Bonus chapter, unfortunately, I can't give it the cool [BONUS] tag.
Enjoy! One more on the oven is to be released!
Also, what do you guys think about this Novel going Premium? Is it too soon? Too late?
It wasn't one of my original ideas to go Premium, but I have people saying I should go for a multitude of reasons.
Honestly, I can understand, making money to support myself is good, after all, I need to eat too, albeit that is mostly done by my parents...
Even then, I'm a student, so any financial support is welcomed.
That's about it, should I go Premium or not?
I was originally thinking of doing so around chap 150, that is, when all previous chapters had been reposted.
But someone told me that may be too late to even try...
Feedback is good in times like these.
Thank you for reading, Peace!
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/A few minutes later in the middle of the streets…/
/Shaa shaa.../
As the cold winds of the night blew on his skin, Dale looked at the sky as he furrowed his brows.
"It's cold… But at least the rain stopped, for now."
/Shaa.../
"Haa..."
Dale took a quick breath and exhaled, making a faint mist in the air.
Once he saw that, he realized just how cold it actually was, but for him, it felt comfortable, the cold didn't pinch his skin like before…
'It's getting colder, the weather forecast said there might be hail today...'
'Even if it wouldn't hurt, it would be better to not subject myself to it by standing outside when it starts to fall.'
The more he thought about it, the more he thought about his current body, and how much of a 'monster' he had become.
Don't misunderstand, Dale isn't in the middle of a life crisis, he likes his body very much, what is simply going through his mind are the consequences and the repercussions of it…
What did it mean for him to be this strong, and what did it mean for the rest of the world as well?
The mystery that he once thought to be connected solely to him, a green box on his field of vision, and a game company, have now started to spread outside…
Or perhaps it always was, and Dale simply refused to believe it, after all, it can be too much to take in at once, even when he had a whole year to think it through…
For all that's considered, he may have thrown it to the back of his mind, forgetting to consider outside factors, such as Azimuth's game company's role in all of this.
In the end, what was his role in all of this?
/Crunch!/
"..."
He raised his foot and pressed down on a small pebble on the road, crushing it effortlessly.
It was hard to think that had been concrete and not sand...
Without looking back, he went on his way.
…
/10 minutes later.../
"Come back again!" The clerk of the convenience store said to Dale as he left through the front door
"Did I forget anything?... Doesn't seem like it." Dale said as he looked at his bags
'Drinks… Bacon… I got everything.'
"Then... Mission complete, good job me."
"As grandpa says 'Soap would be proud'…"
'Time to go, I should at most have 20 more minutes until the time limit I set for myself…'
'If I help my mom cook, I should have some time to eat dinner with them before logging back in.'
'As such... Hush!'
He looked around to cross the road, immediately realizing there was no one walking around.
"How odd... I expected to be fewer people but none?..."
'At least the shops are open.'
"Is it because of the cold?... The weather is indeed a bit bad..."
"But... Something feels off." He mumbled to himself as he looked around
With a frown, Dale started walking.
"It's really silent..." He said as he looked around
'In the past, mother always told me to be wary of my surroundings when walking at night… And I always kind of listened to her half-heartedly.'
'I wouldn't ignore her words, but it's not like I ever walked around those suspicious places.'
'I mean, I'm in the middle of a living district on a well-lit road that is usually full of people coming and going... But compared to that damn forest, this looks more like a playground…'
He shook his head with a small smile.
'Look at me, I'm getting arrogant.'
'Just because my body is like this, I can't look down on people.'
'I never tried to see how resistant I really am, and I don't really want to find out with a 9mm pointed at my head, nor do I want to try being stabbed.'
/Buzz... Buzz.../
As he walked, several of the street lights started to flicker, and immediately after, they all went dark.
This made Dale cringe.
"The famed Murphy's law..."
"It got oddly dark rather quickly."
...
After taking one more glance around, he left towards his home, it was just 6-7 minutes walking, being about 2 blocks away on the other side of the road.
Since it was night, Dale chose to cross the road at a traffic light on the street before his apartment, it was the safest and most direct option.
It was truly a simple trip he could do any time and it shouldn't pose any risk whatsoever...
But mid-way through, Dale thought with a sharp gaze:
'Someone's stalking me…'
'And it doesn't seem to be an ordinary thug.'
But why was Dale so sure?
First, the strange feeling on the back of his head, he had felt the same thing when he was in the forest... Being observed by something in the dark.
That was his instinct, telling him something was wrong and he should look out for it.
And to confirm that, the faint and far noises of someone walking coming from the alleyways never once disappeared.
The same noises, with the same intensity and frequency… It was coming from the same person, someone who was doing his best to stay hidden...
Of course, this could just be a coincidence, it could just be your everyday guy that isn't paying attention to anything, walking around behind him with his thoughts elsewhere...
But Dale learned always to assume the worst… After all, the lights had just mysteriously gone dark, there were no cars on the road, nor people.
Even if this wasn't anything special, being attentive was the least he should've been doing.
By making a quick estimation, he assumed his pursuer to be using the series of low houses on his right to move around while keeping a close look at him.
He looked sideways towards the ceiling of one of the houses, it was only for a moment, but he saw a dark figure jumping down into an alley from one of those ceilings, seemingly stopping pursuing him.
"..."
'No one can move up and down from the ceilings of these houses even if they were parkour masters, much less this silently or without getting hurt... Unless they use a supportive Exoskeleton.'
Exoskeletons were developed around the mid-2030s mainly by the Military due to the rise of Robotics, but the technology was quickly integrated into heavy duties jobs such as Civil Engineering work.
The technology had greatly advanced in the last 50 or so years of its conception, but it wasn't this silent, even for the more advanced ones available.
They were made to be practical and not soundless...
'Only the military seeks to be stealthy and practical, such as creating powerful and slim ExoSuits, but then, the issue changes completely...'
'There are some suits used by Civil engineers and the like but those are meant to help with their work and not to jump across house ceilings like a modern ninja...'
'Which begs the question, why would someone with access to such a thing go after me?'
Even though he knew he was being stalked, Dale didn't react in any strange way, instead, he acted normal, gazing around the place before crossing a road between blocks, yawning, and just doing the usual…
...
"..."
'Almost there.'
'After this street, I'll be at my street block, and before arriving at my house, there are at least 2 more alleys he could use to hide…'
'After that, he'll be unable to stalk me, since he'll be met with a tall apartment blocking his way.'
'Unless he can pass through walls that is.'
"..."
But as he thought of this, he had the urge to smile.
'Since that's the case, why not say hi?'
'If there's someone stalking me, I can't possibly let it be.'
'Today they watch, tomorrow they act when I'm inside the pod.'
'Even if their reasons aren't what I think they are, I must pursue an answer immediately.'
'There isn't an option where I ignore them and research the rest on my own, where would I even begin?'
...
Dale maintained his expression, but inside, he was smiling.
He wasn't being rash, but instead, he was trying to figure out what was happening as soon as possible.
Instead of leaving behind an unknown variable observing him and potentially his family from afar, he preferred to take action and see if he could neutralize it.
Otherwise, how was he supposed to enter his pod safely, or be calm when his brother leaves for school and his parents for work?
He had to determine his intentions right here, right now.
It was dangerous, but so was returning to his home thinking nothing happened at all…
There was a higher chance of nothing happening if he simply ignored the man or woman, but what about in the future? Would this person or whoever's behind him/her remain silent for long?
He couldn't bet on the morals or reasons of someone he never saw before.
…
"..."
/Step step step…/
'He's there… Heh, good, approach me as much as you like…'
'Hum?'
But Dale noticed a problem.
'Wait a moment… That's too close for someone who's just stalking me…'
'Ahhh, I see.'
He smiled.
'It all makes sense now.'
Right next to the alley was a black van, it seemed inconspicuous with the many other cars parked on the 2 sides of the street, but Dale could hear it, the faint whispers coming from within the car, the smell of recently burned fuel…
There were people inside, waiting.
And not only there.
With his sharp vision, he saw it, two more vehicles full of people inside, whispering to each other, waiting.
At the end of the street, he saw what seemed to be a construction sign, preventing traffic from crossing it.
This explained the lack of movement, and given one of the vehicles was next to the fuse box of the street, the lack of light was also explained.
Dale's expression did not change, but at the windows of some of the houses, he saw what seemed to be people gazing straight at him.
Through the reflection of their lenses, he pinpointed some of their locations.
To him, this silent street was buzzing with noises...
'This is... Absolutely insane.'
His heart started to increase in rhythm, anticipating what was about to happen.
But his expression remained cold.
'They're trying to kidnap me…'
As the world slowed down, Dale's thoughts accelerated.
'Haa... I thought that I would lose my cool if this ever happened to me, but I'm oddly calm.'
He thought about the Green Box but now wasn't the place to thank it or inspect it.
'Looks like I have no choice but to act.'
'They were waiting for me, they prepared for me, they knew I would come here and they knew when I would be back.'
'This means... There is a chance they infiltrated my home already, or they used sound detection systems to bypass distance and hear our conversation from the outside, which isn't impossible.'
'But so much work to catch me... It's...'
'Infuriating.'
He started looking around, trying to figure out his environment, but some things couldn't help but pass through his mind:
'What about my parents?...'
'What are their goals?...'
'Why are they after me? Because of my current fame in the game? Or due to something else?'
Dale never hid his face, nor his name inside the game, due to this, as long as someone knew him, it wouldn't be hard to pinpoint his location.
Of course, it's not simple to recognize someone through the screen unless it's blatantly obvious, but he knew that the many videos and images about him floating on the web were more than enough for that.
He was even waiting for the day his brother would come and ask him about it, his friend, Ermin was the first to realize that, calling him not so long ago.
And soon enough, some of his other friends will call and ask what was going on… Though in their case, things might take a bit longer due to their own bodily changes.
Dale had focused greatly on self-improvement during the last year and changed greatly due to it, some of his friends may not even recognize him.
After all, a year ago they were in High School, it had been a while since he even saw some of his friends in person!
His identity can't be kept forever, nor was that his goal in the first place, the moment they asked, he would tell the truth and try to reach a compromise.
He knew his friends well enough to tell if they could keep a small secret or not.
Still, that did not explain these people, they were clearly trained, having the tools, the means, and the time, the connections, all planned out.
And for what? To capture a 19-year-old boy in the middle of a metropolitan city?
Above all, they didn't have much time to prepare, from the moment he left his house to now, less than 15 minutes had passed.
In Dale's hypothetical scenario, they were informed of his movements and moved here to lay their ambush, closing down traffic and lights, all in less than 15 minutes considering the smell of gasoline in the air.
This meant they have been observing him for a while now, something that made Dale pissed because until not so long ago, he didn't feel anything at all.
And this also meant that... There might be more of them outside.
If multiple groups had been prepared across the city block, then there was the possibility of them just being in the right place at the right time.
This, however, did not decrease the seriousness of this situation a bit.
It was still a fact that they were here, for him.
/Step step step.../
1 step, 2 steps… 5 steps…
'Soon enough... What to do...' Dale thought to himself as he imagined their encounter
'Are they armed?... Of course, they will, this is fucking America...'
'Everyone has a damn weapon.'
'In that case, I need a weapon too… Anything will do...'
His eyes then fell onto his target.
'Good enough.'
/Step.../
The 7th step… He felt it, now was the time, his lucky strike.
Since they were going to attack him, then he would be the first to strike!
/Drop.../
/DASH!/
Dale dropped his bag to the ground, but before it even fell on the ground, Dale rushed forward with everything he had!
/FWOOSH!/
…
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Notes
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