Zen was tipsy. It was a miracle how he stumbled back to the room and logged into the game. Thankfully, alcohol did not carry over to virtual reality. Besides, his role was the easiest. All he had to do was solve riddles and sit tight for the rest of the round. His crafting queue remained busy, and Sasha was the most desperate raid member. She desperately needed the gold ammo and called dibs on Toad S. Tool every round.
Everyone else took this opportunity to test their new weapon combos. The Steel Silk armour made everyone speedier. There were good and bad effects of additional speed. The more skilful assassins took to it like fish in water, while the less agile assassins resembled clumsy cats.“Dammit!” Sasha complained as they got onto the lift. “I keep sliding too far with the additional speed!”Oritha grunted. Her attempts at using the boomerang did not go too well either. It kept getting stuck in the walls. Narrow spaces were not great for“What is the most important skill a hunter must know to be successful?”Zen blinked. Yelena and Bolt responded to his message so quickly that he had no time to prepare anything.The two invigilators set a timing so rushed that Zen could only slap some sandwiches together and cling-wrap them for his party members before hopping into the virtual world. His physical stomach must be growling in protest now, but Zen was more worried about the pop quiz the Russian ECHO member had for him.Thinking hard, Zen wondered if they had the same idea as him. The treasure hunt was a massacre fair for Felix and Johan. Zen might not be their direct target, but he wanted to avoid them at all costs. Not to mention, Liu Feng promised to guard Damian for him. Everyone would be busy during the event, so he had to learn to care for himself.“Stealth?” he asked.Surprised that Zen got it correct on his first attempt, Yelena blinked and gaped until Bolt cleare
Zen wasn’t a duck. Correction, he wasn’t just a duck. Yelena had never seen a bigger idiot in her life, mostly because stupid people were dead. It was difficult to believe Zen was the same genius who survived the entrance ceremony without combat skills.When she told him not to show his back, the idiot walked along walls crawling sideways like a crab. Then, she shot him and scolded him for that. The young chef evolved from criticism and took things literally, jumping from spot to spot to make it difficult for her to shoot him. That was a terrible decision because it wore his stamina out. Even if Yelena missed a few shots, she eventually nailed him in the nuts. That was a terrible experience.What the heck was wrong with this kid’s brain?Staring at Zen in the game lobby, Bolt and Yelena studied their problematic student. Even the informant had no idea how to deal with Zen. Their most promising Godfather candidate was full of impressive ideas that wer
Tired but happy, Zen was finally allowed to leave the paint gun arena and prepare lunch. Bolt and Yelena wanted to hold a face-to-face debrief, so the young chef logged out to meet them in the kitchen.When he arrived at the kitchen, the invigilators weren’t the only ones waiting for him.“Lunch requests?” Zen asked, tying his apron before hungry assassins surrounded him.“Wanton noodles.”“Steak!”“Waffles and fried chicken!”“Double cheeseburger and nuggets.”“Saba fish, miso soup and rice.”“Beef stroganoff!”Flooded with lunch requests, Zen busied away while his party members and invigilators watched him. Thanks to their impressive aura, nobody else dared to enter the kitchen.Exchanging information about the event with Zen’s party members, Bolt also shared with them about the special stealth training.“Huh? You mean h
Liu Feng’s training game of choice? Prop Hunt.It was vastly different from paint gun fights but ten times scarier. The rules of this game were simple. Zen had to hide in plain sight or camouflaged as an item in the hiding grounds. After a minute, Liu Feng would seek for him, and he had five tries to get it right.Also, in the virtual world, Liu Feng was a murderer. Prop hunt was a horror game that allowed players to be the monster seeker who killed shape-shifting humans to win the game. Humans were naturally disadvantaged. Hence, they played in a team of four against a seeker.Zen’s team members were created by artificial intelligence and were not very good at their jobs. To avoid getting captured by Liu Feng, hiders had to fix machines to distract Liu Feng or run for their lives. However, they kept getting caught from their ruckus not even five minutes into the game. Zen was always the last one left.Unable to fix any machines because the blind man
If there was something more hilarious than waking up from a comatose, it was a civilian offering a mafiosi protection service.What was Zen thinking?Damian Gorski could not understand. It defied logic. Everything about Zen defied common sense if common sense was common. First, that kid wanted to recruit him. Then, he wanted to redeem his freedom. Now, he wanted to protect him?Damian Gorski was a science freak. He needed data and evidence for every judgement. However, no amount of data could explain the insanity that Zen embodied. He was almost as bad as Godfather Veron, if not worse. At least Godfather Veron had experience on his side. Zen was walking through a minefield with only luck on his shoulder. How did he survive probability till this point? If it were anyone else, they would need at least eighty-seven lives to get to where they were.Sighing in defeat, Damian wondered if he should reply to Zen’s goodnight message. The event would begin tomorrow,
The event dragged everyone into a virtual beach. No, not beach resorts. Just plain old sand and water under the glaring sun. It was a rude shock to most people sleeping as it was three in the ungodly hour of the morning. The more experienced assassins were used to having unusual circadian rhythms and jumped into work mode immediately while others struggled to pry their eyes open.Zen was catching up on his beauty sleep when the Godfather sprung the event on them. It was a horrible way to wake up, but Liu Feng had his back. The students were spawned in different parts of the huge deserted island surrounded by an impregnable wall of waves.“Remember the lesson,” Liu Feng reminded Zen.They were lucky to be spawned together in this event. The Godfather decided to be merciful when people of the same party were spawned in a similar location. They could also use their communication system to contact others on their friend list. Zen, the academy’s soc
Bang!Bang! Bang!Frustrated, Sasha gnashed her teeth. She’d never missed this many shots in her life after she received her customised rifle. It was humiliating, but she put up with it as they were facing a difficult opponent.“Run!” she yelled at the terrified student beneath her perch. Oritha was doing her best to face off with Felix, but it took their combined efforts and shaky teamwork to keep him at bay.Watching his prey get away, Felix’s grin turned into a scowl. Facing a guild defector was bad luck. Running into a pesky sniper was worse. The blonde bitch in the tree was a pain to deal with. Even if he knew where her blind spot was, he couldn’t get to her.Oritha was on guard. She thought they would find Johan first. That terrorist was a less terrifying person to deal with in comparison. Liu Feng was the only person on their team capable of fighting the Hunter. Both men had similar abilities to spot a person’s weak
Nearly forty minutes into the event, Zen and his guild members confirmed they had enough map parts to finish two of five treasure maps. Akiko had a run-in with Johan, who escaped, and was frustrated when she could not locate him with the area tracker.“He must have used the teleportation item. It’s ok,” Zen consoled Akiko, who must be berating herself for failing to capture the bomber. “We have two completed maps. Could you help to retrieve it? I’m sending one to you and the other to Oritha and Sasha.”Listening to Zen’s soothing voice, Akiko calmed down. It was a shame she failed to finish Johan when she had the chance, but there was always next time. Besides, they had a more important task at hand. Even after gathering so many map parts from more than half the remaining students, they only pieced two of the five treasure maps. She should have ripped out at least one of Johan’s arms.At the same time, Sasha and Oritha c