[11]

Devin stared out of his large bedroom window, peering down at the distant skyline view past his outdoor swimming pool and balcony, as he sat at the edge of his bed, which was covered in satin sheets. He lived in luxury, and was unashamed about it.

Taking a swig from his drink, which was no doubt some kind of alcoholic beverage, the man went to check his phone one last time before he laid in bed and fell asleep, but something out of the corner of his eye caused him to freeze in place, his eyes quickly widening to their limits at the sight of a masked individual silently lurking at the entrance of his room.

Before Devin could even react, it was all over, as a bullet quietly penetrated the space in between his eyes and immediately turned him into a ragdoll, with his body flopping back onto the bed like a dehydrated fish. The man hadn't even expected it until his last moments were initially realized, and then nothing.

Quest Completed!

Just an eternal darkness to keep him company.

----------

Roaming around the mansion with a smirk etched into his face underneath the mask, Dante put as much of Devin's belongings as he could into his inventory, which included his phone and the man's own corpse. You know, for safekeeping and all that good stuff, because why the hell not.

He did all of that in a hurry, though, since the boy was still paranoid of the possibility that he could get caught. Stepping out of the luxurious, but now practically barren home, he was met with the sight of a bunch of dead guards, with a few puddles of blood here and there. They were subsequently thrown into stasis, and so were all of Devin's nearby vehicles as well.

In the end, the large house almost looked vacant to a certain degree. Not only that, but as Dante took one final look at the property, he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. While he quickly realized just how short this had all ended up lasting in hindsight, the boy also knew how close his death had been to coming to fruition with how many of those Merryweather people were just recently stacked up around Devin's crib.

Not to mention, he felt like most of his efforts had simply gone to waste, because if he had known that he could've just waited and received the lotus cash card from the dungeon instead of becoming an errand boy for Mr. Weston, Dante wouldn't have even bothered to consider the man's original proposition. At this point, just looking at that one-hundred-and-twenty-five-thousand currently sitting within his inventory made him cringe, as that seemed to be worth nothing in comparison to the dungeon reward now.

'It is what it is, I guess.' Dante thought to himself, turning away from the mansion as he hopped into his Jackal and quickly fled the scene of the crime, stowing away the suppressed handgun used to eliminate all of them in his inventory. '...Good riddance, anyway.'

----------

The next morning, when Dante opened his eyes, he woke up to the sound of a dead world.

Just complete silence, and nothing else there to potentially disturb his slumber.

After finally putting an end to Devin before the same could be done to him, the boy had decided to sleep inside of the empty dungeon available to him, and since there was nothing within it to bother him while he was asleep, it resulted in quite a good night's rest.

Not only that, but a smile crawled onto his face after a quick glance in his phone, with not a single news tabloid suddenly popping out with a story of Devin Weston's abrupt disappearance. It seemed the rest of the world was still unaware of what had ended up happening last night.

Lifting himself up from the backseat of his Jackal, Dante slowly made his way into the front, before letting out an early-morning yawn as he proceeded to start the car. Within an instant, his surroundings regained the majority of their naturally-vibrant colors, as he pulled out of a dark alleyway and just casually blended in with the populated roads on his way back home.

----------

Two days later, and there still hadn't been any news of Devin Weston's abrupt disappearance.

However, on the other hand, Dante's life was beginning to take a positive turn.

Sitting in a lawn chair outside their house, with his dad routinely working the grill, Dante let out an audible laugh with his mom, who's smile brightened up like the sun at the sound. It turned out, after ingesting that senzu bean he ended up receiving from the completion of the human dungeon, it's supposedly immense rejuvenation properties were better than he had originally expected. As a result, in a sudden turn of events, the boy had actually regained the use of his voice.

Now, he didn't need to rely on a certain skill of his...

[Language: Hand Signs] - Lvl. 57

Allows you to understand and communicate with others through sign language.

It was such a surreal experience, to end up stubbing your toe and involuntarily yelling out in pain on instinct, only to realize what you had just miraculously accomplished. When his parents rushed into the room, staring at him with eyes the size of dinner plates, he knew it hadn't just been a part of his imagination.

After that, the atmosphere quickly shifted into an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least.

From that point onward, however, he did have to put on a bit of an act, but other than that, everything seemed to be flowing pretty smoothly.

"T-Thanks for the meal, pops. It looks great." Dante said, trying not to salivate at the delicious smell wafting into his nostrils, as he took a paper plate that was filled with a variety of different things to choose from.

"Of course, it looks great. I'm the one that made it, after all." The man replied, grinning. He winked at Céline, Dante's mother, before subsequently returning to the grill to keep making more for a while longer.

The boy quickly began to dig in, practically devouring the food, all while him and his parents, along with a few other people from the same neighborhood, had a good time eating and talking amongst each other throughout the duration of the cookout. Once he finished eating, though, and an hour or two had passed, things eventually took a bit of a turn.

Dante was aimlessly roaming around the neighborhood after filling his stomach up with delicious food, as he occasionally waved towards someone he either knew that lived in the area or had grown up with, when two very familiar-looking people suddenly rounded the corner in front of him.

Franklin and Lamar, a duo that was almost so well-known in the hood that they were practically recognized by everyone that lived here. Dante was fairly close with the two as well, and had been for most of his life, since the familial connection their set shared also meant the duo were pretty cool with his dad, having looked up to him in their youth as somewhat of a mentor.

The boy was a little confused, though, since they had just spent a couple hours at his crib, which left him unsure as to why they were approaching him now.

"Wassup, loc." Lamar smiled, dapping up Dante before Franklin did the same, with the latter shaking his head at the former's antics. "Aye, like I said to your pops, we appreciate the hospitality."

Nodding in acknowledgement at the last part of what the tall and lanky gang member just said, Dante couldn't help but let out an all-too-familiar sigh whenever he found himself around Lamar, but in a relatively good way. "Yeah, for sure. I told you before, though, I ain't part of the Families like you think I am, dawg."

This time, Franklin cut into the conversation, as he set a hand on Dante's shoulder. "Maybe in a literal sense, since you ain't get jumped in or nothing like that, but you're still definitely a part of us, and everyone else that's in this shit feel the same way as we do."

"Real shit." Lamar said, chuckling. "I couldn't have said it any better myself, F. Not to mention, it ain't like your old man has ever denied you being a part of the gang either, since you were practically born into all of this, anyway. He's always just let you walk your own path and served as guidance, just like he did with us when we were growing up."

Dante pondered on that for a moment, finding a certain truth within his words, but eventually gestured for them to get to the point of why they were actually talking to him, which is when the faces of both Franklin and Lamar turned a bit more serious. That immediately set off some alarm bells inside of his mind.

"Well..." Franklin began, briefly glancing at Lamar before he finally spilled the beans. "It's about the people that put you in the hospital."

Eyes widening, Dante's attention zeroed in on the two standing in front of him.

"We found out who they are."

----------

The Marabunta Grande...

He would make sure to remember that, as well as the names that Franklin and Lamar kindly gave him, which turned out to be against his father's wishes. The duo explained their feelings on the matter, however, as they vocalized their desire for him to be made aware of such crucial information since he was the one that had nearly been killed in this situation. For that, he planned on buying them whatever they wanted once this was all over and done with, and he truly meant that in this case.

Letting out a sigh, Dante stared at the television within the living room, thinking about how chaotic his life had become over such a short period of time after leaving the hospital, and couldn't help but wonder in uncertainty if all of this had somehow been planned out for him since the very beginning.

He eventually just shook his head, not wanting to get all philosophical and shit within his mind. Instead, since nobody appeared to be around, the boy turned towards the system. There was something he still hadn't looked at just yet, after all.

…Like the quest he apparently completed after putting a hole in Devin Weston's head, for instance.

[Never Saw It Coming]

Objective: Kill the sociopathic coward known as Devin Weston before he sends his Merryweather goons after you and takes you out the game, leaving your family and the people you love with nobody else left to save them.

Reward(s):

[Z-Type] - [4,200 SP]

Processing what he had received, Dante couldn't help but quietly hum in thought, before he switched tabs within the system interface and ended up back in the shop function once again, as he glanced at his newfound balance, which had gradually increased over time after grinding so much within the human dungeon.

[Store Points: 7,583]

Humming in thought once more, Dante took another look throughout the shop, still relatively unfamiliar with all of it. After a while, however, the boy's eyes landed on a tab that caught his interest, which brought up another popup screen after he mentally pressed it that clearly showcased a rather simplistic map of Los Santos, as well as a bunch of seemingly available properties throughout the city.

When Dante finally came to the realization of what he was staring at, he felt a near-imperceptible smile crawl onto his face. Just then, however, he swiped the interface away when his phone briefly vibrated and he realized that Molly had sent him a text.

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If the next few chapters feel a bit rushed, that's because I've been planning on having the MC head to a different world fairly early on since the beginning of this story, which would essentially result in this one being left somewhat neglected (only after Dante kills the people that put him in the hospital first though). However, if some of you haven't seen some of the things I've explained within the comments to certain readers, I never intended on this world possessing much importance in the first place. All I really needed was for the MC to be from somewhere, and as a result, decided that the GTA universe would basically be his home-world or whatever.

I'm still trying to decide on which world is next, so if you want, go ahead and put a few suggestions in the comments. Just try to pick ones that will allow for a smoother transition for the sake of the MC, who hasn't been introduced to all of that crazy anime shit yet, so nothing too crazy like attack on titan or something, you know. That wouldn't really make any sense.

Honestly, I was thinking something along the lines of Durarara!! would be a pretty good fit, since that world also has gangster-like characters, which is what Dante is mostly familiar with, and since that universe already has the supernatural, I was thinking it would be interesting if the world was a crossover with Highschool DxD or something as well. What do you think?

Speaking of crossovers, what's something that would be a fitting crossover for the GTA universe?