Escape

Nick tightened his grip on the rod and steeled his mind.

'I will attack his eyes,' Nick told himself.

If he ran back now, he would just be running back to the Asian goon, who was wielding his gun again.

Nick waited for the towering goon to complete his steps, but then he noticed something was off.

The towering goon stared ahead, not moving!

Nick furrowed his eyebrows and took cautious steps forward.

Standing beside the towering goon Jun called 'Tommy', Nick switched on his phone screen and raised it to the farmer's face.

Tommy's eyes were wide open, blankly staring ahead!

'What the fuck?' Nick shrieked back fearfully. 

Tommy's eyes shook but never blinked. His mouth moved, but he never spoke. His face repeatedly twitched, as though he were in pain, and his breath was wheezing. His body was frozen in motion, and his knee twitched, as though he wanted to run but couldn't.

Nick squinted his eyes and peered closer to the towering goon. 'Did Mr. Stranger do this?'

Right then, the corner of Tommy's eye became moist, and a single tear fell from the corner.

Nick swallowed heavily and took a step back. 'It most likely is! He kept this Tommy guy from interfering, but how long will he continue helping me? I have to get out of here!'

Nick didn't waste any more time and sped down the stairs. But just as he reached the third floor and was about to run down, he looked into the corridor and saw the room with pink light seeping out.

Nick tore his gaze away and looked down at the stairs. However, he didn't move.

"Dammit," he voiced and ran down to the room.

He saw the vending machine again and quickly took a photo of it. 

Then, he finally ran down the stairs and exited the abandoned building the way he came.

But then, coming down to the first floor, he spotted the third goon walking to the other stairs, albeit fearfully.

He was on the phone with someone who was urging him to come and get him to the hospital, but the dark-skinned goon was extremely scared of going upstairs.

Nick waited a while for the goon to leave before he reached the room he entered from and jumped out the broken window.

He crossed the overgrown courtyard of the area and left the premises through the opening in the fence.

Sighting a vehicle parked nearby, he remained among the bushes and hid deeper, waiting to see if another of Boss Falco's men was manning the vehicle.

Nick took a leap of faith and went to check the vehicle, as the goons might soon come out and there was no time. And luckily for him, the car was empty.

From there, he ran down the road, creating a distance of about one kilometer from the vehicle before hiding in the bushes and waiting for Kurt to arrive.

As Nick squatted uncomfortably behind some plants, he thought back to what Mr. Stranger did to Tommy and wondered how that was even possible.

But then he remembered what he read about S-Attributes and S-Attribute Abilities—that they were practically superpowers. 

'But what attribute will give a pointer such an ability?' 

The fear, pain, and agony written all over Tommy's face made Nick shiver when he remembered. It was as though the towering goon was being… tormented, for lack of a better term.

Nick gained a newfound awe for Mr. Stranger, which was more akin to a deep-seated fear. That ability seemed to be the kind that made one beg for death.

Nick thought back to how he spoke to Mr. Stranger and muttered, "I don't… think I should ever come back here."

Just about ten minutes later, he spotted the sedan vehicle he inspected zoom past him.

Sometime after that, Kurt finally arrived in a sleek, black, and old Mercedes-Benz and stopped the vehicle where Nick directed him.

Then, a shadowy figure came out from behind the foliage and ran up to the vehicle.

The driver, Kurt, carefully lowered the window and peered outside, noticing the messy, skinny individual before him.

"Thanks, man," Nick said as he swiftly opened the front passenger door and entered the vehicle.

Kurt inspected Nick's disheveled state, noting the dirt on his face and clothes and dried blood on his left hand and shirt.

Nick let out a relieved sigh. 

Kurt, with his square face, furrowed his brows and hesitantly inquired, "Is… Is that blood?"

Nick noticed Kurt's quizzical gaze and answered nonchalantly, "Don't worry, it's not my blood."

Kurt's brows remained furrowed, and a heavy silence hung in the air.

With a lengthy sigh, Nick narrated how he had a run-in with some men to whom he owed some cash, and they wanted to kidnap him, but he fought his way out and came to Old Town to hide. Of course, he was lying, and he knew Kurt knew, but there was no way he could tell the dude what exactly transpired. After all, it was against the rules of Top Idol to mention things about it to non-pointers, and he believed that included Mr. Stranger.

In the end, Nick emphasized that no one was killed, and he was fine. 

Reaching Montreville, Kurt parked at the intersection of the street where Nick's apartment building was located.

"I'll stop here. That'll be 100 bucks," Kurt said with a yawn.

Nick's eyebrows scrunched, confused. "Wh… What do you mean?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow and gave Nick a side glance.

"It's past 1 a.m.; do you think I left my house to come and pick you up in such a remote place for free?"

Nick spared him an awkward smile. "Didn't you do it for free?"

But Kurt scoffed and added, "Why? Because we're friends?"

"Um, yeah?"

Kurt laughed briefly and shook his head. He explained with a smile, "I 'considered' the offer 'because' we're friends."

'What a greedy bastard!' Nick shook his head, took out a $100 bill from his pocket, then handed it to Kurt while asking, "Can't you just be a normal friend and do things for free once in a while?"

Kurt snatched the bill and put it in his pocket, retorting, "Can't you be a proper friend and not call me in the middle of the night to come pick you up in some far corner of the city?"

Nick sighed. "But at least give me a discount, come on."

Shortly after, Nick watched Kurt zoom off and began to walk the remaining distance to his apartment complex.

The sky was cloudy but wasn't vast in this compact area of storied complexes, so the moon was nowhere to be found. Occasional winds blew past; the night was cold.

Nick took the time to count the remaining cash he had on hand, as he only now had time to check if anything fell from his pockets. The money he had gotten from the [Red Packet] was intact; that was, after deducting the amount he paid Kurt.

Getting to the complex, Nick disturbed the doorman and managed to get in after some dialogue.

He reached his apartment soon after and shut the door behind him, locking it a second later.

Nick let out a long sigh and rested the back of his head on the apartment door, feeling a mix of anxiety, weariness, and overall tiredness. It seemed the effects of the [Insta-Power Booster] lasted for at most thirty minutes tops.

Even though he went through this night's ordeal without ending up on the losing side, he knew it wouldn't take long before things escalated against him. 

As for the present moment, though, at least he had gained a few more v-points.

Nick raised his phone to his face. Now, he had the alone time to see what the notification he had received while he was in Kurt's car was about.

Right there, on his phone screen, Top Idol had sent him a simple message.

[Your current rank is #1…]