Early in the morning, for many players of "Celestial World", it was necessary to browse the forum. The game had just begun and many players' experiences were posted there, some of which could inspire them about game tactics.
In the forum section for Great Yan Kingdom in Huaxia region, one post was attracting a lot of clicks. It was a recruitment post promising payment, and to many people, the prospect of earning money while playing their beloved game was highly coveted.
Therefore, the response rate of this post was incredibly high, flooded with flattery towards the person who posted it.
The content of the post went as follows: 1. Must be a player from Great Yan Kingdom, 2. Must be in the Assassin Profession, 3. Must stay in the game for 24 hours each day, 4. Those with professional gaming experience are preferred, 5. Must own a game helmet, 6. Deadline for application will be after I finish my lunch. Excellent benefits, limited positions, interested candidates please send your resume to the email mentioned...
The email belonged to Chu You. After posting this, Chu You went out to have breakfast.
In a decrepit residential building in a certain city, a young man sat in front of a computer in a rather cramped and disordered room. His skin was unnaturally pale, and his long black hair was slightly greasy, suggesting that he hadn't washed it for days.
The most valuable thing in the room was the computer in front of him. At that moment, he picked up the cola on the table, sipping it with his slender, handsome fingers.
Then, with a somber expression, he continued browsing the hottest game forum, "Celestial World".
As a former professional gamer, this young man had won many honors, especially in large-scale RPG games. Many people had heard of his honorary titles and watched his thrilling live-streamed gameplays.
He was once an idol in many people's minds.
But now, after disappearing from the online game world for a few years, he ended up in this situation.
'Ah.' He sighed. He had been struggling financially for two years now, otherwise, he would have bought the necessary equipment for playing "Celestial World" – the game helmet!
Wouldn't an able-bodied young man who did odd jobs and saved for half a year be able to afford the most basic game helmet?
To anyone else, this seemed absurd. But against all odds, this was his reality.
Remembering this, the young man's eyes darkened and hardened. He blamed his current situation entirely on the studio he used to work for, bound by an oppressive contract. To break the contract meant to pay a heavy penalty.
After unimaginable struggles, he finally severed his labor relationship with that damn studio. However, when he looked for jobs elsewhere, he only met with rejection after rejection. Approaching thirty, he had sacrificed his prime years to gaming and had no other skills.
Just then, his eyes froze on a particular post and he clicked to open it.
The post was the one Chu You had posted in the Celestial World Great Yan Kingdom forum.
The young man had seen several posts with similar titles. The difference was that other posts were merely recruiting to inflate their numbers, banking on their guild's reputation to attract ordinary players and increase guild strength. Most members of such guilds had little sense of belonging and garnered no share of the loot from Boss battles.
Trying to join such guilds to sustain oneself was wishful thinking.
Guilds like those had high member turnover rates. Any minor issue with the administrator could make players quit the guild, or if the administrators even slightly used an emotional tone, players would leave without a word! With no binding contracts and players being attracted only by the charisma of the guild leader or the number of female members, these guilds might be effective in ordinary games.
However, in "Celestial World", those guilds were not viable. They might survive in the early stages of the game, but as the game progressed and players gained more experience and knowledge, guilds that didn't prioritize their members' interests would disintegrate!
The young man casually flicked his mouse, the cursor landing on a post which he then clicked on.
In a short while, he was frowning, but there was a glint in his eyes. This wasn't a recruitment post from some gaming studio, but from a wealthy individual.
Although this job posting has conditions, especially the first four of which he felt confident about, the last requirement was to bring one's own game helmet. However, this didn't deter him.
He then relaxed his brows and calmly completed his resume before sending over his information. He was sure that as long as the other party saw his gaming history, they would provide him a game helmet, even though this game was unlike any he had ever played before.
But what did that matter? He could tell at one glance that the other party was a tycoon, because the recruitment content was very simple, unlike the recruitment methods of a studio. Plus, a studio would require a person to be present at the work location. Yet such an important point wasn't required by the tycoon. Adding in the generous salary conditions and the tone of the final point, he was mostly certain of it.
Having done all what he could, he left the rest to fate, waiting to see when the tycoon would have time to check his information.
Indeed, Chu You was checking the emails he had received. After having both breakfast and lunch, he sat back at his computer. Unexpectedly, in just a short amount of time, he received over 300 emails from job applicants in the game.
Chu You had to speed up his review process, filtering out those who were not from the Great Yan Kingdom. He valued his time. Although the start of his journey in "Celestial World" was smooth, he still felt a sense of urgency. Chu You was all too aware of the talents of domestic gamers, who were seen as the favored children of the gaming world. Just sniffing around, they could grasp the game's rules and quickly adapt. The most frightening of them all possessed the characteristic of being a 'King of Europe'.
These gamers truly resemble the protagonists of gaming novels!
In that instant, his eyes flashed coldly.
F*ck, if they cross me again this lifetime, I'll make mince meat out of them!
Though he had such thoughts, Chu You knew very well that his true enemy was the force that had killed his parents. Only by taking them out could Chu You truly enjoy the game.
The review process continues...
The young man was bored, half an hour had passed and there was still no activity in his inbox. Could it be that the tycoon couldn't recognize his potential?
The young man was suddenly apprehensive. Had he been overly confident before?
Chu You had made his choice, narrowing it down to 30 people. From these, he would select 20 to be part of his intelligence team.
In a game, especially a huge masterpiece like "Celestial World", what is the most important thing to conquerors?
The answer is: intelligence.
Only by possessing the latest intelligence one can stay ahead.
For now, Chu You merely wanted to extend his intelligence team to cover Liuying Village. Everything else would wait until he had established his guild.
He sent a group email to these 30 people, suggesting a video interivew.
25 replied instantly. This email website had been upgraded and modified to allow for direct video calls.
To hide his appearance, Chu You turned off his camera, so although he could see the other party, they couldn't see him.
Thus, Chu You started interviewing the first applicant.
Chu You: Why can't I see you?
The first person: Boss, I'm sorry, my camera is broken.
'Click!' Chu You instantly closed the video connection and moved on to the second person.
Chu You: I want you to die, are you willing to die?
The second person flattered: Boss, rest assured, I will follow your instructions without batting an eye.
Chu You: Well, my requirements are very simple. Help me explore uncharted areas. I will tell you the specific location when the time comes. Valuable information is worth between 50 and 200 yuan, discovering the boss's hideout is 500 yuan, treasure chests are 300 yuan, and the base weekly salary is 1000 yuan, settled weekly. Are you satisfied with that?
The second person: Boss, I am very satisfied. I can't wait to start working immediately.
Chu You: Hmm, you should obey my tasks unconditionally when necessary. Can you do it?
The second person: Chief, I assure you I can.
Chu You: Failure to complete a task will result in a deduction from your pay. For example, if you gather less than 5 pieces of valuable information in a week, you will be fired immediately. Do you understand?
The second person was sweating profusely at this point: Boss, I understand.
Chu You: Good, send me your in-game name. Someone will add you in time. If you do well, I will promote you!
The second person: Thank you, boss. Thank you, boss.
Chu You: Dismissed!
...
Following the aforementioned Q&A format, Chu You selected only 18 candidates out of 30 job seekers, still two short.
So, Chu You randomly picked two more from the email list.
At this time, a highly apprehensive young man was constantly checking his inbox while muttering to himself.
Suddenly, he looked delighted because a reply arrived in his inbox.
An interview?
The young man was confused but didn't think too much about it, because a video link had arrived, and he accepted immediately.
Chu You: I want you to die...
The young man was immediately drenched in sweat, completely unprepared for this request for selfless dedication in the first sentence. He roared internally, hadn't the other person read his personal profile?
Seeing the young man's hesitation, Chu You slowly progressed his mouse cursor towards the "x" button. Once clicked, the video would close, and the opportunity to impress the wealthy individual would vanish.
In this critical moment, as if a divine blessing was bestowed upon him, the young man suddenly shouted: I am willing to die!
A nod of satisfaction from Chu You indicated that despite the man's slow thinking, he was quick to understand expectations. After going through the usual routine, Chu You deemed the young man worthy of hiring, thus filling the last position.
Chu You: Send me your game username; someone will add you in the game later.
Chu You planned to select one of these 20 people to be the team leader, responsible for managing the remaining 19. Only this leader would be able to directly contact Chu You and add him as a friend in the game.
At this moment, the young man, seemingly resentful, throws a glance at the darkened video screen and mumbles in reply: Boss, I don't have a gaming helmet.
Chu You froze, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, ready to be lit.
"Why are you wasting my time if you don't have a gaming helmet?" Chu You found the young man rather amusing, and thus came forth the questioning.
Feeling like his hard work has been wasted, the young man spoke in a somewhat angry tone: "Boss, I hope you could check my personal profile, it shows all the glories I have received from various games over the years."
Chu You perked up: "Anyone can boast. How do I know if what you wrote is real? I don't have the time to verify."
The young man fell silent. In the video, Chu You could see the disappointment in his eyes, which eerily mirrored Chu You's own past life.
Bizarrely, Chu You decided to give the young man a chance.
"Since you claim to have achieved so much glory, you must be famous. What is your name?"
"My name is Rin Winter."
Chu You exploded with rage: "What the fuck! I've never heard of it!"
The young man was severely agitated: "That's my real name. I go by 'Killing Commander' in Divine Domain, Dawn, and Faith." He listed the names of several popular games of the past, which all had one thing in common – an infamous player with the ID 'Killing Commander' who was highly favored by the assassin profession players.
"So, will you use the name 'Killing Commander' in this game Celestial World?"
"If no one else claimed that name, I would definitely use it."
In his previous life, Chu You had heard of the name 'Killing Commander' in Celestial World but didn't have a clear impression of it. He had heard the name when he was discussing the top ten assassins of the Huaxia region in Celestial World, attempting to hire a high-end assassin to kill a certain enemy.
At that time, a boss of some guild said: The top ten assassins in the Huaxia region are all fake. Real assassin experts wouldn't care about rankings.
Chu You asked: So where can I find a real expert assassin?
The other replied: If you're looking for a true master assassin, you need to find one from the 'Shadow Temple'.
'Shadow Temple' was a very obscure existence for regular players, only known among the high-end players. It was the peak alliance organization for the assassin profession in Celestial World, extremely secret and powerful.
Very few people managed to snap photos of their assassinations or record videos of their fights.
Kill without a trace, no fame for a thousand miles, disappear without a trace after a job well done. True to these words, top-tier assassin players in the Shadow Temple put no focus on fame.
'Killing Commander' was rumored to be one of the founders of this organization.
With matters progressing this far, Chu You couldn't pass up the opportunity and decided to give it a shot.