The instructor's assessment of Xiang Nan at the gym last night was now coming true.
If this were a real fight to the death, in a one-on-one scenario, no one in that gym—himself included—could beat Xiang Nan.
Because killing and friendly fighting are two completely different things.
Xiang Nan had no qualms about ending someone's life; for him, killing was as natural as eating or drinking. Faced with an opponent he had genuine intention to kill, he fully unleashed his lethal side.
But as soon as they both exposed their real ferocity, the instructor realized he'd made a colossal miscalculation. He had underestimated Xiang Nan's capabilities.
Even experienced fighters with plenty of real combat under their belts aren't necessarily a match for professional assassins. Beyond technique and technology, the biggest difference is mindset.
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In the suite, the sound of furniture being knocked over and destroyed erupted nonstop. It wasn't just flesh against flesh—these two, locked in darkness, had turned into wild beasts in a savage death match.
Their moves might've seemed chaotic, but each strike was aimed at a lethal spot.
And tonight, Xiang Nan was not the same "opponent" the instructor had sparred with at the gym. His attacks constantly morphed, and at blinding speed. He even mixed in several combat styles he'd learned just yesterday—one moment throwing a boxing combo, the next going for low kicks. The rapid shifts and blending of different martial arts put huge pressure on the instructor, even with all his experience.
They hadn't even been fighting for two minutes, and he was already nearing his limit—Xiang Nan's little dinner knife had opened multiple bloody wounds on him.
That small knife twirled between Xiang Nan's fingers, flashing like a streak of silver in the dim room.
Panting heavily and drenched in sweat, the instructor backed away.
"You've got a lot of martial arts skills, sure…" Xiang Nan remarked with a slight smile, noticing his opponent's growing panic. "But it seems you can't smoothly switch between them, and your moves are a bit unpolished."
The instructor cursed inwardly, wondering why the hotel's power hadn't come back on yet. With proper lighting, he could fight more comfortably.
Just then, a sliver of white light glinted. The instructor deftly shifted sideways while raising the fork in his hand, but Xiang Nan anticipated that counter. He immediately grabbed the instructor's wrist, locking it down.
The instructor's thought barely formed before he tried to swing his other arm to force Xiang Nan back—
But a wave of dizziness struck him. He let out a scream.
Xiang Nan had slammed precise inch-force into the instructor's wrist, dislocating the joint and rendering it numb. The instructor clenched his teeth and tried to resist, but their close-quarters tussle only gave Xiang Nan an opening. Xiang Nan climbed on top of him, pinning him to the ground and cutting off his air with powerful legs wrapped around his throat.
The instructor was already in pain; now he couldn't breathe. His eyes reddened, and he repeatedly pounded Xiang Nan's torso with his one usable fist.
"Don't bother. That knife I stabbed you with a few times might not look too serious or limit your movements, but one of those wounds severed an arterial vessel inside you. Initially, the bleeding was low because the vessel's smooth muscle was constricting. But with your focus entirely on me, you never realized your blood loss was out of control. In other words, you're now too weak to get free."
Xiang Nan spoke calmly, his words laced with murderous finality.
The instructor's pupils contracted.
"I'm not just a killer…I'm also a doctor, so I know the human body pretty well," Xiang Nan said with a chilling smile.
As Xiang Nan's legs tightened, you could hear the instructor desperately gasping for oxygen.
"So those first cuts were a feint… They made me misjudge," the instructor thought, his mind blurring. He could barely register Xiang Nan's words now. He knew he was done for—he just never expected to lose so quickly.
"It's a gap in battle strategy, sure, but also a matter of mindset. He set me up for a fatal blow, already predicting how I'd weaken." The instructor's raised fist slowly fell, fingertips brushing warm blood pooling beneath him—his own blood.
He understood the reason for his defeat.
"Purely in terms of combat skill, it's not that big a gap. But his way of thinking… is more… cunning…" He offered Xiang Nan a final silent acknowledgment. In a death match, there's no room for anger or regrets—he'd understood that all along.
Sensing his prey's resistance vanish, Xiang Nan twisted and snapped the man's spine with his legs. Then he stood up slowly, dripping with blood, still spinning that tiny knife in his hand.
It was the same knife-twirling technique the freckle-faced waiter at the hunting shop had shown yesterday; Xiang Nan found it amusing.
A mental command brought up the system screen. He was now perfectly overlapped with the red dot, which meant the mission's real target was, as suspected, the man hiding under the bed.
The wheezing breaths and terrified trembling coming from beneath made it obvious. Snippets of conversation from the now-dead instructor had clued Xiang Nan in on who was under there: a Padokian official of no small rank.
They had been in the dark for around ten minutes, and although Xiang Nan had sabotaged the breaker, the power would likely be restored any moment.
Xiang Nan walked to the bed. As he crouched, he noticed the two lifeless women sprawled across the sheets. Then he peered under the bed, where that pot-bellied target lay hunched up in only his underwear, clutching his head in terror.
Xiang Nan smiled faintly. "Well, hello there."
Soon enough, the lights returned, illuminating the hotel once more. The security team discovered someone had tampered with the main breaker and took immediate action.
Many personnel headed for the top floor. But by the time they arrived, they found more than a dozen bodies littering the corridor, reeking of blood.
The team leader paled and dashed straight for the suite housing the high-ranking official. Inside was a scene that left him speechless.
The official from the Republic of Padokea lay on the bed with two beautiful women in his arms. But just like those women, he was very much dead—his throat cut wide open and drenched in blood.
"Lock down the hotel!"
"Block every exit!" the team leader roared.
Elsewhere, Xiang Nan—having changed into a clean set of clothes—appeared at a busy intersection. Not far behind him, you could see the hotel building, that iconic Wesera City landmark.
He was smiling. Despite a wound under his clothes still bleeding, he felt elated. Watching the crowd pass by and neon lights flash, Xiang Nan took a deep breath.
"As I thought… this kind of life suits me better."
A normal civilian existence was no longer an option for him.
"If I'm already in Hell, I might as well act like a devil," he mused. "No turning back—just keep going in the dark."
"This game is turning out to be pretty fun."
The traffic light across the street turned green. Xiang Nan shoved his hands in his pockets and casually crossed with the other pedestrians, blending into the crowd until he disappeared from sight.