Chapter 4 Reward and Goal

"Trashy system! What do you mean defeat assaulters? With what!? I'm not even wearing clean clothes. Besides, what assaulters, I see no one around here." Maximus kept on cursing at the system as he hid behind the trashcan, hoping not to get recognized by anyone, but sometimes Fate has another plan for our young protagonist.

«Ding!

System detects seven hostile auras aimed against the host. System suggests host eliminate bearer of auras.» the female voice of the system rang in Maximus' head. Just then the system gave a new update.

«Ding!

Quest updated: Eliminate assaulters, leave none alive

Difficulty: Platinum grade

Reward: Platinum reward + $50,000»

Maximus was speechless.. did he just hear $50,000? He couldn't bother about the platinum reward as he didn't know what it was, but he definitely knew what $50,000 was. With that sum of money, I can definitely start up something and work towards bringing down the Richardsons.

"On second thought, where are the assaulters, let's get this over with." Maximus said. He could hear the system hum as if it was snickering at him.

Just then, seven burly men walked into the alley, holding crowbars, steel pipes, and steel baton.

"I'm telling ya Boss, them vans just parked up there, and tossed a bag in the trash. Heard them saying something about the Richardsons money. I reckon they were stashing some dough in there."

Maximus could hear what they were saying. It seemed they thought what the hospital threw off was a bag of money.

"Hey! Who's that?" One of the men said, pointing at Maximus. The others saw Maximus, and the biggest of them frowned when he saw Maximus. They walked towards Maximus, surrounding him.

"Kid, I'm gonna ask you this once, and you better answer honestly. Now, where's the bag of money that was dropped here." The big man who seemed to be the leader spoke.

"I won't know anything about money, but you see, you seven are worth fifty thousand dollars to me, so please, do us both a favor and stand still while I kill y'all." Maximus said.

The seven men were stunned when they heard Maximus, but then burst into uncontrollable laughter. Of course they had valid reasons to laugh, considering the fact Maximus was just one man, unarmed as the case may be, and even looking more like a homeless street beggar than a killer.

Maximus on the other hand felt no emotions towards these men. His mind had flashed back to Marilyn, his wife who may have already given birth to his child, and most importantly.. Kenton and Agnes Richardson, oh.. he can't wait to squeeze the life out of them. He had spent almost two weeks at the facility with not a cent as payment, so right now, the $50,000 reward the system was offering, Maximus will do anything to get it.. and that includes killing this men.

"You have a loud mouth and guts kid, I will give you that. Still, I want to know what you did with our bag of money? So either you start talking, or we beat it out of you." The man said with a threatening expression.

"Words are easy to utter, Actions maketh the man! Let's see if you have what it takes!" Maximus said. Maximus wasn't confident he could take them on, but one thing he knew for sure, he can't fail the system's mission.

Turning to his companions who were itching to punch Maximus. "One of you boys should go there and smack that kid silly!"

"Not really.. you see, I'm kinda pissed and pressed on time, so I want all of you to come at me at once." Maximus said in an arrogant tone. His aim was obvious; to rile up the thugs and make them forsake reason.

"Very well!" The leader laughed with anger evident on his face. "You just successfully signed your death warrant kid, congratulations." He turned to his men again, "What are you lot waiting for!? An invitation!? Y'all should go and trash that wussy!" He shouted in anger.

The thugs slowly advanced towards Maximus, forming a semi-circle around him. Maximus on the other hand, said a silent prayer to whichever God was watching. The first thug came at him, swinging the steel baton at him, Maximus twisted his body to dodge the attack. He barely made it in the nick of time, he could hear the hum of the steel baton, this made his heart skip a bit.

'My head would have burst in pieces if that baton had hit me. This guys ain't kidding around.' Maximus thought to himself as he started sweating. This just became a life and death situation for him.

Maximus punched the thug's neck, earning him a gurgle from from the thug. The thug immediately let go of the steel baton and clutched his neck, doing his best to breathe. Meanwhile, Maximus picked up the baton, and..

"BAMM!!"

Blood and white mucus sprayed on the floor, and then a thud was heard. Maximus was shocked as well. Even though he had hit the thug with immense force, he didn't expect what happened next to have happened. The man's head had burst, like a balloon when popped. There was nothing left of his head.

«Ding!

One Level 2 thug soul has been collected,

+10 XP awarded,

+$100 awarded.»

"What just happened?" Maximus was perplexed. And he wasn't the only one. The other thugs just couldn't digest what they saw. One strike had pulverized a humans head.. is that even real!? But what even made them feel more scared was when they looked at Maximus and saw a smile on his face, a smile they recognize well, the evil grin kinda smile.

"Alright fellas, come at me." Maximus said and swung his baton around.

Ten minutes later, six bodies were on the ground, surrounded by pools of blood and torn flesh, a sight of this could make a man vomit his innards.

"It seems you're the only one left. Damn, you're one tough cookie." Maximus said to the thug leader that was on the ground, his arms and right leg were broken. Maximus walked closer towards him.

"Why? Why did you do this? We only came here to find our bag of money." The leader said in anguish.

"Honestly though, this is my first time killing someone. Why did I do it, you asked? Well, the answer is pretty simple.. I did it for the money. Don't worry, I won't bore you with my sad sob story, nah, I'm pretty sure your guys are waiting for you wherever they are right now." And with that, Maximus swung the baton on the man's face, taking out a huge chunk of flesh.

«Ding!

One Level 3 thug soul has been collected,

+15 XP awarded,

+$150 awarded.»

«Ding!

Congratulations to Host on completing his first quest.

Platinum card has been awarded (can be redeemed anytime),

$50,000 has been transferred to Host's bank account,

1,000 XP has been awarded to host.»

«Ding!

Level up: 1»»2

75/10,000 XP for next level up.»

Maximus could feel his strength doubling. He did a mental calculation. "I just earned myself $50,000. That's definitely huge!" A smug appeared on his face. "I think I'm starting to like this." Then his face twisted into a grimace.. Richardson, Zenith.. y'all wait, I'll repay y'all in tenfolds.