Emergency Kill

Without thinking about the consequences, Ethan rushed forward. The opponent had a gun that could kill him instantly.

'SIA! Spend 1000 for two points in strength.' Ethan shouted at his system. Instantly, Ethan felt stronger and faster.

Ethan crashed into the man with his newfound speed. The man didn't have time to react before he fell.

Ethan suspected the reason for his slow reaction speed was due to the drugs in his system, dulling his senses.

After pushing him to the ground, Ethan tried to wrestle the gun out of his target's hands. Ethan was slowly able to unwrap the man's fingers on the weapon. But with his 10.0 strength, Ethan was barely able to grab the gun before the man could unlock its safety.

However, his target wasn't waiting for death. With his other hand, the man hit the gun out of Ethan's hand throwing it to the side.

Then the man pushed Ethan away as he went rolling to the side. Because Ethan was wearing his bag, he got bruised when he hit the ground.

Ethan quickly took off his bag and saw his target making a break for the gun that was tossed away. Ethan wouldn't be able to make it to the weapon before the man could.

Ethan had no time to decide what to do. But in the corner of his eye, he saw something hanging out of his bag. In a split second, Ethan pulled out the item. It turned out to be the rope that he had bought. 

Ethan sprinted towards his target. As the man tried to pick up the gun, Ethan threw a portion of the rope around the man.

Luckily for Ethan, when he pulled both ends of the rope backwards, it caught on the man's neck. The man staggered backwards a few steps as he grabbed the rope that was crushing his windpipe.

Ethan crossed the rope and pulled it even tighter, desperate not to let the man escape.

The man, giving up on chasing the gun, turned towards Ethan, running towards him. Ethan, not expecting this, hesitated for a millisecond. This mistake allowed the man to reach him.

The man then threw a punch at Ethan. Despite Ethan having no experience in fighting, was able to somehow dodge the blow awkwardly.

The reason Ethan was able to do so was because of three main factors. Firstly, the man was breathing erratically due to being choked moments prior, secondly, the man had thrown an extremely telegraphed punch and finally, Ethan's body had been producing copious amounts of adrenaline that improved his reaction time.

Ethan returned the favour by kicking the man's shin. The man only recoiled a bit before continuing forward. The drugs that were hindering him before, helped the man now as they dulled his sense of pain.

The man tried to punch Ethan again. Ethan was able to block it with his arm. But Ethan still felt a bit of pain, which caused the rope to slacken.

With the momentary weakness, the man tried to take the rope off his neck. Ethan, not allowing this to happen, tightened the rope again by spreading his arms. Though the man managed to get a couple of his fingers inside the rope, preventing him from being choked.

Ethan, then with a flash of inspiration, let go of his rope. Surprised at this, the man couldn't expect his next move.

Ethan kicked him in the balls as hard as he could. Ethan's target may have had his senses dulled, but he still felt a lot of pain when being kicked in every man's weak point.

When his target collapsed onto the floor, Ethan grabbed the rope again and tied it in a specific way. The man tried to resist, but the pain he was experiencing made it futile.

It was checkmate. Ethan pulled on both ends of the rope as it slowly cut off airflow from the target's lungs. Ethan's target struggled, but nothing could stop him from embracing the cold emptiness of death.

It was inevitable. The knot Ethan used was the constrictor knot. The information on how to perform the knot wasn't provided by the Survival skill. At least at level 1.

But it gave Ethan some basic rope-tying abilities. Ethan had some research and practice beforehand combined with the basic rope-tying abilities of the Survival skill that allowed him to pull off the technique.

A few seconds after the man fell unconscious, this notification popped on his screen.

---

You have received 2500 coins.

Balance: 2600 Coins

---

'Huh? This man had 1500 coins? Why didn't he use it?'

Ethan realised that the man probably killed another player. If one didn't spend any coins besides the Basic Tracking Compass, they would have 1750 coins. Deducting 250 for another compass made it 1500 coins.

So the man didn't spend any coins besides the ones needed for searching for his targets.

Ethan spent some time trying to find out what his target was saving up for but realised it was pointless. The man was already dead and Ethan only needed to know what he wanted.

Looking at the dead body, Ethan realised had to do something about it. He quickly decided it was best to make the death was a suicide.

Ethan was wearing gloves, so he hoped no fingerprints were left. Ethan spent the next hour searching around the house and writing a fake suicide note based on the papers his target had in the house.

Fortunately for Ethan, suicide was a plausible reason for death as he lived in a bad place and he may have been guilty about killing another person. Ethan didn't know how well his former target hid the body of the player he killed, but based on his actions, it wasn't great.

While searching the abode, Ethan took all the firearms and ammunition the man had. Though it would bring suspicions about whether the death was a suicide, having such weapons around would be useful in his next hunts.

Ethan also discovered some blood stains on the floor, from when he scraped his arm on the branch. Ethan cleaned it up and left the house.

When he exited, he saw clouds covering the sky, seeming like it would rain soon. Checking his watch, Etha discovered the time he was at the house only equated to approximately one hour. Despite that, Ethan felt like he spent an entire day inside there.

Ethan left the house sneakily and walked inconspicuously back to the train station. He kept his head low, hoping nobody would notice him.

As Ethan was riding the train home, he looked at his system, checking on which skill he should buy. After some time, he settled on Anti Tracking.

---

Skill: Anti-Tracking

Level 1: Prevents Basic Tracking Compass from locating individuals with this skill. Individuals with this skill also detect the use of the Greater Tracking Compass targeting them.

Cost: 2000 Coins.

 ----

It was a skill that was necessary to buy, so Ethan bit the bullet and did so.

As soon as the skill was bought, he felt a presence that was previously watching him disappear.

'So I was being tracked.' Ethan chuckled, understanding his current action was the best one. To the tracker, they probably realised that Ethan was killed by another player.

---

Current System Statistics

Name: Ethan Archer

Stats:

Strength: 10.0

Constitution: 7.3

Dexterity: 13.4

Perception: 12.2

Intelligence: 14.9

Skills:

Computer Skill: Lvl 2

Survival: Lvl 1

Anti-Tracking: Lvl 1

...

Balance: 600 Coins