Shadow Rogue

Chu Rui was perplexed by Su Meimei’s and Chen Xiaofei’s issues, as well as Ms. Qin’s phone call. Since as long as he could remember, he always had a plan; however, he completely lost himself at that moment. His coldness was always consistent and solid. In terms of killing, there weren’t a lot of people in the world that could equal him.

But in terms of romance, he was absolutely inexperienced, having never escaped from bachelorhood in his life. Chu Rui knew that love was precious, and had to be kept, but what fruit does it bear? There are some things in life that you can’t change, and there is nothing perfect in this world. In romance, love was love, and hate was hate.

Maybe you’ll hide your deep, most inner thoughts in order to spare someone from pain. But eventually, you’ll have to do it. When the day comes that you have to face them no matter what, when you have to face yourself, you’ll realize that your so-called “protection”, only further contributed to their suffering; a wracking, excruciating agony.

Quick, rational decisions are essential. Don’t second-guess, don’t be afraid of harming others. Because the longer you drag, the deeper the wound becomes.

Chu Rui has never developed an interest towards the relationship between men and women. He didn’t feel too bad because of this; love couldn’t only consist of words. He decided to stop worrying, and survive the hardest he could. As for what happens next, who knows? Right now, all he can do is wait.

The irritable Chu Rui stood by an open window, taking in the cold wind. He watched the moon for an hour, and cleared his mind of all his troubles.

If you can’t think through, then just don’t think.

He closed the window, increased the AC temperature a bit, and entered the game.

“Sly Hand, you there?”

Just as he went online, a message from Sasha dinged in his inbox. Chu Rui went rigid. What time is it? This girl’s still not asleep? Don’t girls refrain from all-nighters? Is she not afraid of her skin becoming old and sagged?

“Yep, you’re here even at this hour?”

Chu Rui replied casually.

“Yesterday, I was busy with class-switching missions, and Tianer* bumped into a hidden mission. We’ve tried clearing it many times with no success. We couldn’t reach you yesterday because you weren’t online. I want to ask for your help, since you’re quite a strong character.” Sasha lightly smiled. She seemed to be in a good mood.

*I have no idea what this character is called right now, but she was called Little Sweet Girl in the beginning chapters.

“A hidden mission?” When he heard these words, Chu Rui’s ears perked up, and he became alert.

“Yes, Tianer’s class-switching mission was to hunt down a monster called the Feng Hawk in the Forgotten Forest. She needed to kill thirty with a bow and arrow. Since the forest also contains other monsters, I went with her. When we were killing the hawk mob boss, she fell into a hole in a tree, and discovered a hidden map, with a hidden quest.” Sasha explained.

Forgotten Forest?

Chu Rui opened his map and saw the Forest, marked heavily in red. It was just outside north of Tajia City borders, was an hour’s run away. Although the forums didn’t have much information about it, the monsters inside looked quite scary. The outer forest’s monsters were Level 15 alone. For players switching classes, the place was suicide.

The forums never revealed much, anyway. They wanted players to go experience the game more, to have fun. But it might also be that there was something just too powerful in there, or some closely guarded secret. The crimson mark on the map indicated that this wasn’t a normal area. Tianer that girl’s luck was truly great, for her to stumble on a hidden map on such a low-level mission.

“Alright, when should I go?” If this is a hidden quest, then the rewards will definitely be bountiful. At the current level, it should stay unnoticed. The first time a map is excavated, the item drop rate, the quality…. Hehe, it should go without saying.

“In about half an hour. We’re all ready to go, you should prep up yourself.” Sasha said.

“Sure!” Chu Rui closed his inbox, and quickly checked his equipment. He bought half a bag of health potions, and bought some scrolls from a vendor stall. He hurried to the rendezvous point.

When Chu Rui was organizing his bag during his run, he realized that his bag was still stuffed with equipment. He slapped his head and ran back, dumping his goods from the biohazard laboratory into his vault. Chu Rui’s attention was completely taken by Sasha’s side mission, and completely forgot.

His memory of yesterday’s last ten seconds was already fading. He didn’t even get a chance to see Shinjide’s * dropped second ability scroll, and was forcefully kicked from the game. It was called “Blood-Something”.

*I changed this from Xin Jide.

He rummaged in his bag, and pulled out the scroll.

“Scorching Blood”: Using a special ability, your blood becomes scorched, causing an increase in your cell-dividing speed. For a short time, your cells will mutate, and achieve great power!

The short description confused Chu Rui.

Cell mutation?

Chu Rui furrowed his brows in suspicion. He remembered Shinjide’s disgusting, mutated body, with his bones stretching out of his muscles. It was a complete mess of a mutation, with poison seeping out of his pores. His power was decent, but that appearance was just terrifying. But even though it was nasty, its effect was unmistakably invincible. If Chu Rui didn’t team up and throw his dagger from that distance, he would have definitely lost.

Fuck it, so what if it’s ugly? Aesthetics don’t matter in terms of combat.

Chu Rui gritted his teeth, and click the “Learn” option on the scroll.

As the ability melted into his body with a glowing orange aura, his jaw dropped with surprise.

Orange?

Legendary-tier?

Are you kidding me? How is this simple-ass ability Legendary-tier? It didn’t make any sense, Shinjide was merely a gold-ranked Boss, how could it dispense Legendary ability scrolls? Fuck, am I insane, or is the system insane?