CHAPTER 28: WILL BE FIXED SOON!

Inside the room, a few people can be seen together, but they clearly weren’t having a pleasant conversation. The atmosphere was tense, ready to explode at any moment like a ticking time bomb.

"What did you just say? You failed to seduce Norman, the guard captain?" a man with spiky hair that looked like it had been struck by lightning shouted.

His right eye was hidden behind an eyepatch, while his other black eye glared angrily at the woman in front of him.

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."

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.

This time, I didn’t just dodge.

As his dagger came slicing toward my ribs, I pivoted on my back foot, letting the blade pass within an inch of my shirt. Before he could retract his arm, I dropped my weight, crouched low, and slammed my fist into the meat of his forearm.

"Ah!" he screamed as the dagger clattered to the ground.

I didn’t give him time to breathe. As he hunched over, clutching his arm, I circled behind him, hands straightened like blades, and brought both palms together in a sharp clap against his temples.

Thud!

His eyes rolled back, showing only the whites, before he crumpled to the ground in a limp heap.

I exhaled, patted off my hands as if I had just thrown out the trash, and looked at the second thug in silence.

He pointed at me with a trembling finger.

I raised my hand and started counting.

"One."

The thug looked surprised, clearly not expecting me to actually count.

"You! I’m warning you, you’re messing with the wro—"

"Two."

He paused, gritting his teeth.

"Three."

He looked like he was ready to spew more words, but his eyes darted to his unconscious friend, and he became extremely hesitant.

"Four."

Almost immediately, he turned around and bolted down the passage.

But after a few steps, he glanced over his shoulder and shouted, "I’ll remember your face! You can forget about dying peacefully when we meet again!"

I continued emotionlessly.

"Five."

The thug flinched and took off running at full speed, this time without looking back.

I slowly let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

It was a breath of relief.

When I looked down, I noticed my hands were trembling just a little.

"Y-you! You dare to knock out Brad?! Don’t you know who we are?!"

"Isn’t it a little late to bring that up? You should’ve mentioned it before I put your friend to sleep."

I tilted my head slightly.

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.

Maybe it wasn’t quite hell difficulty, but it was definitely nightmare level.

...

[Cure ten people]

[Reward: A rare potion recipe]

[Completion: 0/10]

"Ugly bastard?" Peter repeated, looking confused.

"The bastard who took my treasure map. That ugly, fat piece of shit Radhanian, Aiden Edwards."

"Oh. Him."