CHAPTER 27: WILL BE REVISED SOON!

’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.

"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.

"Besides, do I look like someone who gives a damn about who you are? If you don’t get lost in the next five seconds, I’ll be happy to make sure you end up the same way."

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.

"Even though this body has seen a lot of violence, in the end...I’m still the same guy who spent over twenty years on Earth, a place that was mostly peaceful. Maybe the body is used to this, but the soul doesn’t lie. I’ve never liked violence."

"Even so...what choice do I have?"

In this world, where the law of the jungle was still the rule, I couldn’t afford to be soft. I couldn’t act like I used to back on Earth.

Here, I had to be ruthless. I had to be hard.

I had to change the way I thought, to something more like, If you don’t want to get beaten, then you have to beat them first.

"I have to get used to this," I murmured.

"Because this...this is probably just the beginning. From now on, I’ll have to get my hands dirty, and it will only get dirtier."

I clenched my trembling hands into tight fists until they steadied.

Then I turned to the unconscious thug and quickly searched his pockets, taking anything that looked valuable.

A couple of silver coins. A handful of coppers. I slipped them into my pocket and soon walked down the passage where the other thug had fled.

"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.

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

...

[Cure ten people]

[Reward: A rare potion recipe]

[Completion: 0/10]

’Finally, a quest that actually makes sense!’

Though, that didn’t mean I’d be able to complete it anytime soon. I wasn’t a pharmacist. How was I supposed to treat people? My so-called "modern medical knowledge" was limited to using a first aid kit.

With nothing else left to read, I finally closed the system window.

"Phew. Alright, let’s just put all these ridiculous quests aside for now."

I took a deep breath. "Time to focus on what I should actually do first. Should I go back to the city and resume the life the original Aiden Edwards had...or just start over somewhere far, far away?"

Just as I was about to start thinking it through, I noticed something important.

I was still standing in the middle of the dump site.

"This is definitely not the place to make life-changing decisions," I chuckled to myself.

Before I walked away, I grabbed a piece of dirty cloth from the site and carefully wrapped up all the gifts I received from Althea. I tied it tight to make sure nothing would fall out.

Then I set off, following the sound of running water I’d been hearing in the distance.

A few minutes later, I spotted a small stream winding through the forest.

For someone who was slowly dying of thirst, the clear water looked more tempting than anything I’d ever seen.

I picked up my pace, starting from jogging, then sprinting, like I had just spotted a naked woman beckoning me over.

The second I reached the bank, I dropped to my knees, shoved my face into the stream, and opened my mouth wide and started devouring the water as though I hadn’t drunk for a week.

Shortly after, I pulled my face and took a long deep breath.

"So refreshing," I muttered, feeling a little more alive.

Even though I knew drinking untreated water could give me the runs, I couldn’t resist. Some risks were worth it.

"Phew. I can definitely think better now that I’ve had a drink and cooled my head."

I sat down on the grass by the stream, savoring the rare moment of peace, and started going over my options out loud.

...

Officially, there were only a few dozen gates and passageways in and out of the city.

But over time, criminals had created their own routes, secret tunnels and hidden exits to make smuggling and escape easier.

Now, there were probably more unofficial passageways than the legal ones.