章 39: A rare opportunity

"How?"

It was the last word Shadow118 could utter with his tongue before his muscles started to lose strength and blood started to ooze out of his mouth.

He had clearly seen Leo die before his very eyes.

He had seen the arrow pierce his neck, blood spurt out of the wound and his body go limp.

Nobody could survive such a puncture of their throat-

This should be impossible, yet somehow it was happening…..

"Don't try to kill people you can't afford to offend" Leo said in a cold voice as the last thought that Shadow had in his mind before dying was that Leo was definitely a hidden bigshot that he had underestimated.

Was his death an illusion?

Was him resting and pretending not to notice him a trap?

Was he an assassin himself?

These were questions that Shadow118 had to sadly carry to his grave as he died a rather pathetic death in front of Leo.

[ System Notification :- You have killed NPC Assassin 'Vespa' a.k.a wanted Assassin 'Shadow118' ( Level 60 )

You have killed an enemy of the state and gained +10 fame.

You have killed an enemy more than twice your level and gained tremendous amounts of Exp!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up! ]

Leo shuddered with fear once his attacker was dead.

He had absolutely no clue on what was going on or why was he attacked, however, as he read the level60 tag on the Assassin's level, he felt shivers running through his entire body as he genuinely felt afraid.

"God-damn it, it fucking hurts" He cursed as he recalled the brief sensation that he felt as his neck was pierced and he died as that split second pain was enough to give him a life-time worth of trauma.

*Trtrtrtrtr*

Leo shuddered violently and uncontrollably as for a moment he lost his horses.

This was the first time he had ever faced actual death whether it be his life on the line or him taking the life of another human and it was a terrifying experience.

*Ulurghhh*

He vomited as despite his brain knowing that this was just a game, the whole experience was just so realistic that he could not get over it at all.

He was just a regular human child, living a simple life until a couple of days ago and he could not simply just go about killing people as if it were nothing.

What shocked him more than the fact that he was attacked was the fact that he did not hesitate at all when stabbing that man in the heart as the second when he came back online after using the death evasion token, he plunged his sword into his unaware opponent's heart, catching him off-guard and killing him instantly.

"I killed a human-like character…. With my own hands" Leo murmured as he vomited once more feeling absolutely disgusted at his own actions.

Because he was wearing a mask, that he awkwardly lifted slightly before puking, while he puked most of his guts out clean, he did make a slight mess off his mask and his clothes which made him feel even more dirty than usual.

"It's just a game…."

"Just a game…"

"No different from a PC game"

"No different from shooting someone on a PC with a gun"

He kept repeating as he tried to convince himself that his actions were acceptable because there was no actual loss of life that happened as a result of his actions.

This was just a game world where NPC and monsters were just a product of the algorithm and hence killing them was fine.

"You're okay…."

"You're okay"

Slowly, over ten minutes, Leo called down as his shivering stopped and he was able to inspect his own situation better.

He was sitting at 20% HP and the arrow that pierced his neck and its wound seemed to have magically healed.

He had gained 8 levels by killing the level60 warrior, ironically skyrocketing his real level to 32 just like his fake level on the rankings.

It was a windfall achievement, everything considered as if he did not kill his opponent and accepted his death silently he would have lost 4 inventory items and 2 levels, regressing to the same level as the number 2 played.

However, more important than his level was the loot that the corpse dropped and what opportunity it represented for Leo.

[ System Notification:-

You have obtained

1x Assassin's robes ( rare )

2x Poisoned dagger ( rare )

1x Cursed Spider identification token ( unique)

1x Cursed Spider mask ( unique )

1x Assassin's Alliance examination entrance token( unique ) ]

The dead assassin dropped a lot of items including his fresh robe which was made from rare materials capable of resisting rough wear and tear.

Two poisoned daggers laced with extremely toxic toad poison.

An assassin guild identification token.

An assassin guild mask.

And an Assassin Alliance examination token that was the most important dropped item off the bunch.

[ Assassin Alliance examination entrance token ( Unique ) - This token is given to the bright and promising upcoming assassins of every guild so that they can travel to the Assassin's Alliance and get a chance to be selected as trainees under master Assassin's.

This specific token is for an examination that will take place 23 hours from now and will grant the bearer a chance to participate ]

The token was the key to becoming an experienced Assassin should Leo wish to become one and a rare opportunity to join the ranks of a faction that could not be traditionally joined by players of Terra Nova Online.

But the question remained as to whether or not Leo was cut out for such a path?

-------

/// A/N - Please check the author notes attached below- Thankyou ///

クリエイターの想い
Raj_Shah_7152

We have hit the PS target, So bonus soon!

also here is an updated Leo stat pannel.

I think it's correct, but I'm unsure if the unassigned stat points should be 185 or 85, I'll appreciate if someone can help me about it.

1 level = 10 unassigned stat points. he gained 8 so 80 come from there.

*********

The Boss's Character Profile

Name: The Boss

Race: Human (Status: Restricted)

Title: [Fake It Till You Make It] (Equipped)

Class: Actor (Unique) (Stage: Beginner )

Current Level: 32

[ Vital Stats ]

Health Points (HP): 236/256

Mana: Currently Unavailable

Stamina: 18/35

[ Core Attributes ]

Strength (48)

Agility (38)

Dexterity (52)

Intelligence (41)

Endurance (34)

Physique (41)

SPECIAL OPTION- Edit attribute panel for display [✒️]

UNASSIGNED ATTRIBUTE POINTS - 185

[ Learned Skills ]

• ( Mimic ) ( Unique ) ( Beginner )

• ( empty )

[ Equipment ]

- Worn Gear: Bloody Soldier Robe, Virex Black Ops Mask

[ Inventory ]

- 63x Bronze Coins

- 186x Silver Coins

- 67x Gold Coin

-1x Combat Skill Scroll ( Rare )

-1x Combat Skill Scroll ( Common )

- Basic Layman's Clothes ( slightly dirty )

- 1x Virex token ( Imperial )

- 1x Bone Sword ( Rare )

-3X Death Evasion Token ( ???? )

1x Assassin's robes ( rare )

2x Poisoned dagger ( rare )

1x Cursed Spider identification token ( unique)

1x Cursed Spider mask ( unique )

1x Assassin's Alliance examination entrance token( unique )

**********

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章 40: Life altering decision

Leo found himself on a difficult crossroad of life.

The token in his possession represented a unique chance, and by a twist of fate, the location it bore matched the 'X' on his map.

This revelation made him realize that what he had thought to be a treasure outpost at first, was, in fact, a hidden lair of assassins.

If he chose to head there posing as the dead assassin he would have a chance to enroll himself into the Assassin Alliance, but there was also a risk that everything could go south and he could be killed with his identity being exposed.

He was not even sure if joining an assassin alliance would be permitted by the system or not? However, all he knew was the fact that he had 24 hours to decide his fate.

The token he possessed expired in a day and once it expired, gone would be the chance to enroll into the Assassin Alliance and after that even if he decided otherwise he would not have an opportunity to explore that path.

On one hand, his mind reminded him as to how repulsed he felt about killing one man, but on the other it told him that if he wanted to become a player that was a cut above the rest then he had to utilize every opportunity that presented before himself.

Deep down, Leo knew that this was going to be a life defining decision.

Uptil now, he had no understanding of what the true purpose of Terra Nova Online was, however, he had a strong gut feeling that this game was not just meant for pleasure and that the aliens forcing every human to play this game needed to have a deeper meaning behind it.

While he did not understand that purpose, he felt that walking down the path of becoming an assassin might help him realize it and that if he did not take up this opportunity now he would surely regret it later.

"What should I do? Mom? What would you say I do?" Leo murmured as he put a hand to his heart and tried to think as clearly about this issue as he could.

His heart told him to exit the game for now and think about it in the real world so it was exactly what Leo did.

Logging out of the game even though he still had 2 more hours of playtime before his next shift, Leo woke up in his small cabin and stared at Luke's limp body beside him which was still connected to the game.

Reaching out to his backpack from earth placed in a corner of his small apartment, Leo brought out a picture of his family and stared intently at his mother's face.

In his heart there was a silent storm brewing as it was one of those moments where Leo felt his entire life and every decision he made so far overlapping with one another as his emotional capacity reached its peak.

Everything from his absent father, to his poor upbringing to how acting like a bigshot and being the source of envy for the common players secretly felt good overlapped in a swirling mess with the sensation of killing a man for the first time trumping them all.

***************

( A couple of hours later )

As Luke woke up, 15 minutes before their next shift, he was surprised to see Leo sitting silently in a corner of the room sketching something in his notebook instead of playing Terra Nova.

His eyes were swollen red as if he had silently cried for hours and Luke felt perplexed as to what was going on?

He made eye-contact with Leo, who acknowledged his presence, however, there was an anger behind his red eyes that made Luke feel hesitant to converse with his younger brother as although he did not understand what was going through Leo's mind, he understood that it was better to give him space at this time.

Saying nothing, Luke silently began to change into their sewage worker clothes as all his excitement about telling Leo how he bought a sword and was now leveling up in the wild by killing horned rabbits faded away.

The duo had agreed just yesterday that both of them would try their best to escape the slum that was sector E and promote themselves to Sector D in the upcoming evaluation, however, despite that promise Leo was sitting with red eyes in a corner of the room and Luke could not even ask him why.

On one hand, he felt worried about his little brother, but on the other he knew that this was one of those moments where he just had to trust him as a man.

'Leo….. will you be okay?' was a question that Luke wanted to ask, however, the words that came out of his mouth instead were "Shifts in 15" as Leo nodded his head.

Putting his sketchbook aside, Leo too stood up and began dressing up in their cleaned and laundered orange work clothes, when an unexpected visitor suddenly entered their small apartment.

A young and handsome man with golden hair, blue eyes who looked like a Greek model walked into their room in pure white robes with gold embroidery that had a beautiful 'S' embroided on it.

He was clearly a man from the uppermost standing within the ship, an urban elite who belonged to the same circle as the president of USA.

However the question in the Skyshard brothers minds was-, why would such a man visit them out of the blue?

The man looked around the small apartment, clearly surprised by how cramped it was and then towards Luke and Leo as he said "Hello, I'm Cervantez and I beg your pardon for barging into your small apartment unannounced, but I believe I have a proposition that might pique your interest- I know a way to get your mother onboard this very ship with you."

—------ x x x —--------

End of introductory volume!

—--------- x x x —------

/// A/N - Please read my rant in the author notes below as it is written with the sole purpose of reader empowerment ///

クリエイターの想い
Raj_Shah_7152

Hey guys, first of all a big thankyou to everyone reading this note. I'm very very glad that you have reached this far into my story and thank you for it.

I'm writing this note because I want to inform you all on how webnovel pricing system works and how my writing style will be in the future.

I've already written two books on this platform and understand the concerns that readers sometimes have in their minds so I'll like to address them here for once and for all.

1) Paid chapters in webnovel have to be a Minimum of 1000 words to be published.

You cannot publish a chapter for 999 words or 899 words and if a chapter if being published in this book it will always be 1000 words or more, so although at times you might feel that the length of a chapter is small or big, just understand that regardless of how you feel the chapters are always beyond a set length.

2) The author does not set the prices of the chapter, the platform does. I have absolutely no role on the individual chapter prices and only decide the price of privilege tiers on the book.

3) The per coin chapter cost Is fixed for length which increases by 1 coin for every 200 words.

So a chapter with 1001 words costs the same as a chapter with 1199 words.

However a chapter with 1199 words will cost less than a chapter with 1201 words.

what this means is chapter costs vary for 1000 words, 1200 words, 1400 words and so on.

It's my personal policy to write 20-30 word author notes in the chapter once in a while, however, I only do so when it does not affect the chapter cost, so if you ever see an author note, just know that it's not affecting your paid coins at all.

If a chapter ends at 1150 words, I might put a 30 word author note at the end, but I never write a long one to charge you more.

Hope this clears any doubts you have in mind and helps you feel secure about the coins you gift or pay for my work.

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