Jung walked down the road, and the noise no longer bothered him much; he had gotten used to it. He and Tracy were walking along the main road leading to the inner area of the capital.

As he walked, he looked at the stalls along the road with intense curiosity and excitement. Most of these stalls sold various magical tools, such as swords, shields, daggers, bombs... and even some larger ones sold tamed monsters. Unfortunately, he could only look, as he was completely broke.

While Jung was looking at the stalls, a person standing in front of one caught his attention. He was wearing a tattered black leather coat, and his hood was carefully arranged to conceal his face. He was shifting from foot to foot while watching one of the daggers at the stall.

Jung muttered quietly, "Thief..."

He recognized him immediately; he had seen many like him in his world and had even been robbed by them.

Jung cast a sad glance at the stall vendor, who was just a bent old woman.

Jung thought, 'I'm sorry...' clenching his fist tightly. He couldn’t do anything; he was still weak, just like in his previous life. In such situations, he simply watched, because someone weak like him wouldn’t make a difference and could make things worse.

As expected, the man in the black coat quickly grabbed the dagger, shoved it into his pocket, and disappeared into the crowd. All Jung could do was watch in pity as the old woman yelled at the thief until her voice gave out. But Tracy was different.

Tracy ran after the thief, shouting, "Hey, you! Stop..."

Jung: "Tracy, wait... damn..."

Jung had no choice but to follow her. He owed her his life. If she hadn’t taken him to her home back then, he would have likely been devoured by a monster in the forest.

Jung ran, chasing after Tracy. It was hard to keep up with her because of the large crowd. As Jung focused on not losing her, a blue screen appeared beside him—this was the system!

Jung thought in astonishment, 'Why is it showing up now?...' as he looked at the system while running.

[You have received a mission! Stop the thief and receive a reward.]

Jung thought in shock, 'A mission? A reward?... This feels like a game... Wait! This is scary. In games, you can get punished if you don't complete a mission. Will that happen to me too?'

Jung was stunned and scared as he tried to catch up with Tracy.

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As he began to feel tired from running, he finally saw Tracy stop.

He stopped beside her and asked, "Where is he?... "

Well, he had changed his mind about not intervening, because the penalty for failing to complete a mission could be... death!

Tracy quickly replied, "I don’t know! I was chasing him until he disappeared; maybe into one of the alleys."

Jung and Tracy were now far from the stalls, and it seemed they were in a residential area with many alleys.

Jung said, "Okay, wait here. I’ll go look for him."

Then he started running again, ignoring Tracy's warning as she shouted, "Wait, this is dangerous; maybe we should wait for the soldiers..."

There were many alleys in this residential area. Jung entered them one after another, searching for the thief until he found the right alley!

In a narrow, dark alley, a man wearing a tattered coat stood—he was the thief.

The thief stood facing Jung, then raised his hand and removed his hood. His scarred face reflected a fearful expression, accompanied by a maniacal smile. He opened his mouth and screamed, "You! Why are you chasing me? I—I didn’t steal from you... but that doesn’t matter now, I—I’ll get rid of you... I can’t hide from the soldiers while you’re chasing me everywhere. Blame yourself for your death."

Jung thought, 'Damn!... He’s scared. It seems this is his first time stealing... what bad luck.' Men like this were truly the most dangerous because they didn’t realize what they were doing, so they were extremely frightened and nervous! This made them unpredictable, like madmen.

Jung said, "Wait! No need to attack me. You can still correct your mistake. If you return the dagger, everything will be fine because you wouldn’t have committed a crime."

Jung was trying to philosophize to the thief while thinking at the same time, 'Thief, forgive me for lying to you, because honestly, I don’t understand what I’m saying either...'

The thief screamed at Jung, "I won’t return it!... This dagger is a low-grade magical item. If I sell it, I’ll have enough gold to buy an apartment... I’m tired of living on the streets!"

Then he lunged at him, trying to stab him in the chest with the dagger.

Jung froze in place from sheer fear, thinking, 'Am I going to die here? After thinking I had a chance for a new life...'

That’s why he hated getting involved in these matters, because he was weak, and people like him died in such situations. Jung closed his eyes, waiting for the dagger to pierce his body.

'Thud...' Jung felt the dagger hit his chest hard, but strangely, he felt no pain!

'What?...' Jung opened his eyes and looked at his chest. There were no wounds! He glanced at the thief, who was close to him, staring at the dagger in his hand in shock. The dagger was broken, and its shards were scattered on the ground!

Jung thought in astonishment, 'What happened?... Oh, could it be the suit?'

Then he looked at the black suit in surprise: 'Is this what the system meant when it said it was sturdy and could defend against physical attacks?'

The suit was a medium-grade magical item, and only a weapon of the same grade could penetrate it!

Jung thought happily, 'If that’s the case!...'

A wicked smile appeared on his face. He formed a fist and punched the thief in front of him, shattering his jaw! With the power of the suit that bore magical strength.

The thief fell to the ground, blood flowing from his broken mouth. Jung looked down at him, smiling broadly. This was the first time he was able to accomplish something like this. He had defeated one of those who had made his previous life miserable.

But suddenly, his smile faded as he looked at the dagger, thinking, 'It broke...'

The whole reason for chasing the thief was to recover the dagger, and he was the one who broke it!