From the Abyss of Stars Part 2

079. If a katana can't break through armor, who exactly is it meant to cut?

【You triggered a side quest—《Teach the Cowards a Lesson》】

【Type】: Combat

【Duration】: 1 Natural Day

【Difficulty】: D

【Description】:

"A bunch of cowards left me to almost get beaten to death. Beat them up."

Three friends abandoned you out of fear, betraying your past friendship completely. This is something you cannot tolerate. Use your strength to teach them a lesson, or simply kill them and make a name for yourself.

【Completion Criteria】:

A. 《Rule by Force》—Use physical means to beat Rito, Jiro, and Seinosuke until they submit to you.

Reward: 200 experience, Rito, Jiro, and Seinosuke will become your lackeys.

B. 《The Traitor's End》—Kill them.

Reward: Random (Based on mission rating; the higher the rating, the better the final reward.)

——————————

"A quest already? Alright, let's do this."

Caramel Snail staggered toward his targets. This quest could give him 200 experience, enough to level up his 【Street Kid】 profession. Meanwhile, everything around him felt strange and new.

Tianhuan was a bizarre country. Neon lights flickered everywhere, and hover cars zipped by, but people still wore oversized robes, bowing their heads and constantly saying, "Hai hai, arigato."

Part futuristic, part retro.

Under the artificial sun's glow, they crawled like ants. Metal spikes piled up near the subway station's vents to prevent homeless people from sleeping there. The cold sunlight cast a gray filter over the world, yet in the distance, the Hojo Group building romantically projected a holographic sakura blossom rain onto the streets. But if you reached out to catch the electronic petals, all you would see in your cybernetic eye was shattered fragments of nothingness.

People's eyes couldn't keep up with the speed of hover cars, yet their wallets emptied faster than ever. The people on the streets walked in a daze, hurriedly moving along without a shred of hope for life.

Bleakness was the perfect description of Nuliang City, Tianhuan's largest industrial metropolis.

Like all pure industrial cities, Nuliang City had terrible law and order. The transient population created an unstable social environment, with mines, factories, and urbanized districts everywhere. Workers became addicted to the industrial entertainment, unable to hold onto their earnings. Workers from all over would form gangs and organizations, initially to protect themselves. But the power of these organizations grew, and over time, Nuliang City became a dark city rife with gangs and evil.

Did the Tianhuan government not care? According to Saga Ki's audio diary, he anxiously stated, "(The Tianhuan government) better not get involved. For the sake of cost, all these tasks are outsourced to the major clan companies. The Samurai of the clans will filter the entire city like a sieve, leaving only the obedient civilians. The corporations will throw students into the mines, shove wanderers into factories, and make them work day and night until they die. Even their organs will be harvested afterward and offered to the company's executives as 'corporate benefits' to encourage workers to work overtime."

Everywhere on the street, junkies stumbled like zombies, their mouths drooping, eyes hollow, limbs twitching strangely—making Caramel Snail deeply uneasy.