The core content of Infinity Black can be divided into two major categories.
One is the large-scale RvR battlefield commonly known as the ‘Siege Board.’
It’s a muddy battleground where disputes over the interests of massive factions take place. Not only is there dirty political scheming, but intense covert struggles happen beneath the surface.
Given the massive amount of goods at stake, there were also many messy situations.
Interfering with the opponent’s growth through field battles or assassinations.
Guild wars to seize hunting grounds, along with the resulting bullying, harassment, and other problems.
If we were to split Infinity Black into light and darkness, the Siege Board definitely belonged to the darkness.
The area that could be called light refers to the ranked PvP system, where battles from 1:1 to a maximum of 6:6 take place.
When people talk about e-sports in the context of Infinity Black, they always mean this ranked system.
Unlike the field battles, there are limitations on specs in the ranked games, so it’s truly a battle of “skill.”
Infinity Black was designed from the beginning as a PVP game.
The combat experience akin to becoming a superhuman from fantasies or martial arts tales stimulated human peripheral nerves, and by now it has grown to a massive scale, with leagues in various countries around the world.
In my case… I didn’t quite fit anywhere properly.
I do get offers from the professional scene sometimes, but due to my physical condition and the problem with my connection device, realistically, I can’t accept them.
I can only perform at my full potential with the dedicated connection device in my room.
If I could have, I would have done it already. I’ve tried such attempts more than dozens of times.
On the other hand, in the Siege Board, I worked as a mercenary without any specific affiliation.
That was due to economic reasons.
“I need money. A lot of it.”
The crumbs that fall from the Siege Guilds are not small at all.
For example, there are groups like the Assassination Squad, or in more vulgar terms, the “Nit-Picking Squad.”
Field battle specialists are treated like corporate executives depending on their skills.
Saying it another way, that’s pretty much all there is to it.
Even if you join a Siege Guild, you are essentially a salaried worker at the end of the day.
Even if my skills earn me slightly better treatment, my fundamental position doesn’t change.
It didn’t provide better income than what I currently make as a mercenary.
And then there’s my case… and my legs, which are quite an unusual situation.
I couldn’t make do by quietly earning a salary to fix my legs.
[Adventurer Germanium Toenail Clipper…]
[Adventurer Han River Jjamppong has been forcibly terminated.]
[Adventurer Bluetooth Showerhead has been forcibly terminated.]
[Adventurer Nose Picking Noodle…]
The blade pierced another heart.
I managed to cleanly decapitate the next one, and dealt neatly with the other who was putting up a fight.
The aftereffects of killing Soobin stayed with me longer than usual, making adrenaline surge wildly through my body.
This time, my assassination target was “Bluetooth Showerhead,” a new streamer.
He was the leader of the up-and-coming guild “Pseudoscience,” and now his guild members were showing their faces more often.
It was probably business as usual. They’d want to have a ‘polite’ conversation for a few days, right?
Why I had to target him, I don’t know either.
Between me and the client, only money and the request content should flow as a principle.
Considering the nature of the Siege Board, cold capitalist logic often applies when cash is involved.
[Mail from Anonymous Adventurer Received]
[Title: Discover the Strongest Adventurer! The 1st Infinity Arena to Be Held!]
[Content: Bluetooth Showerhead 10 Kill Orders 2000 Start Fee 2000 Completion Fee]
[Attached Item: Magic-infused oak plywood]
It’s a rule to use the first notice from the official site as the title for contracts.
The mail is sent anonymously, and the content only mentions the person to kill and the reward amount.
The attached item is sold at the auction, indicating the transaction method.
I might wonder why this guy needs to be killed, but, honestly, my business was booming.
If I speculate a bit, it might be too many guild members growing too fast, or maybe he pissed someone off.
Given that they specifically hired me, it’s probably not too glamorous a reason.
[Market Alert: 1 Magic-infused oak plywood has been sold for 20,000,000 Gold.]
Well, it’s not a big deal, is it?
The piles of gold coins in my warehouse look this good for a reason.
When you kill the same person multiple times, you generally see similar reactions.
Usually, two to three times, sometimes up to four.
Everyone starts by trying to beat me on their own at first, because you know, pride and all that.
Once they realize they can’t handle it, they start calling friends or guild members, and when that doesn’t work, the next reaction follows.
This time was no different.
Nickname “Bluetooth Showerhead.”
A blue-robed wizard knelt down promptly in front of me.
He even dropped his weapon and held his arms up, as if making some grand declaration.
“Wait, just a moment! Let’s talk it out, okay? I admit I’ve made mistakes, so let’s have a conversation. What exactly is going on? Why are you doing this to me?”
It’s kind of like the five stages of death.
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.
He must have just passed through Denial and Anger, so now comes Bargaining.
But I had no intention of negotiating with this wizard.
That would be breaking the contract.
It’s not about having great professional ethics; if I started violating the basics like this, I’d lose clients.
This is a very important job for me.
The revenue I earn from contracts isn’t exactly peanuts, but my medical expenses are much higher.
And it’s not like my income is stable either. I’m not stuck in this musty single room for nothing, you know.
Just that killing people inside the game is an awfully lonely job.
I have the habit of at least acknowledging any attempt at dialogue.
“Did I do something you’re mad at? Tell me what it is, and I will apologize.”
“Apologize? Hmm, apology… Well, I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Huh? Then what should I do? There must be a reason why you’re doing this to me. Please tell me.”
“My younger sibling got hurt by your guild. But I can’t tell you their nickname, right? Just don’t apologize. I didn’t come here expecting that.”
Of course, it was a complete fabrication.
If I didn’t hear the reason from the client, why would I know it?
But it’s necessary to make a believable excuse to protect the client.
If there happened to be a grudge of some sort, it could backfire on the client.
An assassin killing a target that can endlessly respawn.
A special kind of occupational hazard, perhaps.
Though, I wasn’t worried about the lie being exposed.
This excuse has worked every single time.
As is typical in field PK games, Infinity Black is designed to allow the strong to torment the weak.
In this game, there’s no big procedure required for guild warfare, so wars can break out for pretty trivial reasons.
When someone is one-sidedly beaten, someone is bound to start talking dirty.
From that moment on, the “justification” slips away from the weak and is stolen by the strong. And once they have that justification, the strong tend to get even crueler.
I’ve even seen cases where harsh penalties were demanded as terms of surrender that go beyond the boundaries of the game.
This was just the usual way things worked in this space.
A game ruled purely by the logic of strength, the dark side of this game.
At least among those who are involved in the Siege Board in this game, I don’t think there is a single clean player who doesn’t harass others.
Given that I get hired for these jobs, it’s probably nine out of ten, no, almost certain.
“There are not too few suspects, but far too many to pinpoint.”
As expected, the guy gave up on finding my hypothetical younger sibling.
Instead, the wizard’s eyes started flickering.
Once, towards his staff, another towards the sky.
He’s probably timing his skills.
Or maybe the guild chat is circulating with requests for support.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. People tend to feel worse when they use dirty tricks and fail.
I chose to overlook it, risking a bit.
“Then, how about some monetary compensation?”
“Amazing. Normally, after being killed by me eight times, most people know what I do. Have you heard of me getting money from the people I’ve killed?”
“Umm… I don’t think so.”
The wizard’s eyes turned towards my sword.
I made my judgment. His earlier stares were to measure the skills’ cooldown.
Is he going to give it a try alone? That’s good courage.
As if sensing my relaxation, I swayed my blade to the side.
That’s when it happened. The wizard, as if waiting for this moment, grabbed his staff and shouted loudly.
“You piece of sh… whatever your sibling is…”
Unfortunately, my hand was faster than his magic. There’s no rule that says you can only grip your weapon with one hand, right? I’m an experienced assassin and always have a secondary weapon ready.
The blade entered from the jaw, shattered the bone, and tore into the head somewhere.
Judgment was disappointing. I thought he’d gauge timing a couple more times.
Apparently, wizards aren’t great at ambushes.
An ambush is only meaningful if I don’t see it coming. It’s harder to give in when it’s this obvious.
Not to mention, was this guy the only one who tried to hit me from behind while pretending to chat?
I wiped the blood off the blade and smiled brightly.
“See you next time.”
[Adventurer Bluetooth Showerhead has been forcibly terminated.]
[Warning: Field PK Penalty, Infamy…]
End of Translation*
