Chapter 3: First Murder

Narrator's POV

"A class and some PK?"

Andrew was slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of the system panel, but he quickly regained his composure.

He knew it wasn't really the ideal time to steal the strange book from the occultist neighbor, and that he had no time limit to accomplish this task.

"We should leave for now, and besides, it's almost TV time," Andrew said, urging Leyley to leave the premises.

"You're right, we're not going to stay here observing this weird hobby."

Leyley didn't really take the occultist's ritual seriously, but that wasn't the case for Andrew.

He knew this universe was divided into two dimensions, and he didn't really want to associate with those from the other side, unless it was necessary.

Back at their place, Andrew turned on the TV before realizing there were no batteries left in the remote.

"We're really out of luck, but one of us will have to change the channel directly on the TV." Before Leyley could continue, Andrew got up to go to their room.

"Hey, where are you going? Don't tell me you're already going to bed!"

"No, little birdbrain, I have way too many things to do for that. I'm just going to look for batteries for the remote."

After this little exchange between brother and sister, Andrew quickly found batteries after taking them from the alarm clock.

"There, I've saved your lazy ass from having to press the buttons on the TV yourself."

Andrew couldn't help but tease his sister a bit before settling into the armchair next to her.

"Haha, very funny, but it's this lazy girl who takes care of you every evening ~," she said, snuggling up to him in the armchair.

Andrew's first reflex was to push her away, but he remembered that the game had shown several times that, despite her toxicity, this girl really cared about him.

He couldn't treat his only true ally like a jerk, could he?

"Thanks for that, but don't get a big head." Andrew abruptly grabbed Leyley to hug her while watching TV.

Leyley was slightly surprised by this gesture, before offering him a feline smile and snuggling up to him a bit more.

Andrew's act wasn't just aimed at improving his relationship with Leyley, but also at testing how far the Five Points Star Mark affected his sister.

He had already noticed that Leyley was more tactile with him than in the original Andrew's memories, so he wanted to try his luck.

'It seems she's attracted to me, but it's not yet at the stage of falling completely in love.'

It seemed that Leyley was mostly seeking Andrew's attention in a physical way, but it hadn't yet taken a purely romantic turn.

Andrew still had to perform various tests to know how far Leyley was willing to go for him, and if she really deserved his full trust.

A few days passed in the apartment, but nothing new happened apart from Andrew's warnings to Leyley about their energy waste.

At one point, Andrew had estimated that he could no longer continue like this, time literally playing against him since the end of his last meal with Leyley.

...

Andrew's POV

I'm going to have to act tonight. I can't wait any longer for this idiot occultist to die trying to make a deal with a demon.

I had thought long and hard about it and concluded that it was impossible to wait any longer to retrieve my neighbor's supernatural book. I had to steal it today and of course, eliminate him.

The Night was quick to fall.

I painfully got up from the bed, as I first had to untangle Leyley's arms that were holding me tightly against her. Normally, Leyley didn't often come to Andrew's bed, but it was rather the opposite because of the nightmares he had.

I had already confirmed that Leyley was under the effect of the skill "Five Points Star Mark," which seemed to be acting more and more on her.

This was excellent news for me, as I could more easily persuade her to avoid certain situations, like the possible murder of our irresponsible parents.

Don't be mistaken if you think I feel compassion for these scumbags who were capable of selling their child, but I simply don't want to waste my precious time with them.

*noise* I opened the door to head towards my future victim.

I only had a kitchen knife as my main weapon for this quest, and no experience in murder. The little girl that Andrew had killed because of Leyley wasn't an intentional and direct murder like this one.

He had simply made a choice, and things had gotten out of hand. This time, I wanted to kill a man.

It was impossible for me to escape from here without his book. Once on the amateur occultist's balcony, I checked that he wasn't awake, but asleep.

Fortunately for me, he indeed seemed to be in his room. It would even be strange if he were still up at this hour with the hunger gnawing at all the people confined in this building.

I sneaked into the apartment, trying to make as little noise as possible. But I had underestimated the stress and fear that invaded me during this mission.

*snoring*

"He seems out of commission," I said, trying to forget the stress and my racing heartbeat.

I closed my eyes, took a small breath before suddenly reopening them and taking action.

*slash* I stabbed the man brutally and quickly multiple times.

From the first stab, the man tried to push me away, probably by reflex. Unfortunately for him, he was weakened by hunger and poorly positioned to properly exert his strength against me.

During my act, fear, doubt, stress, and any other superfluous emotion had disappeared from my mind.

*haha* sigh of fatigue.

"Shit, what was that..." I observe for a few minutes the bloody mess I created during my attack before turning away in disgust.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, host. You have shed your first blood.]

[Reward: 100 PK]

I looked at the system panel with a blank stare. I had just taken a life, and this damn thing doesn't even know how to read the atmosphere.

"Calm down, Alex, you need to become strong and not stay at the bottom of the food chain like before."

I left the bloodied body in the bedroom and went to clean myself in the bathroom.

"System, open the shop." I immediately started scrolling through the items, but I quickly noticed a small problem.

"Why have the prices increased so drastically here?"

[If you are referring to the price change after your first purchases, it can be easily explained.]

The AI began to explain to me that the first purchases are promotional, sometimes even supported by the agency, but that things change afterwards.

[Shop]

[Gun (357 Magnum): 20 PK]

[Random ingredient lot (25 kg): 30 PK]

[Weapons basics (F rank): skill category - You have elementary knowledge on how to hold and use any type of non-magical weapon.]

[Your purchases will be sent to the inventory and can be withdrawn at any time.]

I hurried to take out an ingredient from my inventory and luckily for me, there were apples.

*spit* sounds of nibbling.

I started searching the apartment for the book that the occultist uses in his suspicious activities after calming my hunger.

It took me time to finally find it, stored in a drawer in the living room.

[You have obtained a book (uncommon rank): Demon Summoning for Dummies - Volume 66]

[Description: A book written by an unknown author that allows interaction with entities from another parallel reality to yours.]

[Quest completed]

[You have received 50 PK and a class]

[Please select a class:]

[Student (common rank)]

[Description: You love learning, fascinated by the complexity of the world around you.]

[Warlock (rank: rare)]

[Description: You are interested in obscure entities, and they are interested in you.]

[Alchemist (uncommon)]

[Description: You want to heal those around you and study life in all its forms.]

[Killer (uncommon)]

[Description: You are a human who has stopped deluding yourself and accepted your basest instincts.]

[Small note: your class will have a huge impact on your future evolution and on the prices of items in the shop, as well as on your relationships with factions within the agency.]