Lin Ruoyu and the other five players left, chatting as they walked along the sparsely populated nighttime streets.
"You all heard my conversation with Chris just now. Connie is someone we can trust, and she's also an important story NPC..."
At this point, Lin Ruoyu marveled at their luck and offered his deduction.
"The place where you two went missing was perfect. I reckon the game designers hadn't intended for us to trigger this storyline so early, but you stumbled in there and got kidnapped.
Then we went over, started fighting after barely exchanging a few words, killed those gang mobs, and forced the main storyline to trigger."
"I reckon so too!"
"Awesome!"
"So what do we do next?"
"Go talk to that NPC named Connie."
Lin Ruoyu continued.
"What she said confirmed that our beginner guide has quite a backstory. He's a prince whose kingdom was destroyed.
We don't know what backwater kingdom he's the prince of, but a prince in exile... there's bound to be a war to restore his kingdom later in the main storyline.
We're still not sure how to trigger it, because we have too little information. We've only been in this game for a day. Connie's father, Isaac, might know more, but we don't know how to get in touch with him yet."
"Boss, just tell us what we need to do."
Little Ghost, who looked quite young, had grown impatient. He looked like he wanted nothing but action, his brain utterly untainted by knowledge.
The other players agreed with Little Ghost.
"...We'll head to the tavern in a bit."
"Why wait? Let's go now. We've already got our weapons on us anyway."
"Hold on, buddy. The two of us don't have weapons. We need to go back and get some."
"Go, go, go! Hurry up and quit talking."
And so Lin Ruoyu's group hurried back to the apartment. After picking up two concealable weapons from the weapons storeroom, the six of them headed at a brisk pace toward the slums a kilometer away.
Along the way, their rather menacing air even frightened a few passersby returning home from late shifts.
Clang!
Lin Ruoyu barged through the door. Connie, who had been working hard with a mop to remove the bloodstains from the floor, stared blankly at the six people bursting in from outside. Behind her, several young people were carrying a corpse together as they cleaned up the tavern.
The six people's sudden entrance frightened them into dropping the corpse. They grabbed weapons such as knives, guns, and clubs, then watched the newcomers warily.
"You... are there enemies outside?"
"Nope!"
Connie sighed in relief, then gave Lin Ruoyu, who stood at the front, an irritated look.
"Then why have you brought everyone over now? We haven't finished cleaning up the tavern."
"Didn't I tell you I'd come over tonight to talk business?"
"This early?"
Connie had to hand it to this lunatic of a man. Isn't there something wrong with his sense of time? Arranging for three girls to leave the city and clearing the corpses out of the tavern both take time.
But now that they were here, she couldn't very well send them away.
Connie could only gesture to Lin Ruoyu, then head upstairs.
He followed her. Home Alone instinctively tried to follow too, only to be pulled back by an older player.
"The boss is going up to discuss a partnership. What are we following him for? Haven't you ever played a hardcore game?"
Lin Ruoyu and Connie entered a sparsely furnished room. Once the door was closed, he went straight to the point as usual.
"What do you want to work with us on?"
"Are you really one of Prince Chris's subordinates?"
"Absolutely!"
Lin Ruoyu said it with complete confidence.
Connie believed him for the time being, because the subordinates she had sent out had seen them carrying corpses into the apartment where Chris lived.
Hesitation appeared on Connie's face. She was weighing a decision, something that could affect her future and the futures of many others.
After thinking for a long time, Connie looked Lin Ruoyu straight in the eye.
"You say you work for Chris. Does that mean you're Bagnian?"
Lin Ruoyu was just about to say yes, but when he saw Connie's serious expression, he looked up and opened his personal interface. Seeing the word "Outlander" in the player origin field, he shrugged.
"No. Chris calls us outlanders. I don't know what that means, and I can't tell you where my hometown is, because even if I did, you wouldn't understand."
A strange man, a strange outlander.
Connie really couldn't understand what Lin Ruoyu meant. She wasn't even sure what his name meant... Lin Ruoyu sounded rather strange and awkward in Bohemian.
Still, Lin Ruoyu was willing to be honest, which meant he could be trusted for now. And Connie was desperately short of killers willing to fight and kill, so she had to take some risks.
"I originally wanted to go into business with you. You'd provide the muscle, and I'd provide supplies and premises. Together, we'd build something big and powerful in the slums. But when you said you worked for Chris, I changed my mind."
Lin Ruoyu raised his eyebrows. He said nothing, waiting for Connie to continue.
"I don't want to be a gang leader in Inyama. No matter how well I do, no matter how many subordinates I have who are willing to fight and kill, those black-uniformed dogs will always see us as lowlife scum rolling around in the mud.
I don't want to spend my whole life like that."
As it happened, Lin Ruoyu didn't want to be a gangster either. He only wanted to work with Connie because he thought she might trigger some storyline.
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to become a noble!"
Connie spoke with absolute conviction.
"And now I know of an opportunity, one that could change my fate and yours!"
Lin Ruoyu gestured for her to continue.
"As far as I know, my father is working with Prince Chris. I'm not entirely sure what they're doing together, but I know that many Bagnians working in Inyama have received help from Isaac the gallant.
Isaac is an Inyama local, but my mother is Bagnian. By that reckoning, my father and I are both half Bagnian too.
And it's only right for Bagnians to serve a Bagnian prince!"
A crazed look appeared on Connie's freckled, somewhat pretty face.
"If we can help Prince Chris become King Chris, we'll have a chance to become the King's vassals!
My father has never let me get involved in his affairs, and his subordinates have never been willing to talk to me. But I know he's always been helping and supporting the poor Bagnians in Inyama...
So his affairs must have something to do with the King. Now that the Kingdom of Bagnia has fallen, this is a golden opportunity for them-and for us!
As long as Prince Chris can become King Chris..."
Lin Ruoyu considered Connie's words carefully. The more he thought about them, the more he felt there was something wrong with her logic.
But he couldn't put his finger on exactly what was wrong.
Is it because my reasoning is modern, so it doesn't line up with the way people in a feudal society think?
"Just tell me, Connie. What do you want to do?"
"Assassinate someone. Chris's elder brother, Bagnia's First Prince. He has the Bosnian Empire's support, and he's right here in Inyama. We'll kill him and let Prince Chris take his place!!!"
PS: There should be one more chapter.
Before you continue