SSS-Class Profession: The Path to Mastery-Chapter 195: The Ashes and Embers of the Public

The streets were a warzone.

We hit the asphalt at a dead sprint, smoke clawing at our faces, Evelyn half-slumped as she held my hand and Anthony was carving a brutal path ahead of me.

Sirens screamed from every direction, raw, broken sounds that bounced off shattered concrete and twisted rebar. Windows exploded above us, raining glass in glittering sheets. Somewhere to the east, a car alarm warbled hysterically until it was drowned out by a second explosion, something big, something deep enough to make the pavement tremble under my boots.

It wasn’t just civilians against the government anymore.

It was everyone versus everyone.

Government agents in full black tactical gear clubbed civilians back with riot shields, only to be swarmed by mobs wielding chairs, crowbars, broken bricks. Protesters tore into each other over scraps of ideology, gangs of teenagers looted the hollowed-out convenience stores, and every few blocks, you saw it:

Fires.

Buildings gutted and burning from the inside out. Smoke pouring down the streets like ink.

And somewhere in all that madness—

We were a few heartbeats away from being swallowed alive.

"Stick to the sides!" I barked, using Command Presence "Keep low, keep moving!"

Anthony nodded, already ducking into the skeletal remains of a crumbled market stall. His jacket was soaked through with ash and sweat, but he moved with that same manic energy I’d come to expect from him.

Above the chaos, a ping flickered at the edge of my vision.

I flicked open my system mid-sprint, heart hammering like a drum in my throat.

[EVENT QUEST: Ministry on the Move]

Objectives:

Uncover the new location of the Ministry. ✅

Deliver the truth to the public before misinformation spreads. ✅

Optional: Secure an interview with a Ministry official. ✅

Reward: Journalist (A-Rank)

Bonus Reward: ???

Timer: 43:52:06

I smiled grimly even as a tear gas canister clattered against a wall nearby, spinning and hissing white smoke into the street.

That explained it. The minute I delivered the truth, the city didn’t hesitate. It detonated.

This wasn’t a protest anymore. This was revolt.

But even as I ran, ducking under fallen signs and leaping over piles of rubble, a question gnawed at me:

Why had the facility really moved?

I glanced at Evelyn, still hanging onto consciousness by a thread, one hand clutching at the sack covering her head while the other held tight on mine.

"Hey!" I shouted over the roar of the street. "We were told the relocation was because of a small kitchen fire. You started that, didn’t you?"

She coughed a short, ragged laugh into the cloth. "Yeah," she rasped, voice shredded by whatever the hell they’d done to her. "That ’small kitchen fire’? That was me."

Anthony snorted as he vaulted a wrecked police cruiser. "You absolute legend."

"They were experimenting," she growled. "Digging into the system, trying to peel back layers no one was supposed to touch. I fought back. Trashed half a lab. Broke containment seals. They barely got the smoke scrubbers working before the public saw."

"And when people started asking about the smoke," I muttered, weaving through a barricade made of overturned cars and wire, "they blamed a fire, covered it up, and decided to relocate somewhere even more hidden."

"Exactly," Evelyn said, her voice falling into a grim cadence. "Because they thought you were captured. With you gone, the Cain subjects could blend into public life without risk."

"And now..." Anthony said dryly, glancing at the firebombed skyline. "Yeah, nice job blending in."

Before I could respond, a second ping shook through my system.

[CLASS PROMOTION: Journalist (A-Rank)]

The world blurred, a surge punching through my veins—like liquid adrenaline, pure and dizzying. For half a second, I staggered mid-run, feeling my perception rip open wider than before.

Every sound sharper.

Every movement faster.

Every detail burning against the inside of my skull.

I bit down hard, forced the vertigo away, and kept going.

Another notification hit:

[BONUS REWARD ACQUIRED: Universal Reward Token]

Redeem to duplicate the effect of any previous reward taken.

I filed that away, too.

I needed my brain right here, right now.

We broke into an open street just as another mob smashed into a government checkpoint. Tear gas bloomed into the air. Gunshots cracked like bone splinters.

In the chaos—

A civilian, massive and wild-eyed, crashed into Evelyn.

The blow knocked her sideways.

The sack half-slid off her head.

She started to fall.

I caught her without thinking.

One arm under her knees, the other bracing her back.

She froze against me, tense and trembling.

Still Evelyn, but fragile, hurting, burning from the inside out.

"You didn’t have to..." she muttered, embarrassed and cold all at once.

"Shut up," I said, breathless from the running, adjusting her weight. "Now isn’t the time to be complaining."

Anthony turned back mid-sprint and hooted. "Boss! You planning on sweeping the whole rebellion off its feet or just this one?"

Evelyn flushed under the sack, just faintly, but she clung to my jacket anyway.

"For the record," she muttered, clipped and sharp, "this is highly undignified."

"You can file a complaint to H.R later," I said, grinning despite everything.

We crashed through another street, past fires, overturned cars, beaten bodies.

And again—

Civilians saw me.

"THERE!"

"That’s him—Jester!"

"He’s the one who’s the cause of all this chaos!"

Some tried to rush forward, but not to fight. They grabbed government agents trying to cut us off, dragging them into alleyways and doorways.

"GO!"

"KEEP MOVING!"

"YOU’RE OUR ONLY CHANCE!"

The weight of it hit me, sharp and brutal.

These people didn’t just see me as a reporter anymore.

They saw me as something more.

Anthony grabbed a fence, vaulted it effortlessly. I followed, holding Evelyn tight. Her fingers clutched my coat unconsciously.

And there it was, the battered old rental complex.

I didn’t slow.

I didn’t have the luxury.

"Elliot!" I roared, voice ripping out of my throat.

The window creaked open above, and there they were, Elliot, wild-eyed, and Anika, clutching his hand, her blindfold still perfectly tied.

"Mr. Jester?!" Elliot yelled back.

I didn’t hesitate. I ripped the last wad of cash from my pocket, months of saved-up bills that I planned for the trip and hurled it up toward the window.

The bundle hit the ledge, fluttered, and Elliot caught it clumsily.

"Train station!" I barked. "Take Anika! Get out of the city! Don’t stop till you’re safe with your family!"

"But—"

"This is where we part ways!" I shouted. "Thank you, Elliot. For everything."

He stared down at me, frozen for a second, then nodded sharply, clutching Anika closer.

No more words.

We turned and ran again, me cradling Evelyn, Anthony sprinting beside us.

The city burned behind us.

The screams and chants dulled into a storm of sound, a background hum of rage and freedom.

We broke through the last line of ruins, hit open dirt beyond the last gasping buildings.

Anthony glanced up, wiping soot from his face.

A black speck in the sky, growing rapidly larger.

"Emergency evac incoming," he said, grinning like a lunatic.

I didn’t ask who sent it.

Didn’t need to.

All that mattered was that we were getting out of this hellhole—

Alive.

And with Evelyn.

Finally.

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