Zain arrived in CB-2 again, stepping out of a cracked rear-view mirror wedged between two buildings.
He landed silently, his boots tapping the ground just once before he faded into the shadows.
Mirror Step was faster than walking, faster than running.
And today, speed mattered.
Around him, chaos.
Thugs—dozens of them—were darting through the streets like cockroaches in panic.
So carried stolen weapons and others barked orders.
But none of them noticed Zain as he watched from the rooftop edge above.
He narrowed his eyes.
Scavratt's little rats are in disarray.
That much was clear.
He crouched, scanning the ground.
My current points: 1,680. That's not enough.
If I want to unlock a mid-tier ability, I'll need at least 10,000 Hack Points. Maybe more.
He watched as a group of five D-Rank thugs sprinted through an alley.
D-Ranks... even if I kill ten of them, I'm barely scratching a hundred points.
Most of these losers are worth ten. Fifteen at best.
He exhaled slowly, the weight of his goal building behind his eyes.
I need C-Ranks. Real ones. At least a dozen. The kind that give a hundred per corpse.
But the more he watched, the more frustration crept in.
If only... these D-Rank thugs could be upgraded."
That thought lingered—then sothing clicked.
A mory from his past life.
A sect. Twisted. Obsessed with mutation.
Their disciples burned their own blood to erupt into temporary monsters.
Berserk beasts that destroyed everything—including themselves.
Zain's eyes narrowed.
"...That might work."
He turned to his system.
"System, give a low-tier ability."
Zain tried to explain it.
"Sothing that lets use my blood to force a mutation."
"Transform a D-Rank thug into the lowest form of a C-Rank berserk creature."
"Make them hostile to everything. No allies. Just rage."
---
[Hack Initiation: Ability Acquisition]
[Target: Zain]
[Ability Acquired: Blood Rage Mutation (Low Tier)]
[Effect: Infects a target with the user's blood, causing a temporary berserk mutation into a hostile and stronger creature with no ally recognition. Only effective on targets with lower overall stats than the user.]
[Total Cost: 100 Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
---
Zain grinned.
"It worked..."
He pulled out a small throwing knife.
He dragged it across his palm and sared his blood along the blade's edge.
Then he crouched and slid into a nearby cracked window.
Mirror Step.
He ca out from behind a lone thug patrolling a side alley.
The man barely turned before—
CRACK!
Zain struck him in the neck with the butt of the blade, knocking him out cold.
He crouched beside the twitching body and drove the blood-sared blade deep into the thug's shoulder.
His blood seeped in instantly.
Zain stood up, eyes glinting.
"Let's see if it works..."
Seconds passed.
Then the body twitched.
Hard.
Muscles began to bulge unnaturally.
The skin discolored, veins turned black, eyes went bloodshot, and the mouth foad.
His body arched and slamd against the wall.
The thug's scream beca a distorted roar.
Zain stepped back slightly, satisfied.
"Perfect. Now... let's see if this really works."
He cracked his neck and burst forward.
Quick Step—
In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of the berserker.
Hard Grip—
His hand snapped out, caught the creature's face mid-roar, and slamd it down.
CRUNCH!
The skull crumpled in his palm like wet paper, blood and bone splattering across the alley walls.
The creature stopped moving.
Zain stood, flicked the blood from his fingers, and looked down at the corpse.
"System, absorb it."
---
[Absorbed C-Rank Material: 100 Hack Points]
[Current Hack Points: 1,680]
---
Zain let out a short laugh.
"...Damn."
He glanced at his total—rising.
"That's exactly what I wanted."
He turned toward the sound of distant shouting.
More thugs were nearby. Still clueless. Still weak.
Zain smiled darkly as he reached for his knife again.
"Now it's ti to cook all of you..."
His eyes lit with fire, crimson glowing in the night.
"...before I eat."
Without wasting any ti, Zain vanished into a mirror shard leaning against a dumpster.
He ca out from behind two more D-Rank thugs laughing over stolen liquor.
They won't be laughing long.
He moved fast—too fast for them to register.
One elbow to the jaw. Crack.
The other caught a hard grip on the throat—snap.
Both hit the ground.
Zain crouched, sliced his palm again, and sared blood across both bodies with precise stabs to the chest.
"Let's wake you up," he muttered.
Ten seconds later, they convulsed violently.
Their bodies twisted, eyes turned red, and bones cracked as the Blood Rage Mutation kicked in.
Zain straightened up and smirked. "Now scream."
They did.
Their mutated roars echoed down the alley, drawing the attention of nearby Rust Rat patrols.
Zain surged forward again.
Quick Step, and then Hard Grip to the head of the first. Pop.
He spun and grabbed the second by the back of the neck.
He slamd him into the wall and finished it with a Fla Hand strike to the chest.
His heart ignited on contact.
He stood, panting slightly.
"System, absorb them."
---
[Absorbed C-Rank Material: 200 Hack Points]
---
Three down.
He didn't stop.
Next mirror.
Next alley.
Another lone thug taking a piss behind a broken fence.
One stab. Blood sared. Body mutated.
Another berserk scream—and Zain was already there.
He smashed him against the pavent like a broken doll.
CRACK!
"Absorb."
---
[Absorbed C-Rank Material: 100 Hack Points]
---
Four.
Then five.
Then six.
Each ti—sa thod. Strike. Infect. Mutate. Kill. Absorb.
By the sixth one, Zain stumbled slightly.
His breathing was heavier.
Palm still bleeding. Muscles strained. He'd been going nonstop.
He wiped the sweat from his brow, blood sared across his fingers.
"Damn... this mutation trick burns more stamina than I thought."
He crouched in the shadow of a rooftop chimney, eyes scanning the street.
He also looked at his current hack points.
---
[Hack Points: 2,180]
---
He smiled after seeing his hack points.
For now, he leaned his head back and exhaled.
"I need a break... just a few minutes."
But even as he closed his eyes, screams and shouts echoed from a few blocks away.
The chaos was spreading.
Zain chuckled under his breath.
"Looks like the bait's working."
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