Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System

This time, Tristan searched for his targets on a bus. A bus was a convenient place to pickpocket, but if he got in trouble, escaping could be complicated.

Thanks to his observation skill, he noticed where people stashed their wallets even easier than before. After a person bought their ticket, Tristan could swipe their wallet with ease, even right from a carelessly open bag sometimes.

He did this a couple of times, then decided to leave the bus at the next stop. Tristan didn't want to attract suspicion.

When the bus stopped at the station and its door opened, Tristan squished past a burly man toward the exit. During that motion, Tristan's elbow caught the thickness of a wallet in the man's loosely hanging jacket.

It was right there, and Tristan was about to leave the bus anyway, so he didn't think twice before reaching for it.

But when he tried to pull the hand with the wallet out of the pocket, Tristan's wrist was caught in a vice grip.

"HEY! What do you think you are doing, putting your hands on my wallet, brat?!"

Tristan looked up and saw the burly man glaring at him.

'Damn!'

This wasn't the first time Tristan was caught, but it was never a fortunate situation.

The bus passengers and people who were about to enter the bus all paused what they were doing, turning toward the commotion. Some began checking for their wallets, a few realizing that theirs were missing.

Cursing inwardly, Tristan tried to pull his wrist free, but the bruising grip on his arm was too strong. The man in front of him wasn't just burly—he was built like a fridge!

Tristan kicked him under the knee, aiming for a vulnerable nerve point he knew instinctively.

Although Tristan wasn't as physically strong as this man, the kick still made the man stumble. In shock of pain, his grip on Tristan's wrist became weaker, and Tristan pulled free.

Then, not wasting the chance he created, Tristan jumped out of the bus and pushed through the small crowd of people on the sidewalk.

"Stop, you thief! You think I will let you go so easily?!"

The burly man followed Tristan like an enraged bull!

'Bastard, you have your wallet—why can't you leave me alone?' Tristan thought, looking over his shoulder at the running man.

He was too fast! Tristan could run, but that man probably spent hours upon hours on the treadmill.

What's worse, people all around were now watching the pursuit. The bus stopped on a pretty populated street, and while some shouted for police, others were pulling phones to make videos.

No way Tristan could switch identities when so many people were around, and no way he could hide in the corner of some grocery store with that bull of a man right behind him.

Tristan looked around frantically, noticing a narrow alleyway turning from the street. He dashed there immediately.

His pursuer was right behind Tristan, not shouting anymore and instead saving his breath to run faster. However, at least in this place there weren't any other people.

Tristan ran down the narrow back streets for a minute longer until his pursuer almost caught him—then suddenly turned around on his heel and stood in a fighting stance.

The bull of a man had a face red with rage, and didn't think as he charged at Tristan. His desire to give Tristan a beating was written plainly on his face—this was a man who was using any cause to scratch his fists.

Tristan's perceptive eyes noticed the scars on the man's knuckles, which meant that he often broke them in fights. But he also noticed that the burly man didn't raise his fists as a professional.

When the man got closer to Tristan, he easily sidestepped his straightforward attacks and kicked him to the knee as hard as he could.

"You should've left me in peace while you still had your wallet and your limbs!" Tristan shouted.

The man gasped and fell face-first to the ground. However, he was just so big and strong that a simple kick to the knee wasn't enough to harm him much.

Tristan saw all that, so he attacked again before the man could gather himself and stand up. He raised his foot and kicked the man's thick head.

A single kick, carefully measured to disorient the man and render him helpless, but not to kill.

Then Tristan pulled out a switchblade from his pocket and put it next to the man's neck.

"Don't move now, or you are a goner," Tristan warned darkly.

The anger he felt at this moment oozed from his voice, piercing through the anger in the burly man's head, making him turn pale.

His head was swimming from the kick, but the man finally caught up with the events of the last seconds. Everything happened so quickly that he didn't process it until now, but the pickpocket he was just chasing turned the tables and was robbing him!

That was right—while Tristan's left hand held the knife to the burly man's neck, the other one took the wallet from his jacket.

Then Tristan stood up and kicked the man in the stomach for good measure.

"You brought me way too much trouble today, asshole. I hope this will be a lesson for you."

[Ding!]

[You have scared 1 person. Reward: your PP increased by 10.]

[Ding!]

[Fearsomeness attribute increased by 1. Reward: your PP increased by 100!]

The notifications improved Tristan's mood, stopping him from kicking the burly man any more. With one last scoff, Tristan fled the alleyway.

He was done earning money for today. It was time to count and spend it again.