Night Ripper
8 Weeks Later.
"Good morning, New York City! Breaking news this morning, it seems that the alleged vigilante, Night Ripper has struck again."
"That's right Tom, our sources in the NYPD has informed us that in the early morning at around 2am last night, another 48 bodies have been found brutally murdered. And from the past incidences, it is a safe bet that the victims of this latest massacre are all members of a gang."
"Indeed, for folks who have not been caught up to this latest news story – which is unlikely because The Night Ripper has been all everyone and their grandma has been talking about – for the last 8 weeks, it has been a mixed hurricane of fear, elation, horror and excitement amongst New Yorkers. Since October, the bodies of gang members and violent criminals have been found brutally murdered in their hideouts nearly every night numbering in the hundreds to date. Which has given rise to the Night Ripper's epithet."
"Now it is not yet clear whether the Night Ripper is a single individual or a group of people, isn't that right, Tom?"
"That's correct Debra, our sources in the NYPD has shared that there has been no evidence found that has conclusively pointed to the identity or identities of the perpetrators, in fact there has been little to no evidence found at all!"
"While the New York Chief of Police has made a statement last Wednesday, condemning the vigilante Night Ripper for his wanton slaughter, the responses from the city has been so far mixed. Though there are some who have applauded the Night Ripper's actions, calling it a harsh but necessary justice, most are still mainly shocked and horrified by the brutality of the murders."
"We here at Channel 5 News strongly denounce these cold blooded murders committed by the Night Ripper." The male news anchor added as a disclaimer. "The mother of one of the victims of The Night Ripper had this to say."
The screen changed to show an older, Hispanic woman who spoke to the camera in tears, "My boy, Raul, was not a gang member! Yet this murderer killed him! My son was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, yet did he deserve to die? I hope the police catches this murderer and hang him!"
The screen changed back to the news anchors who looked professional and stoic at the interview.
"Wrong place at the wrong time… our hearts go out to the families of victims of The Night Ripper's unjustifiable and senseless brutality."
"However, we here at Channel 5 News are extremely curious as to the motivations and origins of the Night Ripper, as I'm sure everyone in New York City is as well. Who are you? Why the cold blooded and excessively brutal murders? Why leave a blood-soaked path of-"
Click. The television was remotely switched off.
"Jae, don't watch that! American news is so violent!" My mother chided while putting the remote away.
"Okay." I simply replied while turning back to my breakfast.
It was around two months since I began cleaning up the streets of Brooklyn. I hadn't been consciously keeping count but my fortress-like memory told me that I had so far executed close to 900 gang members since I first started.
I had leveled up more than a few times, and the total assets in my inventory amounted to over $2 million in just cash. I had even touched upon the territory of a rather infamous crime lord - Kingpin. About half of the cash I had taken was from just one of his safehouse / base. He was a massive golden goose that I didn't want to kill just yet, so I left his territory alone for now.
After operating as a vigilante for two months, I could already clearly assess how New York was divided amongst the largest gangs and criminal organisations in the city.
Within these 2 months, I had also gained a reputation in the morning papers.
"The Night Ripper strikes again! Vigilante Hero or Cold Blooded Murderer?" This had become a common headline in the past weeks.
It was not my intention to cause such a stir amongst the populace with my actions, though I can't say I was surprised by it. Leaving hundreds of broken or bisected bodies would have undoubtedly led to 'Jack the Ripper' levels of infamy.
The golden age of superheroes wasn't a thing yet. There was no DareDevil or Spiderman searching for and trying to stop the Night Ripper. For now, I could continue my personal quest to clean the streets of New York of its human trash.
I had been more focused on the immediate rewards, namely the EXP and loot. With the EXP from both the quests and defeating the gang members I was leveling up faster than ever before. And my skill growth was skyrocketing as well.
My [Swordsmanship] skill, which I never had many opportunities to train, reached level 6 in just 2 weeks.
Magic-related skills also experienced a tremendous growth. I concentrated mainly on [Illusion] and [Conjuration], as they were the most useful spells in my repertoire. I spammed [Illusion] spells on my victims, ahem, targets, as much as I could before killing them. It was also pretty funny to see them rubbing their eyes while checking if they were dreaming when they saw furniture come alive and try to bite them.
I also managed to try out my [Rasengan] skill to shockingly bloody results. Unlike a certain anime which I had gotten inspiration for the skill from, [Rasengan] wasn't just a powerful bludgeoning weapon. It was more like a spherical drill that tore into and pulverized the human body like sticking watermelon into a blender.
I only managed to level it up once before imposing a self-ban on the skill. Not out of nausea, but rather because it just got too messy. Sometimes blood and viscera would splatter on the cash and ruin it. That would require a different sort of laundering just to clean it.
With the plentiful opportunities to experiment, I also created a few more skills that utilized pure mana control – [Mana Blade], [Mana Claw], [Barrier] and [Mana Arrow]. Unlike sorcery which made use of established formulae of runes, glyphs and arcane circles, these skills, like [Rasengan], required only a supply of mana and my will in shaping them.
I had even generated a new skill from this experimentation.
[Mana Control] LVL: 3
You have greater control over Mana. Skills requiring MP will cost 15% less MP. Skills requiring MP will have 30% greater effect.
As a result of these 2 months of intensive hunting- ahem, cleaning, and completing quests, my stats were now incredibly impressive if I do say so myself.
Name: Lee Jae Sung
Level: 38
Next Level: 1340/216600
HP: 4520/4520
MP: 231060/231060
STR: 58.1
VIT: 45.2
DEX: 67.7
INT: 7702
CHA: 30
Points: 185
$: 2,027,833
Traits
[Genius-level Intellect]
[Toddler]
[Mana-Talent Physique]
Perks
[Arcane Assassin]
Skills
[Language Comprehension] LVL: 4
[Speed Reading] LVL: 8
[Accelerate] LVL: 6
[Evasion] LVL: 6
[Detection] LVL: 8
[Concealment] LVL: MAX
[Throwing] LVL: 2
[Swordsmanship] LVL:6
[Archery] LVL: 3
[Grappling] LVL: 2
[Engineering] LVL: 3
[Cooking] LVL: 1
[Fishing] LVL: 1
[Acting] LVL: 6
[Carpentry] LVL: 1
[Programming] LVL: 2
[Hacking] LVL: 1
[Rasengan] LVL: 2
[Artistry] LVL: 3
[Illusion] LVL: 7
[Conjuration] LVL: 6
[Abjuration] LVL: 4
[Enchantment] LVL: 2
[Transmutation] LVL: 4
[Martial Arts] LVL: 3
[Mana Control] LVL: 3
[Mana Blade] LVL: 3
[Mana Claw] LVL: 1
[Mana Arrow] LVL: 2
[Barrier] LVL: 1
While my skill list had expanded to a pretty long list now, what I considered to be more important now was that I finally had enough money to start grinding what I considered to be my most important skill.
[Hacking].
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Okay that's all I have for now. I'm busy with work, so I can't promise a regular update schedule. See you when I see you. Bye.