The roar of the crowd was a physical force, a tidal wave of confusion and outrage.
"Winner, by knockout... TIMMY THE TERROR!"
The referee's announcement was drowned out by a chorus of boos. Ren lay on the sand of the arena, his eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness. The tip of Timmy's spear was a few inches from his cloak. To the enraged bettors, it looked like their champion had fainted from the sheer terror of a Level 9 newbie.
Timmy the Terror, high on his undeserved victory, was hoisted onto the shoulders of the arena guards. "I am the strongest!" he screamed, his voice cracking. "I am Timmy the... the KING!"
He was so engrossed in his newfound fame that he didn't see the arena staff carry Ren's "unconscious" body out of the cage on a stretcher. He didn't see the cold, calculating smile that briefly touched Ren's lips as he was carried into the shadows.
Ren opened his eyes in the dark, stale air of the loser's infirmary. The moment the door clicked shut, he sat up. There was not a scratch on him.
He had won. By losing spectacularly.
He limped out of the room, putting on a show for any watching eyes, and made his way back to the bookie's counter. Vex, the woman with the scarred face, was counting a mountain of coins, a predatory smile on her face.
"You've got guts, kid," she said, not looking up. "And terrible acting skills."
"Pay me," Ren said flatly.
She stopped counting. "The cap is two million. You know the rules."
"Rules," a new voice slithered out from the darkest corner of the room, "are for the predictable. And this little spectacle was anything but."
Ren turned. A man he hadn't noticed before was sitting in a high-backed chair, shrouded in shadow. He was unnaturally thin, dressed in immaculate black silks that seemed to absorb the light. Long, pale fingers were steepled beneath his chin, and his eyes... his eyes gleamed with a cold, reptilian intelligence.
Vex immediately stood up, her face paling. "Master Shein. I did not realize you were observing."
"I am always observing, Vex," Shein said, his voice a smooth, unsettling whisper. "It is my duty to maintain the... delicate ecosystem of this establishment. An ecosystem you nearly shattered by allowing a 26 million Yen liability to form."
Shein's gaze shifted to Ren. It felt like being dissected by a scalpel. [Appraisal] failed to show a name or level, only question marks.
"And you," Shein continued, "the catalyst. You risked everything on a child's tantrum. Reckless. And yet... successful. You have introduced chaos into my market, and chaos must be balanced."
"I won the bet," Ren stated, his voice steady despite the man's oppressive aura. "I'm here to collect."
"Indeed you are," Shein said, rising from his chair with a liquid grace. He walked to the counter, his movements silent. "However, your actions have caused a significant disruption. The House cannot appear weak, and the bettors cannot believe the system is so easily broken. Therefore, a... tithe is required to restore order."
He looked at Vex, a thin, cruel smile touching his lips. "Vex, you will pay the boy his capped winnings of two million Yen. You will then add seven hundred thousand Yen on top of that as a fine for your lack of foresight. Let us call it a 'stability tax'."
Vex looked like she was about to protest, but a single glance from Shein silenced her. "As... as you command, Master Shein."
She shoved three heavy chests across the counter.
Shein turned back to Ren. "Take the money, boy. But understand this: you did not win this by being clever. You won this because I allowed it. You now owe a debt, not to the House, but to the order of things. I will come to collect on that debt when I see fit."
Ren didn't say a word. He absorbed the fortune into his inventory.
[Funds: 2,700,000 Yen]
[Task Progress: 320,000 / 1,000,000 Yen]
[Time Remaining: 43:45:12]
He had the capital. But he had also attracted the attention of something far more dangerous than Vargus.
Ren gave a slight bow to Shein and left, the man's chilling smile burned into the back of his mind.
Ren didn't run; he flowed. Pushing his Speed (26), he moved through the city like a blur, arriving at the main Guild Hall as the morning sun began to rise. The timer in his vision was a constant, pressing weight.
Mina was at the counter, her cheerful energy a bizarre contrast to Ren's cold focus.
"Ren-san! Good morning!" she chirped. "You look... rich! And stressed! Did you win the lottery and then immediately get chased by a goblin?"
"Information," Ren said, getting straight to the point. He placed a bag of 10,000 Yen on the counter for her services. "I need the location of every high-end weaponsmith, magic tailor, and artifact dealer in this city. And I need a five-month, all-access pass to the nearest B-Rank dungeon."
Mina's professional side took over instantly. "Okay! The best smith is Durin Ironhand, but he's notoriously expensive. The finest magic shop is 'The Azure Thread' in the noble district. And the B-Rank dungeon 'Sunken Crypt of the Damned' is a five-hour ride west. Your pass will cost 50,000 Yen for five months."
Ren paid without hesitation. The timer was ticking.
His first stop was Durin Ironhand's forge. The heat and the sound of hammering were a physical presence.
"Vargus sent me," Ren said, cutting through the noise.
The Dwarf, Durin, turned from his anvil. "Vargus sends me fighters, not beggars."
"I need your finest completed Assassin dagger," Ren said. "Rank S. No commissions, I don't have time."
Durin grunted, annoyed at the boy's audacity but intrigued by his wealth. He wiped his hands on a rag and walked to a heavily locked, rune-etched chest. He opened it, and a wave of cold energy washed over the forge.
He lifted out a blade that seemed to be carved from a starless night sky. It was a wicked, curved stiletto that didn't reflect the forge's light, but absorbed it.
[Item: Eclipse]
[Rank: S]
[Effect: +50 Attack Power, ignores 15% of target's Defense. Passive: Silent Strike (Attacks made from stealth deal 10% bonus damage.)]
[Price: 300,000 Yen]
"I'll take it," Ren said, transferring the funds. He now had a weapon worthy of his stats.
Next, 'The Azure Thread.' The shop was opulent, run by a haughty elven tailor who looked down his nose at Ren's ragged cloak.
"I need your best stealth gear. B-Rank or higher," Ren stated.
The elf brought out a set, clearly intending to mock him with the price. A cloak woven from the silk of a Shadow Weaver spider, boots made from Wyvern hide, and gloves stitched with mana-conducting thread.
[Item: Shroud of the Night Stalker (Rank B)] -> 400,000 Yen
[Item: Boots of Silent Steps (Rank B)] -> 300,000 Yen
[Item: Gloves of the Arcane Hand (Rank A)] -> 500,000 Yen
"The total is 1.2 million Yen," the elf said with a smirk.
Ren transferred the funds. The elf's smirk vanished, replaced by stunned silence. Ren took the gear and left.
His third stop was the Alchemist's guild. He didn't haggle.
"One hundred high-grade healing potions. Now."
[Price: 170,000 Yen]. Paid.
He moved like a storm, his funds draining with every stop. The timer was a constant whip at his back.
[Time Remaining: 39:20:15]
He had the gear. He had the supplies. He had spent a fortune. But the task was not just about spending. It was about consolidating power.
His final stop was a real estate broker in the noble district. He pointed to a map, at a small, secluded mansion on the edge of the city, overlooking the forest. It was abandoned, rumored to be haunted.
"I'll buy it," Ren said. "Cash."
The broker, stunned, sold it to him for the remaining 980,000 Yen.
Ren stood before the iron gates of his new property. It was a dark, stone manor with ivy crawling up the walls. He walked inside, the air thick with dust.
He opened his inventory. He focused on the building, on the very concept of the land it stood on. He pushed his will into the System.
'Store it.'
The world lurched. The ground trembled. Ren felt a strange, compressing sensation, as if the entire mansion and the ground beneath it were being squeezed into a single point of data.
[System Alert: Storing Large-Scale Object...]
[Success! Item: 'Haunted Manor' has been stored in your Inventory.]
[Note: Stored environments can be entered and exited at will.]
Ren looked at the empty plot of land where his house had been moments before. He felt a thrill of true power. He wasn't just storing items anymore. He was storing places. He deployed his two subdued wolves inside to act as permanent guards. It was now his private, portable fortress.
[System Alert]
[Task Objective Complete!]
[Total Spent in 48 Hours: 320,000 + 2,700,000 = 3,020,000 Yen]
[Reward: Task Penalty Averted.]
The red timer vanished.
Ren stumbled back, leaning against a tree. The adrenaline that had fueled him for the past two days drained away, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion. He made his way back to his tiny, 700-Yen room at the Rusty Spoon, the irony not lost on him.
He collapsed onto the straw mattress, the owner of a dimension-hopping mansion sleeping in a slum.
"System," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "Open stats."
The familiar blue screen appeared, but it was different now.
[Name: Ren]
[Level: 8]
[Class: Assassin]
[Stats]
Strength: 76
Speed: 26 (+15)
Stamina: 26 (+14)
Agility: 18 (+7)
Mana: 60 (+18)
Intelligence: 132
Graceful Hand: 30
[Combat Attributes]
Attack Power: 11 (+60)
Defense: 19 (+18)
The numbers glowed, a testament to his frantic spending. He had transformed himself.
He closed his eyes, ready for a week of sleep.
RRRRRRRRRRUMBLE...
The floor vibrated. It was a faint tremor at first, growing steadily stronger. It was soon followed by a distant, mournful sound that echoed through the city.
A bell. The city's emergency alarm bell, ringing frantically.
Ren sat bolt upright, his exhaustion forgotten, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his new S-Rank dagger, Eclipse. He went to the window and looked out towards the forest wall.
On the horizon, the darkness was moving. It wasn't a shadow cast by the moon; it was a living tide of bodies. Thousands upon thousands of them. Small, hunched figures with glowing red eyes, their chittering cries merging into a single, terrifying wave of sound.
A guard's terrified scream carried on the wind from the palisade, amplified by a magical megaphone.
"GOBLINS! A HORDE! HUNDREDS... NO, THOUSANDS OF THEM! THE GATES WON'T HOLD! IT'S A... IT'S A GOBLIN STAMPEDE!"
A sea of E-Rank monsters, a green tide of death, was crashing towards the unsuspecting city of Riverwatch.
[End of Chapter 26]