The forest was my home. The treetops were my roof, and the leafy ground was my carpet.

I knew every nook and cranny of this green expanse for hundreds of miles. It was a massive advantage in battle against anyone.

I felt confident I could beat players several levels above me. Yet, I had just spoken to a lowly level 12, and I had doubted. He had a secret class, and a strange power. I could have defeated him, I was sure, but I was glad I didn't have to.

Something about him felt unpredictable, dangerous.

Generally, the levels in Hell were not reliable measures of a player's threat. Shadow stats were one reason, but so was the ability to make good choices. Spreading out talent points and choosing abilities that weren't in sync with one's combat style was a surefire way to get killed. That's why my motto had always been to never underestimate anyone.

I had been sent to speak to this player, Okovani.

My employer - a powerful Merchant named Partam - had hired me to cover this player's tracks, to scatter his trail and warn him of the danger that threatened him. And of course, without mentioning I was being paid for it.

As a bounty hunter, I received all the manhunt-related information on my screen. I knew then that the bounty was substantial and I could’ve gone for it, but the Merchant who had employed me for years was a reliable source of income. Reliability was a quality too rare and valuable in Hell to let go.

After a few hours of walking, I approached the mountain housing my employer's dungeon.

There, right in front of the stone stall, I saw a hooded man.

"A client?" I wondered. It was rare for there to be any, it seemed strange. I scanned his profile at a glance.

"PLAYER 0AW1VR9MQ - LVL 48 - 180/180HP - CLASS: ASSASSIN"

An Assassin of this level... One of the Merchant King's henchmen?

It was the most likely scenario. I knew this Merchant had formidable Assassins at his command. If this was one of them, I had to avoid being seen at all costs. A Bounty Hunter like me would only arouse suspicion of my employer's involvement.

After a few minutes, the Assassin returned to the forest.

My perception level was high, but I knew I had no chance of spotting such an experienced Assassin if he decided to hide. So I opened my screen to send a message to Partam.

I avoided sending messages as much as possible, as they were only made against a payment of 2% of my total XP bar. This system was costly and limited its use to emergency situations.

He'll reimburse me anyway.

I sent my message: "Safe to come?"

I could have written something more detailed, after all, the system didn't charge by the letter. But I preferred to be concise, I had no time to waste.

I waited about twenty minutes for his reply. He had this annoying habit of constantly working, even when someone was talking to him. I was even convinced that he could work in the middle of a fight.

He finally sent me a reply: "OFC." was written. He had made even less effort than I had.

I got up and went towards the entrance of the dungeon, then I stopped right in front of the stone wall, behind the stone blocks.

"I'm here," I said to the wall. I then heard something metallic activate. It was a machine that allowed him to send his voice remotely, Partam was in fact hundreds of meters away, protected deep in his dungeon.

A small hole appeared in the wall and a robotic voice echoed. "Are you done?" asked Partam's modulated voice.

I nodded. He could see me via another machine that sent my image to his screen.

"Well, we'll wait to see how this 'King' reacts," he said next.

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

"I don't understand the objective. With the bounty on his head, highly experienced trackers are on his tail. He won't last more than a few days. If you want to keep him alive, it's better to help him more actively," I suggested.

Partam took a few minutes to answer. "I'm not looking for a war with this Merchant. Or not yet. The goal is to test how the enemy reacts, what are his means, his connections... His weak points. The enlightened can die, it wouldn't be a bad thing anyway," he answered.

The enlightened? Is that the name of his class?

I didn't ask any information about that. I knew that information about secret classes was taboo.

"Okay, so you want him to survive a little longer to see how big the manhunt will get? But then what was the point of putting a bug on him?" I asked next.

I continued not understanding the reason behind my employer's actions.

A well-known saying in Hell said 'Merchants reason in potential.'

In my opinion, there were two reasons why this saying had come about.

The first was that Merchants were always chasing after the best opportunities, especially financial ones. And this naturally led to the second point which was that in the merchants' minds there were only PPs.

If a Merchant gave away his precious PPs, it was because he saw an investment.

Why was the Merchant King offering a huge bounty to catch a level 12?

Why was Partam paying me to allow the same player to survive a little longer?

What logic, what investment was hidden behind this?

It wasn't my business, but I wanted to understand.

I wanted to be part of this secret.

Again, the merchant took his time to respond.

"Mirov, I thought I was paying you enough so you wouldn't have to ask questions. Information is worth PPs. Do you want to be paid, or do you want to know more?" the Merchant offered.

I wanted to be paid. But I also wanted to know more.

What was happening here was completely beyond my level, the information seemed more valuable to me than what Partam was paying me.

"I want to know more." I replied.

I heard him mutter, as if he hadn't expected me to answer that.

"In this world there is a power hierarchy, it's what creates some semblance of order. I am under the orders of a very powerful organization that is governed by very strict rules. And this so-called 'King' did not follow these rules. So I was sent here to take him down." Partam explained.

This information seemed empty to me. Without details, was it worth anything?

"Okay, and why prolong the hunt, how will that help take down this Merchant? And what about the bug?" I asked next.

This time, he answered quickly. It seemed that this paid information also gave me access to his full attention. "I want to see how he reacts if he doesn't quickly get what he wants. If he continues to delegate to bounty hunters beyond a day or two of hunting, I'll take that as a sign of weakness. If on the other hand he decides to send his best men, it will show some confidence in his defenses. But to know all that, I need to know where the enlightened is, that explains the bug." Partam explained.

"Right… But what do you mean by ‘his defenses?’" I asked.

"He knows he's being attacked. He knows who he's being attacked by. But he doesn't yet know that I'm the one who's been sent to take him down. So he's preparing for war. And what does a King do when he's threatened?" the Merchant asked.

"He prepares his defenses." I replied.

"Exactly. Like a Vullupic that curls up to protect itself, he'll keep his best men close to him, strengthen his walls, and prepare his men. Change his habits." he said.

"Or else..." I began.

"Or else he changes nothing, or almost nothing. And then, it will show that he does not fear what awaits him." the Merchant finished.

"But that could also mean that he's not aware of the danger, or that he doesn't care that much about catching Okovani." I retorted.

"It's because you know nothing about this guy. His orb was more precious than anything to him. What the enlightened one did will never be forgotten. And as for the danger, he's aware of it, you can believe me." Partam finished.

"I see. But why didn't he take better measures to protect the orb then?" I asked.

I didn't understand how a quick round trip through the secret passage could allow something so precious to be retrieved.

"You're greedy for questions, I might think about cutting your next salary too." said the Merchant.

I didn't answer.

"This 'King' is full of himself and despite his level, he doesn't understand this world very well." Partam said mysteriously.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"He thought he was invincible. The only threat to his existence seemed distant and limited by many rules. In short, he didn't expect my masters to act against him." he said.

His masters? I didn't want to hear more about this. This information seemed dangerous for my own survival.

So I changed the subject to find out one last thing: "Why not give Okovani instructions to survive longer, even without directly intervening?" I asked.

"The enlightened is a dead man. He has no way of escaping what is going to fall on him." the Merchant simply replied, in an irritated tone.

"Even going East?" I suggested.

"As long as his feet touch Hell, he won't get far..." he said, before cutting himself off.

What he had just said seemed to give him an idea.

"But if he goes under Hell..." he finished.

"Under Hell?" I asked.

"I've decided I'm also cutting your next salary." said the Merchant in a tone that sounded both annoyed and amused. It was hard to tell with his robotic voice.

He continued: "There are underground passages - created by Merchants, some say. Others say they were created by the devil himself. An entrance exists not far from here, but..." he hesitated.

"That's where death awaits him. A rather undesirable death." the Merchant finished.

"Drifters?" I asked.

"No, something else. There are horrors in Hell that are better left buried underground." the Merchant concluded, in a grim tone.