First Death
But even if Ethan wanted to go through with the kill, there were several issues. There were too many witnesses. The station was full of people.
If he tried to kill the man, he would be identified and arrested immediately, whether he died or not. This was the biggest obstacle in the battle royal.
Not the other players, but the government and the police force. To win this game, he'd have to kill the other players without being a suspect in their murder. Or if he couldn't, he'd have to evade capture.
As of right now, Ethan didn't have to skills to do that. So his only option was to kill without being noticed. Thankfully, Ethan had already prepared a plan to kill his target. And it would also leave no trace of his involvement.
However, this plan involved precise timing and speed. If Ethan wanted to succeed, he'd have to move fast. But that wasn't the biggest issue. It was whether Ethan could kill another human being.
The issue that Ethan had shoved to the depths of his mind was rearing its ugly head. Ethan had been taught all his life that murder was bad. Killing others is a bad thing. Homicide is a terrible crime.
Even though Ethan could rationalize the reason, his heart made him hesitate. He couldn't fathom what would happen to him if he killed someone. That terrified him.
He was trying to convince himself that this was necessary. If he wanted to live, he had to kill his target. He wanted to believe it was an illusion. But he knew it wasn't. His doubts had cleared when the system was able to create mass out of nothing. When it was able to track a specific person.
With that, Ethan steeled his heart. He would go through this murder. This assassination. He would do it. Not just to live, but also for the reward at the end.
So Ethan waited. Ethan kept a close eye on the screen that showed the time until the train arrived. As soon as it went to two minutes, he rushed into the bathrooms.
He quickly hopped into a cubicle and started stripping, removing all of his clothes and chucking them into his bag. Then he opened his system shop and bought an item from the shop. It was an invisibility potion.
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Lesser Invisibility Potion
A potion that hides your appearance. Any garments or accessories will not be hidden. Others can still feel, hear or smell you. Can also be seen with infrared light. Lasts 20 seconds.
Cooldown: 2 hrs
Cost: 250 Coins
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Pulling it out of his inventory, Ethan realised the potion was a small clear bottle with colourless liquid inside. It was similar to water, having the same consistency and colour.
When Ethan initially came across this item, he wondered why it was so cheap. But after reading its description, he realised why it was like that.
There were several major issues. First, the fact Ethan had to be completely naked so that the potion could be effective. That wouldn't be too much of an issue, but it only had a time limit of 20 seconds.
Ethan would have barely any time to act. Not to mention, anyone with a high enough perception stat would be able to hear him through the invisibility. However, for a situation like this, it was perfect.
Ethan sat on the toilet as he waited for the train to arrive. He relied on his hearing to anticipate when it would arrive at the platform.
Hearing the train approaching, he quickly drank the potion and rushed out of the cubicle. He immediately came face to face with the bathroom mirror.
'Woah, I'm invisible!' Ethan stopped as he stared at the empty reflection. Though he trusted in the system's promises, seeing nothing in the mirror was still a surprise.
'Shit! I'm wasting time.' Quickly realising his mistake, Ethan ran out with greater speed. That was two seconds wasted. Luckily a man was exiting the bathroom at the same time, so he didn't have to waste time opening the door.
On the platform, Ethan could see the lights of the train approaching. Not knowing how much time he had, he pushed the other pedestrians out of the way, trying to reach his target.
In a second, he arrived behind the man, who was blissfully unaware of the fact he was going to be killed. Ethan pushed the man on the tracks, turned around and rushed towards the bathrooms again.
Ethan didn't have the luxury of looking at his target as he died. He didn't know how much time he had on his potion but it surely wasn't that much. Ethan didn't want to be anywhere near the crime scene and also didn't want to be seen naked in public.
He ignored the shouts of the public and the ding of the system as he focused on his one goal. Opening the bathroom door, he quickly rushed back into his cubicle as the potion's effects ran out.
Inside the cubicle, Ethan sat on the toilet and took several deep breaths. Sprinting was more exhausting than he thought.
He could hear the screams of the public as they watched a human body be torn apart by a train.
Ethan could vividly imagine the mangled body. Checking the system screen, he saw a message.
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Congratulations on your first kill. Because of 100% contribution you receive 1000 coins for the kill and 500 coins from your target.
Total: 1500 Coins
Balance: 1500 Coins
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'At least he's dead. I should wait for a bit till everything calms down. Then I'll leave.' Ethan thought as he placed his hands on his head.
As he wore his clothes again, Ethan shook his head.
'No, I cannot run away from this. I have to look at the target myself. I have to understand the consequences. Only then I can face this battle.'
Getting out of the bathroom, he saw most of the pedestrians run away in fear, the rest had their phones out taking pictures of the body.
Tiptoeing to the edge of the platform, Ethan took a glimpse at the body. But that glimpse was enough for him to recoil in fear.
Ethan saw the battered body, with blood splattered all over the tracks. He saw everything. The consequences of his actions. The image of the body was engraved into his mind. Before he realised it, Ethan reached the platform.
Ethan felt the urge to vomit as his breathing became shallow and fast. He even had the illusion that his hands were soaked in blood.
'I have to get out of here.' Ethan couldn't stay here any longer. He was getting lightheaded. He felt like he may faint at any moment. He also didn't want to be interrogated by the police.
Ethan covered his mouth with his bloodied hands and followed the bystanders as he left. He suppressed all the terrible feelings and tried to escape as far away from the crime scene as possible.