Contains a few gore and curses, not appropriate for very young readers.

Linus Chrysller is an A-class Hitman, well versed in four of the nine divisions of the Organization 9.(namely Guns, Swords, Knives and Chakrams.) He is a good looking 6ft 2in Eurasian with bronze colored hair and a well-built body from years of military training. He stood looking out his 3rd floor balcony thinking of how to do his next hit today. He was concerned of his preparation which would let him kill his target and escape the area.

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(Changing to First Person View)

Sighing as I went back inside to suit up for the job at hand, I decided to take my time and eat a hearty breakfast for the tedious day ahead.

I washed the dishes and went to the second floor and packed my Customized Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle inside my suitcase. I then proceeded to my non-descript Honda beside my Camaro.

I drove to the Union Corp. Commercial branch to proceed as planned in assassinating the mayor of the city who was giving a speech 3 blocks away from Unicorn Corporation; finishing this job would earn me a few million dollars since it was a priority task given by the Organization 9.

“Haaah, I should have taken my mother’s wish and went to my uncle for a simple job.” As I painstakingly climbed to the roof top in an exasperated tone and went ahead to setup my precious rifle.

“Maybe I’ll go on vacation after this guy gets his head blown off, heh.” The target, Mayor Desmond had a lot of enemies since his order on mandatory Royal Road shutdown every weekend to increase societal productivity which enraged a lot of gamers.

“Oh well, guess it’s time to pull the trigger…maybe I’ll hit him in the eye so he’ll have to wear an eye patch in his coffin, keke.” (Seriously whack -_-)

“ This order, as I have said would increase the society’s culture and revenue into which we could create a more beneficial society …” as the Mayor explained on top of his 3ft podium stand, since he is only 4ft 8in tall, which was a comical sight for the reporters.

“As this order would be implemented-” Spleuk! A shot could be heard around them and blood could be seen as the mayor’s head whipped back and he went falling down his high podium stand.

“Time to go and make myself scarce, maybe I’ll try that new game that’s been causing all this in the first place.” I left by using the emergency exit and drove back to my beautiful 3 floored Villa overseeing the San Diego River.

Backing up the Honda in my garage, I saw that the light in the living room was on. “Hmm, someone’s going to eat a few bullets today.” As I was sure I left the house with the light off and security on.

I grabbed my Magnum and combat knife underneath the seat and stealthily crept inside my house.

What awaited me in my living room was my 6ft 2in boss Mario and his thick headed goons Rafael and Diego, both barely passable as B-class Hitmen in our organization.

“Linus my boy, I was wondering when you’d get over. Nice work with the shot by the way, glad to hear you still have that crazy style of yours.” Mario said as he was sipping a very generous portion of my Scotch.

“Damn boss, you should have called me. I could have opened a good year of scotch for you! Since I’ll be getting that payment you brought with you.” I was eyeing the black duffle bag he had dumped on my table.

“It’s all there, the organization expresses their thanks. Also they wanted to ask if you’re interested in a different sort of job which could be a sort of vacation for you.” He said with a smirk.

“Let me think about it…..what’s the catch though?” I said as I took the bag and sat in front of him, carefully assessing if things get rough would I have the chance to drop these three goons and make a run for it.

“Catch is you’d be out of action for a while, pay is good if you get it done.” Mario said as he flicked his finger to signal Rafael and Diego to his side.

“I don’t know boss, sounds kind of vague….” I was itching to draw my guns and think of my chances against these 2 goons and Mario.

“You got 2 minutes to decide if you’d take the job or not.” He was saying this while watching my hands reaching for my gun and continued on.

”- and base on your choice my two boys here'll either throw you down that cliff after a few shots in the head; or take you with us back to the organization.” As he nodded his head after the last word came out from his lips Rafael and Diego came nearer drawing their .45 Calibers.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well then I’d go with those terms than go swimming with the fishes” I figure even if I could kill these guys, all the upper echelons wouldn’t like me going around killing their dogs, so I’ll just play along and hear what they want.

“Well then let’s go and meet Raizel, he’ll be giving you the description of the job after you’re done with storing the cash. We’ll be waiting outside.” He got up and went to the door, “Oh and bring that scotch you were talking about a while back, I deserve at least that considering you were thinking of killing me and my boys, heh, you thought I didn’t notice? C’mon boys!” He and the bodyguards left while I was still thinking if it was really the right decision.

“Damn, well there goes my vacation, might as well put this cash inside the safe and strap the C4 on my nuts, I bet they won’t check that part part!” I took the stairs to the second floor which contains the safe and armory and left the money inside while taking the C4 and went to their car.

We arrived at Unicorn Corp. Main Branch and went inside the elevator where Mario REPLACEed his black card inside the hidden panel which took us to the fifth lower level of the establishment; Organization 9’s conference rooms.

“Go ahead Linus, Raziel is waiting for you, good luck though, I heard he hasn’t failed in killing his targets with a sword, you’ll need it! Hahaha” He laughed while pushing me outside and closing the elevator door.

I went ahead and opened the doors to the conference room and found it pristine.

It was decorated with several expensive weapons such as Ivory crafted swords, state of the art guns and carbon fiber plated katanas. As my eyes roam around the room I caught a figure sitting in the middle of the room; a well-built body was wearing an immaculate blood red suit and scarlet hair in a ponytail, Raizel.

“Linus, I see you like what I did to the room.” He said in a very cold and intimidating voice,.

Raizel is the Sword’s Division First General in the Organization 9; he was once also my mentor. (There are a total of 9 divisions in the Organization (Duh) which presents an aspect in combat: Swords, Guns, Knives, Hand Combat, Spears, Staffs, Whips, Chakram and Axes.)

“Yes….Ye..Yes Sir, it’s very cool.” Cold sweat ran down my spine as I came face to face with this monster, praying that he doesn’t slice me up like sushi.

“Raziel sir, what is the nature of this job and what would be my payment when it’s done?”

“Linus have you heard of the game called Royal Road? We would like you to have a “vacation” by playing in it, since you have finished your latest target, we feel you deserve a break.”

“Well I was thinking of doing that anyway, so it’s good, but what’s the payment?” This wasn’t bad, I get to have my well-deserved R &R while getting paid, and there would really be a catch to this one though.

“It would depend on your performance in-game, as you know how Royal Road is a VRMMORPG; it is based on the five senses, your capabilities in real life depict your potential in the virtual realm, and since you have an exemplary training, it would be to your advantage.”

I thought about how it’s about training, natural ability, and combat prowess, why wouldn’t the generals do it?

“Sir, if it’s like that, why not do it yourself?”

“It’s because you need more training, we of the 9 generals think that you and several others would be qualified for the next step in the organization. As division manager, so we need to gauge your capabilities to some extent; and the fastest and most profitable way would be by conquering Royal Road and being its emperor. However, note that the game runs four times fast than in real life, and if you succeed in this mission you will be rewarded with 10% of Unicorn’s profit that month.”

I couldn't help but smile at the concept of getting paid while playing and relaxing on my vacation!

“Alright boss, I’ll accept this job and start ASAP.”

“Good, a special capsule is being installed in your basement made by Unicorn Engineers, Now go and finish this task successfully.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Oh and by the way Linus, we also gave this task to eight of your fellow A-class hitmen, all of you must fight to become the emperor. Keep in mind that if you fail there would be dire consequences to you, and the others.” Raziel said the last statement with an eerie smile on his face while turning his back to me.

As Linus took the elevator to make an exit, Raziel said something that was almost inaudible to hear under his breath.

“You will find that the task given isn’t what it seems-“

To be continued.