Ren Suo was stunned. He felt his playthrough was decent enough, having taken out everyone needed. How come it was merely a barely passing grade?
Next to the mission evaluation, there was a question mark. Querying it listed the scoring options:
"Complete the basic objectives of the mission—60 points."
"Kill a moderate number of enemies—5 points."
"Rescue a small number of innocents—1 - 0.5 = 0.5 points."
"Special Achievement · Lolicon—1 point (this score is only effective when the total evaluation is below 80 points)."
"Total score is 66.5 points, rated as barely passing."
Stroking his chin, Ren Suo thought, Are there many more scoring options in this game? The game offered a high degree of freedom, and indeed, there were many details he could optimize during gameplay. Now that he saw the detailed scores, he had already identified one area where he could gain points.
The most important thing is, what the hell is this 'Lolicon'...?
He ordered some takeout and continued to battle it out in the game, lying on the sofa. Ren Suo found the game quite good. The freedom was satisfactory, and the enemy AI behaved normally—not so dumb it felt like a mere texture, nor so difficult it seemed like Terminators. Instead, the AI adapted to the player's actions, with even individual enemies showing differences; for instance, Ren Suo had seen some assassins get scared and run away.
Choosing save file 0, Ren Suo had the Assassin start over from an alleyway. He tricked two security guards out with practiced ease, but this time, instead of eliminating one, he knocked them both unconscious.
Then, he proceeded as usual. This time, when he entered the banquet hall, the game created a new save file, save file 2, for him.
This time, Ren Suo paid close attention to the Assassin's shooting. During his previous attack on the banquet hall, he hadn't cared much about the other escaping guests and, in pursuit of a quick kill, had even accidentally shot a few.
By the time the English Gentleman emerged from the inner hall, there were still thirteen living guests in the banquet hall.
That's when his takeout arrived. Ren Suo then realized that this game, unbelievably, didn't have a pause option, so he had to rush to get the food. The delivery bag seemed to be leaking, and the deliveryman kept apologizing. Ren Suo didn't mind. He quickly brought it into the kitchen to set it down but accidentally lifted the lid when taking it out, spilling sauce all over his hand, making it greasy and oily.
When he returned after washing his hands, he saw the English Gentleman and other men in black tensely pointing their guns at the Assassin, asking, "Why aren't you leaving?"
Ren Suo hurriedly controlled the Assassin to exit the banquet hall. But due to the delay, just as the Assassin left, an explosion occurred on the ninth floor, and the game immediately displayed a message:
"Karen Ranpelrouge has died. Mission failed."
Right, time to start over. This time, there were no unexpected incidents, and the number of surviving guests in the banquet hall increased to fifteen.
When the game conducted the mission evaluation, it was no surprise to Ren Suo that he received a 71% rating!
"Complete the basic objectives of the mission—60 points."
"Kill a moderate number of enemies—5 points."
"Rescue a moderate number of innocents—5 points."
"Special Achievement · Lolicon—1 point (this score is only effective when the total evaluation is below 80 points)."
"Total score is 71 points, rated as decent."
Not excellent, but just 'decent'...? Ren Suo tugged at the corner of his mouth. There couldn't be any more areas I could optimize, could there?
At that moment, a game prompt appeared: "As the player has received a decent rating, fulfilling the hidden requirement, information on the hidden side mission for this Chapter will be unlocked."
"Side Mission: Protect Euphy Ranpelrouge. The less damage the target person sustains, the higher the score you will receive."
The person protected in the main mission was Karen Ranpelrouge; they must be from the same family, right? Moreover, since the Ranpelrouge Family is hosting this evening banquet, it's very likely that Karen and Euphy are together.
If the player needs to protect someone, it means that without my intervention, Euphy would definitely be a goner.
Although Ren Suo had never seen Karen Ranpelrouge so far, it was easy for him to deduce they must be in the inner hall of the banquet hall. The English Gentleman NPC had come out from there, and the ninth floor wasn't large. Other than the banquet hall, there was only the inner hall.
And when did Euphy die?
Ren Suo immediately thought of a crucial time—20:00. At this time, gunshots would erupt in the inner hall, and assassins in the banquet hall would also strike, coordinating from inside and out to kill the guests.
If Euphy was indeed in the inner hall and not in the banquet hall, then it's highly possible that she was killed in the shootout at 20:00.
After finishing his meal, Ren Suo lay back on the sofa and turned on the Mini-World Game Console, loading save file 2. He made the Assassin look around the banquet hall, but other than a dozen assassins whose bodies glowed so red they were almost black, he didn't see any other markers.
So, how do I find Euphy Ranpelrouge?
Ren Suo thought for a moment and had the Assassin steal a pistol, heading straight for the inner hall. However, in the passage between the banquet hall and the inner hall, a middle-aged Steward, along with two men in black, blocked the Assassin's path.
"Sir, that is a private area," the middle-aged Steward said apologetically. "You do not have permission to enter."
The game then presented four options:
① "I am here to find Karen Ranpelrouge."
② "I am here to find Euphy Ranpelrouge."
③ "How can I get permission to go in?"
④ (Attack) "Eat shit."
Ren Suo chose option ②. The middle-aged Steward looked at the Assassin, a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Miss Euphy will give a speech at 20:00. Please wait patiently until then."
Option ② grayed out. Ren Suo then selected option ③. The middle-aged Steward said, "I'm sorry, only collaborators of the Ranpelrouge Family are eligible to enter... Wait, I recall there weren't any invites sent to Asians for this banquet, right? Or perhaps you are...?"
Ren Suo inwardly cursed. Just then, a young gentleman wanted to enter the inner hall, drawing the Steward's attention. "Sir, you are...?" the Steward asked.
"I am Anger Ricall, here to celebrate Miss Karen's birthday on behalf of my father," Anger Ricall said with a slight smile. "I just got my clothes dirty and changed into a new set here. Sorry for being late."
Only then did Ren Suo realize the actual reason for the banquet.
"Ah, Master Anger Ricall of the Ricall Family, it's an honor to meet you for the first time," the middle-aged Steward said, stepping aside. "Please, come in."
Ren Suo looked around. It seems impossible for me to get in without resorting to force.
However, after thinking it over, he recalled, Euphy's death is supposed to happen just before 20:00. If I can get the Assassin to rush in at that moment, perhaps I can still save her. So, Ren Suo patiently waited until 19:59 before instructing the Assassin to attack the men in black and the middle-aged Steward guarding the passage!
Ren Suo succeeded—the Assassin, proficient in Combat Technique, took down the three unprepared individuals with ease.
But he also failed. Upon seeing the Assassin attacking the men in black in the passage, the hidden assassins hesitated for a couple of seconds before suddenly drawing their guns and also initiating a surprise attack!
The men in black immediately assumed the Assassin was with the other attackers, and two more men in black emerged from the passage, shooting at him. Ren Suo immediately activated Bullet Time and exchanged fire with them. Then, the assassins from behind shouted, "He's not one of ours!"
WHIZZ! WHIZZ! WHIZZ! The Assassin was shot to death from behind.
Entering the load game interface, Ren Suo calmed himself. Trying to force my way in is probably not feasible, at least not for the Assassin I'm controlling.
If it were the 'Clown Assassin', I might have been able to disguise myself as the English Gentleman I saw before. But the 'Bald Assassin' is only proficient in combat, so I need a more clever approach.
So Ren Suo reloaded save file 0, starting from the alley once more. This time, he didn't send the Assassin straight to the building but had him wait patiently by the side of the road outside, waiting for his target.
Ren Suo was momentarily startled. He saw a silhouette approaching from a distance. A bright blue nail floated above its head, and its body radiated a blue light, like a pulsing LED, as if signaling Ren Suo to pay attention.
And this person was indeed Ren Suo's target—Anger Ricall, whom he had seen in the previous playthrough.
This NPC didn't have such a marker in the game before...
Ren Suo didn't ponder for too long and instructed the Assassin to approach. He was ready to subdue Anger Ricall directly, but a dialogue option popped up:
① "Mr. Ricall, I am a Steward of the Ranpelrouge Family. Your clothes seem dirty. Please come with me to change into a clean set."
② (Attack) "This is my road, I've planted this tree. If you want to pass by, you must pay a fee!"
Ren Suo hesitated for just a moment before quickly choosing option ①. Anger Ricall laughed. "Ah, what a hassle... You know I'm Anger Ricall?"
The Assassin smiled slightly. "As a Steward of the Ranpelrouge Family, it's natural to memorize the details of our guests."
Ren Suo stood up. I'm sure of it now! The game has a feature to 'remember past story events.' There's no other way to explain why it would auto-tag Anger Ricall, or why the Assassin knew about his dirty clothes and his surname.
How is this feature even achieved? Are programmers these days that powerful? Ren Suo was ecstatic. He had the Assassin lead Anger Ricall to a secluded spot, swiftly knock him out, take his ID and invitation, then stride confidently toward the Black Thorn Building.
This time, the attendant immediately smiled and led him to the elevator. When the Assassin reached the banquet hall once more, the in-game prompt was entirely different:
"You have entered the Ranpelrouge banquet. Identity: 'Anger Ricall'. Save file 3 created."
"Please find a lethal weapon at the banquet before 20:00 and mark any suspicious individuals."
Then Ren Suo controlled the Assassin to enter the inner hall. The identity presented to the middle-aged Steward was, naturally, Anger Ricall. As for why Ricall had an East Asian son, the Steward's lips only curled into a slight, curious smile, but he asked no questions.
The Assassin passed through smoothly and entered the inner hall!
The game displayed another prompt, and even the mission had changed:
"You have entered the second hall, ninth floor of the Black Thorn Building. Save file 4 created."
"Please protect Karen Ranpelrouge."
The inner hall wasn't much different from the banquet hall, but it had fewer people, all sitting on sofas and chatting. In the center of the crowd, Ren Suo finally saw the targets he needed to protect—
A tall girl with orange-red hair, wearing a white cinched-waist gown, and a cute little girl with fiery red hair, holding a teddy bear. Nearby, Ren Suo saw the familiar English Gentleman attending to them.
Hovering above their heads were golden, inverted pyramid markers, signaling to the player that these were the individuals to protect.
Ren Suo controlled the Assassin to approach the crowd surrounding the two. The Assassin said, "Miss Karen, your beauty makes even the Radiance lose its luster."
The little girl clutched the hem of the tall girl's dress and timidly looked at the Assassin. The tall girl smiled and said, "Thank you for your compliments towards my sister, but it seems she prefers words like 'cute'."
What? Ren Suo was startled and looked at the little girl behind the tall girl.
Wait, Karen Ranpelrouge is actually a little loli?
At that moment, Ren Suo suddenly remembered the "Special Achievement: Lolicon" from previous mission ratings.
He also recalled the strange expression on the faces of the men in black when the Assassin had said he admired Miss Karen.
This game truly knows my heart...