『Felix Karl Grimm』
I took off the headset feeling like a new man.
It had been... 2 weeks since I came to this world, and I have been doing a lot, not in terms of getting feats but in terms of preparation.
First of all, the Militech Training shard, I have been using it every single day for the past 13 days for 3 hours at a time, costing a decent chunk of money, but it was worth it. The shard was challenging, at least for a civilian like me. And having the headset on for too long hurt my head, but the experience of fighting in actual simulations was worth it.
Would I say I match the average gangoon in raw skill? Debatable. Would I easily dispatch one with Precognition? Certainly.
Other than that Militech Training Shard, I have also been working out in the Megabuilding Gym, trying my best to pick times when Animals weren't taking up the gym and smelling like chemicals. It has yielded decent results. Strong seemed to increase the rate at which I got stronger alongside its basic boost but as expected of a Common Trait, it was not by a large margin.
Then, after completing my training, I spent the last of all of my money to buy a full set of bulletproof armour and a silencer for my Unity pistol. It was auspiciously easy to order a full set, a bulletproof trench coat to carry things with, a vest, a helmet and a gas mask combo because I'll be dammed if people expect me to both go inside a gang hideout AND smell whatever the fuck is rotting inside mixed with whatever drugs they are cooking and shooting up.
Yes, it was stuffy, yes, it was rather heavy, but it's better to be that than dead from a stray shot. It was not to the point where it hindered my mobility greatly either, so I was fine with it.
And it also had the benefit of making me look kinda like a modern NCR Ranger. I may care about Substance more, but Style was very important.
People gave me strange looks here but even being dressed like this wasn't too ordinary in this hellhole. I sat on a secluded bench before calling Regina's number, which was actually publicly available. The call rang for a few seconds.
"Regina Jones here, what do you need?"
The view that appeared on my agent was that of a stern older woman with an eyepatch and long black hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a bulletproof vest over a white shirt with a cross necklace peeking out. Her arms were crossed, giving off a no-nonsense attitude.
"Hello, I was looking for some work and I heard you usually offer some? To be clear, I'd prefer some work that requires a gun."
Her appraising scan over my form clad from head to toe in armour, seemingly satisfied with what she saw, she raised an eyebrow.
"A merc? Considering I've never heard of you, you must be new."
I kept my voice even.
"New? New to the city, not new to the business. Need some eddies and some action. If you don't trust my capabilities all that much, that's fine, I'm fine with a low-risk mission if you want to see my work first."
Regina nodded.
"I'll choose to take words as is. I've got a job, client has a squatter problem in her restaurant. 'Cept these squatters are shaped like Tyger Claws. She needs someone to get rid of them asap. Doesn't matter how you do it."
I nodded back, stoically.
"I'll take it. I'll be done with it before evening."
She nodded back, even more stoically.
"Right, sending you the deets. I expect the good news soon."
We both nodded, very stoically, and the call closed. I checked the message Regina sent immediately. It had a location with a picture attached showing a vandalised restaurant; the location was barely a kilometre away, thankfully, within walking distance. I didn't have a car or a license, both of which I should look into getting when I get some money.
I started making my way there. I felt oddly calm; the feeling of my gun tucked into my coat pocket reassured me. I was at the peak of my energy, so I could use Precog for minutes on end. Although I was a bit apprehensive about messing with the Tyger Claws, they won't mess with Mercs unless they get a big reason to. Some gangoons getting clapped is not a good enough reason. Tygers are not known for honour and loyalty.
Without even 20 minutes passing, I saw the place in my sights, the restaurant in the attached image, there was a guard, wearing bright colours with an oni mask around his neck, smoking a cigarette with his arms crossed, a DRS Nova on his hip. Easy picking, hopefully, if I take him down smoothly enough, his friends inside won't notice me. If I do get injured, I have 3 MaxDox inhalers on me that I bought with the last of my money; they cost me A LOT.
I hid behind a wall nearby and steadied my breathing.
Calm down.
Even breaths.
I was going to be taking lives, but it did not matter; there was no judgment, nothing would be lost by these gangoons dying. No justification is needed for me to take their lives.
Remember the simulations.
Huff...
I stepped out from behind the cover, my gun raised, the sights aimed dead on to the Tyger Claws's forehead. Not even bothering to activate Precog for a stationary target.
Bang.
Slump.
There was no fanfare, no drama, I pulled the trigger, and not even a moment later, the gang member's head jerked back accompanied by a muted tap from my gun. His body slumped down with wide eyes like a puppet with their strings cut. Not even waiting for the dead body to hit the floor, I took off into a sprint towards the front door before the people inside noticed their friend was not guarding the entrance for them anymore.
Creak...
"Oi, Crai-"
Bang.
"-Huh?"
"Fuck an intruder-!"
"C-cough!"
Bang.
"You picked the wrong place-!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang. Bang.
"Sh-shit! You ba-"
Bang. Bang.
"Cough! Graah!"
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
I let out a sigh as I unloaded a few more bullets into the chest of the man who charged at me with a Katana. His body hit the ground before he reached me; everyone else was dead. One of them was bleeding out with a bullet lodged in their throat.
Bang.
He wasn't anymore.
The moment I entered, I saw three people playing cards around a table and did not hesitate, shooting to kill the one nearest towards me with a bullet to the back of the head. Then they were alerted, I activated foresight and nailed a guy that was getting up right in the chin, messing up with my aim slightly since I was aiming for the neck. After that, one of the guys picked up a nearby submachine gun and let out a hail of bullets towards me, probably the best fighter of the group, considering how fast he responded.
Unfortunately for him, I already saw him grabbing the SMG beforehand, so I moved out of the way and let out two shots, hitting his ear and eye. Another guy grabbed his pistol, but I shot him in the chest twice, both shots hitting either his heart or lungs, both lethal shots. The last guy charged at me with a sword, which I dispatched by riddling his chest with holes.
After they were all down on the floor, I sat down and took a deep breath. Real gunfire felt different from simulations. Way more intense when you know you can actually die and are killing people.
Feat Achieved! Take your first life while fighting against several gangsters
+1x Silver Ability Gacha Ticket
Feat Achieved! Complete your first Gig Flawlessly
+1x Silver Trait Gacha Ticket
I took out the tickets in a hurry and ripped them both.
Rolling Silver Ability Gacha...
An Uncommon Ability!
[Low Gravity]
|Rarity: Rare| |Class: Alter|
Allows you to create zones of low gravity in your line of sight, reducing the weight and falling speed of the objects in the area.
Alright, that's good, very good. If I ever do decide to reveal my abilities, this fucks over any vehicle chase I engage in. And if I can manoeuvre correctly, I can grab people and chuck them up before disabling the zones.
Overall, very useful, but I don't see myself using it over Precognition.
Rolling Silver Trait Gacha...
An Uncommon Trait!
[Loveable Pervert]
|Rarity: Uncommon|
When others are perverts they get beat up and/or charged. When you are a pervert it's charming or at most exasperating. As long as you don't cross the line people don't mind you being a perv as much.
Useless.
My goal here was to stack paper and kills, getting laid, while eventually a goal was not in the cards. I want to be able to take bullets; peeking at girls was not a priority.
I shrugged; it could come in useful as a niche later on.
For now, I spent a few minutes grabbing all of the Tiger Claws together before looking through their belongings. 2 Revolvers, 1 submachine gun, 1 smart submachine gun, which was trash in my hands, and 3 Katanas. The only things that caught my eye personally was the submachine gun and the most well-maintained katana of the bunch.
Using my Agent, I learned the SMG was an Arasaka brand Shigure, a good gun that I'd keep and a regular Katana if I ran out of ammo. The rest I bundled up to sell for some extra eddies.
Tucking everything into my spacious Trench Coat, I turned to the corpses. I should probably report the job well done.
I put the corpses all next to each other on their backs, being careful not to get too much blood on me and put their hands on their chests like corpses in a casket. I wanted to fit everything in one photo and not spam Regina with pics of my first mission.
Strangely, I felt less than I thought I would as I looked at and moved the corpses. Pushing that aside, I took out my agent and snapped a pic of them all next to each other, bullet holes visible and all limp. And then I sent the pic with a message to Regina.
'Done, all dead, no damage done to the shot beyond a few missed shots. Picture attached.'
A few moments later, a call started ringing on my agent. I went to answer and was greeted with a hologram of Regina. Looking ever so slightly happier.
"Preem job, and plenty fast too. I threw in a little extra for the neat work. Say, I didn't catch your name earlier. What should I call you?"
A smile tugged on my lips as I watched my wallet tick up by 700 Eurodollars.
"You can call me Grimm, if you need any jobs that need a gun to put to work, I'm here anytime. In fact, if you can, I'd like to get some more work done when my muscles are already warm."
Regina raised an eyebrow.
"Grimm? As in the reaper? Grandoise name, hope you can live up to it, else nobody gonna remember you by it."
I narrowed my lips. I hadn't thought about that. Felix was too personal, Karl sounded too lame, while Grimm was what I preferred people call me by.
She shook her head.
"None of my business. But I do know what can be your business. Some Claws again, my client's daughter was attacked, and he wants the debt paid back in pounds fo flesh. Sending you the deets."
"Alright, I'll get on it. Thanks for the job."
The call closed, and I hummed a tune as I opened my next assignment.
Papa needs some more ammo and tickets.
A/N: First job and Felix is a smooth criminal, Militech Training shards are good, Interfacing gives him good dexterity, and when you add cheating with Precognition on top of all of that, it makes for a special kind of murder machine hitting the streets. Helps that Lese Majeste is making Fixers favor him more.
The way Felix, or "Grimm" fights is actually pretty creepy. I decided to make the fight scene a little different to show it. He completes it with cold efficiency and no need for flair or flourish. Which is weird compared to his usual attitude. What did you guys think about the first gig? I'd love to know.
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