Volume 4, Chapter 23 – Turning the Tables [Revised]

The man in rain gear was preoccupied.

Inside the briefcase he was carrying was a mini-computer.

The moment he came downstairs, he saw four strangers heading up.

He kept part of his attention on them, but just after they brushed past each other, he realized his hand had been pinned down, and at the same instant, his mouth was covered.

He did not even have time to struggle before he was stabbed in the back.

His HP plummeted.

It did not take long for his health bar to empty.

“OK.”

He Fuyu made a hand signal.

Then his teammates propped the man in rain gear’s corpse against the corner of the stairwell. They took out the briefcase and quickly found the mini-computer inside.

“Bring it with us first. There might be something important on it.”

His teammates all agreed.

After walking a few more steps, the four of them arrived at the entrance of Zhanxun Network Technology Company.

Their mission objective was to harass the people inside, not kill everyone inside. So they skipped the investigation step entirely.

Even if they died, since this would only be their first death after advancing to a basic class, at worst their respawn time would become ten minutes, and the drop rate was only 1/1000. Totally acceptable.

“One, two, three…”

“Charge!”

…

“Beep!”

Chang Yue turned the air conditioner up a little.

Rain was pouring outside, and the temperature had dropped with it.

Before the rain, the air had been stiflingly muggy. This rotten weather was torture.

He picked up the teacup on his desk and was just about to take a sip of green tea when a sharp bang suddenly rang out.

That was…

Chang Yue’s hand stiffened. He suddenly realized it was a gunshot.

But before he could fully react, the company’s front door was kicked open.

Past a three-meter corridor, there was a meeting room on the left, while straight ahead lay a wide open office area.

“Pa!”

Chang Yue hurled the teacup at once.

It happened to smash against the wall, splashing He Fuyu all over. But He Fuyu did not react at all.

“Ah! Robbers!”

A female employee screamed in alarm.

Chang Yue had already crouched under his desk. He fumbled quickly through the cabinet, found his pistol, and immediately felt a surge of joy.

“W-what do you want?”

“Are you after money? If you want money, I’ll get it for you right away. Just please don’t hurt us!”

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The whole office erupted into chaos.

“Old Fish, is this really one of Morningstar’s contact points?” one teammate asked He Fuyu in a low voice.

“Hard to say. But does it matter whether it is or not?”

When He Fuyu played games, he was the kind of person who put the mission above everything else. Since the mission said this was the place, he was not going to think too much about it.

He Fuyu raised his gun and aimed at a man hiding in the corner, about to pull the trigger.

Seizing the chance, Chang Yue immediately stood up, quickly aimed at He Fuyu’s head, and was just about to fire.

Bang!

The gunshot from the distant high-rise was completely swallowed by the sound of the rain.

The bullet blasted out of the chamber, pierced the curtain of rain, shattered the glass, and then drilled into Chang Yue’s back.

It tore open a sizable wound.

Crash!

At the instant the glass shattered, Chang Yue collapsed onto the desk. Blood stained the computer screen crimson, and the gun in his hand fell to the floor.

“You have killed a Morningstar agent and gained 650 Free EXP.”

“So it really was a trap!”

He Fuyu and his teammates’ expressions changed. They no longer cared who had killed Chang Yue. They immediately opened fire in a sweeping barrage.

Slide Step.

Precision Shooting.

Instant Barrage.

Empowered Strike.

Several skills were used at the same time.

Anyone who failed to find cover in time was instantly riddled with bullets. For a while, gunfire roared nonstop, and the office area of Zhanxun Network Technology Company turned into a deadly zone of fierce battle.

He Fuyu and his three teammates were completely reckless. Even after being wounded and knocked to the ground, they still unloaded volleys at the enemy’s feet, making the Morningstar people extremely irritated.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Anran, wearing her goggles, shifted her muzzle from time to time.

324 meters.

327 meters.

326 meters.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

1,700 EXP gained.

Given He Fuyu’s group’s actual strength, they should have had a hard time surviving. But with Anran constantly taking shots from the shadows, the members of the Morningstar contact point were already panicking and had long since lost the will to fight.

After one of them directly shot a computer to pieces, some of the remaining people chose to jump out the windows and flee, while others chose to force their way out through the front door.

Quite a few of them actually made it out.

But in the end, it was futile.

The two who came out the front door had only taken a few steps before Anran sniped them.

As for the three who climbed out the rear window, one unlucky man broke his leg in the fall. The other two were planning to abandon him and run, only to be skewered together by Aila, who suddenly sprang out.

The one with the broken leg, on the other hand, only got stabbed to death after yelling, “How is that possible?!”

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At least he got one line.

“Mission [Breaking the Wall I] completed. Gained 6,000 Free EXP. Gained Low-Level Knowledge Synthesis Card x1.”

A green card suddenly appeared in Anran’s hand.

It could be used to combine two low-level reserve knowledge sets for free.

In other words, it was basically the same as getting a random blueprint.

Anran tucked the card into her pocket.

The mission had triggered automatically after she determined her future direction. It was both an independent mission and something that counted toward contribution in faction missions.

A rather special case.

…

Anran quickly met up with Aila.

She used the rain to wash the makeup off her face, and even removed the fake C-cups she had been using as part of her disguise.

Then she went to meet He Fuyu in her original appearance.

“???”

This…

That was right. This was the NPC they were supposed to turn the mission in to!

At first, He Fuyu thought they had switched to a different person.

But when he looked at the NPC’s name, it was still Anran.

…

Her chest was gone!

From a C-cup to an A-cup.

Fake. Those layered peaks and valleys had actually been fake!

Now, looking at her, no matter how the winds blew from east, west, south, or north, she remained perfectly still!

And her face had changed too!

From seductive to cute.

Her charm had not diminished, but—

Fake. Even her face had been fake!

There were still traces of rainwater on it. So it had all been makeup!

Had dark sorcery already invaded the game?

In the instant He Fuyu was stunned out of his wits, the game had already notified him that the mission was complete.

6,000 EXP in hand.

He Fuyu then handed the mini-computer he had taken from the man in rain gear to Anran.

“There’s a contact file inside,” he said.

So Anran started checking it.

He Fuyu and the others kept their eyes on Anran the whole time.

That look, that image, that name. Why did it all feel so familiar?

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They had definitely heard of it somewhere recently.

After confirming that the mission system had registered correctly, Anran handed the tactical goggles and sniper rifle to He Fuyu.

Once He Fuyu verified that everything was correct, he suddenly shot a meaningful look at the teammates beside him.

That’s right.

He remembered.

He remembered everything!

Anran. The petite girl wanted by both Morningstar and Nine Songs!

Now that he thought about it, the image matched perfectly.

On Morningstar’s side, Anran was worth 500,000 Bilu, 50,000 EXP, and one position.

On Nine Songs’ side, Anran was worth 30,000 Bilu and 10,000 EXP. Of course, Nine Songs did not want Anran dead.

Men die for wealth; birds die for food.

And players were creatures that could go mad for a mission.

Even if they knew they were clumsy as hell, they would still buy a Soulsborne-style game with their eyes closed.

Even if they died more than three hundred times, they would still rush back to the Tower of London to fight TN! (Yes, I’m talking about Kuo Luo.)

An S-rank mission. But if you do not challenge it, how will you know the result?

He Fuyu’s eyes lit up.

He pulled his clothes aside, revealing the gun hidden underneath.

As long as they were fast enough and sudden enough, if all four guns aimed at Anran’s head at once, then even if they could not kill her instantly, they should at least be able to severely injure her.

And then…

Then He Fuyu was shot dead by Anran with a single bullet.

His body pitched forward and fell into the water.

Anran’s right hand flicked, and the gun that had been pressed against the back of He Fuyu’s head instantly swung toward a new target.

Not good.

They were exposed.

He Fuyu’s three teammates moved to resist at once. But the two standing a little farther away suddenly felt a sharp pain in their ankles and were inflicted with a balance-loss debuff.

They had been stabbed by spider robots fitted with needles.

Heh heh…

A smile of unclear meaning curled at Anran’s lips.

Bang bang bang…

Three shots rang out.

Crimson Blade followed up to finish them off, and the four players were instantly taken down.

“You have killed player He Fuyu and gained 1,800 Free EXP.”

“You have killed…”

Four notifications in total. Altogether, she gained 6,600 EXP.

“Hm?” Anran noticed something glowing in the water.

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She bent down to pick it up. It was actually the tactical goggles she had given away.

A 1/1000 drop rate, and it actually dropped. That was a little too real.

“Go!” Anran swiftly jumped into the car. The moment she stepped on the gas, the off-road vehicle vanished down the street.

Meanwhile, He Fuyu’s group of four, who were now waiting through their respawn timers, all wore blank expressions.

In less than five seconds after meeting her, they had tried to ambush Anran, only to be caught completely off guard by her instead.

When exactly had she realized they were going to make a move?

What terrifying perception!

What terrifying strength!

As expected of an expert who had defected from Nine Songs. No wonder Morningstar had put such a high bounty on her.

But in truth, they had guessed some things wrong.

Anran was in an exceptionally good mood right now.

She had deliberately removed her disguise and appeared before He Fuyu and the others in her original form.

Why?

Of course, because she wanted to use He Fuyu and the others to pass a message along. Listen up, people of Morningstar and Nine Songs. Anran has appeared in Yaxi City, and she is taking out Morningstar people one by one.

And all players, take note too!

After that, if He Fuyu and the others did nothing, Anran would simply look for the next target player who could help spread the news.

If He Fuyu wanted to try anything against her, then she could conveniently send him and his group on their way.

She had paid out some EXP, and conveniently earned some back as well.

It also conveyed another point: Anran was not the kind of crazy NPC who attacked players for no reason.

She did not want to become the common enemy of all players.

Win some over, suppress others.

That was Anran’s plan.

Otherwise, she would really be courting disaster.

Since He Fuyu and the others had been the ones to get ideas first, her counterattack was only natural.

This was called “self-defense.”

Ahhh…

Killing players really was satisfying!

She had only taken out four people, and in just a few seconds, 6,600 EXP had come rolling in.

Anran almost could not keep herself under control.

After parking in another part of the city, Anran put away the fake C-cups.

With ease, she dressed herself up as a pink-cheeked pretty boy.

Her cheeks were a little too soft, but under Aila’s makeup work, they became somewhat more masculine.

He just looked a bit effeminate, that was all. No big deal.

“Let’s find a place to stay first.”