Chapter 5: SlumsAs much as I might ment the low value of first level drops, I’ve been conveniently ignoring my best income source: Bandits. I’ve already made a lot of money from bounties and even by selling the bandana-thief. With my special skills, I could be a fantastic bounty hunter! Of course, the more I hunt them, the more they’ll hunt me. I might never feel safe enough to settle down or even sleep easy. That’s a career for a game, not a comfortable life.

  Oh right, the bandit-bandana. It’d be a shame not to use it after dooming that guy to svery for swiping it. Since it’s just for Bandits (it’s in the name), I’ll need to do it on the bck market. If I recall, a certain someone used the bandana as bait to sughter some criminals in their sleep. Feels like a bit too much, even for me. Fine after they run at me with a sword, but killing a sleeping person just because the system says it’s allowed doesn’t sit quite right. (Good to know I still have some moral limits… for now.)

  Still a bit early so to distract myself with more pleasant thoughts, I decided to head to the byrinth to rip through some monsters. But, why bother to walk? Now that I’m alone, time to test my warp skill, which seems to basically be fast-travel, allowing me to teleport anywhere I’ve already been. Since movement-magic is known here, even my Explorer job has one, it should be fine if others see me use it.

  I open a portal and step into a quiet spot of the byrinth, trying to act casual in case anyone sees me. Wow, that was way cooler than seeing little HUDs pop up! Reading about it gave none of the experience of undeniably real magic. Only way I’d go back to my old world now would be kicking and screaming the whole way… and then start drawing random, magic-looking circles to find a way back here. (Calm down, fan-boy.)

  This OP sword helps me recover magic power, MP, so I childishly flitted about the byrinth, chopping down trees at will. After a while, it feels like the criminals should have come out to py. Tuuli may wonder where I am, but it’s not like we really have a routine established. She probably assumes I went to a bar.

  In search of a buyer, I warp out to an alley near the sve shop. Damn, it’s dark! I guess it’s true that this world has no moon. [1] With one hand on the wall, I move in the direction the merchant warned me to avoid, the slums, I think. Continuing towards lights that turn out to come from the brothels, I follow the few nterns towards the increasingly bad smell. I must be heading in the right direction. Now, to find a friendly criminal I can understand. Preferably, he’ll also be alone, unarmed and honest to a fault.

  Appraisal HUDs show a few criminals here and there. A bit further in, I spot a young couple (low-level vilgers) in what appears to be an awkward situation with some thugs. Sure wish those vilgers would get away from my potential customers. More bad guys show up and soon, Bonk. Down goes the vilger guy and both get dragged away. The locals in the vicinity don’t appear to witness anything. Outright selfish of those tourists to get mugged here. OK, enough joking, this is actually real — sickeningly so. [2]

  The gleeful kidnappers aren’t hard to follow. I don’t exactly blend in, but those guys are loud enough for everyone else to turn away. Really must be their turf to be so carefree. Seven thugs and their captives enter a shabby shack. A single, sad-looking Bandit is left behind to guard the door.

  Although I have no proof of what it looked like they’re about to do, I sure don’t want to wait till it’s too te. I hereby preemptively judge all of those thugs to be guilty. With the fair trial out of the way, it’s time to proceed to the impartial sentencing. Well, considering that simply having a criminal job qualifies them for immediate execution, I already gave more consideration than technically necessary.

  As distracted as these guys are, a frontal attack would certainly alert them. I don’t look enough like them to cim that I had trouble finding a pce to park. Instead, I’ll have to quietly take out the guard, just like in the movies. Then, I’ll swoop in and “catch them with their pants down”. Oh, I really wish hadn’t gotten that image into my head, but maybe better to prepare myself for the worst — bare bandit butts.

  I warp in behind the lone guard and take him down him with a quick, merciful stab. Good. No noise. No witnesses, I hope. The door is unlocked, maybe isn’t lockable, so I recruit the dead guard to act as my makeshift shield and step inside. Fortunately, they’re still at the verbal-taunting stage and practically drooling in anticipation.

  They’re so engrossed, that I manage to take out the closest two before the others have time to wonder why their guard has apparently gone mad. I toss the guard at the least-confused vilin and continue to strike them down, one after another. No questions asked. None are spared.

  Most of them were rather low-level so they might not fetch much bounty. Of course, that can’t compare to saving this young couple, at least this time. I don’t really wanna know why the pair was out here or what they were doing because it’s more comfortable to assume that they’re purely innocent.

  It’s all over, but now what? Can’t just casually stroll out of a shack full of dead guys like nothing’s happened — “it was like that when I got here”. Did I make too much noise? Could others come to join the party? Are they already here? Even the silence outside is suspicious. Better stack a few bodies to block the door.

  Checking on the “innocent victims”, it seems that they’re breathing normally and probably not too badly hurt. The girl seems to have fainted, either from relief of getting rescued or witnessing the utter carnage. I’ll just fix her clothes a bit and she’ll be fine.

  Well, no new guests have arrived to join the party so I might be in the clear. Sword at the ready, I push aside the doorstops and take a peek outside. Just a few people in the distance so immediate ambush seems unlikely. After closing the door again, I notice that the bad guys’ status cards have popped out — guess I was here longer than I thought. “Just collecting tickets, st stop.”

  After a few gentle face sps, the boy wakes up. Making sure my hood is up, “Hey, you got mugged but you’re safe now. Take the girl and…” Yep, he can’t understand a word I’m saying. Fortunately, he’s smart enough to keep quiet and wait for instructions. Well, the pile of dead bodies around us might have helped give the impression that I’m in charge.

  I get him to gently wake the girl and they leave quietly. Admirable level of composure. I know I’m risking exposure by letting them go, but anonymity isn’t important enough to… well, would’ve been no sense in rescuing them in the first pce if I was that paranoid.

  Leaving me alone to clean up, huh? I could just leave it like this, but several missing thugs should cause less trouble than a pile of dead ones. They say that byrinths absorb corpses so I’ll just dump them there. I open a portal, check to make sure no one’s near and start shoving the bodies through. Making sure to gather up the swords, I also step through for the perfect getaway — except for the ke of blood I left behind.

  Oh, my head is throbbing from keeping that warp portal open so long. I hunt nearby trees and hack away till my head clears. The bodies have been absorbed without a trace, leaving only their gear behind. I gather the scattered coins and swords before warping back to my room.

  I drop the loot, change to my least dirty shirt and warp out to a nearby alley to fetch my room key. I figured I had better get a couple of buckets of hot water to wash up and soak my dirty clothes. I’d really like to find a undromat but, wait, this inn has undry services. Well, this amount of blood may raise some suspicion so hot water will do for now. Time to get back.

  Tuuli wakes up to me coming in or I woke her up the first time. Considering that she saw me drenched in blood just yesterday, it probably doesn’t seem out of character. She motions for me to strip and proceeds to wipe off the worst of it. Would really prefer a nice, hot shower, but this is good enough for now. Gd that the blood doesn’t seem to bother her. I guess it’s normal in her environment… and mine now. I nod some sort of thanks, change into my old-world t-shirt and get into bed. Tuuli happily slides in behind me, snuggling up like it’s perfectly natural. Before nature takes its course, I send her away, as if she was just pying a harmless game.

  Yeah, I’m not that stupid, even if I pretend to be. I know what she’s suggesting or at least offering. And, I’m neither a saint nor a prude. Call me weird but the idea of having sex with a sve just feels wrong — says the guy who just sughtered a bunch of street thugs. Even if she isn’t some innocent waif, it’s still, by definition, a forced situation. But, putting any savior fantasies aside for the moment, what’s Tuuli’s actual motivation? Most likely, it’s either a defense against getting dumped or it’s simple entrapment.

  Even if it’s true love, I am not going to start dragging a pregnant woman through the byrinths or fight with a BabyBj?rn strapped to my back. OK, that should be a scary enough image to calm me down… nope, that seemed to make it even worse. I gotta get out of here before I viote the sanctity of our master-sve retionship.

  “Later, babe. I’ve got some hot merch to fence.” I quickly throw on my gear and a cape, escape to the corridor and warp back out to the slums — but away from the murder shack. Just hope no one’s noticed it yet. I’ll try again to find a potential buyer, but if more innocents decide to get mugged, I might just have to kill them myself. (Not really.) Wandered around for a while and soon got lucky. I spotted a retively isoted Bandit speaking English. As soon as he was alone, I approached.

  “Hey buddy, wanna buy a Rolex?”

  “Huh?”

  “Know a guy named ‘Hugo’?”

  “What if I do?”

  “Well, he had a special bandana, you know.”

  “Yeah, he liked to brag about it. So what?”

  “You see, when he died, raiding a vilge near here, I managed to snag it.”

  “Hmm, you don’t say now. Got it with ya?”

  “Yep, I can’t use it myself, but I could sell it for, maybe 12k?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Oh, I mean 12 thousand.”

  “A bit steep. How about 10?”

  “Deal.”

  “I don’t have that much on me. Come on inside.”

  “Nah, I value my neck. I’ll wait out here.”

  “Ha ha, smart man. Uh, not that I pnned on doing anything like that.”

  “Of course. Of course.”

  A few minutes ter, he came out with a gold coin and I exchanged it for the bandit bandana. OK, that went well. I started to walk back towards the nicer parts of town 10k richer… and followed by my new friend. Guess he wasn’t an honorable criminal after all. The thug was well concealed, but easy to spot with my appraisal HUD floating over his head (thankfully visible only to me).

  Seems safe to assume he wants to force a special discount. With sword in hand, a quick warp to a wall behind him and it’s over in an instant. Quick and easy. No need to let his card go to waste, but just as I was about to free him of his unneeded hand, I realize that we aren’t alone.

  A few meters away stood two more attackers, just as shocked to see me as I them. Only difference is that they hadn’t drawn their swords yet. I made a quick lunge at the closest one to catch enough of his neck to take away the threat. The st guy managed to prepare himself and stood ready for my attack.

  Identify tells me that my opponent is a level 35 Bandit. My eyes tell me that he’s rge, angry and knows how to fight… so, I run away as fast as possible. I am not stupid enough to stand toe-to-toe against a guy like that.

  It seems that my cowardly action was somewhat unexpected, but he soon recovered and gave chase. Letting him almost catch up, I zipped around a corner, opened a warp from my side to just behind him on his side, and then, with a quick poke to the neck, it was over. Totally unfair to fight like this, but I’m happy to take the win.

  I politely freed the big guy of his hand and sword before jogging back to do the same to the other two. Maybe I was a bit too exposed this time, but I couldn’t see anyone following. Still, just to be extra safe, I made a quick detour to the byrinth. After the cards popped, I made it back to the inn safely. Should probably stay away from that dangerous neighborhood for a while.

  More carefully this time, I managed to sneak into our room, strip off my notably less-bloody clothes and slip into my bed. I sure have killed an awful lot of criminals tely, especially compared to the count of zero in my old world. Guess it’s fine if I don’t think of them as people. Had I always been a sociopath? Or maybe, a psychopath? Probably neither in this society. Regardless, I comfortably fell asleep, counting thugs instead of sheep.

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  [1] The LN mentions the ck of a moon in vol 1 ch 4 and with greater certainty in vol 8 ch 4.[2] The LN describes a more violent incident where that MC decides not to intervene.