Easily and without making any sound, Wolfram jumped over the blockage and headed toward where the remaining survivors are supposed to be. He took into account what the first soldiers he met said.

‘People with special abilities, huh? It doesn’t matter, a grenade can blow their heads out whether they’re special or not.’

After walking for two minutes, he started hearing some mumbling sounds so he suddenly halted his steps and covered his mouth to cover the evil grin plastered on his face.

‘Got you~~’

Wolfram didn’t attempt to trick them as there’s a strong chance the general is still there so he’d be immediately recognized. The door was closed so it wasn’t that easy to accurately guess their number. Fortunately, none of them was courageous enough to go outside. The man patiently waited for ten minutes yet nothing happened.

The place was as eerie and creepy as ever. Wolfram glanced to the toilets five or so meters away from the survivors’ room. He grinned and sneaked into the toilets while pushing its door, making it seem half-closed.

Half of the toilets and the sinks were destroyed but there were some usable ones. He hid behind the door and calmed his breathing then waited.

Sooner or later, someone is bound to come and relieve himself and that’s the opportunity he’ll be waiting for. He needs to know their exact number before initiating his plan.

Time slowly passed and after two and half hours, Wolfram heard the opening of the door. He held the knife in a reverse grip and readied himself. The half-closed door slowly opened and a short person with a white-coat, who seemed to be scared, entered the toilets. The man glanced all around him and just when he was about to glance at where Wolfram was, he felt agonizing pain come from his lower back.

A hand suddenly covered his mouth and a monstrous force pushed him on the ground. The opened door was closed by a gentle kick.

Wolfram licked his lips as he watched the injured scientist who he just caught.

“What a helpless sheep.”

He slided the knife near the victim’s neck and threatened

“You see, I’m sick, and from time to time, my hand tremors on its own. Aii! If I hear a loud noise, it might disobey me…”

Wolfram playfully talked to the scared scientist, who nodded his head despite the pain he was feeling. He nonchalantly removed his other hand, which was covered his victim’s hand. After patting some dust off the scientist’s coat, he said

“Let’s not beat around the bush. How many survivors are there in that room?”

“S-six!”

Wolfram’s eyes locked onto the victim’s face. He focused on the moving muscles and ever-so-shifting gaze. Without any remorse or hesitation, he plunged his dagger into the man’s skull, killing him. Unfortunately, no stats cards were dropped but he still got a meager 0.05 CP.

‘Tch! Lying even in such a situation.’

He viciously kicked the lifeless corpse then left this smelly place. Since the scientist just left to answer nature’s call, he left the room’s door half-closed.

Wolfram approached it and peeked through the hole only to see a crowded room, not with people but with weapons, food and water.

‘Hmmmmm’

Wolfram contemplated for a few seconds before he heard a sound

“What’s taking Akinari so long?”

The speaker was approaching the half-closed door, wanting to check on his front. Wolfram patiently waited for the golden moment and just when the other party was about to open the door, Wolfram backed away a step then used his leg to violently kick the door and the person behind it.

As the door sprung open so suddenly, everybody inside was startled only to see a cylindric black object fly from the outside and land at the center of the room.

“GRENADE!”

Like a group of headless chickens, the eight people inside quickly got up from their seats and ran toward the exit. Because they pushed each other and were in such a hurry, only to lucky fools were able to leave. The rest didn’t make it in time as an ear-deafening explosion blast them away, killing them.

The two who got out were partially injured and had trouble getting up only for them to hear to gunshots. Wolfram used his handgun to swiftly dispose of the two survivors. A lot of Dust accumulated inside the destroyed room, which became bloody and disgusting.

Nonetheless, Wolfram picked the two Stats cards and waited for a minute or so before entering the now slightly clear room.

Surprisingly, he could see a semi-illusory yellow barrier that enveloped a certain person. Though he was protected from the explosion, this barrier-like dome had countless cracks.

Wolfram curiously stared at this thing while pointing his rifle at it. He soon heard heavy coughing coming from a tall and muscular man who was wearing a military uniform. There were five or six medals on the left side of his chest and he had a thick black beard.

An innocent smile blossomed on Wolfram’s face, it was akin to a lost child who just met his mother.

“Oh my sweet sweet general.”

The man, who could only hear ringing in his ears, raised his head only to see a rifle pointed at him. His face paled and after carefully staring at the face behind the rifle, his expression turned ugly.

“Bastard! You’re still alive!”

Wolfram politely bowed his head and chuckled

“Alive and well, thank you, sir, hahahahaha”

The cracked barrier was still present so, after pondering for a few seconds, Wolfram pulled the trigger. A barrage of bullets landed on the yellow dome, causing more cracks to appear. When the first clip was emptied, the barrier shattered and disappeared into thin air, leaving the general defenseless.

Wolfram put down the rifle and squatted in front of the general, who was coldly glaring at him. The general’s leg was mangled thus making him unable to move properly. He activated the barrier a sect too late so he still received some damage.

Fortunately, he survived but he’s about to regret living through that explosion soon enough.

Wolfram dragged the injured General and put him on one of the intact chairs before sitting before him. The general’s face was pale as it the shattering of that barrier seemed to affect him too. The shock lasted for a few seconds and by the time he regained some clarity, he was already bound into a chair, unable to move.

He listed his head only to find a dark-haired man sitting in front of him, grinning and rubbing his hand excitedly.

“A living test subject is always better than a dead one!”

Wolfram took out his deck of cards and started experimenting, not minding the cursing general, who violently shook his body, trying to break free. The usually proud and dignified General was now in shameful position, his legs opened and his genitals exposed. Wolfram stripped the victim and enjoyed the look of despair on the man’s face, it was exhilarating.

He stuffed the smelly boxers into the general’s mouth to not hear the pitiful crying then started testing the sharpness of his cards. He would slash his cards at the victim’s chest and see if it does enough damage to cause blood to ooze out.

After spending ten full minutes trying everything from up close, he wasn’t disappointed with the results. The cards are indeed sharp enough to injure the skin, however, that’s while taking into account the level of the general and his stats, which are probably low.

The injuries caused by slashing with his cards are not that serious, however, when they’re thrown from a distance, they are quite lethal.

‘Quite strange, they seem to be much stronger when thrown…’

Wolfram fiddled with the cards while eating some chocolate bars. He was amazed by how well he can manipulate them, they seemed to have a will on their own, following his thoughts. They wouldn’t fall from his hand or become bent if not purposely done.

It was an unfamiliar yet pleasant feeling, the cards seemed to be part of him and not just a normal deck of cards. Once thrown at a target, they would return to the deck after fifteen seconds, more or less. If they miss the target, they will return in three seconds.

The poor General’s body became bloodied, more than twenty cards hit his chest, cutting some of the flesh and causing large amounts of blood to ooze out. Wolfram wasn’t finished, after he finished his experiments, he started the real torture.

He went all the way to the room where he found the injured woman and retrieved the half-full or full syringes before going back to ‘his’ temporary base, which was destroyed by his grenade.

The sedatives were all injected to the resisting General, who became much more restless after seeing a liquid coming from the tip of the syringes.

Soon enough, the general became drowsy before falling asleep, feeling pain no more. Wolfram chuckled before grabbing his military knife and viciously stabbing the man’s knees. The force behind his stab was more than enough for the bones to break.

Despite being heavily sedated, the pain caused the general to wake up from his sleep with a cry that wasn’t a cry due to the boxers stuffed in his mouth.

“Oh please don’t look at me like that~~ I’m shy so I might gauge your eyes out.”

The general shook his head and tried saying something, unfortunately, he couldn’t and the torturer didn’t have any plans of removing the boxers.

“It’s a shame there is no more goblins on this floor… I would’ve loved seeing them eat you alive.”

He licked the blood on his knife and stabbed again, injuring his hands.

The General couldn’t handle it as he fell unconscious due to the agony. This didn’t last long as he woke up seconds later after Wolfram splashed some cold water on his face.

…

The torture continued for two hours before the General after losing too much blood. His face was disfigured and his body was mutilated, it was a gory and disgusting sight, to which Wolfram showed no reaction as he cleaned his hands and removed the blood in the nearby toilet.

Feelings such as remorse or regret are foreign to him, who experienced things worse than hell itself. The world has changed and new laws are being established, the authority of those ministers or whatever is now useless. One will have to rely on his strength and wits to survive. Of course, some would want to be heroes and will try to seek justice but they’re bound to die, sooner or later.

Those who get try their best to get stronger every day, they’re the ones who will prevail, who will reach the apex, or so thought Wolfram as he stared at himself in the mirror. His deadpan face drastically changed as he started hysterically laughing

He pushed his wet hair back while grinning and saying to himself

“Isn’t this the chance you’ve been waiting for? Chaos, absolute chaos! The strong will start showing themselves and YOU will be fighting them! Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it thrilling? It’ll be just like the good old days!”

He continued staring at himself for a long while before punching the mirror, shattering it.

“But forsaking the past is the first step for myself! Once I get out, I shall be Wolfram Sakimoto no more!”

He suddenly thought of something as he retrieved the black card that showed his status. A smirk formed on his face as he intensely stared at the black card before laughing

“Yes! Hahahahaha as it was dictated! I shall be the Trickster!”

Just as he said that, the information on the black card changed. He was no longer named Wolfram Sakimoto but the Trickster.

His laughter reverberated across a third of this floor yet none heard his crazy laughter. The lunatic kept mumbling to himself for a long while before leaving the place as completely new man. He gave up his former name and past glory, if it can be described as so, and decided to tread this exciting path as the one and only trickster.