After finishing his business, Nava left the One's Association and headed towards his meeting point with Nui. After a while, a large van pulled up not far from Nava. People nearby stared at Nava, as this wasn't a typical vehicle.
Although its shape resembled a large car, the wheels were replaced by thin, circular metal plates floating about one to two feet above the ground. This vehicle was a fusion of modern technology and magical runes. It could reach speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour, comparable to a high-speed train, and could even fly.
These vehicles were incredibly expensive; even the cheapest model cost over 100 million baht. Currently, only high-ranking national leaders or billionaires owned them.
When the passenger door opened, it revealed a spacious interior with sofas, a table, and all the amenities of a first-class cabin on a world-class airline.
"Get in quickly, friend! I'm starving!" Nui shouted from inside the van, dressed in casual shorts and a t-shirt. Nava smiled and nodded slightly before getting into the vehicle.
Despite their vastly different social standing, their friendship remained unchanged. There were no titles or statuses between them, only genuine friendship. Nui reached for the table, and instantly, two large plates of steak appeared.
"Friend, this is Elder-grade White Tiger Monster meat. Eat your fill, don't be shy. Consider it a welcome back treat," Nui said.
"Thanks, friend. It's rare to get free food from you. I'm not shy at all," Nawa replied casually, cutting a large piece of meat and immediately putting it in his mouth.
The two sat, drank, and talked in the car, like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time. For Nawa, it might have been only a few months, but for Nui, it felt like five years—five years he thought he would never see her again.
"Why are you working at this time? Back then, you wouldn't get out of bed until the sun was directly overhead," Nawa said.
"Huh… I don't know what kind of crazy Rank A guy with the 'red head' status went into town, making none of my subordinates want to go to work."
"I had to rush here at this really annoying time, but at least it led me to meet you," Nui said, taking a sip of his bubbly drink.
"You mean Mattehorn City?" Nawa asked, also taking a sip from his own bubbly glass.
"Yeah, Mattehorn City... Wait, how did you know? Don't tell me you were there too?" Nui exclaimed, looking at the other person with surprise.
"Who do you think that Rank A player with the red-headed status is?" Nawa asked, ignoring Nui's question.
Nui scratched his chin, deep in thought, before continuing:
"I really can't figure out who he is. Normally, players of that level would have many subordinates. Even if they wanted to kill someone, they wouldn't do it themselves.
They could just injure the other person to the brink of death and have one of their subordinates do it for them, and they wouldn't get the red-headed status. But he chose to kill someone himself."
"And he even went into the city to attract attention."
Nawa nodded in agreement, sharing a similar opinion to Nui. The behavior of this Rank A murderer was truly bizarre, and with the current information, it was difficult to determine his identity. Thinking this, Nawa decided to change the subject.
"Nui, do you know anything about the Earth Tiger Guild?"
"Of course I know. Who doesn't know one of the three biggest guilds in the country? But why are you asking? Do you think that Rank A murderer is connected to the Earth Tiger Guild?" Nui asked back, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Nawa.
In truth, Nawa wanted to ask about the deaths of the four members of the Earth Tiger Guild's Assassin Team, but he changed his mind. If the news leaked out that he was involved in the murders, it wouldn't just be him who would suffer.
Even Nui and the Over Company would be in danger, because this matter involved a legendary artifact coveted by players worldwide.
"No, no, it's not like that."
"I just borrowed money from a finance company that seems to belong to the Earth Tiger Guild," Nawa said.
"Don't tell me you mean Playforclash! How could you borrow money from them? They're no different from scammers!"
Nui said with a worried expression, knowing his best friend had borrowed money from Playforclash.
"What do you mean?" Nawa asked, frowning.
"Besides lending money at interest rates exceeding the legal limit, they also engage in human trafficking, a despicable activity."
"Players' organs are known for their high quality, making them highly sought after by wealthy individuals who want organ transplants, either for treating diseases or enhancing their strength. If someone can't repay their debt, they're forced to sell their organs."
"Hmm, I already knew that. It was written in the contract when I made it," Nawa said calmly.
"Heh… you still don't understand. If you can't pay them back, it's not so bad; you just have to work for them until you die. But if someone seems likely to repay them, something terrible usually happens to them."
"You mean the PlayforClash company murders Players to get their corpses?" Nawa asked seriously. Nui nodded before continuing:
"I can't confirm that, as there's no evidence. But one thing's for sure, borrowing money from them isn't smart. How about this? Whatever you owe them, I'll pay it off for you first, and you can repay me later."
"No problem, friend. I can handle this," Nawa declined.
Nui knew his friend's character well. If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have said that. Besides, I'd already checked with the manager and confirmed that you'd made almost 200,000 baht selling monster meat. So I didn't want to pester you about it any further.
The two talked about many other things, including about Porn, the girl who was both his close friend and first love. What Nawa learned from Nui was that since his disappearance, Porn's father had fallen ill with the same coma-like illness as his own.
Porn had dropped out of university and gone on to study at the newly established Asashi Institute. Now, she's a healer in the second hunting team of the Azure Dragon Guild.
"Are you worried about Porn?" Nui asked, staring into his friend's eyes.
"Mm," Nawa replied briefly.
"Then why don't you go and be by her side like you used to?" Nui asked, his tone becoming more serious.
"Don't joke around, friend. You know my relationship with Porn ended a long time ago."
"Besides, her boyfriend is a high-ranked player. He'll protect her better than I can," Nawa said calmly, draining the full glass of alcoholic drink in one gulp.
"Where did you get that information?" Nui asked.
"I saw Phorn having dinner with a man named Nopadol," Nawa replied with a neutral expression, but deep down, his eyes seemed to hide some hidden emotion.
"You mean the promising high-ranked player from the Azure Dragon Guild, the one expected to become an A-rank player in the future? As far as I know, he's Phorn's team leader, not her boyfriend. More importantly, someone like him isn't worthy of a good woman like Phorn," Nui said, frowning in displeasure.
"Friend, you don't have to worry about me being upset. As I said, my relationship with Phorn ended a long time ago. And from what you said, this Nopadol is a perfect man."
"The fact that Phorn has a boyfriend like this, as a friend, isn't that something to be happy about?" Nawa said, finishing his bubbly drink.
"Hmph, you don't know anything. That Noppadol guy isn't a good person. He's only interested in Phorn because he wants to take advantage of her family. He's not sincere with her at all."
Nui was silent for a moment, then looked at Nawa with a serious expression before continuing,
"My friend is asking you directly, are you really going to leave a good woman like Phorn?"
Nawa didn't answer, his face filled with complex emotions. As silence fell, a voice suddenly broke the silence.
"Sir, we've arrived," the driver's voice came through the loudspeaker.
"See you later, friend," Nawa took the opportunity to say goodbye and quickly got out of the car, ignoring Nui's shouts.
The path Nawa walked was through a densely populated community. Some houses were smaller than hotel rooms in Mattehon, yet almost ten people were crammed into them. Nawa's mother and younger sibling lived in one of those houses.
Although it was warm, it wasn't comfortable. The first thing Nawa intends to do now is find a new place for his mother and younger sibling to live.
Although the money he has now isn't enough to buy a new home, it's more than enough for a decent rental house or a condo apartment for his mother and sibling to stay in temporarily.
Nawa estimates that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, if he goes monster hunting a few more times, he should be able to earn enough money to buy a proper house.
As he neared home, Nawa saw a crowd of dozens of people gathered around something. Suddenly, Nawa had a bad feeling and hurried through the crowd. What he saw made him almost lose his composure.
He saw his mother and younger brother sitting on the ground, hugging each other and crying, surrounded by three or four burly men.
Instinctively, Nawa went to his mother and asked anxiously,
"Why are you crying, Mom? Who did something to you?"
Pim turned to look at Nawa, her voice trembling.
"Oh, son, why did you do something so stupid? Oh, oh, oh…"
Nawa wanted to ask his mother what she was talking about, but he knew she was too heartbroken to reason. So he turned to his younger brother instead.
"Tosh, what's going on? Why is Mom like this?"
"These people said you owe them millions."
"Did you really borrow money from them?" Thosapol said, turning towards the group of 4-5 burly men surrounding them.
Nawa recognized these men. They were from Playerforclash, the same company that had come to his mother's house a few days earlier to collect interest payments.
They had spoken disrespectfully to his mother, so Nawa had taught them a lesson by having White Snake sink its fangs into each of them, inflicting a wound or two, until they fled, fearing the snake's venom.
"Thosapol, take Mom inside. Leave this to me," Pim said, though she didn't want to go inside, she obeyed her son.
After Thosapol took his mother inside, Nawa approached the group of men surrounding them. He didn't say anything, but the killing intent emanating from him was so intense and terrifying that Mr. Wan's men instinctively recoiled.
"Calm down, little brother. We're not here to cause trouble."
"We're just here to work," Mr. Wan said, a mocking grin spreading across his face.
"What do you want?" Nawa asked, trying his best to control his anger.
"Nothing much. Originally, we were just going to look for that crazy snake that bit us the other day. But we ran into your mother, so we asked her to remind you that the interest on your 1 million baht loan is calculated according to The Oneness's time, not our world time. But your mother, for some reason, instead of thanking us, she started crying hysterically."
Mr. Wan said, shrugging his shoulders with a sarcastic expression.
Nawa clenched his fists. He knew he had been tricked. Time in The Oneness was three times faster than on Earth, which meant he would have to pay them many times more interest. But that wasn't what infuriated Nawa as much as these people making his mother cry.
Nawa took a brown envelope from his dimensional storage and threw it on the ground in front of Mr. Wan and his men, saying,
"There's enough money in there to pay the interest for a whole month."
"You guys take it and get out of here before I lose my patience!"
A man lunged forward, grabbing Nawa by the collar and shouting loudly.
"Damn... you're being too cocky. You don't know who you're talking to, do you? Just because you're a player, you think you're so great? We are..." Before he could finish, Nawa slapped the man across the face with the edge of his hand.
"Bang!"
The man's head flew through the air from the force of the blow, slamming into the concrete several feet away. Bright red blood gushed from his mouth and nose, staining the ground.
Seeing their comrade attacked, the remaining people, except for Wan, rushed forward, intending to attack Nawa.
These people, though not officially players, possessed brain function exceeding 12.5%, allowing them to enhance their physical strength with monster meat. Their average stats were already around 100, comparable to early Rank D players.
And yet, Nawa was just a newbie player who had only been in The Oneness for a few days. They couldn't see it in their eyes. Nawa's attack on his comrades just now was due to a surprise strike.
But what they didn't know was that Nawa's average stats were already over 200. He was just a little bit away from being a mid-level Rank D player. With such a huge stat difference, being outnumbered wasn't a problem at all.
Nawa used his superior power and speed to unleash a barrage of punches and kicks on Nai Wan's comrades, sending them flying in all directions. One man, still able to stand, drew a Spartan knife over 10 inches long from his back.
"You're going to die!" the man roared, lunging at Nawa with the knife in hand.
Nawa wasn't afraid in the slightest. He simply glanced at him and flicked his hand. Suddenly, the Spartan knife in the man's hand seemed to come alive. It vibrated violently before slipping from his grasp and piercing the man's leg.
"Ouch…"The man writhed on the ground in pain. Blood splattered everywhere.
"Impossible! The last time I saw him, he was just a weakling with stats below 80. And he's only been a player for a few days. How could he be this strong?" Wan exclaimed inwardly, his face showing disbelief at what he was seeing.
"Get them away from me, and don't let me see their faces again," Nawa said curtly, glaring at Wan with the eyes of a beast.
Nawa was trying his best to suppress his anger. It had been a long time since he'd felt this angry, not even when his life was at stake. Wan and his companions had crossed a line they shouldn't have.
"Hmph… kid, don't get too cocky. From my perspective, your stats are at most 250. Even though they're increasing at an alarming rate, they're still far from my level, Mr. Wan."
Having said that, Mr. Wan tensed his muscles, causing them to expand and his clothes to tear.
"Hahaha! Watch this, you pathetic wretch! This is the Empower skill, considered one of the top attack powers among E-rank skills. It's a completely different level from your pathetic telekinetic powers. With this skill, my strength stats will increase by another 50%!"
Mr. Wan had a strength stat of around 500. The Empower skill increased it to almost 800. In terms of strength, Mr. Wan was already at a high-rank D level. He didn't see Na as just a player who had only been in The One Nest for a few days.
"It seems you don't understand human language. I'll say it one more time. Get out of here, or you'll end up like your comrades."
Having said that, Na walked towards Mr. Wan without any defense. Nawa's actions showed that he didn't value the other party at all.
"Damn... you're being too arrogant. Go to hell!" Wan roared in fury, intending to crush Nawa's bones. But then he felt his body losing control.
Now, Wan's body, brimming with power, was floating more than a foot above the ground. While it wasn't a huge height, it was enough to render him helpless. No matter how powerful his muscles were, without a solid foundation to stand on, their power was meaningless.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Nawa unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks on Wan's body. Wan tried to parry, but to no avail. Without his feet touching the ground, he couldn't move as he wished. Furthermore, his Empower skill only increased strength, not speed. Wan was now nothing more than a punching bag floating in mid-air.
In an instant, Wan's body was covered in bruises and blood. If Nawa hadn't deliberately avoided vital points, Wan might have died. But this wasn't due to mercy. On the contrary, it stemmed from the raging rage in Nava's heart, a desire to inflict excruciating pain on the other party.
"Stop right now!" A familiar voice came from behind, causing Nava to stop immediately. It was his mother's voice, now walking out of the small house, supported by his younger brother.
"Why did you come out, Mom? It's dangerous here," Nawa said, running to support his mother's other leg.
"If I hadn't come out, you would have become a murderer," Pim retorted, tears streaming down her face.
In truth, even if Nava had actually killed these people, it would have been self-defense, as they had also intended to kill him. But Nava chose to remain silent and listen to his mother vent. Strangely, after listening, Nawa not only lost his anger, but also regained his composure.
The murderous intent that had raged within him almost completely dissipated.
In contrast, Mr. Wan felt no gratitude for being spared. His heart was filled with burning vengeance, resentful of being forced into this situation. He activated his dimensional storage and drew a firearm.
Normally, few players carry firearms. Because once it's brought into The Oneness, it becomes useless, even more so than a rock. But in the real world, guns are still terrifying weapons, capable of easily taking the life of a Rank D player with just a flick of the finger.
Mr. Wan aimed his gun at where Nawa and his mother stood before shouting in fury.
"You scum, today will be your day to die!"
Nawa turned to look in the direction of the voice, and almost instantly found himself shielding his mother and younger sibling.
"I underestimated you,"
Nawa cursed himself inwardly. He forgot that the other party wasn't an ordinary person. Injuries that would incapacitate an ordinary person for months were nothing compared to the injuries sustained by players many times stronger than average. They could still move or even retaliate.
If Nawa were alone now, he would have gone straight to deal with Mr. Wan. With his current stats and equipment, even if he were shot, he likely wouldn't suffer fatal injuries. But now his mother and sibling were behind him, so he couldn't do anything but use himself as a human shield.
"You're such a good person, aren't you?"
"Even willing to die for your family? Fine. This Wan will help you fulfill your wish."
Wan unleashed his full killing intent. He truly intended to kill Nawa, but before he could pull the trigger, a short knife whizzed through the air at high speed, crushing his gun into pieces before landing on the concrete road several tens of meters away.
Nawa turned to look in the direction the knife came from and saw someone he knew well.
"You bastard! How dare you shoot someone in broad daylight? Do you even think there are laws in this country?" The voice belonged to none other than Nui, Nawa's close friend.
"N-that's Mr. Nui! Why is he here?" Wan exclaimed.
Nui was the only son of the CEO of the Over All Group. While not on par with the three giant guilds, he was still a well-known and influential figure in the Thai gaming community.
"Do I need to ask you guys where I go?"
Nui roared. Beside Nui stood a man in a black suit; he was Nui's driver and the one who had saved Nawa's life by throwing the dagger earlier.
This man was hired by the Overall Group as Nui's bodyguard. While not a high-ranked player, he was a high-level C-rank player, on par with Singkhon, the C-rank player who wreaked havoc at The Future Guild's press conference.