Moving into a new city was a chore. There were so many things to consider. Finding a place to live, getting a job, filling in details, and, in some cases, hiding your tracks. But that wasn't the case for the players. They already had a set of missions to fulfill. The system would naturally guide them through the process.
However, it was still a chore for Ryuu, who was introduced to his main task a few days ago.
When the system dumped information on him that day, it wasn't that he was shocked; he had already grown out of it. He was more or less aware of it from the beginning; the system just officially announced it. This character had such an odd setup that it wasn't surprising that he had the oddest quest.
In this carefree world, there was only one being that every creature feared without exception. Kyros. The overlord of this godless world. He didn't give a damn about what happened to the world, but if he ever lost his temper, that could easily be the doomsday.
That was where this character, Aoi, came in. The story was that Scarlet Eye wished to eliminate the lord to free the world from him. But these were just fancy words for the mind. The actual implication of it was to keep Kyros occupied, entertained, be it with assassination attempts, so he wouldn't snap.
Boredom could also end the world, huh?
Ryuu could somehow come to terms with this injustice, but what he couldn't accept was the last six months being a tutorial. The number of people he had wiped out couldn't be counted with all his fingers combined and then some.
Just one mission should have been enough for an introduction. He cleared over ten. How could that be a tutorial?
The system didn't pay attention to his complaints and just told him to get ready for the next mission.
So, in the end, he had to leave Olinn, the small town where he had spawned and had been living for the last few months, and move to a new location.
Ryuu guessed that this would be the case from now on, and he'd be roaming about the continent as his main quest would take place on the other side of the continent.
'Just my luck.'
The inn he chose…the system chose was average. The decor was up to date, but nothing too fancy. It was a wooden two-story building without too many people. The innkeeper was a man who seemed to be in his 50s, sitting behind the desk while reading a book.
A young boy was doing most of the work, from receiving guests to showing them their rooms.
This type of inn was better for someone like Aoi, and by extension, Ryuu. He realized that after spending half a day in the town. The town was a resting point for travellers, so it was always moderately busy.
Ryu roamed around until late evening, pondering whether there was a plothole that could save his life.
Yes, he was certain there was no chance of survival if he attacked Kyros, no matter how stealthily he did it.
He didn't loathe the overlord. He picked up KS in the first place because he found the final boss to be the coolest. As a minor-level fanboy, it wasn't characteristic of him to loathe Kyros.
Even without the bias, as Ryuu would put it, the guy had been sitting in his castle for who knows how long, and this world didn't even have wifi or at least TV.
The people of the continent feared him for valid reasons. He was the overlord, but he wasn't doing anything to protect them and instead posed a threat. So they did what humans usually do: wage a war. One they can't win. And it had now become an endless cycle where they attacked the sanctuary and got wiped out.
Kyros was bound to get bored today or tomorrow. And now that boredom needed to be rid of.
'But, like, isn't there a safer way to do the job? Assassinate him? The strongest being on the continent?' Anyone would be dead on the first try. How was he supposed to do it periodically? 'Is there an understudy for the role? Like multiple?'
Ryuu couldn't make sense of this odd task.
[Would you like to proceed with mission cancellation?]
The sudden message gave a spark of hope to Ryuu. 'Wait? Really? S—'
[Penalty: Destruction of the continent.]
Ryuu's face distorted. 'Are you messing with me?! If you can't say something promising, don't say anything at all!'
He knew it wasn't possible to ditch the mission. All he asked for was a better route where he could survive. 'But I guess that's not an option.'
KS's storyline had a few characters set for the main quest that involved sealing Kyros into a heavenly jewel. Each of these characters had a specific task. Although not all of them were known, some of these were talked about on the forums.
Unlike the general characters, these people didn't have the privilege of skipping tasks and doing as they pleased. Because, although they could do it, it would affect other quests and the main quest. So, the system would just pull them back to that quest after a while.
Because of this, many ended up leaving the game altogether because of this as the characters were assigned randomly, and there was no way to change.
Ryuu could take the first route and try to skip quests, but if things did not play out well, it could easily bring death to his doorstep sooner and bring doomsday along. All he could do now was to look for alternatives that could at least save his life.
'All because of this useless system!'
[. . .]
While he was cussing the system out, a black figure bumped into him, muttered an apology, and left like a ghost in a matter of seconds. Ryuu had grown quite used to this ordeal.
This was actually a good thing for him at the moment. The last few days had been so uneventful that he was half considering letting the main quest go to shambles.
After returning to his room, he pulled out the envelope the black figure had slipped into his pocket.
A red envelope.
The color of the envelope signified difficulty, importance, and pay grade. Green was for general missions. Blue for difficult and commission by high society. Red was for royalty or higher. The commissions from the royalty and alike were the hardest and highest paying.
It was Ryuu's first time receiving a red envelope that didn't have actual money. Since the introductory period was over, missions were bound to be more difficult.
He carefully opened the envelope.
"On the night the moon shines high in the sky,
We hope to see your eyes paint the night."
Ryuu looked away from the paper with a shudder. If he hadn't gotten used to such words, scratch that, codes, he might have mistaken this for a fan letter at the least.
There were coordinates at the bottom of the letter. Who knew he'd be summoned with a royal-grade letter?
**
After the system translated the code that his brain was not yet ready to solve, he went to the listed location at midnight the next day.
While leaning onto the cold stone wall with the letter in hand, he wondered what situation had made the organization summon him in person. The letter didn't say anything at all regarding the task.
[Acting sophisticated or cool does not increase an assassin's fame.]
At times, Ryuu wished he could give the system a good beating. 'So what? I'm a farmer too! I'll be a cool farmer. Stop nitpicking on me!'
Sounds of footsteps came from the other side, followed by a rhythmic tapping which the system identified.
[Code verified. You may proceed.]
"Greetings." It was a solemn male voice.
"Why did you summon me all of a sudden? With a high-grade letter at that?" Ryuu tried his best to match the tone.
Royal grade letter was only used when someone of that level was involved. But all the royalty existing on the continent were in a rough condition. They had money and authority as always, but were overworked to the point they barely had time to themselves. Why would they hire assassins under such conditions? For succession battles? They had to force their heirs onto the throne in the first place.
"A problem has arisen. The commission isn't for an assassination this time, it's for a rescue."
'Hmm?' "Did one of the princes or princesses request it?" It would make sense if that were the case. But since when did assassins rescue people? Didn't that contradict the job specifics?
"Such cases aren't passed down to someone of your calibre."
'So there are those requests.'
Ryuu pitied the royalty as well. Especially the younger generation. They couldn't hold absolute power, wage wars, or conquer territories, and instead functioned as an overworked management team of a large industry. Luxuries they had couldn't outweigh their troubles. Things weren't so bad even a few hundred years ago, but now it was a different case.
Sometimes Ryuu wondered if it was this odd setup that drew so many people to obsess over KS. A world where you could see high-ranking people suffer under the system. Plausible.
"The commission is from an elder dragon in the south." Ryuu's thought process shut down upon hearing the last five words. "The original order was for the royal family, and they contacted us."
'Go back a sentence first. What did he just say?'
"You said dragon, right?" Ryuu's mind didn't process anything after the word 'dragon' was mentioned.
Dragons. A creature famous throughout almost every known fantasy media. And in every case, whether with intelligence or not, they were creatures with superior, if not with absolute, power.
They were mentioned in the game, but not part of any task or storyline, and didn't appear at all. So Ryuu wasn't expecting it.
The person on the other end ignored his question and continued. "The first prince stole a dragon egg from the southern mountain. You are to retrieve and safely return it within a month."
Ryuu felt like he had been struck by lightning. "He stole what?"
This question was also ignored, and a folder fell from the other side. "We have no one else to depend on as the situation stands. The royal family cannot move from the capital, and the knights aren't in a position to take action within a month. We fear that he would go into hiding if he catches on." Pause, "The future of this kingdom is in your hands."
'Are you kidding me right now?' He tried his best not to say this out loud. The other person had already left like a shadow after passing over the bomb. 'Couldn't he be more helpful?'
[Mission Unlocked.]
Ryuu directed his gaze to the screen on doom.
[The kingdom's future has become uncertain because of a foolish mistake.]
'Yeah? Like, what kind of an idiot does something like this? Steal a dragon egg? Did he not have the will to live, or did he want to take the whole kingdom down with him? No kingdom, no throne, no duty? Was that his plan?'
[This unexpected situation has brought you the chance to test your skills, earn merit, and save a kingdom.]
'Do I have to?'
Being an idiot isn't a sin. But this kind of idiot didn't deserve any form of pity. Why should he risk his life for this kind of idiocy?
[Infiltrate the southwestern castle where the first prince is currently at. You may find something new on your journey, or you may find the road to the afterlife.]
'What kind of motivation is that?'
[Time left until the next checkpoint disappears: 1 day 15 hours 50 minutes.]
'Ugh.'
***
A while later.
At the sanctuary…
A group of twenty was right outside the door, preparing to charge in. The team consisted purely of people native to this world, not any player from Earth. So they were low on information to begin with; otherwise, they wouldn't be here right now.
The door opened, and half of the team entered the large room, similar to a throne room. A long, dark carpet led from the door to the dais. At that other end, a figure was sitting calmly on his throne. Eyes closed, clothes resembling something ancient gods might pick. And an expression resembling a beautiful statue.
"Lord Kyros." The statue didn't bother opening his eyes. "We have come to put an end to—" The words didn't reach a conclusion, and the group of ten faded into dust in a mere second. They were gone before they realized it.
The ones waiting outside could only stare in fright. Everyone knew how ruthless Kyros was. But still, at he very least, he let the enemies speak their part.
He tapped his fingers on the handrest. "Step inside and be done with it," he spoke solemnly.
Kyros didn't attack those outside the throneroom, as in, outside the boundary of the main sanctuary. It wasn't that he couldn't, but a show of mercy that gave the enemies a chance to escape.
His overbearing voice rang across the room once more. "Otherwise, leave."
It didn't take long for them to realize they had picked the wrong time for this ordeal. There was no way they'd take the first option. So they ran with their hearts in their hands, praying for their lives and swearing not to set foot on this ground ever again.
The lord continued to tap his fingers, as if lost in thought. "How much longer do I put up with this nonsense?"
[...]
"I've already given enough time."
Unlike a certain someone, the overlord didn't wait for a response. Nor did he pay any attention to it. The large door finally closed soundlessly, and the lord of the land disappeared, leaving the sanctuary empty after many days.
At that same moment, in a small town in the south where travellers gathered, a black message window popped up in front of the sleeping assassin.
[Warning]
Some people say assassins are always alert. Well, they probably never met Ryuu Aoi. Cause when he slept, he slept like a log and wouldn't even notice if a tornado passed by.
[Mission objectives have been upgraded due to predicaments.]
[Upgrading data. Upgrading the main quest. Transferring data]
[Revising risks and penalties. Syncing.]
[Your mission tasks have been revised.]
[New tasks have been added.]
[We hope for your success.]
Perhaps it was in his fate to always miss notices as they were yet again left unseen by the ever-tired youth.