Relying on a certain peculiar ability of hers, Irene had actually observed the entirety of Chris's battle inside the tavern, as well as his subsequent confrontation with Batman.
For a complete rookie who had just cleared the tutorial to take on over a dozen armed thugs almost flawlessly in an E+ difficulty mission, and then manage to retreat completely unscathed from a confrontation with the dungeon's absolute protagonist, Batman... under normal circumstances, such a feat would be considered virtually impossible.
But if the other party was truly a monster capable of clawing his way out of a beginner's cesspit like "Ghosts 'n Goblins" on a fresh account, then it completely made sense.
This kid undoubtedly possessed an incredibly powerful initial Talent, an exceptionally unyielding psychological fortitude, at least a passable baseline physical fitness, and a considerable degree of luck. Not a single one of these factors could be missing.
How to put it? Chris's performance so far had left Irene with a deep sense of frustration, as if she had "lived her whole life in vain and ended up worse than a dog." But quickly, her previously glazed-over eyes filled with a radiant light.
To be this formidable right out of the tutorial? "A promising future" wouldn't even begin to describe it. By teaming up with him, her own goal completion rate would probably skyrocket!
For a brief moment, Chris actually felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up from her intense stare.
"Let's form a party! I'll pay! If any tank gear drops, you get first pick!"
The incredibly enthusiastic female archer extended a party invitation to the shield-bearing warrior.
In the Heaven's Selection Space, based on the differences in a player's inherent Talent, chosen skills, and equipped gear, there naturally emerged tendencies in class roles.
And this role specialization became increasingly pronounced as dungeon difficulty escalated and mission conditions complexified.
A few exceptionally gifted individuals could still manage to solo low-difficulty dungeons in the early stages, but the further one progressed, the more vital teamwork became.
Some players relied on teammates to hold the frontline and draw aggro, allowing them to channel delayed, devastating bursts of damage from the rear. The trade-off, however, was usually a pitifully low HP pool.
Similarly, players who built for extreme tankiness typically lacked ranged capabilities. If they were sniped or kited from afar, they had almost no effective means of counterattack.
Irene fell squarely into the former category, a quintessential ranged archer who heavily favored long-range snipes over close-quarters combat.
As established before, players were inherently the biggest variables in any dungeon. Therefore, even if everyone accepted the same Blueprint Mission, one couldn't expect every player to single-mindedly rush the main objective. Everyone had different thoughts and ulterior motives.
Irene was one such player who had entered the dungeon slightly earlier than Chris. Moreover, she was the type of veteran who had completely shed her rookie status, possessing equipment and skills that perfectly complimented her Talent.
Blueprint Missions would use strength or conditional thresholds to restrict weak, mismatched players from entering, but they never restricted high-level players from joining lower-tier runs.
Even if you were a max-level heavyweight entering a level 1 tutorial dungeon, no one would stop you. However, since every player had a fixed amount of time they could spend in the Space during the monthly mandatory trial period, veteran players rarely returned to low-level dungeons to "smurf" and slaughter newbies, whether that meant bullying NPCs or other players.
For some, speed-running four or five low-level dungeons still wouldn't yield as much profit as a single, high-risk, high-reward dungeon suited to their actual capabilities. When considering the sunk costs of time and energy, it was glaringly obvious which type of mission was more worthwhile.
Then again, this rule regarding Blueprint Mission entry inevitably led to situations of veterans carrying newbies, or veterans intentionally sniping newbies. The Heaven's Selection Space did possess alternative rules and restrictions for this, but that's a topic for another time.
Irene's presence in this E+ difficulty Batman dungeon heavily cast her under the suspicion of smurfing. The Blueprint Mission itself was merely an excuse for entry; utilizing the opportunity to strike at the dungeon's main boss was her true objective.
Just yesterday, she had obtained the Mothcave's coordinates via a rival gang. Utilizing this, she had camped out entirely alone near the location and ambushed Killer Moth as he returned to his base.
The outcome, naturally, was a failure. However, she had managed to scare Killer Moth into a cold sweat, one from which he had likely still not recovered.
Because Irene's arrow had actually managed to pierce straight through the armored canopy of the Mothmobile from the front, nearly pinning Killer Moth directly to his seat!
The emerald-green magic arrow had missed Killer Moth's ear by a mere finger's width. Once the Moth Gang boss snapped back to his senses, the sheer magnitude of his terrified rage was easily imaginable.
It must be known that, as a twisted Batman fanatic, Killer Moth had built his vehicle entirely to the Batmobile's standards. Its bulletproofing coefficient was maxed out, and it even possessed emergency external plating. Save for a high-yield explosive or the Joker's specialized long-barreled revolver, it was nigh impossible to harm Killer Moth while he was inside the vehicle.
Yet, while hidden within his proudest creation, Killer Moth had floundered, coming within a millimeter of having his skull ventilated.
It wasn't simply a matter of losing an ear; it was a matter of being assassinated JFK-style!
From this perspective, it made perfect sense why Chris, who abided by the gang's rules and was even willing to pay, had been targeted in the bar. Killer Moth was currently seething with such fury that he'd probably kick a stray dog just for walking past him, let alone Chris, who effectively belonged to a rival faction.
Having failed a rare long-range sniping opportunity, Irene opted to flee the scene immediately.
As an archer whose primary stats were Agility and Spirit, Irene boasted high attack power, high evasion, and high perception. However, her Strength and HP were inevitably anemic.
Calling her a "glass cannon" might have been a slight exaggeration. After all, the Heaven's Selection Space wasn't like some cheap isekai anime. The actual muscle and force required to draw a real warbow wasn't much lower than that of an ordinary warrior. If Irene were to strip, one would see a physique built of lean, functional muscle.
But at least at this current stage, she was nowhere near as capable of taking a beating as the fresh-faced, extremely min-maxed Chris. This, naturally, was the main reason behind her internal lament about "living her life in vain."
At the exact moment her assassination attempt failed, the Mothcave blazed with light. The Moth Gang's exclusive elite combat unit, the "Mobile Moths," deployed in droves, initiating a carpet search of the area.
Conscious of her fragile HP pool, Irene had naturally made herself scarce long before they arrived. She had absolutely no desire to face the Moth Gang when their bullet-hell firepower was fully unleashed.
In truth, Irene had already conveniently completed her core Blueprint Mission requirements ahead of time. Acquiring more profiles would simply increase her final reward. Killer Moth was realistically only one of her targets; if the mark proved too thorny to handle, she would decisively abandon the contract.
Afterward, however, she used her abilities to observe the enemy's reaction from afar.
From the moment of the assassination attempt yesterday until now, Killer Moth hadn't taken off his Moth-Suit once. Simultaneously, he had blatantly mobilized his subordinates to conduct wide-scale searches, even going so far as to deliberately stir up trouble with other gangs across the city.
It was hard to tell if this was him lashing out in panic, or a calculated display of deterrence.
Yet, in the face of Killer Moth's extreme fury and aggressive posturing, beneath Irene's seemingly calm facade surged an incredibly intense, almost overwhelming desire...
The urge to rip the high-and-mighty Killer Moth right out of the sky and crush him beneath her boot!
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
A/N: As the title states, to express my apologies, an extra chapter today (Even I'm surprised I have a manuscript stock...).