I-I froze as the young man w-walked towards us. The young woman b-beside me waiting expectantly, h-her aura letting me know that she would kill me right here and n-now should I attempt to escape.
"Who's your new friend?"
I almost froze, in p-panic as the young man who fully s-slaughtered the enemy party of 21 people j-just now, spoke with a hearty laugh.
"Not friend. Spy."
"Oh common now, he was just watching."
"Spy."
Even with the lack of e-explanation, the lady's cold and emotionless voice made me sh-shiver. As if the emotion-stricken lady beside me is t-truly incapable of making friends, which, c-come to think of it, might just be true... They look c-close though.
W-Worried that I'll be killed on the spot, I i-immediately introduced myself, trying my hardest not to stutter.
"R-Rahshir Strhahek I..."
I then proceeded to tell who I was, and why I was there. B-By the looks of it, they didn't really mind whatever r-reason I told them as long as I held no intention to harm them. They in t-turn introduced themselves as we walked slowly while chatting on our way back. However scary they were, it was kind of n-nice. The v-very first time I've talked to other people outside of p-prison.
Contrary to how effectively William killed, W-William... He... He was friendly. T-Too friendly. In fact. T-Too friendly. But genuine friendly. N-Not the scheming one...
A-Asking about my speech, I ended up sharing that I was only a year away till the end of my sentence. That I killed a person, by defending my family. The w-world government was fair, h-he jailed the oppressor but the same could be said about this r-rat. I was sent to prison for 10 years. Including therapy, and s-self-defense and defensive subjugation on order for me to learn how to control my deeper instincts.
"I-It was all nice, and I have long recovered. Though the g-game seems to be forcing me to turn back into it." I summed as we walked back. P-People looking at us from afar. A m-majority of them even curious as to who I was, as my inmate status made me w-wary of my own identity. I didn't really appear unless necessary, always hiding through my stealth ability, something that forced me to hide inside my house and entirely miss out on hunting the assassins in fear of people accidentally killing me by mistake upon getting revealed by a scan...
I-It felt uncomfortable, the very thought of being exposed only made me hide my face under the hood even more.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Ignoring my antics, William advised that I c-continue to trust my instincts. E-Explaining that I wouldn't have survived had I followed a weaker approach. They also t-told me that the world government had already patched up that law regarding self-defense and that the Zhao Mei should be influential enough to help me reinstate my rights later when we get out of the NOIM and even possibly have the world government compensate me for the outdated ruling back then. Zhao Mei more or less agreed, after being nudged by William.
I-I could feel their intent to help but of course, I s-simply said no.
I-I told them that I lived far better than the life I lived when compared to how I ate and slept when I was paying for my time. Granted that was given better conditions because I was partially
not at fault. But they insisted. M-My stuttering not helping me as I attempted to give my refusal only to end up me giving my inmate identification number.
'B-Bolucks...'
...
... ...
Continuing our conversation, William told me that I shouldn't stop trusting my instincts and to simply further develop it instead. Zhao Mei adding bits and pieces. S-Saying that I should continue to increase my repertoire so that when people that I have a lot more options whenever someone tries to create harm.
It t-took a while but it was about sundown when we finally managed to return back to town. William asked me to keep distance, his face still smiling, but a chill crept up to me for some reason, activating my stealth ability as I trusted my instincts.
William, for the s-shortest time that I've known him, was never the type to hide his emotions, n-nor his intentions. He pranced his emotions as if careful that people would misread him. And right now, only a single word was etched on both his smile as well as his aura.
P-Punishment.
I-I scrambled away, sweat dripping on m-me, same as the more observant folks darting a few more paces than necessary as William and the girl from the Zhao Clan walked towards the center of the town.
Everyone in the center made m-made way and turned silence upon seeing the two. B-Both their identities as well as their well-known battle prowess enough to push everyone in their way.
Reaching the center, Zhao Mei looked at the current acting leader before looking around, s-seemingly unable to find someone. She smiled, a deep cold emotionless smile as her gaze returned towards the current acting leader.
The acting leader was a huge man. Far stronger than majority of the players in this tutorial, but I know what I saw. We weren't even half the levels of the people that William recently fought and killed. N-Not as experienced and organized either.
It's likely that William could've all of the people here if he really wanted to. N-Not taking the threat well, few people in favor of the new leader started to encircle the two. Seeing the support on his side, a smirk was plastered on our current acting leader's face as he asked what's wrong.
Current acting leader...
Only then did I notice that the more coordinated former leaders were no longer there. They didn't respawn even after the wave ended. D-Does intentionally killing your teammates permanently bar them from respawning in the trial?
Then...
"P-Punishment!" I whimpered away making even more distance as I found a safe place to watch. The uninvolved people getting a clue as to what happened also backing away as they continued to observe the scene.
With William behind her, Zhao Mei didn't even flinch as she continued to stare down the leader. The leader not backing away either as he watched his subordinates slowly encircling the two. The people encircling them unable to keep their composure as they summoned their weapons.
With their intentions now clear,
Zhao Mei started to speak...
...
... ...
T-To be continued.