Luca’s lips twitched.
He thought that perhaps the stupid hamster should just be cooked up.
But after thinking it over for a moment, he had a rough idea of what was going on.
Strictly speaking, Susie and her pet had probably encountered a bug in the game’s transition to reality.
The Summoner class, like the Demonic Rune Mage with their magic runes, had a fixed pet corresponding to each level. A level 10 Summoner would get a fixed pet, while temporary pets worked more like skills from other classes.
This eagle mouse had been a fixed summon for Susie when she was still at a low level, which meant its skill level was also low.
But in reality, the little creature was an actual Diamond-level monster.
Unfortunately, this kind of bug wasn’t easy to replicate. After all, it wasn’t common to run into a high-level monster that had been badly wounded, especially one that happened to be summoned while Susie was still a low-level player.
Luca had always thought Susie had a high luck attribute, and this situation only reinforced that. Her luck was absolutely off the charts.
While Luca was pondering, Susie suddenly voiced her worry: “Luca, now that I’ve gained abilities from the game, will I end up mutating like you?”
Mutating?
What the hell was she talking about?
Luca, his face full of black lines, couldn’t help but comment dryly on her sense of aesthetics. “Of course, you will. And you’ll end up looking just as ugly as the monsters in the game.”
“I don’t want that!” Susie’s face immediately turned pale, her expression turning pitiful, with tears welling up in her eyes. She looked just as helpless as the eagle mouse in her hands.
“Are you two done playing around? Come out for dinner,” came Zoey’s voice from outside, followed by the faint, mouth-watering smell of steak.
“Looks like we’re having steak tonight.” Luca clicked his tongue, dismissing the now-dejected Susie, who was pouting and looking for comfort, and headed for the door.
He walked down to the villa, and sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a soft glow on the gray isolation coating. The light made it look like the outside was an unfinished building with no tiles. Suddenly, Luca felt like maybe his mom’s taste in aesthetics wasn’t so bad after all. The ones with the real issues in taste were probably him and his dad.
Downstairs, Donald and Darabont were in short sleeves, grilling steaks, while Zoey and Sini were lounging by the poolside, soaking up the sun.
“Where’s Susie?” Donald asked when he saw only Luca walking down.
“Upstairs, reminiscing about her soon-to-be-past youth,” Luca replied casually. He picked up a skewer of grilled meat and took a bite, only to quietly place it back down again.
“Speak plainly!” Sini rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Luca helplessly shrugged and said, “She’s worried about whether she’s going to turn into a monster in the future.”
Everyone exchanged confused looks.
“What on earth is she on about…? I’ll go call her down.” Zoey frowned and stood up, ready to go find Susie.
Just as she was about to move.
Ding.
The doorbell rang.
“Delivery?” Luca glanced at the others.
They all shrugged, signaling that the delivery wasn’t theirs.
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang again.
The rhythm was calm and unhurried. as if the person on the other side wasn’t in a rush.
Luca furrowed his brow.
They had only just moved in, and the only ones who knew where they were were probably people from Morning Star. It seemed unlikely anyone else would know.
Still, to be cautious, he said, “Probably one of my friends. I’ll go check.”
The others didn’t think much of it and continued chatting.
Luca walked towards the front door, stepping lightly along the edge of the pool.
Just as he was about to grab the doorknob—
The doorbell rang again.
Ding-dong!
This time, Luca’s pupils suddenly contracted, and a chill ran down his spine. Every hair on his body stood on end.
A powerful sense of danger slammed into him like a massive wave crashing down.
“Danger!!!” A man and a woman’s voices sounded almost simultaneously, both ringing out in alarm.
Without thinking, Luca crossed his arms in front of his head, golden runes glowing across his forearms.
“Boom!!”
At the same time, a deafening explosion roared, and the specially-made alloy door was violently blasted off its hinges!
The door, propelled by a terrifying force, slammed into Luca’s body, and a blazing fire instantly consumed his entire field of vision.
Even with Luca’s exceptional physical condition, at that moment, he felt as if his internal organs had been violently shifted out of place.
In mid-air, he couldn’t hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.
What the hell?! TNT?!
Luca was practically cursing in his mind. It was a miracle his body was strong enough, or else this bomb alone would have been enough to take his life.
“Luca!!” Sini and Zoey, seeing Luca consumed by flames, nearly fainted from shock.
Susie, on the balcony, covered her mouth in horror, her face turning as white as a sheet. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t make a sound.
“Get them into the hidden room! Now!” Donald reacted swiftly. Reaching behind the flower bed, he grabbed two MK18 assault rifles, each equipped with a scope and muzzle suppressor.
He tossed one rifle to Darabont, then kicked over some tables and chairs without hesitation, unleashing a rapid burst of fire into the flames.
The sound of gunfire rang out continuously. Moments later, several pained screams pierced the air as the enemies drew closer, undeterred.
“Move!” Darabont wasn’t the type to freeze in a critical moment. After grabbing the rifle, he quickly helped Sini and Zoey into the room, then pulled the switch on the wall lamp and wooden chair, activating the hidden door.
In a flash, he dashed up the stairs and lifted Susie off the balcony without a second thought, ignoring her desperate screams. He shoved all three women into the hidden room.
The entire process took no more than two minutes. Before closing the door, Darabont even remembered to grab two grenades from behind the hidden room door. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation; his professionalism was on full display.
As the hidden door slammed shut, Darabont pressed against the wall, peering through the gap in the curtains. He saw the uninvited guests moving into his line of sight. Through the flames, several fully armed figures appeared. They were dressed in black bulletproof gear, armed with heavy assault rifles. They were taking cover behind walls, not rushing forward but instead using their numerical advantage to suppress Donald with heavy fire.
These people were well-trained, coordinated, and clearly not ordinary soldiers or assassins.
“Is the target dead?” the leader of the group asked in a low voice. The others were trying to assess the situation, but with Darabont joining the fray, they couldn’t figure out Luca’s exact position.
At the same time, the sharp sound of screams and sirens echoed through the neighborhood.
This was Celephais’ villa district, and the police station was nearby. With all the commotion, there was no way they hadn’t been alerted.
If they could just hold out until the police arrived, it would be nearly impossible for these attackers to escape.
The enemy, too, understood the urgency. Seeing they couldn’t take down Luca and the others quickly enough, the leader made a decisive call.
“Retreat!” he ordered.
Given the blast from the close-range TNT explosion, there was no way Luca, even as a Morning Star player, could have survived.
The group exchanged glances and gave a subtle nod.
One of them pulled a grenade from his waist, preparing to pull the pin and cover the others as they withdrew.
“Pfft!”
At that moment, the sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh rang out in their ears.
Warm blood sprayed across the face of one of the assassins.
The man froze, his hand instinctively clutching his neck, the grenade slipping from his fingers and clattering to the ground.
They all froze, turning to look behind their fallen comrade.
To their shock, standing there was a young man covered in golden runes.
His body battered with cuts and burns from the explosion and debris.
Faintly visible on Luca’s chest was a massive bruise, and there was even blood at the corner of his mouth.
But his eyes… his eyes were like endless, brilliant stars—calm, deep as the ocean, without a hint of emotion.
“He’s still alive?!” The others gasped in shock.
The TNT explosion at close range hadn’t killed this young man?! What kind of monster was he?
“What do you want, to die?” Luca slowly drew the weapon in his hand, allowing the body of the fallen assassin to crumple to the ground.
His tone was flat, yet it carried an undeniable murderous intent.
It was then that the others saw it. The weapon in Luca’s hand was nothing more than a simple twig.
The tip had been broken off into a sharp, deadly point, covered in blood, which flowed steadily and dripped onto the ground.
This was the weapon with which he had killed one of their team members—a man clad in level four ballistic armor, fully armed?!
The remaining assassins were stunned, their hands shaking as they instinctively raised their guns, aiming at Luca’s head.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!
The deafening sound of gunfire echoed throughout the entire villa district.
In just a few seconds, their magazines had emptied entirely!
“Quick, save him!” Darabont and Donald, inside the villa, both felt their hearts tighten.
This kid was far too reckless. The people they were dealing with clearly weren’t ordinary assassins, and yet he had dared to charge in alone.
There wasn’t time to dwell on this. They quickly moved toward the sound of the gunfire.
However, by the time they reached the front door, the air outside had once again fallen into an eerie silence.
The silence was unnerving.
Making even their breathing careful and cautious.
Darabont and Donald exchanged a glance and nodded.
Darabont moved first, pressing against the wall as he crept forward, Donald following close behind.
The two of them surged forward, side by side.
But after just a few steps, their movements halted.
When they saw the scene in front of them.
Even these two men, who had witnessed their fair share of violence, both took in sharp breaths.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
On the lawn outside the gate, five or six bodies lay scattered about in various positions.
Each of them had a weapon in hand, but none of them were breathing. They were all motionless on the ground.
Each one had a blood-soaked hole in the center of their foreheads, the size of a finger.
Luca stood at the center of the bodies, holding a twig in his hand. The ground around him was covered in blood, and his body was battered with wounds, yet he stood straight and unbowed.
At the sound of their footsteps, he turned and looked at Donald and Darabont, who were frozen in place.
The two men clearly saw that a sharp, crimson glint flashed in his golden eyes.
In that moment, both Donald and Darabont felt it.
Luca’s gaze toward them was cold—emotionless, as if he were looking at two dead men.
