Oliver, like many college students, was no stranger to late nights and early mornings. Staying awake through class wasn't a problem, as he was excited to see what the reward for the bounty would be. But as the hours went by with no notifications from the system, his focus began to waver as worry set in.

Escaping his last class for the day just before his fraying nerves gave out, Oliver hurried home in a race against his own frantic thoughts. Did something go wrong? The police were already involved, so how could he check up on things without risking drawing attention? It's not like he could just call and ask. Maybe he could just drive by? How much would he learn by doing that?

Oliver groaned as he flopped down onto his bed. He couldn't see a way to find out what went wrong. His mind being sluggish from a lack of sleep certainly didn't help. Accepting that he wasn't really in any condition to figure things out until he got some sleep, he made himself comfortable on the bed. Before he could even start to drift off, his phone buzzed in his pocket. For a second, he considered ignoring it until it went off twice more in quick succession. Pulling it out, he checked his texts.

(Poli) Are you free tonight?

(Poli) I could use some company. I feel bad for asking out of the blue, but it's been a really rough day.

(Poli) Please?

(Oli) OMW. Be there in 10.

(Poli) ♥ Ty hon

Previous worries instantly replaced by concern for Polina, Oliver rolled out of bed and was out the door in seconds. He knew how tough his girlfriend was, so anything that could leave her so obviously upset had to be pretty bad.

Oliver barely managed to close the door before Polina pulled him onto the couch and wrapped her arms around him. When she buried her face in his chest his worry spiked. He gently rubbed her back as he held her, silently offer his support for whenever she was ready to talk. When she finally spoke her words were heavy with a mixture of exhaustion, disgust and anger.

“Today sucked.”

Hugging her tightly, Oliver kissed the top of her head. “Tell me what happened?” He asked softly.

Polina practically growled as she clung to him. “I can't really say a lot since it's all still ongoing, but... I got called in early, an all hands sort of thing. I don't know all the details, and I really don't want to know. What that sick bastard had on his computer...”

Polina sagged against his chest before turning over to lay with her head in his lap. For just a second he saw the tears in her eyes before she could wipe them away. “Little girls, Oli! He... He did things to them! Then he killed them! He... He...”

Her sobs nearly broke Oliver's heart, making him wish he could go back and just kill the guy in his sleep. Or make him disappear. Just... do something different. Anything different, if it meant Polina wouldn't have to see what she did and suffer like this.

Oliver did his best to suppress the self-reproach he felt and focus on comforting Polina. It wasn't long before exhaustion caught up to her as she cried herself to sleep. Gently brushing her hair as she slept, questioning how he had handled things. He didn't doubt that he was right to do something, especially about a monster like that man. But maybe his methods... He had thought his approach to be restrained, almost elegant. Letting the justice system handle it just seemed right.

But doing it that way hurt someone he cared about.

Reflecting on the whole experience, he realized how flawed it really was. It was pure luck that everything worked out. The officer sent to the house could have missed the computer. Or Jameson could have woke up and made it home before they found anything. Polina being hurt by what she saw was just one of the many problems. He needed to do better. The system said it was up to him how these people would be punished; He would make sure they were punished properly. And he would do it without other people being involved.

He lost track of time sitting there, his mind wandering from what he could have done better to what he could do to help Polina. He knew she was tough, but having to face something like that would be difficult for most people. Only being a cop for a few years, she likely had never dealt with anything similar. Oliver still hadn't figured out what to say to her when she woke up.

Putting a single finger over her lips, Oliver cut off her apology. “No apologies hun. You had a rough day and wanted me here, so I'm here. I just wish there was some way for me to help, and I'm sorry you had to...”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“No, Oli.” Pulling his hand away, she quickly cut him off in return. “No apologies from you either. You are helping me by being here. Neither of us can control what some monster did, we just have to deal with it and try to stop it from happening again. Well, I have to try and prevent it since that's my job.”

Oliver went back to brushing her hair, coaxing a small smile out of her. “That guy... He's going to prison, right?”

Closing her eyes and leaning into his hand, she gave a small nod. “Yeah. One of the detectives hit him with all the evidence and the guy crumbled in a heartbeat and confessed everything. His lawyer may try to get things reduced a little, but he's already looking at a couple life sentences. Considering what a lot of other prisoners do to guys like him, I would say he'll get what he deserves.”

Hearing the anger in her voice, Oliver considered telling her what he did. But how would he explain it? Some magical system told him about the guys? Even if he left the system out of it, what would be her reaction to him basically stalking the guy? Or him breaking into the guys home to find the evidence? He wasn't sure...

But he really didn't like hiding things from her. Or lying to her.

He was right about Polina's resilience, as she bounced back quickly. She knew she couldn't change what had happened, but was determined to work hard and do her job to try and make things better as much as she could. Even so, Oliver spent several nights at her place just to show her he supported her and that he cared. Part of him was tempted to talk to her about them living together, but he felt it was still too early in their relationship. And his lease didn't end for months, though he could probably afford to break it if doing so wouldn't screw over his friends.

Back in his own room, Oliver realized he hadn't earned any credits all week. He was so focused on his girlfriend, he hadn't even bothered to check the system at all! Pulling up the system window, he was surprised when a notification popped up that he had never seen before. The surprise faded into a brief moment of satisfaction as he read it.

Bounty Complete – Jameson Eugene Ball

Proximity – 1

Threat Level – 2

Punishment Modifier – 8

Calculating Reward...

Bounty Reward: 10000 Credits, Scarper Charm(3 charges)

Scarper Charm has been deposited in Host's Warehouse. (This effect can be disabled or re-enabled by Host command. Effect disabled upon transfer if insufficient space is detected. Items will be destroyed if both Warehouse and Host's current location are unable to accommodate transfer.)

Seeing the reward, Oliver was unimpressed by the 10000 credits. With the amount of time invested in completing the bounty, he could have easily made just as many credits from doing commissions- without any of the risks. The Scarper Charm... He had no idea what it was, or what it did. But considering how good the system had been for him so far, he expected it to be something good. Pulling the charm- a small aqua colored butterfly speckled with black stars- out of the Warehouse, he was surprised when a small screen like a system prompt appeared above it.

Scarper Charm – On activation, creates a temporary portal to a safe location within 1 mile. Portal remains active for 5 seconds. 1 charge is consumed on each activation. Charm is destroyed when no charges remain. (3 charges)

Reading the description, Oliver was shocked. It opened a portal! Despite having the system, the ability to instantly travel from one place to another was something he had yet to even think of as possible. Now here it was, right in front of him.

He took a minute to calm himself down and focus on the pros and cons of the charm. Clearly it was designed to allow him to escape dangerous situations, as the description stated that the portal led to a safe location. The 1 mile range was also pretty good, as it would take time for whatever he was escaping to catch up to him. The location not being set, but rather just somewhere safe, meant that other's couldn't easily anticipate where he was going and have to search for him.

But that element of randomness was also where the cons started. Without knowing exactly where it would take him, he couldn't make specific plans or preparations it. For all he knew, the safe location could end up being a bank vault or someone's backyard! That by itself was enough to make him wary of using it, the he wouldn't hesitate if it was an emergency. Only being able to use it a few times was a problem, but he had played enough video games in his life to understand resource management.

All-in-all, he felt it was worth far more than the credit reward.

Putting the charm away, he turned his attention back to the credits he received. With almost 20000 available, he couldn't unlock the last tab. But with how challenging even the easiest bounty proved itself to be, he wasn't sure he was ready for it if it turned out to be similar- and he certainly wasn't prepared to tackle something harder. That brought another idea to mind, which he made note of and decided to circle back to after spending his credits.

Opening the Developments tab, Oliver considered his options. He had enough credits to increase two or three attributes, or he could increase Luck and Spirit twice each. He quickly reminded himself of his plan for a balance approach, prioritizing survival. While he figured those stats would have some role to play in things, his physical stats had a more obvious and immediate benefit to his continued safety. Internal debate resolved, he spent a total of 15000 credits to raise his Strength, Agility, and Vitality to 15 each. The quaking muscles and warm currents running though his body left him feeling energized and refreshed.

With just a couple thousand credits left, he turned his mind back to the idea that had occurred to him. While normally a peaceful person, Oliver had found himself forced to fight too many times recently. He wasn't a bad fighter as, like most guys, he had been in a few scraps as a teenager. But he also knew he wasn't the best in a fight. Increased stats or not, Polina had shown him in the pool hall what someone with training could actually do.

Thinking of his girlfriend made him pause. Why not ask her to teach him? He obviously needed to learn, and she was definitely capable. Plus, it would give them something new to do together. He knew most guys' ego couldn't handle having their girlfriend kick their ass, but he wasn't really bothered by it. Mostly he just thought it was sexy as hell. Grabbing his phone, he fired off a quick text to ask her about it.