They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World Chapter 194: Uncle?

{Jin’s POV}

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We stood at the forest’s edge, about two miles northeast of Thornhaven, with a crumpled mission paper in my hand.

Mission: Herb Collection

Description: Collect 15 samples of Moonveil Moss from the northern forest region.

"Three more," I muttered, scanning the underbrush.

It’s simple and easy. The kind of low-stress mission I’d picked deliberately because we needed a break and we could also find sothing useful for alchemy.

A few yards away, Tessa let out a triumphant little "Aha!"

She practically bounced over a mossy log, yanking a thick, shimring root from the soil.

With a practiced flick of her wrist, a ripple distorted the air, and she dropped the root into her spatial storage.

She turned to us, a bright, satisfied grin on her face.

"I’m doing great, right?"

Scarlet stood nearby, leaning her weight on one leg, her arms crossed. She wasn’t bothering to look for roots; her eyes were locked on the dense tree line, always on guard.

"Alright," I said, folding the paper and tucking it into my belt. "We’re almost done, just—"

Suddenly, a cold prickle of warning crawled up my spine. My instincts scread before my brain even processed the sound.

I ducked hard.

Whoosh!

A throwing knife, slicked with sothing dark and venomous, sliced through the exact empty space where my throat had been a fraction of a second ago.

It buried itself deep into the bark of an oak tree with a heavy thunk.

Thud!

I hit the dirt and rolled, bringing up my interface.

Debug Vision.

Through my eyes, the reality of the forest shifted, overlaid with faint, glowing lines of data.

Up in the tree branches and erging from the brush, the silhouettes dropped their camouflage.

Five... no, six of them. All wearing dark, reinforced leather armor. But that wasn’t what made my stomach drop. It was the numbers hovering over their heads.

"JIN!" Tessa scread.

Scarlet’s knives were already in her hands, her body coiled for combat.

"Fuck."

The word escaped before I could stop it.

They’ll are twenty-plus level assassins.

The figures spread out, encircling us with practiced efficiency, cutting off escape routes.

They wore dark clothes, designed for movent and concealnt. Faces covered beneath hoods. Weapons visible but not drawn yet.

The lead figure tilted his head, studying .

I threw a knife from my belt, not at them, at the ground between us, which was embedded with a mixture I recently created.

The knife hit the dirt and detonated in a burst of brilliant white light and deafening sound.

"RUN!"

I grabbed Tessa’s arm and bolted, Scarlet already moving beside us.

Behind us, the assassins recovered from the flash.

"After them! Don’t let them escape!"

I summoned light orbs as we ran, throwing them behind us and trigger them to explode in blinding flares.

Then I used my debug vision.

The ground beneath the pursuing assassins beca treacherous, mud where there should be solid earth, roots that shifted underfoot, stones that rolled unpredictably.

I heard cursing, stumbling, but they didn’t stop.

They’re adapting.

I layered buffs on all three of us while running.

Our speed increased, the forest blurring around us, branches whipping past.

Tessa was keeping up despite not being combat-oriented, her enhanced agility letting her navigate obstacles that should have slowed her down.

Scarlet ran beside us, her expression grim but focused.

"How many?" she gasped between breaths.

"Six."

"Shit."

We crashed deeper into the forest, following no path, just putting distance between us and the pursuit.

Then my debug vision flashed another warning.

[TERRITORY_ALERT] e

ntering: CORRUPTED_BEAST_DOMAIN

danger_level: HIGH

Damn it... we don’t have much choice.

Assassins are behind, beasts are ahead.

We burst into a clearing and imdiately three massive shapes rose from the underbrush, corrupted wolves, bigger than the ones from the mine, their eyes glowing that familiar sickly purple-green.

They snarled, black saliva dripping from too many teeth.

"SHIT!"

Tessa’s voice carried pure panic.

The wolves moved to intercept, cutting off our forward progress.

Behind us, the assassins were closing, I could hear them, maybe twenty seconds back.

My eyes scanned desperately, looking for anything—

There.

A dark opening in the rockface to our right. A cave entrance, partially hidden by vegetation.

"There! Move!"

We sprinted for it, the wolves lunging after us.

I spun, still running backward, and threw Oathstorm.

Not at the wolves, at the ground in front of them.

The sword hit the earth and lightning exploded outward in a crackling wave of lightning that caught all three wolves, sending them convulsing backward.

The sword flew back to my hand, one of the enchantnts I’d discovered through trial, and I dove into the cave entrance.

Tessa and Scarlet were already inside, pressed against the cave wall, breathing hard.

The wolves were recovering outside, snarling with renewed fury.

And the assassins were erging into the clearing, weapons now drawn.

I moved deeper into the cave, the entrance narrowing to a passage that forced single-file movent.

"Back. All the way back. Find the deepest point."

We moved quickly, the cave descending into darkness that my light orb barely penetrated.

Behind us, I heard voices at the entrance.

"They’re in the cave—"

"Trap them inside—"

The cave opened into a small chamber, maybe twenty feet across, with a single narrow passage leading deeper into darkness that my debug vision said was unstable and dangerous.

Dead end.

Literally.

And... footsteps echoed from the passage we’d co through.

Two figures erged.

I drew Oathstorm, positioned myself between them and Tessa, my heart hamring.

Scarlet moved to flank, her knives ready.

The figures entered the chamber.

Both wore the sa dark clothing, faces covered by cloth masks.

The lead figure was tall, moved with the casual confidence of soone who think they had the advantage.

He reached up slowly, deliberately, and pulled down his mask.

Revealing sharp features. Dark hair with grey streaking through it.

My blood turned to ice.

"Long ti no see... Jin."

My eyes widened, grip on Oathstorm faltering.

"...Uncle?"