Genius Chapter 23: The Assassins’ Fear

Chapter 23: The Assassins’ Fear

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The wilderness area outside Sunset City was vast, extending in all directions from the four city gates. Nowadays, these areas were filled with monsters and wild creatures that had escaped from the demonic seals, as well as countless enemy players lurking in the shadows, ready to ambush.

“So long?” Su Mo asked.

“Can’t lose money if you don’t lose your life,” ScarletFruit said, arranging all his belongings. With the mindset of risking his life to accompany the heroes, he followed two big shots out of the safe zone to earn points in the wilderness.

Su Mo said, “But you won’t die.”

ScarletFruit looked at him with resentment and, incidentally, activated the marker item he had just bought from Su Mo. “Better not jinx me.”

The wilderness area was mostly a war zone, with the main source of points being the high-level demonic monsters that spawned at any time and place. Su Mo’s main target was these monsters, which varied in level across different areas, with the lowest level monsters in Sunset City being level 65.

Shortly after leaving the safe zone, they spotted the first monster on a small hill outside the south gate of Sunset City.

“Level 65… Should we team up with a warrior to tank?” ScarletFruit asked.

As the towering bear landed with a tremor, it immediately taunted the monster, drawing its aggression. Su Mo summoned two summoned beasts in succession and asked, “What did you just say?”

ScarletFruit quickly changed his tune, “Bro, what’s the best way for me to slack off?”

Yu Zhen set up two arrays, “Help us restore mana.”

ScarletFruit obediently summoned a treant and found a safe spot to squat and watch the battle.

The monsters in the wilderness were elite monsters, far more formidable than the regular monsters in the wild. Normally, a five-person team would take about five minutes to defeat one. However, with Su Mo and Yu Zhen’s coordination, along with the damage-boosting array from the array master and the fast attacks of the summoned beasts, they were able to defeat a monster every four minutes, earning 10 points per person.

Yu Zhen asked, “How does it feel to fight level 65 monsters?”

Su Mo wasn’t entirely satisfied. “Just manageable. The spawn rate is too slow. It’s a bit worse than expected.”

Yu Zhen said, “The points obtained from demonic monsters are also related to their level. Every increase in level adds 2 points. What about fighting level 70 monsters?”

With 20 points per kill, Su Mo was intrigued. “Let’s give it a try.”

ScarletFruit was speechless. How could he have teammates like this? While others wanted to take it easy, they only sought greater challenges.

The trio moved from the outskirts of the city towards the Valor Peak in the vicinity of Sunset City. At the foothill of Valor Peak, there was a level 70 monster. Su Mo commanded the bear to initiate the fight. At the beginning, the bear lost a third of its health. Compared to level 65 monsters, level 70 monsters were on another level in terms of attack power.

“The damage is a bit high. ScarletFruit, heal the bear,” Su Mo summoned three beasts to suppress the monster’s attacks. After a few waves of attacks, they got used to the rhythm of the level 70 monster’s attacks and quickly adapted. With their output speed, it took them about 7 minutes to defeat a level 70 monster. Moreover, there were many level 70 monsters on Valor Peak, and they had found a spot where no one else was around, making the grinding process relatively comfortable.

Yu Zhen said, “Sunset City’s wild monsters are still too few. If we want higher levels, we can go to the Glacial Ravenlands. There are more demonic monsters there.”

Su Mo looked at him somewhat surprised. “You know a lot.”

“The main grinding spots are over there. The pace in Sunset City is relatively slower,” Yu Zhen said briefly. “But over there, you’ll have to fight for spots, and the pace is faster but not necessarily more comfortable.”

Su Mo paused. “Is it easy to contest spots there?”

Yu Zhen replied, “Not too difficult.”

ScarletFruit was speechless. “How is it not difficult? Haven’t you seen guilds in the Global Channel organizing raids to contest spots every day? Are we going to be meat shields for others? Once we step into the crowd, who knows if we can even make it out, let alone compete for spots. Do they find gaining experience too easy?”

He tirelessly kept healing the bear, realizing how wide the generation gap between him and the big shots truly was. As ScarletFruit pondered, he suddenly noticed that the attack rhythm of the summoned beasts had slowed down, and the two big shots in the voice channel had stopped talking.

“What… what’s going on?” ScarletFruit asked nervously. “Why did everything suddenly stop?”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw his health bar drop by one-third, triggering the effect of the [Counterattack Mark] on him, “Oh damn! Assassin!”

At the foothill of Valor Peak, the eerie wind howled. In the somewhat dim environment, an emblem shaped like a star was particularly eye-catching. The floating emblem moved around, then suddenly paused before rushing towards ScarletFruit!

At that moment, the group damage array descended, and several summoned beasts blocked the direction of the invisible assassin. The assassin in the middle, caught off guard by this formation, stood frozen in place, unable to move.

“We’ve been waiting for you.” Su Mo swung his staff, causing LunarFeline to cast an area confusion spell, directly revealing the invisible assassin.

At this moment, Yu Zhen activated a crowd control array, “3 seconds.”

“Got it.” Su Mo controlled Solitary Wolf to stun the assassin who was planning to escape.

Their speed was so fast that it seemed as if they had anticipated the assassin’s ambush and were well-prepared. Not only that, but they were also still dealing with the monsters they were killing. With the combined damage from the array and the control from three summoned beasts, in just a few seconds, they took out the level 70 assassin who had attempted to ambush them.

Su Mo shifted his attention back to fighting the monsters and casually remarked, “Indeed, we should focus on healers first.”

Yu Zhen agreed, “Healers are easy targets for ambushes and can’t fight back.”

ScarletFruit interjected, “…Bro, so I’m still the meat shield?”

Su Mo replied, “You’re the healer. You’re squishy and can’t fight back. It’s not surprising that assassins target you.”

ScarletFruit felt aggrieved. “How did you know there was an assassin ambush? Why didn’t you warn me?”

Su Mo explained, “Did you notice the small puddle nearby? He passed through it while invisible, causing ripples on the surface. Didn’t you notice that? Besides, if I had warned you, he might not have attempted the ambush.”

ScarletFruit suddenly understood. He used to be a bait for attracting monsters, but now he had become a lure for assassins.

“Oh, turns out killing players gives 5 points,” Su Mo said, looking at the fleeting point notification. “I thought it was only one point.”

Yu Zhen added, “Killing players on the leaderboard gives even more points.”

Su Mo’s eyes lit up. “Ah, if only we could encounter more of them.”

ScarletFruit was speechless. Each sentence from the two individuals seemed short but was full of sarcasm.

The assassin lay on the ground, watching the three people surrounding him, listening to their words, burning with anger. He had targeted these three because they seemed defenseless while fighting monsters, but instead of ambushing them, he ended up giving away his own points.

ScarletFruit, who had been immersed in the sorrow of being a tool, suddenly noticed the assassin respawn and run away. He hastily said, “Hey, he respawned and ran away. Aren’t we going to chase?”

Su Mo replied, “No need. We’ll wait for the next one.”

Although they said they would wait for the next one, another group arrived soon. Seeing the three of them, who seemed easy targets, the opposing group charged without hesitation. Little did they know that their movements had been closely monitored by the array master and summoner on the mini-map. They charged in and were quickly wiped out by a 3-vs-5 situation.

Su Mo calculated their gains in his mind, but unfortunately, there was a daily limit to the points they could earn. Otherwise, they could have gained two levels just by staying in this wilderness for a day.

ScarletFruit, who had gone from being frightened to being accustomed to this situation, even found a suitable angle to stand, away from the turmoil of battle, watching the points accumulate. It should have been a joyful thing, but for some reason, he couldn’t feel happy.

Just as they were about to reach the point limit, they encountered a team of assassins.

After the update of the Camp System, the wilderness had become the battlefield for PvP professions, with Flaming Thunder Mountain assassins being the most dominant. Most players teamed up when venturing into the wilderness as going alone made them vulnerable to ambushes. However, the highest probability of being wiped out was encountering a team of five assassins.

Su Mo sensed something was wrong because of the footsteps. It’s hard to hear the footsteps of a single assassin, but the noise made by a group approaching, no matter how slight, would give them away. He exchanged a glance with Yu Zhen and silently adjusted their positions until the sound of blades cutting through the air was heard, and the group of assassins surged forward, triggering the [Counterattack Mark] directly!

This team of assassins was clearly well-trained. They didn’t spread out but charged directly towards ScarletFruit.

As the group attack landed, triggering five counterattack marks, ScarletFruit was left with only a sliver of health. “Help!!”

Yu Zhen saved him with a defensive array, “Activate your escape skill.”

ScarletFruit used the skill and ran for his life.

Seeing ScarletFruit fleeing, the five assassins immediately stopped their assault. Seeing that the healer had activated an escape skill and was not willing to fight, they shifted their focus to the other two. They moved with precision, but little did they know that their actions had already been marked and exposed.

Su Mo seized the time the marks were active. He summoned LunarFeline to cast an area confusion spell, directly controlling three of the assassins. He swiftly retreated to avoid the oncoming blades. The slight scratches triggered the marks again, locking in the positions of the remaining two. “On the right.”

The binding array fell, directly catching the three assassins within its range.

Su Mo saw the opportunity and distanced himself, stunning one of the assassins just as they began their invisibility cast, coordinating with the array master to kill one of them.

The assassin team was completely bewildered by this onslaught. Their initial attack plan collapsed on the spot. They hadn’t expected these two individuals to react so quickly, and the consecutive controls left them no chance to escape invisibly. The situation on the battlefield reversed, with control chaining into group attacks. The two of them skillfully continued their onslaught, with assistance from a healer in the distance. They treated the controlled assassins in the middle as if they were monsters, rotating their skills to break them down one by one.

In no time, only two of them remained.

“Retreat!” the assassin team leader ordered, seizing the opportunity of control cooldowns to escape.

“Wanna run?” Su Mo swung his staff, and Solitary Wolf pounced on the escaping assassin, stunning them for three seconds, allowing for a successful kill. At the same time, Soul Rabbit darted out and delivered a slap from another direction, killing the last remaining assassin.

ScarletFruit ran over with half health, “That scared me! If Brother’s array had been a bit slower just now, I would’ve been done for.”

Su Mo counted the points, “It’s okay. Didn’t you stash all your money in the warehouse? If you die, you can just level back up.”

ScarletFruit was speechless.

You said I wouldn’t die earlier!

“Was there a two-second gap in the control just now?” Su Mo looked at Yu Zhen. “They managed to exploit the cooldown.”

Yu Zhen didn’t expect the summoner to notice this two-second gap in control during the battle. He said, “Yes, it’s a problem with our shared cooldowns. It’ll improve as our levels increase.”

Su Mo nodded, “Oh, okay then. It’s fine. It’s our first time coordinating like this. Next time, I’ll save a control skill to fill in the 2-second gap.”

“Let’s see how many points we’re missing.”

“They just gave us enough with that wave.”

“RuthlessKiller? That’s quite generous, 20 points.”

“Then let’s head back to town.”

The fully equipped assassin team lay scattered around them, unable to imagine how they had been wiped out by a seemingly insignificant team under extremely favorable circumstances.

***

On the StarNet forum, a popular thread has been pinned:

—[summoner momo, does anyone know what’s going on with him?]

After the Apocalypse mission ended, being the first to clear with a four-man team was a ticket to fame. Since they reached level 40 and left the newbie area, several guilds from the Shadow Realm faction have extended invitations. Let’s start with livestreamer ClearWindIsHere; although he has teammates, his recent streams mainly consist of helping newbies find quests, showing little interest in joining a major guild. Then there’s the merchant LuckyScarletFruit; it’s even more absurd. It’s said that everyone who invited him to join a guild was persuaded to buy a weapon, and in the end, he didn’t join any guild, but he did give away quite a bit of money.

The healer and the swordsman are decent, but the focus is on the summoner and the array master.

The array master has been online for less time, not responding to whispers or messages, and eventually went completely silent. As for the summoner, after clearing the mission, they disappeared. All the major guilds inquired around, only to learn that the summoner had a minor conflict with the Eternal Flame guild, but no other information could be obtained.

Guild management is at a loss, unable to even contact them privately. There’s no news about them on StarNet; momo is like a hermit in ancient Huaxia.

[Breaking News—I found summoner momo! I saw him with a guild emblem.]

[What?! Is this real? Wasn’t it said that even major guilds couldn’t invite him?]

[When did he log in??? I didn’t notice at all.]

The player who posted replied: [I happened to team up with them yesterday during a mission. The guild is called Get Rich Soon, and both the summoner and the healer were there. Maybe the three of them are planning to develop their own guild.]

Another player chimed in, followed by others.

[I’ve encountered him too. Momo was gathering materials in Sunset City; he seems to have become an astrologer and is currently cooperating with ScarletFruit to gather materials.]

[Speaking of which, ScarletFruit asked me to collect some horoscopes.]

[Wait a minute??? Instead of clearing more monster dungeons, the big shots are running a business?]

[Aren’t you guys over-glorifying momo? At the end of the day, he just cleared one dungeon.]

The discussion in the thread became increasingly intense, quickly rising to the top of the homepage. At this point, a player posted a new link in the summoner’s thread, leading to a post in the Assassin subforum of the Celestial Horizon gaming section. This particular subforum, known for its discussions on techniques and strategies, even overshadowed a technical post by a renowned player.

Upon entering, the main post contained a video. The OP was a somewhat famous player in the Assassin forum, who recently formed an Assassin team for camping in the wilderness after the Camp System was introduced. They were a renowned Dagger team in the Eclipse faction, with the leader, RuthlessKiller, ranked in the middle of the leaderboard.

The video was recorded during their routine wilderness exploration, but today’s content seemed a bit different.

[OP: [Video] Has this summoner/array master from Abyss gone crazy? Killing 5 assassins in the wilderness, when did these two professions get Dispel Cloak skills? It’s ridiculous, I’m dumbfounded.]

The assassin players replying below were all cursing, questioning whether these two players were hacking, or if they were using some kind of special plug-in.

Following the link to the Assassin subforum, players watched the video and witnessed a series of impressive kills, culminating in a familiar Soul Rabbit appearing out of nowhere to strike down one of the assassins, the recording transitioning to black and white upon their death.

In the background, a young male voice was heard.

—”You can respawn now, welcome to come again next time.”

Players: “…………”

Damn, that’s giving me the chills.

But the story wasn’t over yet. As they scrolled down the thread, they saw a comment from a familiar ID.

LuckyScarletFruit: [Inserting an ad here, want to stand tall in the wilderness? Want to become like the “newbie” in the video? Want to enjoy the joy of earning hundreds of points in one go? Then you must consider our new product, a top-tier item that makes assassins bow down. Contact StarNet ID LuckyScarletFruit for inquiries, game shop address [ScarletFruit Dispel Cloak Item Shop (located in Sunset City West Street)], don’t hesitate, big discounts available~~]

Author’s note: 

ScarletFruit: Bam, saved on the promotional video.