Ficool

Chapter 3 - Rotten Luck

"Fellas..." Kael came to a stop, waving at the men who were approaching him with sinister grins. "It's a wonderful evening, isn't it? We don't want to get handy now, do we?"

The street was mostly dark, with barely any street lights around. The place was quiet, and the night winds were chilly. It was the perfect spot for shady characters to prey on unsuspecting people. 

"Don't worry, mister." Three of the four men circled Kael, the last man rushing over to see if anyone else was around the corner Kael had just come from. "We just have a conversation."

Their laughter echoed through the streets as they moved closer to Kael, who remained in place, letting out a tired yawn. 

"Right..." Kael mumbled. "Can we not do this today? Also, I'm a hunter. You don't want to mess with me right now."

"Oh...?"

The men chuckled, not believing Kael's words. With how he moved and stood in place, they knew Kael was drunk and might have been uttering nonsense. This was not their first rodeo, after all.

"He's a brave one, isn't he?" Another round of mocking laughter echoed. "But sorry to disappoint you. We aren't so simple either."

"You don't say..." Kael knew this was not going to go his way. Even so, he wasn't about to let himself get robbed. 

"James."

The bulkier man, who appeared to be the leader of the four, called to one of his companions, drawing Kael's attention. The mocking tone was gone, replaced with seriousness.

Before Kael could turn around to see who this James person was, the said person appeared beside him, grabbed Kael by the arm and hurled him across the street, slamming Kael into the wall.

"Ugh!"

The impact was sudden and heavy, knocking the air out of his lungs. Slamming into the wall back first, sent a wave of pain through his system, the pain snapping him out of his drunkenness.

"Ugh..."

Falling back to the ground, Kael groaned and struggled to get back to his feet. 'Tsk, there goes my drunken stupor. This day couldn't get any worse.'

"Hehehe, how do you like that?" The men snickered, amusing themselves with Kael's struggles. "Thought you were the only awakened, huh?"

After a bit of struggle, Kael managed to lift his head to look at his assailants. They were slowly closing in on him, their steps confident and deliberate.

"Is this really necessary?" Kael said, supporting his upper body on his left forearm. "I don't have anything on me."

The four men did not seem to care, as they circled him once more, looking down on Kael like supreme beings about to pass their judgment.

"Maybe..." The leader replied smugly. "But with how you reek of alcohol, I'd say you have a bit on you, no? Hand over your items and transfer all your money. You don't want this night to be your last, do you?"

"Haha..." Kael suddenly laughed, confusing the four men. "Your words just reminded me of something that happened today. Our future chosen heroes all died today. Makes one wonder if you're doing this out of fear of the unknown."

"..."

For a moment, the men did not reply, exchanging glances to see how they all reacted to his words. Unfortunately for Kael, whether he hit the mark or not, the men did not like his words.

"Why you..." 

"Ugh!"

A sudden kick to the side sent Kael flying once more, this time slamming into one of the street poles and bringing it down with him. 

"You sure got a mouth on you, huh? Let's see how much more you have in you after we beat you into a pulp."

The men rushed over to Kael and began beating him roughly, forcing Kael to curl into himself to protect his vitals. With every kick or blow he received, Kael felt his agonising pain all over his body.

"You're not so smart mouth now, are you?!" 

A more powerful kick to the side sent Kael flying once more, sprawling him over the cold and wet floor, blood trickling down his face and lips. The men had done a number on him, and for no reason at all.

'Hah...' Kael inwardly sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to take a breather. 'Why is this happening to me? Am I that unlucky?'

He genuinely wondered if the entire universe was against him. Nothing made sense to him; not the world, not the death of the future chosen heroes and certainly not the four men approaching him again.

Kael's vision was getting blurry from all the beatings and blood he was losing. Then again, who cared? It wasn't like he had a family or someone special waiting for him. 

His life had spiralled out of control ever since those bastards stabbed him in the back. He had fallen so low that even random thugs on the streets could do this much damage to him.

'Maybe they should just kill me,' Kael wondered, turning his head towards the night sky. 'Those fuckers didn't care enough to finish the job when I made it out alive.'

"Get him up."

The leader ordered the others as they grabbed Kael and forced him to stand straight. His left and right arms were held firmly by two of the men while the remaining two looked on with a sneer.

"Search him."

The third member grinned and moved to search through Kael's coat, inner shirts, and pockets, finding only his phone and a few pieces of tissue paper.

"He only has his phone," the searcher said, looking at the leader and waving the phone in his hand. "It's not even in good condition."

"Tsk, what did we expect from a drunkard in the first place?" The leader glared at Kael as if he had done his family wrong. "Bring out his left hand."

The men did as instructed, stretching Kael's left arm. Embedded in everyone's left hand, specifically at the back of the hand, was a digital chip that stored everyone's currency.

Physical cash was a thing of the past and could be easily destroyed. With this new system connected to a financial institution, people could access their money for whatever payment they desired.

Naturally, it didn't reveal all the money they had stored, but rather the amount they held on their person. Checking the actual balance was an entirely different process.

The leader brought out a small black device, the size of a typical phone, and scanned the back of Kael's hand, displaying Kael's current balance.

"You've got to be kidding me..." The leader couldn't believe his eyes. "You only have 109 credits on you?"

"Hehe, what were you expecting from a drunk person?" Kael managed to snicker at the man's expression with a bloody grin. "Your own words..."

For that, Kael paid the price with a blow to the face, snapping his head back and disorienting his already disoriented state of clarity. A groan escaped his lips once more, as a stinging pain came from his nose.

'Yeah, I kinda deserved that one...' 

More Chapters