Volume 3, Chapter 25 – As Long as the Mission Target Stays Alive

Scouting the terrain when there were no enemies around was not exactly difficult work.

Anran still remembered that she had a not particularly useful class called Apprentice Scout.

Bringing along her two pieces of cannon fodder, Anran quickly moved toward the place where the retired official lived.

According to the map, it was in the center of town, supposedly the more prosperous part.

But that was only relative. After reaching the destination and giving the area a rough look, Anran found that the tallest building here was only a seven-story commercial center.

The retired official’s house was located just behind and to the side of that commercial center, with a medium-sized landscaped park right beside it.

Overall, the terrain was fairly complicated. If they were setting up a defense, there were also plenty of places suitable for ambushes.

“You should memorize the terrain properly too. Stop staring at that commercial center the whole time,” Leading the Charge said helplessly to Zhou Jieyu.

“I am memorizing the terrain properly!” Zhou Jieyu shot back at once.

“If you’re memorizing the terrain, do you really need to keep staring at that commercial center?”

Zhou Jieyu gave a huff. “Bro, this is where you don’t get it. Look, didn’t I bring a sniper rifle? Aren’t snipers supposed to hide up high and pick people off?”

“…”

Leading the Charge froze for a second, then said, “That actually makes sense, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you’re really thinking.”

“What kind of older brother slanders his own little sister like that?!” Zhou Jieyu instantly became unhappy.

So noisy. Anran frowned.

Two pieces of cannon fodder together were not cute at all.

She was wondering whether it might be better to get rid of one first.

Zhou Jieyu inexplicably felt a chill. Leading the Charge did not react at all and was still lecturing her.

Was that just her imagination?

Zhou Jieyu wondered.

After circling the retired official’s house several times, Anran still showed no intention of meeting the official. Leading the Charge hesitated for a long while, but in the end he could not help asking, “Since our mission objective is to protect that retired official, why aren’t we going to find the target first?”

From what Zhou Jieyu had said, Leading the Charge already knew Anran was impressive. And after observing her for these twenty minutes, he had also realized that she was very professional. But the fact that she had no intention of contacting the target at all truly puzzled him.

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“Why do we have to make contact with the target?” Anran turned around and asked.

“Well…”

Leading the Charge was immediately stumped. “If the mission is to protect the target, shouldn’t we make contact with the target?”

“No one ever said that protecting the target means you must make contact with the target,” Anran said.

“…”

“Going to make contact right now wouldn’t bring us any benefits. On the contrary, the target might do something willful and put us in a difficult situation.”

“That makes sense,” Leading the Charge said after thinking it over.

Anran checked the time. “For a protection mission, as long as the target doesn’t die, that’s enough. We’re here to take an assessment, not to be the target’s babysitters.”

“…”

Cold sweat started breaking out on Leading the Charge.

Zhou Jieyu, on the other hand, was gradually starting to understand what Anran was like.

This really was how Anran thought.

This was only a several-hour confrontation mission. As long as the target stayed alive until six in the morning, the mission was complete.

As for whether the target got injured, or whether the target ended up resenting her, none of that needed to be considered at all.

If the target got difficult, Anran would dare to shoot the target and make it clear whose word actually counted.

As long as she did not kill the target, that was fine.

An obedient puppet was far easier to protect than someone who liked running all over the place.

Besides, they had just circled the target’s residence, and it was obvious that someone was watching from the shadows.

Whether that meant the official truly valued their own life,

or whether it was simply part of the dungeon’s setup,

either way, it was a good thing.

Thinking about it, that made sense. If there were no such arrangement, this dungeon would be far too difficult.

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After all, this was not some tower defense game with only a single route.

“The invasion is about to begin.”

After walking out of the landscaped park, Anran checked the time again.

There were five minutes left until Morningstar’s invasion began.

Leading the Charge and Zhou Jieyu hurriedly checked the time as well.

“When you took the assessment last time, which direction did the Morningstar Resistance come in from?” Anran asked.

The town was not big, but it was not exactly small either.

The panel did not indicate which direction Morningstar would attack from, so the only thing she could do now was ask Zhou Jieyu and the others first.

Whether the direction of attack was random or not, at least this gave them a point of reference instead of leaving them to run around like headless flies.

Zhou Jieyu immediately pointed at a spot on the map.

The western side of town was a stretch of low, squat houses.

“Let’s go here,” Anran said, pointing at a relatively large building.

It was not far from the center of town, so even if they camped the wrong spot, they could still hurry back in time to support the defense.

“Mm.” Leading the Charge and Zhou Jieyu both nodded.

Leading the Charge in particular felt more and more that Anran’s identity was not simple.

Unlike Zhou Jieyu, he always thought one layer deeper whenever he considered things.

As for Zhou Jieyu—why think at all? Thinking wasted calories.

…

It was only when they got closer that Anran realized the relatively large building was a flour mill.

The mill was attached to a warehouse, and with the large yard in the middle, the whole place looked fairly spacious.

“There’s a chimney over there. How about I climb—”

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Before Zhou Jieyu could finish speaking, the dungeon prompt suddenly rang out.

“Attention: the Morningstar Resistance action squad has already arrived in town. The invasion has officially begun. Please be alert!”

This was a voice that only the three of them could hear.

“Uh…”

Zhou Jieyu still wanted to say something, but Anran directly dragged over a crate from the side, sprinted, jumped onto it, grabbed the edge of the roof, and flipped herself up.

“Give me the sniper rifle,” Anran said to Zhou Jieyu.

“Oh, okay.” Zhou Jieyu immediately tossed the gun over.

“You two hold the intersection. If you really can’t stop them, throw grenades,” Anran said as she caught the rifle.

What she had actually wanted to say was blow yourselves up, but that was not exactly appropriate.

They definitely would not cooperate.

Anran glanced at the panel.

Morningstar Resistance: 10/10.

There were ten people in the first wave of the invasion.

Anran hid behind the chimney. The chimney was not large, but Anran herself was small too, so it concealed her perfectly.

She took a deep breath.

That had already become a habit.

This was a semi-automatic sniper rifle. Anran crouched low, and the sharply peaked triangular roof made it very convenient for her to lie prone and aim.

With the cover of night, it was even harder for the enemy to notice her.

Although it was night, this assessment had not been made too absurd. The participants’ eyesight had all been enhanced, so as long as the distance was not too great, they could still see clearly.

Anran lay there patiently, like a hunter lying in wait in the darkness.

Silent and traceless, impossible to catch sight of. Even if your heart was full of vigilance, once the hunter struck, you still would not be able to escape.

In the night,

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ten Morningstar fighters in black clothes poured in from the western side of town.

All of them were carrying rifles. Their formation was slightly spread out, and they jogged in small quick steps along the streets shrouded in darkness.

They had no idea their plan had already been intercepted.

But they still maintained basic discipline.

Even though they were moving quickly, their formation was not chaotic, and they had not let down their guard.

The leader of the action squad, walking in the very center, wore an exceptionally calm expression.

Within the dungeon’s setting, he was a “killer” without emotions.

Morningstar, all forces attack! (((?’ω’)?三 ?’ω’)-o≡

Their only target was the retired official located in the center of town.

“The target is a little over three hundred meters away. At this distance, with the game’s simplifications, even using a sniper rifle for the first time, I won’t miss!”

Anran said inwardly as the crosshairs in the scope locked onto the target.

And then,

her eyes narrowed slightly, and she pulled the trigger hard.

“Bang—”

The slightly elongated bullet left the chamber in an instant, spinning like a demon snatching away life, cutting across the long night with unstoppable force as it shot straight toward the target’s chest.

“Splurt—”

A large spray of blood burst out, and the body charging forward dropped to the ground at once.

“@＃%＃@”

“＆*＃@￥”

From that distance, Anran could not hear what the group was shouting. She only saw them quickly scatter and look for cover.

“Points +1.”