I didn't waste time. The man's corpse was still warm when I crouched beside him, stripping the uniform off his body.

It wasn't glamorous, but efficiency mattered more than dignity.

His clothes smelled faintly of sweat and metal, exactly what you'd expect from a guard on duty.

He even had a Aegis guard mask. Perfect.

I slipped into the outfit quickly, tugging the dark fabric over my face.

It fit better than I expected, snug around the cheeks, hiding everything that mattered.

The uniform hung a little loose on me, but nothing too obvious, at least not in the middle of chaos.

As for the body, I wasn't stupid enough to leave him lying around like a neon sign pointing straight to me.

I pulled out another fabric from my inventory and wrapped him tight, almost like a bundle.

Then, with one last push, I shoved him off the truck bed.

He rolled down into the underbrush with a soft thud, swallowed by shadows. Out of sight, out of mind.

I sat back down, forcing my breathing to steady.

The truck didn't stop. If anything, the driver sped up, pressing harder on the gas, desperate to reach the safety of the branch compound. Safety for him, anyway. For me, this was a golden ticket.

My chest rose and fell faster than I wanted, adrenaline burning through me.

A chuckle slipped out before I could stop it, low, sharp, and just a little unhinged.

A one-man invasion. That's what this was. Cheap grenades, a katana, a mask ordered online, and sheer audacity.

If anyone wrote this in a book, it'd sound ridiculous. But here I was, breathing heavy in the back of a truck, literally pulling it off.

I glanced ahead.

The branch loomed closer, a massive structure lit with harsh floodlights that sliced through the night.

Guards were already swarming the place, moving in tight groups, weapons drawn, their heads whipping back and forth as they searched for the phantom attacker. Me.

And here I sat, casually rolling toward them.

For a second, I almost laughed again.

The truck screeched to a halt just short of the compound.

Immediately, armed guards poured in from every direction, forming a wall of steel and suspicion.

Their rifles pointed at us, eyes scanning the truck like hawks.

The driver threw his door open, stumbling out in a rush.

He looked panicked but alive, and that seemed to be enough for them.

Some of the guards eased, lowering their weapons a fraction.

"Quickly! Let them in! We don't have time to waste!" one of them barked.

He stood taller than the rest, his uniform crisp, his face exposed, probably a higher rank.

His voice cut sharp through the alarm still wailing in the background.

Without a single inspection, the gates groaned open.

The truck rolled forward into the belly of the beast.

I leaned back against the wooden crates stacked beside me, my eyes narrowing behind the mask.

Idiots. Absolute idiots.

But their stupidity was my blessing. They weren't about to waste precious seconds checking the truck, not when they believed an ambush was still lurking in the dark.

Delay here meant risk out there, and none of them wanted to be the unlucky ones to take that hit.

And besides, the driver… yeah, judging by the way they looked at him, some of them knew the guy. Familiar face, trusted routine. That was even better for me.

As the gates slammed shut behind us, I allowed myself a thin smile.

I was inside.

The lion's den had opened its doors, and I had just walked in wearing its skin.

The truck soon after rolled to a stop, sliding into a parking spot deep inside the compound.

The two guys in the front slumped in their seats, letting out the kind of heavy sigh you only hear from people who think they're safe.

The alarms outside still wailed, guards shouted orders, weapons clattered against armor, but these two believed the iron gates had wrapped them in protection.

Poor fools.

"Start offloading the bags," the man in the passenger seat barked, his voice sharp as he leaned back, expecting obedience.

He thought his buddy, the man I'd already sent six feet under, was still sitting behind him.

I didn't answer.

Instead, my eyes shifted toward the back of the truck.

Bags.

Dozens of them.

Canvas sacks stacked neatly, their zippers straining from the weight inside.

At first, I thought they were stuffed with ability, technique books, or maybe weapons, something valuable but expected.

Something the Aegis Collective would obviously transport.

I crouched down, tugging one open.

The zipper hissed.

My heart dropped.

"Shit…" I whispered.

Money.

Stacks upon stacks of crisp bills filled the bag from top to bottom, packed so tightly it was a miracle the seams hadn't burst.

Not just money, serious money.

The kind of wealth that could rewrite someone's entire life.

For a moment, I just stared. My pulse thudded in my ears, the reality of it almost too heavy to process.

And then, a familiar blue shimmer blinked into existence before my eyes.

The system.

[...!]

Even the damn thing looked speechless, the screen hovering silently, as if it didn't know how to describe what I'd stumbled across.

A slow grin stretched across my face, sharp, wicked, and utterly uncontainable.

I'd hit the jackpot.

My fingers twitched. My mind raced. My eyes darted to the other bags. Each one probably stuffed with the same thing.

Rich. I was about to be rich.

"Don't waste time," I muttered to myself, forcing my hands to move.

In a frenzy, I grabbed the sacks one by one, shoving them into my inventory as fast as I could.

The system space swallowed them whole, bag after bag vanishing into the void.

My breathing grew quick, my heart hammering as the pile shrank.

No hesitation. No second thoughts.

This was money that could change everything.

Techniques, weapons, power-ups, whatever I wanted, I could buy.

I could invest, grow, stack advantage after advantage until no one could touch me.

And best of all? To hell with the system's threat about reducing my stats.

If I failed the quest but walked away with this haul, who cared?

Then, mid-grab, the system chimed again.

Ding!

[If you fail the quest, you will be limited from leveling up for one month.]

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