Assassin Cassius

“Amazing! This face-molding system is unbeatable—it’s almost like creating a real person!” In a small rented apartment, a young man with a buzz cut shouted excitedly at his computer screen.

Half an hour ago, Xiu Nan had just finished assembling and starting up his brand-new computer. As soon as it booted up, a notorious antivirus program had installed a heap of unknown software—at least a dozen by his count. He went into the backend to revoke permissions and began deleting them one by one.

Unfortunately, one piece of software stubbornly refused to be removed. Driven by frustration, Xiu Nan opened it, only to discover that it was, in fact, a game with stunning graphics.

For the past thirty minutes, he’d been immersed in the character creation process. Unfortunately, all he managed to make were a series of odd and unsightly faces.

On the screen, a burly man with a garlic-shaped nose, horse face, shifty eyes, and a crooked mustache was posing with a cigarette, trying to look cool. The key problem was the game’s hyper-realistic graphics: it was as if a sleazy uncle was actually showing off his muscles and winking at him in real life. Greasy and nauseating…

To the right of the character were various face-molding parameters: eyebrows, eyes, mouth, nose, and so on. The left side showed height, body type, and three idle animation icons: putting on sunglasses, smoking a cigarette, and spinning a gun.

After some thought, Xiu Nan decided to do a little research. He pulled out his phone and browsed through photos of handsome men, finally selecting an image of a ruggedly handsome, middle-aged man with chiseled features, medium-length hair, and a scruffy beard.

A few wrinkles creased his forehead; his deep, mysterious eyes hinted at untold stories. The man exuded an intangible aura—undeniably, he was someone with a past.

Xiu Nan remembered seeing him in films, guns blazing as he transformed into the Grim Reaper on screen—absolutely breathtaking.

That’s the one!

Immersion is everything in gaming; players often project themselves onto their characters. Xiu Nan preferred characters with depth and masculinity—ideally, a tough guy. Nothing else matched the sense of style and cool factor. The better the character looked, the more he could lose himself in the role.

Can’t help it—he was born with good taste.

He compared the photo, clicked around with the mouse, and soon managed to create a character that was at least eighty to ninety percent similar.

Just to be safe, he hit save first! This was a hard-earned truth from countless hours wasted on face-molding screens: always save your progress. Once saved, Xiu Nan confirmed his selection.

The screen went black.

A massive logo burst forth—a gold-framed, pure white pentagram, impossible to miss.

Beneath it, a line of artistically styled text blazed:

[Extraordinary World]

The golden-red letters seemed to burn with wild flames, molten color flowing through their crevices.

Xiu Nan whistled and rubbed his hands together with excitement, as jubilant as a fly racing toward a garbage heap.

Two seconds later, like a fly, he was swatted dead…

“Still loading? Ugh, guess I’ll eat first…”

With a pent-up sigh, Xiu Nan went downstairs and bought a meal for two from the restaurant. He wolfed down his food while watching the progress bar inch toward the right edge.

“Done! Done!”

He tossed the empty box into the trash, wiped a few rice grains from his lips, and instantly refocused.

Words began to appear on the black screen.

“In the vast universe, countless galaxies and stars exist; every moment, billions of stars die! Compared to these meaningless changes, the birth of civilization itself is a miracle!”

The screen flashed and the view zoomed outward. On the dark backdrop, stars appeared one by one—most of them dull gray, except for one in the center, glowing and pulsing, drawing the eye.

Xiu Nan clicked his mouse, and the blue planet expanded on the screen, swirls of white clouds shifting above.

“This was an ordinary planet, until thirty-five thousand years ago when the Celestial Star fell, unleashing a flood of extraordinary beings!”

“For the next ten thousand years, extraordinary civilization flourished to its peak, with sages walking the earth. Five thousand years later, the River of Death descended, civilization collapsed into eternal silence! Twenty thousand years ago, human civilization began to evolve anew…”

Just background lore—any experienced gamer knew the drill.

It was a sure-fire way to flesh out the world and add gravitas. Maybe the narrator would mention it once, and the main story would never touch it again. But clever players would fill in the gaps themselves, and Xiu Nan was well aware of this.

He had little interest in world-building or backstory; he was here for the visuals and combat system—bone-crunching blows, showers of blood, those were his favorites!

Click click click—he hammered at the mouse.

Whoosh—the view plummeted from the cosmos to the planet’s surface.

Lines of text scrolled down over pure white clouds.

“You were once a notorious assassin.”

“You left the trade for your pregnant wife.”

“Your wife died in childbirth, leaving you broken.”

“Twelve years passed; you never returned to that dangerous world, longing only for peace…”

“You found new work and raised your daughter alone.”

“One day, a mysterious organization appeared at your door.”

“Savage killers not only kidnapped your daughter, but murdered you in cold blood, burying you in a park…”

The camera paused, revealing an aerial view of a forest park—a lush green carpet stretching into the distance.

The perspective dropped again, focusing on a clearing beside a tree trunk.

[Instance One: Back from the Dead]
[Time: June 7, 2017, 15:00]
[Location: Violet Garden, East District, Crescent City]
[Character: Kashew (Assassin)]
[Mission 1: Kill five members of the mysterious organization]
[Mission 2: Investigate the origin of the mysterious organization]
[Time Limit: 72h]
[Reward 1: “Fifteen Days of Disciplined Life”]
[Reward 2: An extra timed challenge opportunity]

[Difficulty: Bronze Wood (Tier One)]

Beep—

As a first-time player, the assist system has been activated…

Temporary character skills (randomized):

[Passive: Nine Lives Cat (9/9)]
[Skill: Interrogation (Ruthless Variant)]

The subtitles faded, and the interface appeared.

Xiu Nan spun the mouse around but saw no sign of his character.

“Where’s the guy I made? Damn!”

He’d skimmed the narrative just now, missing some details in the narration—like when you skip through NPC dialogue and can’t find the quest item later.

Haste makes waste, after all…

Thankfully, a prompt appeared on the screen.

A green triangle icon marked a spot on the clearing.

“Press ‘F’ to dig.”

Xiu Nan followed the instructions; the ground soon changed, soil shifting and sliding aside. He was mashing the F key so hard it was about to break.

At last, a pale hand burst through the earth.

A tall man in a suit crawled out from beneath the soil, his skin and limbs visibly damp.

In the sunlight, Kashew’s face was ghostly white, his hair and clothing caked with dirt. Three bloody, fatal bullet wounds marked the left breast of his suit.

Xiu Nan moved the mouse to shift the view—lush green woods all around, the breeze rustling the leaves, sunlight gleaming like scattered gold across the clearing.

From his headphones came the crisp, melodious song of birds.

This graphic quality! This sound! I’m in love!

[Location: Violet Garden]

A prompt flashed across the screen—now Xiu Nan could finally control his character with keyboard and mouse.

First, he opened the character menu.

[Character: Kashew]
[Identity: Assassin]
[Level: Ordinary Human (Intermediate)]
[Items: 1. Lanshan cigarettes 2. TG lighter 3. No-brand sunglasses from a street stall 4. Gyroline handgun 5. One wallet 6. O’Canny wristwatch]
[Skills: 1. Assassin’s Full Ability Set (Beginner) 2. Interrogation (Ruthless Variant)]
[Passives: 1. Nine Lives Cat 2. Datafication]