Cipher held his breath, wondering what to do now.
Had the man seen him enter? If so, he needed to be fast. He didn't have a way of determining the rank of his opponent, so it was better to strike the moment the man appeared at the entrance. At that point, he wouldn't have seen Cipher yet, and his chance of landing a critical hit would be guaranteed.
But he didn't have any weapons.
Before he could finish that thought, the man walked past him and the door began closing behind him.
The man seemed to be in a rush and didn't look behind the door. This confirmed that he hadn't actually noticed Cipher enter - he was just here for a bathroom break.
Still, Cipher wasn't out of danger yet. Although he could wait for the man to open a stall, then slip out while distracted, the longer he stayed, the higher his chances of being noticed.
Then he noticed something he'd missed before.
The mirrors above the sink.
The man might see his reflection if he looked in that direction.
Cipher hardened his resolve. It was either him or the man.
Since the man hadn't seen him yet, this was his best chance.
He activated Assassinate.
A burst of energy spread through his legs. He felt like he was flying forward.
The man seemed to hear the noise and turned to look - but Cipher was already on him. He grabbed the man's face with his hand and smashed his head into the mirror on the wall.
Glass shattered.
As Cipher released his grip, he saw blood slowly trickling down into the sink. The man's body collapsed lifeless to the ground.
Cipher was breathing heavily.
Although he'd seen all types of gore during the apocalypse, causing it was a different feeling.
He wasn't troubled by it - just a little shocked. He clenched his fist. This was something he had to overcome at some point. The final apocalypse had been terrifying, but humans were even scarier.
A system notification appeared.
[You have slain E-rank Human (Level 12)]
[+1,000 EXP]
[+20 Cheat Points]
[You have leveled up!]
Cipher observed the notification before him. He wasn't surprised - he already knew that killing humans gave EXP. This was why humans were the most dangerous in the apocalypse. Some became obsessed with the grind and turned on others for power.
He knelt down and began searching the body.
Most of what the man carried was junk - cultist scriptures, trinkets, worthless items. But there was one useful thing: a short dagger. He took it.
It was a perfect weapon for an assassin.
He examined the blade, testing its weight.
He needed to be careful. He'd already used one of his two Assassinate charges.
He glanced at the man's robes. It would've been useful to wear them and blend in with the other cultists, but they were soaked in blood now. Completely unusable.
He decided to leave quickly before others came to investigate the commotion.
…
A few moments later, Cipher found himself in a storage room.
"This place should be fairly safe," he thought.
He sat down behind some shelves, hidden from view.
"I can finally check out the gains."
He summoned his system.
[Name: Cipher]
[Level: 2 (0/2000)]
[Species: Human]
[Class: Cheater]
[Health: 500/500]
[Mana: 45/70]
[Strength: 10]
[Stamina: 5]
[Agility: 10]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Stat Points: 3]
[Cheat Points: 20]
[Skills (1/5): Assassinate (E)]
[Cheats: Cheat Shop (Max Level)]
He was now at Level 2.
The man he'd killed before was E-rank. Did that mean he needed to kill two more to reach Level 3? Then three more after that? Wasn't that too difficult?
He decided not to worry about it for now. He'd figure that out later.
He looked at his Cheat Points. He'd received 20 from killing the cultist. The cheapest item in the shop cost 100 points, meaning he needed to kill at least four more E-ranks to afford anything.
Then he noticed something he'd almost missed.
Stat points. He had three of them now.
"No wonder I didn't feel my stats increasing after leveling up."
They weren't distributed automatically like he'd thought they would.
He wondered if this was some sort of glitch.
"Maybe the Cheater Class has no specialization, so it gives free points instead," he thought. Yeah, that was probably it. "It's just like being classless."
No - it was much better. It gave him two free points per level instead of one. Although it wasn't the three points that people with specialized classes got, these were free points he could allocate however he wanted.
Speaking of allocating, how should he use them?
He smiled. Wasn't it obvious?
He put all three into Intelligence.
He'd already used one of his two Assassinate activations, and his mana didn't seem to be recovering. If he increased Intelligence to 10, he'd have 100 mana total.
Even accounting for the already spent 25 which wouldn't be recovered at the moment, he'd still have 75 left - enough for another three activations. With this, he should be able to defend himself a little.
And if they ran out…he was basically done for. Even if he killed two E-ranks and leveled up, he still wouldn't gain an extra charge.
He hoped the Association would've arrived by then.
A notification appeared.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a skill]
[Skill: Mana Sense (E-Rank)]
[Type: Passive]
[Cost: 0 Mana]
[Description: As long as you have mana, you can sense mana signatures within a 10-meter radius. Detection range and clarity increase with Intelligence.]
Before he could process that, another notification appeared.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a skill]
[Skill: Mana Recovery (E-Rank)]
[Type: Passive]
[Cost: 0 Mana]
[Description: Regenerate 0.5% of maximum mana every 10 seconds while out of combat or 1% of maximum mana every 10 seconds while sleeping.]
Cipher blinked. Back-to-back skill awakenings? That was…
His newly awakened Mana Sense flared.
Someone was outside. Multiple someones. And one of them had a massive mana signature.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
Five men walked in, all wearing white robes.
"Search everywhere," one of them commanded.
Cipher, still hidden behind the shelf, was panicking.
He sensed it clearly now. The man leading them - that level of mana he was letting out - he was definitely D-rank.