00:49 19th April 2042
Asakusa, Tokyo
It was another quiet Saturday night in Asakusa, Tokyo. Streets were empty, road lights filling the streets. If one listened close enough to the sound of the silent wind breeze, one might be able to hear a chilling whistle tune in the air. It wasn't loud enough to wake the neighbour up if there were any, to begin with, but the sound originates from a certain room of a run-down apartment building. Many inhabitants left this apartment because they had believed that it was haunted by the vengeful spirit of an old man who committed suicide by hanging in this very room. They were half right. There was indeed an elderly man living in this very room. But he was alive back then.
Right now he is currently lying on the floor of the room, with blood running down from 2 holes on his wrinkled temple. Next to the body was a man using towels to wipe the bloodstains off the windowpane. He was the one who was whistling this whole time.
Although his current getup is comprised of a bloodied apron, a goggle, rubber gloves and a boiler suit, he is in fact the world's most wanted assassin. In the underground, he is known as the 'Preyta'.
Preyta's first appearance came about over 20 years ago in an underground web-board where he posted under the username "thepreyta_", claiming he would do any kinds of dirty work for a set of price. Nobody took him seriously at the time and any jobs he would get would either be odd jobs or just simply prank requests. But then one day, he took on a job that involved actual killing, and returned successfully, people started to take him seriously. His fame started to rise in this underground web-board where he would be tasked by all kinds of people that wanted their enemy, or target(s) dead, and he would grant them so.
After almost 5 years of his appearance, he rose through the ranks of the Dark-Web services. Providing "the best, the quietest and untraceable kill-guaranteed for anyone, anywhere, anytime." There were many attempts of hackers who tried to dox his information and or find any sort of information that would lead to the identity of the underground rising star. But all of them met with dead-ends, claiming that "an impenetrable firewall is protecting him". Many would also praise him for not only being skilled for his service but also for him being a technological mastermind.
And he has been continuing this line of service for 20 years now without a single vacation. If he were to count the number of bodies he piled up throughout his career of being an assassin, he might need to count the amount of bread he has ever eaten his whole life. He had killed over 317 people, ranging from cheating housewives to the president of a small country in the middle east.
Needless to say, the reason he worked as an assassin wasn't for the money. He is rich enough to support his whole life and fund his family of up to 20 children from work to college without having to work again if he had a family that is.
After quite some time, the whistling stops, as well as his hand motion. He had finished cleaning up his mess and is ready to accept his payment. The man took off the rubber gloves and then reached into his pocket for his phone. The first thing he does was to contact his partner-in-crime.
"Hey Eyes, the work is done." The man tapped send on his phone keypad.
"Roger that P, letting the man knows his pops' never going to see the sunlight ever again."
As per usual, the response answer was typed back to him by his partner at the speed he would never be able to comprehend.
"Payment has been received, what's next P?"
"What's next...huh?"
For the first time in his 2 decades of work, he became dumbfounded. His mind blanked. He did not know how to answer that. Somehow the memories correlated to his next mission is non-existent in his brain. It wasn't because of memory loss because he has a perfect memory. He remembered every name and every face of every victim he killed. Normally, after a task has been completed, he would remember the next client's instruction as well as the target immediately. But it does not seem to be the case this time.
"...P?"
Having realized he seems to have been so lost into his thoughts for over 5 min, he responded back to Eye's texts.
"Sorry, could you check them for me?"
"affirmative"
'Having a reliable partner sure is convenient' mumbles Preyta in his mind.
Although having never met each other, Preyta and Eyes had been working together for almost 19 years already. While Preyta excels in the art of killing and assassinating, Eyes specializes in Hacking and technology manipulation. And so unlike what the people thought that Preyta was an omnipotent killer who was as capable of hacking as his brawn, in reality, Preyta is a two-man-team that works with complete trust within one another.
"Oh surprise, surprise! It seems for the first time of your 20 long years of working, your mailbox is empty!"
"..."
Preyta's mind is in disarray right now. For the longest of time, he has lived like a machine. Once he finished his task, he moved on to the next, and next and next and next. Without ever stopping and have a rest. And he was satisfied. But now for the first time in his life, that cycle came to a stop, in the middle of the night, on an insignificant day, on an insignificant week, on an insignificant month. Everything else to him now, aside from his job felt...insignificant.
"P"
What should he do now? Should he just go back home to sleep?
"Hey, P!"
What even is 'Home'? Does he ever have one?
".....uh?"
He came back to his senses after he was lost in thoughts. His message log with Eyes are now filled with spammed "P" and it keeps on coming. He finally typed back.
"Yeah?"
"Damn you are becoming a mess over a simple matter, eh mister-wannabe-number-one-assassin?"
"I am an assassin, not a killer"
"What's the differ- you know what I am not having this conversation again! I mean your face is so EASY to read right now!"
The lense of the phone camera flickered.
" Well I guess I can't blame you for this, you've been working NON STOP for the past 20 years!!! How is that even physically possible???"
Work was the only thing in his priorities, second to that was also work. It was even weirder when you consider that he doesn't work to get richer.
A smile appears on his face for the first time in a long while.
"Of course! It's for me to become the world's Greatest Assassin!"
He typed that to Eyes but at the same time exclaimed it out loud while doing a shadow box uppercut.
"Yes, yes well this assassin wouldn't become the greatest anytime soon as the clients are preoccupied with the new release of 'Godsbound Online'.
...
"The what now?"
nice.