Finding the assassin mentor Idith required a bit of skill.
This was because she was not in the city, but rather in the underground black market outside it.
This certainly matched the stylistic positioning of assassins.
It just meant that quite a few players accustomed to finding functional NPCs in the main city would suffer a silent loss.
Coupled with the fact that Apocalypse had no quest guidance, nor any friendly guards to unconditionally tell you where to find people.
Therefore, quite a few newbie players would fall into an awkward situation after enthusiastically leaving the Newbie Village.
Where on earth were they supposed to find a class mentor.
Fortunately, the players' discovery rate was very high, and it did not take long for them to find all the class mentors, and even unearth quite a bit of insider news.
For instance, the assassin mentor of Beli City, Idith, was ostensibly a fellow whose face was wrapped up all day long, making their gender indistinguishable.
Behind the scenes, however, she was the City Lord's daughter who had become an assassin for unknown reasons, specializing in jobs that took lives.
Because her operations were overly skillful, she was ultimately recognized by Apocalypse and became the assassin class mentor.
NPCs with multiple identities like this were countless in Apocalypse.
Amidst these thoughts, Qin Chuan walked out of the West Gate and headed toward the rift outside the city.
The rift was to the west of Beli City, spanning hundreds of meters with a length that seemed to stretch on endlessly, as if it had split the earth in half.
According to the gossip circulating among NPCs, this rift was slashed out by a deity with a casual strike.
There were countless branch caves beneath the rift, and the intricate environment ultimately gave birth to the underground black market.
The City Lord of Beli had also once tried to clear out this place, but ended up losing troops and suffering generals instead.
Coupled with the fact that refugees needed a place to settle, he simply left it unattended and let it be.
Just as Qin Chuan arrived at the mouth of the rift, two NPCs with [Hooligan A] and [Hooligan B] floating above their heads emerged from a corner, blocking Qin Chuan's path front and back as they spoke in grim tones, "Little bro, you've taken the wrong path."
If they were unfamiliar native NPCs, they would in all likelihood be dragged into a corner by the black market thugs and done away with.
Players, on the other hand, did not have this worry; as long as they did not proactively attack, they would not encounter danger.
In this regard, Apocalypse still took quite good care of Blue Star Players.
Qin Chuan did not waste words and stated directly, "I'm here to see Idith."
The movements of the two NPCs stalled, but they did not step aside either, pursuing the matter, "Who are you, and what are you looking for Idith for?"
Qin Chuan waved Leihuao's letter of introduction, "Instructor Leihuao sent me."
Although the underground black market was lawless, Leihuao's name carried a lot of weight.
The two NPCs stopped making things difficult, yielded the path, and returned to their hidden post to continue standing guard.
Qin Chuan put away the letter of introduction and began walking underground.
The entire rift was actually divided into two parts.
The area close to the surface was the Slums, where NPCs who could no longer make a living in Beli City roamed.
Further down from the Slums was the real black market.
At this moment, Qin Chuan's priority was to claim the class advancement quest, so he did not have much mind to delve into the Slums for quests.
As far as he knew, there were also quite a few opportunities hidden in the Slums.
When I finish the class advancement and buy a shop, I'll come here to do a couple of quests.
Qin Chuan thought to himself.
He then rounded the street corner and directly activated Shadow Stealth.
The Slums were not as orderly as Beli City; wandering around the Slums at his level made it very easy to stir up trouble.
To avoid complications, he simply sneaked all the way to Idith.
Just shortly after Qin Chuan stealthed, a few fierce-looking NPCs stood at the alley entrance and looked at each other in dismay.
Where was that outsider, and why had he suddenly vanished.
They had originally wanted to fleece that hick, but it seemed there was no chance now.
Watching the NPCs leave with a sense of regret, Qin Chuan did not make a move.
It was not because his temper was particularly good, but rather that the time to clean up the black market had not yet arrived.
To put it simply, the game had not reached that version yet.
Throwing this little episode to the back of his mind, Qin Chuan quickly crossed the Slums and arrived at the entrance of the real black market.
The iron-forged fences were covered in barbs, and from time to time, sturdy-looking NPCs patrolled with hounds.
Qin Chuan made a rough estimate: with his Bronze Tier Lv4 Shadow Stealth, as long as he didn't get too close to the hounds, he wouldn't be discovered. He immediately slowed his pace and advanced cautiously.
If he remembered correctly, if assassin players reached Idith's location without being discovered, there were extra perks.
Of course, even if he walked straight in, it wouldn't be a problem.
Before the descent of Apocalypse, players were protected.
Unless they were NPCs from opposing factions, most would only give players a hard time rather than launch a direct attack.
If it were other players, they might not bother with the trouble at this stage and would just walk straight in.
Playing a game with so many rules was just too exhausting.
But Qin Chuan was different; he deeply understood the essence of Apocalypse, and no matter how difficult or tedious it was, he strove to achieve perfection.
Utilizing Shadow Stealth, Qin Chuan bypassed several patrols and kept pressing deeper.
At his current speed, he would find Idith in just a few more minutes.
Judging by the situation along the way, today's black market was clearly a relatively peaceful day, with not too many street brawls occurring and few corpses in the corners.
Thanks to this, Qin Chuan smoothly arrived at Idith's location—the Roses and Poison Tavern.
This was Idith's turf, and it could be considered a rare safe zone in the black market.
Creak.
The wooden door of the tavern was pushed open, yet the entranceway was empty.
The NPCs inside the tavern instantly grew tense; this clearly meant a stealthed operative had arrived.
Daring to stealth right here meant they were either extremely confident or looking for trouble.
The NPCs placed their hands on their weapons, ready to fight at any moment.
Soon, Qin Chuan's figure materialized from the shadows.
Seeing that it was an Otherworlder, the NPCs cursed in unison, then lowered their guard and continued drinking and making merry.
Qin Chuan tightened his cloak, came up to the bar counter, flipped out a silver coin, and said in a deep voice, "I'm looking for Idith."
The tavern instantly fell quiet.
The gazes many NPCs cast at Qin Chuan were as if they were looking at a corpse.
Daring to address Idith by her full name directly, this Otherworlder must have truly grown tired of living.
However, the drinkers did not wait to see Qin Chuan chopped into pieces; instead, a guard in black walked over from the second floor, came up to Qin Chuan, and said, "Follow me."
Such an outcome dropped the NPCs' jaws to the floor.
What kind of background did this kid have to actually be able to see Idith?
Watching the expressions on the NPCs' faces, Qin Chuan smiled proudly inward.
This was the confidence that player status brought him!
So what if Idith was strong? At worst, he'd just go to the Respawn Point!
Furthermore, as long as players didn't commit outrageous actions, they wouldn't provoke Idith into attacking, and Qin Chuan naturally wouldn't make low-level mistakes.
Following the black-robed attendant up to the second floor, they stopped before a wooden door.
The black-robed attendant made a polite gesture, and his figure vanished on the spot.
Qin Chuan remained very composed.
As an assassin mentor with a group of advanced assassins under her command, Idith knowing how to stealth was the most normal thing in the world.
He reached out and knocked on the door, and a voice of indistinguishable gender came from within.
"Come in."
Qin Chuan pushed the door open and entered, and the light abruptly dimmed.
In the lavishly decorated room, only a single oil lamp hung on the wall, providing a limited amount of illumination.
"So you're the one who wants to see me?"
The voice came from behind the desk. A figure shrouded in a cloak half-lay in a chair with two feet propped up on the table, sharp eyes staring straight at Qin Chuan.
Qin Chuan, however, did not answer, but instead looked toward the shadows beneath the oil lamp and said, "Idith, is this how you treat your guests?"
Before you continue