That night, I did things before sleeping that I normally wouldn't do.
I checked the door lock twice.Then, from the inside, I pushed the small stool under the doorknob. If the door opened, it would scrape a little – an invisible but audible barrier.
Next to the bed were the broken pieces of a ceramic mug I had dropped earlier in the day. I had been too lazy to pick them all up and just pushed them aside. This time I did it on purpose: I scattered the shards just inside the door, right where a first step would land.
"My Luck is low," I muttered."Then my paranoia should be high."
Lastly, I didn't lean the blunt training dagger against the wall. I slid it under the blanket, right where I could easily grab it with my right hand.
When I lay down on the bed, my body was exhausted, but my mind was still awake.
The System was silent.That, in a strange way, was comforting.
I stared at the ceiling for a while, took deep breaths. Eventually, my eyes closed.
The footsteps in the corridor were so quiet that even through sleep they were barely audible.
The wooden floorboards seemed used to this weight and hardly creaked at all.A dark, cloaked figure turned the corner upstairs and stopped in front of my door.
The doorknob turned slowly.
The first sound came when the stool inside brushed against the door:
A faint "tick", then a soft scraping.
The man paused for a moment.He was careful, but he was only expecting a weak "apprentice" in this room, nothing more.
On the second try, he pushed the door even more slowly. This time, the stool slid aside almost silently.
The door opened a crack.
The shadow that slipped inside listened to the room first. Steady, deep breathing…On the bed, a body lay under the blanket, face turned to the side, sleeping soundly.
Me.
For a brief second, the man's eyes dropped to the floor just inside the door. He saw faintly glinting shapes in the dark but couldn't tell what they were.
He took his first step.
Under his foot, a barely audible "krrt" sounded. The broken ceramics made him shift his weight slightly. His balance didn't break, but the perfect silence he relied on was already gone.
He pressed his lips together and moved a bit farther inside.
With his gloved hand, he slightly pulled his cloak aside.A short, thin dagger appeared. Whatever dark coating was smeared along its edge seemed to swallow even the weak light.
The target was clear:
The neck… or the heart.
He came all the way to the bedside.His knees were near the bed's edge, his upper body leaning slightly forward.
The dagger rose.
Sleep shattered like a sharp pain caught in my throat.
The first thing I felt was time slowing for a heartbeat.As if the air in the room had grown heavy and all sound had pulled away from me.
A familiar but blurry shadow of a panel appeared before my eyes.
⟪SYSTEM⟫[EMERGENCY NODE ACTIVE]Veil Node: Danger Sense (Level 1)
Effect:– Brief intuitive warning in the moment of a close-range lethal attack.
Extra:– Working together with your trap preparation.– Nice reflex, unlucky boy.
I could feel the dagger's path.
My body wasn't fully awake, but my muscles obeyed that feeling.Under the blanket, I shifted my left shoulder slightly to the side and lowered my chest a few fingers down.
At that exact moment, the dagger came down.
Cold steel sank not into the center of my chest but into the fleshy part of my left shoulder.Pain flooded my body like electricity bursting through my veins, but my heart was still where it should be.
A muffled sound burst from my throat.
I tried to open my mouth and scream, but the assassin's hand pressed over my mouth and shoved the sound back inside.
Up to this point, there was no grand plan. Just luck.
But hidden inside that luck was something I had done earlier out of pure laziness.
When the dagger entered my shoulder, it hit something on my chest first:
The book I had been reading earlier that day – "Beginner's Guide to Not Dying in Veldan."
I had fallen asleep without putting it beside the bed, leaving it resting on my chest under the blanket.
The blade pierced the cover, sliced through the inner pages, and then reached my shoulder.Not a killing blow, but one of those "you almost died" angles.
⟪SYSTEM⟫[LUCK TRIGGERED]Luck Event: "Page Shield"
– A rare positive deviation detected at Luck 3/10.– Strike angle and direction narrowly missed the heart.
Result:– You did not die.– Your book, however, is traumatized.
"Book…" I thought."I… love you…"
My eyes burned from the pain, but my right hand was already moving.
I grabbed the blunt dagger under the blanket.
The assassin was pulling his own dagger back for a second strike. Realizing he hadn't fully pinned me, he pressed his knee harder into the bed and put his full weight on me.
That was when the second part of my "traps" came into play.
The bed was not the sturdiest thing in the room.When weight pressed too hard on a single spot, one of the weak slats near the foot of the bed couldn't take it.
A sharp "CRACK" echoed in the room.
The assassin's balance broke.His body leaned forward, momentarily out of control.
Right then, the System opened a new panel:
⟪SYSTEM⟫[EMERGENCY SKILL CREATED]Survivor Instinct – Reflexive Counter (Single Use)
Type:– Reflexive counterattack.
Effect:– Short boost to speed and strength at the moment of a close-range lethal threat.– Target: Instinctive strike toward the nearest weak point.
Note:– This ability was borrowed from your potential within the SIGIL GRID.– It is not permanent; the experience will affect future barrier breakthroughs.
"Perfect timing…" I groaned.
My body moved as if it didn't belong to me.My right arm burst out from under the blanket, dagger in hand, thrusting toward the torso collapsing onto me.
Normally, with this blunt weapon, I could only have pushed him away.But Reflexive Counter corrected my arm's angle and boosted my speed.
The tip of the blade slipped between his ribs as if following a line that had already been drawn there.
Metal found the thin gap between flesh and bone.
The assassin's breath broke in a choking sound.
He tried to pull back, but the movement froze halfway.From his lower chest and side came a jagged, uneven inhale.
We locked eyes.
In the shadow of his hood, I saw hesitation in his gaze for the first time.Then, for a brief second… surprise.
His free hand went to his chest and touched the handle of the dagger.
At the same time, I felt the heat of blood running from my shoulder, the weight of the torn book stuck to my chest, and the burning of my lungs as I tried to breathe.
⟪SYSTEM⟫[LIFE BAR – UPDATE]
– Ethan: Low– Target: Critical
Extra:– "Reflexive Counter" hit with maximum effect.– Use: Consumed.
The assassin tried to back away off the bed.His foot landed on the broken ceramic pieces I had scattered by the door and slipped.
He lost his balance completely and tumbled sideways into the middle of the room.
When he hit the floor, the dagger buried in his torso sank even deeper.
This time, the sound he made was short—and final.
The room went quiet.
For a while, I heard nothing but my own breathing.
The book on my chest trembled slightly, its torn pages lifting with each breath. My shoulder throbbed, my head spun. But I was breathing.
I was alive.
I slid off the edge of the bed and used the wall to pull myself upright.I took a few shaky steps; my knees almost gave out, but I forced myself to stay on my feet.
I crouched next to the assassin.
Slowly, I pushed back his hood.
His face was ordinary. No monster, no demon, no insanity etched into his features…Just a professional killer who had come to do a job—and picked the wrong room.
On his left wrist, under the glove, I saw a faint but clear symbol:
An empty black triangle inked into the skin.
"You again…" I whispered."The symbol from the basement…"
⟪SYSTEM⟫[VISUAL MATCH]
Object: Triangle symbol on left wrist
Matching Record:– Old document/stamp in the Record Office basement
Similarity: Very high.
Note:– No detailed information is currently available about the symbol.– This record will be used when additional data is gathered later.
I gently moved his hand aside.It wasn't holding onto anything anymore.
A heavy feeling settled in my chest.
"This is the first person I've killed," I thought."I had no other choice… but still."
⟪SYSTEM⟫[PSYCHOLOGICAL NOTE]
– First kill experience recorded.– May act as a trigger in certain future decisions.
Extra:– The price of survival is not always just wounds.
"Don't get philosophical right now…" I muttered."My shoulder is on fire."
I went back to the bed and grabbed the emergency bandages from under the pillow.The System showed small diagram-like hints on how to wrap them; I followed them with clenched teeth and shaking hands.
After a while, the bleeding slowed, and my breathing steadied.
Just as I leaned back against the wall to sit, the panel opened again.
⟪SYSTEM⟫[EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
Status:– You survived your first direct assassination attempt and won.– You fended off close-range lethal attacks.– "Survivor Instinct – Reflexive Counter" successfully activated.– Target: Eliminated.
Result:– Growth triggered.
The shadow of the SIGIL GRID appeared again before my eyes.The "Danger Sense" node on the Veil branch was now glowing steadily. The small nodes beside it vibrated faintly.
⟪SYSTEM⟫[ATTRIBUTE UPDATE]
– Endurance: Low+ → Mid-– Perception: Mid+ → Mid++– Luck: 3 / 10 → 4 / 10
Explanation:– Surviving an assassination attempt caused a small upward shift in your fate line.– You're still a bit below average, but you've stepped out of the "completely cursed" category.
"Is this how it's always going to feel when my Luck goes up?" I said."Blood, pain, and a mild mental breakdown package?"
⟪SYSTEM⟫[RESPONSE]
Growth usually brings new burdens, not comfort.
Note:– Statistically, being alive is still better than being dead.
I didn't have the energy to argue.
The panel opened one more time. A new line appeared:
⟪SYSTEM⟫[NEW MODULE UNLOCKED]SYSTEM SHOP
The user has passed the first true growth threshold.You can now "spend" certain resources to gain extra support.
"Shop, huh…" I said tiredly."Are we really ending the night with shopping?"
⟪SYSTEM⟫[EXPLANATION]
The System Shop operates independently of this world's economy.
Currency:– System Shard
Ways to Earn Shards:– Completing quests– Experiences involving life–death thresholds– Permanent choices– Rarely, by piecing together fragments of information
Note:– Shard gain is not limited to "killing enemies."
⟪SYSTEM⟫[CURRENT BALANCE]
– System Shards: 4
Explanation:– Surviving the assassination attempt: 2– Successful use of Reflexive Counter: 1– Crossing the "first human kill" threshold: 1
"My first money… earned from a killer," I said."That sounds awful."
⟪SYSTEM⟫[SHORT REPLY]
Most economies in this world are built on someone's loss.
You are simply one of the few who can clearly see it.
The shop screen opened.The first categories were simple: small potions, advanced bandages, basic training manuals, vague trinkets…
My eyes paused for a moment on the "Suspicious Discount Mystery Box."Then drifted back to the ache in my shoulder, the corpse on the floor, and the triangle symbol on his wrist.
⟪SYSTEM⟫[RECOMMENDATION]
It is advised to consider your current physical condition, open wounds, and mental fatigue.
Short advice:– It may be wiser not to make any purchases tonight.
For the first time, I agreed with the System without thinking.
I closed the shop screen.
The room still smelled of blood and cool night air.The broken ceramics near the door were a reminder of the assassin's last step.The torn book on the bed had acted as a shield in front of my heart.
Slowly, I leaned back against the wall and pulled my knees to my chest.
Tonight,the assassin's job had been to remove an "easy target."
But things shifted at the point where a man who seemed weak and unlucky used small traps and a one-time reflex skill to redraw the line.
I was still alive.He was on the floor.
And the difference between uswas a bit of luck, a bit of System,and a stubborn will to survive.