Undisclosed Location, Quest Aerospace — Bunker 6:
A car rolled to a stop in front of the facility in the dead of night. Several military officials stepped out, their movements brisk and disciplined.
"Good evening, General," a man in an expensive suit said with a practiced smile, extending his hand. "Always a pleasure."
The general shook it once, then joined him, a higher-up executive at Quest Aerospace Corporation, who led the military personnel inside.
"Our exoskeleton got the real firepower, General Slocum," the executive said, a smile still on his face, with a hint of pride in his voice.
Slocum's expression didn't change. "If it lives up to that confidence," he replied, "the contract gets signed tomorrow."
The man was pleased with the general's promise.
From the background, voices of scientists, some of the best in Quest Aerospace, could be heard as they gave a once-over to the exoskeleton for the last time before the presentation to the general.
"He's clear!" A scientist yelled after finding everything was in order. "Go!"
The scientists left the man in the open, wearing the exoskeleton, while they ran towards the bunker to accompany the executive and the military personnel.
A countdown started in the background.
"20"
"19"
Meanwhile, everyone had arrived inside the bunker.
"I assume you're confident about this test," Slocum said evenly.
"Absolutely," the executive said without hesitation. "Captain Curtis is our top pilot."
As they watched the exoskeleton test pilot from the bunker, the executive asked, "And what about your commitment to Oscorp?"
The general didn't look at him. "Nothing would please me more," he said, "than to put Osborn out of business."
The countdown in the background was about to be completed.
"Preflight complete," Curtis said in the comms.
"2"
"1"
The countdown completed, and the exoskeleton began to hover and rise into the air. White smoke was coming out of its thrusters.
The executive looked at the hovering exoskeleton with a pleased smile, thinking that the contract was already in the bag.
The test was proceeding smoothly when one of the scientists monitoring the nearby airspace stiffened.
"We're picking up an unidentified object," he said. "Closing fast."
"What is that?" Curtis said, confused, as he saw something coming towards him.
The scientist, hearing him through the comms, asked, "Can you see anything?"
It was then that everyone heard a maniacal cackle.
"Oh, my God!" Curtis exclaimed in fear as he saw a missile streaking towards him.
That was his last thought as the missile hit the exoskeleton squarely, destroying it.
The bunker protected its inhabitants from the shockwave. Even then, they staggered under the multiple shockwaves that entered from the small opening used to look outside.
Through the blast, they saw a person in green armor on a glider, laughing maniacally as he flew towards the bunker.
The man in green armour fired more missiles that accurately flew through the tiny windows of the bunker. The people inside screamed in terror as they were engulfed in the explosions.
Some distance away from the bunker:
— Kevin —
I looked at Green Goblin flying away from my binoculars, sitting on a treetop.
Did I succeed?
I checked my latest notifications.
Assassin (15/25) (+5)
Assassin Side Mission Objective 2 Completed.
I looked at the notifications with a smile and let loose a breath I was subconsciously holding.
If it was Green Goblin who killed the men in the bunker, then how did I increase my mission count?
I looked at the detonator in my other hand.
The answer to that question lay in the news I saw in the newspaper a week ago.
"Oscorp may lose contract to Quest."
As soon as I had read that news article, I immediately knew what was to come.
From Norman Osborn's perspective, the message was clear: if Quest's test succeeded, Oscorp was finished. He was finished. So it couldn't succeed.
Green Goblin would intervene—sabotage the test, eliminate the general, and turn the demonstration into a public disaster. Enough blood, enough chaos, and the military would be forced to reconsider Oscorp.
A few questions, a little intimidation, and the right amount of money were enough to lead me to the test bunker and the date for the actual test.
I had arranged some remote detonation bombs that I had sneakily installed in the bunker at various locations.
Finally, the test day arrived, and I had been waiting in this location for Green Goblin to come and start the massacre.
The rest was the game of timing.
I observed Green Goblin, and the moment he fired the missiles, I detonated the bombs.
Why did I go through such lengths?
For the Assassin mission.
It was too difficult to find the correct targets for the mission. They both had to be renowned and at least one minor grade above me.
At F2, it was tough to find such individuals. Many times, they were either not renowned enough or not strong enough. Take the example of the E1 grade genetic experiment I had killed earlier; he was stronger, but as an experiment, what renown he had. So, that kill didn't contribute to the mission count.
But now I had found a bunch of viable targets at one location, so I had to take the risk.
Of course, not all who died by the bombs satisfied the requirements, but I was satisfied with just increasing the count by 5.
For anyone who cared, it was the Green Goblin who killed them.
The perfect scapegoat.
Feeling pleased, I decided to climb down and go home.
But then, I heard a strange whistling sound. I turned to it, and my eyes widened at the missile coming to my location.
I directly jumped down from the canopy. When I was mid-air, the missile struck the tree, and the shockwaves blasted me forward. I rolled in time to cushion my fall.
"Ever heard of privacy, you peeping rat?"
I heard a mocking voice coming from above.
I turned around and saw Green Goblin flying towards me.
"If you wanted a closer look," Green Goblin said with a maniacal laugh, "all you had to do was ask."
What the fuck?
Did he sense me from that far away?
Name: Norman Osborn
Codename: Green Goblin
Rank: D1
I was doing a random side quest. How the hell did I attract the game's final boss?
Did messing with destiny also some way fucked up my luck? Was that some kind of hidden consequence?
I had no time to think further, I immediately pulled out my guns, one in each hand, and started firing at Green Goblin. But every bullet that hit, whether it hit his armor or the glider, was easily deflected.
Green Goblin only responded with more mocking laughter. He looked like he was watching an entertaining performance.
"Who are you supposed to be, you little rat?" Green Goblin asked, tilting his head slightly.
I didn't bother replying and continued shooting.
Meanwhile, I was thinking of any way to run away. I was nowhere near ready to face an opponent like him.
"Quite rude, aren't you?" Green Goblin said mockingly.
He threw a bunch of metallic spheres towards me.
Fuck.
I dodged to the side and ran away as those spherical bombs dropped near the location I stood and detonated.
I was thrown forward like a rag doll.
Before I could take a breath, I heard the sounds of bullets firing. It was the machine guns fitted in Green Goblin's glider.
I hurriedly scrambled to my feet and started running.
Green Goblin followed behind me, shooting from his glider. His glider was extremely fast, but he flew slowly. He flew just fast enough that he would stay on my tail but wouldn't overtake me and turn me into swiss cheese.
How much fun he was having from this cat-and-mouse game could be inferred from his gleeful laughter.
All my stats were at F2 or F3, but only my Agility stat was F1, the lowest.
I couldn't even use the Agility stat reward from the first objective of the Assassin mission due to the same mission. I was afraid that if I accepted it, it might raise my overall rank and, in turn, increase the difficulty of the Assassin mission.
Now, I regret not working on it before and increasing it to at least F2 on my own.
But there was no medicine for regret.
So all I could do was run with all my might while Green Goblin cackled behind me.
The chase continued, and finally the shooting stopped; likely the bullets were finished in the glider, or the goblin bastard was fucking with me. But I didn't stop immediately.
As I feared, Green Goblin started firing again. He stopped earlier just to make me lower my guard.
"Let me see how long you can run."
I continued running, but I was getting tired. My speed slowed. On top of that, the uneven terrain in the forest made running even more difficult.
I overlooked a root, and my foot tangled with it. I faltered, barely managing to keep from falling, and continued running. But that moment was enough, and one of the bullets tore through my leg.
In the end, I still fell. The shooting again stopped after that. I didn't know if the bullets were really finished this time or if he was once again playing with me.
"Little rat," Green Goblin chuckled. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't recognize my own fireworks?"
I just looked at him. The bullet wound was painful, but I had no time to care about it.
My mind was in overdrive, thinking of ways to get out of this situation.
Shooting both him and the glider was useless. His armor was bulletproof, and his glider was tough enough that these bullets would merely leave a scratch on it.
The only places I could shoot and hope to cause enough damage were either beneath the glider, where components were exposed, or behind it, where the thrusters were.
But from where I was standing, I couldn't aim at those locations.
"You know, I recently heard about a new vigilante, 47," Green Goblin said in a curious voice. "No one had seen his face, but he silently killed many gangs, and people only know his name."
Blades came out of the glider.
I looked at those menacing blades, sharp enough to even cut through the armour Green Goblin was wearing.
"Explosions occurred in the bunker before my missiles. That means bombs were planted there beforehand. But who could plant a bomb at such a location?" Green Goblin tilted his head.
"But if it is the infamous 47, there is a possibility of that happening. Am I right, 47?" Green Goblin cackled.
My face was slightly pale. Beads of sweat fell from my head. I didn't know whether it was due to pain or because the goblin bastard was nearly correct in his assumption. The only silver lining was that my face was covered.
"But don't you target gangs? Why did you target them?" This time, there was genuine curiosity in his tone.
I finally decided to speak, to make him let his guard down.
"They are doing genetic experiments," I said, my voice heavy to hide my actual voice. "One such failed experiment was used as a guard dog by a gang."
It wasn't the real reason. But it was the truth.
"Really?" Green Goblin laughed. "Interesting. So the upstarts are not only playing with exoskeletons, they want to dabble in genetics too."
Green Goblin's laughter snapped shut.
"But you made a mistake," he said softly. "You don't get to use me."
Without warning, Green Goblin dived down. The blades on his glider glinted ominously under the moonlight.
I hurriedly dodged to the side. The glider passed by me by a hair's breadth.
That was the opportunity I was waiting for.
I immediately turned around, ignoring the searing pain in my leg, and started shooting at him.
The bullets were deflected, but fortunately, one bullet hit the thruster directly. First, sparks flew out, and then black smoke began to come from it. Green Goblin wobbled, nearly falling from the glider.
"Damn you, you sneaky rat," Green Goblin growled as he turned around. He knew he couldn't waste anymore time playing. The damage to his glider was significant enough that it could stop midway, so he had to go back to his lab before that.
I didn't let my guard down and continued staring at him.
Green Goblin looked at me grimly, but then he actually started cackling again.
"You are an interesting little rat." He flew up as if ready to fly away, but he threw another metallic sphere towards me.
I once again dodged to the side.
This bomb was different from the others, as it didn't cause a large explosion.
A few lights blinked on the bomb, and when all the lights were on, a green light lit up in the middle. A green light spread from it, then disappeared.
I was confused, then I noticed the vegetation nearby where the green light fell disappeared, as if it had disintegrated.
I suddenly remembered a scene—Green Goblin using one of his bombs on the board members.
There was no fireball. No shockwave.
Anything biological within its radius simply ceased to exist. Flesh vanished first, stripped away in an instant, and bones then crumbled into powder.
"Enjoy your life for now, 47," Green Goblin's maniacal voice came as he flew away. "The next time we meet, you will not get away with just an arm."
What does he mean by 'just an arm'?
Wait.
Why do I feel something strange in my arm?
Instead, I don't feel my hand.
I looked at my left arm, or the lack of it.
There was no flesh below the elbow, only exposed bones. The wound's edge was blackened and cauterized.
With the adrenaline rush, my mind felt sharp.
Was it caught in the explosion? It should be far enough that only the flesh was disintegrated, but the bones survived.
The adrenaline finally wore off a few seconds later.
The pain hit immediately like a sledgehammer.
The pain was so overwhelming that my body forgot how to scream.
My vision tunneled. Black crept in at the edges. Each breath came shallow and uneven, scraping my lungs instead of filling them. My clothes clung to me, soaked through with cold sweat.
With one hand, fumbling and slow, I unbuckled my belt. My fingers slipped twice before I managed it. I wrapped it around my torso and what remained of my arm, pulling it tight into a crude sling.
Immobilizing the arm was crucial.
Any movement sent white-hot agony shooting through me. If the pain pushed me into shock, this would end here.
I wouldn't let it.
But if I was careful enough, I just had to go to a safe place and sleep, and after a night's sleep, I would be as good as new. Of course, the prerequisite was that I wouldn't die in my sleep.
I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket to tie it on my injured leg below the knee. It was extremely difficult to do with just one hand, and any unexpected movement only intensified the pain in my left arm.
I failed many times, dropping the handkerchief or having it slip off, before I finally tied the leg tightly with it.
The bullet had torn through the leg, so at least there was no lodged bullet to worry about. But I still had to stop excessive bleeding.
I slowly retraced my steps back and limped back to where I was looking at the bunker. I had to remove all my traces, or they might lead the authorities to me.
I reached the location, picked up everything, and stuffed it in my bag, which I had hidden nearby. Then I took the bag and started a return journey to where I had hidden my car.
Both my arm and leg screamed as I trudged on the uneven terrain. There was only a single thought in my brain to reach a safe place.
Finally arrived near the car, I collapsed into the driver's seat, teeth clenched as my arm shifted and sent fire tearing through my nerves.
I could only drive with one hand and could barely use my injured leg.
I left the area. Going back was suicide, as my place was too far. I would die before I would even reach there.
Driving itself felt like a nightmare. Every bump felt magnified. Often, the car swerved too sharply because I would lose concentration from dizziness.
Finally, I stopped in front of a cheap motel. I parked the car and got out. My arm was covered by the jacket I hung on my shoulder.
It was late at night, so no one was outside.
I entered the reception. A man was sleeping, sitting in a chair with his legs on the table, mouth open.
"Hey," I called. My voice was barely a whisper. There was no way he could have heard it.
On the table, I saw a bell and rang it. Once. Twice. I continued tapping it.
"What do you want?" The man barked as he finally woke up.
"A room, three days," I said, my voice low.
The man scowled.
"Make sure no one disturbs me," I added.
The man looked even more annoyed. But annoyance immediately disappeared as I put five hundred-dollar notes on the table.
He nodded and placed a key on the table.
I picked up the key and left the reception.
The room was, as expected, a dump. There were strange stains on the bedsheet that I didn't want to know the source of.
I locked the door, crossed the room, and collapsed onto the bed.
As consciousness faded, one thought slipped through the haze:
If I wake up… I'll deal with…
Sleep took me before I could finish it.
—
Main World:
Sunday:
"You cheating bitch!" Frances yelled with gritted teeth at the smug-looking Felicia.
"Darling, thinking outside of the box ain't cheating," Felicia replied lazily. Her smug face irritated Frances all the more.
"But, but," Frances didn't even have words to counter.
"Oh, come on, don't be upset," Felicia smiled. "Here, I brought some gifts."
Felicia took out three objects from her bag. They were about the size of a pea and roughly spherical.
"They are from the leaders."
"You hunted the leaders?!" Frances exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Many subordinates always surround them."
Then Frances thought of something, and the shock twisted into rage. "You fucking cheating bitch."
"I prefer calling myself resourceful," Felicia said, her smug tone back.
"The black one is from the Shellcrawler leader, the red one from the Buzzfly leader, and the grey one with nasty black spots is from the Black-spotted Flesh Hyena leader," Felicia introduced.
"Each increase one stat by one minor-grade upto F3. Constitution for first, Agility for second, and Strength for third."
Frances looked at the monster cores with a bitter gaze. Her gaze wandered behind Felicia. There sat a bunch of guns and grenades. Those weapons were the reason why Frances was so frustrated.
Felicia used much of her money and used her connections to purchase or rent a bunch of weapons. She wasn't very good with firearms, but still knew enough.
With these weapons, Felicia streamrolled the dungeon. In a single run, she completed the achievement Frances had only managed to do by coincidence. Felicia had killed more than 100 enemies all on her own.
And the change for such a feat was noticeable. The change was visible on Felicia.
Felicia looked slightly taller than before. Her muscles were tighter now, more defined, the lines clean without adding bulk—just coiled power. Even standing still, she looked more explosive.
Her hair caught the light with a new sheen, her skin clear and smooth. She'd already been beautiful. Whatever the increase had done, it had pushed her into another tier.
Felicia looked at her upgraded status stats with a smug satisfaction.
Name: Felicia Hardy
Codename: Black Cat
Rank: F3
Attributes:
Strength: F3
Agility: F3
Constitution: F3
Endurance: F3
Vitality: F3
Intelligence: F3
Wisdom: F3
Perception: F3
Willpower: F3
Charisma: F3
She was ranked F2 before. Most of her stats were at F2 with Agility and Charisma already at F3. The reward from the achievement pushed the remaining stats to F3 as well. Now, she was absolutely at the peak of human potential.
"Ok, don't sulk so much," Felicia said playfully. "Here, have them." She passed the black-spotted and red cores to Frances.
Frances looked at the cores in her hand, questioning.
"Don't worry, Kevin doesn't need these," Felicia explained. "Hasn't he already said to be on the lookout for anything that can increase the Constitution stat. We can give it to him once he returns from wherever he went. You can safely use the other two. Moreover, he had already said that if we find anything that can help us in the F rank, we can use it and hand the remaining to him."
Frances already knew that, but she still wanted to wait for Kevin to return and let him decide what to do. But she also thought that Kevin had already given them permission there was no need to ask again.
'What if I waited to ask, and Kevin thought I was incapable of simple decisions?' Frances thought dreadfully.
Frances accepted the cores and gulped them together.
The change started in a few moments.
Frances's muscles became more defined and streamlined. She felt tearing pain in her muscles, but at the same time, she felt intoxicated at the sensation of her strength increasing so rapidly.
The change felt like it lasted for a while, but it was completed in less than a minute.
Now, all of Frances's physical stats had reached F3, but her mental stats were still behind at F2.
Frances nodded stiffly. "Thanks."
Felicia waved her off.
Frances left to go back to her turf.
No Stain Laundromat:
"What do you want, Roger?" Mike asked.
Roger, pale-faced, sat in the laundromat office, facing Mike. The gazes of a few of Mike's buddies only increased his heartbeat even further.
"I, I, uh, I want a loan," Roger said with difficulty.
A slow smile appeared on Mike's face upon hearing the word loan.
"Of course, Roger," Mike asked slyly. "How much do you want?"
"T, twenty thousand," Roger said with hesitation.
"Damn, twenty grands," A thug standing beside Mike whistled. "What are you going to do with so much money?"
Mike didn't stop the thug. He also curiously looked at Roger.
Roger froze. But before he could say anything or the thug could prod further, an authoritative voice came from the door.
"What he does with the money is none of your damn business?"
Frances walked in calmly, Lucia and Daniel behind her.
"Boss," Mike snapped upright, shooting a glare at the thug.
The others followed and greeted her.
Frances sat on the main chair behind the desk and looked at Roger like a queen looking at her subject.
"You can get the money, but the interest is 50%," Frances said flatly. "And the longer you delay in paying it back, the higher the interest will become."
Roger swallowed.
"And if you try to default on your debt, we may have to use some unsavory means to settle the debt," Frances continued with narrowed eyes.
Then Frances used a new trick she learned while practicing her sound powers. She modulated her voice enough to sound as if a highly charismatic leader were speaking. She had used the same before she berated the thug for asking the intrusive question.
"Do you understand?"
"Y-yes, I understand," Roger nodded. His hands were shaking in fear.
"Mike, give him the money."
"Yes, boss."
Mike passed the money to Roger, who practically fled after getting it.
This was the loansharking business Frances had started after she got the money from Big Man's thugs. The money was more than enough to serve as the initial capital. Moreover, the gang's reputation on the streets was now enough to get it started.
"Boss," Mike called hesitatingly. Frances looked at him.
"Boss, what to do in case someone defaults who doesn't have anything of value we can take?" Mike asked.
Frances looked thoughtful. She had already thought of the solution to the problem, but it was not possible at the moment.
Frances gave a once-over to all the gang members present in the room. 'Nope, these idiots can't do it,' she thought, shaking her head.
The gang members looked uncomfortable, thinking they might have done something wrong.
"Lucia," Frances called.
"Boss," Lucia answered respectfully.
"Put 'Find a doctor for the gang' to my to-do list."