Shadow Rogue-Chapter 1 – Kismet

“Z, M, Y, F, D, R, and other countries developed a full dive virtual reality game called ‘Kismet,’ and started running it three days later. ‘Kismet’ replaces the traditional keyboard and mouse by focusing on the power of new technology each country had. And by using virtual devices, it allows the manipulation of brain waves inside the game. The game allows the players to have an ultra realistic experience. The person responsible for ‘Kismet’ claims this concept was developed to take away the feeling of playing a game. Players enter the virtual world, not to play the game, but to experience the game with high realism. …The virtual device for ‘Kismet’ has started selling today, and you can see the lines of people still waiting in queue. It’s quite inadequate to describe the item as “hot.” …If this is something you would like to experience, then you must buy a virtual device, enter the game, and experience a brand new life.”

Chu Rui looked at the advertising screen on a building, and his lips couldn’t help but form a sinister smile.

A slight vibration came from his pocket. He pulled out a cellphone to take a look, and on it was a strange symbol.

After he picked up, the other side was silent for a moment before finally making a sound; a faint female voice capable enough of driving any man crazy could be heard.

“Are you not thinking about it anymore?”

“I’ve made up my mind!”

He smiled and stated vaguely, but not because he was intoxication by her voice.

After pondering for a brief moment, the woman on the other line asked, “I see!… Can you tell me what you’re going to do?”

“Going to do?” Rui raised his head to look at the screen that still had Kismet’s advertisement running, then he laughed and said, “Perhaps enter Kismet! I’ve been busy for so long, now it’s my time to relax.”

“I see, and I understand!… Goodbye, Crimson Shadow Ghost!”

Hearing the phone’s beeping sound, Rui raised his head, and exhaled slightly. So many years of his life as an Assassin had finally come to an end.

Yes, Rui was a Super Assassin; the one nicknamed the Crimson Shadow Ghost! He was the Grandmaster in the world of Assassins, with a mission success rate of one hundred percent. The King of Assassins who had assassinated Secretary of the State M, and Minister of Internal Affairs R. However, all of these were things of the past. It was unknown why he became an Assassin back then, but now he could finally escape. All he wanted to do was live an ordinary life, and after finishing his last mission, he returned to his homeland.

After turning off the phone, he threw it in the trash. Now, he was no longer the Crimson Shadow Ghost, and thus there was no longer a need to keep the phone. The woman who called earlier was his middlewoman; the one responsible for contacting him. The promise had been fulfilled, he had returned to being a free man, and it was now up to himself to decide what he wanted to do next.

Dragging his suitcases, Rui came to stop at a real estate sale center. Money talks, so it was a quick matter to get his own residence.

One room, one ordinary bedroom. After Rui had taken care of the furniture, he left a bit of money in his savings for his living expenses and donated the rest. He was orphaned young and survived because he was accepted into the orphanage, a fact he was still thankful for, even to this day. After so many years of being an Assassin, killing so many senior officials and businessmen, he had obtained lucrative rewards. The money he donated amounted to at least hundreds of millions in US dollars. Nevertheless, he didn’t care about any of this. He had experienced the despair of an orphan, but now it was adequate for him to simply have enough food and a place to live. Instead of letting the money be used by Capitalists in banks, it was more meaningful to donate it.

After handling some operations, Rui looked at his computer screen displaying his five-digit savings with a faint smile. He took out a gold card, glanced at it, and put it at the bottom of the drawer. It was his Swiss bank overdraft credit card, one with an overdraft maximum amounting to billions of dollars. However, if he ever uses this card, a lot of people would be able to estimate his location.

“Right, in addition to the cost of the game console, there’s also school tuition. Damn, would this be enough money?”

Rui suddenly thought of two things, he tapped his forehead, and his face twitched slightly. He was fifteen years old when first started out as an Assassin, and now that he was eighteen, he has yet to experience the taste of school life. After returning to his homeland, he did not want to live a life he would regret, so he wanted to experience college life. However, now, it was currently summer and there was a month or so before the next semester starts. He had set his priorities, and it was to get the gaming device first.

After thinking so, Rui immediately got dressed and went out.

He went to the bank, withdrew 10,000 RMB (~$1,600 USD), and headed directly towards the place selling gaming equipment.

Rui dripped in cold sweat looking at the queue. How exaggerated, there was even a wooden parade barricade? Dammit, it even caused a traffic jam. Why the hell were there so many people in Shanghai?

Cursing secretly, Rui also felt helpless as he joined the long queue. He could not help but envy those people in the front of the line who were already inside the building, about to make their purchase. In such a hot day, at least the people inside were had air-conditioning blowing on them, unlike the tragedy of a man standing under the blazing hot sun. Rui wiped off his sweat. Even with his endurance, he felt like it was so hot he was about to die. Not to mention those who were physically weak, even pouring a bucket of cold ice water was of no help, and some people had already suffered sunstroke.

After the pain of waiting in line for nearly three hours, he had finally entered the building. Looking at two dozen other people who were waiting to make their purchase, black lines covered Rui’s head. What the hell, even after lining up for so long, there’s still a lot of people before me. Why are there so many people?!

He took deep breaths to calm his impatient heart. After quietly waiting for twenty minutes, it was finally his turn.

“Hello Sir, may I ask what kind of equipment you need?” The sales lady politely asked with a smile.

“Well, I’m not very sure, what types do you have?” Feeling awkward, Rui scratched his head and asked.

“There’s a total of four gaming devices. A common type costs 2,000 RMB (~$320 USD) with a virtual degree of 90%, a Mid-range type costing 5,000 RMB (~$800 USD) with a virtual degree of 93%, a high-grade one costing 10,000 RMB (~$1,600 USD) with a virtual degree of 95%, and an extreme type costing 100,000 RMB (~$16,000 USD) with a virtual degree of 98%. Ask any question on the type you want!”

“Give me one of the high-grade model!”

With a helpless smile, Rui spent all of the 10,000 RMB (~$1,600 USD) he had just taken out of the bank.

“Okay! May I ask if you want one of our staff to deliver it to your house?”

“I’ll just take it home right now.”

Rui filled up a form, and left the shop holding a box.

Once again, he went to the bank, withdrew a small amount of money, bought some daily necessities, and returned home.

Rui put the groceries he bought inside the refrigerator, went to the washroom, returned to his room, turned on the air-conditioner, and opened the box filled with expectations.

Inside was a silver-white, very beautiful, and exceptionally delicate item shaped like a motorcycle helmet. Rui picked it up and looked at the manual. Following the instructions on the manual, he plugged it in and turned the power on.

The moment Rui put the helmet on, blackness covered his eyes as though he had been teleported into a dark space, surrounded by the darkness of the night. Above him was a view of the astral world as though he was in an endless universe. He floated for a while, when suddenly, a bright burst of light materialized, and as a result, he had no choice but to shut his eyes.

Then came a burst of fragrance of flowers, which made Rui’s nose twitch. When he opened his eyes, he was shock to find himself in a scene similar to the Xanadu Valley.

“Hello, and welcome to the world of Kismet. Although the game is not open yet, you can create your character profession!”

When a sweet female voice entered Rui’s ears, he suddenly froze for a moment. Although the sweet synthesized voice was pleasing to the ear, it was missing a sense of humanity, which was breaking the emersion of the virtual reality.

“What are the professional options?”

“‘Kismet’ is divided into a total of seven standard professions: Knight, Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Archer, Summoner, and Priest.”

Along with the synthesized electronic female voice, seven different figures and illustrations appeared in front of Rui.

Riding a horse, the guardian of all was the high-spirited Knight. Holding a broadsword preparing for battle was the Warrior. With elements wrapped around the body was the prideful Elven Mage.

Dress in brilliant black clothing, the embodiment of darkness, holding a dagger was the Phantom Rogue. Dashing between jungles while pulling the arc of their bows was the Archers. Squatting beside a beast while different kinds of birds flying overhead was the Summoner. And dressed in pure white while holding a scepter while exuding a holy light around their body was the Priest!

One by one, he looked at the variety of professions in detail.

Knights specializes in defense, a human shield. Warriors were vanguards, belonging to the doctrine profession. Mages are long-distance fighters, able to go against the wills of the heavens, however, they are actually relatively weak.

Rogues are a type of Assassins, coming and going without a trace, focusing on sneak attacks and agility. Archers are also long-distance fighters, but compared to Mages, they are physically stronger, have extremely supple skill, and uses the layout of the area to create traps.

Summoners are able to call forth monsters whom they have formed a contract with, but their fighting ability itself is not very outstanding, however, they can use buffs to increase the abilities of their summons. A Priest is a healer and they can increase the abilities of their teammates by using buff skills, but their most important aspect is their healing capabilities.

Thinking while touching his chin, Rui looked at the illustrations page after page. When the Rogue illustration lit up, he raised head, looked at the black shadowy figure, and couldn’t help but feel surprise for a moment. A pair of blood-red eyes staring straight, and in his hands, an extremely bloodthirsty and hideous dagger beckoned him.

Even if he was no longer an Assassin, his mind and body still could not fully escape it!

With a helpless smile, Rui made the decisive choice of being a Rogue!

“Congratulations on your success of choosing your profession! Now, we’ll scan your body to determine the stats of your character!”