Somewhere in Metropolis-D, a man was pushing a rusty basement door open as he carried a large sports bag inside.
One could hear him mumble, stressed. "I really hope we're not too late!" He quickly opened the bag and prepared to wake the man inside, but Josh simply rose, even relaxedly stretching.
"It sure was cramped in there." He nonchalantly commented.
"H-how are you awake so soon?" The man asked, astonished.
"Awake? I just closed my eyes for a minute. Anyway, what will the tests be?" He inquired.
"There's no way I can tell you! Now, how the fuck are you awake, seriously?!"
"Please, a good assassin needs to build resistance to drugs. Don't you even know this? Don't worry. I won't tell the others that you've grossly disregarded protocol in your hurry." Josh "reassured" him.
The man gulped hard. Was his candidate already trying to blackmail him?! He seemed to be in a profound dilemma for a few instants. But, he concluded that it was no use getting hung over the details.
If Josh wasn't mistaken, every recruiter had their candidate. He wasn't sure about the stakes involved, but it would be good for one's candidate to come on top. The man proceeded to lead the way, running.
They quickly followed a dark and stuffy underground tunnel until they finally arrived at a medium-sized room. It was totally empty besides five chairs and a small table. Four men were in the process of heatedly discussing, but they stopped as soon as the two entered.
One of them instantly sneered at the fake lawyer:
"Oh? Look who finally showed up! The poor thing still thinks he has a chance! Is that your candidate hiding behind you? In which garbage pile did you find him?"
But, the fake lawyer didn't even bother to reply. Hell, he didn't even acknowledge anyone's presence. He guided Josh toward the table. On it rested a magical contract and a quill. Seriously, a quill?! Apparently yes.
"Sign this and leave as soon as possible for the first test. We may still have a chance!" His recruiter pressured him.
Josh nodded, grabbed the contract, and began reading it extremely carefully. The men by the side couldn't help but chuckle as they saw him waste so much time.
"Just sign and go. Time is already running out!"
"So what? I need to read it so I can sign it." Josh serenely replied.
"You don't understand. One can only take the test once in their life. If you fail this one then…."
"Just let me read. You're distracting me." Josh stayed adamant.
At this point, the other recruiters were laughing out loud. Some were even celebrating their candidate's upcoming success. Did this mean that there would only be one elimination this round? It would make things easier!
It took Josh 5 minutes to finish reading, yet it seemed to be very tortuous for his recruiter. He could be seen holding his head to cope with the stress, and he sighted in profound relief once he saw Josh pick up the quill.
The document was pretty standard and was surprisingly lenient. Well, lenient when comparing it to the ones Josh made people sign left and right. It mainly was a secrecy clause. But, just as he was about to sign, he suddenly stopped his hand.
"Is there an issue?!" His recruiter asked in fear.
"I'm not used to writing with a quill. Does anyone have some paper for me to test my calligraphy? I would be thankful if any of you could—" But he was suddenly interrupted.
"Just sign the damn thing! Please! For the love of God, just do it!" The recruiter screamed, flailing his arms on both sides in desperation.
"Fine…fine…what is the world becoming nowadays? Everyone is rushing things, and people don't even know how to pay attention to the small details," Josh complained, shaking his head in disapproval.
This sent scene provoked the disdain of the others:
"Haha, this candidate of yours sure is …unique."
"While he's wondering about his signature being pretty, mine is probably about to come back."
"It's your first year as a recruiter, and you're already screwing up so much. I would be embarrassed if I were you."
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"Young man, you should try harder. He went through some trouble picking you as his candidate. Can you at least try not to let him down?"
The others scoffed at the one guy who was trying to be helpful. Anyway, Josh quickly finished filling the contract.
"Your first mission is to steal a complete MTA uniform to be able to navigate in their midst without attracting any attention. Be careful as every uniform includes an anti-theft measure."
"How does that even work? Does it start beeping?" Josh asked, puzzled.
"As soon as it is reported stolen, the city will be able to track its location. It is imperative not to be busted as it will be necessary for the upcoming tests. Do you understand? Also, one more thing, make sure you aren't the last one to come back."
"Aye aye, captain!" Josh enthusiastically left.
Behind him, he could hear the many sneers and could picture the facepalms. Either way, it didn't bother him much. These guys hadn't even seen through his disguise! They weren't anyone important he would bet.
But instead of heading for the mission, Josh just loitered near the entrance. The basement was located in an alley, and there were three access points to reach it from the main street. Josh picked one at random and camped there.
Why would he even bother finding an outfit when he could simply steal one from a contestant? He was bewildered as to why the others weren't doing the same. Wasn't this expected from assassins?
No, wait! There were five of them. There was bound to be another one that had wanted to try this, right? Oh, but they wouldn't remain here since the targets would be on guard. What if they were waiting someplace nearby instead?
Josh began walking around the place, leaving the desolated alleys. He was on the hunt, but he didn't know for who. All until he finally found his target. It was a man that was confidently drinking coffee at a nearby terrace.
He was a middle-aged man, easily forgettable. But there was something peculiar with the way he stared at the crowd. This guy was also hunting! Josh kept walking, not paying the man any apparent attention.
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As soon as he passed near him, the man sent slight killing intent his way. He had recognized him as a competitor. This meant that he had an intelligence source who had informed him about Josh. Well, not that it mattered.
This slight killing intent had just doomed the man, making him a target with no doubt whatsoever. Josh pretended to leave that street and came back sneakily. He would lurk in the shadows and claim his prize when the time was ripe.
He only had to wait half an hour for the prey to make his move. He could be seen smirking as he had spotted one of their competitors. A young man was seriously watching his surroundings, but this only made him stand out to anyone perceptive.
The young man was carrying a small backpack that was bound to contain the MTA outfit. To quote any cultivation story: the mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Josh happily positioned himself.
Soon enough, there was a confrontation. The predator dashed toward the youngster and tried to slaughter him with a…small war hammer?! What kind of assassin's weapon was this?!
The young man quickly reacted and dodged but screwed up by doing so. With their new positioning, the scheming man was now blocking the way toward the objective. This meant that a fight would be unavoidable.
Josh couldn't say who was the deadliest assassin between the two, but the powerful guy with the hammer definitely had the advantage in a head-on fight. The young guy quickly realized this as his face turned livid.
Yet, he didn't give up. He stared at the door behind the man as if in a trance. Josh couldn't help but lament how the kid had obviously lost his mind. Why would he fight when he could just run away? Someone else could fight in his stead!
Then it began. The two charged toward each other, and …wait a goddamn minute! The youngster made a feint before rushing backward and fleeing as fast as he could! Wow! To fool Josh, his bluffing skills were on point!
The face of the guy with the hammer was priceless. He began lowly cursing, incredibly incensed as he followed. But a few seconds later, he started grinning again and even slowed down. Was there another reversal?
That's when Josh noticed a dozen Climbers approaching. It was hard to judge their power from a distance, but they were probably from a D or C-Ranked guild and were probably around level 30-45.
With such numbers, even Josh wouldn't be able to fight them all at once. It was even worse for the youngster who was probably level 30. Instantly, he showed despair as all the exits to this place were blocked.
At this moment, everyone present realized that there was only one way for the youngster to come out of this alive. He would have to bypass his opponent and enter the test location. Only there would he be safe.
Yet, this simple task appeared as harsh as scaling the Everest naked. He could have given up at this moment, but he instead showed fighting spirit.
There was just one problem: Josh didn't have any popcorn! Either way, this would be fun to watch…
Creator's Thought
Assassins having to steal as a first mission is fine. As much as some hate it, there is definitely a big overlap between a thief and an assassin. More often than not, sleight of hand can be used to poison one's target. It also allows getting rid of incriminating evidence or planting some...