Chapter 5: Chapter 5

There are two main types of core content in Infinity Black.

One is the large-scale RvR battlefield, commonly known as "Siege War." It's a muddy battleground where massive factions fight over territory and resources. Along with dirty politics, fierce covert operations unfold behind the scenes. Because huge amounts of resources are at stake, underhanded dealings are commonplace.

Field skirmishes to disrupt the enemy’s growth, assassinations, guild wars to take over hunting grounds, and the oppressive consequences and harassment that follow the outcome of these battles—if Infinity Black could be divided into light and darkness, Siege War would clearly fall into the dark side.

The brighter side would be the ranked PvP system, where battles range from 1v1 to 6v6. When people talk about Infinity Black as an eSport, this is what they mean. Unlike in the field, ranked games have limitations on equipment, so it's a battleground where players compete purely based on skill.

Infinity Black was designed from the ground up as a PvP game. The combat, which made you feel like a superhuman in a fantasy or martial arts world, stimulated players’ nerves, and by now, the game had grown to the point where leagues were held all over the world.

As for me... I didn’t properly fit in anywhere.

I occasionally received offers from the pro scene, but due to my physical condition and the problems with my connection device, I couldn’t realistically accept. I can’t perform at my full potential unless I use my personal connection device at home. If I could, I would have done it already. I’ve tried dozens of times.

On the other hand, in Siege War, I worked as a mercenary without any particular affiliation. This was due to financial reasons.

‘I need money. A lot of it.’

The scraps that fall from Siege Guilds aren’t small. For the older players, we call them “Assassination Squads.” In cruder terms, they're known as "troublemakers." Specialists in field warfare can receive corporate-level compensation depending on their skill.

But that’s as far as it goes.

Even if I were to join a Siege Guild, I’d still be just another employee. Even if I got better treatment because of my skills, my fundamental situation wouldn’t change. It wouldn’t be better than working as a freelance mercenary like I do now.

After all, I—and my leg—am a special case. Just receiving a salary wouldn’t be enough to fix my leg.

[Adventurer Germaniumnailclipper...] [Adventurer HangangTrashCan has been forcibly killed.] [Adventurer BluetoothShowerhead has been forcibly killed.] [Adventurer NoseyNoodles has...]

Another blade pierced a heart. The next guy was lucky enough to have his throat cut in one clean stroke, and the one who tried to put up a fight was neatly finished off. The adrenaline from killing Soolbbang was still surging, making my heart race wildly.

This time, my assassination target was a newbie streamer named “BluetoothShowerhead.” He was the leader of a new guild called “Pseudoscience,” and now even his guild members were starting to recognize me. It was similar to Soolbbang—I'd probably have polite conversations with them for a few days.

As for why he was targeted, I didn’t know either. It’s a rule that only money and the contract details are exchanged between me and the client. Since real money changes hands in Siege War, the cold logic of capitalism often applies.

[You have received a letter from an anonymous adventurer.] [Subject: Find the strongest adventurer! 1st Infinity Arena!] [Contents: 10 attacks on BluetoothShowerhead. 2000 for each initiation, 2000 for each completion.] [Attached item: Magic-infused oak plank]

It’s a rule that the first official notice on the homepage is used as the subject of the request. The mail is sent anonymously, and only the target and the fee are listed in the contents. The attached item signifies how the payment will be handled—by listing it in the auction house and having it purchased.

I often wonder why they go to such lengths to kill these targets, but... my business was doing surprisingly well. If I had to guess, it’s likely the target is either on the rise or has done something to offend someone. Given that they hired me, it probably wasn’t for any noble reason.

[Marketplace Alert: Magic-infused oak plank sold for 20,000,000 Gold.]

Well, it’s not really my concern, is it? The piles of gold in my storage sure look nice, after all.

When you kill the same person multiple times, the reactions are usually pretty similar.

Generally, after two or three times—four if you’re lucky—people try to fight me alone at first. They have their pride, after all. Then, when they can’t handle it, they start calling for friends or guild members. When that doesn’t work either, the next reaction is always the same.

This time was no different.

The player with the nickname BluetoothShowerhead, a wizard in a blue robe, quickly knelt in front of me. He even put down his weapon and raised his arms in surrender.

“Wait, wait! Let’s talk this out! I admit everything’s my fault, so can we just talk? Why... why are you doing this to me?”

It’s like the five stages of grief. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. He had just passed the denial and anger stages, so it was now time for bargaining.

But I had no intention of negotiating with him. That would violate the contract. It’s not that I had some grand sense of professional ethics, but if I broke basic rules like that, I’d lose clients.

This was an important source of income for me. While the money I earned from contracts wasn’t exactly small, my medical bills far exceeded that amount. On top of that, my income wasn’t stable. I’m not living in a dingy one-room apartment for nothing.

Still, killing people in the game could get lonely sometimes. So, I generally didn’t ignore conversations that came my way.

“Did I do something wrong? If you tell me, I’ll apologize.” “Apologize? Hmm, an apology... I don’t think that’s necessary.” “Huh? Then what should I do? You must have a reason for doing this to me. Please, just say something.”

“Someone I know got hurt by your guild. But I can’t tell you their name, right? So don’t apologize. I didn’t come here for that.”

Obviously, that was a blatant lie.

I hadn’t been told any reason when I took the contract, so how would I know? But offering a reasonable excuse helps ensure the client doesn’t face any backlash. If this was some kind of personal grudge, they could be found out.

Being an assassin who kills respawning targets comes with its own set of challenges.

Still, I didn’t worry about getting caught in a lie. Not once had this kind of excuse failed me.

In games that allow field PK, like Infinity Black, they’re usually designed for the strong to bully the weak. In this game, guild wars didn’t require any complicated procedures, so conflicts often broke out over trivial reasons.

When you get beaten down enough, someone’s bound to start spewing harsh words. From that moment on, even the pretext belongs to the stronger party. And once the strong gain a pretext, they become even more brutal toward the weak. I’d seen plenty of cases where the terms of peace were horribly exploitative. Almost beyond what you could call a game.

It was just the nature of this world. Nothing surprising about it. The dark side of a game ruled solely by the logic of power. At least in this game, no one involved in Siege War was clean, or innocent, or innocent of bullying others.@@novelbin@@

If a client comes to me with a contract, it’s almost certain—no, practically guaranteed—that the target deserves it.

‘The problem isn’t that there aren’t any suspects; there are too many.’

Sure enough, BluetoothShowerhead seemed to give up on finding my imaginary sibling. Instead, his gaze began to shift uneasily. Once to his staff, then randomly glancing toward the sky.

He was probably counting his skill cooldowns. Or maybe waiting for his guild to send help through the guild chat. Either way, it didn’t matter. People feel more humiliated when they fail after taking a risk. I decided to ignore the danger and play along.

“Th-then... what about financial compensation?” “That’s funny. After being killed by me eight times, don’t people usually figure out what I’m about? Have you ever heard of me taking money from someone I killed?” “N-no... I don’t think so.”

His eyes darted to my sword. I had already made my decision. He had been calculating his skill cooldown. Was he planning to fight me alone? Admirable courage.

I pretended to let my guard down, moving my sword aside. That’s when it happened. As if waiting for that moment, the wizard raised his staff and shouted loudly.

“You filthy bitch! Your sibling and whatever else—”

Squelch—unfortunately for him, my hand was faster than his spell. There’s no rule saying you have to hold your weapon in just one hand, right? As an experienced assassin, I always keep a secondary weapon handy. The blade pierced his jaw, shattering bone and slicing through somewhere in his skull.

Poor judgment. I thought he’d at least have the sense to wait for a better opportunity. I guess wizards aren’t very good at ambushes. An ambush only matters if your target doesn’t see it coming. When it’s this obvious, it’s harder for me to even bother pretending to fall for it.

Not that this was the first time someone had tried to backstab me while pretending to talk.

I wiped the blood off my blade and gave him a wide grin.

“See you next time.”

[You have forcibly killed adventurer BluetoothShowerhead.]

[Warning: Due to Field PK, your infamy has increased...]