Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 298: Virtual Realm Assassination

Where is a place where one can kill without being discovered?

Where is a place where others cannot stop you from killing and arson?

Where is a place where everyone is alone?

Indeed, it is the Virtual Realm!

Humming a tune, Amodo rode his bicycle through the curtain of rain. On the back of his hand was a faint red mark of crossed swords, which grew increasingly brighter as he cycled along.

“I am a thief, fond of Lala Fatty.”

“I am a thief, I kill without shedding a tear.”

“I am a thief, with a heart so dark.”

He is ranked first in Azura and sixth nationally at Bliss and Comfort Firm, specializing in offering exciting services that are illegal in reality—murder.

Compared to the recently risen Moonlit Harmony Home Firm, Bliss and Comfort Firm has a much longer history. In the past, it was one of the two major dark forces in Azura alongside the Funeral Firm. As Azura grew, so did it.

Now, as the old guard gives way to the new, the Funeral Firm has fallen into disrepair and even been kicked out of the top ten rankings, but Bliss and Comfort Firm still firmly holds the top spot in Azura. Customers come from all over the country, drawn by its reputation, and far from declining, it is more flourishing than ever.

The enduring success of Bliss and Comfort Firm lies in its mastery of a core technique: the Art of Murder in Virtual Realm.

When the Gospel first appeared, the initial reaction of the sorcerers wasn’t to use it to study grand issues like societal harmony, advances in productivity, how to make Lala Fatty delicious, whether the chicken or the egg came first, or whether they were the most superior race. Instead, they wondered:

“How can I use the Gospel to ascend further in the Virtual Realm?”

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether the sorcerers are thinking big or small.

And climbing in the Virtual Realm can be divided into two specific goals: Exploration in Virtual Realm, and Realm Faction.

Soon, sorcerers discovered that when they faced bottlenecks in the Faction Realm, they could seek guidance from the Gospel. Theoretically, as long as their Talent was high enough, sorcerers from the Gospel Kingdom could continuously advance their Faction Realm. To put it in writing terms, it meant that everyone could become an author who updates tens of thousands of words daily, rather than one who struggles with just a few thousand words.

However, there were still many highly potential sorcerers who found that despite listening to the Gospel, they could not understand it. Clearly, this was due to their lack of effort, and sorcerers certainly didn’t care about those who couldn’t keep up.

Why are there so many levels in the Virtual Realm? It’s to make sorcerers aware of their class status.

But in terms of Exploration in Virtual Realm, sorcerers found that the Gospel wasn’t much help.

The biggest issue was that they couldn’t summon the Gospel in the Virtual Realm.

To be precise, the Gospel is a Miracle that exists only within the Gospel Kingdom. Once outside the Gospel Kingdom, not just in the Virtual Realm but even when in other Kingdoms, it is impossible to summon the Gospel.

Unable to ask for a guide in real-time, sorcerers could only Pray for the Gospel’s blessing before entering the Virtual Realm, but such blessings were exorbitantly expensive—for example, a simple pathfinding blessing like “Guide sorcerer to the nearest Knowledge Creature” could cost as much as the Points reward for the first place in the National Rankings for a month.

The Gospel certainly had the power to add powerful blessings like “Guide sorcerer to the nearest Resource Point,” “Knowledge Creatures automatically avoid sorcerer,” or “Wild spirits run over to serve as a sorcerer’s dogs.” However, these blessings were priced at a national level, affordable only if the entire Gospel supported one person, which was extravagantly expensive.

But the love of sorcerers for the Virtual Realm wasn’t something that could be suppressed by mere prices. If the expensive ones were unaffordable, then they would look for cheaper alternatives.

Over the years, sorcerers have gradually found some affordable blessings suitable for the Virtual Realm. Sorcerers who mastered these secrets either established Families, companies, or some mysterious forces to train their subordinates, or they founded firms to give back to the public.

Bliss and Comfort Firm was one of the latter.

They mastered the Gospel secrets that allowed them to target others in the Virtual Realm, leading to the development of the “Murder in Virtual Realm” service. While other firms also had methods of killing, most were indirect, not daring to take action themselves, and if the target was a wealthy individual with power and influence, most methods would be rendered ineffective.

Money and power are barriers far more formidable than the law itself.

For instance, the second-ranked Broken Home Firm only managed to eliminate lesser families; they lacked the capability to destroy a major Family.

However, “Murder in Virtual Realm” was different. In the Virtual Realm, all external attributes of a Sorcerer became meaningless; the only thing one could rely on was their own strength.

During the era when Bliss and Comfort Firm rose to fame, over 100 Wealthy individuals, Civil servants, Red Caps, and even members of the Royal Family died in the Virtual Realm. Everyone knew they were murdered by Bliss and Comfort Firm, but no one could convict them.

Governing through the Gospel was a fundamental policy of the Yisuo Royal Family, and incidents that happened in the Virtual Realm were not protected by the Gospel. Anyone who dared to attack the law-abiding citizens of the Bliss and Comfort Firm was considered a criminal in the Gospel Kingdom.

The headquarters of the Bliss and Comfort Firm was even located right next to the central office of the Red Caps in Azura.

The lobby of the firm displayed a list on the wall, all names of those who had fallen victim to Bliss and Comfort.

This was their audacity; no one could touch them.

However, avoiding assassination by Bliss and Comfort Firm was simple: just stay out of the Virtual Realm. Ordinary people would never be targeted by Bliss and Comfort Firm, but it was nearly impossible for Sorcerers not to enter the Virtual Realm. Not only for the sake of increasing their strength, but also because spending two hours a day in the Virtual Realm could keep one energized all day, whereas ordinary people needed at least six hours of sleep. This difference effectively extended the lifespan of Sorcerers by 12.3% compared to ordinary people.

To avoid assassination at the cost of reducing one’s lifespan? No one would make such a losing deal.

Thus, Bliss and Comfort Firm developed a second service: the Whitelist.

Once you pay an annual fee, Bliss and Comfort Firm guarantees that they will not target you for that year. The fee varies from person to person; if there were many contracts out on your life the previous year, then your fee for the next year will significantly increase.

From the Yisuo Royal Family down to the major Families, Bliss and Comfort Firm’s Whitelist includes almost all ruling classes within the Gospel Kingdom. Of course, there are those who do not subscribe to this arrangement, such as the local Red Cap, Cleos in Azura—who simply ignores them—since no Sanctuary Sorcerer fears assassination.

However, even Sanctuary Sorcerers cannot kill them without repercussions, unless they no longer wish to operate within the Gospel Kingdom. Although Bliss and Comfort Firm generally does not provoke Sanctuary Sorcerers, when they first started the Whitelist service a hundred years ago, one Sanctuary Sorcerer kept provoking them. Instead of assassinating the Sorcerer, Bliss and Comfort Firm killed all of his Two Wings and One Wing relatives.

After that Sorcerer slaughtered the firm’s employees, he was wanted by the Gospel Kingdom, becoming a Merit in the eyes of the Red Caps. He was quickly arrested and, following Gospel judgment, executed.

A few years later, Bliss and Comfort Firm resurfaced and continued the Whitelist service, but this time no one dared to challenge them.

They did not bow to the assassins; they bowed to the Gospel.

The Gospel had established fair and just rules of the game; if you can’t beat others, then you deserve to lose.

In the past fifty years, Bliss and Comfort Firm has rarely acted, sometimes not killing a single person in a year, yet they have become the wealthiest in Azura by collecting protection money from the rich, proving that earnest labor is inferior to redistributing wealth from the rich.

Recently, Bliss and Comfort Firm finally received a long-awaited large contract.

“Assassination Target: Ashe Heath”

“Reason for Contract: Ashe Heath”

There were many clients, including the Yisuo Royal Family, Cleos, and other regional Red Caps. Bliss and Comfort Firm accepted all orders.

Although Red Caps generally have a contentious relationship with the firm, no one wants to clash with Gospel Merit. As long as Bliss and Comfort Firm successfully carries out the assassination, the Gospel Merit will be distributed according to the financial contributions made by the Red Caps who invested in the assassination fund, because investing money is also considered contributing effort, and the Gospel is very fair.

Ashe Heath was not on the Whitelist, which allowed Bliss and Comfort to rightfully accept the commission and dispatch all thirteen of their Two Wings assassins, including Amodo.

These thirteen sorcerers all received the “Targeting Ashe Heath” blessing, enabling them to find Ashe easily once they entered the Virtual Realm as directed.

Determining when Ashe would enter the Virtual Realm was simple—they consulted Cleos for the utility usage data at the Annan household, deducing that Ashe Heath’s time in the Virtual Realm spanned from 11 PM to 5 AM.

Having received the contract on May 11, they chose to execute the task at 2 AM on May 12. At this time, Ashe would definitely be in the Virtual Realm, having already used a significant amount of Soul Energy, making it the perfect opportunity to deliver him to his fate.

Amodo specialized in the Mechanical and Earth Factions, both of which are the expertise of the Earth Empress and evidently, he too was a victim of the *Sorcerer Duel* series. However, mastering these factions offered its advantages, such as the ability to construct bicycles on the Time Continent which not only saved Soul Energy but also allowed for rapid movement.

However, Amodo realized that his assassination target had even faster means of movement. As he moved straight towards his target, the guiding mark began to fade, initially leading him to believe he had taken a wrong turn. Upon closer observation, he realized it was because his target was moving faster than him, increasing their relative distance.

Strange, he thought, I am riding a bicycle and I’m already going fast. I am ranked tenth nationally and second in Azura on the cycling Ranking List, reaching speeds of 70 kilometers per hour, almost as fast as a Hovercar.

What kind of transportation could Ashe possibly be using?

An alchemical puppet? An enslaved Knowledge Creature? But none of those should be faster than my bicycle.

Could he possibly be driving a sports car?

Amodo was puzzled, but he would soon find out the answer—as per the guiding mark, he was very close to the target, and the target was moving towards him.

Am I the first one to arrive? he wondered.

No doubt, Ashe’s combat abilities were not impressive, as evidenced by his absence from any sorcerer combat Ranking Lists. To Amodo and his fellow prepared assassins, Ashe was like a fish on the chopping block, a practice workbook in front of a top student, just waiting to be dispatched.

The distribution of the bounty was based on contributions to the Battle, so Amodo didn’t hold back. He prepared the Miracle “Boiling Mire” and “Thousand Thorns” and planned to give Ashe a warm, blissful hydrotherapy bath as soon as he appeared in sight.

One significant issue with Virtual Realm Assassination was how to annihilate the target’s Soul.

In cases of normal death, a Sorcerer would only lose part of their Soul, which could be inconvenient in reality, but a few months of Rest would typically suffice for recovery, leaving them far from actual death.

Therefore, assassins from the Bliss and Comfort Firm used specially developed Miracles for killing. Compared to regular Miracles, these required more arcane energy but didn’t significantly increase in power.

The primary effect of the killing Miracles was to damage the target slowly and from all directions.

This was the secret to killing in the Virtual Realm: don’t kill the target outright but instead place them in an environment of Continuous Damage. When the target dies in such a condition, their Soul is nearly depleted, leaving only remnants insufficient to support a physical body.

Even if not dead, the target would enter a state of unconsciousness, unable to recover for at least Ten Years. It was rumored that some clients paid extra to ensure their targets were thrust into this prolonged state of unawareness…

The guiding mark grew brighter—it was just ahead!

It was coming!

But Amodo felt something was off—why was the ground shaking?

The Ashe Heath described in the information wasn’t a several-ton surprise egg; how could he cause such vibrations?

But there was no time left to think—the guiding mark was at its brightest, and Ashe Heath was right there behind the curtain of rain—

Buzz!

A convertible sports car whizzed past him, brushing shoulders. Although Amodo instantly cast his Miracles, both the thorns and the mire were effortlessly crushed under the wheels of the car.

Not to mention, there was a thin barrier on the car.

“Another one?”

A question was left hanging from the car as it sped away, leaving Amodo to slam the brakes on his bicycle and stand still, inhaling the dark green exhaust left behind.

His mind was a whirlpool of questions.

What did he mean by “another one”?

Why was he driving a sports car?

Why were there two other people in the car?

Why did those two people look like beautiful young girls?

Why did the exhaust from the sports car make my eyes sting and my face feel like it was rotting?

Why is the car gone, but the shaking is getting stronger?

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