The corridor hung heavy with silence. The senior cop's hand hovered near his baton, eyes locked on Zane.
Then—
"Hey, Zane!"
A familiar voice cut through the standoff.
Zane turned.
Jack stood at the entrance, waving casually. His party trailed behind him — armored fighters and robed casters, all looking heroic and ready for a fight. They scanned the room with quiet confidence.
The senior cop's eyes narrowed. The other officers exchanged uneasy glances.
"What are you doing here?" Zane asked, voice flat, as if the senior cop were background noise.
Jack rubbed the back of his head, sheepish.
"Yeah… the ruler of the Safe Zone hired my party to track down the guy who trashed that casino in the slums."
He paused, looking Zane up and down.
"So what about you? What are you doing here?"
Zane replied casually.
"I was just out for a jog. Until the cops told me I matched their suspect description and dragged me to the station."
Jack's eyes widened.
"Wait—you? But you're just a level 43 assassin. No way you could bring down a fully guarded place like that."
He turned to the senior cop, voice firm.
"You guys got the wrong person. I can vouch for him."
The senior cop's face changed instantly — the hard edge softened into something almost embarrassed.
"Oh… don't mind me. I was just testing the group.
Our machines were broken earlier, so I figured if he was really the culprit, he'd have escaped or fought back. But he didn't do a thing."
He waved a hand dismissively at the group.
"You're all free to go. Forget my earlier statement."
The men on the curb looked relieved.
Zane gave a small nod, smirk lingering, as he stepped past the senior cop. The officer watched him go, something uneasy flickering in his eyes.
Zane didn't look back.
Jack fell in beside him, grinning nervously.
"See? It was nothing serious. Come on, let me introduce you to my party."
Zane kept walking, voice low.
"Appreciate the vouch, old friend."
Jack grinned.
"Yeah… anything for a friend."
Zane's eyes swept over Jack's party as they approached. Five in total, including Jack. From their stance and gear, he could guess their roles almost instantly:
An archer, eyes sharp behind her hood;
A mage, with a tall pointed hat, standing straight and alert;
A swordsman, blade casually resting on his shoulder;
A tank, broad and heavily armored, standing like a moving wall;
And Jack himself, another swordsman.
Zane sized them up. Not bad… somewhat balanced, he thought. The system made everything convenient, though it would look way more like a full-on fantasy if they actually drew their weapons.
Jack started, "Hey guys, this is my friend Zane — the one I told you about. And Zane, this is my party. The swordsman over there is our leader, Ray. The girl with the hood is Sheila, she's an archer. That's Mona, our mage. Dean's the tank. And, well… there's me."
Zane nodded slightly, eyes lingering on each of them.
Then he asked, "So… what's your party called?"
Jack replied, "Tiger Heart. We're quite famous in some parts."
Zane nodded slightly and muttered to himself, Guess I was right.
The leader interrupted, "Jack, we don't have time to waste. When we're done catching the culprit, we can meet your friend."
Jack said, "Yeah, sorry about that."
Mona added, "Yeah… when are you ever sorry?"
Sheila scoffed, "He's an embarrassment to the party. Let's just go."
Zane chuckled quietly. So this is the big party? Hardly worth the hype.
Jack said okay Zane I will call you when am done. Zane nodded as they left the placed back his ear piece and continued with his jog.
Moments later, the system chimed in.
[Tadaa! Sign-up bonus has been calculated successfully!]
"Yeah… I almost forgot about that," Zane muttered as he slowed his pace.
Just as the system was about to announce the rewards, Zane cut it off.
"Before that—why did the system throw an error earlier?"
The system replied immediately.
[Sign-up bonuses are intended for newbie or newly exchanged players such as yourself. During registration, your recorded stats did not align with those of a typical beginner, which caused an error in the initial calculation.]
[As a result, the system was required to reassess your rewards based on your actual stats.]
Zane raised a brow slightly.
"So that's how it is…"
The system continued.
[That said, your stats are highly abnormal. Under normal circumstances, the rewards you qualify for would be of a much higher level.]
[However, to ensure fairness, your sign-up rewards have been adjusted—high, but not excessively so, and within reasonable alignment with your current stats.]
Zane let out a quiet breath through his nose.
"Figures."
Rewards:
1. S-Rank Dual Sword: Soul Ledger
"All that is slain is recorded. All that is recorded may be used."
Effect:
Absorbs the skills of enemies or monsters killed by the wielder.
Up to five skills can be stored per use. Once the limit is reached, additional kills do not grant new skills until previously stored skills are deployed or cleared.
Stored skills can be assigned, copied, or activated by the wielder at will.
Limitations:
Cannot store passive abilities that permanently alter the target's stats.
Skills that exceed the wielder's level or system restrictions may be temporarily downgraded.
Only activates when the target is fully defeated; partial damage or incapacitation does not trigger skill absorption.
Passive Flavor:
"Each life leaves a trace. Only the sharpest mind may wield their knowledge without being consumed."
2. Double current CP amount.
[Reward calculated based on your existing CP value. Any fixed CP addition was deemed insignificant relative to your total. Default compensation method: multiplication.]
3. Aegis Mantle (Backstab-Type)
Rank: A
Effect:
– Any attack originating from the wearer's blind spots has its damage significantly reduced or partially nullified
– Reduction applies to physical, magical, ranged, and skill-based attacks
– Effect triggers regardless of visibility, stealth, or teleportation
Passive: Blind Spot Denial
– The system no longer recognizes the wearer's blind spots as full vulnerabilities
– Hostile intent is detected and resolved before damage calculation
Limitations:
– Absolute damage and concept-type attacks are unaffected
– Effectiveness decreases against enemies of higher rank than the wearer
– Continuous or multi-directional assaults reduce overall efficiency