A Hitman's Guide To Becoming A Hero

The notification remained floating before Nicholas’ eyes:

{Charm Threshold Reached!}

{Reward Granted!}

{Analyzing Host Compatibility...}

{Upgrade Available}.

Nicholas frowned. ’Upgrade?’ The glowing screen flickered once before new text appeared:

{Void has met the necessary growth conditions.}

{Void has evolved.}

{Current Restriction Removed.}

{Void can now affect all designated targets chosen by the host.}

{Host may now designate targets regardless of origin.}

Nicholas stopped walking, and Julie nearly crashed into his back. "Why’d you stop?" Julie asked, but Nicholas ignored her, his attention remaining fixed on the screen.

For a moment he thought he had misunderstood, then he read it again, and again. His eyes widened slightly. ’Anything?’

Before now, Void only worked on abilities, powers, and skills—things connected to a person’s supernatural capability. That limitation had been the entire reason he couldn’t use it against the creatures inside the veil: the Bebilith, the Kamacura, the zombies.

All of them existed physically. Void couldn’t affect them. Or rather—it couldn’t until now.

Nicholas slowly clenched his fist as a ridiculous thought crossed his mind. The next second, he looked toward a nearby abandoned vehicle.

’Void.’ The sensation immediately activated. The rusted metal car vanished. The car slowly started vanishing, disappearing into nothingness.

Nicholas could feel the headache building up as he continued, but he stopped immediately, ’It seems it still has an effect range but I can now focus it on a particular object, it just takes more focus and concentration, sadly it still seem to have a usage time and cooldown time’

Nicholas thought looking at the time,

{28 minutes until cooldown}

He could switch it off and turn it off, but once the timer was down, he would be unable to use Void again for sometime.

Julie’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

"WHERE DID THE CAR GO?!" Nicholas stared, then slowly smiled. For the first time since entering the veil, a genuine smile crossed his face.

’That’s broken. Very broken.’ The system wasn’t merely giving him a stronger ability; it had removed the biggest weakness Void possessed. Nothing inside this veil was safe anymore—not the beasts, not the zombies, and definitely not the impure responsible for all of this.

Nicholas shoved his hands into his pockets and resumed walking while Julie hurried after him, shouting, "What was that?!"

"Nothing," he replied. "THAT WASN’T NOTHING!"

-----

Far away from Denvi Town and far away from the veil, inside an abandoned industrial district hidden beneath layers of ruined buildings, a laboratory quietly hummed.

Machines blinked, glass chambers bubbled, and the smell of chemicals saturated the air. The Master sat calmly in front of a large monitor surrounded by several floating screens, one of which displayed Julie’s livestream showing Nicholas’ figure moving across the screen.

The room remained silent. Hexi sat cross-legged on the floor scratching at his scalp, littering the ground around him with tiny strands of hair.

Shadow rested against the wall, half asleep. Zayx stood with folded arms, his eyes never leaving the screen, while Sniper leaned lazily in a chair smoking.

The Master finally spoke. "So." Nobody answered. His gaze remained on Nicholas. "So he canceled your abilities?"

Hexi immediately nodded, ripping out a clump of hair. "Yes, he did it! He made it disappear!" Another handful followed. "My Hex... It just vanished." His fingers trembled, his breathing growing faster.

"My beautiful Hex..." Shadow nodded and yawned. "I lost my shadow bear. It was annoying."

The Master folded his hands. "You couldn’t use your abilities at all?"

Hexi nodded frantically and Shadow nodded once. The Master remained silent. That alone was troublesome—very troublesome.

Abilities like that were rare, even among heroes. But that was exactly what he was looking for, ’If I can study him, I could use him to rid this world of this plague and the dirty heroes that came with it’ the masters eyes lit up with determination.

’It’s quite disappointing that he’s a hero... I won’t be able to get to him easily,’ he gnashed his teeth at the thought.

But another idea came to his mind as something else caught his attention.

His gaze shifted toward the footage showing the ruined streets filled with lizardmen, spiders, zombies, and monsters—all born from imagination.

A power capable of turning thought into reality. The more he watched, the more interested he became.

"A fascinating specimen."

Sniper exhaled smoke, "Talking about the hero?"

"The impure," the Master replied.

The room grew quiet as the Master’s fingers tapped softly against the desk. "An isolated reality. Self-sustaining manifestations and a physical creation." Every sentence made his eyes brighten further.

"This is extraordinary." Zayx frowned. "You want the impure?"

"I do," the answer came instantly with no hesitation and no uncertainty.

The Master stood, slowly approaching the monitor until his reflection stared back at him through the screen.

"If we can acquire this impure... then perhaps I can finally make progress." Hexi’s eyes lit up.

"We’re going hunting?"

"Yes," the Master answered. Shadow sighed, "I just got back," but the Master ignored her. Turning around, his gaze swept across the room.

"Hexi."

"Yes Master!"

"Shadow." Shadow raised her hand weakly.

"Zayx." The young man’s expression hardened instantly.

"And Sniper." Sniper immediately shook his head. "No."

The room paused, and the Master looked at him. "No?" Sniper took another drag. "I don’t feel like it. Besides," he pointed at the screen, "that’s a hero apocalypse. Sounds stressful. I don’t like stressful."

The Master rubbed his forehead.

Eventually he sighed, "Fine."

Sniper smiled, "Thanks."

"Then you’ll remain here," the Master added. "Even better."

The Master turned toward the others, his expression becoming serious. "You three will enter Denvi." Zayx immediately stepped forward, the hatred in his voice obvious to everyone in the room: "I’ll go." The image of Nicholas punching him through a building had never left his mind—not once. The Master noticed.

"Do not engage Phantom."

Zayx froze. "But—"

"Do not engage Phantom," the words came sharper this time, and the room fell silent. The Master stepped closer. "Your mission is the impure. Nothing else. Acquire the impure. Leave. That is all." Zayx clenched his fists, his jaw tightening.

For several seconds, nobody spoke, until eventually, "...Understood" slipped out. The answer clearly tasted bitter.

Hexi stood, a manic grin stretching across his face. "Can I eat brains if they’re there?"

"No."

"Aww. Can I eat one?"

"No."

"Half?"

"No." Hexi scratched violently at his scalp.

"That’s cruel." Shadow yawned. "Can we leave already?" The Master nodded.

"Go."

The three immediately turned, walking toward the exit. Though before leaving, Zayx glanced once more at the screen at Nicholas, his eyes burning with resentment.

The Master noticed but said nothing. The laboratory door slowly closed behind them and silence returned, leaving only Sniper remaining.

The Master stared at the monitor for a long time, watching Nicholas continue deeper into the town, moving toward the center of the veil, toward the impure, toward the source. Slowly, a faint smile appeared.

’With her abilities we can also create a world without abilities and I can easily get to her than Phantom... however, I don’t know to what extent it’ll last’

His gaze shifted back to Nicholas, ’I’ll still need him regardless’