The middle-aged man pointed a gun at Ash's head. His expression was calm.
Ash felt the gun tip against his head. His body stiffened. His mind raced for a way out, but he continued to bandage the wound, pretending to be calm.
"Are you going to kill me?" Ash asked cautiously.
"Why not? I can take the items you've gathered if you die," the man said calmly.
Ash raised his hands in surrender. Cold sweat ran down his back. 'Activate Shadow Sword,' he ordered the system inwardly.
Ting
[Skill: Shadow Sword activated.]
"Wouldn't we get more items if we worked together?" Ash tried to persuade him, keeping his expression calm.
The man was silent. He looked at Ash blankly. Then, he lowered the hand holding the gun, exhaled, and whispered, "I can't do this. I can't kill another human..."
Ash looked at the man with pity.
"I have children and a wife in the real world. Why did I have to be dragged here?" The man started to sob.
Ash said nothing. He pretended to adjust the bandages on the man's leg, which were already secure. The man rubbed his nose and stopped sobbing.
"We need to get out of this place. It's too damp and cold to spend the night," Ash said after he finished pretending to sympathize.
'After all, he just pointed a gun at me,' he thought, slightly annoyed.
"Yeah, but I can hardly walk," the man said.
"Hmm. I'll find and make something to help you walk," Ash said after a moment of thought. "You wait here, okay? I'll be quick."
The man nodded weakly. Ash left him some food and canned coffee from his supplies, then walked to the riverside.
He thought about how sad the man's children and wife must be. He took a deep breath.
'The same goes for me. How is Mom doing?' This encounter made him want to go home quickly.
He climbed a tree not far from the river. He chose a tree trunk as thick as his fist with his two branches, intending to make a walking stick for the man.
'Oh, I forgot to ask the man's name. I'll ask later.'
He was carefully cleaning the trunk with his knife when he saw five people walking from upstream. They looked like market thugs, covered in tattoos. They were talking loudly.
Ash quickly ducked under the leaves in the tree. His instincts told him to stay hidden from these people.
They walked towards where the middle-aged man was. Soon after, the five people reached the hole and found the man under the rock. Ash watched them, not knowing what to do.
Then two gunshots were heard. After that, silence.
The five men then left the hole while holding the gun, which belonged to the man inside the hole, laughing and joking with each other.
"Game Map," Ash muttered quietly.
Ting
The map screen appeared. He immediately pressed 'Show Others,' then clicked on one of the five red dots representing the men leaving the area.
Ting
[Player Number: #77926.]
[Profession: Rogue.]
He frowned, then clicked on another red dot.
Ting
[Player Number: #03639.]
[Profession: Rogue.]
He seemed to understand something and clicked another red dot to confirm his suspicion.
Ting
[Player Number: #88264.]
[Profession: Rogue.]
He clicked the remaining two dots. All of them showed the same Profession: Rouge.
His suspicion was confirmed, and he gasped. 'So, this is what 'Rogue' means? Do they commit robbery in groups?'
If so, he should avoid players with the Rogue profession, especially with his skill level still low.
'Ah, that man!' He remembered the injured middle-aged man. He hurriedly climbed down from the tree and ran towards the hole under the rock to check on him.
What he saw made him freeze. The man was dead, a sharp stick lodged in his chest.
***
It was already afternoon when Ash finished digging a hole near the river and buried the middle-aged man. He regretted not taking him away sooner.
This made him feel emotional. All of the man's belongings, including his gun, were gone. The Rouges must have taken them.
There was one thing he didn't understand: why the Rouges were only targeting the middle-aged man but didn't find him, even though he was hiding not far from the injured man? Yet, they could immediately locate the middle-aged man. 'Hmm…'
He put aside this strange thought, deciding it might be a game bug. He gritted his teeth, determined to hunt down the Rouges.
***
Ash buttoned his jacket while watching the map screen. The five red dots were stationary. He was in a tree close to their position.
The map showed they were in a building that looked like an abandoned warehouse. It was on a hill with no trees around it.
Several large, unpowered fans were mounted on its walls. They had a bonfire lit inside, and he could occasionally hear their laughter.
When the moon was directly overhead, he climbed down from the tree and approached the warehouse carefully. He activated his Shadow Sword skill.
The bonfire's flames were visible between the roof and walls of the warehouse. He heard the sound of burning wood, but no voices.
He peeked through one of the large fans. A campfire burned in the middle of the warehouse.
The five Rouges were sleeping around it. This was his chance.
The distance between the fan frame and the gap between the roof and walls was not far. He climbed the fan and reached the gap, pulling himself up to sit there.
From the gap, he could see everything inside: boxes stacked randomly against the walls, and hay scattered on the floor in some areas.
Slowly, he drew his sword and jumped towards the sleeping Rouges. His sword immediately pierced one man's chest.
The man screamed, but his voice was choked with blood. He died instantly. Hearing the scream, the others woke up and tried to gang up on Ash.
Ash, using his Shadow Sword skill, moved nimbly, avoiding their attacks and counter-attacking. Soon after, they fell to the ground, lifeless.
One, two, three, four…
'Where's the fifth person?!'
"You bastard!" a voice came from behind him. The fifth Rogue had gone outside while Ash was climbing the warehouse wall and had returned just after Ash killed his friends.
Ash turned quickly, but the Rogue fired his gun, hitting Ash's shoulder. Ignoring the pain, and wanting to avoid dying, Ash immediately jumped at the Rogue and swung his sword at his neck.
The fifth Rogue's body knelt, his gun pointing at the ground. Then, his body fell forward onto his stomach. His head rolled away to the side of the warehouse.
Seeing the human head roll away, Ash, who had relied only on his skills to fight his enemies, immediately vomited. This was his first time killing humans, and it left him feeling unwell.