My Hitman System

The four of them then dragged their weakened selves to their respective shelters and rested under their shade.

"I thought he would immediately make us do another training after eating. I'm glad that he allowed us to rest," Specy said while lying under the shade of his shelter.

"True, at least there's still some semblance of humanity left in that monster," Shadow commented from his shelter as he elevated his leg on a stone to promote healing.

While the two of them were chatting, Ice, with a new pair of clothes in her hands, got out of her shelter and went towards the pond to wash off the dirt and grime covering her body.

Jin, who was removing his shoes off glanced at her for a second before busying himself with his task.

When Ice was no longer near, Jin was approached by Shadow.

He wanted to ask him something, "Hey Zed, are you interested in that woman?"

Jin lifted his head and looked at Shadow for a second, and asked, "Why do you think so?"

"It's just," Shadow scratched his head while answering, "I noticed that you've been helping her a lot. You saved her life yesterday, and in the morning, you even gave her the snake meat."

By now, Specy too had joined in the discussion and was listening carefully to them.

"I'm not interested in her. I just feel a little responsible towards her since I was the one who broke her three fingers," Jin answered.

"Gosh, bro, you got no chill. Haven't you heard about showing restraint to the opposite sex?" Shadow asked in an amused manner when he got to know about this.

"No, I haven't," replied with a deadpan expression.

"Tch, you're no fun," Shadow clicked his tongue.

At that moment, Specy added in the conversation, "It's good that you don't like her. If you guys haven't noticed, she's married."

"Huh? She's what?" Shadow asked in surprise.

Jin's expression also grew interested when he heard Specy's words.

"Yes, there's a wedding ring on her left hand. My father used to work as a jeweller, so it's very easy for me to tell whether it's a normal ring or a wedding ring," Specy added.

"You're right. Now that I think of it, she indeed wears a ring on her left hand," Shadow muttered in thought.

"I wonder what drove a married woman to become an assassin like us," Specy spoke what was going on in his mind.

"Maybe she wasn't getting enough action in the bed," Shadow snickered at his joke, which invited a few chuckles from Specy as well.

As for Jin, he ignored their banter and just pondered over the question for a while before closing his eyes.

The two of them returned to their shelters soon. A while later, when Ice returned, it was their turn to freshen up.

After freshening up, they all went to sleep.

At 7 PM, when the sun was about to set, they all assembled in front of the mud-hut as instructed earlier.

Brown was just like before, busy stirring the huge coking vessel with his ladle.

Growl ~

Even though they all had eaten before sleeping, their bodies were still hungry for more food.

"It's time to eat, I'll brief you about the next task after you've eaten your fill," Brown said and served everyone one by one.

"Just what exactly is this made of?" Shadow asked Brown when it was his turn to take food.

"It's a special food formula that has been made to provide your body with just the right amount of nutrients and electrolytes. It quickens one's recovery," Brown answered.

"So that's why!" Shadow exclaimed as his eyes glimmered. His legs were a lot less sore than he had expected after all that running in the morning.

After getting this information, they all consumed their meal even more voraciously and finished the whole vessel in record time.

After dinner, Brown gathered them all together and passed them a pair of gloves each and four plastic containers with small vents on their lids.

"It's going to be 8 PM soon," Brown said, looking at his wristwatch. "You have time until 4 AM. You all must catch at least twenty scorpions each until then and return here. Failures will be executed. You may try to escape, but this desert is my terrain. I'll find you and kill you if need be."

Brown warned and continued with a smile, "Therefore, don't fail. Scorpions, just like assassins, are swift, silent and deadly, and since they are nocturnal, they only come out at night."

After saying that, he handed them all headlamps and then wished them luck.

"Do your best. I have high hopes for you all," Brown waved his hand at the group of four as they left the Oasis.

At night, the whole nature of the desert changes. The extreme heat gets replaced with extreme cold. The almost dead and barren land becomes a playground for creatures who finally come out in search of food.

As the chilly winds blew past their necks, the group marched on in a particular direction.

They soon encountered a stony area where they overturned a few stones in the hope of finding a scorpion, but a snake came out instead and immediately slithered away from them.

"Shit! This is more difficult than I thought," Shadow said in frustration.

"There!" Specy noticed a movement in the nearby sand and rushed towards it. The other three followed after him.

"What the hell? It just vanished!" Specy said in frustration.

"At your right!" Ice noticed a scorpion beside Specy, but the moment her flashlight landed on it, the scorpion sprinted into the darkness and disappeared.

They attempted a few more times but failed each time.

"Let's separate," Shadow suggested.

By now, they all had noticed that staying together was acting in their disadvantage, so the others nodded and went their separate ways.

An hour passed.

The temperature continued to drop, and the wind quickened, but Jin was still struggling with the task.

He had not caught even a single scorpion by now and was filled with frustration.

In this sandy terrain, the scorpions were much faster than him and as a result, he had lost quite a lot of them while chasing.

Dragging his lead like feet through the sand, he kept looking for places where the scorpions might be hiding.

'I don't care anymore, I'll keep on chasing the next bastard I set my eyes on until I'm exhausted,' Jin thought in frustration.

Soon, near a dead branch lying on the sand, he caught a glimpse of what he was looking for.

Without a second thought, he rushed towards the scorpion. His feet wanted to give in, but he forced them to move, and as a result, they subconsciously placed themselves in a particular position, and Jin's speed almost doubled the next moment.

Surprised, Jin immediately stopped on his feet as the scorpion once again escaped.

However, this time, instead of frustration, there was a trace of awe and surprise on Jin's face.

How could he not notice this sudden change in his speed? His gaze naturally went towards his feet to check the cause.

His heel was just slightly raised above the ground, and all his weight was being taken by his toes, just like how it was during the morning training.

"Looks like it's finally time to get back on those bloody scorpions," Jin muttered with excitement and immediately started looking for his prey.