Chapter 1: Survival Instinct(1)

One man stood facing me, boldly conjuring flames in his hand under the dark night sky.
Two others stood behind him, blocking the alley like a wall.
From a distance, the small flicker might be mistaken for a lighter, but up close, it was unmistakably some kind of magic.

“Did you call me?”

At the man’s words, I stopped with as much swagger as I could muster.
My instincts screamed to flee from this three-against-one situation, but the moment I turned my back, that fireball would likely come flying at me.
Better to come on strong from the start, making sure they couldn’t ignore me.
Besides, I was a first-degree black belt in taekwondo, second-degree in jiu-jitsu, and second-degree in the Dungeon & Fighter arena—five degrees of mastery in total.
I wasn’t the type to cower before some back-alley thugs.

“Yeah, you. I’ve got a nose for money, you see.”

Hearing the man’s words, I couldn’t help but flinch.
I’d just sold gold bars to James and had the credits in my pocket.
Could he really smell money, as he claimed?
If so, I was a prime target.

“What, you want me to share some of it?”

“Share? Don’t be stingy. Hand it all over.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then there’ll be a corpse in this alley tonight.”

It was a deserted alley.
And it was evening, with hardly any passersby.
Whatever this man did here, it’d cause nothing more than a brief commotion.
Handing over the money and escaping unharmed might not be a bad deal.

“You’re talking crazy.”

But giving him the money didn’t guarantee my safety.
The only real answer here was to fight back.
I quickly scanned my surroundings for anything I could use in a fight.
This was a densely packed alley with high-rise buildings.
The windows of the tightly clustered buildings were sealed shut.
And at this late hour, most people would be asleep.
For a telepath like me, there was a way to fight using my ability.

“You looking to die right now?”

“You’re the ones who don’t get it.”
“What do you mean you don’t get it? You’re alone, aren’t you?”
“You think I’m alone? That’s rich. I’ve got plenty of subordinates hiding around here. If you don’t want to die, figure it out yourselves.”

“You’ve got subordinates? Hahaha!”

The man snorted at my words.
His comrades did the same.
Naturally, anyone would be skeptical if a scruffy pedestrian claimed to have subordinates.
If I were in their shoes, I probably wouldn’t believe it either.
But I had to make nonexistent subordinates real.

“Tch. Lost your mind after hearing the truth? Come out, boys.”

While bluffing, I sent a telepathic message echoing through the alley, excluding the men.
The message I broadcasted to the one-room apartments filling the alley was obvious.
It was a sound that’d enrage anyone hearing it at night.

– “Good morning.”
– Ding ding ding.
– “Good morning.”
– Pappappappappappappappappappapp Good morning.
– Pappappappappappappappappappa Good morning.
– Pappappappappappappappappappa Beautiful day.
– It’s a beautiful day.
Wachangchang.

Lights flicked on here and there in the alley amid the commotion.
Screams poured out through open windows.
Anyone would lose it hearing a wake-up call while trying to sleep.

“What the! What kind of kid is this!”
“Eww! Ewww!”
“F*ck!”
– “What kind of kid is messing with our big brother!”

I didn’t forget to mix in telepathic messages aimed at the men amid the screams.
As lights flared up and the shouting continued, the men began to panic.
They looked around, disoriented.

“Tch, this isn’t right…”

“Looks like you’re finally getting the picture.”

“No, wait, we didn’t know. This is your turf…!”

“Ignorance costs you your life.”

At that moment, I sent another telepathic signal, this one mimicking a police siren.

– Wiiing.
– “The security forces have arrived. I warn you. You are surrounded. I warn you again. You are surrounded. Drop your weapons and surrender…”

“Oh no. The security forces finally caught up to us.”

With a grim expression, I spoke, and the men turned tail and ran.
But I’m not one to let things end there.
I pulled the ghost gun I’d bought from James out of my pocket and fired at the fleeing men.
Bang! Bang bang!
No one could hear the gunshots over the morning call echoing through the alley.