Chapter 21: Holly’s Secret! A Different Life? (2)
By the time he finished, his stomach had settled into something almost like satisfaction, and he leaned back against the bench for a second before pulling out his phone to check the time.
4:28 PM.
Still a good stretch before he needed to head out and meet Holly. ’Enough time to rest up a bit,’ he thought, stretching his arms overhead until something in his shoulder popped satisfyingly.
’Maybe squeeze in a few more reps before I’m completely out of commission for the day.’
He tossed the empty container in a nearby bin and started the walk home, glancing sideways at the faint stat window still hovering at the edge of his vision.
[Player Stats Updated:
Strength 17.
Agility 12.
Endurance 13.
Stamina 14.
Penile Strength: 11]
’Today wasn’t bad,’ he thought, humming quietly along with the last stretch of the song. ’Not bad at all, honestly.’
Between the training, the quest progress, Mrs. Walbury actually agreeing to teach him some real combat basics — it felt, for the first time in longer than he wanted to admit, like there was something real building underneath all the chaos.
Like maybe becoming a Hunter wasn’t just some desperate fantasy he’d cooked up after a bad night with an expired soda.
’Actual progress,’ he thought, letting himself enjoy the feeling for once instead of immediately finding something to worry about.
’Huh. Would you look at that.’
His headphones died mid-song, the flat robotic voice announcing "low power" before cutting out entirely. David groaned. "Ah, come on. Seriously?"
He tapped the side of it uselessly, already knowing there was no bringing it back without a charger, and stepped off to the side of the pavement, dropping his bag to stuff the headphones in.
"Not even gonna bother charging you," he muttered, more to himself than anything.
That was when he heard it — a sharp, wet thud, the kind of sound a fist makes connecting with something soft, coming from an alley just ahead. He glanced over.
The alley was narrow, walls close enough together to blot out most of the remaining daylight, a single dumpster shoved against the far wall with a lid that hadn’t closed all the way in years. Trash had accumulated in the gaps — bottles, a torn plastic bag, something that might’ve once been a mattress.
A couple of people walking past didn’t so much as glance toward it. Lower side. Nobody looked twice at anything down here.
David straightened anyway, curiosity or instinct pulling him a few steps closer until he could see into the alley properly. A tall, lanky guy stood over someone smaller — tattoos crawling up both forearms, a thin scar cutting across one eyebrow, his expression set in the particular kind of calm that came from having done this before and not minding it. The smaller guy was curled against the alley wall, glasses knocked crooked on his face, one lens cracked, arms wrapped around his own ribs as he coughed wetly, tears cutting clean tracks down a face otherwise streaked with grime.
’Mugging, probably,’ David thought, already starting to turn away out of old habit. This wasn’t exactly rare down here, and getting involved in random alley disputes had never once ended well for anyone who tried.
Then he stopped.
’Wait.’ Something in him caught on the thought before he could dismiss it fully.
’I’m not exactly the same guy who’d have just kept walking three days ago.’
He had a system now. Stats that had actually moved, even if the numbers were still small. Maybe this was exactly the kind of moment worth testing that on.
"System," he muttered under his breath, barely audible even to himself, "if I step in and win a fight like this, do I get anything for it?"
[Confirmed. Defeating an opponent within a designated timeframe grants Points, redeemable for items within the System Store.]
David’s pulse ticked up a notch. ’Okay. Okay, that’s — that’s not nothing.’ A small, reckless grin tugged at his mouth despite the nerves sitting right underneath it. "Guess it’s time to actually be a Hunter, then."
He took a step toward the alley, already rehearsing something heroic in his head — and then froze completely as a notification flared to life directly above the tattooed man’s head.
[Name: Leon Kruger
Role: Aspiring Respected Hunter
Rank: E- Rank.]
David’s mind went completely blank.
’...An E-rank Hunter?’
This scene itself is fine — a fight/tension scene, no explicit content here. Here it is:
This was the first time David had actually encountered a Hunter ranked above him. Whatever nerve had carried him this far wavered instantly.
’Okay. E-rank. That’s — that’s not the same as some random guy off the street.’ His feet, so ready to move a second ago, now felt bolted to the pavement.
The tattooed man hauled the smaller guy up by the collar, shoving him against the alley wall hard enough to knock the breath out of him.
"Where’s my money," he said, voice flat, almost bored, like this was routine. "I’m not asking twice."
’This is so far above whatever I signed up for,’ David thought, backing half a step without meaning to.
’I don’t even know what an E-rank Hunter can actually do. Could probably break me in half before I got a single hit in.’ Every instinct screamed at him to just walk away, same as everyone else already had.
But he stayed rooted at the alley’s edge anyway, watching the smaller guy’s glasses slip further off his face, watching him flinch at every word.
’This is wrong. Why the hell would a hunter be doing this?’
A hand landed on his shoulder.
David flinched hard, spinning around on instinct, weight already shifting into some half-formed defensive stance he didn’t even know he had in him — and froze completely when his eyes landed on.... Holly.
She looked different. Not dressed differently, not anything he could immediately place — just something in her eyes, darker than he’d seen them before, sharper, like she was seeing something he wasn’t.
"Don’t get involved...please." she said, quiet, urgent.
David blinked at her, utterly thrown. "Wait — what?"
***
Hey guys, I want to thank you for your support and due to that, I thought of a friendly challenge for both of us.
For every 200 powerstones I’ll release 10+ bonus Chapters...so, if you find it worth while, you can make your decision. Thank you.🫠
