head of a human being, Ash, who only relied on his skills to face his enemies, immediately vomited.

This was the first time he ever killed humans.