Chapter 96: Paul
Paul went wide-eyed. His brain didn’t seem to function and the knife plunged into his heart, his breath caught sharply as the blade made contact, the sensation of pressure followed by a searing pain radiating from the wound. His legs, however, operated independently and they kicked away the masked man, ripping him away from the weapon.
The wound, though shallow, sent a jolt of intense discomfort through their body, causing them to gasp in pain. The initial shock gave way to a throbbing ache, the area around the injury tingling and stinging as adrenaline surged through their veins.
"W-what the—" Paul’s hand instinctively pressed against the wound and the embedded blade, his fingers coming away with a smear of crimson. Despite the shallowness of the wound, blood welled up, staining his clothes.
A shallow stab, nothing life-threatening.
In an instant, he locked onto the masked assailant. He was tall, strong, and recovering abnormally fast. Paul was an Amateur Knifeman, which meant he was given the Class Skill Super Speed Lv. 1, which was further upgraded into Super Speed Lv. 2 and 3 via the Knifeman skill tree. Speed was his forte, not strength or durability.
Paul’s HP started to drop. His heart throbbed from the looming threat of metal ripping it into pieces.
"Haa, haa...." His heavy breathing wouldn’t stop. Panic settled in the masked man took a step forward. Suddenly, he was reminded of the stories Kazi told of the Teke Teke—of the ghost train he was in. But then, above, he saw a name, a level, and an unknown class. This person...
"W-wait, wait! You’re a player, right?" What could he say? Did he have anything of value? He was a slave. A nobody. Somebody whose life had wasted away. His family hated him and his friends—
"Paul? Is that your name? I’m Kazi. Are you afraid of trains maybe?"
"Ah, understandable! Don’t be scared. It’s a steam engine train. I think the model is post 1928 judging by the classification, so we should be fine. No explosions or huge bumps"
Kazi crossed his arms and joked, "She’s from Seoul, she loves pollution. Right?"