"At first, I arrived in Hell. I was a beginner. Then I died and resurrected. I was once again a beginner. Now I have lost my long chain and my shoes, and I have no PP left. I feel like I'm back to square one once again. " My mind shifted from one stage to another, like the fingers of a pianist on the keys.

My story in Hell seemed redundant, and it should have discouraged me. And I won't lie, I had thought about giving up.

I remembered when I was in the forest, selling a half-filled bag of Black Turcos instead of trying to cultivate them. At that moment, the idea of cultivation didn't even cross my mind.

I hated the possibility of becoming a farmer again and growing those disgusting things.

I didn't just want to survive; I wanted to live and live intensely.

I wanted to make my time in Hell something I wouldn't regret. And then resurrect.

I had the desire to play this game, and above all, to win.

No way I would give that up.

I opened my profile and looked at my stats. Four talent points were waiting to be allocated.

"Improving my chain when I don't have my big one anymore doesn't seem very smart, but I also need to specialize instead of spreading points everywhere..."

Once again, I was caught in the dilemma of not knowing where to allocate my points.

I knew I had to invest in what made me unique: my chain. So, I put two points into the speed of my chain and two more points into its strength.

My chain now had three points in speed, seven in strength, and nine in resistance.

It was good, but I hadn't allocated any points to its perception yet, leaving it at 1.

"By the way, the other stats are quite self-explanatory, but what is the perception of the chain?" I asked aloud.

The screen displayed a short explanation: "CHAIN PERCEPTION: INCREASES THE SENSORY INFORMATION CAPTURED BY THE CONTROLLED CHAIN!" It didn't teach me anything.

There were times when I sensed things through my chain, but for now, I didn't see the value in investing in this stat.

I walked a few yards off the path in the forest, as usual, avoiding being exposed. But this time, it wasn't enough.

I realized it when I felt the cold metal of a blade on my neck.

"Not everything is lost today," said the person holding the knife.

It was a male voice, but it sounded weak.

He made no noise, and he was using a dagger. He was probably the Assassin I had seen earlier.

"I thought he had fled, but he was waiting around... A coward and an opportunist, the worst kind of player..." I thought.

Once again, something surprised me in my reaction.

Even though it would only take a small movement from this man to slice my throat, I wasn't panicking. But it wasn't as terrifying as the Brute who almost killed me or the Drifter who came close to devouring me.

Dying without pain didn't seem so terrible.

"Give me everything you have, and maybe I'll let you live... Do you have any PP?" he asked.

I didn't respond. I thought about his level; I had analyzed the whole group earlier and tried to remember his profile. "Level 12? No... Maybe 16?" I wondered.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

If it was either of those levels, I had a chance. Otherwise, I had to start doubting.

In any case, I had a significant advantage: the element of surprise.

The chain around my neck was just inches away from the blade. The decision to improve its speed earlier turned out to be the right one.

"I have to get rid of the dagger and then use the chain to strangle him. Hopefully, this dagger is his only weapon, or else I'll have to find a way to survive until he passes out..." I thought.

The plan was simple. If I failed, I risked death.

No, it was out of the question to die against a miserable Assassin.

I slowly raised my hands to lower his guard and said exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Yes... Yes... Whatever you want, but don't kill me..." I said, trembling. I was a good actor.

"Yeaaaah... I'll let you live if you cooperate," he said in a vicious tone. It sounded like the hiss of a snake. His blade slightly moved away from my throat.

"Perfect," I thought.

Unnoticed by him, my chain tightened around my neck. A small part coiled around the blade without squeezing it, just to prevent it from slicing my throat.

The rest slid under the blade to the player's hand and wrapped around his fingers. The chain was too short to pull his fingers backward while still protecting me.

So, I decided to use a similar method to the one that allowed me to retrieve the Drifter's weapon: anticipation.

By squeezing his fingers, I anticipated two reactions. He would try to slice my throat, but upon realizing that I was protected by my chain, he would then pull his hand back.

It was when he would pull his hand back that my chain, attached to his index and ring fingers, would come into play.

The more force he would exert to retract his hand, the more intense the pain would be. And even if he exerted little force, I would use all the available strength of my chain to dislocate his fingers.

In any case, he would let go of his weapon. At the same time, before he could retract his hand, I planned to place my fingers between my chain and my neck to avoid being strangled by my own chain when he pulled his hand back. Of course, these reactions were based on the assumption that this guy wouldn't keep his cool if the situation didn't go as planned. But I wasn't too worried about that; he had proven against the merchant that he wasn't the type to plan his actions very well.

As expected, when he felt something tightening around his fingers, he held his dagger firmly and pressed it against my throat, attempting to slice it in one swift motion.

This fool used so much force to slide his blade that I didn't even need to exert force with my chain for his fingers to dislocate. But in return, I didn't have time to place my fingers under my chain.

I felt it tighten around my neck. In that moment, I learned that even when the human body doesn't require air, the sensation of suffocation can still trigger a panic response—a primal, uncontrollable reaction.

As fear gripped me, I could think of nothing but survival.

All thought of the plan, or even to command the chain to loosen, fled from my mind.

If this continued for much longer, the Assassin would have had ample time to end me.

Fortunately, my chain seemed to perceive the imminent danger and loosened its grip. I regained my composure and turned my head.

The Assassin was holding his fingers, still looking shocked from the pain.

I bent down to pick up the dagger. He placed his foot on it, almost at the same time.

I raised my left arm toward his neck, and my chain wrapped around that tender piece of flesh, it then began to strangle him.

The Assassin's eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth. I squeezed as hard as possible.

In turn, he started to panic. One of his hands tried to loosen the chain, but his other hand reached for something at his waist.

Another knife. He drew it from its sheath and attempted to stab me, haphazardly.

He exerted little force, and it was easy to anticipate where he would strike.

My left hand was holding the chain, so I raised my right hand to protect myself.

The blade pierced my palm, and blood streamed down my face. I immediately closed my hand to retain the knife. It hurt, but I knew I didn't have much time to wait for this to end.

He continued trying to loosen the chain with his right hand, while his left hand tried to remove the knife from my palm.

He gradually succeeded; he had more strength than me. But he was shaking from lack of oxygen.

Suddenly, probably out of desperation, he disappeared.

It was the first time I witnessed that. He was no longer there. Yet, my chain continued to tighten around something, and my right hand still held his knife.

"So, that's the invisibility technique of Assassins?" I thought.

Judging by how he used it, it was his last resort. He probably kept his invisibility technique for desperate situations.

It was the ultimate proof that he had no strength left.

The next moment, he reappeared and collapsed.

I loosened my chain; my goal wasn't to kill him.

I collapsed to the ground as well. I took deep breaths. I had defeated an Assassin who was several levels higher than me.

Even though I had won primarily thanks to the element of surprise and because my opponent was easily thrown off balance. "A victory is a victory," I thought.

My reward was to loot all the equipment from this assassin. And this time, I wouldn't have any remorse in doing so.