Kin was drunk.
Not the fun, singing-on-the-table kind of drunk. The bad kind. The kind where his head weighed too much and his mouth tasted like regret. He didn't remember walking into this bar. He didn't remember the music. He definitely didn't remember the woman sliding into the booth next to him.
But there she was.
Beautiful. Dark hair spilling over one shoulder. Eyes that smiled before her lips did. She leaned close enough that he could smell her perfume—something sweet, something dangerous.
"You look like you need another," she said, pushing a shot glass toward him.
Kin knew he should refuse. His body was already shutting down. But his mouth—arrogant, stupid, performative—said, "Keep 'em coming, sweetheart."
He downed it.
The room tilted sideways.
She caught him as his elbow slipped off the table. "Whoa there," she laughed, helping him up. Her hands were warm. Steady. Too steady for someone who'd been drinking.
Whatever, Kin thought. She's hot. What's the worst that could happen?
She guided him outside.
The night air hit him like a slap. He blinked, vision swimming, and that's when he saw them.
A brigade of soldiers.
Marching down the main road. Perfect formation. Rifles gleaming under the streetlights. And at the center, riding in an open jeep like he owned the world—
An infantry general.
Kin's stomach turned for a different reason now. He knew that face. Everyone in the city knew. The government said this general had just "successfully eliminated terrorists" in a village in southern SEU. But Kin and every other hater of the regime knew the truth.
Terrorists was code for Nya people.
The general had wiped out an entire minority village. Called it a victory.
Kin's hands curled into fists. His arrogance flared—someone should kill that bastard—but underneath it, his heart was already racing. What if they see me looking? What if they—
DING.
A translucent blue screen erupted in front of his face.
Kin stumbled back. "What the—"
---
[System Activation Complete]
[Host: Kin — Status: Suboptimal (Intoxication Level: Severe)]
[Unauthorized Awakening Initiated. You did not choose this. I chose you.]
[TASK 1 — ASSASSINATION]
Target: Infantry General (War Criminal — Nya Village Massacre)
Method: Decapitation
Time Limit: 00:35:00
Failure Consequence: You will feel the pain of every Nya victim's family for 24 hours.
[Weapons Available]
· Glock 19 (Suppressed)
· Palladium Katana (Monomolecular Edge)
[Any questions?]
---
Kin stared. His arrogant mouth tried to form a question—what the fuck is this?—but before he could speak, weight slammed into both his hands.
A gun.
A katana.
Both real. Both heavy.
The woman who'd been helping him screamed. The pedestrians on the sidewalk screamed. Everyone ran.
And Kin's vision went… strange.
It was like watching a movie through someone else's eyes. He could see everything—the soldiers turning, the general looking up, the crowd scattering—but his body wasn't his anymore. His arms moved without his permission. His legs stepped forward without his command.
What's happening?! he shrieked internally.
A countdown appeared in the corner of his vision: 34:59… 34:58…
And a straight blue line stretched from his chest to the general's neck. The soldiers between them? Gone. Invisible. The System had drawn a path through the chaos.
Kin tried to stop his legs. He couldn't.
I don't want this! I didn't ask for—
His body moved like a ghost through the crowd. Three seconds. Five. Ten. Then—
The katana was at the general's throat.
Kin regained control just as the cold steel touched skin.
The general's eyes went wide. His hand snapped to his hip, pulling a revolver, pressing the barrel against Kin's ribs.
"You picked the wrong night, boy," the general whispered.
Kin's arrogance crumbled. His voice came out small: "I—I didn't—"
Then the System's voice echoed inside his skull. Not text this time. A voice. Cold. Ancient. Unimpressed.
"I am afraid you are unprepared for this first battle. I will take full control of your body. This once."
Kin's body jerked.
The general fired—BANG—but Kin was already under the bullet, twisting, the katana singing through the air in an arc too perfect, too fast, too inhuman.
Thump.
The general's head hit the ground.
Kin blinked. His hand was holding the head by the hair. Blood dripped onto his shoes.
Oh god oh god oh god—
The soldiers raised their rifles. Fifty muzzles. Fifty triggers.
BRRRRRRRRT—
Bullets shredded the air around him.
[Crisis Protocol Activated]
[Speed Sequence — 02:00 remaining]
[Choose one:]
· Eliminate all attackers (Recommended for Host confidence)
· Flee (Recommended for Host survival)
---
Kin's voice cracked: "WHAT THE FUCK?! TAKE ME OUT OF HERE OR I'M DEAD!"
[Acknowledged.]
A blue path ignited on the ground. Twisting. Turning. Leading away.
[Follow immediately.]
Kin ran.
He didn't know how. His legs moved faster than any human should. Buildings blurred. Bullets chased him—pinging off walls, shattering windows—but every time a round got close, he turned a corner, ducked an alley, vanished.
The blue path pulled him like a fish on a hook.
Two minutes later, he collapsed behind a dumpster in some back alley he'd never seen. Gasping. Shaking. The katana and gun were gone. The general's head was not in his hand anymore.
But the blood on his shirt was real.
[Task 1 Complete]
[Reward: $50,000 / Legacy Transfer: +0.4% / Harem Candidate #0 — Locked (Affection not yet earned)]
[New Passive: Pain Empathy (Dormant)]
[Next mission in: 71 hours, 22 minutes]
Kin stared at the blue text floating in front of his face.
He threw up.
Then he laughed. Loud. Hysterical. Arrogant even now.
"Guess I'm a fucking assassin now," he whispered to the empty alley.
His hands wouldn't stop shaking.