The revolver weighed on my hands.
We both knew what was happening and what was going to happen.
His body was bound so tightly that I could only see his sweaty face.
Hair clustered on his forehead, eyes widened, erratic. It looked like he wanted to yell, but nothing came out.
"W-wait...don't...don't do this..."
"...."
I gulped.
Because there was no escape.
No exit.
The red fog surrounded us; there was no leaving.
...What if I shoot him in a non-lethal area? Maybe his-
The gun went straight to his chest.
"...W-what?"
What the fuck...I-I didn't even move it?! Why...
My hands were shaking, but I felt my fingers move towards the trigger.
Stop, stop it—!
I tried to yank my hands away from the gun, trying to drop it, let go, all sorts of things, but my body wouldn't listen.
"No, let go! LET GO—"
I know he tried to kill me, but I'm not ready to kill anyone.
I don't want to kill anyone—!
But my finger slithered onto the trigger anyway.
"H-hey, I'm sorry for earlier, I-I, I can't die, please don't—!"
BANG
A deafening roar filled my ears as my hands recoiled from the shock.
The bullet shot through the man's bindings right into him.
I could feel the heavy bullet pierce through his skin.
His eyes widened even further, and his mouth was agape. He tried to breathe, but all that came out was a pathetic gasp.
I need to get help.
Right now—!
Everything started to clear out the second I shot the bullet.
The walls of the alley came into view again, and so did the streets.
I stumbled out, screaming for help, but it was dead silent.
Tch, no one's going to come! I need to get to Grandma Guanhuai first.
I turned around to check the man's condition, only to see him collapsed on the ground, unmoving.
"...Hey...HEY!"
I rushed over to him.
W-what the hell am I supposed to do?! He's dying...he's...I...I killed him...
...No. No, I-I won't accept this!
I checked for his pulse...
There was a beat.
It was small, but there.
I quickly lifted his body.
Should I run to Grandma Guanhuai? Or should I try to bandage the wound?
I took off my shirt, trying to tie it around the man's chest, trying to stop the...
...the bleeding...?
In my daze, I hadn't even realized the absence of blood...anywhere.
...What? There's no blood...?
I started patting the man down, checking for a wound, but there was none.
It was as if the bullet had just fazed through him.
But if there's no wound...why is he acting like this?
He was slumped over like a dead body, acting as if I really did shoot him.
Just as I tried to wake him up, I heard the crackling of...fire!
Grandma Guanhuai!
I swiftly turned around, mouth happily agape.
I don't think I've ever been this relieved in my life...
"Grandma Guanhuai, you're...here?"
But what stood in front of me didn't feel like Grandma Guanhuai.
Her face was contorted so tightly that I could see pulsing veins on her forehead.
Her eyes...
The second I saw them, I unconsciously froze up.
They were blinding, and it felt as if layers upon layers of stone sat on my shoulders.
Violet flames wrapped around her body, engulfing her so naturally as if she were part of the flames herself.
"...G-Grandma Guanhuai...?"
"..."
As if hearing my voice again, the flames around her almost seemed to back down.
Her body was now visible...and she looked...normal again...
The face she once made was now gone, replaced with an annoyed and angry expression.
If there wasn't already sweat dripping down my face before, there definitely was now.
Somehow, this expression was even scarier than her previous one...
"...Grandma-"
"YA BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE AS TO WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TE YA! MAKIN ME RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE!"
Rummaging through her bag, she threw my phone on the ground in front of me.
...?
"W-what's this?"
"CAN'T YA READ?"
"Uh, yeah, right."
The phone screen was almost blinding, with white light pouring through as if the sun was directly inside my screen.
Through the brightness, I could make out a single notification that covered the entire screen.
"...Skill Shu has been unlocked...!"
I immediately opened my phone and tapped into the Skill App.
[Skill App]
[Before Judgement's Gaze - Level 1/10]
[Scales of Punishment - Level 1/10]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
[Locked]
...Skills...I...I've unlocked my skill tree!
And I hadn't just unlocked one skill, but two.
"I came rushing over here cause ya damn phone kept blaring that...ya finally unlocked your skill, eh? Guess ya gotta report this to the government."
I could only muster a single "yeah" out of my mouth.
It was astonishing that I was able to unlock this so early on...and two skills no less.
But how could I just level up like this? With no exp, no level up materials...but then again...this game never easily follows my knowledge. Leveling up might be different.
...I was in a near-death situation...that must have something to do with this.
"Before I question ya, what's with that kid? Ain't he the one who was tryin ta rob ya?"
"Huh, oh yeah!"
Amidst the exciting news, I had completely forgotten about that guy.
"I, uh, I'm not sure what happened to him...I...."
For a moment, I trailed off.
I didn't know if I should have continued or stopped.
My hesitation must have reached her quicker than I'd expected.
She took out a small pair of silver glasses from her bag.
They were extremely old and looked like a trashy family heirloom that would've been sold off at a garage sale.
"...There's a penalty on him."
"What?"
"Ya did this ta him, didn't ya?"
"Uh-"
What am I supposed to say? That I shot the man?
"If yer worried about it crippling him, it's temporary. It should be gone soon."
Gone soon?...
The news was a lot more relieving than I'd thought it would be.
It honestly felt like my legs were going to give out again.
"Hahhh...that's good."
So this means the bullet just registered a debuff...my skill doesn't kill, but just weakens the enemy.
I wonder if the worse the crime, the greater the debuff...but the level of my skill would most definitely also be a factor in all of this.
Grandma Guanhuai was still examining the man.
Poking at him and lifting his limbs around... she might even have been enjoying herself...
Her glasses seemed pretty useful. She was able to get that information so quickly...Maybe I should ask where she got it.
But she was so immersed in the man that she didn't pay any attention to my calls.
Just what was so interesting?... Well... I guess Hanzhi is from one of the twelve houses, so seeing a power of that level would be pretty interesting.
My mind slowly drifted back to my skill sets.
I needed to level these skills up! It'd be a huge advantage if I already had leveled up skills before I even went into the academy!
Wen Shouyi didn't even unlock her skills until at least a couple of months before entering the academy.
My near-death situation likely had something to do with unlocking my skills.
I couldn't tell if I was grateful or not...
...Ugh...I also need to report this to the government...
It was even a plot point in the game, where the player needed to report their newly unlocked skills. If a skill wasn't reported in the first forty-eight hours of obtainment, there were legal consequences...which was exactly what happened to the main character.
I need to make sure that wouldn't be me.
...Okay, get it together, Yinuo! Focus on what's in front of you! Right now, I should read more about my skills and get a good grasp on things.
I clicked back into the Skill App and checked out my skills.
If it were like the game, I could read about each skill and how they work instead of just guessing.
But before I looked into anything, a little, insignificant thought crossed my mind.
A thought I should have thought of before, but didn't.
...Wait, if it's a temporary debuff...then what about my legs...
...What if... what if my legs' healing was a... temporary buff?!
The second it crossed my mind, my legs buckled, and the immense pain came back.
It was like my leg was rebroken all over again.
"AUGH—!"
I collapsed as I felt the sweat and tears come back down my face.
I tried to gasp for air, but it was like my lungs were gone.
Maybe it was because I saw Grandma Guanhuai run towards me, I relaxed my body more than I should've.
My vision was blurring out...
...ah...fuck.