Thalen sat alone in a dim corner of a 24-hour laundromat, the hum of the dryers masking the quiet war inside his mind.
The fluorescent lights overhead flickered, painting his face in pale pulses as he stared at the quest hovering in his vision.
[Quest: Stepping Stone]
Target: Kill an A-Rank Hunter
Reward: Class upgrade to A-rank. All skills upgraded to A-rank.
Penalty: Death
Duration: 6 months
Status: Active
It read like a joke. A cosmic dare. But the system wasn't laughing. And it wasn't bluffing either.
Thalen had learned that the hard way.
The last time he'd tested its limits, a B-rank hunter named Doran had died under an impossible quest—"Touch the moon or die." The man had leapt from a rooftop in a panic, convinced some divine will demanded it. He hadn't even known who had sent the quest.
Now, Thalen was being asked to kill someone even more dangerous.
And he couldn't just repeat the trick.
Six months to kill a walking catastrophe.
Thalen pulled the hood of his jacket lower and opened his tattered notebook, flipping to a fresh page.
At the top, he wrote:
"How to Kill an A-Rank Hunter Without Dying."
Then, he started listing ideas.
---
1. Poison?
*Effective on humans. But most A-rank hunters have resistance skills, regeneration, detection abilities. I'd need something subtle. Fast-acting. Untraceable. Maybe a cursed item? But I can't even afford decent socks.*
2. Trap dungeon?
*Lure them into a dungeon. Rig it with explosives or a high-level boss. But they can usually handle those. I'd need precise control over the environment—and somehow make them enter a dungeon 'with' me. Risky.
3. Collapse a building on them?
*Collateral damage. Too many variables. And A-rankers have high reflex stats—they'll probably just walk out of the rubble and sneeze.*
4. Hire someone?
*Assassins won't touch this. Killing an A-ranker puts a target on your back. Plus, I can't explain the quest. No one would believe me. They'd think I'm insane.*
5. Long-range sniper shot?
*Sounds good in theory. But they can sense intent. They'll dodge. Or worse—chase me down. I'd have one shot, and if it misses, I'm vaporized.*
6. Frame them for a crime? Let others kill them.
Tempting. But who can prosecute an A-rank hunter? They're practically war assets. The law doesn't apply to them unless they kill a government official on camera while screaming confessions.*
---
Thalen stared at the list. Crossed a few out.
Too loud. Too sloppy. Too likely to backfire.
He tapped the pen to his lips. A thought slithered in.
7. Use a quest.
His own skill. "Quest Architect."
It only worked on B-ranks and lower. The moment he tried to force an A-ranker to accept a quest, the system rejected it like spoiled milk.
But what if he didn't target them directly?
What if… he gave a quest to someone else?
His hand trembled slightly as he jotted it down:
"Indirect Kill via Proxy Quest."
He leaned back in the hard plastic chair, breathing shallow.
Could it work?
He'd assign a task to an unsuspecting B-rank hunter. Something they could do near the A-rank. Something *harmless*. Something innocuous.
And then chain another quest to someone else.
He imagined it like setting up dominoes in a circle. Harmless alone. But when triggered just right—
Boom.
Still… the timing would have to be perfect. Rewards would have to motivate without suspicion. Penalties would need to look like divine wrath, not manipulation.
He would have to *orchestrate* the event like a conductor of chaos.
He stared at the scribbled plan. His stomach turned.
Was this who he was now?
A boy with an invisible gun, trying to trick the system into pulling the trigger for him?
He shook the thought away.
No. This wasn't about becoming a monster.
This was about survival.
The system handed him a death sentence.
He was just… rescheduling it.
---
8. Social Isolation & Weakening
He wrote it slowly.
" If I can't kill them at full power… can I weaken them first?"
Break their reputation. Make them cautious. Force them into hiding.
Maybe they lose access to items. Or allies.
Could he plant seeds of paranoia?
He didn't need to be stronger.
He needed them to be alone when it mattered.
---
9. Emotional Manipulation
*What do they care about? A sibling? A team? A lover?*
If he could find their soft spot… and hit it right…
He closed his eyes, trying to conjure an image of an A-ranker. Not the stats. Not the rumors.
But the human beneath the armor.
*Everyone bleeds for something,* he thought.
I just need to find out what.
---
When he opened his eyes, two hours had passed. The notebook was filled with arrows, circled words, diagrams of proximity traps, and scribbled quotes.
His hand ached. His back was stiff. His eyes were bloodshot.
But for the first time since that quest appeared…
He felt a sliver of control.
He didn't have a solution yet.
But he had options.
And options were power.
---
As he left the laundromat, city lights bleeding into the wet streets, he muttered:
"I'm not strong enough to fight gods…"
His breath steamed in the cold air.
"…So I'll make gods bleed from a thousand paper cuts."
He didn't look back.
The war had already begun.