It was 6 a.m.

The sun had just risen and I was already at the edge of the lake.

Using a stone, I had carved a sort of wooden bowl from a soft log that had washed up on the shore.

I then attached leaves to it using the juice I found in the abdomen of insects that I usually used as bait.

My clothes were folded and hidden in a bush nearby, close to where I usually arrived from my base.

I was simply wearing a beige canvas loincloth, the same one I had spawned with.

I placed the bowl on my head, and small branches and leaves fell down to my chest.

They were perfectly positioned to allow me to see without being seen when I would be in the water.

I smeared mud on my face to better conceal my fair skin.

Before entering the water, I caught a glimpse of my rippled reflection on the small waves created by the wind.

I was thin but had some muscles, climbing the tree multiple times a day was starting to have an effect on my body.

But now was not the time to admire myself.

I gathered some logs, branches, and leaves and threw them into the water. A single piece of wood would be suspicious, but not if it was in the middle of a pile of debris.

Then I entered the water, my long chain attached to my ankle.

The water was cold.

I swam to the other side of the lake, but I decided to stay a few meters away from where my target was supposed to come to drink and wash.

There were branches all around me, aiding in my concealment.

My chain, attached to my ankle, had buried itself in the clay near the shore and remained motionless.

It was 6:30 a.m.

I had no idea when he would arrive, but I had to stay alert.

I moved my legs slightly to keep my nose above water.

The bowl on my head was too large, and I could hear the echo of my breathing against the wet wood.

Small ripples tapped against my right ear.

It wasn't a comfortable position, but at least the movement had eased the cold sensation I had felt when entering the lake.

I had made sure to approach the shore because I wasn't comfortable staying in deep water for too long.

I didn't know what was lurking beneath, and I didn't want to find out.

That thought occupied my mind for the entire following hour.

At the end of that long hour, fatigue started to take over me.

My legs felt heavy, and I began to feel cold.

The player had still not appeared.

I was becoming impatient.

"What if he doesn't come? How long should I wait?" I wondered.

In Hell, every hour counted, and wasting time was unacceptable given the debt bar's ultimatum.

But it wasn't yet 8 a.m.

There was still a chance he would show up.

My legs were tiring too much, so I decided to move closer to the edge to touch the ground.

Being too close to the edge was not ideal as it made my movements more suspicious, but I had to avoid using my EP unnecessarily just before a fight.

I began swimming slowly when I saw a silhouette emerge from behind the trees.

It was him.

His brown metallic armor reflected the sun.

He wore his helmet on his head, and his sword was attached to his belt.

He walked purposefully toward the lake.

I stopped and asked the screen to show me his profile, and it appeared before my eyes.

"PLAYER 33DFWAH10 - LVL 17 - HP 100/100 - CLASS: KNIGHT"

It was the first time I saw a player's profile.

I didn't have access to his statistics, which probably meant I hadn't invested enough points in my Perception.

He had more than 10 levels on me, and his class was Knight.

His HP was at 100, much higher than mine.

It made sense, Knights were supposed to have the best defense among the different classes.

These were not encouraging pieces of information. I would have preferred to encounter an archer or a mage, once chained, they wouldn't have been able to do anything.

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But this player was likely to resist and had the power to do so.

He moved toward the water and looked around.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped at my position, about ten yards away from him.

He seemed to ponder.

"Why won't he just go and drink... Come on, go drink..." I thought.

My eyes were positioned between the wood of my bowl and the water.

The small waves tossed my body from side to side.

The dark color of the water helped the branches and leaves surrounding me to conceal me.

I saw him stand there, his head turned toward me.

"If he approaches, I'll flee," I thought. There was no way I would engage in a direct fight with such a high-level player.

Finally, he turned his head to the side and knelt down.

I felt a great sense of relief in my body.

I used my chain to pull myself toward him, slowly, without moving my body.

I approached little by little so as not to arouse suspicion.

Only five yards left.

That's when I realized he hadn't put down his sword; it was still attached to his belt.

"Damn, why? Does he suspect something?" I wondered.

But I was too close to retreat now.

His sword wouldn't make a difference if I immobilized him in time.

I had to get within two yards to make the most of the length of my chain. Any closer, and he would easily spot me.

I grabbed my chain at its center and let both ends sink into the clay near the player's feet.

"One end will go directly to his sword, and the other end will strangle him. I wish I could immobilize his feet, but if I squeeze his neck tightly enough, he won't have a chance to escape or even attack me," I thought.

I was finally two yards away.

He was drinking calmly and washing his face.

But strangely, he still kept his helmet on.

That was worrisome.

"Doesn't matter," I thought.

My two chains slid toward his feet like two serpents and began to climb up his legs.

The player made a surprised backward movement and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

It was already too late; my chain was wrapping around his hand and the hilt, preventing him from drawing it.

He was too preoccupied with his hand to realize that the other end of my chain was already wrapping around his neck.

He used his other hand to grab the chain and pull it to prevent himself from being strangled.

I tightened both chains as tightly as possible.

I was still in the water, crouched with my feet buried in the clay. I hadn’t moved.

With a bit of luck, he would faint without being able to see me.

I felt I was close to achieving that.

But suddenly, something happened.

I saw his neck bulge as if muscles had suddenly grown.

My chain continued to tighten, but it didn't seem to be able to suffocate him because of this change.

"What kind of ability is this?" I wondered.

I had no choice but to get closer to be able to use a bit more of the length of my chain.

I stood up, leaves covering my face and my body covered in mud.

My hand held the chain.

I emerged from the water and approached the knight.

His eyes widened as he saw me.

Looking him in the eyes, I saw his determination, then he looked to the side and looked at me again.

His screen, he was probably checking his EP.

That was a good sign.

"Or maybe he's checking my level..." I thought, a little less optimistic.

In any case, I couldn't pretend not to worry about my own energy reserves.

His hand was still trying to remove the chain from his neck, preventing me from squeezing as tightly as I wanted.

His neck was still swollen, allowing him to breathe and leaving enough space for his artery so that he wouldn't lose consciousness.

His hand strained to unsheathe his sword.

He was immobilized, but it didn't benefit me.

I couldn't steal anything from him unless he lost consciousness.

My worries grew more and more.

I knew I was dealing with a Knight, and resistance was his strong point.

Of course, I had PP in reserve, but I wanted to avoid using them unless I was in mortal danger.

My doubts finally overwhelmed my confidence.

I decided to use part of my chain to push his helmet to the ground, then I approached to retrieve it.

I was less than a yard away from him; I noticed that he was much taller than me. I felt his gaze.

He probably hated me, but I had no choice.

It was the lesser evil to level up in my situation.

I picked up the helmet from the ground and opened my sales screen.

Once the loading was done, I sold it.

At the same moment, I saw the Knight struggle even more violently to break free from my grasp.

His helmet must have had value.

"STOLEN MEDIUM QUALITY KNIGHT HELMET! 50DP 20PP!"

It was a very good price.

I looked up, feeling my body growing tired.

The chains were draining my energy; I had to act quickly, or I wouldn't have the strength to escape.

His breastplate, tasset, and thigh armor couldn't be easily removed.

But his pauldrons and boots, I could do it.

I used one end of the chain that was squeezing his neck to detach the pauldrons from his armor, then I used the other end of my chain near his hand to try to make him fall, to retrieve his boots.

But I felt like I was dealing with a rock.

"Well, the pauldrons are better than nothing," I thought.

I picked up the two pieces of brown metal and sold them.

There was a new loading; each sale required waiting time.

Once sold, I gained 30DP and 10DP for both.

Now I had 80/240DP for level 6 and 434PP in reserve.

I started to retreat and return to the water.

The knight's eyes were filled with rage.

I doubted he would let me go easily, but I had no choice but to leave it there for now.

I moved back until my chain was taut, and I began to untie it to move away.

"If I release his hand, he'll try to cut the chains. If I release his neck, he'll regain his other hand and can stop expending energy to defend his neck."

Both choices were bad.

But I had an idea.

I detached the small chain that I always carried on me and let it slide along my main chain, reaching the Knight's left hand that prevented the large chain from choking him.

As long as the small chain was in contact with the large one, I could control it.

I slid this chain into the free space in the palm of his hand.

Then I untied my chain and quickly pulled it toward me.

As expected, his left hand didn't release the large chain, but its movement, pulling back toward me, caused the knight to slightly loosen his grip and open his hand a bit more.

After all, he didn't want to prevent my chain from loosening its grip around his neck.

I slid my small chain around his ring finger and pinky; his arm was stretched and pulled by the force of my large chain returning to me.

The small chain attached itself to a part of the large chain just behind the knight's hand.

With a sharp pull, I tugged my large chain, and since his grip wasn't secure, he let go of it slightly.

Then, while pulling on my small chain, it yanked his fingers violently backward and broke them.

He couldn't hold onto the chain anymore and completely let go of it. I then released the other end that immobilized his right hand, pulled it, and began swimming to get away.

I swam on my back and kept an eye on him.

"YOU’RE DEAAAAAD!!" he shouted in a hoarse voice.

That surprised me.

I then I saw him draw his sword.

Of course, he wasn't going to give up.