Looking at the message on the screen, Sakura's eyes widened abruptly. Like a drowning person clutching at a piece of driftwood, hope reignited in her heart.
She quickly opened the Chrysalis organization's official app, a mission posting software called "Kill-me."
There, she found a freshly updated piece of information.
[Mission Type: Tracking]
[Mission Location: Far East, Nagazora City]
[Commission: 1,000,000]
"A tracking mission with a million-credit commission?"
Sakura was slightly surprised. This price was even higher than some assassination missions.
But her surprise didn't stop her hands. She hurriedly accepted the mission.
If she could complete this, she could resolve her current desperate situation.
Just as Sakura accepted the mission, another message popped up on the assassin software, pushing a new mission right in front of her.
[Mission Type: Kidnapping]
[Mission Location: Far East, Nagazora City]
[Commission: 10,000,000]
Sakura stared blankly at the mission popping up on the screen.
She counted the zeros one by one, confirming it was ten million, not one million.
Sakura's heart tightened, and her breathing unconsciously quickened.
Her assassin instincts kicked in, and she accepted it with the fastest speed possible.
As long as she could complete this mission, not only could she escape her current financial embarrassment, but she could also cover her sister's medical expenses for a long time.
"God... do you really exist?"
Sakura murmured to herself in a low voice. Such ups and downs made her start to doubt if there really was a god watching over her.
...
After accepting the mission, Sakura arrived in Nagazora City as quickly as possible.
At the same time, she learned why a kidnapping mission had a commission of ten million.
Because the target of the kidnapping was named "Ryoma."
Even as an assassin, Sakura had heard of this name that had frequently appeared in the Far East news recently.
The CEO of the thriving industrial giant MEI Corp in the Far East. Just a few days ago, he became known to almost everyone in the region for proposing a plan called "Second New Nagazora."
Sakura guessed this kidnapping mission might involve some political or commercial struggles, but that had nothing to do with her as an assassin.
Her task was simply to find Ryoma and kidnap him.
However, thinking of this, Sakura felt a bit troubled.
"As the CEO of MEI Corp, he must have a strong security team around him."
An ordinary security team wouldn't be a problem for her, but she needed time to prepare.
And time was exactly what Sakura lacked the most.
She needed to complete the mission and get the commission before the payment deadline for her sister's treatment next month.
"God, if you really exist... could you please make Ryoma appear in front of me?"
Sakura muttered in her heart, but as she spoke, she laughed at herself.
"How could I have such unrealistic fantasies? I should focus on how to kidnap Ryoma..."
Just as Sakura thought this, a wailing cry like ghosts and wolves came from not far away.
"GWAAH! WAAH! YAAH!!!"
"My money! My money!!!"
Sakura subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man kneeling on the ground, tearing at his hair and screaming at the sky.
Beside his feet lay only a thin, empty document envelope. Behind him was a luxuriously decorated pachinko parlor.
"Just a gambler who lost his family fortune..." Sakura glanced at him and prepared to ignore it.
But she quickly realized something was wrong. She turned her head sharply, her gaze fixed dead on the kneeling man.
"This person's appearance..."
...
Time rewinds to a short while ago.
After leaving the plantation in Africa, Ryoma found a stack of cash and a direct flight ticket to Nagazora City in the Far East inside the document envelope.
So, naturally, after two months, he returned to the urban area of Nagazora.
Clutching the envelope bulging with cash in his arms, Ryoma prepared to go home.
But the thought of home brought thoughts of his daughter, MEI. And thinking of his daughter brought a surge of deep guilt and unease.
He didn't quite know how to face her.
"Maybe I should go to a gift shop and buy MEI some presents?"
As this thought arose, Ryoma subconsciously started walking toward a gift shop.
But as he walked, he stopped in front of a pachinko parlor.
Staring blankly at the lavish entrance, Ryoma felt like a feather was tickling his heart. His gambling addiction, dormant for two months, began to stir again.
SLAP!
Ryoma gave himself a vicious slap across the face.
Clutching his swollen, red cheek, Ryoma gritted his teeth and said:
"Ryoma, oh Ryoma, how can you be so base?"
"Don't let the gambling addiction control your brain! You promised to become a qualified father, to be a role model for MEI!"
Then, Ryoma looked at the pachinko parlor in front of him and spat fiercely at the entrance.
"Hmph! Despicable!"
With that, he puffed out his chest and walked away without looking back.
From now on, he, Ryoma, and gambling were irreconcilable enemies!
Just then, the clinking and clanking sounds from inside the shop drifted out.
Ryoma stopped in his tracks, then turned around and walked toward the pachinko parlor.
"They say suppression is worse than guidance. Having experienced such hardships in Africa, my will is firm enough. I will absolutely not be swept away by addiction again."
"I'll just gamble a little bit. I absolutely won't lose my head."
"Besides, if I can win a large sum of money, I can buy even better gifts for MEI and change her opinion of me."
Thinking this, Ryoma walked into the pachinko parlor with his head held high.
Some time later...
Ryoma stumbled out of the pachinko parlor, collapsed on the ground, and screamed at the sky with all his might.
"GWAAH! WAAH! YAAH!!!"
Tears of regret slid helplessly from the corners of his eyes.
"My money! My money!!!"
Beside him, the empty document envelope fluttered to the ground.
Regret and despair intertwined in his heart. Ryoma felt his self-esteem being roasted over a fire, about to shatter.
And in this moment of despair, a gentle voice sounded beside him.
"Excuse me, are you Ryoma?"
Ryoma lifted his head and saw a suspicious-looking pink-haired woman wearing a mask, holding a photo and looking him up and down.
A sense of inexplicable familiarity appeared in his mind. Past memories began to surface. He remembered his experience of exchanging his life for money with that Faded Elf.
A bold idea appeared in Ryoma's mind. He suddenly straightened his kneeling posture, his face full of excitement.
"I am Ryoma! I am Ryoma!"
"Are you another Faded Elf? Can you give me money? I... I can exchange my life for it."
Ryoma looked up, staring at Sakura with expectation.
However, what greeted him was a karate chop from Sakura.
Thud! Ryoma collapsed instantly.
"I don't even have money myself, and you're asking me for money?"
Sakura packed up the unconscious Ryoma and dragged him away, her eyes filled with unconcealable joy.
Because Sakura knew she was about to be rich.