His gaze fell on the lifeless body lying on the alley floor.
The man who had threatened him, who had tried to take all his hard-earned money, now laid motionless in a pool of his own blood.
Only then did the gravity of what had just happened begin to settle in.
“F-First kill…” Jimin whispered to himself. His voice trembled.
He stared blankly at the body for several seconds, his mind struggling to keep up with the reality of the situation.
I-I killed someone. How did it come to this? What do I do now?
He forced himself to breathe slowly.
He somehow managed to gather his thoughts.
One step at a time. First, I need to get rid of the body and any evidence of what had happened.
He stood near the dead body.
First, his blood soaked jacket had to go.
He opened his inventory and slipped the jacket inside. That was one problem solved.
Next, he stripped the man of his gear - Staff, robe, rings, cloak, and especially the silver revolver along with its used bullets; everything went into Jimin’s inventory.
He couldn’t afford to leave anything behind.
It should feel like nothing happened here.
The alley floor was a mess of blood. Jimin clenched his teeth and concentrated.
Using telekinesis, he scraped the blood and condensed it into a compact ball and placed it carefully into his inventory.
Even the smallest trace could give him away if someone came across the alley.
Finally, the body itself.
Using telekinesis to take the brunt of the weight, he hoisted the man onto his back.
He adjusted and started walking slowly, cautiously; making sure to keep his movements silent.
Fortunately, the streets were quiet. No one had come across him since the confrontation.
His heart pounded, adrenaline still rushing, but he forced himself to stay calm.
Every sound seemed amplified in the silence of the alley.
Finally, he reached an abandoned factory.
He entered and found a large old industrial drum.
He carefully lowered the body into the drum.
Using telekinesis, he adjusted the body, making sure it was contained.
The factory had a pit behind it, filled with discarded garbage.
Jimin rolled the drum to the pit at the back.
Once there, he threw it into the heap of trash, letting the surrounding rubble conceal it.
Jimin stepped back, breathing heavily.
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His body trembled from exertion.
He returned to the interior of the factory and sat on the floor.
“Tch… My t-shirt is still covered in blood,” he muttered.
It had been red to begin with, but now it was soaked in dark crimson patches. It would have to be dealt with.
He opened his skill creation window, taking a deep breath. He needed something to heal the wound first.
Then, he opened his drafts.
Then, he selected the ‘Heal’ skill.
The familiar skill window appeared.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
[Skill: Heal]
Category: Active
Type: Support
Rank: Uncommon
Level: 1 / 50
Description: Casting immediately restores a fixed amount of HP. Channels mana to close wounds, knit flesh, and restore more HP over time (30s). Higher levels allow for the treatment of internal injuries, blood loss, and organ or mana vein restoration.
Scaling:
? INT → Healing potency
? WIS → Efficiency of mana use
Heal: Immediate 50 + Total during over time (INT × 1)
Cooldown: 1 min
Cost: 50 MP per use
Required LP: 500
【Create】?【Edit】?[Draft]?【Delete】
—---------------------------------------------------------
Without hesitation, Jimin finalized the skill.
A notification popped up.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Skill Successfully Created]
‘Heal’ – Acquired.
Total LP: 180
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He immediately took off his bloodied t-shirt.
Placing a hand over his wound, he whispered, “Heal.”
A faint golden mana glowed, spreading gently across the wound. Within moments, the pain started to subside and the flesh started to knit back together.
[HP: 360/360]
He exhaled sharply. The relief was immense.
Next, he turned his attention to the dead man’s gear.
The black cloak was heavily stained with blood. He carefully cut away the ruined part, leaving only the clean sections. Then, he draped it over his own t-shirt, wrapping it carefully.
It looked a little ridiculous, but function was more important than style at that moment.
Finally, Jimin left the abandoned factory.
He returned to the bus station.
The city felt alive in contrast to the desolation he had just left.
He boarded the bus to Seong-nim City. But his mind replayed the events over and over.
He tried to console himself.
The man had tried to kill me first. If I hadn’t acted, I’d be dead. I did what I had to do.
The journey gave him a small window to calm down.
After reaching the city, he entered a clothing shop and bought a simple black jacket similar to his own.
He put it on and closed the zip.
He took the bus back to Seoul, reflecting silently on the ordeal.
—--
By the time he returned to the orphanage, it was a bit later than usual.
But he didn’t find Mrs. Han at the door. So, he rushed to his room.
He removed his clothes and took a long bath.
After changing into fresh clothes, he finally felt a little relieved.
Dinner was the next hurdle. He tried to act normal around everyone else, forcing a light tone into his speech.
When Mrs. Han asked why he was late, he replied simply, “Just working overtime, Mrs. Han.”
After the meal, he returned to his room.
The man’s gear had been stored carefully in his inventory.
He took it out and appraised it.
—----------------------------------------------------
Name: Bound Bone Bow
Category: Weapon
Type: Bow
Rank: E
Description: A basic bow constructed from a curved animal femur held under tension by dried, braided vines. It is stiff and lacks range, but delivers a heavy blow.
Stats: STR +2
Damage: +15% arrow damage
Effect: [Heavy Draw] (Increased knockback against small-sized enemies)
Durability: 61/100
—-----------------------------------------------------
Not very impressive.
He found everything else to be E-rank as well. Nothing valuable, only basic equipment.
I will just repair them and sell them later.
Then, he went to sleep.
But even with ‘Sound Sleep’, his sleep was not so sound. As the whole experience was bothering him.
Morning came too quickly.
Jimin woke up and left for his training.
After entering the old factory, he felt a bit of unease. As it reminded him of the incident.
But he pushed through it.
He had brought a water bottle with him.
So, he took out his jacket from the inventory and washed the bloodstains off of it.
Then, he discarded the jacket in a drum as well and threw it among the rubble, ensuring no evidence remained.
He took a deep breath.
Focus. I need to train.
Then, he continued his training.
He resolved to just focus just on his own growth and create the drafted necessary skills for the time being.
And just like that 5 days had passed.
Note: Sorry if it feels stretched. I used to this incident to show various aspects of this world, character motive, consequences and how danger lurks everywhere. Which I admit, breaks the pacing of the story a bit. But I believe it's for the greater development of the character and the world.
Read Chapters (45 - 48) early on my patreon.
Thank you everyone.
