After work, start to speedrun the other world

"Hush, keep quiet," Xi Mu made a silencing gesture, frightening the little boy at the door, who didn't dare to move a muscle.

He nodded in satisfaction and spoke to the little boy.

"Now you have thirty minutes to find everything valuable in this house as compensation for Diniken's violation of you, and as funds for your escape, giving you a chance to live like a normal person," he declared.

"No... I don't want money, just don't kill me please!" The little boy with his head bowed didn't dare look at Xi Mu, his body wrapped in a sheet trembling slightly.

To this, Xi Mu offered no explanation but drew a knife from his cloak, swung it at the corpse on the floor, and with the glint of the blade, the body was decapitated.

He picked up the head, skillfully packed it into a bag, then turned to meld into the darkness, his footsteps retreating along with the sound of the door shutting neither too softly nor too harshly.

The little boy understood one thing: this mysterious and unpredictable assassin indeed had no intention of killing him.

Now he really should look for money to fund his escape, otherwise, when an investigation ensued, he would be held accountable whether he was involved in the assassination or not.

Even if not held accountable, he could still fall into the hands of another psychopath, then subject to endless torment.

With this in mind, he quickly took action, gathering the valuable items in the room, and without hesitation, he left with a packed chest before the thirty minutes were up.

Though if he stayed longer, he perhaps could have acquired more wealth, he still remembered the killer's words.

He had only thirty minutes to scavenge for wealth.

Shortly after he left, an elderly man with white hair appeared silently in the room.

He looked down at the dead Diniken.

"Being killed at this time is... quite the headache," he muttered in displeasure, then gently tapped the floor with his cane.

With the undulating shadows, dozens of crimson eyes lit up on the walls, and with the flow of shadows, those blinking crimson orbs burrowed into every corner.

"Some assets are missing, presumably stolen by the butler," the man murmured thoughtfully, then disappeared into the shadows as a shade himself.

At the same time.

Elsewhere.

Kronos crossed his slender legs and lightly supported his chin with his hand, examining Xi Mu wrapped in a black cloak opposite him, and chuckled:

"Back so soon? Have you really completed the assassination?" he asked.

"Of course," Xi Mu nodded, pulling out a black bag and placing it on the table, revealing Diniken's head.

Kronos glanced at the head on the table casually and pointed to the savings card arranged there. Seeing that Xi Mu picked it up without hesitation, stood up, and prepared to leave.

"There's another assassination target, would you like to try it? The reward is ten times this one," he mentioned.

"Sorry, I'm not in need of money right now," Xi Mu casually answered, having no intention to continue with this side quest.

Even though the rewards from the subsequent missions Kronos offered were incredibly generous for a new player, the difficulty was also incredibly high.

Since he had already obtained the Ten Shadow Magics, that was enough for him to progress in the game; there was no need to waste time on meaningless side stories.

Kronos smiled at this and didn't stop him, watching Xi Mu's retreating figure, and since the other party didn't want to play along, she wouldn't insist.

After all, she had more important things to do at the moment.

…

…

Bruil Street.

Xi Mu lowered his cloak and walked towards the distant bank. The world set by this game was extremely advanced, yet also extremely backward.

There were cities soaring in the sky and starving slums, and the cause of all this was the gods.

In this world, there existed gods with different powers, whose influence permeated every aspect, from views on life and death, to moral codes for individuals, to the social hierarchy—all born from the clash of the wills of All Gods.

And the concept of a bank card was an item created by the God of Wealth and Contract, in order to manifest His power.

Arriving at the bank's entrance.

Under the watchful gaze of the guards, Xi Mu calmly walked in and, attended by a beautiful receptionist, was led to a private room.

The room wasn't large and contained no one but him.

There was only a three-headed dog statue, lying on the marble floor, its six cold eyes watching the customers who came by.

This was the pet of the God of Wealth, entrusted with guarding the gates of wealth, not allowing any theft unless one had the proper credentials.

Xi Mu took out his bank card. The previously inanimate three-headed dog statue suddenly came to life; one head bowed, one scrutinized the bank card, and one looked at Xi Mu's face.

The divine beast guarding wealth required facial recognition, and if it could not recognize the face, one needed to speak the corresponding password—or else it was impossible to withdraw money.

"The password is 234423. I want to transfer the money to this bank card," Xi Mu stated calmly, reciting a string of numbers before taking out another bank card.

The three-headed dog statue looked at the newly presented bank card, did a brief check, and gently nodded its head, speaking to the human in front of it.

"One hundred thousand Gold Coins have been transferred to account number 234023445234."

"..." Xi Mu did not say anything further, turned, and left the room, uninterested in the three-headed dog; if it were the actual being, he might have been interested in figuring out a way to kill it for the achievement of slaying a divine beast.

But this was just a statue carrying the will of the divine beast, with nothing noteworthy about it, unless one wanted to rob the bank.

After some time.

"Lord Ahtal, you've arrived," Anastasia said elegantly while sitting on a sofa, extending a bank card to the man opposite her.

"This is all the money I won today betting on you."

"Aren't you keeping any for yourself?" Xi Mu took the bank card, only to see Anastasia gently shake her head, her gaze toward him as tender as water.

It was as if she had lowered all her defenses against him.

At this moment, if he took any action, perhaps he could have triggered an interesting plotline. After all, this game couldn't involve real bullets, and even if the game set Anastasia to be a boy, it would not matter, as long as the appearance was pretty.

However.

"I take my leave," Xi Mu put the bank card into his cloak, stood up, and left directly, with no intention to delve into Anastasia's thoughts and feelings.

"See you next time, if the opportunity arises." He waved his hand behind him to Anastasia and disappeared around the corner.

Taken aback, Anastasia blinked, then chuckled, realising she had forgotten that Ahtal, this man, was an Astrologer, who must have already understood what she wanted to say.

"A thank-you dinner with Lord Ahtal would probably be just a waste of time, wouldn't it?" he said softly.

"I do envy the ability to act without any confusion."