Inside the dim room, the curtains were tightly shut. An Infrared Telescope stood at the lower-left corner of the window.
The scent of fine tobacco filled the room, shrouding it in smoke until even the air seemed hazy.
He was a mature man with a distinctive charm.
He wore a British-style hat. His pronounced brow, deep-set eyes, high nose bridge, and faintly stubbled jaw gave his face a brooding, rugged handsomeness.
Thin lips, white teeth.
A cigarette hung from his mouth.
The man kept his eye pressed to the telescope, watching the scene.
Almost unconsciously, he took out the Black Key and rubbed his thumb over the number on it-54.
Remembering that his task was to prevent his opponent from investigating Zhou Meifang's cause of death, he felt a strange sensation rise within him, along with a faint thrill of excitement.
An interesting competition.
He very much enjoyed this feeling of hunting.
There were many ways to obstruct an investigation: misdirection, concealment, interference... Of course, the simplest was to kill his opponent.
For him, nothing could have been easier.
My opponent probably never imagined I lived nearby. That eliminates any chance of being exposed to the night, and I won't suffer the negative effects either.
How entertaining.
Suddenly, the man's pupils contracted. He had spotted a suspicious figure wearing a thick hat. The figure was skulking around, wearing sunglasses and a mask in the dead of night. Nothing about him looked normal.
"How could someone with that build look so light? His weight is wrong. Is he an Awakened?"
"He must be."
"He's braving the nighttime negative effects to scout things out in advance, never imagining I'd be lying in wait."
A confident smile appeared on the man's face.
He set up the Sniper Rifle beside the window, adjusted its