Desolate World

Troy then shook hands with the NPC to mark their agreement. However, maybe because he was too excited, he failed to detect the strange light in the NPC's eyes.

The NPC then said goodbye. After the NPC left. Troy closed his shop and after making sure he was alone, he took the blank check from his inventory. 

Twelve million dirac. He had never imagined that one day he could hold a blank check with that amount of value. He put it on the table while looking at it with a stupid smile.

He imagined that on the same date of the next month, he would own 2 million dirac. It was equivalent to a million credits in the real world. It was some hundreds of thousands of credits more than the total asset that he had in the real world. The asset that mostly he got from the inheritance of his deceased parents. 

He planned to visit his brother and his family on Mars next month, after completing the contract. With one million credits, he could take a few days of vacation to relax. It might sound weird, but he really wanted to stop playing the game for a few days. Because, not like many people that entered the game to escape from their routine in the real world. He could no longer enjoy playing the game, except for a few moments when he received the payment like at the moment.

As he planned what else he would do with the money, he felt a feeling of being stabbed in the back, not as a metaphor but in the truest sense. Someone was stabbing his back that caused one-third of his HP to disappear. And he was afflicted with a stunned debuff for 7 seconds 

However, he didn't feel any pain, as he had arranged the pain setting to zero. However, he didn't think of it at the moment. He also didn't think who had attacked him or how someone could have appeared in his closed shop.

What was in his mind at the moment was the check on the table. Although he wanted to grab it and then enter it into his inventory, his hands were frozen on the table. Even if he tried his hardest, he couldn't move them. He felt that the time had become really slow. For every second he was frozen, he felt it was an hour or more. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he ever lost the check.

For some reason, his attacker didn't do anything after the first attack. As the time passed like a turtle, he hoped a miracle would happen. He hoped his attacker would make a mistake and let him grab the check. If it happened, he didn't mind dying. 

He of course knew that if he died, the check could also drop. Although it was a matter of probability, there was definitely a possibility that it wouldn't happen. He prayed to God, for it wouldn't happen.

Finally, he saw the last second pass, as he wanted to immediately grab the check. He was stabbed again. This time he felt cold. It made him despair. He had been inflicted by the frozen state for 5 seconds and his health was below 40%. 

He finally knew what the assassin or the thief that attacked him was doing. He or she was playing with him. The bastard definitely wanted to make him despair. 

Actually, he instinctively realized it from the start as his attacker didn't immediately kill him. He knew that he was being played by him or her. But, he couldn't do anything. The check was his life or death ticket. Once he lost it, he would be trapped in 12 million dirac or six million credit debt. Something that was impossible for him to pay, even if he sold everything that he had. 

As for asking his brother for help. There would be no way he could do that. As it was the same thing to pull his brother and his family into this quagmire. He knew well his brother was not that rich. Even if he was, it would definitely ruin his brother's family. So, even if he had to die, he vowed to not let his brother be involved in this mess.

As it was impossible for him to fulfill the contract agreement, why didn't he think to delete his character? Wouldn't that be the simplest solution? By deleting his character, he would be freed from his commitment.

But, he knew that it was impossible. There were many cases that happened in the past, where some crooked players tried to cheat on other players or NPCs with the contract. In short, they scammed them with false agreements that were written on the contracts. After getting the diracs, they sold the diracs to credit and then deleted their character.

But, what happened to them after that? The Union caught them for scamming. Besides sending them to prison, the Union also confiscated their savings and assets to compensate the victims. So, the system protection here was not just for a show. It would take effect either in the game and in reality.

Then he felt his hair was pulled and then he heard a cold and rough voice from behind him.

"Any last words?"

Troy couldn't help but shiver. And he couldn't say anything, as he was in a frozen debuff. He was then pulled from the table. He saw the check was already out of reach for him.

He knew that his fate was sealed. As his frozen state ended. He then took his sword from his inventory and stabbed his sword to the back. However, it didn't touch anything.

He didn't care where his attacker went. What he cared about was the check on the table. So he dashed to the table. As he saw the check was nearer and nearer to him, he stretched his hand to the check. But as his hand almost touched it, he felt someone hold him from behind. After that, he saw a machete appear from behind, and then came to his neck. It was so fast, he could only see it coming. Then Troy saw a notification from the system.

[You died]

***