Zain frowned, watching the thugs disappear into the shadows.
"Tch… They're running already?"
"I wanted to farm them a bit more."
He turned to where Burnshot's body had been—now completely absorbed by the system.
In its place, however, lay two items: some black canisters and a compact, black pistol with a sleek frame.
Zain crouched, picking up the weapon.
"Hmph. Didn't even get the chance to use it, huh?"
He immediately inspected the grip and trigger.
He stood up, flipped off the safety, and aimed at one of the fleeing thugs in the distance.
In a breath, he squeezed the trigger.
Bang!
The thug dropped instantly, a clean headshot.
Zain lowered the gun, eyes narrowing in approval.
"I was good with the bow in my past life… a pistol's even easier."
He examined the weight of the weapon, the smoothness of the mechanism.
It wasn't anything special—but in the right hands, deadly enough.
"This might come in handy for weak opponents. No need to waste powers on insects."
He clicked open the magazine and frowned slightly.
"But… bullets. I'll need to find more."
Zain stood silently, the gun hanging at his side.
"What to do…"
Then, his gaze shifted to the system interface hovering faintly in his view.
A grin crept onto his face.
"Wait… I've got the system. Why waste time searching for bullets?"
He straightened.
"I can just make an ability. Something low-tier, cheap… something that lets me make my own bullets."
He paused, thinking.
"Breath… I've got plenty of that. What if I could just turn my breath into ammo?"
He nodded to himself.
"Let's try it. System—give me a low-tier ability. Something like... Bullet Breath?"
---
[Hack Initiation: Ability Acquisition]
[Target: Zain]
[Ability Acquired: Blast Breath (Low Tier)]
[Effect: Allows the user to exhale small explosive pellets or particles infused with unstable energy.]
[Cost Required: 100 Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
---
Zain felt a tickle rise through his lungs, a faint pulse of heat as the ability locked in.
He smirked.
"Let's see if this works."
He opened the pistol's round magazine and ejected all the standard bullets, tossing them aside.
Then, leaning down, he slowly exhaled into the empty magazine slot.
A thin stream of energy-infused breath swirling in like faint sparks of light.
Click.
He snapped the magazine back into place.
"Moment of truth."
Zain raised the gun toward one of the fleeing thugs in the distance, just now darting past an alley corner.
He squeezed the trigger.
No sound. No flash.
The silence was almost disappointing.
But then—BOOM.
A small detonation erupted on the thug's head, bursting his head open and killing him instantly.
Zain exhaled through his nose, impressed.
"Heh. It worked. Explosive breath bullets… and silent too."
He lowered the gun, eyes scanning the street like a hunter on the prowl.
"This just made thug hunting a lot more fun."
---
Ruckle crossed his arms, grinding his teeth as he was a bit irritated.
"Where the hell is that bastard Burnshot?"
"It shouldn't take this long to torch a damn rookie."
Then—BOOM.
A sharp, echoing explosion rattled through the block.
Ruckle stiffened, eyes flicking toward the direction of the noise.
"Tch… don't tell me he's burning the whole block again. Idiot."
Before he could take a step, a group of thugs sprinted around the corner, panicking.
"Ruckle! We need backup! It's—"
POP. POP.
Their heads jerked violently.
Each one detonated into a flash of blood and smoke. They collapsed mid-run, dead.
Ruckle's eyes widened, muscles tensing.
"What the hell is this—?!"
From behind the fallen bodies, Zain appeared, casually slipping his pistol back into his coat.
He rolled his shoulders and smirked.
"Whew. Got myself a lot of prey today."
His eyes lifted and locked onto Ruckle.
"And now the final course is here."
Ruckle sized him up. The kid looked too young—too lean.
But there was something in his gaze. Calm, focused and dangerous.
Ruckle's voice dropped low.
"Who the hell are you, kid?"
Zain stopped a few feet away, hands in his pockets.
His smile widened.
"Me? You can call me the Heavenly Demon."
He stepped forward slowly, pulling a blackened canister from his belt and spinning it once between his fingers.
"C-Rank hero… and the guy who turned Burnshot into smoke."
Ruckle's brows furrowed, and for a moment, his jaw tightened.
The heat of battle settled in his blood.
"So you're the one…"
Zain nodded slowly.
"And now, you're next."
He cracked his neck and stepped forward again, flexing his hands.
---
Ruckle cracked his neck as he stepped forward, growling.
"Name's Ruckle, the other C-Rank enforcer of the Rust Rats."
He raised his fist, already pulsing with a dull red glow.
"Don't think you're hot shit just 'cause you beat Burnshot. That idiot was all flash. I'm the real muscle here."
Zain's smirk didn't waver.
"Yeah? Let's test that."
Ruckle didn't wait for an invitation.
With a grunt, he charged forward, pulling his right fist back.
As he closed in, Zain immediately scanned his data.
---
[Name: Ruckle]
[Rank: C]
[Stats:]
[Str: C]
[Vit: C]
[Agi: C]
[Int: D]
[Low-Tier Ability:]
[Knuckle Burst: Packs a small explosive force into each punch, hitting much harder than a normal fist.]
---
Zain's eyes narrowed.
"Explosive punches, huh? That's… familiar. Almost like martial arts—Exploding Fist technique."
But by the time the thought finished, Ruckle was already in front of him—his fist barreling forward.
Zain crossed his arms to defend—
BOOM!
The moment Ruckle's punch connected, an explosion appeared from his knuckles, increasing the power of his hit.
The ground cracked under his feet as Zain skidded back several meters, smoke rising from his forearms.
Zain dropped into a slide, boots grinding to a stop.
He glanced at his arms—smoking, bruised—but not broken.
He stood up slowly, exhaling.
"Damn… Knuckle Burst, huh? That's a nasty trick."
Ruckle flexed his fingers, grinning.
"So, you've got Hard Skin… maybe even more. I can smell power on you. But I don't care if you've got two abilities or ten."
He slammed both fists together, triggering a faint explosion between them.
"I'm still gonna break you."
Zain smiled, raising his burned hand.
"You can try. But I don't break that easy."