He slept soundly until one in the afternoon.
A shower washed away the night's sweat.
Los Angeles in June was getting hotter by the day.
He had just finished cleaning up and was about to fix himself lunch when a knock interrupted him.
Curious, Hunter went to open the door.
There stood his boldly dressed, alluring neighbor Maggie.
'Hi!'
She greeted him with unmistakable enthusiasm.
Seeing how badly she wanted to devour him, Hunter felt quietly proud.
In this life his looks were outstanding, and as his five core attributes kept rising his physique had grown increasingly perfect.
He still didn't resemble the muscle-bound Dominic, whose sheer bulk radiated menace at first sight.
Hunter's build was balanced, strong yet streamlined.
Once he peeled off his shirt to reveal almost flawless muscle, few women could resist.
And the attribute boosts improved far more than mere muscle.
This passionate housewife had first stormed over to complain about the noise when he moved in; now every visit ended with her staggering out hours later, collapsing at home to sleep half the day away.
Not every man could manage that.
'Hi,' he answered; he liked her.
With her help his Reproduction Skill had already reached lv4, and he never turned away such an eager neighbor.
'Aren't you going to invite me in for coffee?'
She felt far warmer toward this young, handsome, remarkably capable asian neighbor than toward her slovenly husband.
Reading the fire in her eyes, Hunter smiled knowingly and gestured her inside.
She brushed past, missing the fact that her step-daughter Matilda was watching expressionlessly from their doorway.
Hunter noticed the girl, gave her a polite nod, and closed the door.
Hours later it opened again.
Maggie emerged, leaning on the wall, face flushed with satisfaction and exhaustion.
'What a bull,' she murmured.
'Youth is wonderful.'
Legs trembling, she inched next-door, replaying the wild afternoon in her mind.
Learning that her young asian neighbor was only eighteen had upended much of what she'd believed for decades.
She was back home in no time and immediately spotted Matilda cuddling her son while watching TV.
Their eldest daughter, however, was nowhere to be seen.
Maggie was too tired to care; she simply ordered Matilda, "There's frozen dinner in the fridge—microwave whatever you want, and don't stay up too late."
Skipping even a shower, she trudged straight to her bedroom.
Lately her husband had been off in his own world, wearing a dazed, conflicted look whenever he was home.
And he stayed out overnight more often than before.
So Maggie wasn't worried he'd notice anything.
With a hint of satisfaction, she drifted quickly into deep sleep.
"Perfect!"
After polishing off a plate of kung pao chicken, Hunter washed it down with a glass of homemade lemon soda.
A satisfied burp escaped him as he strolled to the window.
Outside, the sky was darkening, strewn with countless stars.
"What unexpectedly great weather!"
Hunter's mood soared along with it.
Last night he'd spent the whole night in the rain, hammering climbing pitons into the cliff beneath Steve's villa.
Tonight he would scale that cliff and slip straight into Steve's mansion.
He had to locate the safe holding Steve's gold in the shortest possible time.
Then, with a metric ton of gold bricks, he'd quietly leave the villa.
After days of preparation he'd nearly burned through his cash.
He knew too well how vital those thousand kilos of gold were to him right now.
Once he had the bricks, his dire finances would turn around instantly.
At the same time, many of his skills could finally get the funding needed to push for higher levels.
Besides, that metric ton of gold had originally been looted by Steve and company from the Italian mafia.
So Hunter felt zero guilt about snatching it back from Steve.
As for the gold thief Charlie—he could only apologize.
He was already feeling a pang of guilt toward Charlie Clock.
Suddenly Hunter felt a vibration in his pocket.
He reflexively pulled out his phone: an unknown number.
After a brief hesitation he answered.
A familiar voice came through at once.
"Hey, buddy."
"I've got a new job—interested?"
It was Charlie Clock.
Hunter hadn't expected that, after more than twenty days, the man would finally think of him again.
Tonight he was set to move on the ton of gold in Steve's villa, yet he agreed without hesitation.
"No problem, pal. I just need to finish up a couple things."
"If that works for you, give me an address and we'll meet tomorrow noon to talk details, okay?"
Charlie Clock, the gold thief, clearly had no idea Hunter already knew he was planning to hit Steve—the man who'd once betrayed them.
He certainly didn't know Hunter had tailed him and Slater for weeks to find Steve's current hideout.
So when Hunter accepted right away, he was delighted.
"OK, buddy."
"Same diner tomorrow noon; we'll hash out the partnership then."
"Deal!"
Hunter hung up, his grin widening.
"Sorry, pal."
"That ton of gold is mine."
"I'll settle your score with Steve while I'm at it."
"As for Slater—may the best thief win."
He tossed the phone onto the table; taking it along might give him away during the heist.
Leaving it behind was safer—stashing it in his private space could make him miss important calls.
After a final check of his gear he saw it was past eight p.m.
He slipped out of the apartment, ducked into a deserted alley, pulled a motorbike from his private space, and roared off toward Steve's villa.
Operation: begin!
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