Chapter 180 - Cards

"I'm back to being good as new. Although, I wonder if not sleeping or resting for this long will have any consequences. I manage to keep my potion consumption to a minimum so I doubt the system will punish me with the 10 potion rule. However, I don't know if there are any other hidden rules which I don't know about," said Yuki as he locked the door to his house from the outside as he began to head out for work. 

"Well, that's not as important as what Elmer talked to me about yesterday. I can't believe that there are so many people involved with the group. However, it would be for the best that I join them. It's not like I had a choice. If I were to refuse their offer, they would most likely target me until I give in. The only problem is that they operate during the night, which is when I'm gone to clear the dungeon stages," Yuki said to himself as he began to head for the construction site.

When he began to lose hope that he wouldn't be able to do both things at the same time and would have to instead either never grow stronger or be targeted by a gang like group for a long time, an idea came to Yuki's head. 

"How could I forget! It's been in my face the entire time," said Yuki with a smile on his face as he finally figured out what he would do. 

"All I have to do is change my ability to a clone type ability, I mean I've done it before. This time however, I'll need it to have more complex thought and understanding of the world so it would probably be best if I were to create only one clone which will stay in this kingdom while I go off and hunt monsters. To add on, I can ask Zero to move my necklace on my clone so that I don't have to worry about a scenario where both me and my clone have the limiting necklace," Yuki said to himself as he finally made it to the construction site. 

Yuki ended up arriving earlier than most of the other workers due to him over estimating how much time had passed after he came back from the forest. Eventually, all of the workers did start showing up and got to doing what they were doing the previous day. However, Yuki found himself lost since he didn't have a specific job to do. As such, he would go off doing small tasks and errands which he received from either Garth himself or the other workers. While Garth still looked to be still quite upset with Yuki due to what had taken place the previous day, his mood eventually changed to be more accepting of Yuki. 

Of course, Yuki made sure that he wasn't working as hard the previous day as he was taking the advice he had received from Elmer and the other two workers when he had gone out to get drinks the previous night. All while he was working, Yuki noticed Elmer look at him a couple times which was weird, yet it was understandable. It was clear that he was expecting an answer for the proposition he had made the previous night. Although he had said Yuki could have as long as he wanted to think about it, he clearly looked like he wanted an answer as soon as possible. 

While Yuki would've said he needed more time if he was asked a few hours ago, that had changed. He had the perfect plan which would allow him to escape from the kingdom while not being suspected of doing so by anyone. It was unfair how Yuki could abuse Zero's power so much while others had to do everything themselves. However, that was just because Yuki had gotten lucky. If anyone had died right before Yuki, they would've gotten to use Zero instead of Yuki. Out of everyone, Yuki ended up the person to complete the counter and in turn be the final person who needed to die for that era which was just considered a round of a game by Zero. 

...

Once the day had come to a close and everyone began to head out for the day, Elmer along with his 2 friends from the previous day began to walk behind Yuki. Once they had gotten far enough, Elmer spoke. 

"I like what you did today. You actually listened to what we told you and began to work slower," said Elmer with a fake smile. 

"Just get to it. I know that you're not here to talk about simple matters," Yuki replied. 

"Well, you're as impatient as ever. What we're here for is our answer for the proposal we had offered you," Elmer said, which confirmed Yuki's thoughts. 

"If that's the case, I already have my answer for you. But just out of curiosity, what would happen if I were to refuse?" Yuki asked, which shocked Elmer and his friends a bit. 

"Our group has a 0 tolerance policy on disrespect so what would most likely happen is that your house would be raided and destroyed. Next, you would be kidnapped and tortured until you gave in and joined us. Of course, you already knew that. There was only one correct answer from the beginning," said Elmer. 

"Well, I guess I have no choice. I'll be joining you after all. However, I'll need about a day to get myself prepared. And just to make sure you understand, I wouldn't think about changing my mind since there's nowhere I could possibly run to. I've already agreed and don't plan to change my mind any time soon," said Yuki as he shook hands with Elmer before parting ways and heading for his house. 

As Elmer and his friends left, a quiet laugh and comments could be heard. However, they weren't laughing or laughing. They were just happy. 

"We actually did it!"

"The boss will be so happy that he'll have no choice but to give us an increased pay and we might even jump up a tier for bringing him in."

"It's rare to find people with his strength but it's even rarer to find those who would be willing to join us on their terms. I mean, all of the others had to be forced after all," the three of them said as he continued to walk towards a place so they could celebrate. 

On the other hand, Yuki was also happy. He would no longer need to spend his days in that horrible boring kingdom full of people who would amount to nothing. He could finally have his freedom. More than anything, he could hunt monsters in the dungeon as much as he wanted and grow in strength exponentially. That would mean that he could finally bring hell upon his captures and the world itself. There was no way he would allow himself to become a failure. 

"Just wait for me. It won't be long until your king returns," said Yuki with an evil grin on his face. 

...

Elsewhere in the world, a group of people gasp as they read the newspaper in a bar. Seeing what they had read in the newspaper, they quickly rushed to show their leader. 

"Captain Jing, isn't this the man which you sought to defeat?" one of them asked as they passed the paper to Jing. 

Surprised at what he heard, Jing took the paper and began to read it for himself and it stated exactly what he had feared. 

"Mass murderer Yuki Kaito has been captured and is currently being held prisoner in the most secure place in the world."

However, instead of feeling angry or sad, Jing broke into laughter. 

"What's so funny? Haven't you been working so hard so that you can surpass him?" another one of his comrades asked Jing. 

"Did you read the wording properly? It doesn't say executed or killed. It just says captured. People will never learn," said Jing. 

"Can you be more specific?" asked the man who had passed Jing the newspaper. 

"I should've told you this earlier but before I met you guys, I used to be just a representative for a kingdom. While I was doing my job, his name came up as he was sentenced to life in prison for killing a couple people which was what started the massacre of over 3000 people. Even though he was captured and he thought that he would no longer be a threat since we surrounded him with people who should've been as strong as him, we fell into his trap. He always has cards up his sleeve which he doesn't reveal until the very last minute. If he had been killed then my journey would've come to a close but seeing as he was simply captured, it means that my journey to surpass him has just started. We better get moving, it's only a matter of time before that demon descends upon our world," said Jing as he stood up and left the bar to return to the dungeon.