Everything Will Get Better

When Soren brought Vivian back to the Slums, he spent three Copper Dalers on a black loaf as thick and long as an arm—the kind of black, hard bread that could be used as a weapon against stupid burglars breaking into your home, with 1d3 damage. The lower-class poor ground unhulled rye directly into flour. With such crude techniques, you could taste wood chips and other strange things in it. Once it cooled, it became as hard as a club. Only by cutting it open with a knife and soaking it in water could you barely swallow it.

Many people who had entered this world had taken desperate risks because they could not stand food like this.

Quite a few Players had entered the Evil Alignment this way right from the start.

Soren had been the same.

That was why he had become a Rogue!

Perhaps because he had now come to a more real world, or perhaps because there was a little girl by his side, Soren was far steadier and more patient than before. He carefully sliced the black bread, softened it with hot water, and handed it to Vivian. Then he took a bite himself, endured its sawdust-like texture, and silently swallowed it.

It was not that he had no way to obtain money.

It was because he knew exactly what fate awaited him if he failed and got caught. This was not a game, after all.

And he was no longer a Player. In this strange yet familiar world, he had to take responsibility for his actions—and even more so for little Vivian beside him. Amber City had many powerful professionals. The guards protecting the city all possessed class templates of at least Level 10 Militia/Level 3 Warrior. Unless he raised his Theft skill above 75 points, there was still a chance he would be discovered.

Getting caught stealing meant being thrown into prison, and possibly having an arm broken.

Especially if the target was a noble!

Although there was no salt in it, and it could even be said that it had nothing but an awful, hard-to-swallow texture, Vivian still ate happily because she was a little girl who was easy to satisfy.

And she really was hungry!

As long as her brother was by her side, everything would get better.

The pressure of the past half month had left the little girl utterly exhausted. Right now, she only wanted to stay by her brother's side and quietly be an inconspicuous little girl.

"I'll buy you something delicious tomorrow!"

Soren gently stroked Vivian's little head, bent down to kiss her forehead, and said seriously, "Everything will get better!"

"Mm." Vivian nodded softly.

If there was anyone in this world who could earn her complete and unconditional trust, it would definitely be her brother.

Because ever since she was three years old, the young man before her had sheltered her from the wind and rain!

He had silently held on until now.

Vivian still remembered when she had been very, very young. Back then, her brother was always getting hurt. She could not do anything and only knew how to cry uselessly. Her bruised and battered brother would always comfort her and say that everything would get better.

Later, they no longer had to wander the streets, and they finally had a tiny home in the chaotic Slums!

Everything would get better.

The little girl had only just turned eight this year and understood little about many things, but she knew that as long as her brother was there, he would always protect her.

That was wonderful!

Soren looked at Vivian, sound asleep on the bed, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

She really was exhausted.

For an eight-year-old little girl to hold on for half a month in such chaotic Slums had truly been difficult.

She probably had not slept well even once during all this time, had she?

Soren opened the hidden compartment beneath the floorboards and took out a Dagger gleaming with a cold light, a sneer appearing on his lips.

It was time to send those scum who had dared set their sights on Vivian to Hell!

Night quietly fell.

The Slums were pitch-black, with only a few scattered places still lit.

One of them was the Hearth Tavern, one of the few pleasures in the Slums. Here, one Copper Daler could buy a large mug of watered-down, low-quality ale. It tasted like nothing but bird piss, yet it was still a rare indulgence for many of the lower-class poor. Beside it stood a row of low sheds. For another five Copper Dalers, you could find a cheap ** and go have some fun. Of course, you could not expect her to be pretty. At most, she was a creature with breasts and a butt that looked like a woman.

Outside the Hearth Tavern lay one dark alley after another.

Few people dared walk through them at night, because they were places where society's fringe dwellers prowled.

The entire Slums were filled with such dim alleys. Once night fell, almost no one went out except for a small number of people!

The Hearth Tavern was full of noise.

There were dock laborers making a living, grim-faced gang members, and all sorts of shady characters.

What they discussed most was the recent conflict between two gangs. Some people also gleefully remarked that someone had actually dared set their sights on Vivian. Now that Soren had woken up, someone was going to be in trouble.

After speaking, the skinny man with the scar gave a meaningful glance toward a corner of the tavern.

Two men sat there.

They were Balas and Canopo, the ones who had wanted to sell Vivian to Sosia. One of them walked with a limp. Back when they had tried to forcefully make their move, he had been bitten by a fierce old dog.

"Let's go."

Balas cast a gloomy glance at the others in the tavern, then said, "Let's head back first."

"There'll always be a way to deal with Soren."

Canopo drained the low-quality ale in his cup. He was a miser and would not waste even a drop.

The two of them had accepted Sosia's deposit several days ago. If they could not deliver Vivian when the time came, someone would probably come looking to have a chat with them soon enough.

It was already too late to back out.

Besides, Soren valued his sister more than his own life. Since they had dared set their sights on her, Soren would never let the matter rest.

A cold wind blew in.

The people in the tavern cursed a few times. When they looked back, Balas and Canopo had already gone outside.

The moon in the sky was gray and hazy.

After leaving the tavern, both men could not help shivering. Perhaps because he had drunk quite a bit, Balas ducked into an alley as soon as he stepped outside, preparing to relieve himself against a wall.

This was the Slums.

Forget urinating—even people taking a dump would do it in alley corners.

Balas undid his belt and relieved himself. Faintly hearing creaking sounds from the sheds beside the Hearth Tavern, he muttered a curse in the dialect of the Qibei region.

Perhaps because he had thought of Soren waking up, his expression was very unpleasant!

Suddenly.

He felt every hair on his body stand on end. In the dark corner of the alley, he vaguely saw something shift in the shadows.

Before he could even put away the thing he was using to relieve himself, his hand reached for his lower back.

There was a Dagger there!

But it was already too late.

Soren's figure appeared out of nowhere in an instant. His form emerged from the hazy shadows, and no one knew how long he had been waiting there.

A Dagger gleaming with cold light plunged into Balas's back!

Then a hand covered Balas's mouth, smothering even his dying scream.

Thud!

Soren expressionlessly withdrew the Dagger and wiped the blood from it clean on the corpse.

A row of information appeared before his eyes:

"Shadow Hide successful!"

"Backstab activated!"

"Backstab *2 successfully activated, dealing 12 damage to the target!"

"Target dead!"

"Extracting target Soul Energy. Obtained 30 Slaughter Experience."

Although he was only a Level 1 Rogue, he could still deal double assassination damage when using Backstab.

An ordinary poor man only had around five Hit Points.

Even with Soren's Constitution of 15, after advancing to a Level 1 Rogue, he only had 12 Hit Points. A mere Slums thug was enough for him to kill in one strike!

Unless he faced other professionals, Soren could easily assassinate his targets.

The disturbance from the alley alerted Canopo nearby. He shuddered all over, then called inside, "Balas?"

There was no response at all.

After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously moved closer, wanting to see what Balas was doing.

If anything was wrong, he would immediately turn around and run!

A figure crouched, kicked off the wall, and shot out from the alley. With a Dexterity as high as 19, Soren could leap directly onto the roof of a one-story building without any external aid. He pounced out like a Cheetah and seized Canopo by the throat in an instant, choking back his cry. The force of the impact sent him crashing to the ground. Then a cold flash swept past as the Dagger slit Canopo's throat before stabbing straight into his heart from the front.

Soren held the target down tightly until the corpse stopped twitching. Only then did he stand up!

He was covered in blood.

He frowned as he looked himself over, then took the money pouches from the corpses and put away the Dagger.

The two thugs did not have much money on them. Together, they had only five Silver Dalers and a little over twenty Copper Dalers. On Balas's corpse, he also found a packet of low-quality **, which was probably what they had intended to use against Heath.

"Their strength was roughly equivalent to that of a Level 1 Adventurer."

Soren looked at his palms, then gradually melted into the shadows and left in the direction he had come from.

This was a Rogue's Stealth ability.

By using the power of shadows to conceal himself within them, Soren had allocated all his Skill Points to Stealth before coming here. Stealth at 45 points allowed him to become hazy and completely silent in the shadows, enough to deceive the vast majority of ordinary people. If he could raise Stealth to 100 points, he could hide within the shadows without leaving any trace at all. Once Stealth reached 150 points, he could achieve an effect similar to Invisibility. Even if he stood right in front of someone, they would not notice him.

Once Stealth reached 200 points, a Rogue could completely erase their traces even without shadows!

The Hearth Tavern remained lively and noisy.

It was not until some drunken fellow stumbled outside that people discovered the two corpses beside the alley, already cold as ice.

No one paid attention, and no one pursued the matter.

This was the chaotic Slums. People dying here was something that had happened countless times already.

Someone would dispose of their bodies tomorrow!