Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

Michael trembled, but blinked twice.

Tristan nodded in satisfaction.

"You really aren't as smug anymore, asshole. Bullets really do things with the person's sense of self-importance," Tristan said.

He slowly untied the knot holding Michael's gag in place and put it out. His mind and body were on alert, ready to give Cutout the real signal in case Michael decided to be dangerous. Read new chapters at empire

At first, Michael just coughed. Tristan moved a bottle of water to his mouth and helped him to drink—not out of mercy, but because he wouldn't be able to talk with sandpaper-dry throat and a case of dehydration.

After Michael drank some and spilled some of that water, Tristan put the bottle away and looked at the man in silence.

Michael opened his mouth, then glanced at Cutout and closed it again, biting his lip. A soft whimper left his throat.

The tension was mounting up by a moment. Tristan was sorting the questions in his head by the order of priority.

"Do you really can appear in people's dreams?"

"Yes! I can, and nothing you can do can take away that power from me!"

As soon as he said that, fear flashed in Michael's eyes. Clearly, he wanted to say something else—but the truth serum was merciless.

"Interesting. Before you panic and try something stupid—I also have some… powers. Right now, my power makes you speak truth, only truth, and nothing but the truth. It also makes you speak. Don't fight it, and this entire interrogation will be more painless to you than you deserve."

Michael nodded shakily, making Tristan grin.

He really enjoyed the man's fear. No, it was true dread at this point—he must've realized that Tristan could be someone more than just a crime boss.

"Is your power comes from something like a 'system'?" Tristan asked next.

"Yes! How do you know?!"

Tristan scowled, before flash-fast slapping Michael's face.

He wanted to hit hard enough to break something, but at the last moment, kept his power in check and just hit hard enough to sting.

"I'm the one asking questions here, Michael. I should've started the interrogation by teaching you some manners."

Michael shut his mouth, whimpering in fear again. That was much better.

"Tell me about that system of yours. For a start—how did you get it?"

"It was a gift from our Lord! I was chosen—by Heavenly Lottery, the system told me itself. I knew immediately that I had a purpose then—to spread the God's gospel to uneducated masses. That's how the system called itself—The God's Word System."

Michael's expression turned reverent, while Tristan became thoughtful.

'So there really IS another system user—and there can be more! That heavenly lottery thing seems to just give them to people. But how many people? With the powers a system can grant, you'd expect system users to make more waves if there were many of them.'

Tristan supposed that there could be people who use their systems in a more restrained manner. People who reach success, but in a natural enough way: people who go rags-to-riches with their tech startups, people who become sports champions, artists who start with nothing and become famous in a few years…

A chill went down Tristan's spine.

'What about assassins so legendary and anonymous that they are nicknamed No Hope and other assassins copy them?'

That was a disturbing thought. Even more disturbing was the implication that came with it—although No Hope wasn't Tristan's enemy at the moment, anyone could hire him to attack Tristan. Anyone who knew his contracts or was lucky enough to find it.

That person might not even know he hired No Hope. Tristan was still only 95% sure that Someone You Knew, the assassin he had hired in the past, was No Hope. But he certainly was effective.

"What does your system do besides let you appear in people's dreams?" Tristan asked Michael, pulling himself out of his thoughts.

Michael had no choice but to explain.

It was pretty straightforward, and really similar to Tristan's system in some ways—and very different in others.

The God Word's System had attributes, skills and talents just like the Second Identity System, but they were all different. Michael's skill-set was mostly focused on being convincing and charismatic, reading people's intentions and desires, and being a good leader.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He didn't put a lot of points into the latter part.

The God Word's System gave Michael system points for spreading his 'word'.

Michael was convinced that it gave points for spreading the word of Christianity and Noidolism specifically, but after making Michael read aloud the God Word's System FAQ, Tristan was sure it just meant 'convincing others in whatever faith the user wanted to organize'.

It wasn't very clearly explained, and Michael was a fanatic of his own beliefs, though and through.

Appearing in dreams was a talent Michael bought relatively recently, and one that had the most use.

Another talent let him really turn mass hatred into something tangible enough to make people sick. It was the talent that affected Tristan, Nelson and half the showbiz industry earlier. However, it really required hundreds of thousands of people to feel hateful toward someone. Less if they REALLY hated that person, but either way, this sort of hatred was hard to evoke.

And the "psychic nuke" from earlier was the pinnacle of what Michael could do. A simple post cost him a lot of time working with his best skills to make it as contagious as it was—it was no wonder that after Tristan countered it once, Michael didn't make another one. He didn't have the time.

'That system… it really could've been incredible in the hands of someone smarter and less religious. Paradoxically,' Tristan thought. 'Or at least someone braver. Lottery is really random…'

Someone braver wouldn't have hid behind anonymity all this time, and would've certainly got more followers by now. Instead, Michael hid so well that people just followed his ideas. That clearly wasn't doing all that much for him.

"And as you said, you just got your system on an ordinary day, Michael?" Tristan asked.