Fatal Shot

“Miss Haruko, guest Number 187 is here!”

After Feng Luo had put away the bullet, a female voice sounded from outside on the left of the wooden sliding door.

“Bring her in!” Haruko said in a high-pitched voice.

Thereafter, the wooden sliding door was pulled open from one side, and a short teenaged girl in black-framed spectacles, wearing a blue and white sailor suit and white stockings, walked in. She appeared to be high-school aged. The moment she walked into the room, the eyes behind her spectacles swept toward Feng Luo. Then she turned her head to look at Haruko seated on the floor as she said, “Sister Haruko.”

Haruko nodded in response. “Miss Shizuko, please sit.”

After which, the player disguised as a high school girl sat opposite Feng Luo and beside Haruko.

After she sat down, Feng Luo’s eyes looked her up and down in amazement. Number 187—currently ranked fourth place in points!

No one would have thought that the individual ranked in fourth place was actually a female player who appeared to be a student of less than 16 or 17 years of age. Of course, this appearance was, perhaps, a disguise created using chips and potions, but Feng Luo felt like this girl player’s true age wasn’t that old to begin with.

At that moment, the teenage girl player was similarly studying him. The serenity in the eyes behind her black-framed spectacles carried a sense of close inspection and slight suspicion.

Feng Luo felt even more suspicious. The eyes and expression of this teenage girl evoked a slight sense of familiarity. But, because of the disguise potion, even his shockingly brilliant memory was unable to match this person’s appearance with the players whom he’d met in the past. Furthermore, there was no time for him to ponder in detail. Because at that moment, the third player had already arrived.

The person who had entered this time was Number 37!

“Number 37!”

Hearing this number, Feng Luo paused and immediately turned. Number 37 was currently in second place on the point-ranking leaderboard for this mission—close to him!

The person who entered this time was a young, light-skinned player dressed in Western-style attire who looked like an urban office worker. With a gentle face, he walked in and greeted Haruko first before straight away sitting beside Feng Luo.

The distance between the two was about two meters; it was a distance sufficient for getting up from a seated position and reacting in the event of a sudden situation.

What’s going on? This person’s eyes seem a little familiar, too…

Feng Luo felt that this was quite strange. It was as if he had felt a sense of familiarity with everyone here. Especially upon seeing the eyes of these two people.

It was important to note that even though a disguise potion could transform a person’s body and outward appearance, it could not change internal features like the eyes and teeth. Hence, he had looked at the eyes while observing the two players who had entered. But his observation had resulted in a sense of familiarity.

Could it be because I’m being too sensitive?

Feng Luo was a bit uncertain. His intellect was becoming more active by the day. Similarly, it caused his momentary thoughts to seem more and more complicated.

At that moment, another person arrived. This time, it was Number 9!

This individual was very close to Feng Luo’s 99. However, when the owner behind this number revealed her face, all three people in the room were taken aback.

Red—fiery red! Warm, scorching red like raging flames!

It was a woman with red-dyed, shoulder-length hair, a pair of narrow eyes colored with red eye shadow, and red-painted lips. Wearing a similarly fiery red-colored fretwork of light armor. This tall female Light Armor Warrior was like a ball of flames! Feng Luo felt as if a ball of flames had walked into the small rustic room.

The three players originally in the room—a female student in a sailor’s suit, a white-collared urban man, a normal-looking fashionable youth (Feng Luo)—were all completely overwhelmed by this newcomer. Only Haruko, in her black samurai attire with a black samurai sword, sitting on the ground expressionlessly, could stand on the same ground as this female player!

Right—female players! This Number 9 player actually hadn’t used the NPC disguise potion at all but had entered using her player identity and original appearance.

“It seems like I’m late.” Slightly parting her fiery red-painted lips and her teeth, she let out a moist breath. The woman scanned her surroundings with a seductively charming smile like a deadly red spider lily.

This feeling made Feng Luo recall one person: Red Queen!

Only Red Queen could be such a rose. Even though she was noble and carried thorns, making her unable to be approached, she was not deadly like the red spider lily, Lycoris radiata! Thanks to Feng Luo’s state of mind, it was impossible for him to be affected by a woman. But what astonished him was that beside him, the Number 37 white-collared male player and the teenage girl player looked similarly calm, seemingly unaffected by the woman’s aura. They weren’t all that bothered by her.

Hmm. If that teenage girl did not stare at her own plain “sand dunes” and show a depressed expression after seeing the towering “mountains” beneath this Lycoris radiata’s feminine fretwork of light armor…

There were already four people. Were there any more?

Feng Luo looked toward Haruko, still sitting seiza-style.

“Everyone, please wait,” she said. “The last person should be here in a moment!”

Haruko had asked everyone to wait for a while more.

One minute later, the beautiful female NPC staff member clothed in a kimono led someone to the wooden sliding door once again.

“Miss Haruko, guest Number 105 is here.”

Number 105?

Hearing this, Feng Luo went stone-faced once again.

Unless I’ve remembered incorrectly, Number 105 ought to be the person who came with me to this Night Bar to receive the Hidden Mission. Which means that after I left yesterday, there were still players who completed the Hidden Mission here at Night Bar?

Feng Luo was truly surprised. After all, upon seeing such a situation, there ought to have been only three people who had completed the Hidden Mission under Haruko over the course of the five previous days. He hadn’t suspected that there would actually be two people who had completed it last night!

Who’s this person? Feng Luo wondered. A player who was disguised as an NPC hiding in the bar before? Or one who entered after I had left?

If they’d been hidden in the bar while he was still present, then this person definitely could not be taken lightly. Whereas, if they had arrived after that, when he’d gone to assassinate Aoki Kazuo, then it would be difficult to say.

At that moment, the wooden sliding door was pulled open.

A short, stubby, dark-skinned person with the top of his hair wrapped in a bandana—the clogs at the ends of his hairy legs creating da-da noises as he kicked them—walked in with his eyes leering this way and that.

No way…

Feng Luo was floored for a third time—this time, really floored.

Because this person was exponentially more familiar to him than the Number 37 white-collar man or the Number 187 teenaged girl! This person who had entered immediately focused his gaze on the red-clothed female warrior—specifically on the revealed areas of her chest, neck, and other areas of her light armor—with eyes staring. Even his footsteps became delayed. After Haruko coughed softly, prompting the newcomer to finally go over and sit embarrassingly at the male side, Feng Luo knew that his guess was correct.

This guy, Big Pineapple, really is a competitive player! How could it be?! Is he pretending to be a pig to prey on a tiger? Or is he really a pig? This certainly is troubling to understand.

Feng Luo shot a sidelong glance at the Indian player, Big Pineapple, whose eyes did not refrain from staring at Lycoris radiata—the female Light Armor Warrior opposite him—after sitting down between him and the Number 37 white-collar male player.

Feng Luo was feeling a little dizzy in the head. Even though his mind was sharp, he still couldn’t fully comprehend what was going on.

What Feng Luo was unaware of was that at that moment, despite keeping his eyes busy, Big Pineapple sitting beside him was actually thinking deeply about some critical matters.

Last night was really some luck! Originally, I just went there wanting to explore the red-light district in this game and, conveniently… cough… didn’t want to randomly walk into a deserted bar. Coincidentally, it was actually a Hidden Mission set-off point!

But, in all honesty, I still must thank that big brother who had clearly come to do the Hidden Mission and was disguised as an NPC. He very likely had discovered my identity and thus, deliberately and subtly told me that I needed to spend greatly until midnight. Due to the set-off method of my mission, I needed to stay there until midnight and, meanwhile, order two fruit platters with a mix of three types.

Indeed, there are still many good people in this world. Big brother, I, Big Pineapple, owe you one. Hmm. But that might not be right. It might not be a brother at all! As everyone knows, a disguise chip can allow someone to take on the appearance of the opposite sex. It might have been some beautiful lady player disguised as a male NPC. Then, because of my good looks… Hmm. Naturally…

If Feng Luo had known Big Pineapple’s fantastic thoughts at that moment, he probably would have vomited blood, then let out a sigh.

This guy was beyond lucky!