"Huh? A Gotham Villain Vocational Certification?"
Having just secured the instant-kill on Demon Princess, Irene stared in astonishment at the achievement notification popping up on her interface.
The moment the words left Irene's mouth, she saw Chris dash toward her. Instantly, he raised his equipped shield, angling it 45 degrees above his head, his sharp eyes intensely scanning every conceivable hiding spot in the vicinity.
"That old Bat of Gotham is definitely hiding somewhere, spying on us. I'm guessing the man himself is present."
As someone who had already been "honored" with this specific certification, Chris immediately made the deduction.
Although Chris wasn't a genuine Shieldbearer class, playing the role of a bodyguard temporarily wasn't difficult thanks to the defensive performance boosts from [Shield Master]. Furthermore, when signing the Gray Party Contract, he had already clearly defined his role within the team. At least for the duration of this current mission world, Irene would be the one he protected.
"Loot the chest! We run!" Irene immediately issued the highest-priority directive.
"Copy that." Chris didn't waste a second word, immediately turning to flee alongside her.
Obviously, two players who had essentially been "officially" stamped as VIP clients of Arkham Asylum had absolutely zero desire to tangle with Batman.
As mentioned before, there were plenty of individuals within the player base who treated their own affiliated faction NPCs exactly the same as dungeon monsters and enemies. These people wouldn't hesitate to butcher NPCs, who were originally meant to be their allies and teammates, just to steal their "Protagonist Weapons."
However, the moment they initiated an attack, the dungeon underwent an almost irreversible change. For players who murdered allied units, that corresponding action would permanently alter their game save, carrying over into every single subsequent dungeon run. Furthermore, this didn't just affect that specific original blueprint; even cameo appearances, mentioned references, or other game blueprints sharing the same overarching worldview would be influenced.
If you made a choice, you had to bear the consequences. This was precisely the kind of extrapolated possibility the Space wanted to observe.
As for the younger twin sister, Yasha, who had fled in the opposite direction... Chris simply didn't have the mobility to give chase. And Irene, having just unleashed a Fusion Combat Arte, was going to be physically exhausted for a while. So, if she escaped, then she escaped. There would be other opportunities later.
Crouched atop a rooftop like a gargoyle sculpture, Batman stared somewhat absent-mindedly at Demon Princess's corpse, which was still pinned to the abandoned factory door. Eventually, he shifted his gaze toward Chris and Irene, who were currently fleeing toward the Financial District.
However, he chose not to pursue.
The elusive, phantom-like Batman always unerringly appeared wherever an incident occurred in Gotham City. Naturally, he wouldn't miss the battle involving Chris's group, especially since none of them had made the slightest effort to conceal their resulting fireworks.
But unlike the myriad of petty thefts, minor robberies, or even direct gang shootouts scurrying through the streets like rats, the confrontation between Chris, Irene, and the twin sisters looked entirely different in Batman's eyes. To him, it was a pure dog-eat-dog brawl between supervillains.
While the Batman based on the '89 movie blueprint generally wouldn't bypass the judicial system to use overly draconian methods on ordinary criminals, this specific iteration of Batman had personally killed the Joker.
Simultaneously, never forget that the Bounty Mission to slaughter gang members and loot their quest items had been issued by him in the first place.
Therefore, the Batman in this iteration actually didn't possess as severe of a "No-Kill Rule" as his counterparts from other alternate dimensions.
Furthermore, while he had already designated both Chris and Irene as absolute prime VIP candidates for Arkham Asylum, he also noticed that their chosen targets were exclusively gang members or fellow super-powered individuals. They seemed completely disinterested in harming ordinary civilians. Thus, the ones who should truly feel threatened by their unchecked actions were the supervillain factions, like Killer Moth and his gang.
Then again, the gang problem had currently metastasized into every corner of Gotham City like a lethal poison. This meant a living gang leader was infinitely more valuable than a dead one. The moment a leader died, the gang would inevitably descend into violent, chaotic power struggles. Simultaneously, rival gangs would launch aggressive turf wars to absorb their territory. Ultimately, the ones who would suffer the most from the resulting crossfire were the ordinary citizens of Gotham.
Ignoring the Shieldbearer with the twisted moral compass for a moment, the archer who hadn't hesitated to execute a lethal strike would most likely find another way to target Killer Moth again. Given that the man and woman had visibly formed an alliance, the immediate threat to Killer Moth's life had just skyrocketed exponentially.
Now came the real question.
Should he figure out a way to resolve the attacks targeting Killer Moth from the source? Or should he start purely planning on how to stabilize the entire Moth Gang following Killer Moth's inevitable death?
Batman sank into deep contemplation.
...
"He didn't chase us."
Frowning slightly after inhaling a breath of Gotham's industrial-dust-filled air, Irene gestured for Chris to slow their pace.
Chris nodded, taking a moment to calm his heart rate, which had accelerated from the sprint.
However, Chris quickly invoked his excellent habit of "if you don't know, ask," posing a blunt question.
"Can you explain the consequences of killing other players? And what are the rules regarding those blood-stained Treasure Boxes?"
"No problem~"
For some unknown reason, Irene seemed actually a bit pleased to hear Chris asking her questions, nodding in agreement.
To summarize briefly: killing exactly one player mandatorily added 1 point to a player's "PK Value." As a player's PK Value accumulated, the drop rate of the "Bloody Treasure Box" resulting from a player's death would experience staged, percentage-based increases.
Usually, a White Name player killing another White Name player would result in the aggressor becoming a Red Name. A White Name player killing a Red Name player wouldn't turn them into a Red Name, but it would still increase their PK Value.
Of course, this also involved a judgment mechanism. If both parties were White Names, and the one who attacked first was counter-killed, the player who defended themselves and secured the counter-kill would remain a White Name.
The accumulation of a Red Name player's PK Value could lead to them being heavily ostracized by Protagonist Faction NPCs, who generally adhered to values of justice. This would consequently cause a forced shift in player faction alignment. The probability of being assigned to the hostile faction among native dungeon characters would steadily increase, as would the frequency of generating "Faction Confrontation" dungeon modifiers.
It could even trigger specific Bounty Missions targeting high-profile Red Name players.
However, "Red Name" was fundamentally just another form of player existence. They possessed certain special privileges that White Name players simply could not enjoy.
For example, in certain dungeons with the restriction "Killing Protagonist Faction/Allied NPCs yields zero item drops," Red Name players could straight-up ignore the condition. They could slaughter NPCs identically to monsters and still receive relatively normal drop rates.
Simultaneously, once a player's PK Value reached a high enough threshold, they gained the qualifications to equip specialized "PK Gear", equipment whose effects only manifested during PVP combat between players.
In conclusion, becoming a Red Name player was fundamentally just an optional gameplay route available to Heaven's Selection players. It just so happened that it didn't align with Chris's personal gaming aesthetics.
Bringing unimaginably arrogantly and overwhelmingly powerful demons and monsters to their knees, begging for mercy, and then brutally ripping out their spines amidst their terrified wailing, that was Chris's absolute favorite kind of visual.
"So, are you a Red Name?"
Chris once again threw out a relatively sensitive question. It was hard to tell if he was just being incredibly blunt or if he was doing it on purpose.
"What? Are you scared?"
Currently inspecting the bowstring of her Elven Bow, Irene rolled her eyes at Chris and countered with her own question.
"Of course not~"
As Chris spoke, he flashed an incredibly amicable, gentle smile, a smile that caused an immediate, dense layer of goosebumps to erupt across the skin of the archer, Irene, someone whose comprehensive combat strength vastly overshadowed his own.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]