Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

Tristan jerked away from the artist in slow motion. His adrenaline kicked in before his mind could even fully process the danger Tristan was in.

And not a moment too late. The artist moved with an almost inhuman speed, swinging a short combat knife right through where Tristan was standing before. An unopened can of spray paint cluttered on the ground.

'She's the assassin!' Tristan thought in the pause given to him by his talent. 'This entire place was a bait! No wonder my agent found it so easily—the assassin had planted the information and waited for me to come!'

If Tristan didn't have the 'String Theory' talent, he wouldn't have realized until he had a knife in his throat. The assassin feigned being ordinary incredibly well.

Until she attacked, not a single movement she made betrayed her combat skills, and her baggy clothing hid her muscles. Her graffito was a real thing, too, and a well-made one.

Not to mention, she was a woman… No Hope was a woman. Who could've thought?

The bullet time resumed as soon as it began. Tristan pulled out his own knife just in time to parry another blow from No Hope. She attacked silently and with relentlessness, not giving Tristan even a chance to talk.

Tristan had to parry and dodge and counterattack just to give himself some space to breathe. This was a fight so intense that he forgot they were out in the open, on a street where people could walk past at any moment.

There were only him, No Hope, and the clangs of their knives meeting with enough force to create sparks.

As their blades clashed, Tristan tried to see her face better, but most of it was covered by her skull bandanna. All he saw was a half of a face and a pair of beautiful dark eyes, glaring at Tristan with frustration.

It was the first time their eyes met properly since this fight began, at least for more than a microsecond.

'My chance!'

Tristan scowled, sending No Hope a deathly glare, one so cold it could freeze the Hell over.

No Hope staggered, and Tristan used the brief window of opportunity to aim a knife blow into her heart.

Anyone else would've been frozen for at least a second—more than long enough to die.

No Hope shrugged off the effect of Tristan's talent in less than a half a second. She jerked away from Tristan's blow, getting away.

His knife only tore through her clothing and scratched her clavicle. Blood began seeping into the layers of fabric, but it was just a scratch.

No Hope was already pulling out a handgun as she dodged. When she stopped five steps away from Tristan, the pistol was aimed at his head.

But Tristan, too, had a gun aimed at No Hope's head now. His other hand still had a knife—he couldn't drop it, but had no time to put it away.

Every microsecond was important.

There was a brief stalemate, created by a silent understanding—as soon as one of them as much as twitched to pull the trigger, the other would do the same.

Neither of them would miss.

No Hope wasn't meeting Tristan's eyes anymore, purposefully staring him at the chest. She definitely was a system user.

'We can't just stand here forever. It's only a matter of time until someone walks into this scene and then who knows what would happen? I should try talking.'

"My eyes are up there, No Hope," Tristan opened with a joke.

No Hope didn't lift her eyes, but her mouth twitched under the bandanna. Tristan could tell by the movement of the fabric.

"I know. Are you always stating the obvious?"

"No, but I feel like doing this today. For example, I didn't expect that the legendary No Hope will turn out to be a woman."

No Hope scoffed. Her hand didn't even twitch.

Both she and Tristan had great shooting stances. They could hold their hands this way for quite a long time before they get tired.

"You sound very sexist. People like you are another reason I stay anonymous."

Tristan chuckled.

All this time, he was gradually adding to his charming aura. No Hope being a woman was really an advantage to him. Most women were easily gullible by his attractiveness score. Add his charm to the mix, spice with some hypnotism, and voila!

"I didn't mean it like that, No Hope. There are just established associations—and among them, a female assassin is just some slut in tight leather. But you are a real deal. A pro of pros. I can't help but admire your skills. I also think that fighting with you would be a mistake on my part."

"If that is so, then you shouldn't have tried to find me, Hayes."

No Hope stayed decisively un-charmed. Inwardly, Tristan scowled—then smiled.

For all her grumpiness, his voice and his speech made her relax marginally. Now he would have an extra tenth of a second to react. If he dodged this well, it will give Tristan JUST enough time…

A gust of wind threw some leaves down the street and some dust in Tristan's eyes.

In the fraction of a second Tristan was squinting to protect his eyes, No Hope squeezed the trigger.

Tristan did the same.

Their shots—not softened by silencers at all—rang in unison.

No Hope's bullet cut a tiny piece out of Tristan's ear and buzzed past him as he ducked.

Tristan's bullet went through No Hope's baggy hoodie, but there was no blood—it didn't touch the body. She was dodging, too, and turning.

If people didn't notice their fight yet, they would do it now.

Then No Hope shot again, faster than Tristan could re-aim.

This bullet hit Tristan straight in the chest, making him stagger a step back—but thankfully, he had a bulletproof vest underneath.

The moment Tristan spent catching the air which was knocked out of him was all No Hope needed to dash behind the street corner.

'She's trying to escape, so she could ambush me again later!' Tristan realized. 'If I let her, I will have to fear being sniped out or poisoned or knifed for the rest of my life or until I find her again.'

Ignoring the blood dripping from his ear and that the people from this neighborhood likely were already calling the police, Tristan ran after No Hope as fast as his legs could carry him.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

They could carry him pretty fast. He was taller than No Hope, and he put a good amount of points in athletics. Tristan's running technique, even in non-running shoes and on uneven, broken asphalt, was incredible.

But No Hope was amazing, too. Her lithe form seemed to almost fly aboveground.

The two of them ran past people walking on their business down the streets so fast that others could see nothing more than two blurs.

All this time, Tristan couldn't even change his weapons. He was only a dozen meters behind No Hope, but he knew that a moment of distraction was all she needed to disappear.

He only had time to drop his knife. With his right hand free, he was opening the system's windows on the fly.

After Tristan Gemello had finished his tour, he got 10000 Criminal Points, which Tristan didn't spend yet. Now was the moment.

Still running, Tristan put 5000 points into athletics.

The system notified him that the athletic skill reached the Ascendant rank, and that Tristan could ascend it and his strength, but he wasn't reading all that.

He was running even faster than before!

Now he really was catching up with No Hope. If Tristan got close enough, he could just shoot her in the back!

She was eight meters away from Tristan when she suddenly changed the direction of her movement. With a graceful and incredibly risky pirouette, No Hope jumped right onto the road as a car was driving by.

No Hope jumped right on the car's trunk roof and grabbed the spoiler to not fall off. The driver shouted in alarm and almost swerved off the road.

All at the speed of forty kilometers per hour.

Tristan was stunned by this wild maneuver for a moment—but only until he realized that No Hope was getting away!

Even he couldn't run at 40kph. And No Hope was already threatening her car's driver to keep driving.

Tristan's eyes scanned the surroundings for opportunities while he stashed his gun. Then he grinned.

He was in luck.

The motor biker who was driving past never expected for someone to push him off the bike mid-road and steal the bike. The entire maneuver almost cost broken bones not only to the biker, but to Tristan himself—but at the last moment, he managed to pull the bike upward again.

Tristan pressed the gas pedal and drove after No Hope before she could disappear entirely.

'This fight won't end until one of us is dead, and this won't be me!'