The Attempt

The man sat slouched in a chair, wearing a cowboy hat that looked completely out of place.

The boy looked like he'd just started middle school. He was pretty cute, but there was something so smug and condescending in his eyes that you couldn't help wanting to smack him.

When General Chen walked in, the two of them kept their same slack, irreverent expressions. But when they noticed the female adjutant following him, they straightened up a little and showed her a good deal of respect.

After entering, the female adjutant casually took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair. Then she walked to the head of the long table and sat down, with General Chen taking the seat to her right.

The female adjutant was, of course, Lin Wan'er. She rubbed both sides of her nose and casually glanced at the boy who looked like a middle schooler. "Give us a rundown of what we know so far."

No. 13 put away his playing cards and straightened up slightly. In a tone far too mature for his age, he said, "There were thirteen Night Watch members who attacked us before dawn. They were divided into two teams with clearly defined roles. The first team had ten people, all A-rank. After quickly clearing out the perimeter guards, they immediately withdrew to a position some distance from the main battlefield, where they dug in to block any reinforcements that might arrive."

"The second team was the real deal. They came straight for our command center." No. 13 paused in the middle of shuffling his cards and turned serious. "Two of the three were above A-rank, and their leader was even stronger. He nearly killed No. 7—definitely S-rank. If No. 2 hadn't arrived in time, we'd have