CHAPTER 25: WILL BE FIXED SOON!

Through the dirty cloth draped over my head, covering half my face, I could make out their worn-out clothes and the daggers strapped to their waists.

They were standing there with their arms crossed, trying way too hard to look intimidating.

"This road was opened by me," one declared.

"This tree was planted by me," the other chimed in.

"If you want to pass here, leave your money behind."

While the original Aiden had only lived in the city for less than a year, thus leaving me with limited knowledge about the place. Some information stuck out clearly in my mind, such as the details of Five Rings, the Sadis Gang, and a man known as "Rat" Peter.

They were dangerous, and maybe that’s why Aiden paid extra attention to them.

For example, the Five Rings was the name of a criminal organization that had just come into existence several years ago. It was formed through an alliance between five already well-known and powerful gangs, one of them being the Sadis Gang.

Each of the five founding gangs had its own specialty.

In the case of the Sadis Gang, it was information. They were experts at digging up secrets.

In a way, they operated like private investigators or information brokers. You could practically hire them to dig up anything. But unlike professionals, they had no sense of ethics. They had no bottom line and weren’t scared to cross the boundary without hesitation.

If they needed to, they’d break into someone’s home, kill the occupants, and wait inside just to eavesdrop on a target living next door. As long as it helped them get what they wanted, they didn’t care who got caught in the crossfire.

Their infamous motto was:

"There’s no such thing as a forever secret—only cowards who don’t dare to uncover it."

Naturally, as the gang’s reputation grew, so did the notoriety of its top members.

Within the Sadis Gang, no name was more well-known than "Rat" Peter. It was rumored he served as the left hand of Alduin Sadis himself, the gang’s leader.

And now that very dangerous man had shown up at my house?

What could possibly be the meaning of this?

His involvement suggested the original Aiden’s death wasn’t simple at all!

At first, I thought the original Aiden had simply gotten on the wrong side of some small gang. That alone would’ve been bad enough.

But if one of the Five Rings was behind everything, this whole matter might run deeper and complicated than I ever imagined.

’What would they gain from killing the original Aiden? And what were they searching for in his house?’

"It was nighttime, so I couldn’t see clearly. But I saw "Rat" Peter standing outside your house with a few of his men. I could hear stuff breaking inside. Then someone came out and whispered something to Peter, and he went in himself. After that, I didn’t stick around. I was afraid they’d spot me." Richie said.

Naturally, I knew better than to mess with guys like this. If I were still the same person back on Earth, I probably would’ve just handed over the money or tried to look for alternative routes.

But maybe it was because I had already died once. Inherited Aiden’s memories, that was filled with bloody, adult-rated scenes, really far from anything peaceful. Met a goddess-like being and even conversed with her. Compared to those, meeting a few street thugs just didn’t seem frightening anymore.

In fact, right now, I even felt the urge to poke fun at their little act.

"What tree? I don’t see any tree here."

They both froze, clearly caught off guard by my response.

For a moment, neither said anything, looking speechless. Finally, one of them snapped out of it and yelled, "You fucker! That’s not the point you should be concerned about! If you want to pass through us, you have to pay!"

"But you just said you planted a tree, and I don’t see one. And you claimed you built this road, but everyone knows it’s been here for more than twenty-five years. Judging by how you two look, you can’t be older than thirty. Are you telling me you were laying down roads when you were just less than ten?"

I paused, then put a hand over my chest and bowed my head solemnly.

"If that’s true, I must say...I pity you. My condolences."

The two froze again, but this time they snapped out of it faster. Their faces turned bright red, like they were about to explode from rage.

Grinding his teeth, one of them drew his dagger and charged straight at me.

"You’re courting death!"

"Damn, this guy can’t take a joke," I grumbled quietly.

In just a few seconds, he had closed the distance. His arm lashed out like a snake, aiming the blade straight at my chest.

At first, I had no idea what to do. Back on Earth, I had almost zero street-fighting experience; hell, I had never even thrown a proper punch at someone.

Yet, just as the dagger was about to reach me, my body moved on its own, almost purely on instinct. I twisted sharply to the left, and the blade missed me by a hair.

Still processing my own reflex, I looked up to find the hatchet man glaring at me like I had just insulted his mother.

"You dare to dodge?!" the thug roared.

"What do you expect me to do? Stand still and let you stab me? Are you fucking serious?" I shot back.

"Even so, you shouldn’t dodge! I might’ve spared you after one slice. But now? Now you’ve pissed me off. A single cut won’t be enough!"

"Bullshit! Do you take me for some innocent kid? " I spat.

Fuming, he lunged at me again. But, just like before, all of his attacks ended up missing.

This dragged on for nearly half a minute.

"Looks like someone needs lessons on how to swing a dagger," I said lightly. By now, I had a clear grasp of my body’s rhythm, dodging him was as easy as dodging a kid’s punch.

"You bastard! Once I get you, I’ll torture you so bad you’ll beg me to stop!"

"Yawn. Try hitting me first, then talk," I said, letting out an exaggerated yawn, which drove the hatched man even madder.

Strangely, even with a man actively trying to carve me up, I wasn’t panicking and even still in the mood to fool around.

’Is this because I possessed Aiden’s body? Not only did I inherit his memories, but also his reflexes, traits, skills, and much more? Things that used to terrify me, like having a lunatic trying to stab me, now barely even faze me.’

"Brad, what the hell are you doing?!" the second thug finally barked, unable to bear it any longer watching his buddy keep repeating swing and miss.

"Huff... huff... this guy’s fast," Brad wheezed, sweat dripping down his temple. "I can’t hit him no matter what."

Snarling, he lunged forward once more.

Even after working like a horse for an entire year in Apel City, I could barely make 50 gold, and that was already counting all the tips I got from rich customers. Now, in Putih City, where I rarely get a single client, I’d be lucky to scrape together ten gold in a year. And she wants me to come up with five hundred in a month? Why doesn’t she just tell me to go straight rob a bank instead?!"

I almost lost my mind just trying to figure out where the hell I was supposed to get such a big amount of money.

And honestly, what did she even need it for? She’s a goddess, for fuck’s sake. Can’t she just snap her fingers and make gold appear out of thin air? Or steal it herself if she wants? Or was this her way of testing my capability? To see if I was truly worthy to be her saint?

If so, then congratulations, she had basically set the difficulty to hell mode.

After a moment, I sighed.

It was a sigh of resignation, knowing I didn’t have a choice in the first place.

Once again, I was reminded just how insignificant I really was.

After a moment, I shook my head to clear away the useless thoughts and kept on reading.

Maybe the next quest is much easier to accomplish?

[Side Quest]

[Destroy the Five Rings of the West Borough]

[Reward: Medium-Tier Skill Book x1]

[Completion: 0/5]

"..."

If there were a table in front of me, I’d flip it without hesitation.

"Was she drunk when she came up with this quest? I haven’t met the Five Rings in person, but just hearing the rumors is enough to know they’re not the kind of people someone like me can mess with. If they existed on Earth, they would probably be on the same level as Yakuza or Triad, and what, the goddess told me to destroy them? Hell nah. I would probably be dead the second I think about doing it."

"This quest definitely isn’t any easier than collecting five hundred gold in a month."

I sighed, already pessimistic about the next quest.

[Sleep with Priestess]

[Reward: Permanent Stat Upgrader x1]

I went completely speechless.

Sure, this wasn’t as outright dangerous as destroying gangs, but I couldn’t exactly call it easy either.

In this kingdom, priestesses were about as common as rare, exotic animals. You only ever saw them at official ceremonies, city festivals, or other formal occasions. The rest of the time, they were hidden away in monasteries.

How exactly was I supposed to sleep with a priestess if I couldn’t even meet one outside an event?

And even if I did manage to find one, how was I supposed to convince her to sleep with me? I couldn’t even hold a girl’s hand back on Earth, let alone seduce a priestess.

It was like asking a fish to fly.