I began to walk towards the other interrogation room, the one holding Hank’s girlfriend. I wanted to corroborate his story, maybe even spill the beans about her boyfriend, and just make sense of everything around me. Because after my little chat with Hank, nothing did anymore!

What was up with this world? Was it something in the water, or the air? A casual look around would be enough to see that almost nobody put much weight into faithfulness in a relationship, and a single whim is enough to make someone cheat. And yet, with an entirely straight face, Hank told me that fidelity was worth its weight in gold. The worst part was that I believed him.

And with how everyone else seemed to react to being cheated on, he wasn’t the only one to hypocritically hold that belief. Honestly, who knew what was going on with this place and the people who lived here? I was feeling tired, I didn’t want to care any more. At least I didn’t have to anymore, having found what I was looking for in a job and partner who were actually sane.

But for the sake of that job, I still had business to attend to here, and that was interrogating Hank’s girlfriend.

Asking another police officer, I found out that her interrogation chamber was in a different part of the relatively small building. It wouldn’t be a long walk, but the path led me back through the front desk, and who I saw there made me stop in my tracks.

Well, two people. The first was another officer, but wearing a suit and tie, with a very fancy badge pinned to their side. If anything, this was some kind of high ranking detective or the police chief. This alone wouldn’t have made me do a double take, but who they were walking with did. A woman in a gray pinstripe suit with a white fedora and purple tie followed behind him holding a familiar briefcase. The two were laughing as they casually made their way across the tiled floor, kicking up the dust that probably hadn’t been swept up in years, judging by the size of the clouds. I was starting to think it was always there, judging by how the two didn’t pay it much mind.

I didn’t mind it much now either, as I used the dust as a cover to sneak my way past them. By some miracle, they hadn’t noticed me, likely because they entered a massive coughing fit just when I would’ve been in their field of view. It wasn’t often I got a lucky break, and I didn’t question it as I made my way out the front door and to my car.

[Skill Obtained! Stealth (lv 1)]

Was it me, or was I unlocking a lot of new Skills? Maybe it was because I was level ten now, or that I was doing a lot more now?

“Good thing I didn’t write my real name,” I mumbled to myself as I started my car and drove out of the parking lot. “No wait, I mean my fake name. My real-fake name- fuck!” I sped over the speed bump and flinched at my car impacting the road.

I let out a sigh of relief as I entered the freeway. With some time before I got to my next destination, I had time to think about the information I got from Hank. Apparently Goldshanks was right, there was someone organizing the cheaters and supplying them with advanced means of going about their dirty work.

And the only lead I had was a “Lady Quirova” and a drop-off tomorrow at 9 pm at a nearby roller rink. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. I’d probably check out the area today to make sure there isn’t already something there, and then scout the place out a few hours before the actual drop-off to see if I could catch the perpetrator red handed.

I would’ve loved to stake the place out starting now like it was a department store on black friday… actually, no, I would’ve hated doing that. But the point was I couldn’t. My efforts were most needed at Goldshanks’ casino during the tournament to make sure any other cheaters didn’t advance. Catching whoever was behind all of this was just a bonus, one that would make my boss happy, but not define the fate of the tournament or his business. And he was a boss I wanted to make happy after he did the same for me.

Well, there wasn’t much else to think about, at least not regarding the tournament and cheaters. But there was plenty to still think about when it came to my personal safety.

I parked my car and got out, making my way to the gun store and giving the shopkeeper my best Charisma-enhanced smile.

“Oh, where’s your wife?” the man asked me with a raised eyebrow. “You said she was the one who was going to pick this up.”

“Huh? Oh yeah. She couldn’t make it today, she was super busy with something else.”

“Too busy for me?!” the shopkeeper exclaimed.

I just gave him a look, and through the power of Charisma, or maybe even a healthy dose of self-realization, he turned beet red.

“I-I mean, you made it sound like she was super excited for this, so I had it gift-wrapped and everything for her.”

“She is, but she’ll open it soon.” I felt a little bad, so I decided to toss him a non-existent bone. “But she doesn’t really know how to shoot it, and I don’t have the time to teach her, so she’ll need someone who knows a lot about guns to help her. How about you?”

“Me?” His lips creaked into the beginnings of a smile he futilely tried to hide behind a look of confusion. “Well, I don’t know if-”

“Nah, you definitely know what you’re doing, you’ve probably been shooting for a decade!”

“Three, actually, since I was a young boy.” The shopkeeper began to scratch the back of his head.

“Even more of a reason!” I exclaimed with a clap. “Listen, she’s a really slow learner, so she’ll need a lot of time, I’m thinking something like two hours a week? For however long it takes.”

“Two?! I mean, of course, that sounds about right.”

“Great, then! I’ll take the gun, and we can discuss payment for the classes afterwards.”

“Of course, and as a thank you gift to show your wife how dedicated I am to teaching her, I’ll give you a box of ammo for free!”

“You’re too kind, I’ll let my wife know how great of a guy you are!” I let out a polite chuckle that turned into a bitter hack as soon as I left the store.

I felt bad for taking advantage of that man… a little bit, but I really didn’t want to make a habit out of it. I just used the System to make things more convenient for me because I was pretty sure my life was on the line. Who knew when the Fatewatcher would try to attack me again? I still paid for the gun, albeit while skipping the usual firearms checks, so it wasn’t like I was committing a real crime. But on the other hand, using the gun on another person was a crime, and they were very likely trying to kill me! And besides… the Fatewatcher wasn’t a person.

I let out another sigh as I drove towards the roller rink. By some miracle, the area around it was incredibly quiet, and I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary as I circled around the block in my car. No drop-offs under benches or in trash cans, and no shady looking people in trench coats. [Situational Awareness] helped tremendously with that, in fact enough that-

[Skill Level Up! Situational Awareness lv 7 -> 8]

That was always nice to see. After one more loop around the block, I decided to call it a day and headed back home. The way back was equally uneventful. I parked my car in the employee reserved spot and headed to my place with my things. I was ready to head inside and collapse on my bed for a nap before dinner.

But instead, I froze in place and began to claw at the gift wrapping on my gun.

The front door was cracked open, and I could hear a rustling sound from inside. I knew the Fatewatcher was bold, even aloof enough to break into my house, but he was always direct. He punched me in the chest, and tried to run me over with a truck! He did show off how strong he was at one point instead of trying to murder me, but that was just a show of intimidation, but he’d always be gone before I could do anything about it.

This was the first time I had the drop on him!

I took a pair of shells and loaded them into the double barrel shotgun with another handful stuffed into my pocket and kicked my front door all the way open.

“Alright, motherfucker, eat hot lead!” I screamed while leveling the gun at my target…

I felt a wave of dizziness flow over me as I tried to focus on the figure pilfering through my cabinet drawers. My entire place was a mess, with loose sheets of paper and knick knacks scattered about across the floor. But that disorganized mess was easier to look at than the burglar. He… I think it was a he… I felt a sudden ache in my head.

[Skill Level Up! Situational Awareness lv 8 -> 9]

[Situational Awareness Perk Obtained! Improved Focus]

With the level up and new perk, I was suddenly able to get a better look at the intruder. It was definitely a man, and he wore what I could only describe as body armor that held a black-grayish sheen. On his head was a pitch-black ski mask that covered everything but his eyes and mouth, and he wore baggy camouflage pants.

As the wave of dizziness dissipated, I realized that whatever kept me from focusing on him wasn’t normal. Without the levels I already had in [Situational Awareness], I was almost certain he would’ve been completely invisible to me, or at least I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend him being in front of me. I remembered reading about something like that back home; information that was self-deleting, or that was at least really difficult to remember like a complex math formula. It was called an antimeme.

And this kind of antimeme was entirely supernatural.

“Wait, you can see me?”

“Yes.” I pulled the trigger.

A loud boom echoed through the room and outside, and I felt my arms go flying by several inches from the recoil. In retrospect, I should have placed the stock of the gun on my shoulder for stability, but I was still able to keep hold of it with my sixteen points in Strength.

But holding onto the gun was the least of my worries.

I fucking shot someone! Whoever that burglar was, he definitely wasn’t the Fatewatcher, and I just shot another man! Oh god, maybe Shovon was right, maybe I really was a murderer?

Before I could really begin to freak out, I looked over to see the burglar still standing. The bullet hit his armor and the material seemed to ripple, as the metal turned semi-solid and distributed the force of the bullet across its body. The man still took a step back from the force of the blow, but he didn’t look much worse for wear. That stuff was better than kevlar!

“Dude, that hurt!” he shouted at me.

“Get the fuck out of my house!” I shouted back while pulling the trigger again.

Bang!

The man took the hit and another step back, but turned the momentum into a run. But rather than move towards me, he curved and sprinted towards the window, barreling through it. Broken glass flew behind him, and as soon as I made my way to the entrance, he was already getting into his car. I couldn’t see the license plate number from where I was, but I could at least…

Detect Cheating (lv 13)
Target	Scout Mazzocco
Method	N/A

Wait, wasn’t that the guy from the tournament? Who was cheating using magic?!

Scout sped away before I could think to do anything else, leaving me alone in my disheveled apartment. I slowly walked over to the bathroom and removed the toilet’s tank lid. Inside was the copper and sapphire bracelet, the large gemstone shining more brightly than it had any right to in the dimly lit room.

I slowly picked it up and gave it a careful look.

“So this thing really is magic, huh? At least I have that going for me.”

I let out a long sigh and called the police. It was going to be a long evening.