1 Prologue

BANG!

David glared at the man he had just shot in the head. He crouched beside the dead body and reloaded his gun. He cursed in his heart, 'Those bastards!'

Currently, he was in a warehouse beside the Hudson River. Corpses were strewn across the floor and streams of blood flowed through the place. Twelve men had already been shot; now, only three remained.

He had come to engage in a shoot-out with one of the crews from the Buccanti Crime Family, the owners of this warehouse. However, before the first bullet had even been fired, the building had been locked from the outside!

'Bastard… I'll kill you once I get outta here!' David gnashed his teeth in rage. After being locked inside the warehouse, he had no choice but to battle more than a dozen armed men all by himself.

As a result, his body was riddled with bullets and he was bleeding profusely. However, he still persisted.

He took a few deep breaths and inwardly muttered, 'Just three more and I can go home. The system's countdown timer is also coming to an end tonight.' The next moment, a gray translucent panel appeared in front of him.

[Countdown: 00:21:43]

'Good… I still have enough time to take care of these pests and go back home.' he thought. After waiting more than two years, his system would finally unlock tonight!

All of a sudden, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from beside him. He went on high alert and aimed his gun. As soon as the person came around the wooden crates, David pulled the trigger.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three bullets were fired, two to the chest and one to the head. He then immediately sprinted away from his location and took cover elsewhere. The moment he ran, a flurry of bullets flew through the crates where he was previously standing.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

David silently circled around the last two men and arrived a dozen feet behind them. Beside him was a hammer on top of a piece of machinery. He picked it up and threw it in a random direction.

The two remaining men heard the sound of the hammer falling and, in their state of panic, immediately fired their guns in that direction.

David took the opportunity and shot one of them in the back.

BANG! BANG!

His target was shot once in the chest and once in the head. The other person, alarmed, turned and looked in David's direction, aiming his gun at him. David also did the same.

Both pulled the trigger at the same time!

BANG! BANG!

The enemy shot David in the stomach, while David's bullet missed!

"Aaarrgghhh!!" he grunted as he stumbled back a few steps, but he withstood the pain and aimed his gun again.

CLICK! CLICK!

His eyes widened as he looked at his gun—he had run out of bullets! But thinking quickly, before the other person could shoot him down, David threw his gun right at the man's head, hitting him accurately.

Bearing the severe pain coursing through his body, David ran toward him and took him down, pinning him to the ground. The first thing he did was disarm him.

Following that, he raised his hand and landed a solid punch to the man's face. But before he could land another punch, the man grabbed David's abdominal bullet wound and viciously twisted it.

"Aaagghhh!!" David felt a jolt of pain in the wound on his stomach. Instinctively, he drew back from the person below him, then lay in a fetal position and groaned in agony.

The person he had earlier pinned down got to his feet, walked toward David, and kicked him in the head! He then positioned himself over David and grabbed his neck with both hands. He screamed with hatred, "DIE!!"

David tried to free his neck but was too weak. He'd been shot half a dozen times and had lost too much blood. His eyes slowly began rolling backward. In his daze, he caught a glimpse of the system's gray panel once again.

[Countdown: 00:15:34]

'NO! Not yet!' Instantly, his mind regained clarity and his vision focused. He raised his right hand and punched the person in the throat, causing him to loosen his grip on David's neck for a split second. But that was all the time that he needed!

David grabbed the person's hand and tugged him closer to himself, then wrapped his legs around the person's neck—along with one hand—and put him in a triangle choke.

Then a menacing glint flashed through David's eyes as he grabbed the man's head with both hands and ferociously inserted his thumb in the man's eye sockets.

"AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!" The man screamed in pain and tried freeing himself but to no avail. He was tightly trapped by David's chokehold. He continued struggling for a few more minutes, then finally died.

David pushed the dead body aside and gasped large mouthfuls of air.

[Countdown: 00:12:15]

"I still have some time left…" he muttered under his breath as he slowly got to his feet. He was completely drenched in blood from head to toe; his state was miserable, to say the least.

But he knew that the gruesome ordeal was now over. He could finally go home and unveil the mystery behind the system after the countdown ended.

Thinking of that, he couldn't help but faintly smile and mutter, "I've waited… far too long… for this day…"

All of a sudden, he felt the last remaining energy in him slowly seep out. Before he could take another step forward, David fell face-first to the ground, his vision beginning to darken.

[Countdown: 00:10:53]

'I can't die here…. Not yet! SYSTEM!' he screamed in his mind, his eyes shining with extreme unwillingness.

A pool of blood began forming under him. His breathing grew ragged as he limply lay on the dusty floor of the warehouse. He tried crawling toward the exit but was unable to make much progress.

[Countdown: 00:08:25]

"No… I can't… die." A teardrop trickled down his bloodied face as the light in his eyes slowly began to dim.

On the verge of losing consciousness, David heard the sound of glass shattering. Following that, he heard a familiar voice drifting into his ears.

"Quick… set up… ritual…."

[Countdown: 00:03:09]

He mustered up the last remaining strength in his body and with great difficulty, turned his head toward the source of the voice. But all he saw in his bloodshot vision was a pair of shadowy figures.

Soon, his vision faded to black, and only a line of text remained before his eyes.

[Countdown: 00:00:05]

[Countdown: 00:00:04]

[Countdown: 00:00:03]

[Countdown: 00:00:02]

[Countdown: 00:00:01]

[Initializing…]

David died.