Chapter 62 (1/2)

Chapter 62: Psychological Warfare

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On the Summit of the Hill.

…

Two more Whistles were unleashed, and the last remaining elite members of the Syndicate were killed. Then, Link noticed a flash of light on the interface, so he glanced at the new notification that just popped up.

Pursue and Kill Mission Completed.

Player rewarded with 25 Omni Points.

Next Mission Activated: Assassinate Andy.

Mission Details: Kill the leader of the thieves, Andy.

Missions Reward: 40 Omni Points.

Link accepted the mission immediately. He now had 59 Omni Points and 38 Mana points. Link knew that Andy might not be the last he would see of the Syndicate, but he’d be content with just being able to kill him alone after seeing what he’d done. One thing did make Link pause, though—the mission’s high reward.

Andy’s strength isn’t that impressive, so why is the reward so high? Is he really worth 40 Omni Points? Is there anyone else helping him or is there more to this than what it seems?

The reward was ridiculously high. The mission of saving Gladstone only got him 100 Omni Points, so why was he being rewarded with 40 Omni Points just for killing a single Assassin? Link realized that he had to be more cautious in planning his next steps.

“Jacker, stop! Stand still!” shouted Link as he rushed forward. He was now more than 60 feet in front of them.

Jacker halted abruptly, raised his shield and went into a defensive stance. Link and Gildern quickly caught up to him and they regrouped.

“Keep on walking, but slowly. Beware of sneak attacks,” said Link. As he spoke, Link used the spell Aura Detection on himself again to scan the surroundings in detail as he walked. He could only detect normal auras around him, nothing looked suspicious or out of place, and there was no sign of anyone lying in ambush.

Had I thought too much? Link doubted. But one could never be too careful, so Link told Jacker to carry on as slowly and vigilantly as possible.

Link thought he shouldn’t worry too much because the only opponent left was Andy anyway. He was just a Level-3 thief, so even if he escaped from his field of vision Link could still use a tracking spell to hunt him down based on the aura and footprints he left. It would be just like how the Magician Holmes had used an Earth Hound to track Link down in Gladstone.

Soon after, the three reached halfway down the hill and Link’s Aura Detection still detected nothing out of the ordinary. Oddly enough, that ominous sense that Link felt became even more palpable now.

“Stop. There’s something wrong. Something smells fishy here.” Link’s niggling worry worsened, and deep furrows appeared between his brows.

Magicians naturally had excellent intuition and Link’s soul was boosted by the God of Light, so he was even more sensitive than average.

From before, Link had sensed that the way Andy behaved was odd and unnatural. It seemed as if the gaming system was giving him hints. Now, the further downhill they were, that foreboding sense of danger was getting even stronger, as if an electric current ran through him making his hair stand on end.

Jacker and Gildern stood wordlessly beside Link, waiting for his orders. The two were just normal mercenaries, and in a special battle like this where they faced such a powerful opponent as the Syndicate, they were as blind as a mole and couldn’t see through the situation at all. All they knew was that they must obey Link’s orders.

“Why is Andy just hiding behind the tree there and doing nothing? Has he been scared out of his wits?” asked Jacker.

When Link attacked Andy with his spells earlier, it seemed as if someone had warned him of the attack and told him to hide. And ever since then he had stayed behind the tree, not making any attempt to escape or attack them.