Classless Ascension

In the Sunshine nightclub, there was currently a standoff happening. A few patrons were looking at a young man in displeasure.

"You Fallen should just go back to the Tower! That's where you belong!" One of them belligerently spat out.

Josh couldn't help but shake his head, wondering who these fools were. Was this an advanced form of racism? What was their problem anyway? Why were people showing either pity or getting offended upon learning that he was a Fallen?

"Take it back, you discriminating fuck. Someone throw out these fools!" The bodyguard instantly ordered, akin to a brave general.

Josh still wasn't sure why the man was so protective of him. It wasn't like it was required or anything. He had only followed this Eric guy because he wanted to draw out the two assassins that were on his tail. A chaotic nightclub would work wonders to capture them.

Somehow, Eric hadn't seemed to notice anything. His heart seemed to be in the right place, but he was obviously lacking fundamental skills. Even now, he seemed about to get into a fight for his sake.

"Take what back? Fallens are the fucking worst! They come into our world out of nowhere. They only Climb because they are forced to, and somehow they still get preferential treatment in guild recruitment. This is bullshit!" The troublemaker angrily declared.

People of this world had forcefully summoned help, and now they were complaining that the helpers were stealing their jobs? Talk about ridiculous!

"You guys want to throw us out? Fuck that. I just paid for drinks!" Another inebriated guy summoned his Climber gear. He had a heavy shield that would excel at close range and seemed ready to draw blood.

"Just try us, and we'll burn this whole place to the ground!" Another shouted while taking out a literal flaming axe.

Josh could only sigh. What were the odds that this whole thing would become a huge pain? He turned toward the angry men: "Now, now. Why don't we all calm down and merrily drink instead? This round is on me!" It wasn't like it would cost much anyway.

The situation remained tense for a few seconds before a man chimed in excitedly: "Free drinks? Hell yeah!" This exclamation seemed to defuse the situation, not that it changed the mind of the assholes.

"Eh, talk about a pushover."

"It's only fair that he pays for us. We're the ones offering the Fallen asylum."

"For sure, they even get resources from the government directly when they immigrate! He's just repaying his debt to society!"

Hearing their commentaries, Eric was about to blow his top. "Shut the hell up, or I'll tell my men to beat you guys up and'”"

But, Josh calmly placed his hand on his shoulder, signaling him to calm down. What good would insulting idiots do? No, there was something else he wanted to do for now.

He moved toward the dance floor, enjoying the music and the holographic setup. His favorite had to be the oceanic one with the fishes seemingly swimming to the beat. They would playfully come near the dancers, shaking to the beat and scurrying away if someone tried catching them. Cute!

From time to time, Josh would toast. He'd do so with anyone willing, no matter who. There was one guy that was extremely jovial about the whole thing. It was the smiling guy that had been so happy about the free booze.

"Man, I really don't get how anyone could hate you. You're so chill! Here is a toast to you, brother! Let us enjoy the moment, Carpe Diem motherfucker!" The guy was slowly but surely "getting drunk" as he refilled both of their cups.

Josh had to admit that said man was pretty good at convincing people to party with him. It would have been heartwarming had he not seen the guy poison his drink a few times. Instead of taking offense to it just yet, he decided to have fun with it.

Josh approached the guys that kept slandering him. "Here you go, guys. This is a peace offering. Thank you all for allowing me to live on your planet." As he kept saying ridiculous stuff like this, he just handed them his poisoned drinks.

On the side, the jovial-looking assassin couldn't help but facepalm. Why was it that his target liked to share so much! He could only pitifully protest: "Brother, I poured this one especially for you...."

"No worries! Good things should be shared, don't you agree? To all of you, toast!" Josh clamored loudly, generating a round of cheers.

The assassin was finally about to succeed. But, just as Josh was about to take a large gulp, he somehow managed to trip over his own feet while dancing, spitting his drink on the floor.

Thus, a game of pouring and handing spiked drinks full of mystery substances continued. Josh would take small sips from time to time, making it look like the poisoning could work if the assassin kept at it long enough.

The thing was, it wasn't so easy to drug a Climber without their knowledge. Add too little drug, and it wouldn't affect them. Add too much, and they would detect it or create a huge commotion as they fell. It had to be subtle.

Josh was playing with the poor guy's feelings. Meanwhile, the other assassin stayed far in a corner and didn't seem to have any interest in such an indirect method.

Nope, the guy had deeper killing intent. He was probably the kind to prefer ending his victim's life with his own hands. He sat in the dark, brooding gloomily. Josh felt like a good Samaritan and sent a couple of gals his way.

The assassin couldn't help but frown as he just wanted to get out of there and kill his target. In no way did he wish to waste time on such trivial things. Why would he when he could get as many bitches as he desired once he secured the 100k bounty!

Still, it wasn't like he could simply tell them to go fuck themselves. He didn't want to put his target on guard. He instead faked being extremely happy about the attention while in fact keeping his focus on the job at hand.

Josh even kept taunting him "unconsciously" by waving at him and giving him thumbs up. He was as irritating as humanly possible while faking being the most innocent, naive, and well-intended human being ever. Looking at the reactions was hella fun!

At this point, the racists were happily drinking poison. Eric was in awe at his benevolence. The two assassins were annoyed as hell because their target just wouldn't make it easy for them to do their job as he just kept partying.

Overall it was fun, but every good night had to end. Josh didn't want to waste too much time there either. The people that had insulted him were now knocked unconscious from whatever they had ingested, and it was time to wrap things up.

"Well, this is it for me. You guys keep having fun, and I'll see you all at a later date. Ah, Eric, why don't we bring these drunk guys with us? They seem totally wasted." Josh proposed.

"Even after all the crap they said, you still want to help them?! What kind of saint are you?!" Eric exclaimed. This guy wasn't just calm about his own potential assassination. He was chill about every damn thing!

"Ah, there's three of them. Anyone wants to help us carry them home?" Josh casually asked.

"Don't worry about it. I can ask some muscles to take care of it." Eric assured.

But were the assassins about to miss such a chance? No way! They instantly volunteered with so much conviction and empathy toward these total strangers.

"No need! I'll help! I'll even carry the three of them if needed! It's the least I can do for a drinking buddy!" '”He'd force poison down his target's goddamn throat if he had to!

"Same, I'll help too! I know you've been trying to help me all night long, sending girls my way. I have to repay the favor!" '”It would be repaid very violently.

Eric was left standing there in awe. What the hell?! Since when were people so generous?! Either way, he was in a great mood, so he happily led the way back home....for a good 20 meters.

"Alright, just put them inside so they can rest," Josh instructed.

But, as they all entered the small apartment, they all recoiled in shock. What the fuck was this?! Large plastic sheets covered the walls and every single piece of furniture. As if on cue, the drinking buddy suddenly felt weak at the knees.

Oh god, no! He instantly recognized his state; this was from his own goddamn poison! How?! He had taken the antidote early on and wouldn't be affected too much, but this meant something frightening. His target had known all along?!

The killer instantly felt that something was incredibly wrong as he tried dodging, but he only ended up falling to the ground weekly on the side, having lost all power in his body. It had only taken a few hits at critical spots to disable him.

Eric was left stunned on the side. "W-what is happening here? What's with the sheets everywhere?!" How had the friendly and warm atmosphere suddenly turned so strange?!

"Don't worry about it. These two are assassins that have been following us ever since the Tower. Just taking care of a few things. Honestly, this place is quite nice for fishing."

"Fishing?" Eric asked, perplexed.

"Yep, fishing for assassins. First, you use a modest bounty as bait, and then you bag them when they try to collect it. It's way easier than actively looking for them. It's like that one dance floor in Sunshine. You let the fishes come to you."

"T-this is crazy! Are you seriously calling 100k a modest bounty?!"

"Yep. It's relatively smaller than the one Markus has. I know this for a fact." Josh shrugged. This was how he had figured out the right amount.

"Markus, the leader of Metropolis-D? That's your standard?! ....Now, what happens? What are the sheets for?" Eric asked, still confused.

"On Earth, we have that one show about a guy that works for the police and punishes criminals, killing them with none the wiser. It's a similar setup, but this one will include even more fun."

"W-what kind of fun?!" An assassin gulped loudly in fear.

"C'mon, we both know it. The kind of fun that involves lots of blood and you telling me lots of things about your life. Isn't it nice?"

Oh crap! They had fallen in the hands of a total psycho! For once, the assassins didn't feel like the bad guys at all. In retrospect, choosing this profession had been a monumental mistake!

Luckily, or unluckily, the music from next door was enough to drown their muffled screams.. This would be an excruciatingly long night....