Charles Deus stood by the window of his office, scanning the city's night lights.
'Mr. Locke should arrive soon,' he thought to himself.
Despite being grateful for Brandon, Charles was still skeptical about the whole thing.
After all, they had tracked down and discovered everything there was to know about Brandon Locke.
The fact that he was a 16-year-old student somehow made Charles underestimate Brandon.
But of course, he couldn't judge a book by its cover.
Which is why he couldn't wait to evaluate if Brandon Locke was really serious about his investment.
As he continued to scan the city, footsteps heading towards the office became audible.
Thud- Thud-
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
At his instructions, the door slowly opened, revealing the figure of his assistant, Aiden.
Behind him was a boy, with pale-white hair that reached his neck, and ice-blue eyes, adorned with a formal black suit.
'That should be him,' Charles thought inwardly.
The first one to speak was Aiden, "Good evening, Boss. Let me introduce you to Mr. Brandon Locke."
Brandon then returned the gesture, "Good evening, Sir."
"Yes, good evening, Mr. Locke. It's so good to finally meet you."
Charles had to look as confident as he could, trying to test if Brandon would be intimidated.
And to this surprise, the boy stood tall. He kept his posture straight, and there were no signs of fidgeting.
He looked as confident as Charles was.
Just the sheer effort of the boy was already enough to garner Charles' respect.
He had to know more about Brandon Locke.
After gesturing for Brandon to take a seat, Charles began to interrogate him.
"Why our Company?"
***
The two shook hands with confident smiles on their faces, a partnership between them had been officially established
Not once did Brandon ever flinch, nor was his voice shaky.
After all, he'd rehearsed his lines prior to the meeting.
It was his first business approach, he couldn't mess it up.
Once the meeting was over, Brandon checked for the time, only to find out that three hours had already passed.
Glancing in front of Charles, who was seated in front of him, Charles spoke up,
"We look forward to working with you, Mr. Locke. Welcome to Deus Company."
"And I look forward to the future prospects of the Company, Mr. Deus."
With that, the meeting was officially over.
Aiden was then instructed to escort Brandon to the exit.
Brandon gave Charles a nod, and just as he was about to leave, something peculiar popped up.
It was a system notification.
Brandon paused just by the doorframe as he checked his system.
[System Notifications: 1]
[Quests Available: 1]
—---------------------------
[Quests]
[Survive for 15 minutes.]
[Rewards:]
[Stat Points: +5]
[EXP: +100]
[System Coins: +100]
[Penalty:]
[Due to the sheer difficulty, no penalty shall be enacted upon the user.]
—---------------------------
'Survive? What does this mea–'
TSSSS-
Thud-!
Brandon had no time to finish his thoughts as Aiden–who stood beside him, suddenly collapsed.
The windows shattered, dispersing glass shards all over the office.
When Brandon turned to look at Aiden, there was an unfamiliar red stain that painted the floor.
'Is that… blood?'
He then realized what had just happened.
Aiden was dead.
Charles, who was still at his desk, got down immediately, hiding under his table.
"Get down, Mr. Locke, it's a sniper!"
"What?"
The reality still hadn't dawned upon Brandon.
He was ignorant.
Suddenly, an earth barrier materialized, blocking the shattered window.
As soon as it was completed, Charles got up and tried to head towards where Brandon was standing.
However…
Boom!
The plasma bullet was able to destroy the barrier, etching a hole onto it.
Spurt!
As Charles was only a few distance away, trying to go to Brandon, another plasma bullet pierced through his calf, making him tumble down.
Thud!
"Aghhhh!"
Finally, Brandon understood what was going on, as he tried to help Charles get up.
"Mr. Deus!"
Charles motioned his hand for Brandon to stop.
"Don't move, Mr. Locke! The Hitman must have a skill that allows him to detect any movement, regardless if it was visible or not."
Brandon had the same thought as he stopped moving.
Despite the earth wall covering the entire window from where the shots came from, the trajectory of the bullets were accurate.
Charles shifted his gaze towards his calf, which was bleeding profusely, and added,
"Since the bullet was strong enough to destroy the earth barrier, the bullets were most likely made out of mana. Whoever the assassin is, they've come prepared, Mr. Locke!"
Charles narrowed his eye as he emphasized his next words,
"This is not something a student can handle, I'm sorry for getting you caught up in all this."
Charles' voice was shaky, and Brandon could see his complexions start to pale.
The bullet had damaged a pressure point in his calf, as it continued to bleed rapidly.
But Brandon didn't have any healing skills to aid him.
-Creak
"...!"
It was then when the door opened, revealing an unfamiliar figure, with brown hair, and blue eyes.
At the sudden appearance of who most likely the assassin was, Charles screamed,
"Who sent you?! And why did you come for our company?!"
It seemed like Charles was only trying to put up a tough act, since he was laying helplessly on the floor, unable to move.
But Brandon could see the fear in his eyes.
The man then held up his hand with a mocking smile on his face, forming his fingers like a gun, as he said,
"Don't take it personal, if you've got any complaints, you can ask my employer."
"What are you talking about?" Charles inquired.
"Hmm? I think it was something about a company on the brink of collapse, suddenly entering the top ranks of the stock market?"
At the mention of an employer, Brandon realized who the man was, or rather–the group the man belonged to.
The Primordials.
A contract company from the underworld.
And one of the main antagonists in the earlier chapters of the novel.
There were no other groups to fill the criteria, as far as Brandon knew.
There were a total of 12 seats in the Primordials, and each seat belonged to the top members.
Each member was ranked accordingly, 1 being the strongest, and 12 being the weakest.
But weak was an understatement…
Even the 12th seat alone could make up for an entire army.
But most likely, the man that appeared before Brandon was only a subordinate of a seated member.
This is because the seated members did not personally take jobs, unless they had to.
And since this was just a Hitman job, there was no need for a seated member to make an appearance.
Brandon continued to peer in the conversation.
But…
'The Primordials had never targeted Deus Company in the novel, so why?'
What changed?
It was then when Brandon realized…
It was because of him.