New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Three shots echoed in the store, followed by the clinking of the three shells falling to the ground.

Emerest grinned as he looked at the shadow he had just shot at, thinking he had won.

But something felt wrong. The body was falling forward or crumpling.

Alex slowly turned around with a sigh, the three bullets suddenly falling out of his shirt, where red skin had blocked them from going further.

"I told you not to take the stupid option. A thought an awakened would at least be smart enough to recognize another and wouldn't use a normal weapon to kill him. This tickled, at best."

Emerest's face turned to a mask of anger.

"Why are you sticking your nose in my business? You made me lose men and money today! And now, I won't even be able to use the restaurant to gather intel! This is all your fault!"

A dagger appeared in his hand, and Alex could see a blueish sheen on it.

This wasn't a regular knife.

His eyebrow cocked up.

"You managed to get your game weapon out? Huh… I still haven't done that. Either I've been out of New Eden too long, or that's one hell of a weapon you got there."

Emerest grinned at him like a maniac.

"I guess you aren't as stupid as you look. But I won't tell you jack shit. Why would I? You'll be dead in a moment."

After saying this, Emerest dashed at Alex, his speed impressive, even by Alex's standards. But not fast enough.

Slashing, stabbing, running, spinning. Emerest transformed into a miniature blade tornado, going all out on Alexander.

But every time he thought he would strike his target, Alex moved with the bare minimum of effort, and the knife missed him.

Emerest quickly understood that his opponent could match his speed and redoubled his efforts.

He started using kicks and punches and even tried shoving the young man off balance, but with little to no effect.

Alex eventually got bored with this little dance, caught Emerest's wrist instead of dodging, and spun around, throwing the man like a rag doll.

Mid-air, Emerest spun around, landing with his feet on the wall, and dashed forward again.

"You can't keep dodging me forever. You are bound to tire out eventually!" he shouted, resuming his assault.

But Alex repeated his catch-and-throw routine, sending him toward a decrepit rack this time.

When Emerest corrected his trajectory, bolting toward Alex, he suddenly lost track of him.

Feeling a shiver on his nape, Emerest threw himself forward, going into a tuck and roll, as he heard the air whistle where he had been.

"Good reflexes," he heard the young man say suddenly in front of him.

But he wasn't fast enough to dodge the incoming foot, and it slammed into his ribs, sending him packing, rolling over the floor a few times before he kicked off of it and landed on his feet.

But he winced in pain.

"By the face you made and the feeling under my foot, I'd say two—no, make that three broken ribs. Do you want to keep going? Because you won't win. And the more you annoy me, the higher the chances I snap and kill you. I would prefer to keep my hands clean tonight."

Emerest gave Alex a rage-filled glare.

"When are you going to take action, you fucking coward?!" he seethed, looking past Alex's shoulder.

But his face changed when silence was the only thing to respond to him.

"Oh, did you think Gabriel would help you? He's already out of commission. He tried prodding into my head, and I let him see something he would rather never see. Poor sod passed out and pissed himself," Alex said calmly.

He could hear Emerest's teeth grinding against each other and knew he had him back into a corner.

"What are you? Why are you butting in if you are this strong? You could put the city under your thumb, and no one could stop you. Why are you wasting your time on people like me?" Emerest asked, his eyes darting around.

He was looking for an escape, but the young man stood between him and the doorway.

"Why would I want to put this city under my rule? I have a better one in New Eden, and, at least there, no criminal hounds my streets to fuck up people needlessly."

That's when Emerest realized who was before him.

The previous number-one player in New Eden, who had gone AWOL for a month. Astaroth, King of Stellar Woodlands, and Leader of the Paragons.

But Alex wouldn't let him have the time to think of his next move.

With a snap of his fingers, heavy pressure slammed onto Emerest's shoulders as his entire mana presence pushed onto him, and Alex sauntered forward.

"We've played around enough. Your men are going to jail, at least the ones your chef didn't murder. As for you and Gabriel? Well, let's say you won't be seeing the light of day for a long time. Now be a dear for me and fall unconscious."

Emerest couldn't even lift his finger, the mana pressure affecting him way more than normal humans, and he couldn't react when Alex suddenly punched him in the head.

His eyes rolled back as his body crumpled to the ground, and he passed out. Alex looked at the place and sighed heavily.

"I hope it's not all the awakened that are like these two dumbasses. Or I'll have a lot of work ahead of me…"

He called Mr. Gu, telling him where the two awakened were, as Mr. Gu questioned him about how he knew where and who they were. Alex dodged the questions adeptly, saying he still had to connect to New Eden, and he hung up.

Flying back home, he ignored all the callbacks Mr. Gu made and landed on his room balcony, turning back into a human as he slid the door closed.

His clothes were ok, for once, as he had been careful when growing his wings to infuse mana into them. This had stopped them from ripping apart.

He also had kept blood from landing on them, so he wouldn't have to explain himself to Kary the next day.

After a quick shower, Alex headed into his pod for the first time in over a month, and closed its top.

The comfortable gel-like substance under him felt nostalgic as his pod welcomed him back.

"Log in."

*Launching New Eden* Novel Fire - novelfire.net

*Logging in*

*Welcome back, player Astaroth*

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