Lathel froze as the notification panel appeared before him.
He hadn't expected that after two years of silence, the System would suddenly activate again—and now it even had a new function.
Though he was curious about it, now wasn't the time to investigate.
He glanced at Bob and Nick, calculating rapidly, then spoke inwardly to the System:
'I choose option three.'
[Ding! Choice confirmed. Once you kill Bob and Nick, you will receive your rewards.]
Hearing the notification, Lathel lowered his head slightly and said calmly,
"Sorry, but I can still afford to pay my taxes. You don't need to worry."
Thud!
He shoved both of them aside and walked straight into the depths of the Gloomy Forest.
Bob ground his teeth, glaring after Lathel's retreating back.
"That bastard! Does he think he's an Adventurer or something?"
Nick sneered. "Huh! Just a rat, that's all he is."
"So what should we do?" Bob asked, frowning.
"With snow this heavy, no one else will be coming up the mountain," Nick said with a sinister grin. "Besides, he went deep into the Gloomy Forest—there'll be even fewer people there."
Understanding dawned on Bob's face, and he grinned.
"Hahaha… you mean—"
Nick grinned maliciously. "Bob! Lathel foolishly ventured into the Gloomy Forest and got killed by wild beasts—it has nothing to do with us."
Bob laughed along. "Exactly! After he's dead, we'll generously help his woman survive. That's perfectly reasonable, isn't it? Hahahaha…"
"Hahahaha…"
…
After walking for a while, Lathel stepped off the beaten path and entered the dense trees.
He crouched behind a thicket, trying to endure the biting cold, and covered himself with snow until only a small gap remained for him to observe.
He knew clearly that those two thugs wouldn't let him go.
But he had no intention of letting them live either.
While waiting for them to show up, he asked inwardly,
'System, what is this Fate Choice function?'
The System didn't respond—it remained silent, as if what had just happened was merely his imagination.
However, a new line had now been added to his status window—his current objective:
[Kill Bob and Nick.]
Lathel sighed softly.
"I'll figure out how this function works later… For now, I have something more important to do."
His choice of the third option wasn't purely out of anger—it was confidence in his own abilities.
Right now, his Strength had reached 210 points—far beyond any normal person.
Combined with his Immortal talent, killing two thugs was a simple matter.
However, although Bob and Nick were thugs, their backgrounds weren't ordinary.
Bob's father was a butcher, and his strength and brutality made everyone in town afraid of him.
Nick's grandfather was the village chief and held a very high position.
That was why, no matter what these two did, no one dared to punish them.
Lathel quietly watched the snow-covered trail ahead.
Soon, he spotted two dark figures approaching.
"Son of a bitch! Where did that bastard go?" Nick shouted furiously.
Bob looked around and frowned. "He probably went into the forest—or maybe he's already gone farther than we thought."
"Dammit!" Nick ground his teeth. "This snow is too deep. What are we going to do?"
Bob pondered for a moment, then said, "Then let's wait for him here. If he doesn't return by nightfall, it means he's dead—and we can take that girl."
"Excellent! Hahahaha… I don't dare venture deeper either. There are Goblins in this forest—those bastards love eating human flesh." Nick laughed.
Lathel narrowed his eyes and gripped his axe tightly.
The moment Bob and Nick turned to leave, he immediately stood up and hurled the axe toward them.
Whoosh!
The sound of wind whistling from the spinning axe merged with the howling wind around them, so Bob and Nick heard nothing.
Thwack!
"AGH!!!" Nick let out a pained scream and collapsed into the snow.
Bob jolted in shock and quickly stumbled backward. He saw an axe embedded in Nick's back, fresh blood flowing out and staining the white snow—a glaringly vivid sight.
"Save me! Save me! It hurts so much!" Nick screamed and cried miserably.
But Bob reacted differently—he didn't care about Nick at all. His eyes darted around the area, searching for something.
"Looking for me?"
A voice rang out from behind him, making Bob jump. But before he could turn around—
THUD!!!
"ACK!!"
A large rock slammed into his head. He only had time to let out a pained grunt before falling into the snow, his body twitching briefly before going still as fresh blood poured from his head.
The impact was so severe that Lathel could see Bob's temple caved inward, revealing a gaping wound from which blood gushed like a spring.
"Ah! Don't… don't kill me…" Nick was still moving—the axe blade had only struck his back and hadn't killed him instantly.
"Please! It was all Bob's plan—I was just following orders!" Nick looked at Lathel, his face contorted in fear, tears and snot running down his face.
Lathel looked at him, his face showing no emotion. After all, back when he'd joined the adventurer group, he hadn't just died many times—he'd also killed quite a few people.
That was why, when he killed Bob, his heart felt no ripples whatsoever—his calm was terrifyingly steady.
"If I didn't have the ability to resist, I'd be the one lying here right now, wouldn't I?"
Hearing Lathel's words, Nick knew clearly that he wouldn't survive today. Instead of continuing to beg, he immediately switched to threats, shouting,
"You dare to kill me? My grandfather is the village chief—you won't be able to escape!"
"My grandfather will definitely find you, kill you, chop you into a hundred pieces, throw you to the dogs, rape that whore in your house to death—he will—"
Despite Nick's continuous cursing, Lathel pulled the axe from his back, then—
Thwack!
The blade swung down. Nick's head fell off, rolled along the trail for a distance, then finally stopped when blocked by a pile of snow.
Fresh blood stained the white snow, creating an unbearably vivid sight.
Lathel took a deep breath.
Although he wanted to find a peaceful life, that didn't mean anyone could walk all over him.
[Ding! You have successfully completed the 'Fate Choice.' Rewards: +20 Free Attribute Points; Skill – [Basic Close Combat].]
Right then, Lathel felt a string of new memories enter his mind, and his reflexes were enhanced as well.
A moment later, he opened his eyes and smiled.
"Truly excellent. Although it's only Basic Close Combat, it's equivalent to five years of accumulated experience for a low-rank Adventurer."
Having received a new skill, Lathel felt even more confident.
Based on his current Strength stat and close combat skills, even if he faced ten people like Bob and Nick, he could easily achieve victory.
He didn't hesitate and directly added all his free attribute points to STR.
After all, right now he only needed strength to fight and endure this harsh weather.
________________________________________
Name: Lathel
Talent: Immortal (SSS Rank)
Skills: [Basic Close Combat]
Attributes:
STR: 230 | Enlightenment: 0 | Magic: 0 | Luck: 0
________________________________________
Lathel looked at his status window and smiled with satisfaction.
However, he felt his body gradually becoming exhausted from the cold and the physical exertion after battle.
So he immediately did what he usually did.
Using the axe, he chopped down on his own head.
SMASH!
The blade sank deep into his skull.
Lathel collapsed onto the ground, his eyes wide open, his body twitching briefly before falling still.
But afterward, the axe seemed to be pulled out by an invisible hand, and his wound and blood gradually disappeared.
Just one minute later, Lathel sat up, feeling his stamina fully replenished, and felt delighted inside.
This was exactly the bug he had discovered.
When possessing the Immortal talent, after he resurrected, his body would be in its most perfect state.
No matter if he was previously exhausted or poisoned, as long as he resurrected, his body would return to its most perfect state with full stamina—he wouldn't even feel hungry.
Lathel began dragging the corpses of Nick and Bob into the bushes.
He didn't need to hide them too carefully either—with this much snow falling, just one day would be enough to bury their bodies deep beneath the snow.
"Phew!" After finishing, Lathel let out a breath of relief and muttered,
"If anyone wants to find these two's bodies, I'm afraid it'll take more than two days of searching."
Afterward, he continued advancing deeper into the mountains.
The forest edge was a safe area—people had hunted there too much, so there was nothing left.
If he wanted meat to eat, Lathel needed to venture deeper into the forest.
Of course, the deeper he went, the more dangerous it became.
Not only wild beasts, but there were also Goblins and monsters inside—it was very dangerous.
That's why no one dared to venture in.
Lathel carried his axe and walked deeper into the forest.
The snow grew thicker and thicker, rising to his knees, making each step very difficult.
Suddenly, he sensed something and immediately turned around.
GRAOO!!!
A roar rang out.
Lathel only had time to see a Saber-Toothed Tiger charging toward him, its maw wide open, biting down on his shoulder.
"ACK!"
Lathel cried out in pain and fell into the snow.
Crack! Crack!
Gruu! Gruu!
The tiger still didn't let go of Lathel. It bit down hard on his shoulder until he could feel his bones breaking.
Rip!
"AGH!" Lathel screamed in agony as the tiger pulled out a chunk of flesh from his body, fresh blood splattering everywhere.
He gripped the axe tightly and used all his remaining strength to swing it toward the tiger.
Whoosh!
The sound of wind whistling rang out as his full strength exploded.
The tiger jumped in shock and immediately retreated backward.
Slash!
Gruu!!
The axe blade sliced the tiger's leg, leaving a large cut but still not enough to kill it.
Lathel gritted his teeth, trying to endure the terrible pain from his wound.
But at this moment, too much fresh blood was flowing out, his face had turned pale, his flesh and broken bones were in chaos.
GRAOO!!!