Bai Fu rubbed her temples. She had more or less figured out what was going on.
The most likely explanation was that her appointment as acting supervisor had made her a thorn in the side of someone—or some faction—in the Wildfire Gang.
Then that person or faction had found the players, hoping to use them to get rid of her.
From a practical standpoint, it was a pretty good deal.
How did you find a reliable assassin?
That was the question.
If you got unlucky and found an idiot like the Five-Star Killer, who killed the wrong target, or some pain in the ass who subcontracted the assassination through layer after layer of middlemen, not only would the job fail, but you might very well end up exposing yourself.
Players didn't come with that problem.
You could say players knew nothing about assassination, but you couldn't doubt the determination of a player who'd accepted a mission to see it through.
Besides, players made excellent scapegoats.
Given the players' current relationship with the Wildfire Gang, unless they went around shouting through a megaphone, nobody would ever suspect that the real mastermind was from the Wildfire Gang.
"Too bad your target is me!"
Bai Fu laughed.
Above the Stars, nobody understood players better than she did.
At the Abandoned Cooling Plant, nobody was more popular with players than she was.
All she had to do was show her face. She wouldn't need to do anything else to effortlessly foil the enemy's move.
But Bai Fu had no intention of resolving the crisis so simply.
Over the past two days, she had suddenly appeared to rescue Digging Princess when some thugs blocked her way, and then gone out of her way to show the players how much she cared about their safety. She'd worked hard to win over a whole batch of them.
Now that the players had come right to her doorstep, how could she let them go so easily?
Bai Fu, activate!
Beneath the faint moonlight filtering down from overhead, Pai Da and the others crept forward.
It was 7:20 p.m. They had spent half an hour avoiding one NPC after another and had finally reached the vicinity of their target.
Pai Da took a deep breath and looked back at Digging Princess, Convert to My Fu, and the others following close behind.
[Everyone, do one last check. Make sure the traps and tools we prepared are all in order.]
He issued the instruction in the squad channel.
A few seconds later, Digging Princess was the first to reply that everything was fine. A string of "+1"s followed.
Good.
Pai Da repeated the plan they'd made beforehand in the channel.
[Does anyone have any questions? If not, let's split up and get moving. Watch your step. We've made it all the way here, so don't give yourselves away through carelessness and let the target prepare.]
[Pai Da, relax.]
[I'm a master of stealth games.]
Pai Da smiled and nodded.
To make sure the mission went smoothly, everyone had brought weapons like daggers, iron rods, and bows and arrows. They'd also studied Bai Fu's advanced tactics and gathered up a batch of lime, rusty nails, chili powder, tripwires, netting, and lubricant.
With preparations complete and a sneak attack, he was at least eighty percent sure they could take out their target in one go!
After waiting quietly for over a minute, everyone reached their assigned positions without a hitch.
The evening wind sent debris rolling down the street. The chill in the air carried a trace of murderous intent.
In the dim light, Pai Da surveyed the surroundings.
Everyone held their breath, everyone was excited.
That was 3,500 experience points.
For the experience, for leveling up, for getting closer to Bai Fu, and for digging deeper into the story hidden behind her—let's fucking do this!
Pai Da slowly raised his right hand.
When he lowered it, the operation would officially begin.
Five, four...
Pai Da counted down silently.
When he reached two, something happened that took everyone by surprise.
"How long are you going to keep hiding?"
A slightly muffled voice suddenly came through the wall in the quiet of the night.
Holy shit!
The effect was no different from getting jump-scared by a monster in a horror game.
Several players' minds went completely blank with fright, and they began looking around in a panic.
The rest started wailing in the squad channel.
[We're done for, we've been spotted! How are we supposed to ambush her now?]
[What the hell, how did she find us? We haven't made a sound this whole way. Does she have some kind of energy-sensing ability?]
[Is she hacking?]
[Pai Da, Pai Da, are we still going through with this?]
[Why does that voice sound kind of familiar?]
Pai Da was startled too.
But he'd seen plenty of big moments in other games, so he quickly calmed down.
The more it mattered, the less they could afford to panic.
If their opponent was strong, there was no way they'd get away once she'd spotted them. Rather than run, they might as well turn around and fight.
If their opponent was weak, then they had even less to worry about. They should just charge in.
It all came down to one word—
Fight!
[Same as planned. Afu and I will lead the attack and draw her attention.]
"That's more like it! Who cares about anything else? Let's hit them first and figure it out later!"
Black Tiger Afu had been itching for a fight this whole time. Hearing Pai Da say that, he dropped the act. Gripping the iron rod he'd just bought, he charged through the ajar door like a bull and burst inside.
Seeing him go in, Pai Da hurried after him.
"Ah—"
Black Tiger Afu raised the iron rod high over his head and brought it down in a vicious overhead strike at the person inside.
The blow was swift and powerful. The person inside only had time to raise her left arm.
Thwack!
The iron rod struck solidly.
Pai Da's heart leapt. This was his chance.
He used Slide Step to dart out from behind Black Tiger Afu's massive frame, dagger in a reverse grip, aiming straight for the target's left ribs.
But at that very moment, he finally got a clear look at the target's face. Wasn't that Bai Fu?
"Stop, stop! Everybody stop!"
Pai Da twisted his dagger aside with all his strength.
He managed to avoid her, but the other players rushing in through the window and from behind him didn't have time to.
"Pai Da, I'm here to help!"
Convert to My Fu drew her bow and nocked an arrow.
Whoosh.
The arrow shot straight for the back of Bai Fu's neck.
Digging Princess, meanwhile, charged forward with her blade, shouting as she went.
Pai Da had no time to shout again or stop them. Off balance, all he could do was watch helplessly.
Time seemed to slow down countless times over.
He saw Bai Fu turn around. He saw her flick her right hand, knocking the incoming arrow aside. He saw her reach out with her left hand and grab the blade Digging Princess had swung down, then twist hard and wrench it away.
"Fu Fu?"
Digging Princess froze.
The next second, Bai Fu grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall. The force of the impact lifted her bodily into the air.
Throughout it all, not a single damage number appeared above Bai Fu's head, and not a scratch showed on her body.
She wasn't hurt?
Pai Da let out a breath of relief, but immediately his heart leapt into his throat again.
"Why is it you?"
Bai Fu's gaze was ice-cold, and so was her voice.
Digging Princess struggled and looked down. In that icy gaze, she clearly saw disbelief.
In truth, at that moment, every player—including Digging Princess—was in disbelief.
Why was it Bai Fu? Why was Bai Fu their assassination target?
Didn't that mean they'd betrayed Bai Fu's trust and repaid her kindness with treachery?
It was over. It was all over!
They'd worked so hard to raise Bai Fu's Favorability to 82. Now it was probably going to drop straight to -82.
Convert to My Fu, the first person to accept the mission, was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Was there anything more regretful, painful, or despairing than stabbing the person you loved?
He wanted to stab himself.
Before you continue