Chapter 10: Love at the Corner

Seventh Time

By now, Xiu Nan was thoroughly familiar with the routine. Digging up the soil, making his escape, borrowing a car—he accomplished each task in quick succession. This time, he didn’t even encounter the owner of the Golden Ram automobile, saving the effort of knocking him out.

Clearly, not every event played out identically with each resurrection in the game. There were always subtle differences, small changes in the sequence. This also meant that the assassins from the Delta Organization didn’t always arrive at the Cassius household precisely at 15:55. Instead, there was a variable window, and Xiu Nan conservatively estimated it to be between 15:50 and 16:00. This detail was worth extra attention.

The car roared away, leaving a trail of dust behind. Stepping out of the parking lot, Cassius glanced at his watch. 15:28.

“I’ve got at least twenty minutes to act,” Xiu Nan calculated, steering his character toward Maple Leaf Street. At 15:30, he stood on the broad avenue. Cassius shifted his view to the back of the houses.

The western district of Crescent Moon City was a residential area, so there weren’t any particularly tall buildings. The government had regulated the housing, forbidding anything above a certain height—except for an ancient clock tower six hundred meters away. Over two centuries old, the city had preserved it as a historic relic, never tearing it down.

If a sniper were to choose a spot, that tower would be ideal.

Xiu Nan considered the clock tower a likely possibility. He quickly maneuvered assassin Cassius back to the parking lot. At 15:37, he arrived.

The clock tower was a Baroque structure, its upper half shaped like a pointed onion, the surface adorned with an old, weathered clock face. Years of sun and wind had left their marks, and it bore the scars of time, with visible damage in several places.

Sunlight filtered through the clouds, splitting into countless shards upon the leaves and scattering evenly across the tower. The decorative metal strips along the building’s edges glinted with a golden sheen, shimmering on the screen.

“These shadows and lights…” Xiu Nan couldn’t help but marvel.

He pulled open his curtains and glanced out at the dim city beneath the dark night, contrasting it with the game’s warm midday streets. The dissonance was striking.

Florence Clock Tower (Enterable)

Well, let’s go in first and see, he decided. With a tap of the keyboard, assassin Cassius strode forward, step by step, into the Florence Clock Tower.

At the base of the tower was a staff member—an old man with graying hair, reading a newspaper in his booth. When Cassius entered, the old man merely glanced up before returning to his paper. The Florence Clock Tower was a free attraction, open to all for sightseeing or observation.

On the first floor, Xiu Nan briefly surveyed the surroundings, but didn’t linger. 15:40.

Ascending to the second floor, then the third…

He reached the top of the tower, where all four sides were lined with windows shaped like archways. Sunlight streamed through them into the interior. Standing by the window, he could overlook several streets, and with a bit of focus, he could vaguely make out half of Cassius’s house in the distance.

If a sniper rifle were mounted here, the scope would guarantee deadly precision. No wonder assassin Cassius #7 had been taken out with a single headshot.

Xiu Nan had his character survey the area again. It was now 15:52—seconds away from 53.

“They’re here!”

Two red dots suddenly appeared on the minimap: Assassin D and Assassin E.

So, the remaining two were both here. All the better—he could deal with them together, ensuring none slipped away.

[Press “Z” to go prone]

Xiu Nan quickly had his character lie flat on the floor, head turned toward the window to observe below. Within moments, two figures in black uniforms appeared on the sparsely populated sidewalk, moving quickly and expressionlessly. One carried a black backpack—no doubt containing the sniper rifle.

[Press “G” to move backward]

To be safe, Xiu Nan kept Cassius prone, inching backward like a thirsty eel. After retreating five meters, he had Cassius stand up.

“A sneak attack is definitely necessary…” he muttered. It wasn’t that Xiu Nan relished ambushes, but the game left him no other choice. Even with meditation time, Cassius was only a “three-second hero”—at best, with expert maneuvering, he could take out the enemies at either the clock tower or Cassius’s house, but not both. After eliminating one group, the other would quickly sense something amiss and take action.

With a twelve-hour cooldown on the meditation skill, wiping out all five Delta Organization assassins in one go was impossible. So, he concluded, a sneak attack was the only way. Early on, with a weak character, he had to play it sly.

Without further hesitation, Cassius crouched at the stairwell’s corner, ready to reward anyone who approached with the blazing barrel of his gun.

“Coo, coo…”

A flock of white doves flew from a distant building, wings fluttering as they settled on the tower.

The two assassins briskly approached the old man at the entrance.

With a muffled grunt, the old man was knocked out before he could see a thing, his body posed to look as though he’d simply dozed off.

Assassin D and Assassin E hurried into the tower.

15:54. The sound of feet echoed from the bottom of the stairs.

Tap, tap, tap… tap, tap, tap…

The footsteps drew closer. A strange smile appeared on Xiu Nan’s face as he chewed a large white rabbit milk candy to ease his nerves.

He exhaled a warm breath.

Two heads appeared at the stairwell.

Aim! Fire!

Bang! Bang!

Flames burst from the muzzle. Two bullets whistled through the air, piercing both skulls.

A lucky encounter at the corner!

With two dull thuds, the assassins collapsed, their bodies tumbling uncontrollably down the stairs, coming to rest at the bend, blood still spurting from their wounds and staining the steps and wall.

At the top, Cassius raised his gun and blew on the barrel.

In front of the screen, Xiu Nan grinned like a child—his golden right hand, honed over more than a decade, had not gone to waste.

He holstered the spiral-line pistol and headed down.

The two corpses lay twisted against the wall.

△. Destroy the bodies (to avoid police discovery and a wanted notice)

△. Erase the traces (to avoid police discovery and a wanted notice)

“Ah, so even after killing people, I have to clean up…” Xiu Nan sighed, but he did as required.

He quickly moved the bodies, stuffing them into his car parked by the roadside—luckily, this street was almost deserted. Next, Cassius entered the staff booth and took the old man’s two towels, soaked them, and scrubbed the bloodstains away. The whole process took less than five minutes.

He tossed the towels in the car and got in the driver’s seat.

On the right side of the screen, an icon hovered above the old man.

[Unconscious: 52min 3s…]

Xiu Nan couldn’t help but wonder what expression the old man would have upon waking and discovering that, after being knocked out, only two towels had been stolen. He rather wanted to see it.

Old man: ⁽⁽◟(눈_눈)◞⁾⁾╋▇▇▇◤