Chapter Ninety-Four: The Bloodline of the Kin-Eater

This was a red-tier mission, the highest-paying kind of all.

Mission: Please help investigate the “Kin-Eater.” It would be best if you can provide clues about the Kin-Eater; the more clues you provide, the greater the reward.

The reward is a random book chosen from the exchange vault, one hundred and ten White Day coins, and one piece of Aspect-exclusive equipment of your choice.

Items that increase learning efficiency, reveal more information, control-type weapons...

Pick whatever you like.

Chen Qi glanced over the Aspect-exclusive equipment in the exchange pools. There really were quite a lot of good things.

Kin-Eater... wasn’t that the fellow from the Mist City incident?

Chen Qi looked at the angler and asked,

“Senior Yu, do you know anything about the Kin-Eater?”

The moment the angler heard the term, his expression changed at once.

“The Kin-Eater is the name of an ancient Calice-Aspect calamity.

Of course, the Kin-Eater mentioned in the mission has nothing to do with that calamity. It is merely a player organization that borrowed the name.

According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, it is a far more terrifying organization than the Crow Flock. Compared with the Crow Flock, however, they are much more concealed.”

There was such an organization... Everyone cast curious looks their way.

The angler went on at length.

“Generally speaking, in New Capital, players cannot recognize other players, so scenes of players brawling in-game and then continuing the fight offline are not uncommon.

But this is not absolute. There are many methods by which one can detect another player’s identity.

In New Capital, there exists a calamity bloodline known as the Kin-Eater bloodline. Its power is to sense the aura of its own kind, and the more of their own kind they hunt, the stronger their bloodline becomes!

Since game characters are the reflections of our souls in New Capital, the Kin-Eater can lock onto players by scent.

The Kin-Eater organization has inherited this bloodline.

As long as they meet you in a game, they can remember your soul’s scent and then track you down. One might say it is fearsome indeed.

To stabilize their bloodline, those people have committed countless horrifying acts.”

Remembering scent, and being able to find their own kind directly...

That bloodline was a little too twisted!

A faint unease flashed through Chen Qi’s heart. He had fought that white-robed figure before, and the other party might well have memorized his soul’s scent.

Upon hearing what this organization could do, everyone also felt a chill.

The angler shook his head.

“At present, many players have already fallen victim to them. But there is no need for everyone to worry. Tracking someone consumes a great deal of resources. Under normal circumstances, the Kin-Eaters will not strike on their own initiative.

However, in this newcomer open test, those bloodline monsters are certain to make a move against the new players, and the threat is enormous.

Thus, after joint deliberation by headquarters of the Day Tour Society, this hidden organization has been designated the number one enemy, and a rare item has been put forth in the hope that some player can provide clues and help eliminate them in one fell swoop.”

So that was it...

A bloodline race that could identify players and track them down; the threat really was severe enough.

He had clues for this mission, and the Kin-Eaters might even be eyeing him.

As long as he provided the clues, he could obtain the reward.

Pretty good. After some thought, Chen Qi decided he could take this mission.

He said to the angler,

“I’ll take it.”

The angler was startled and looked at him in confusion.

“You’re taking it too?”

What do you mean, too...

Chen Qi gave him a puzzled look.

The angler steadied himself and said,

“Aren’t you teaming up with Lin Yuqing for the mission?”

“...?”

Chen Qi froze.

Only after hearing the explanation did he learn that Lin Yuqing had also taken the mission, and she too had clues about the Kin-Eaters.

However, those clues were currently in the mouth of a ferocious treasure hunter, and it would take some time to pry them out.

In the mouth of a ferocious treasure hunter...

Did the other side even have informants like that?

Chen Qi looked toward the New Sun Game.

[You grip your long blade and notice that the novice messenger of the calamity has been staring at you all this time.]

[The novice messenger of the calamity gathers his courage, takes up a pen, and sits down beside you somewhat timidly, asking you in a low voice for information.]

Chen Qi froze. Was this ferocious treasure hunter... me?

“...”

...

Outside the city, in an underground casino.

A few drops of blood fell from the ceiling.

A man in a suit had no mind for their grand plan at the moment. He merely clicked on the text and once again entered Mist City.

Not long ago, he had lost a life to a level-suppressed player, and now he had to go to Mist City alone again!

The suited man shook his head, still unable to shake off the shadow of that day.

He had long heard that some people deliberately lower their level in order to lure newcomers, using that to create the illusion of weakness.

It was said that the umbrella-bearer of the Crow Flock and the Body Shade of the Web Shadow had both been taken in by such a trick.

The Web Shadow had spoken of how his sister, the Body Shade, had been schemed against, and said that the player the Body Shade and the umbrella-bearer encountered was not the same one.

The suited man sighed. After that bitter lesson, he had to stay vigilant against Blade-Aspect players. Those Blade-Aspect players drew their weapons at the slightest provocation, with no sense of level differences at all!

And that Blade-Aspect player had clearly been vicious beyond reason, his techniques anything but ordinary.

The suited man shook his head and looked toward New Sun Game.

His boss had ordered him to return to Mist City.

First, to check whether the mist storm in Mist City had subsided; second, to see whether the Light-Aspect trial in Mist City had been cleared.

According to his boss, a powerful player had ruined his plan, forcing him to withdraw from Mist City!

Who was his boss? He would never let that player go!

Of course, his boss was not the sort to act on impulse. He always weighed the benefits before doing anything. Though he ground his teeth in hatred, he would not hunt someone down for no reason.

Yet when the suited man arrived before the ruins of Mist City, he was shocked to discover that the trial had been cleared!

How could this be...

The suited man swallowed. He knew the clearance rate of this trial; many treasure hunters had fallen at its hands.

At that moment, a white-robed figure appeared instantly behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“How did that trial go?”

The suited man kept his composure and said slowly,

“It was cleared...”

The white-robed figure paused, and a thread of spiritual force rippled out from beneath his robe.

They had inherited the power of calamity. In the hunt, no one could compare with them—no one! That should have been his!

And yet someone had gotten there first and cleared the trial for him!

As expected, the other party must be from some organization!

And by his estimate, that person was very likely a player from the White River District.

The white-robed figure maintained the bearing of a secret organization’s leader, his face unchanging, but the fire in his heart only grew hotter.

Suddenly, another thought struck him: misfortune may be the mother of fortune...

Perhaps it was actually a good thing that the treasure had been taken!

The open test was now approaching, and calamities were appearing all over the world.

Every organization would be busy dealing with the newcomers. This was the perfect time to stir trouble—truly the right moment.

The player who cleared the trial was very likely in the poorly defended White River District—that was favorable terrain.

The other party had managed, by sheer luck, to clear the trial for him and retrieve the treasure, and their level was not high—that was the human factor.

Before, his goal had been to forcibly clear the trial without a Light-Aspect power.

Now, his goal was to find that low-level player, ambush them, and seize the item.

On careful reflection, the second approach looked much easier on paper.

Thinking this way, the white-robed figure suddenly felt much more at ease.

His figure gradually faded away. They had gathered so much strength in this shadowed place and completed such a major task; it was time to rise from the mountains and enter the world at large!

Only, the exact circumstances were still unclear. After all, the other party was also a player capable of clearing the trial, and he must not be underestimated because of level alone.

This revenge plan would be best handled with long-term deliberation...

At the end, the white-robed figure patted the suited man on the shoulder.

“Little White Shadow, well done. By the way, don’t be angry over that low-level player who killed you. If you keep working hard and stay careful, you’ll be able to turn the tables next time.

Loss and hardship are all tempering for you.”

The suited man nodded.

Soon, a large wave of new players would flood into New Sun Game. By then, wouldn’t they rise straight into the sky? There was no need to be discouraged over a Mist Bell.

The white-robed figure departed, his thoughts churning.

Thank you to the one hundred-point coin donation from “I Was Kissed by a Pig in Childhood,” and thanks to everyone for the follow-up reading, subscriptions, and votes!

P.S. My schedule’s been a bit off lately, so updates have been a little late, and there are quite a few typos. Sorry about that. I’ll try to adjust it tomorrow.

End of chapter.