John Wick - Chapter 105: Eagle Eye LV6 and the Plan to Get Stronger (Patreon)

“What’s up?”

Elena poked her head out from behind the door.

“Just came to see how our Lady Elena’s leg is doing.”

“Oh, it’s nothing serious. Come in.”

The layout of her room was almost identical to Gianna’s. Nate stepped inside and helped Elena over to the sofa.

“The doctor already came by and put some medicine on it. Once the swelling goes down tomorrow, I should be able to move around normally again.”

Elena pulled up the leg of her pajama pants to show him.

Nate glanced at her ankle. The swelling had already gone down considerably.

And honestly, she had pretty nice feet.

“That’s good. You’re recovering pretty fast. I thought you’d be limping around for a week.”

[Ding! The system has detected that the host has multiple Traits meeting the upgrade criteria. Do you wish to upgrade?]

“Yes,” Nate answered silently.

While sitting on the sofa and talking, he opened the system panel to take a look.

[Current Resource Points: 27,857/32,000] (Killing enemies also increases Resource Points)

[Traits Held: 8]

[Exclusive Trait: Baba Yaga]

[Exclusive Trait: Poisoning]

[Intimidation (Max Level): After locking onto an enemy with killing intent, Agility is reduced by 30% within 10 meters; ranged hit rate is reduced by 70% beyond 10 meters]

[Iron Severing (Lv. 5): Sword and blade damage increased by 270%; damage against metal objects is doubled. (6/25 swords and blades)]

[Flying Star (Lv. 4): Increases projectile speed by 120% and corrects trajectory errors within 25 meters. (4/15 projectiles)]

[Steel Body (Lv. 2): Reduces damage and pain by 25%; increases vitality by 15%. (Critically Wounded status: 0/2)]

[Upgradable Traits: 2]

[Eagle Eye (Lv. 5 → Lv. 6): Vision increased from 110% to 140%, Firearm Proficiency increased from 50% to 60%. (12/35 firearms)] Upgrade requires 900 Resource Points

[Early Warning (Lv. 2 → Lv. 3): Detects hostility within a radius of 15 → 25 meters; Fatal Danger warning triggered 2 → 2.5 seconds earlier; receives a Visual Warning in the mind. (0/3 survivals after Fatal Danger)] Upgrade requires 300 Resource Points

[Upgraded]

[Remaining Resource Points: 26,657/32,000]

A warm current swept through Nate’s body as he adjusted to the changes.

His eyesight had improved again. Calling his eyes hawk-like was no exaggeration anymore. He could even make out the intricate patterns in Elena’s pupils.

Nate reached out his hand, and under Elena’s astonished gaze, the HKP30L appeared in his palm.

He tested the feel of it.

His control over firearms had improved even further. The gun in his hand now felt almost like an extension of his own body.

Unexpectedly, Eagle Eye had become his first Trait to reach Level 6.

With Eagle Eye upgraded, Nate could shoot both fast and accurately. He barely even needed to aim anymore.

It was ridiculously convenient.

On the other hand, he had neglected Iron Severing and Flying Star, the two Traits that had been with him from the beginning.

He needed to find a chance to level them up. Their numerical bonuses were among the strongest of all his Traits, but he simply hadn’t had many opportunities to use them.

Flying Star had a distance restriction, and real combat wasn’t going to conveniently keep every target within the exact range he needed.

Iron Severing required close combat.

But when you had a gun, who the hell wanted to fight at close range?

Especially when Nate’s aim was absurdly good.

Times have changed, sir!

Nate stared at the system panel for nearly half a minute, completely failing to notice that Elena’s expression had changed.

“Nate... am I useless?”

“You’ve only been an assassin for a week, and you’re already that good. Earlier today, you fought alongside a legend like John and didn’t fall behind at all...”

Elena sat with her hands clasped together and her head lowered. Her voice was full of frustration.

“But me... I’ve been an assassin for years, and whenever I’m with you guys, I can’t help at all...”

By the end, her voice was already starting to crack.

Sigh.

Another person driven to tears by some freakishly talented prodigy.

Well... not me.

I’m just cheating!

Nate said nothing.

Instead, he shifted closer on the sofa, leaned his upper body toward her, tilted his head, and stuck his face underneath hers to look up at her.

Elena pressed her lips together.

Her eyes were already glistening with tears.

“Oh... are you crying? Hahahaha!”

Nate pointed at her and laughed mercilessly.

“You!”

Elena immediately got mad and swung a hand at him, but Nate easily dodged.

“You’re awful!”

She crossed her arms and turned her head away with an angry pout.

Nate sat back down.

Now he actually had to figure out how to comfort her.

To be fair, Elena wasn’t weak at all.

She had three Traits, including the foresight-type [Sixth Sense]. She was simply young, so none of her Trait levels were particularly high yet.

Compared to ordinary people, she was absolutely a talented rookie.

Just look at that unlucky bastard, the Jackal. Even counting his Bad Luck buff, he only had three Traits.

“How old are you?” Nate asked, changing the subject.

“Eighteen.”

“Huh? I thought you were in your twenties.”

“Do I look that old?!”

Elena snapped her head toward him and raised a small fist as if she were about to hit him.

“That’s called looking mature! Hey, hey... watch the ankle.”

Nate quickly raised both hands in surrender.

The two messed around for a while before settling back down.

Nate said, “Think about how many years John has been training. How old are you? There’s no need to rush.”

Elena nodded.

After a moment, she asked, “What about you?”

“Me? I’m different. I’m special.”

Nate stood up, then suddenly asked, “Have you ever seen The Matrix?”

“What...?”

Elena blinked.

“A movie? Or...?”

Right.

How could one movie world know about another movie?

“It’s an old movie. Pretty obscure. The main character is called Neo. He’s incredibly powerful. He’s basically the savior of that movie, and a lot of people are waiting for him to save them.”

“Okay... and?”

“What I’m saying is that the savior of this world is me!”

The young man declared it with absolute confidence.

Sitting on the sofa, Elena seemed genuinely taken aback by the sheer confidence radiating from him.

She stared at Nate for a long moment.

Then she seemed to realize something and tried desperately to hold back her laughter.

In the end, she failed and burst out laughing.

“Mr. Lin certainly has grand ambitions. Does Mr. Wick know you’re this cocky?”

Nate waved dismissively.

“Pfft. What would a little girl know? I’m at exactly the age when I’m supposed to be cocky. If I’m not cocky now, when am I supposed to be?”

“Besides, being cocky requires strength.”

He paused.

“And I just happen to have plenty.”

Nate was still holding the pistol.

With the gun in one hand, he ran the other through his hair and struck a cool pose as he delivered his grand declaration to the girl.

Elena finally lost it.

She covered her mouth and started giggling.

“The vast horizon is my...”

Nate’s phone suddenly rang.

He hurriedly pulled it out and answered.

This random ringtone was getting ridiculous.

A few days ago, he had gotten curious and searched to see whether the celebrities from his previous life existed in this world.

Most of them did, but their names had changed.

Phoenix Legend had become Legend of the Phoenix, while Mayday had become July Day.

That was when Nate had downloaded quite a few songs onto his phone.

“What song is that?... It’s actually pretty good,” Elena asked curiously.

“Mm-hmm... Okay, okay. I’ll come down and get it in a minute.”

Nate hung up.

“Like it? It’s Legend of the Phoenix’s signature song. They’re an underrated hidden gem back home.”

“I don’t understand the lyrics, but it’s really catchy. I’ll look them up later... Anyway, what was that about? If you’ve got something to do, go take care of it.”

“The equipment I ordered from the Sommelier arrived. The fifth floor is locked down, so the hotel staff can’t bring it up. I have to go downstairs and get it.”

“Is there a lot? Want me to help?” Elena asked.

“There’s actually quite a bit, but with your ankle...”

Nate’s eyes landed on the wheelchair in the corner.

“Oh! Right...”

He pushed the wheelchair over.

“Then give me a hand, beautiful.”