RPDH Chapter 24

The Ability Association, aka the ‘Low-Rank Ability User Mutual Assistance Association’, underwent a qualitative change after falling into the hands of the aristocracy six years ago.

Instead of promoting ‘mutual assistance among low-rank ability users’, it became just another tool in the aristocracy’s pocket.

At present, the majority of Association members were bounty hunters that carried out the Associations commissions for monetary gain. The aristocracy was behind many of these commissions, leading to the Association being viewed as accomplices or executioners by the public majority.

Even so, people continued to join the Association everyday.

The receptionist manning the front desk today handed over an ID card to the newly minted bounty hunter before waiting for the next person in line with a polite smile on her face.

She was met with the sight of a young man.

Dark hair framed his pale cheeks. His eyes lacked any trace of vitality despite being the crimson hue of blood. Instead, they were more akin to pools of stagnant water.

A blue pendant earring peeked out of the hair beneath his right ear.

The dark-haired young man brushed shoulders with the person who had just left. The difference between their builds was simply incomparable. He appeared especially frail in comparison.

He was only tall enough to reach the muscular man’s forearm.

The young man didn’t seem like someone who would be good in this line of work, the receptionist already decided in her mind.

She’s seen many people become bounty hunters only to never be seen again. She didn’t believe this seemingly fragile young man had what it took to become successful. After all, bounty hunter commissions almost all involved going after ability users.

There were four types of abilities and many more subsets. Some abilities even had unexpected additional effects bundled in.

The Ability Association was only responsible for disseminating commissions, not gathering intel. Every year, a significant number of bounty hunters would die due to insufficient intel as the positions of hunter and prey became reversed.

Being a bounty hunter meant putting your life on the line at all times.

Yet the receptionist did not voice any of her thoughts. It was none of her business. What did it matter to her if this person died during a commission or not?

Still, she felt a pang of regret for the young man’s features. He was very handsome, after all.

“Name?”

The receptionist got to work with that same polite smile plastered on her face.

“Li Baige.” The young man stated.

His voice was just as cold, as inflectionless and as alluring as his expression. Like a crystal clear spring hidden away in the mountains.

The receptionist felt even more regretful, but her hands kept tapping away.

She soon presented him an ID card with both hands. “Please take good care of your ID card, sir. You may now proceed to the bounty hall to select the commission of your choice.”

…

The bounty hall was right next door, just a short distance further to the right.

Li Li headed over right away after stuffing the freshly made ID card in her jacket pocket.

She was a significant disadvantage compared to the manhua world natives: her lacking physique.

In the real world, the longest distance she could jog at once was 800m. While that wasn’t especially bad by any means, it was nothing compared to the tough, battle-scarred natives of the manhua world.

Li Li had already gone and registered for a Sanda class soon after she first transmigrated, but there was no way her instructors in the real world would train her like her life depended on it. Progress was minimal.

Since she was here to investigate anyways, she would use the opportunity to work on her fighting instincts as well as the ability she had just obtained.

Thinking about it, she soon arrived at the bounty hall.

There was a huge display panel here divided into thousands of smaller cells under three main columns. Low level, intermediate level and high level from left to right.

The Ability Association’s commissions received one of nine ranks from F to SSS just like abilities did. Generally speaking, a Rank C ability user could take on a Level B commission, so on and so forth. Low level commissions could only be accepted by one person, a restriction that did not apply to intermediate or high level commissions. Some high level commissions even outright required groups to take them on.

Low level commissions were the most numerous, followed by intermediate level ones. The section reserved for high level commissions was completely empty at the moment.

Li Li was currently a Rank C. She thought about it for a moment before heading straight to the intermediate level area.

Soon, a certain commission caught her eye.

It was a Level C commission offering compensation to the one who brought down a Rank D ability user that had killed 20 low-rank ability users to date.

The commission’s funds were jointly raised by 13 people, relatives of the 20 victims seeking to avenge their loved ones.

Rank D…

Li Li thought about it. She felt like it was best to play it safe when she didn’t actually need to put her life on the line. She would test the waters with this first commission.

Besides, the commissioners had provided a very thorough description of this Rank D ability user, including places they often frequented. That would her the trouble of looking around blindly.

She accepted this commission.

…

The receptionist happened to glimpse the young man leaving the main hall during a lull in between processing applications.

He strode forward without hesitation, his expression as aloof as always on the other side of the windowpane as he disappeared from sight.

She wondered if he had given up for a moment before going with her work.

…

Yi Xiangnan was a bounty hunter.

However, He was only in it for the money. He would be more picky about commissions when funds weren’t so scarce.

Today, he was taking on an intermediate level commission to bring down a Rank D serial killer that had already claimed 20 low-rank ability user victims. The commission was jointly posted by the families of the victims and fell in line with the kinds of commissions Yi Xiangnan would take.

Yet at this moment, he felt like he had miscalculated.

His mimic-type ability allowed his hands to morph into the sharp claws of snow wolves. He was huddled in a desolate courtyard, crouched on the lawn that was more weeds than grass with his back pressed to the wall, gulping down air like a dying man.

That ability user wasn’t a Rank D, but a Rank C!

The intel had misled him!

The Rank C ability user roamed around outside, taunting him from time to time, “I’m going to find you…”

The sound of footsteps gradually grew louder.

Yi Xiangnan held his breath and quietly backed up and behind the wall.

The other party was also a mimic-type, killing ability users in order to drain those of the same type. Yi Xiangnan was just the prey they were looking for.

All Yi Xiangnan could learn from the initial confrontation was that the other party could freely manipulate their hair at will. The gash on the back of his transformed elbow that measured nearly 20 cm attested to that. It felt like a steel needle had torn through the area.

The other party absolute range was definitely within 100m. He had to find a way to put enough distance between them.

The dilapidated tile houses in the suburbs were arranged in evenly spaced rows. Some no longer even had roofs. The house Yi Xiangnan was taking shelter at had partially collapsed at some point. Sometimes, the more dilapidated a place seemed to be, the better it could act as a blindspot.

Indeed, Yi Xiangnan had entered the other party’s blindspot.

Yi Xiangnan’s ability could also enhance his hearing. He heard the other party go past this courtyard and head further away.

“Is he gone?” Yi Xiangnan wondered.

The footsteps continued to grow distant, more than 100m in the wrong direction if his estimation was correct.

Yi Xiangnan let out a deep sigh, only to discover even his exhale was trembling.

Did he survive?

“There you are.”

A voice suddenly came.

Hair that was like steel needles punctured the wall in an instant. Yi Xiangnan rolled forward to dodge, but the hair that seemed almost sentient came to life again and brought the wall down entirely.

“BOOM…”

Even as rubbled rained down on the strands, the long hair continued darting in Yi Xiangnan’s direction!

The hunter stood behind the collapsed wall, his eyes full of hunger and longing.

Time seemed to come to a standstill. The reflection of the long hair gradually dominated Yi Xiangnan’s pupils as its razor sharp barbs loomed ever closer.

He was going to die here, Yi Xiangnan thought.

Ability ranks could not be overcome. A Rank D like him could never escape the pursuit of a Rank C.

Now, he would die here, a full stop to his life.

He knew he should just accept his fate, but damn, was this frustrating!

“Crrk!”

The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh was heard.

Yet the pain Yi Xiangnan was waiting for never came. Even the hair that had almost ran him through recoiled in an instant, as if everything earlier was just an illusion.

Yi Xiangnan knew that wasn’t the case. He really had almost met his end. But now…

Had someone saved him?

He subconsciously turned towards the direction the sound had come from. He noticed the glint of a dagger peeking out of the ability user’s body.

The ability user’s eyes were still filled with the anticipation for a delicious feast. He belatedly looked down at his chest before turning back.

They saw a dark-haired young man.

Strolling through these ruins like one would the garden out back.

The black jacket ensconcing his body only highlighted his slender build. He reached out, revealing slender fingers beneath a dark glove. A long dagger materialized in his hand with the slightest clasping motion.

“A Rank C?” The dark-haired young man intoned. His eyes were like flawless rubies, beautiful yet cold.

Like the change in the rank in his prey wasn’t worth any consideration from him.

Because he was an even more powerful hunter.

However, Yi Xiangnan didn’t care about any of that. No matter who this person was, what his motives were, or whether he just saved Yi Xiangnan out of happenstance…none of that was important. Only one thought came to mind.

This person saved him!

…

“A Rank C?” Li Li already confirmed the answer before the question even left her lips.

He ability could turn illusions into reality and reality into illusion. Take for example the time she materialized a longsword out of thin air to block Yi Ming’s strike. The illusions she wove became reality.

On Rank D ability users, her ability had a 100% success rate. On Rank C and above ability users, however, the success rate dropped to just 50%.

She spotted her target immediately upon arriving earlier. The target’s full attention was focused on that wall, fabricating the sound of his footsteps leaving, and searching for his prey. As a result, he never noticed Li Li using illusions to shoot a fake arrow at him.

The roll ended up on tails and the arrow vanished without a trace.

It was at that moment Li Li realized: the information provided by the Ability Association was wrong. The target this time wasn’t a Rank D.

An unexpected kink in her plans, but Li Li felt like she was becoming accustomed to such things.

She drew the dagger she had prepared before hand and flicked it out backhanded. Then, she weaved an illusion in front of the Rank C.

Making it so that the dagger from before seemed to have materialized out of thin air as well.

“…Spell-type?
” The target was unsurprisingly misled by her. He shot a disinterested glance at the dagger Li Li was wielding. “Can’t drain. Useless. Scram!”

Before those words even fell, his hair hardened and shot in Li Li’s direction!

Mimic-types were able to include items of similiar composition as part of themselves, just like Yi Ming did with Tarnished Bronze’s walls.

However, mimic-types could only change existing items, they could not create them out of thin air.

That was reserved for spell-types.

Feeling the sturdy weight in her hand, Li Li concealed her smile beneath an expression of indifference.

The next moment, an illusion of ten daggers appeared around her.

Her illusions became reality the moment the target truly believed she was a spell-type.

Now, her will had been superimposed over reality!

In the midst of her conjured daggers, Li Li raised her hand with an indifferent expression.

A Rank C was more suitable for gaining experience, she thought.

With that, the daggers shot forward, clashing with the razor sharp torrent of hair.