The man's eyes were burning with a cold, predatory focus. I didn't have the [Magic Sense] Skill yet, that was a mid-tier unlock, but my 'Perception' Stat was already far beyond any normal Level 1. I could feel his Murderous Intent pressing against my skin like a physical weight, thick and suffocating.
I glanced past him. Outside the museum's shattered windows sat a stalled militart transport. The pavement was a graveyard of soldiers, civilians, and monsters. Then I looked back at the man. His tactical gear was unbuttoned and messy, clearly stripped from a corpse. Through the gap in his loose, unzipped pants, I could see his thick black pubic hair and tge shalf of his dick partially exposed. A few meters behind him, a naked, lifeless body lat on the marble floor.
The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. This wasn't a soldier. This was a criminal, a predator who had awakened and used the chaos to satisfy his darkest urges. He had experience killing people. I was just a guy who had spent two years in a chair playing with 104 accounts. If I didn't take him down, he'd turn me into just another stain on the floor.
Suddenly, a screen flickered to life, the light pulsing with a dangerous crimson hue.
"[Notice: A Hidden Event has been generated!]"
"[Warning: A dangerous 'Murderous Intent' has been detected aiming at you!]"
"[Objective: Win and survive the situation.]"
"[Special Condition: You are unable to leave the room until you clear the Event.]"
"[Rewards: +2 Stat Points and 1,000 Coins.]"
"[Failure: Death]"
"Well, shit!" I muttered. No exit. No mercy.
The man lunged. He was fast, moving with the practiced grace of a street fighter. I swung the 'Bronze Tripod Cauldron' up, the heavy metal clanging loudly as it absorbed the impact of his combat knife. The force vibrated up my arms, but my increased Stats held firm. I used the momentum to shove him back, creating a few meters of breathing room.
My mind went into 'Game Mode'. I calculated his reach, the weight of the cauldron, and the friction of the blood-slicked floor. I was preparing to bait him into another [Gap] dodge when he roared and charged again.
He was fast, but his own filth was his undoing. As he sprinted, his unbuttoned tactical pants, already sagging, slipped sown past his knees. His hairy, thick, semi-hard dick flapped wildly in the air, throwing off his balance. He tripped over his own ankles, his momentum carrying him forward in a pathetic, face-first dive.
CRACK!
His temple hit the jagged, oxidized edge of the 'Bronze Tripod Cauldron' with a sickening thud. He didn't even twitch. He died instantly, his pants still tangled around his shins.
I stood there, staring at the corpse of the 'terrifying' murderer.
"Well..that caught me off guard."
The System chime rang out, sounding almost,,, snarky.
"[Congratulation on surviving the Hidden Event! As anticlimatic as that was!]"
"[Notice: You have obtained 1,000 Coins and +2 Stat Points.]"
I blinked at the screen. I was happy about the rewards, obviously, it was a massive head start, but I couldn't help but wonder, did the System develop an ego in the last few hours?
I looked down at the dead man, then at my cauldron. "At least it still makes a good shield." I whispered.
I moved quickly toward the library section, my eyes scanning the wreckage for anything that hummed with that specifi Tower resonance. On a shattered shelf near the Historic display, I swiped the 'Right Eye of Horus' and 'Seal of Solomon'.
Both were D-Rank Items, barely more than trinkets. In the VR days, the Eye was a basic trap-detector and the Seal gave a measly bost to magic Stats. Most Ranker wouldn't even boyher wasting time on them, but for me, even the most useless Items has its use.
I shoved the Cauldron and the two Items into my [Inventory], feeling the weight lift from my hands as the System digitized them. Stepping into the Great Library Hall, the atmosphere shifted. It was majestic, with rows of towering mahogany shelves stretching toward a vaulted ceiling, but now the air was thick, vibrating with a low-frequency hum of magical energy.
I didn't even get ten steps in before the air hissed.
A streak of orange light blurred across my vision. I threw myself to the left, the heat of the [Fire Bolt] singing the fabric of my jacket as it slammed into a bookshelf behind me, incinerating a century of literature in a heartbeat.
"[Congratulation! You have succesfully dodge a Graze attack!]"
"[Notice: You have earned +0.01 Rift Points]"
"[Current Gap Stat: 1.01/100 Rift Points]"
"What the hell?" I spat, rolling back onto my feet. "Is everyone in this city allergic to saying hello?"
From the deep shadows of the book stacks, an old man stepped into the light. He had a shock of iron-grey hair and a face lined with age, but his posture was as straight as a spear. He wasn't some helpless pensioner, he moved with the predatory grace of someone who had spent his lifef in the field.
He didn't look at me as a threat. He looked at me like I was some bug he had forgotten to crush.
"Hoo? The guard I placed outside was defeated?" The old man mused, his voice raspy but steady. He didn't seem particularly upset about his pupet dying with his pants around his ankles. "Well, it doesn't matter. I already have what I came for."
He snapped his fingers.
FWOOSH!
A ball of pure, dancing fire erupted over his palm, casting long, dancing shadows across the rows of books. He was undoubtedly a [Fire Mage]. Even in the early levels, that kind of offensivve output was a death sentence for most people.
He hadn't jst found items; he had already awakened a 'Class'.