Chapter 1: Assassin

Pain!

John felt a tearing pain in his head. He slowly opened his eyes but saw nothing clear.

He only saw how some red liquid, similar to liquid, clouded his vision and became worried. A second later, confusion and panic appeared in his mind.

‘Was that my blood?’

A thought flashed through his head.

He tried to open his mouth but soon noticed that some powdery substance had gotten inside. Dirty sand filled with water hit his throat, causing him to cough violently.

‘Damn it, my body is not responding! Moreover, why do I feel pain all over my body? … Wait … Now I remember … Angele betrayed me! Was I caught by the Ghosts?’

An ominous thought entered his head. He clearly remembered the last moments before he passed out.

‘Angele drugged me at a wedding party and was forced to kneel in front of Thomas. I hate those Ghosts. Even though I was a member of that organization, now I hate them to the core. Damn it, one day I will kill every single one of them. But how did they know my whereabouts? How did they know Angele? I didn’t leave a single clue. ‘

He was puzzled inside.

“# @% @ & k% @ ~ & *?% ‘@”

While he was deep in thought, he heard a strange male voice behind him and got startled.

‘Foreigner?’

He had an uneasy feeling.

At the same time, he felt that someone had put a foot on his back and turned pale.

‘Where the hell am I?’

He screamed in his mind, trying to blink away the drops of blood that were blurring his vision.

His vision gradually cleared in a second, and the muddy earth opened up to his eyes.

At that moment, he saw a strange blue game interface appear in front of his eyes and was dumbfounded.

‘What the hell is this?’

For a moment, John’s head went blank. Before checking further details about the blue interface, another pain came out of nowhere and assaulted his head.

Countless memories flashed before his eyes in the form of images and soon imprinted in the depths of his soul.

When he looked into these memories, his expression became serious.

‘A strange magical world … Churches … Mystic … Reincarnation? … No … Transmigration?’

He took a deep breath.

But before he could read these memories, someone grabbed his right leg and dragged him somewhere.

‘Could you give me some time to put my thoughts in order?’

He mentally cursed the enemy.

Then he looked around and noticed that he was in some underground hall.

John also saw several prison cells across the hall and was taken aback.

Several flaming torches were already burning on the walls, illuminating the entire underground hall with a bright yellow light.

‘Dungeon?’

Squinting, he turned his face and saw that a dark blue-haired lady lay on the opposite side of him.

She was about 40 years old, and she looked at him with tear-stained eyes.

Her beautiful oval face was already covered in crimson blood and looked even more pitiful. John also saw a long black sword that pierced her shoulder from the back and pinned her to the ground.

From time to time, she coughed up a mouthful of blood and crawled in John’s direction with a painful smile on her face.

When he saw that smile, his lips quivered, and he unconsciously muttered something in an unfamiliar language.

“Mom!”

Even he was startled by his emotional reaction and thought it must have something to do with the remnants of the original owner’s soul.

‘What happened to her? Why am I in this state?’

Confusion appeared on his face.

A grim look soon emerged as he noticed that whoever was dragging his body had already placed him next to the blue-haired woman.

‘My head is spinning … This foreigner must have hit this boy’s head before.’

He touched his temple in alarm and felt a sharp pain. While he was deep in thought, the dark blue-haired lady gazed at the enemy and asked.

“W-who are you? W-why are you doing this to us?”

At the same time, she used all her strength to crawl over to John and put her smooth palm over his mouth.

John suddenly noticed that she was secretly trying to pour some liquid into his mouth through a transparent bottle!

He co-operated with her.

A semi-liquid liquid with a bitter taste got into his mouth.

After a bit of hesitation, he silently swallowed it.

The next instant, strange energy entered every part of his body and began to heal his wounds at an unimaginable rate.

The wound in his temple began to heal quickly and soon disappeared from John’s head.

‘What the …’

Sensing the change, he was stunned inside.

‘Magic!’

His eyes were full of awe and shock!

“He is destined to die here, Eve.”

A cold voice rang out over John’s head, sending a chill down his spine.

“J-James?”

Shock appeared on Eve’s face. Soon, the shocking face turned into disbelief and then despaired one.

At the same time, John turned his head and stared at the red mask man standing over his head.

No, he was looking at the game interface that appeared before his eyes!

…

[Main Mission: Escape from the Red Masked Assassin, James.]

[Quest Content: On June 5, 6396 of the Second Secret Era, you and your mother were kidnapped by a mysterious assassin in a red mask and are now being held in an unknown underground prison. Find a way to escape from this masked assassin and then determine the reason for this kidnapping.]

[Quest Reward: 500 Exp.]

[Mission Deadline: 35 minutes.]

…

[Sub-Quest: Find a way to save your mother.]

[Quest Content: Your mother, Eve Nightwind, is seriously injured and on the brink of death. Find a way out of this situation and bring her to the Church of Life to heal her.]

[Quest Reward: 100 Exp.]

[Mission Deadline: 24 minutes]

…

‘The game world, isn’t it? Truly incredible.’

He realized that somehow he had transmigrated to a strange magical world.

Dismissing the blue game interface, he looked at red-masked James to find clues about his current situation.

James was dressed in a black butler suit and appeared to be holding an old-fashioned golden dagger in his hand.

He looked about 40 years old and had long gray hair.

He did not answer Eve’s question; instead, he walked over to John and kicked him hard in the chest.

“W-Wait! I’m begging you! Please don’t kill my son, James.”

Eve grabbed James by the leg and begged. Tears streamed from her eyes and flooded her slightly wrinkled cheeks.

At the same time, John let out a painful groan and fell.

‘Damn it, this body is too weak! I couldn’t even dodge his blow.’

He groaned in pain and soon realized something.

‘Game? Can I open my status?’

Hope appeared in his mind.

‘Stats window!’

He said in his mind.

Although it was embarrassing, he didn’t think much about it and gave it a try.

A second later, the same game interface appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Charles Nightwind

Race: Human

Class: No

Subclass: None

Health Points: 18/20 (Healing)

Attributes:

Strength – 8

Agility – 9

Constitution – 10

Wisdom-11

Charisma – 12

SP (Skill Points): 0

AP (Attribute Points): 0

Class skills: None

Affinities:

Fire: High

Darkness: Average.]

‘Strength and Dexterity below 10 … Not only that but the class and subclass are also seemed empty … How the hell can I escape without a class?’

He was stunned inside.

While he was lost in thought, James grabbed his hair and slammed his face against the concrete floor.

Crimson blood stained the floor, and pain clouded his ability to think.

‘Damn it! I can’t die like this.’

He looked at the Red Masked Assassin, James, and then noticed that something was wrong.

Instead of attacking him further, James stood there like a frozen statue with a distorted expression on his face.

‘What happened?’

He asked himself.

John got confused a little and soon turned his attention to the mother of his current body, Eve.

Instead of pleading, she bit James on the leg like a maniac!

Tears and blood flowed down her delicate face, staining it in red color.

“Eve, I have changed my mind.”

James said with a twisted face and grabbed Eve by her long dark blue hair.

Then he bent down a little and thrust an old-fashioned golden dagger straight into her throat.

But to his surprise, he saw a red transparent shield appear around her body and blocked his dagger.

At the same time, Eve bent at an odd angle and drew the black sword without even flinching.

She then pointed that sword in his direction and lunged at him with all her might.

“Y-You!”

James was shocked by her act and took a step back.

But John had already taken this opportunity to get up and kicked him from behind.

As a former assassin, he knew how to adapt to dangerous situations and acted calmly.

The black sword pierced through James’s body with a sharp sound and severely wounded him.

Even Eve was amazed at her son’s action and smiled.

“Get away from here, Charles.”

She said hastily and was about to poke her fingers in James’s eyes.

But James grabbed her arm and pushed her away.

Then he gazed at her and drew the black sword from his body.

“Eve, do you think you can protect your son from the True Lords? Even if you somehow manage to kill me here, they will send another member to kill your son. You cannot hide from their eyes.”

He said coldly.

Upon hearing those words, a wry smile appeared on Eve’s face.

“I know. But you think I care about these things? It’s a mother’s job to protect her children, James. That’s why I chose the right Job.”

She muttered calmly and snapped her fingers.

James soon saw that Eve and her son’s figure turned blurry and disappeared from the underground hall!

“Spatial Mage!”

James cried out in surprise and quickly ran to the exit.

He did not even look around and hurriedly headed for the exit.

After a few seconds, the underground hall began to shimmer slightly, and soon two people appeared in it.

Eve stood in the same place as before and began to fall backward.

Meanwhile, John, aka Charles, had already approached her and grabbed her with both hands.

Then he placed her on his shoulder and went to the exit.

‘That was very close. It must have been an Illusion-type Ability. She easily tricked that fool. But who is she anyway? Why are these guys hunting her son? Moreover, who are these ‘True Lords’? An assassin organization? … Damn it! First, I need to know more about my current situation. How the hell did I end up in this Magical World?’

He muttered to himself and left the gloomy underground hall through the exit gate.

…

[Author’s Note: I added Mc’s affinities earlier on after hearing complaints about MC’s choices for choosing Fire Mage class. Affinity Levels: Low→ Average→ High→ Good→ Genius→ Prodigy→ Divine.]