Moving into a new city was a chore. There were so many things to consider. Finding a place to live, getting a job, filling in details, and, in some cases, hiding your tracks. But that wasn't the case for the players. They already had a set of missions to fulfill. The system would naturally guide them through the process.
However, it was still a chore for Ryuu, who was introduced to his main task a few days ago.
When the system dumped information on him that day, it wasn't that he was shocked; he had already grown out of it. He was more or less aware of it from the beginning; the system just officially announced it. This character had such an odd setup that it wasn't surprising that he had the oddest quest.
In this carefree world, there was only one being that every creature feared without exception. Kyros. The overlord of this godless world. He didn't give a damn about what happened to the world, but if he ever lost his temper, that could easily be the doomsday.
That was where this character, Aoi, came in. The story was that Scarlet Eye wished to eliminate the lord to free the world from him. But these were just fancy words for the mind. The actual implication of it was to keep Kyros occupied, entertained, be it with assassination attempts, so he wouldn't snap.
Boredom could also end the world, huh?
Ryuu could somehow come to terms with this injustice, but what he couldn't accept was the last six months being a tutorial. The number of people he had wiped out couldn't be counted with all his fingers combined and then some.
Just one mission should have been enough for an introduction. He cleared over ten. How could that be a tutorial?
The system didn't pay attention to his complaints and just told him to get ready for the next mission.
So, in the end, he had to leave Olinn, the small town where he had spawned and had been living for the last few months, and move to a new location.
Ryuu guessed that this would be the case from now on, and he'd be roaming about the continent as his main quest would take place on the other side of the continent.
'Just my luck.'
The inn he chose…the system chose was average. The decor was up to date, but nothing too fancy. It was a wooden two-story building without too many people. The innkeeper was a man who seemed to be in his 50s, sitting behind the desk while reading a book.
A young boy was doing most of the work, from receiving guests to showing them their rooms.
This type of inn was better for someone like Aoi, and by extension, Ryuu. He realized that after spending half a day in the town. The town was a resting point for travellers, so it was always moderately busy.
Ryuu roamed around until late evening, pondering whether there was a plot hole that could save his life.
Yes, he was certain there was no chance of survival if he attacked Kyros, no matter how stealthily he did it.
He didn't loathe the overlord. He picked up KS in the first place because he found the final boss to be the coolest. As a minor-level fanboy, it wasn't characteristic of him to loathe Kyros.
Even without the bias, as Ryuu would put it, the guy had been sitting in his castle for who knows how long, and this world didn't even have wifi or at least TV.
The people of the continent feared him for valid reasons. He was the overlord, but he wasn't doing anything to protect them and instead posed a threat. So they did what humans usually do: wage a war. One they can't win. And it had now become an endless cycle where they attacked the sanctuary and got wiped out.
Kyros was bound to get bored today or tomorrow. And now that boredom needed to be rid of.
'But, like, isn't there a safer way to do the job? Assassinate him? The strongest being on the continent?' Anyone would be dead on the first try. How was he supposed to do it periodically? 'Is there an understudy for the role? Like multiple?'
Ryuu couldn't make sense of this odd task.
[Would you like to proceed with mission cancellation?]
The sudden message gave a spark of hope to Ryuu. 'Wait? Really? S—'
[Penalty: Destruction of the continent.]
Ryuu's face distorted. 'Are you messing with me?! If you can't say something promising, don't say anything at all!'
He knew it wasn't possible to ditch the mission. All he asked for was a better route where he could survive. 'But I guess that's not an option.'
KS's storyline had a few characters set for the main quest that involved sealing Kyros into a heavenly jewel. Each of these characters had a specific task. Although not all of them were known, some of these were talked about on the forums.
Unlike the general characters, these people didn't have the privilege of skipping tasks and doing as they pleased. Because, although they could do it, it would affect other quests and the main quest. So, the system would just pull them back to that quest after a while.
Because of this, many ended up leaving the game altogether because of this as the characters were assigned randomly, and there was no way to change.
Ryuu could take the first route and try to skip quests, but if things did not play out well, it could easily bring death to his doorstep sooner and bring doomsday along. All he could do now was to look for alternatives that could at least save his life.
'All because of this useless system!'
[. . .]
While he was cussing the system out, a black figure bumped into him, muttered an apology, and left like a ghost in a matter of seconds. Ryuu had grown quite used to this ordeal.
This was actually a good thing for him at the moment. The last few days had been so uneventful that he was half considering letting the main quest go to shambles.
After returning to his room, he pulled out the envelope the black figure had slipped into his pocket.
A red envelope.
The color of the envelope signified difficulty, importance, and pay grade. Green was for general missions. Blue for difficult and commission by high society. Red was for royalty or higher. The commissions from royalty and alike were the hardest and highest paying.
It was Ryuu's first time receiving a red envelope that didn't have actual money. Since the introductory period was over, missions were bound to be more difficult.
He carefully opened the envelope.
"On the night the moon shines high in the sky,
We hope to see your eyes paint the night."
Ryuu looked away from the paper with a shudder. If he hadn't gotten used to such words, scratch that, codes, he might have mistaken this for a fan letter at the least.
There were coordinates at the bottom of the letter. Who knew he'd be summoned with a royal-grade letter?