Genius Chapter 209: Extra- The Great Demon King and the Assassins (Part 2)

Chapter 209: Extra- The Great Demon King and the Assassins (Part 2)

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

[??? How does he like assassins!?]

[It’s well-known that archdemon has a major grudge against assassins!]

[I was going to complain, but then I saw his level and thought, never mind.]

[55th level? A little newbie? Did you watch archdemon’s viral video? Don’t let him fool you.]

The assassinSect had initially taken issue with summoner Momo’s guide, but it wasn’t because they couldn’t handle it. It was mainly because the guide taught strategies to counter assassins, which made them uneasy. There was a bit of discomfort. Since Celestial Horizon didn’t restrict what players could discuss, and since summoners had posted guides on how to deal with assassins, the assassins felt they should find a way to counter summoners, right?

They couldn’t just passively take hits.

The assassin Sect had originally been discussing this issue, but somehow, a few of the assassins shifted the topic, diverting the discussion from strategies to Momo himself. Before long, the group of assassins in the Sect started arguing.

When the newbie said that oo liked assassins, a group of assassins who were somewhat familiar with oo became very disdainful. Someone was about to lash out when another group of assassins surrounded them.

[What are you going to complain about? Haven’t you noticed how few assassins there are now? You still have the nerve to complain when there are so few newbie assassins?]

[Why argue with a newbie? Let me tell you, don’t be fooled by Momo’s appearance; he’s a demon.]

[Peace and joy? Is it a little sister or a younger brother? Little sisters need protection, but little brothers can be casually criticized.]

[Newbies have no idea about our dark period. I remember back then, many of my assassin friends quit playing. If it weren’t for the counter items that came out later, assassins would have been hunted down in the wild!]

[Can we not talk about the past? You all have time to chat, but why not go to the forum and sell our sob story? Have you seen how many sob stories the magical swordsman posts? We hardly have any on the front page! Get serious, alright? For the beautiful future of assassins!]

[You all don’t compare to the big brother, though. Look at how active ChatMasterWu is, posting every day!]

[You just reminded me, I haven’t posted today. I’m going to do it right away.]

[He likes assassins?? Don’t joke around. That guide of his was specifically aimed at assassins. The part about assassins had 154 more words than any other profession!]

[What the hell? Big brother is amazing, you even counted the words!]

[Of course. After he posted the guide, I downloaded it and studied it.]

[154 extra words? Isn’t that targeted? Why write so much about us assassins? What did we assassins do wrong?]

The newbie assassin replied again: [But having more words to describe us just means Momo values us assassins more, right? He wrote a lot about other professions too, but he wrote more about us, so that means he values us more. That shouldn’t be considered targeting, it’s about importance.]

[What?]

[This can be explained away???]

[Targeting can be called “valuing”??? Do you think we’re fools?]

[Archdemon’s level of research on assassins is indeed very high. If you want to say it’s “valuing,” then yes, that can be considered valuing.]

[I’d rather not have this kind of “valuing.”]

[Wait, why not want this kind of valuing?]

[If he values us, it means we’re strong, and he needs to spend more time and effort researching us. That’s a form of respect.]

Among the group of assassins, Watermelon had a somewhat complicated expression.

When he logged in, he saw the Sect was in an uproar, with everyone arguing in the channel about the forum guide. Before he could speak, he noticed an unusual voice trying to mediate the heated argument among the assassins.

It was a level 55 little assassin, speaking in a calm and measured tone. Even though some assassins were criticizing him, he maintained his original stance, explaining his views to the others. What was crucial was that he spoke with a solid, logical argument, avoiding any extreme words. He stayed objective and focused solely on the topic of the summoner guide, quoting examples and reasoning with a group of irrational, ranting assassins.

From the perspective of reasoning, this little assassin was quite bold and not foolish at all, far better than those who blindly criticized their fellow Sect members.

For some reason, Watermelon felt this little assassin had a lot of character, so he proactively sent a friend request.

[Respect??? If targeting is respect, then I respect archdemon.]

[Actually, the little newbie isn’t wrong. You guys are being a bit too sensitive.]

[Exactly, archdemon has actually developed a lot of assassin strategies.]

[Ugh, saying it like that actually makes some sense.]

[Stop criticizing Abyss. Remember the shadow clone tactic he came up with? Now, in faction wars, the number of assassin tickets we can get has increased a lot, okay?]

[Eclipse has been working on shadow clones too, right? They nearly took down Winter Point last week.]

[Assassins have fallen, and now we’re turning on each other.]

[What? Pingan Xile, why don’t you play summoner instead? You’re always speaking up for oo.]

[Are you a summoner who made an alt account to stir things up in assassin?]

The friend request had just been sent and hadn’t been accepted yet, but the little assassin was still debating with the Sect’s assassins. In reality, arguing with the haters at the top of the list was futile. Watermelon was about to step in and help the little assassin out when he saw that, despite the insults, the little assassin kept reasoning with the critics.

Soon after, the friend request was accepted.

Pingan Xile: We can chat in the channel, too many people added me, I can’t keep up with all the replies.

Watermelon: “?”

WhatAHugeWatermelon: No, I just wanted to tell you not to argue with them, you won’t win.

Pingan Xile: Oh, I see. I thought you added me as a friend to discuss things.

Pingan Xile: It’s fine, I’ll say a few more things and then stop.

Pingan Xile: A few people added me earlier, and as soon as they spoke, they started cursing, so rude.

The next second, Pingan Xile replied in the channel, probably having drafted it before, as it came out very quickly.

[As the ancients said, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.” Understanding both yourself and your opponent is the key to victory. For this kind of strategy post, what we need to focus on is how many assassin weaknesses it reveals, and what advantages our opponents have. This post gives us direction and allows us to reflect.]

[Your perspective can’t be too narrow, don’t just look at the surface of things!]

[And also, in his previous post about summoner dungeons, he recommended teams that included assassins. This shows that in his eyes, assassins are irreplaceable, and no other profession has as wide an employment scope as assassin.]

[That’s all for now, we’ll talk next time.]

Watermelon was speechless.

He wanted to delete the friend request.

Not only that, but when he added the friend, he found out that this little assassin was actually from Eclipse, the type of assassin he’d encounter in the wild trying to take heads.

Pingan Xile: I’m done, thank you for coming to remind me.

WhatAHugeWatermelon: …You’re welcome, be careful in the wild.

Pingan Xile: It’s fine, I’m not going to the wild. Young and impetuous, I was too hasty.

Pingan Xile: It’s also not good to look at things only on the surface, Momo’s strategy post actually explains it clearly, assassins actually have quite an advantage. Instead of pursuing high burst damage, it’s better to do two sneak attacks.

Watermelon was about to delete the friend request when he realized that this little assassin wasn’t clueless about assassins, and his thoughts somewhat aligned with his own. Could this person be using an alt account?

WhatAHugeWatermelon: You actually know a lot? How long have you been playing?

Pingan Xile: About half a year.

WhatAHugeWatermelon: You just mentioned two sneak attacks, you must mean using stealth to escape and then flank for damage, right?

Pingan Xile: Yeah? How did you know?

WhatAHugeWatermelon: …I was thinking the same thing.

WhatAHugeWatermelon: Nowadays, assassins always rely on stealth for burst, so when people see stealth, they expect an assassin to burst. That tactic has been overused, so naturally, they end up getting countered.

Su Zhixing had just finished debating with a group of young, impulsive assassins when he encountered this reasoning assassin, which made him feel somewhat pleased. He also played as an assassin, though not very well. Whenever he was having meals at home, he liked to bring up topics from Sect discussions about assassins to ask his son. Every time, Su Mo would patiently explain things to him.

Stealth was a point his son had brought up.

He felt excited upon seeing this, as his academic curiosity took over—whenever he encountered a problem, he wanted to discuss it with someone.

Pingan Xile: But I’ve tried several times, and each time, I can’t get the skill to connect.

WhatAHugeWatermelon: Stealth can extend the time, you just need to be in full status.

Pingan Xile: My skills always disconnect.

Pingan Xile: I don’t really understand, I just can’t get it right.

WhatAHugeWatermelon: …

WhatAHugeWatermelon: I believe you’re a newbie.

WhatAHugeWatermelon: Let me take you through two dungeons, get to level 60 faster, and you’ll be able to learn more skills.

***

Once Su Mo got busy, he didn’t have time to play games. He spent some time finishing up matters in the lab and would return home early on Friday to spend time with Yu Zhen. This week, he didn’t play any games, but when Chen Shanxue chatted with him, she often mentioned that his father had been getting a bit addicted to games recently and would often be in his study, reading game guides.

Not only was he reading guides, but he was also researching assassin strategies. Several times, when Su Mo came out of the lab, he would see his father’s messages asking questions about things he didn’t understand.

“Son, can the sequence of this burst be changed?”

“Son, if I activate enhancement and then stealth, will it break the invisibility?”

…

Su Mo answered him, and casually asked, “Has Dad made any new friends in the game recently?”

Xu Zhixing mentioned that he had made a friend in the game, and they were researching assassin strategies together. There were things he didn’t understand, so he came to ask him.

It was rare to see Xu Zhixing so interested in games, so when Su Mo had time, he would talk more about it with him, like how to fight against physical swordsmen, how to counter marksmen… and he even suggested that Xu Zhixing try going to the wild to experiment when he had time.

After all, his father was from the Eclipse faction, so learning more skills would make it easier for him to farm points in the wild.

This did present a problem, though. Different factions made it hard to carry out quests together, so he could only guide him through dungeons.

Xu Zhixing quickly took note of this and soon went to find his new friend.

Familiarity grew with time.

Recently, Watermelon had become a bit busy. One day, he unexpectedly found a new player in Sect and took them through two dungeons. After that, every time he logged in, he would receive a greeting. Pingan Xile was a very polite assassin; he seemed to be a working professional, and his game time was mostly at night. Occasionally, Watermelon would log out of the battlefield just as Ping An Xi Le was logging in.

Their conversations grew more frequent, ranging from discussions about things in Sect to talks about assassin skills. The little assassin was truly a newbie, seeming to understand some things but also seeming confused at times. Whenever he encountered something he didn’t understand, he would run to ask Watermelon. Watermelon couldn’t help it and would answer his questions whenever he had the chance, and gradually, they became more familiar with each other.

Watermelon asked, “Didn’t you say someone was helping you before?”

Xu Zhixing replied, “The colleague who was helping me recently got busy and hasn’t been playing much. Later, my son helped me, but he’s been busy getting ready to go back to school, so he doesn’t have time to help me anymore.”

There was nothing he could do. The young people who used to help him were busy with an external project, and his son, after returning from sick leave, was back at school and couldn’t play games. Even Yu Zhen, who often came over, was overwhelmed with his own projects.

In fact, Su Mo had also recommended a few friends to him, saying that if he needed help, he could ask them.

“I don’t know many assassins,” Xu Zhixing said. “There was a student helping me before, but she hasn’t been around much lately since it’s exam week. So, it’s just me talking to you.”

Watermelon replied, “…Alright.”

He was an older uncle.

“Would you like some tea?” Xu Zhixing asked. “I’m at the tavern; I’ll treat you to some tea. About what we were discussing yesterday, about assassin stealth in the wild…”

The older man’s gameplay was average—not bad, but not great either. He didn’t fully understand assassins, and like most new players, he had many common beginner mistakes. But he wasn’t simple either. Occasionally, he would come up with operation strategies that made Watermelon’s eyes light up. He was also a huge fan of Momo, often referencing Momo’s strategy guides in their conversations.

He was clearly an assassin, but he was also a huge Momo fan.

Watermelon thought it was no big deal; helping out wasn’t a problem.

This went on for over a week.

The members of the Fruit Guild noticed that their deputy leader had recently been more active in dungeons. He had previously hated dungeons, but in the past few days, his interest in them had increased. He even often went to Sunset City, occasionally running low-level dungeons.

“Watermelon’s been acting strange lately. I asked him to go to the arena, but he didn’t want to,” FireworksAndLanterns asked.

Apple replied, “I think he’s been playing on an alt account. I often see him taking an assassin into dungeons.”

FireworksAndLanterns asked, “Is he training an apprentice?”

Strawberry said, “I don’t think so. I haven’t heard of him having an apprentice.”

“Are you talking about Pingan Xile? It’s a newbie friend he met. They get along, so they started playing together,” Bitter Melon said with some recollection. He often visited Sunset City, and last time, he had seen Watermelon sitting with an Eclipse assassin, drinking tea and chatting. It seemed like they were discussing assassin tactics. He had overheard a bit, “I heard he’s a theory expert. Watermelon always says he’ll be strong in the future.”

“Cantaloupe, wait, an Eclipse assassin? Is he training him to kill his own people?” FireworksAndLanterns asked.

Bitter Melon responded, “True, that’s a bit strange.”

Apple added, “I heard that the assassin’s son is pretty strong. Watermelon’s been praising him.”

“Even his son?” Apple asked, surprised.

Watermelon, hearing this, couldn’t help but respond, “What do you guys think? Do you think I’m dead? I’m part of the team too! Why are you guys talking like that in front of me? Don’t you know to ask me if you don’t understand?”

“So, how do you even know about his son?” Apple asked.

Watermelon said, “Was I the one who wanted to know? He was the one who brought it up to me!”

Watermelon felt unfairly accused here. Was it really his fault?

Pingan Xile loved to boast about his son. One day he would talk about how amazing his son was, the next day he’d mention how busy his son was, and whenever certain assassin or PK techniques came up, he’d proudly claim that his son had taught him those. It was always “my son this” and “my son that.”

Watermelon had seen people in games idolize their parents before, but this was the first time he had encountered such a fresh and unique kind of “son worship.”

After about a week of playing together, Pingan Xile mentioned that his son would be free soon and wanted to introduce Watermelon to him. Watermelon agreed right away.

To be honest, Pingan Xile’s pride in his son was a bit over the top, but some of the ideas he shared were indeed fresh and useful. Watermelon was somewhat intrigued by this son, who seemed to live only in Pingan Xile’s words.

“I don’t know,” Watermelon said. “He said his son is a newbie and wants to surprise me. He said when his son’s vacation starts, he’ll come and help us run some dungeons.”

Apple asked, “A student?”

Watermelon replied, “An adult. His son’s in university!”

Cantaloupe said, “Well, that does sound a bit newbie.”

The day they had agreed upon soon arrived, and when Watermelon logged in, he immediately received a message from Pingan Xile asking him to join the group. Pingan Xile’s son was starting the group to take them through a four-star quest mode dungeon.

The four-star quest mode was a new version of the dungeon recently added in Celestial Horizon. To increase the use of regular dungeons, a star rating had been added to the original dungeon mode, making it much more difficult than normal dungeons.

But as soon as Watermelon entered the group, he quickly scanned the list of players.

——[Momo][UnchainedWanderer][ClearWindIsHere]……

Momo said, “Watermelon?”

Watermelon replied, “…Sorry, I accidentally applied to the wrong person.”

Just as he was about to leave the group, he noticed the ID [Pingan Xile] at the very end of the team list.

Su Mo said, “Watermelon’s here. Son, let me introduce you. This is the assassin I recently met… Watermelon, this is my son, surprise! My son is Momo!”

[Team member WhatAHugeWatermelon has left the team!]

Su Mo asked in surprise, “Huh? Did I click the wrong one?”

Yu Zhen said, “I don’t think so.”

[Leader Momo has invited WhatAHugeWatermelon to join the team]

Watermelon replied, “I just remembered, I’ve got a date for the arena tonight…”

Su Mo said, “It’s fine, it’ll be quick, we’ll be done in half an hour.”