Exposed?
Even after living another life, he had never felt the fear of being brought to justice.
Qin Siyang's heart was in turmoil.
More panicked than when he was eating godly remains from a dumpster or killing in a dark alley.
Even more terrified than that night when he was reborn and saw countless black moths with glowing eyes clinging to the glass.
He sat dumbfounded in front of the computer, unsure of what to do.
At this moment, the information on the computer screen changed again.
[Net Café Attendant's Friendly Reminder]
[Just keep watching, and when you're done, don't leave. Meet me in the alley behind the Internet cafe.]
Qin Siyang looked at the message on the screen, but he no longer felt like browsing the "Godslayer Camp."
This Net Café Attendant had been monitoring him all along.
Qin Siyang couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Was the attendant really so idle?
Didn't he have his own work to do?
Why watch every customer surfing the net all day?
But the money had been spent, and sitting idly was a waste of time.
He calmed himself and reopened the "Godslayer Camp."
This might very well be his last visit to this Internet cafe.
No, it might be the last time he ever entered any Internet cafe.
He had to find a Sequence that could disguise him during this browsing session.
Qin Siyang continued to browse the Sequence summaries, searching for one suitable for his disguise.
Finally, his gaze locked onto a Sequence.
[Phantom Assassin]
[Sequence Level 1, Assassination Apprentice]
[Skill: Life-or-Death Line. Can double one's agility for five minutes, but will be completely exhausted afterward, unable to move for half an hour.]
[Sequence Level 2, Swift Assassin]
[Skill: Life-or-Death Line (Enhanced). Can double one's agility and strength for five minutes, but will be completely exhausted afterward, unable to move for twenty minutes.]
Qin Siyang examined the [Phantom Assassin] Sequence and realized that his [Violence] skill completely covered the skills of Sequence Levels 1 and 2, allowing him to muddle through for a while.
So, he repeatedly reviewed the skill descriptions of this Sequence and memorized them.
To further understand this Sequence, he searched the forum and immediately found thousands of posts.
It seemed to be a relatively common Sequence.
[What equipment does the Phantom Assassin Sequence need most?]
[Who is the best teammate for a Phantom Assassin?]
[My teammate, a Phantom Assassin, is useless, only using skills to escape during battles. What should I do?]
[Phantom Assassin looking for a God-Hunting Squad, warriors preferred]
...
Qin Siyang clicked on a [Phantom Assassin Introduction Post (Featured)] to read.
It described how a Phantom Assassin should train, how to use the resources provided by the Administration Bureau wisely, and how to purchase the most suitable equipment.
In this post, Qin Siyang found a lot of information and discovered that the Sequence Level 3 of the [Swift Assassin] was [Afterimage Assassin].
[Skill: Life-or-Death Line (Enhanced 2). Can triple one's agility and double one's strength for ten minutes, but will be completely exhausted afterward, unable to move for ten minutes.]
From this post, Qin Siyang also learned that unlike most Sequences, which gain new skills with each level, the known [Phantom Assassin] only had one skill, which was continuously enhanced upon leveling up. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
This single-path advancement had its pros and cons, Qin Siyang thought.
If they couldn't resolve the enemy after activating their skill, survival would be difficult.
Undoubtedly, the [Phantom Assassin] heavily relied on teammates.
This skill was indeed suitable for Qin Siyang to hide himself.
The [Violence] skill fully covered the skills of the first three levels of the [Swift Assassin] Sequence.
Therefore, to convincingly play the role of a [Swift Assassin], he needed to appropriately feign weakness.
Comparing the [God Eater] and [Swift Assassin] Sequences also made Qin Siyang realize the strength of his own Sequence.
Even though [Violence] was a skill awakened at Sequence Level 2, it was more powerful than the continuously enhanced single skill of the [Swift Assassin].
Moreover, according to the forum, the [Swift Assassin] Sequence seemed to be a popular and sought-after Sequence, with many God-Hunting Squads eager to recruit them.
This wasn't Qin Siyang's only advantage.
From his careful research on the forum, his basic attributes were already comparable to, if not stronger than, a [Phantom Assassin] using the [Life-or-Death Line] skill.
Even without releasing any skills, he could be invincible among low-level Sequence Ability Users!
So, how should he convincingly play the role of this fake identity, the [Phantom Assassin]?
The most crucial trick was to hold back as much as possible.
After finding his "stand-in" Sequence, Qin Siyang received a notification that his computer time was up.
After exchanging a glance with the Net Café Attendant at the counter, he chose to log off and left the Internet cafe under the attendant's watchful eyes.
Avoiding the surveillance cameras at the entrance of the Internet cafe, Qin Siyang followed the attendant's message and went to the alley behind the cafe.
The alley behind the Internet cafe was outside the management scope of the cafe owner, so there were no cameras.
The alley was more like an unmanaged area.
It was somewhat dirty and cluttered, filled with debris and disposable lunch boxes, with a smell of swill permeating the air, reminiscent of a cafeteria.
In this small alley, Qin Siyang couldn't even find a place to stand.
He finally cleaned a slab, placed it on the greasy steps, and sat down.
He felt that it wouldn't be long before he was overwhelmed by the stench of swill.
After a while, the greasy-faced middle-aged Net Café Attendant, wearing a white shirt, jiggling his flab, with a jacket slung over his shoulder, appeared in the narrow alley.
The attendant paid no mind to the garbage on the ground, kicking it aside as he walked, getting some grease on his shoes.
Qin Siyang looked at the sweat-stained collar and cuffs of the attendant with disgust.
The attendant, however, looked at Qin Siyang with a greedy expression.
"Kid, the officers are looking for you because you killed someone, right?"
This opening line hit the nail on the head regarding Qin Siyang's concerns.
Qin Siyang didn't respond.
He believed that the murder case near Exit 89757 yesterday couldn't have spread to such a remote place overnight. The attendant must have guessed it.
So there was no need to admit it.
The attendant chuckled, "Even if you don't say it, I know. You came last time to check the Sequence Ability User forum, and you're here again."
The attendant addressed the question in Qin Siyang's mind, so he followed up, "Can you remember everyone?"
"Of course not, I'm not a Sequence Ability User with a memory skill."
"Just remember me?" Qin Siyang wondered why he was so unlucky to be targeted by this greasy attendant.
"Because you look so poor, like a pauper from the edge of the Safe Zone. Spending money to enter an Internet cafe, of course, I'd be curious and take a few more looks. You happened to wear the same coat both times, so I remembered you."
"You lingered on the forums for [Undying] and [Scent Sniffer] Sequences for a long time, and most Sequence Ability Users in these are Police Bureau investigators."
"Then, the police suddenly came. You quickly deleted your browsing history and opened a text document on the desktop, pretending to read an e-book. I immediately guessed that you probably killed someone and were checking if the Police Bureau's Sequence Ability Users would find out." Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
The attendant's face was trembling with excitement, celebrating his great discovery through keen observation.
Qin Siyang still gave no response.
He wouldn't provide any feedback on any speculation about himself, even if the attendant guessed correctly.
Never let your enemy see through your thoughts.
Qin Siyang couldn't remember which movie from his past life had this line, but it was precisely his strategy now.
He would not give this attendant any information about himself.
Qin Siyang silently watched the attendant, waiting for him to continue.
The attendant seemed slightly surprised by Qin Siyang's lack of reaction.
But he wasn't flustered, as he still held the initiative firmly in his hands.
"I called you out for a simple reason. I won't tell anyone about your matter, but you have to give me a Silver Coin as hush money."
Qin Siyang chuckled, glaring at the attendant with sharp eyes, "A Silver Coin? Are you crazy?"
The attendant was intimidated by Qin Siyang's gaze, filled with a murderous aura that couldn't be faked.
This young man, around eighteen or nineteen, must have really killed someone!
He swallowed, stiffening his neck as he said, "I'm not crazy. A Silver Coin is your life-saving money, well worth it. After all, you're a murderer; there's nothing you wouldn't dare to do."
The attendant seemed to find some confidence, getting more and more excited as he spoke, "I don't care how you do it, steal, rob, kill, as long as you can get me a Silver Coin, that's enough."
Qin Siyang just looked at the attendant indifferently, as if watching a joke about someone unrelated to him.
The attendant felt as if he were being stared at by a tiger, his whole body tingling.
But he laughed, "You can't scare me. We're all ordinary people living in this lousy place for a lifetime. Who's got an extra arm or leg?"
Hmm?
It seemed the attendant hadn't realized that Qin Siyang was a Sequence Ability User.
That was a small piece of good news amidst the trouble.
Qin Siyang wasn't led by the attendant's questions. He keenly noticed the attendant's breathing was getting heavier, indicating he was very nervous.
So, Qin Siyang continued to press, throwing out the question in his mind, "Since you know I killed someone, why aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
The attendant wiped the cold sweat off his face and said, "I've already written an email to report you, with a close-up photo of you from the surveillance. This email will be sent to the Police Bureau's inbox at 3 AM tomorrow. I reset the time every day, postponing it by a day. If I die, you'll be exposed too."
To make Qin Siyang believe him, the attendant added, "If you don't believe it, you can try! Kill me now!"
The scheduled email was like a time bomb, forcing Qin Siyang to treat it cautiously.
The attendant's method tightly bound his hands and feet, preventing him from rashly attacking the attendant.
"By next week, you need to give me a thousand Copper Coins! Otherwise, I'll tell the Police Bureau about you!"
The attendant smiled triumphantly, revealing two rows of somewhat missing yellow teeth.
After hearing this, Qin Siyang didn't respond and turned to leave the alley.
The attendant watched Qin Siyang's departing figure, snorted coldly, and showed a disdainful smile.
So what if you've killed someone? Aren't you still obediently giving me money!
Kid, I've got you for life with this secret! Work hard, my house and car money depend on you!
Suddenly, the attendant remembered he didn't know Qin Siyang's name.
"By the way, I'm Liu Dazhi! What's your name?"
Qin Siyang continued walking back silently, still not responding.
A dead man doesn't need to know his name.