The quest complete notification blinked in front of Matt's face as Ned seemed to have trouble deciding between shaking in fear, running, or playing dead. In the end, he chose number 2.

Matt was excited by the popup and was glad that leveling was going smoother than he had expected at first. This quest was simply too easy and gave him a lot of rewards. Whatever the reason was, the system must have decided that this was a hard quest and he didn't want to complain. He guessed that the rewards might be so high due to the guns that some of the thugs had.

"Well, I did get shot so I guess it's fair."

He looked down at his shoulder wound and saw that it was already starting to close, the bullet had apparently gone clean through, so at least it wouldn't be lodged inside after he healed.

A skill shard materialized in the air and landed in Matt's hand. He was worried for a moment and looked at Ned wondering if he could see what happened. But to his relief, Ned was just panicking like he was before. He guessed that he didn't see it. He looked at the skill shard in his hands and quickly put it away.

He looked back to Ned, realizing that to anyone other than Matt, it just looked like he was standing there menacingly, staring forward. He imagined to the crying and shaking Ned that it looked like something out of a horror movie, especially considering that he just took all of them down like it was nothing.

Matt sighed as he usually did too often. It started to sink in how much of a mess this situation was. He didn't like conflict in general and now he had to deal with all these people coming after him. At least the rewards were worth it and it helped him reach higher levels faster. Though one slip up and that might be the end.

"So, what's your deal, Ned? Why did you come after me?"

Ned jumped when Matt spoke, not expecting the sudden sound cutting through the silence. He quickly tried to gather his words, not wanting to anger his attacker or more appropriately, ex-victim.

"I-I just wanted revenge, that's it! B-but I don't care anymore, no hard feelings right?"

"Hmm, well I don't really care that you attacked me, twice now. But I'm worried you might attack other people, more defenseless people. So, I'm gonna have to call the cops."

Ned looked really confused, relieved, and shocked at the same time.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Y-you aren't gonna kill me?"

Matt just looked at him like he was an idiot.

"I'm not a psycho. And first of all, you attacked me! I was just defending myself. Again."

After a few moments, it seemed like Ned realized what Matt had said about calling the cops.

"W-wait, you shouldn't get the cops involved. It'll only be bad news for both of us!"

Matt looked annoyed and leaned toward Ned's face.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, no not at all! It's just that the police are controlled by my boss, at least around here. If you call them, not only will they probably arrest you instead of us, but if word gets out that I lost to you, I-I think he would kill me."

Ned crawled toward Matt and started crying. He looked really pitiful.

"Please don't call them, I don't want to die!"

Matt did feel sorry for him, but he still didn't want to just let him go. He was worried that Ned would cause trouble not only for others but for Matt as well. Not to mention, now there might be a whole criminal group involved and the last thing he wanted was to get pulled into that drama.

"Fine, I get it! But, there will have to be a compromise."

He looked at Ned and then back at the other thugs slowly regaining their senses. He hadn't really used that much force so they were already starting to look fine. One of them was even looking around confused.

Although it was still dark, Matt was worried people would see them and that really would just make things more difficult, so he knew what he wanted to say next.

"Ned, bring them all inside."

Ned seemed confused but didn't want to make Matt angry or anything, so he started gathering his buddies and helping them up.

Meanwhile, Matt headed back into his apartment and saw that [Help] was still on his phone. She didn't seem to pay any attention to him as he entered. He wondered what the phone would look like with her holding it to someone without a system. Would it just be floating in the air?

"[Help], I'm sorry but you're gonna have to go into the system for a little bit."

"WHAT! WHY?"

She looked very visibly annoyed. Matt gave her a brief explanation about how people were going to be here soon and the phone would look strange. Now that they were getting along better, he decided it would be better to share info with her. Not to mention she could now interface easier with the whole system. From her attitude it seemed like when she was out of the system, she couldn't see what was going on around him.

"Fine but you better give it back later."

"I'm planning to. Don't worry."

After that, he selected the [Help] skill and dismissed her. He picked his phone up from the couch and pocketed it for now. After [Help] was gone, he heard the door to his apartment open and Ned walked in supporting one of his comrades with his shoulder. The guy he was helping walk seemed to have a twisted ankle.

'Shit, I must've been a bit too rough. Oh well, they aren't the best people anyway. Some pain is deserved.'

Matt guided them in and led them to the living room. Some of the others started to come in as Ned told them to. After a few moments, all 9 of them sat and stood in his living room. To Matt, this looked ridiculous. I looked like he was running a bar with how many unruly-looking people were now in his home. But it wasn't without reason.

Now that they were all comfortable, Matt decided it was time to say what he had been planning.