Chapter 15: going out with a 'Bang'

0:40:00

Lukas was going to die.

And honestly?

At this point, he was too tired to care.

His legs felt like they had been dipped in cement.

His head was pounding.

His throat was dry as shit.

He had been running through the Undercity for hours—

And what had he found?

Nothing.

Not one goddamn Chem-Baron lackey.

Not one shady dealer.

Not even a junkie who looked at him the wrong way.

Zaun was a city full of criminals.

So where the fuck were they?!

He clenched his jaw.

He kept running.

Down alleys, through empty side streets, past closed market stalls—

Still. Nothing.

Not a single gang member doing shady deals in the shadows.

Not a single thug shaking down a poor bastard for cash.

The one night Lukas actually needed scumbags to be out in the open—

Zaun had suddenly decided to become a civilized society.

"Oh, NOW everyone decides to be a good person?!"

He felt like he was in a rigged video game.

Like some invisible force had patched the crime rate down to zero just to fuck with him.

If the System had a face, Lukas would've punched it by now.

0:37:24

His body was giving up.

He was beyond exhausted.

And the timer?

Still counting down.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Mocking him.

Lukas stumbled into a darkened alleyway and leaned against the wall.

His vision blurred for a second.

His arms ached.

His breath was shallow.

For the first time in hours—

He wasn't running.

He wasn't searching.

He just… stood there.

Alone.

His gaze flicked to the timer again.

0:35:42

Lukas let out a tired, bitter laugh.

"I'm really gonna die, huh?"

Not in battle.

Not in some epic final stand.

Just somewhere in the dirt.

Forgotten.

A punchline.

The System was going to execute him like some broken NPC who failed a quest.

Lukas tilted his head back against the wall.

"Fucking pathetic."

And then.

A thought.

A stupid, reckless, incredibly dumb thought.

If he was going to die tonight…

Then he sure as hell wasn't dying a virgin.

0:32:56

Lukas pushed himself off the wall.

Wiped his face.

And started walking.

Not toward a target.

Not toward his final kill.

But toward something else entirely.

Because if the System was really going to screw him over—

Then he was going out on his own goddamn terms.

Lukas walked with purpose.

Not the purpose of a killer.

Not the purpose of a desperate man on a mission.

No.

This was the purpose of a man who had fully embraced his own stupidity.

---

"Alright, Fontaine. You're about to die. Might as well go out like a legend."

It was flawless logic.

If he couldn't complete the mission, if the System was gonna delete him from existence, then fuck it.

At least he'd experience something before he went.

At least he'd get to say he tried.

At least he wouldn't die like some sad little virgin.

"I refuse to be the only isekai protagonist who dies twice without ever getting laid."

---

0:28:56

Up ahead, the brothel came into view.

One of the biggest in Zaun.

A place that housed some of the most dangerous and powerful men in the Undercity.

Owned by Madam Margot, a Chem-Baroness who didn't ask questions and didn't tolerate bullshit.

If you had the money, you could get anything you wanted.

Human. Vastaya. Whatever suited your taste.

Lukas wasn't picky.

"At this point, if she's got two legs, a pulse, and isn't gonna stab me, we're good."

But first—

There was the small problem of the guy at the door.

---

0:26:48

The brothel's entrance was guarded by a towering asshole in a wolf mask.

Arms crossed. Stance firm.

Radiating pure "I will throw you across the street if you even try" energy.

And yeah, okay. Fair.

Even Lukas had to admit, he didn't look the part.

His clothes were ragged.

His face was young.

And judging by the way the guard narrowed his eyes at him the second he stepped forward—

Yeah.

He was about to get kicked the fuck out.

---

The guard moved toward him.

"Oi, kid," he grunted. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Lukas didn't break stride.

"…What does it look like?"

The guard scoffed.

"It looks like you're about to get thrown down the street, that's what."

He placed a firm hand on Lukas's shoulder, turning him around.

"Run along. This ain't a place for little boys."

Lukas sighed.

He reached up.

And without hesitation—

He grabbed the guy's wrist and zapped the shit out of him.

---

The guard barely had time to react before a jolt of electricity surged through his body.

It wasn't enough to kill him.

Just enough to make his muscles seize, his vision go blurry—

And then drop like a sack of bricks.

Lukas caught him before he could hit the ground too hard.

Because, hey—he wasn't a complete monster.

Then, before stepping inside—

He reached down, pulled off the wolf mask, and slid it over his own face.

------

0:22:55

Inside one of the larger rooms of the brothel, a group of men sat around a low, expensive-looking table.

The place reeked of alcohol, sweat, and expensive perfume.

Half-dressed prostitutes were lounging around them, either passed out or still entertaining their guests.

At the head of the table, a muscular man with short, greasy hair laughed loudly, a drink in hand.

Bronn.

One of Renni's trusted enforcers.

He had an arm lazily draped over a Vastaya woman's shoulders, absently groping her while she sipped wine like this was just another Tuesday.

His goons sat around him, looking equally relaxed and wasted.

One of them sighed contently.

"Man, we need more nights like this."

Another chuckled. "Yeah, thanks for this, Bronn. Feels good to get a proper day off."

Bronn just smirked.

"Don't thank me," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Thank Renni and the other Barons. They're the ones who called for the citywide truce."

The first goon raised a brow.

"What, that anniversary thing again?"

"Yeah," Bronn muttered. "The march at the bridge, you know how it is. Sentimental idiots still think it means something."

One of the prostitutes sitting in his lap shifted slightly.

"You mean the day a bunch of people got murdered?" she muttered, her tone dry.

Bronn laughed, stroking her thigh.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, that too. But hey, It was a long time ago, so who gives a shit?"

The others chuckled.

And then—

The door creaked open slightly.

A masked figure, half-hidden in shadow, stepped into view.

No one noticed.

Not yet.

---

0:24:32

Lukas was in heaven.

No, seriously.

He had never seen this much beauty in one place.

Ever.

---

The soft candlelight.

The satin sheets.

The women.

So many women.

Curvy. Tall. Short. Busty. Athletic.

Human. Vastaya. A little bit of both.

And every single one of them?

Drop-dead gorgeous.

---

"Holy shit."

"Holy fucking shit."

"This is the greatest place in the world."

Lukas walked through the halls like a kid in a candy store.

His gaze bounced from woman to woman, each one somehow hotter than the last.

He even spotted a thick-ass rabbit Vastaya passing by in nothing but lace lingerie.

His soul left his body.

"That's it. That's my dream girl. I don't care if I die, I'm going out smiling."

Then he saw something else.

Something that shouldn't exist.

Something that sent instant mental damage straight to his brain.

---

A Yordle.

Not just any Yordle.

A BDSM Yordle.

Dressed in full leather, complete with chains and a spiked collar.

Chatting casually with a prostitute.

Like this was just another Tuesday.

Lukas's brain blue-screened.

"What the actual fuck—"

The Yordle suddenly looked directly at him.

Lukas flinched.

Kept walking.

Kept not thinking about it.

Kept telling himself he did not just see that.

---

After recovering from the Yordle Incident, Lukas went deeper into the brothel.

Most of the doors were closed.

Some were… not.

He learned very quickly not to look inside those ones.

Then, as he was passing by another hallway—

He heard something.

Loud laughter.

Male voices.

Lukas frowned.

He turned.

And that's when he saw them.

---

A group of men sitting in one of the rooms, drinking, laughing.

From this angle, he could only see bits and pieces of them—

A cybernetic arm here.

A set of Chemtech-modified eyes there.

But even before he got a full look, his gut told him everything he needed to know.

These were Chem-Baron enforcers.

And that meant?

His last kill was in there.

---

0:22:00

Lukas lowered his stance, pressing himself against the wall.

His mind ran through possible approaches.

There were at least three of them.

Maybe more.

No way to tell if they were armed or not.

He peeked in slightly—

And then his eyes locked onto the man at the head of the table.

Short, greasy hair.

Muscular build.

A smug, arrogant smirk that made Lukas's blood boil on instinct.

The way he leaned back like he owned the world.

The way his hand lazily groped at a Vastaya woman like she was just furniture.

Lukas didn't know his name.

Didn't know if he was important or not.

Didn't care.

All he knew?

He was about to be very, very dead.

---

Lukas took a slow, quiet breath.

Checked his EVE levels.

A third left. Enough for a fight.

Checked his revolver.

Six bullets in the chamber. More than enough.

His fingers flexed.

His heartbeat slowed.

For the first time since he stepped into Zaun—

He wasn't scared.

He wasn't hesitant.

He was in control.

Lukas pulled the mask down slightly.

He stepped inside.

0:18:15

And gunshots rang out.