10. Regressor? Oracle?
Currently, the two had returned and gathered at Fors's rented apartment.
"What do you think about him?" Fors asked as she dove straight into bed the moment they arrived. She sat with a blanket and pillow on her lap, clearly exhausted. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say her life had flashed before her eyes. Her strength had left her the moment that knife touched her neck.
"I don't know," Xio muttered in reply. She was just as unsure about what had happened. It should have been an easy mission. The most generous sponsor they'd ever had had given them a simple task: investigate a merchant's child, with a reward of 50 gold coins. It was like being handed a gold bar for taking candy from a baby.
Their client hadn't even asked for any secret information about the merchant. It was as if she'd suddenly grown curious about someone and wanted to know more.
It should've been simple—but the reality had turned out far more dangerous. If they hadn't been lucky, they could have died today.
"Are you going to bring him?" Fors asked again.
"I don't know." Xio shook her head. "He's weird. Who invites someone who breaks into their house?"
Fors nodded. "Mhm, he's so weird he could be a character in one of my novels."
"We got lucky today," Xio said as she sat down and leaned back beside Fors.
"That makes it even weirder. From the beginning, he seemed favorable toward us. Maybe he already knew about us?" Fors guessed. "He even told you about official Beyonders, like he knew your background—your father's connections?"
"I'm not sure either, but it's probably not that," Xio replied. "He's even younger than us. I've never seen my father work with a child before."
"But I'm sure he knew about us," Fors insisted. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became.
"And how do you know that?"
"My author's intuition is tingling. Maybe he regressed time and we were people he once trusted? Or maybe he got a divine revelation from a god telling him to protect us?" Fors continued spinning ideas. "Wooah, the inspiration just keeps coming. I can't miss this chance!"
She literally jumped out of bed and ran to her desk.
"Woah, woahh… it's endless," Xio rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. "Anyway, I'm sleeping here tonight."
"Huh?" Fors snapped out of her imagination and turned to her best friend. "Clean yourself before jumping into my bed!" she exclaimed.
"But you did the same thing!" Xio protested as usual.
"It's different!" Fors argued.
"What, you mean you're clean and I'm dirty?" Anyone could see the cartoonish angry mark forming on Xio's head.
Fors was stunned for a moment, then recomposed herself. "Ahem. Well, I didn't say it, but I won't deny it either." She turned away, pretending to be busy.
"You… that's it! Only one of us will live to see tomorrow's sunrise!" Xio pounced.
"Ahhh!"
And so, it didn't take long before Fors's neighbors began complaining about the noise.
I admit it. I was careless and messed up at the Hall's mansion. But the result wasn't bad. I made contact with the Beyonder world through someone I could trust. And there was something else—something I felt when I digested the potion. That moment when Fors's life was in my hands.
I had been overthinking things—obsessing over the potion and the hidden name. In the end, the system identified it clearly: it was a Taratect. A spider. And what does a spider do? It lays webs and catches prey.
Thanks to Fors and Xio last night, I now know how to digest this potion.
It's time to start laying as many webs as I can. Things are about to get busy.
Not long after, a new piece of information surfaced—tucked inside the same newspaper Father always liked to read.
"The pirate Qilangos is dead."
That news spread like wildfire through Backlund. Pirates dying wasn't unusual—but Qilangos wasn't just any pirate. He had a name. A reputation. What made it more shocking was that he hadn't died at sea—he'd been found dead right here in the city.
People couldn't help but feel a sense of danger, thinking they might run into pirates while shopping for groceries.
But no one knew that this was only the beginning—a mere speck of dust in a storm of chaos to come.
Except for one person.
"Now then, what should I do with this?" I sighed as I read the newspaper. Qilangos had been killed by the Fool's angel, but I couldn't remember who that was. Klein would arrive in Backlund soon, and everything would spiral out of control. I knew something big was coming, but I couldn't recall the details.
Sigh…
I decided to go hunting. Now that I knew how to act and digest the potion, I couldn't delay. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to advance to the next sequence, but it was better to fully control it first.
And with this white bracelet in hand—containing 9 marbles—I doubted I'd need to worry about potions for a while. I didn't know exactly how many I needed for the next level, but I hypothesized it wouldn't be a problem to reach Sequence 6 or 5. I could make up the rest with the system.
So, I made my way to East Borough—known as the most dangerous place in Backlund. I walked leisurely through the streets, keeping an eye out for Darkholme, the person Xio had mentioned.
I also explored small alleys from time to time, though I never strayed too far from the main roads to avoid more trouble than I could handle.
Still, as an outsider with a neat and tidy appearance, everyone I passed at least gave me a second look—or outright glared.
This was my bait and trap plan. Well, technically it was closer to "bait and wait," but close enough.
And as I expected, small-time criminals—pickpockets, scammers—started targeting me one by one.
The first incident came when I stepped into a narrow alley.
"Can I help you?" I asked the man who blocked my path. He had a wild, burly build and wore a gentleman's suit that didn't fit—clearly worn and possibly fished out of a dumpster.
"Of course, you can help us a lot," he said with a sinister grin. Two more men appeared behind me.
"What kind of help?" I replied calmly, eyes wary.
"We're businessmen around here," he said, smiling. "You could invest in us. I swear you'll double your investment in three days."
He signaled the others and started approaching me.
"Wow, that sounds great. I'll invest." I smirked—and punched him square in the face.
"You bastard!" The other two lunged at me. A moment later, the first guy recovered and joined them.
But here's the thing: no matter how tough they were, there's still a difference between an ordinary person and a Beyonder. Unless your Sequence has no combat power—like Seer—you don't lose to normal people in a fistfight.
I even tried the famous hand chop to knock them out.
"Agh!" one guy yelled—along with me. Damn, that hurt more than I expected. And the guy wasn't even knocked out—he was still glaring at me.
It took a few more hits, but eventually, I got them all down. I wasn't hurt, but my hand definitely felt sore.
Haa…
I sighed, wincing at the lingering sting in my hand from all that punching and kicking. I really needed to get used to this fast.
I dragged the three unconscious men away and made sure they wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Oh, and I took half their money.
If you raise a sword, be prepared to die. If you try to rob someone, be prepared to be robbed. An eye for an eye.
After confirming no one was watching and that the alley was clear, I moved on to my next plan.
Time to summarize everything that happened last night.