"Assassin"? I've never heard of this game. Could it be a small game developed by an overseas company?
As it was almost noon, Ren Suo ordered some takeout. He then peed, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and afterward, lay down on the sofa in the living room to start playing the Mini-World Game Console.
The apartment his uncle had rented to him was fully furnished, equipped with a sound system, a 4K TV, a sofa, and other furniture. Living alone must be great—even better with a girlfriend.
So Ren Suo bought his best companion—the Fourth Princess, formally known as the Hell 4th Generation Gaming Console.
After washing his face, Ren Suo was fully awake. Only then did he remember that his console and games were purchased separately.
The order on his phone showed that "Heroic Unrivaled 8" and "Evil Spirits Curse 2" he bought were still in transit, expected to arrive in another day or two. Even with the game console, it would be of no use yet.
"Heroic Unrivaled 8" was a newly released action game where you slash your way through hordes of enemies, while "Evil Spirits Curse 2" was a hardcore action role-playing game. Ren Suo had taken a long time to choose these two, preparing to play them for months until he achieved platinum status or had to start work.
These two blockbuster purchases practically drained Ren Suo's gaming budget, so he had no plans to buy digital versions from the Hell Gaming Platform. Digital games were often more expensive than physical copies, and Ren Suo wouldn't consider them without a discount or promotion, not to mention the 'collectibility' and 'resale value' of physical editions.
If he had extra money later, Ren Suo planned to collect the game discs as a radiant part of his history. If he was short on cash, he could just sell the game discs and recoup some money. This way, a game wouldn't cost him much in the end.
For these reasons, Ren Suo opted for physical copies of games, despite their abysmally long delivery times.
Without any games, the Hell 4PRO Gaming Console could only sit idle for now, so Ren Suo had no choice but to play "Bald Assassin" on the Mini-World Game Console.
Selecting "Free Game of the Month," the game description for "Assassin" listed it as an action role-playing game: an immersive assassination game where players could become a modern-day Assassin endowed with "Bullet Time," master of all firearms and Combat Techniques, and even choose to play as other assassin characters. It looked rather impressive.
After choosing to download, a prompt popped up on the screen:
"Player selection is for a free chapter. This month's 'Assassin' free chapter is 'Bloody Banquet,' game difficulty: 1-star."
"As this free chapter's difficulty is 1-star, exclusive rewards are removed (exclusive rewards are available for difficulties >2-stars)."
"The remaining time for this game chapter is 14 hours, 23 minutes, 51 seconds, after which the game will automatically be deleted."
What? The free game only lets you play one chapter, and there's less than 15 hours left? Ren Suo complained, but having seen plenty of free stuff in Mysterious Country, he wasn't too surprised.
However, the game's download speed was astonishingly fast; in less than five seconds, Ren Suo received a prompt indicating the game had successfully downloaded. He lowered his expectations for the game even further. Although his apartment had a 200M fiber optic connection from Mysterious Country Telecom, a game that could download completely via Wi-Fi in five seconds probably wouldn't be more than 100MB, right?
Even if it was only one chapter, the music, system, graphics, and such would all need to be downloaded. A game with such a small file size could either be terribly truncated or inherently small. Although file size doesn't equate to game quality, it does limit the game's expressive capabilities.
Looks like it's probably a small game... Wait a minute!
Suddenly, Ren Suo remembered he hadn't connected the Mini-World Game Console to the apartment's Wi-Fi, had he?
It wouldn't be surprising, though. Given how the Mini-World Game Console had imperiously connected directly to the Hell 4 game controller and Rice TV as soon as it arrived, it could very well automatically connect to the apartment's Wi-Fi too.
However, once he entered the game, his previously low expectations suddenly rose!
On the screen, rain trickled down from the eaves of buildings on both sides, PITTER-PATTERING on the dirty alley ground. The light from far-off buildings and streetlamps outside the alley served as the only sources of light within.
In the dim alley, as deep as the Abyss, a figure holding a black umbrella stepped through the puddles, emerging at a leisurely pace into the center of the screen. Dressed in a suit, he stood tall, like a noble in the rainy night.
Then, the camera moved forward, shifting the screen's view under the umbrella, allowing players to fully see this person's appearance—
"Please set the Assassin's appearance."
Damn! This isn't a cutscene; it's actual in-game graphics? Ren Suo was shocked. Behind the game character, the alley still featured continuous rain. However, the Light and Shadow, the rain, the architecture, textures, rendering, and the character model were so impressive that even the game touted as 'the peak of performance,' "Record Horizon," might not compare!
This is definitely not a small game, but a AAA title! Ren Suo's interest was piqued. He found that the game character's default appearance was that of a fierce-looking bald man. Upon choosing to change the appearance, a series of intimidatingly numerous adjustment options popped up.
Though he liked to play as cool characters, Ren Suo wasn't particularly interested in character customization. Especially now, with highly diversified appearance values, adjusting a face required tinkering with dozens of parameters. As someone in the advanced stages of laziness, Ren Suo had no intention of wasting too much time on this.
Generally, someone like Ren Suo, who liked attractive characters but didn't want to spend time on them, would opt to search online for other people's character customization data. He'd be a freeloader, copying someone else's settings to create a character to his liking, perhaps adjusting the eye color, hairstyle, and hair color. Then, that would be Ren Suo's game character!
But when Ren Suo searched for "Assassin," there were games with similar themes and names online, yet none matched the graphics quality of the game before him, nor did any offer character customization. Therefore, Ren Suo's path to being a freeloader was nonexistent.
Luckily, the appearance menu had "Recommended Appearance" and "Recommended Character" options.
In "Recommended Characters," besides the default 'Bald Assassin,' there were 'Clown Assassin' and 'Demon Hunter Assassin,' followed by "For more options, please purchase character DLC"...
After careful consideration, Ren Suo found that these assassin characters, aside from their appearance and voice, actually had different Skills.
For example, the 'Bald Assassin's Skill was "Bullet Time," which affected the flow of time around himself.
The 'Clown Assassin,' with tear-like makeup, had the Skill "Thousand Changes," requiring 30 Merit Points to unlock.
The 'Demon Hunter Assassin,' with white hair and a weathered face, had the Skill "Abyssal Wolf Swordsmanship," also requiring 30 Merit Points to unlock.
Even their starting proficiencies were different. The 'Bald Assassin' seemed to start with "Martial Arts Mastery" and "Firearms Mastery." The 'Clown Assassin' had "Firearms Basics" and "Throwing Expert," while the 'Demon Hunter Assassin' only had "Swordsmanship Master."
Among the three "Recommended Characters," the 'Bald Assassin' was recommended for newcomers and was also the only free one.
Ren Suo hadn't found a way to add funds yet. Besides, he wouldn't spend money on a game that would automatically delete itself after 14 hours, so he could only choose the 'Bald Assassin.'
Of course, he wouldn't use this default appearance. He chose a Mysterious Country man's appearance from the "Recommended Appearances," one with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, and added a red, teardrop-shaped Mark between his eyebrows, giving him a sinisterly charming look.
"Please name the assassin." After confirming the character, the game displayed a prompt.
Ren Suo directly named him "Assassin." Then the screen changed, the controller vibrated slightly, and the assassin holding the umbrella smiled faintly. Ren Suo could now control the character.
At that moment, a drunken drifter appeared before the assassin, stumbling towards him through murky rainwater, raising a bottle as if to attack.
Through the process of exiting the alley and subduing the drifter, Ren Suo basically understood the game's controls. After knocking the drifter out with Combat Techniques, the game displayed a prompt: "Before 8:00 p.m., find a way to enter the Black Thorn Building's 8th-floor Ranpelrouge banquet under a legitimate identity."
The perspective shifted upwards. On the screen, a grand, brightly lit building just outside the alley was marked with a green inverted Pyramid, indicating the player's destination.
Ren Suo controlled the assassin out of the alley and saw that the street outside the building was packed with sports cars and luxury vehicles. Waiters stood by, holding umbrellas for arriving guests.
Approaching closer, he noticed that these distinguished-looking, upper-class individuals would always present an invitation before entering. Only after a waiter confirmed the invitation could they proceed. The service was very attentive, with waiters keeping their eyes firmly on the guests until they boarded the elevator.
For instance, Ren Suo saw a young man whose clothes were splashed with dirty water, having parked his car far away. When he reached the entrance and presented his invitation, a waiter immediately said, "Mr. Ricall, there's spare formal attire and a dryer upstairs. I'll take you there now."
"Thank you."
The waiter's service was indeed thorough, escorting the young man all the way to the elevator and informing the staff inside of his needs. With at least three pairs of waiters' eyes watching the whole process, it was clear that sneaking in was impossible.
Ren Suo directly controlled the assassin to attempt entry into the building and was naturally stopped by a waiter. The waiter spoke a few words in English, and his avatar displayed a dialogue box: "Sir, please present your invitation."
At that moment, four options appeared at the bottom of the screen, selectable with the directional keys, but with only a 10-second time limit. If no selection was made, the first option would be chosen by default.
① "I forgot my invitation at home."
② "I am the person in charge of a company upstairs. I need to take the elevator to get some documents."
③ (Attack him) "Why should I report my actions to you?"
④ (Take out 5 pounds) "Cousin, long time no see..."
There are dialogue choices too? Ren Suo was no stranger to this mode; choices like these typically determined how a player progressed. Based on his years of watching game playthroughs, he figured ① was probably a throwaway option, basically useless. Option ② might be the way to talk his way through, ③ was definitely the forceful approach, and ④ was the bribery route.
He tentatively chose the seemingly cost-free option ②: "I am the person in charge of a company upstairs. I need to take the elevator to get some documents."
The waiter's dialogue box showed: "Oh? But passage has been prohibited before 6:00 p.m. today. Please come back tomorrow."
Ren Suo thought, On what grounds?
The waiter's dialogue box continued: "On the grounds that this building belongs to the Ranpelrouge Family."
Ren Suo: "..."
His first attempt to enter failed. Ren Suo then decided to try again with other options.
However, this time the waiter frowned. "What are you doing here again? Security, take him next door to cool off."
Two burly security guards in blue uniforms, each nearly 2 meters tall, came over and flanked the assassin. Ren Suo thought this meant mission failure, but the scene continued until the assassin was taken to an alley.
"Don't cause trouble, kid." The security guard patted the assassin's head and turned to leave. Ren Suo instinctively pressed a button on the controller, and the assassin automatically wrapped his arm around the guard's neck and twisted it with a SNAP.
Ren Suo was stunned, but the other security guard wasn't. He immediately pressed his earpiece and shouted, "Hostile target detected! Location is Palan Alley! Terry has been killed! Requesting backup, requesting backup!"
He pulled out a baton, pointed it at the assassin, and backed away towards the alley exit, loudly reporting the assassin's actions to his superiors.
Ren Suo just watched this security guard leave the alley. The now-dead security guard's body on screen emitted a faint yellow glow. He controlled the assassin to investigate and found three options for the body: Loot, Drag, or Dispose.
Looting allowed him to strip the security guard's clothing and equipment for his own use. Dragging meant moving the body. However, when Ren Suo chose 'Dispose,' the game prompted, "You do not have any tools to dispose of it."
At this moment, a dozen gunmen in black suddenly appeared and started blasting away at the assassin. As blood splattered on the assassin's body, the game screen turned black and white.
"You are dead."