“Designer! Vorini!”
Xu Bei erupted in a furious tirade, cursing so vehemently that repeating his outburst only underscored just how enraged he was.
If he were simply made to replay the level, it wouldn’t have shattered his defenses so thoroughly.
The real problem was that, at this crucial moment, a dog had invaded his world!
There were both reinforcements and invaders, but every player was a bad brother; the game no longer had any good brothers left.
Because the streaming guild had dispatched their assassin squad to target the little streamer, matching at high intensity to catch any unfilial players.
If the match paired with a supporter, the game would turn into a performance—like Dao Xia Qujing.
If matched with an invader, no explanation was needed: it was a straight-up kill.
“Crack~” Footsteps echoed not far behind.
A killer journalist, wreathed in black mist, stepped out of the dark room, wielding a Japanese katana.
But instead of launching an attack, he kept his distance, holding his blade horizontally to block any retreat.
Xu Bei soon understood why…
His heel kept inching back as an invisible force gripped him again, dragging him inexorably into that corridor of death.
“Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!”
Deadly black hair spirals struck again, surging from the walls and ceiling!
Xu Bei’s attention wasn’t on the front; he snapped his head back sharply to glance behind.
Sure enough, the invader was rushing at him, katana raised for a backstab.
The invader and the BOSS were executing a pincer attack—determined to take his life!
When both the monster and humans want your life, that’s the most terrifying kind of deadly trap.
Xu Bei wasn’t some supernatural being with extra limbs; he could only focus all his energy on blocking the black hair spirals from the front.
Moreover, this round of black hairs was denser and more numerous than before, even curving unpredictably.
He had to throw his fists so fast they nearly smoked just to barely hold the attack off, leaving no chance to deal with the invader behind.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” he thought fiercely.
And there was only one way to break this deadlock: with a two-front ambush, he had to smash through one side first, then turn around to fend off the other.
“My gaming headset can’t be smashed! That’s my livelihood!” Xu Bei roared.
But the louder he shouted, the more densely the black hairs surrounded him in a triangular formation, trapping him tightly.
Every three steps he took, he had to halt to throw punches, fighting his way halfway through the path with half still left.
If he played it safe and steady, the BOSS female ghost would already be dead.
Xu Bei had seen through all her moves, patterns, mechanics, and abilities; barring accidents, he was sure to win.
But his ears still caught the hurried footsteps behind, and the slicing sound of the katana cutting through the air.
“Good job holding him, brother. We’ll share the spoils,” the invader said as he passed Dao Xia Qujing, clearly a comrade from the same assassin squad.
But at that moment…
Dao Xia Qujing suddenly stretched out a leg and tripped the invader.
“Ah!” The invader lost balance and fell into the bloodied scorpion corpse heap, shouting back, “What are you doing?”
“Oops, mistake,” Dao Xia Qujing said with a goofy smile, turning his face away.
The invader scrambled up hurriedly, but that delay cost a significant amount of time.
This guy seemed problematic; if the invader kept chasing the little streamer, it would expose his back to this unpredictable ‘good brother.’
Though Dao Xia Qujing did nothing after being matched in, merely increasing the BOSS’s HP fivefold as a side effect, he was still a supporter—and could crush invaders if he acted.
“Brother, you die first!” The invader stood up, feigning indifference before suddenly turning and slashing with his katana.
But Dao Xia Qujing’s feet moved like they were oiled, already anticipating it, nimbly stepping back to dodge the slash.
He didn’t counterattack, merely avoided, wearing a sly smirk as the invader’s face twisted into a half-smile, half-sneer.
This was the most aggravating kind of fight—if he rushed in for a decisive battle, it’d be over quickly. Dragging it out was the worst.
“Heh heh heh, rivals by trade, you know that?” Dao Xia Qujing sneered.
“Are you brain-damaged? We’re in the same squad! I talked with you yesterday—we even called each other brothers! Did you forget? Whenever we both match a target, we share the same bounty. Do you think I can collect two shares? Since when did our rules change?” the invader retorted loudly, making a terrifyingly convincing argument.
‘Red envelope’ was assassin slang for bounty.
Nowadays assassins had professional squads, taking orders daily in their group chat.
So they came from the same assassin squad, hired by the same boss. There was no such thing as ‘rivals by trade.’
“I’m a supporter—I get paid without doing anything, but only a small bounty. You’re an invader—you have to kill the target to get the big bounty. What are you standing there for? Go kill the target already!” Dao Xia Qujing snapped.
“Does it bother you that I’m making money?” Now it was the invader’s turn to lose his temper, shouting curses.
He understood it all now—Dao Xia Qujing just hated seeing him earn the big bounty!
Like Dao Xia Qujing said, the supporter’s and invader’s bounties were different.
Supporters matched into the target player’s game as teammates but couldn’t kill the target—they just had to stick around, increasing all monster HP fivefold.
This kind of work was so simple even an elementary schooler could do it, hence the small bounty.
But invaders were different—they came in to kill the target, outsmarting and outmaneuvering them, earning the big bounty upon success.
So the invaders were the true assassins by definition.
But even after all this, it was no excuse to screw over your own squadmates!
They called themselves assassins but were really just gamers trying to make a living. Was it necessary to be so deceitful?
“You really bring out the worst in human nature! So disgusting!”
The invader broke out in cold sweat, cursed loudly, then charged into the corridor of death.
He didn’t care anymore—ignoring his squadmate’s dirty tactics, he pushed forward to complete the assassination.
The delay had cost him a lot; the little streamer was nearly face-to-face with the BOSS!
But no need to rush—he couldn’t kill the BOSS that fast even if he reached it.
“My blade will backstab him first!”
The invader grinned cruelly, katana slicing through the bloodied ground as he lunged, aiming straight for Xu Bei’s back.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Suddenly, a series of knocks came from behind, startling the invader into a sudden stop as he whipped around.
But Dao Xia Qujing was still far away, simply tapping the wall with a baton.
“You damn rotten bastard!”
The invader’s anger flared red-hot, his attention diverted by his comrade’s dirty trick, and yet again precious time slipped away.