For a few seconds after the man burst into the apartment, both just stared at each other in silence.
What words could even be said at a time like this? ’Please get out? Can we talk about this?’
Dogshit!
The man who had broken in knew exactly what he came for, while Sami knew there was no room for negotiation.
’Why this apartment?! There are literally a few others before this one!’
At this moment, he tightened his grip on his butcher’s knife, while the intruder dropped his bag of foodstuffs onto the floor.
’He’s clearly larger and looks stronger than me,’ Sami thought as he sized up the muscular man. The intruder had short dark hair and a jagged scar running across his face, looking like someone who had survived his fair share of street fights.
For Sami, who had never killed before, he had no idea how he was going to carry out that action against this man.
One would think that he would have hesitated at the thought of killing a human. That a somewhat decent person like him would have felt sick to his stomach. But no.
It was surprising how human beings could adjust for the sake of their survival.
Just like this man who had come here with the intention to kill whoever was inside the apartment and take their spot, Sami too was only thinking of how he was going to kill this man and keep his spot.
The man carefully reached down to his belt, unbuckling it to use the buckle as an improvised weapon.
That sort of confidence, the kind that made someone resort to using a belt in the face of knives, quickly told Sami that this man was no joke. It made him even more anxious than he already was.
Just then, a woman with tears in her eyes ran into the apartment, only to pale even more when she saw two men already in a standoff.
She took a step back, but the male intruder, likely thinking that she was about to attack, quickly moved with terrifying speed. He lashed out with a back kick, and the heel of his boot caught her in the chest, sending her crashing hard against the wall near the door.
’Now!’
Sami inwardly thanked the intruding lady for her sacrifice and seized the split-second opening.
He charged forward with his right hand raised to strike the man now that his focus was on the woman. But just before the blade could connect with the chest, the man’s eyes darkened slightly. In that instant, the intruder reacted, using his left hand to slap Sami’s right hand wide before delivering a solid kick that sent Sami stumbling and crashing hard back onto the ground.
’What the...!’
It felt like he had been hit by a runaway truck.
He clutched at his ribs as he wheezed for air, but contrary to his expectations of a slow follow-up, the man was already lunging directly at him.
Sami rolled away, and the man’s fist punched the ground where his head had just been. To Sami’s surprise, the force of the blow was strong enough to crack the floorboards and send a cloud of wood splinters into the air.
’Fuck. That would have been my head!’
Sami immediately pushed up onto one knee, swinging his right hand upward, but the man quickly leaned back and avoided the blade. In the same breath, the intruder whipped the metal head of the belt straight into Sami’s nose.
Twack!
The force snapped his head back, causing him to stagger a few steps backward while blood gushed down his lips from his broken nose.
"Ack!"
He had almost blacked out, and afraid the man would use that opening, Sami stumbled and ran across the living room, even jumping over the couch as he tried to buy himself some time to recover.
"Wait, wait. Time out!" He gasped, desperately waving the blades back and forth, but the man continued to chase him without slowing down.
’This is bad. How do I beat him?’
Sami hurried to the kitchen, turning over the small dining table and shoving the chairs to block the man’s approach.
But at that moment while his mind was still racing, trying to find a winning strategy, he suddenly noticed something that he had not seen before. What looked like a small card was floating right atop the man’s head.
It was a 3 of Clubs.
Upon seeing that, Sami suddenly had an idea.
In a low voice that only he could hear, he whispered, "I am a 3 of Clubs."
At that moment, Sami heard the sweet sound of cards shuffling in his ears, and then a notification appeared in front of him:
[The Joker joins the Game!]
[The Joker (Wildcard) becomes 3 of Clubs (Warrior)]
[You have unlocked the Trait of the Warrior: Basic Weapon Mastery Lv. 2]
[You have unlocked the Skill: Body Hardening]
A smile began to form as he began to have a deeper understanding of things.
Just then, the intruder finally spoke in a slightly frustrated and somewhat irritated voice: "Look man, just leave."
His eyes darted to the side as if checking out something only he could see, then he looked back at Sami and said, "You’ve still got about seven minutes to find yourself a Shelter."
Okay.
’Is that what you expect me to say?’
Sami frowned and shot the intruder a cold look. Then he snarled, "This is my apartment, you son of a syphilitic whore. You will either leave here on your own two feet, or I will throw your dead body over my balcony!"
This time, Sami was the one who lunged.
That brief second the man had spoken had given him enough time to get the hang of things. His skin densified as he activated [Body Hardening], then he swung his right knife, aiming straight for the man’s throat.
The man dodged it by arching backwards, but Sami immediately followed with a sharp thrust. Again, the man tilted to the side, letting the blade merely graze his ribs. But then, Sami decided to be pragmatic and kicked him in the crotch hard!
The man’s eyes widened as he let out a choked gasp, doubling over instantly. Before the intruder could regain his balance, Sami rolled the long knife in his left hand and stabbed it into the side of the man’s head.
Due to the fact that the man also had Body Hardening activated, the blade did not go all the way through his head. However, in the same breath, Sami brought down the butcher’s knife on top of the man’s head with all the strength he could muster.
Blood spurted out in a hot spray, painting the kitchen floor and splashing across the turned-over table. The man’s body collapsed onto the ground with two knives lodged in his head.
Sami took a few deep breaths, wiping the warm crimson from his face. Then, as if remembering something, he quickly turned and ran to where the man’s bag of foodstuffs lay by the entrance.
He could already see a thick, black fog surrounding the bag. Without wasting any more time, he picked it up, hurried out to the balcony, then tossed it over the edge into the rising sea below.
At this point, the rain was so heavy that the deafening roar of downpour was the only thing that could be heard, and the sky was so dark that it felt as though midnight had swallowed the world.
Just then, Sami gasped as he suddenly felt weak. He could instinctively feel the last of his Prana rapidly fading away.
At this rate, he could tell that he had less than one minute left until he was blind!