Delusion?

"I have changed your bandage, and you need to visit after two days to get it removed. Then you are good to go, Mr...." The doctor's lips twitched as he stared at the name on the patient's details. "Kael Hunter. Please take your medicines as prescribed for a week. Do you have any questions for me?"

"No, thank you."

"Well, take care then."

The doctor left him alone with Naomi, who was observing him curiously. "Do you have something to ask me?"

"Yes, I never knew your name was actually Hunter. I thought it was just your code name."

"Yeah, you don't know a lot about me," Hunter replied mysteriously, shrugging his shoulders lightly. 'And you won't know them in the future either.'

"Are you sure you don't want to take a trip to the psychiatric department? You sound abnormal, not that I know how you sound normally." Naomi suggested and scanned him from head to toe.

Hunter just shook his head with a chuckle and picked up his belongings. He barely had anything with him.

"Do you want me to drop you off? I have a car and don't worry, I'll not be charging you anything." Naomi held her keys up, offering him help. But the man just denied her outright.

"Thanks, but I am fine." Although Hunter had no issues taking a lift from her, he was skeptical about telling her where he lived, especially now that he was still a stranger in Naomi's eyes.

Nobody in the association, except Ryan, knew where he lived and he intended to keep it that way. He was glad that the hitman association did not ask him many questions while hiring him because it was Ryan, his friend himself, who had processed his application.

"Fine, then. You can call me if you need anything." Naomi too did not dwell on it. Though it was an easy feat for her to find out where he lived, she respected his privacy and she had received orders from Ryan.

The duo separated at the entrance of the hospital. Hunter hailed a cab, and he thought about his next course of action on his way. He now had to find out what Ryan was involved in and if he was the one who had planned his death in his previous life.

'But how do I find out? I will not be dying anytime soon.' He thought carefully as he sat in the cab.

'I will have to be careful around him from now on. Though he will not plan an attack on me in the next four years at least, I cannot put my guard down.' Hunter looked around him to see where he was before returning to thinking.

'Ryan is vicious. Why would he care about me when he did not care about his parents? Heck, he did not even care about his wife.'

Hunter was the only person in the world who knew that Ryan had killed his wife when she stood between him and his ambitions, although that had happened in his previous life. Ryan's wife was still alive, but would not be so in a few months and Hunter's heartbeat spiked when he thought about her.

Though it was an accident to the world, Hunter knew it was not so. He had learned how Ryan had killed the poor woman by pushing her off the balcony of their apartment. He had killed her without any mercy. But to the world, she was a miserable woman who slipped and fell off the balcony.

Nobody questioned Ryan. Nobody even doubted him. They believed what he had said, for no proof could prove his words wrong. Ryan had planned his wife's murder carefully, and if not for Hunter chancing upon his friend's pocket diary, which he carried with him everywhere he went, he too would have believed her death to be an accident.

Hunter had been surprised to learn that he carried a diary with him, which contained a list of all the people Ryan had killed. Although it held only the names of the people without any other details, Hunter was smart enough to deduce that all the people he had listed down were deceased, and they had died under mysterious circumstances. It did not take him long to figure out what was happening and who had been the culprit.

However, he did not have the courage to confront his friend or the confidence that the police would help him. All evidence was gone, and he did not want to incur Ryan's wrath on himself by ratting him out.

Ryan was formidable and he had connections. It would take him less than a minute to deal with Hunter if he were to go against him.

'But what if I were to prevent the mishap from happening this time?' Hunter thought and tried to recall the year when Ryan had killed his wife and parents. 'There is still time and perhaps, I can save them...'

"Sir, we have reached." The cab driver's voice brought him out of his thoughts, and Hunter got off once he paid him. He dragged his body towards his single bedroom apartment where he had been staying when he started his days as a hitman. Though the building was old, it was still well maintained and equipped.

However, Hunter was dissatisfied with it. He wanted a bigger house, and he needed more money to purchase it.

This was one of the many reasons why he had become a hitman in the first place. It paid really well, for he would deal with many influential and affluent people.

He had barely gotten to his place when his phone rang. At first, Hunter could not recognize where the sound was coming from. Later, he realized that his new phone, which Naomi had given him, was ringing. Hunter closed his eyes on seeing who it was. But he could not ignore his Boss's call either.

"Ryan," His voice was not that energetic. But Ryan did not care.

"I heard you were discharged today."

"Yes, I was. I am at home now."

"I apologize I could not visit you. I was busy."

"I understand. You are a powerful man, and you have a lot of people to entertain."

Ryan completely missed the sarcasm in his voice.

"Anyway, I got your contract today. Are you satisfied with Naomi? Or do you want me to assign somebody else?"

Hunter frowned the next moment. He recalled that Ryan had called him once he had been discharged on this day in his past life. But they had never spoken about Naomi, nor had Ryan asked him if he wished to replace her. He wondered why things were turning out slightly different than before.

"Naomi is fine. I have already accepted her as my comrade. There is no need to assign somebody else."

"Okay. Your second mission is yet to be completed, and we have only twelve days before the deadline ends."

"Don't worry. I am already planning it. You will get your result soon."

"Fine. I gotta go." Ryan ended the call immediately, and Hunter sighed lightly. Though he did have a question to ask him, he gave up on it when he realized what the man's reply would be.

Hunter wanted to know why he had been introduced to Naomi only after he had taken up two missions. Why not before? But he knew that Ryan would not reply to him whatsoever. So, he swallowed all that he had in mind. This was a question that had been bugging him all time. But he had not received any satisfactory answer. Even Naomi had no response to it. So, he did not waste his time thinking about it.

Suddenly, he remembered the bizarre event that had happened the previous day. 'Is Huey even real? What was the system she kept talking about? Should I test if her words were real on not?' He wondered, his eyes filled with curiosity.

'There is nothing wrong in giving it a try. But, first, let me check if I was being delusional or if it actually happened.'

"Stats," He mumbled, and a screen popped up at once. Just like the last time, the screen showed different readings. Everything else remained the same except for HP, which had risen from 68 to 76.

Hunter was relieved to think he was not hallucinating, but he was not happy either. He was puzzled and anxious. "I was not dreaming. This is real, and I now have this weird system accompanying me."