9:30 PM.
Vance Corporation Headquarters.
Sub-Level 2 of the underground parking garage.
Fine dust swirled through the tight ventilation duct, making Hayden’s throat violently itch.
He gritted his teeth, forcing down the urge to cough.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
Two meters directly beneath the grate, two guards in sharp black suits leaned against a concrete pillar.
They were smoking lazily, completely oblivious to the danger above.
Black MP5-SD suppressed submachine guns hung from tactical slings on their chests.
Hayden gently pushed the metal grate aside by a fraction of an inch.
A panoramic view of the subterranean parking structure opened up below him.
Thirty-two heavy load-bearing columns were arranged in a perfect grid.
The exit ramp leading down to Sub-Level 3 was blocked entirely by two armored pickup trucks.
Parked in the VIP section of the central grid were two Bentley Flying Spurs and a Rolls-Royce Ghost.
Over in the northwest corner, six black Land Rover SUVs were parked in perfect formation.
The sleek silver logo of Aegis Vanguard was emblazoned on their doors.
The elevator bank located directly behind the SUVs was the only direct route to the executive penthouse.
Hayden checked his watch.
He was exactly two and a half minutes behind schedule.
It was an acceptable margin of error.
“Bravo Team reporting.
Sector C is completely clear,” the overweight guard spoke into his tactical headset.
He took a long drag of his cigarette.
His partner dropped his cigarette butt onto the concrete and crushed the glowing ember beneath his combat boot.
Hayden held his breath.
A matte-black Uzi submachine gun materialized into his hands.
It was fitted with a heavy suppressor.
The reason he had specifically chosen the Uzi from the weapons broker was simple.
It fell under the System’s [Pistol Mastery] LitRPG specialization.
Hayden had deduced that because the Uzi fired standard 9mm pistol ammunition, the System treated it as an oversized handgun.
Therefore, the recoil-reduction effect applied perfectly.
He could fire the submachine gun on full auto without losing a single degree of accuracy.
It was basically a laser beam.
A heavy patrol of Aegis Vanguard mercenaries walked past the elevator bank.
After confirming the area was clear, they disappeared around the corner.
The exact moment the overweight guard turned around to spit, Hayden raised the Uzi.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Two suppressed shots coughed from the duct.
A bloody hole appeared directly between the guard’s eyes.
He fell violently backward, a cloud of dust kicking up as his skull slammed against the concrete.
Hayden dropped soundlessly from the ventilation shaft, landing right beside the corpse.
The guard’s pupils were already dilated.
The half-smoked cigarette was still pinched in the corner of his mouth, the grey ash falling softly onto his blood-soaked tie.
Thanks to the architectural blueprints Valerie had pulled, Hayden had navigated the maze of air ducts and dropped right into the enemy’s blind spot.
He carefully scanned the ceiling.
There were remarkably few security cameras in this sector, creating several massive blind spots between the concrete pillars.
Crouching low to muffle his footsteps, Hayden moved like a phantom through the shadows.
He carefully threaded the needle between the camera arcs, making his way toward the Aegis Vanguard SUVs.
Through his Outline ESP, he saw two glowing white silhouettes standing right behind the third Land Rover.
Judging by their wireframes, one mercenary was looking down to check his magazine.
The other was pressing a hand to his earpiece, intently listening to a comms update.
Hayden crept up silently.
The massive shadow of the SUV perfectly concealed his approach.
Pfft!
The suppressed cough of the Uzi synchronized perfectly with the sickening crunch of a shattering skull.
Red and white matter sprayed from the first mercenary’s temple.
His body collapsed heavily against his partner’s shoulder like a puppet with its strings cut.
The second mercenary possessed terrifyingly fast reflexes.
The split second his partner’s dead weight hit him, he dropped his shoulder, swinging his MP5-SD around to fire.
He had his sights locked directly on Hayden.
Hayden’s pupils shrank.
The exact microsecond the mercenary raised his barrel, the Uzi spat a second 9mm round.
The bullet punched straight through the mercenary’s open mouth.
It exited the back of his neck in an explosion of shattered teeth and pulverized vertebrae.
A fine mist of warm blood sprayed across the black paint of the Land Rover, forming a macabre, modern art splatter.
Hayden stepped over the bodies and reached the elevator.
He pressed the UP button three times in rapid succession.
The LCD screen flashed an angry red warning: [Clearance Denied].
He glanced back at the corpses.
A heavy lanyard hung around the neck of the first guard.
Hayden snatched the ID card.
The badge read: “Thomas Kane.
Security Captain, Sector 5.
Vance Corporation.
Level 3 Clearance.” Beep.
Hayden tapped the keycard against the scanner.
The steel doors slid open smoothly.
As the elevator began its long ascent to the penthouse, Hayden ejected his spent magazine and slammed a fresh one into the Uzi.
The digital floor indicator climbed steadily.
Suddenly, Valerie’s voice crackled frantically through his earpiece.
“We have a massive problem.
Aegis Vanguard deployed heavy counter-sniper protocols.
They just locked down every single high-rise rooftop within a two-kilometer radius.
I cannot give you overwatch.” “So I am doing this raid completely blind?” Hayden asked, rolling his sore shoulder.
“Theoretically, yes,” Valerie sighed softly.
“If one of the top Global Rankers were here, maybe we could punch through their net.
But I cannot make that shot.” “Global Rankers?” Hayden asked, adjusting his earpiece to hear her better over the hum of the elevator.
Valerie took a deep breath.
“The Guild maintains a global leaderboard for confirmed sniper kills.
Currently, the number one spot is held by a Japanese professional codenamed ‘The Jackal.’ He is an absolute legend.
His assassinations are literally used as textbooks for the rest of us.” “He holds the current world record for a confirmed kill at 4,300 meters,” Valerie continued, awe bleeding into her voice.
“And he made the shot from the deck of a moving ship at sea.” Hayden’s heart skipped a beat.
Maintaining a stable sniper platform on the rolling ocean was practically impossible.
At a distance of 4,300 meters, a one-millimeter deviation at the muzzle would result in missing the target by dozens of feet.
Furthermore, bullet flight time at that distance was roughly seven seconds.
How in the hell did ‘The Jackal’ accurately predict a target’s movement seven seconds into the future while battling ocean waves?
“What tier is this guy?” Hayden asked.
“Nobody knows for sure.
Either a K1 or a K2,” Valerie replied.
“Regardless, he is the undisputed god of marksmanship.” Before she could finish her thought, a violent, metallic thud echoed from the elevator shaft directly above Hayden’s head.
Clank!
Screeech!
The emergency alarms blared.
The elevator violently decelerated, the sudden G-force nearly buckling Hayden’s knees.
The metal car shook violently as the heavy steel cables ground against the emergency brakes, emitting a deafening, teeth-grinding screech.
Hayden instantly dropped his center of gravity, crouching low to maintain his balance.
Ding.
The elevator slammed to a halt on the forty-third floor.
The doors jerked open.
The LCD display flashed red.
All the buttons on the control panel went entirely dead.
“Emergency lockdown?” Hayden grinned coldly.
“Looks like they finally found the bodies in the garage.” He activated his Wallhacks.
A dozen glowing white silhouettes were swarming into position on the floor directly above him.
Hayden charged out of the elevator.
The forty-third floor was a massive, open-plan corporate workspace.
The employees had long since evacuated, leaving behind a maze of empty cubicles and scattered paperwork.
Bang!
The heavy steel fire doors at the end of the hall were kicked open.
A squad of Aegis mercenaries poured into the office space.
Hayden was already waiting for them.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Pfft!
The Uzi spat a stream of lethal fire.
The first three mercenaries dropped instantly.
Hayden had precisely targeted the vulnerable gap under their armpits, completely bypassing their heavy ceramic chest plates.
The 9mm hollow points tumbled violently inside their chest cavities, tearing their lungs to shreds.
Hayden’s survival instincts screamed.
He dove hard into the nearest cubicle.
A hail of heavy suppressive fire instantly chewed through the thin metal partition he had been standing behind seconds ago.
Sparks and shredded office paper filled the air.
Clatter.
Through his Wallhacks, Hayden saw a heavy, cylindrical object bounce off the far wall and roll directly toward his feet.