Genius Chapter 48: Who was the hunter?

Limited-Time Hunt · Valor Peak

Chapter 48: Who was the hunter?

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

“Looks like a limited-time quest has started!! Log in quickly!! Only 8 minutes left!” The news about the Valor Peak hunting ground immediately spread across various circles on the forums. Early in the morning, countless players were awakened by messages from friends and family, hastily logging into the game launcher. As soon as they entered the game’s Global interface, they saw the countdown for the opening of the Valor Peak hunting ground.

There was absolutely no information about the “Valor Peak hunting ground” event, not even on the official website. After some time, players had become very sensitive to these sudden events, as they often involved special rewards or penalties.

[This format is so unique, in the past, when they opened events or dungeons, they would just announce it directly.]

[To actually give a countdown preparation time, could this event be one of those large-scale server-wide events?]

[Oh right, I remember hearing that the Valor Peak map was a bit strange a few days ago, could this be a prelude to a quest?]

“What are you doing?” Su Mo watched as ScarletFruit hurriedly packed up his belongings, organizing his inventory very neatly, only taking essential items and leaving behind everything else.

“I can’t afford to lose anything,” ScarletFruit replied, still sending messages to the group, “Why isn’t Brother Wanderer or ClearWind responding to me? Are they asleep at this hour?”

Su Mo closed the group chat. “Maybe.”

“I’ve packed up and I’m ready to go, bro, aren’t you going to organize your things?” ScarletFruit looked at him. “Do you even have time to do this event? Weren’t you busy with your midterm thesis?”

“I’m done with that,” Su Mo replied, his bag containing only scattered materials. He had already stored away all his valuable items.

As everyone discussed, the countdown reached zero.

At that moment, a massive blue barrier descended upon the outer ring of Valor Peak, enveloping the entire area within. Dark clouds gathered above Valor Peak, and rain began to pour down, transforming the landscape in just a few seconds. All subsidiary tasks and events related to Valor Peak came to a complete halt amidst the thunderous roar of thunder.

[Server-wide Announcement] Thunder rumbles, and the storm is upon us. The limited-time battleground “Valor Peak hunting ground” is now open. This battleground features a special hunting mechanism, and the player who survives until the end will receive the mysterious treasure of Valor Peak. The difficulty of this limited-time battleground is ★★★★★. Player count statistics for the battleground are now being conducted.]

[Dear player, are you willing to enter the hunting grounds alone?]

In front of the online players, an invitation to participate in the limited-time battleground suddenly appeared. The eerie yellow parchment with red text gave off a foreboding feeling. This time, the server-wide event was not a limited-time event or dungeon but a PvP-style limited-time battleground.

In the past month, there had only been one limited-time battleground event, where the ultimate winner received rewards such as level 80 golden equipment and weapons.

The advantage of limited-time battlegrounds over other limited-time events lay in the wide range of rewards. While other limited-time events might only reward those who persevered until the end, players on the limited-time battleground leaderboard would receive equivalent materials or points rewards. However, the punishment for failure was severe; eliminated players would be demoted and have their attributes reduced according to their level.

After approximately ten minutes, the voice of the mainframe resounded once again—

[Valor Peak hunting ground has confirmed the participation of 115,629 players and initiated zone-based battleground matching.]

[1185 zone-based battlegrounds have been generated, and players are now being loaded into units.]

[Commencing initialization…]

The ground turned into puddles as rain continued to fall.

When Su Mo opened his eyes, he found himself standing under tall trees, with a storm raging ahead and the swaying trees seemingly fraught with danger. Just as he took a step forward, the yellow parchment notification popped up in front of him again.

[You have entered Zone 145 of the Valor Peak hunting ground. There are 100 players, 20 hunters, and 80 prey online in this zone. The hunting ground manual has been distributed to your inventory. Please, review it carefully.]

This was a large-scale event battleground. Su Mo and ScarletFruit had both confirmed their entry into Zone 145 of the Valor Peak hunting ground. However, it was evident that they had not been assigned to the same location. Su Mo surveyed his surroundings before checking his various systems. His skills, agility, and items were all intact, but his friend system, team system, and external communication connections had all been disabled. Even communication with the outside world during the battleground was strictly prohibited and would result in immediate elimination.

It was an individual battleground; no external assistance or communication was allowed, and players could only rely on themselves.

A manual detailing the rules of the hunting ground had been placed in Su Mo’s inventory, explaining the rules of the Valor Peak hunting ground:

The total duration of a Valor Peak hunting ground session was 4 hours. Participants were divided into hunters and prey, all of whom were players.

1. Mission Objectives: The hunters’ objective is to kill prey at least once before the end of the battleground session, while the prey’s objective is to find Protective Amulets (six amulets drop every hour, totaling 24), failing which results in elimination before the end of the 4-hour session.
2. Special Mechanisms: Every hour, players’ roles will be randomized, and their mission objectives will change accordingly, with the final hour’s mission objective being the ultimate task. If a hunter’s role changes, their kill count resets to zero, while prey retains accumulated progress. If a prey’s role changes while they are carrying Protective Amulets, the amulets will not drop, and the battleground will not refresh (only prey can pick up Protective Amulets).
3. Hostile parties may attack each other, including players of the same role. Hunters have an immortal mechanism, but reaching zero health will immobilize them for 10 minutes, while prey eliminated by hunters will be instantly eliminated. Additionally, attacks between hunters and between prey will not result in death.
4. An early termination mechanism exists; if a hunter achieves 20 kills in a single session, the battleground will end, eliminating all players who fail to meet their objectives.

[Dear player, your identity this time is [prey], with a remaining refresh time of 00:56:21. Countdown to the hunting ground: 03:56:21]

[Identity confidentiality, please do not trust others easily, wish you good luck.]

From the rules, being designated as “prey” didn’t seem advantageous. Prey couldn’t achieve kills; they could only find and hold onto the Protective Amulets that refreshed periodically. However, the interesting aspect of the mechanism was that every hour, there was a chance of the player’s role changing. For example, if Su Mo started as prey for the first hour, he might become a hunter in the next. 

Clever hunters wouldn’t rush to complete their task in the first hour. But if they were switched to prey in the second hour, their efforts in the first would be wasted. However, being prey also had its advantages; they could find the Protective Amulets early and hold onto them. Even if they transitioned to being a hunter, they wouldn’t lose the amulet.

For the first two hours, it was the best time for exploration.

Looking up at the storm, Su Mo pondered, “This thunderstorm… in the forest… has the game considered safety hazards?”

He stopped at that thought. This was a fantasy game; it seemed unlikely that players would be struck by lightning.

Valor Peak wasn’t too big or too small; it was just right for a 100-player battleground. Su Mo memorized the rules. Based on the current rules, hunters and prey couldn’t identify each other’s roles, but it couldn’t be guaranteed that hunters had no means of discerning identities.

Either wait to become a hunter to figure out the mystery or find someone to test.

Su Mo wasn’t far from his usual monster farming area. He hesitated briefly before heading towards a slope. If ScarletFruit entered Zone 145 like him, he should be roaming in familiar territory. As he arrived, he noticed obvious traces in the puddles caused by the rain, followed by a faint silhouette.

It seemed like something invisible was being hit by the rain, but it continued to move around obliviously.

Leaning against a tree, Su Mo watched the unfortunate assassin.

This place was easy to defend but hard to attack. It was usually their spot for ambushing enemies. The assassin seemed to have discovered this advantageous terrain and was scouting the area… gradually coming closer to Su Mo’s direction.

Was this a gift? Su Mo took out a light staff, and a small LunarFeline landed at his feet.

The wind and rain continued as the assassin remained unaware of the approaching danger, muttering to himself as he moved, “Strange, I remember the forum mentioning this location. Did I remember wrong?”

Soon after, as he reached the base of the tree, intending to climb higher, a sudden gust of wind hit him, and he was slowed down. He abruptly looked up to see a summoner’s Zephyr Hawk nearby, the slow skill emanating from its wings.

“Damn, a summoner!?” The assassin quickly regained control and retreated, planning to observe the situation while concealed.

However, the summoner lurking in the shadows seemed to have anticipated his actions. Another LunarFeline’s damage landed accurately on him. LunarFeline caused mass confusion, forcing him to decloak involuntarily. Before he could react, several summoned creatures charged at him, and a combo was swiftly executed, hitting him thrice in succession.

The assassin’s stealth was completely dispelled, leaving him fully exposed to the onslaught. However, the assassin refrained from using the second control release.

Observing from above, Su Mo paused for a moment at the sight of the assassin’s ID. He hesitated for about a second, then immediately instructed White Tiger and Solitary Wolf to attack in succession. Within moments, the assassin’s health dropped to 0%, triggering the ten-minute immobilization mechanism of [Hunter].

“Stop! You’re attacking the wrong person! I’m a Hunter.”

Seeing the fierce assault, the assassin instinctively mistook Su Mo for the Hunter attempting a blind kill.

Su Mo jumped down from the tree and landed beside the assassin. “Are you that scared even when facing a Hunter?”

“It’s you indeed,” the assassin, whose ID was Watermelon from Fruit Platter, responded. “That’s cautious of you. I knew my stealth couldn’t be detected. Did you cast an area Dispel Cloak?”

Su Mo remained silent for a moment, deciding not to remind him, and changed the subject. “What brings you here?”

“Wasn’t it obvious? I’m not here to copy homework,” Watermelon, unable to move, sat on the ground. “I read on the assassin forum that there are several easy ambush spots in Valor Peak… Oh, from the neighboring faction. You’ve ambushed them several times and posted the coordinates on the forum, warning us to avoid those spots. So, I thought of coming here to avoid ambushes and earn some kills.”

Su Mo asked, “Did you encounter any ambushes?”

Watermelon replied, “I fell into your trap before I could even begin.”

Su Mo recalled his summoned creatures. “Are you alone?”

“I teamed up with the guild master,” Watermelon said and added, “Wait a moment; let me check if he’s around.”

Su Mo paused, asking? At that moment, a battlefield chat box popped up at the original team’s chatting location.

[Hunting Grounds] BigWatermelon: Boss? Boss, are you there? Respond if you’re here.

[Hunting Grounds] GrapeFriedChicken: Damn, Vice Leader? You’re in this match too! Take me in; I’m a Hunter!

[Hunting Grounds] RuthlessKiller: Is the Fruit Gang all in this match?

[Hunting Grounds] MostBeautifulLittleFairy: This limited-time battlefield actually allows text chat. Looking for someone, anyone there, my wife?

[Hunting Grounds] WindRainSameJourney: Any DPS with Hunter? I’m a healer, can debuff, seeking to join for some kills.

[Hunting Grounds] Cat: …? Can you guys be more serious, please?

Watermelon looked at Su Mo, “Boss, who did you team up with? Wanderer or ScarletFruit? Or that Windy? I can ask for you.”

Su Mo remained silent for a moment. “No need, he’s probably not here.”

The battlefield closed off all external communication channels but left the in-game chat open. A group of people conversed through the battlefield chat, making the situation even more chaotic, with hunters seeking other hunters for teams and prey grouping together. The entire hunting ground’s situation became so chaotic that it completely disrupted Su Mo’s initial predictions.

For a moment, Su Mo was a bit confused. It seemed like the player “★★★★★” before entering the battlefield was joking. This was entirely different from the dungeon event he had played before, perhaps he shouldn’t approach the limited-time battlefield with a dungeon mindset.

At that moment, a notification popped up in the hunting ground chat:

[Hunting Grounds] ReturnToSimplicity killed RuthlessKiller.

[Hunting Grounds] 99 players, 20 hunters, 79 prey, identity refresh remaining time: 00:35:12.

Su Mo’s gaze lingered on ReturnToSimplicity’s ID; he remembered this marksman, having met him before.

“ReturnToSimplicity is also here. Hasn’t he been offline for a long time?” Watermelon, looking at the latest report, was somewhat surprised, then added, “Let’s avoid him. I’ve been massacred by him in regular battles before; he’s practically an assassin killer.”

Su Mo said, “Fortunately, when facing a marksman, you need to get close. Don’t let him kite you. Your assassin has a 10-second stealth, right? Marksman can see invisibility, but stealth is within their blind spot.”

Watermelon said, “Boss, you seem to know our skills well.”

Normal stealth lasts only 6 seconds; it’s only with all skills activated that it reaches 10 seconds, a detail that even ordinary assassin players might not pay attention to.

Su Mo casually replied while browsing through the hunting ground chat, “Hmm, I looked into it when wanting to make an item for it.”

Watermelon asked, “Have… have you made them?”

Su Mo glanced sideways, “Not yet. Why?”

Watermelon shivered, “No… no reason, just asking.”

Wait, in this match, there were two assassin killers.

Adhering to the principle of turning enemies into allies and fighting together, Watermelon threw out a cooperation invitation, “Boss, are you joining us? Grape is also a hunter. I just confirmed our position with him using the secret code…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a new notification popped up in the hunting ground chat:

[Hunting Grounds] ReturnToSimplicity killed GrapeFriedChicken.

GrapeFriedChicken was dead.

Su Mo asked, “He’s a hunter?”

Watermelon was speechless. He remained silent for a moment. “No, he’s not. This little punk betrayed my trust.”

Su Mo looked at him, concealing the depths of his thoughts and spoke in a different tone, “Too bad. If he comes this way, he’ll be our prey.” 

Author’s note: 

Watermelon: The only way to deal with assassin killers is to turn enemies into allies.