Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 496: 479: A Deadly Pursuit with No Chance of Survival?

Wu Di’s encounter with this “assassin” could be said to be a coincidence, but not entirely incidental.

Lincoln had not yet decided on the story to take place in the Chang’an world.

The main storyline of the game had not been discussed with the employees of the [Virtual Chang’an] construction team.

So, why did the quest line that Wu Di happened to stumble upon involve an assassin?

In the current [Virtual Chang’an], there are six quest lines that are not too long, each leading players into different weapon skill branches.

The so-called [Path of an Assassin] is actually the entry point for short swords.

In addition to short swords, there are longswords, two-handed swords, knives, longspears, and eyebrow sticks.

The other quest lines are temporarily referred to as [Path of a Hero].

The reason for being so casual is that the team had no staff in charge of storylines…

The special focus on short swords was influenced by Lincoln himself.

Look:

The protagonist’s profession in “Assassins’ Alliance” is a killer.

The protagonist’s profession in “Speed Chase” is also a killer.

When they joined [Virtual Chang’an], the two major works of Cloud Dream were these games.

When it was [Virtual Chang’an]’s turn, they had to include an [Assassin] too!

For this reason, they even went specifically to ask for help from the experts of the [Cold Weapon Combat Technology Research and Development Group], seeking professional technical support.

Unfortunately, they learned from the experts that there was no one who used this weapon, or at least they had never seen anyone do so.

Those who practiced seriously used similar short weapons, such as the Eight-Chop Knife and Mandarin Duck Axe, and then the improved military dagger techniques.

Traditional short sword martial arts?

Unheard of.

“But aren’t there many classic assassin stories in ancient times? There should be quite a few with daggers and short swords, right?” The developers were unwilling to accept this.

The expert was also a little puzzled: “There are quite a few, but the problem is… there really aren’t any short sword-related relics that have been handed down. Nowadays, those who can be found using short swords basically use them as daggers.”

“Or is it possible that assassins don’t need to practice?” Another expert guessed, “Once they get close enough to use such a short weapon, isn’t it an unexpected attack? As long as their hands are steady, there’s no reason they can’t stab the target to death, right?”

“Yeah, and no one says assassins have to use short swords, right?” The previous expert added, “Poison, crossbow, hammer, flying dagger, what’s wrong with those?”

Several technical developers were left speechless by the experts’ counter-arguments and were greatly disappointed.

But they were unwilling to admit defeat and decided to go all out to create an [Assassin]!

So they entangled these experts in “research and development”, or in other words, “creating martial arts skills.”

For the time being, they are the ones who have the final say in the virtual world.

These experts were probably quite idle, as some of them went along with the nonsense, combining [experience], [imagination], [fiction], [hearsay], and other things to create an [Path of an Assassin] that seemed somewhat plausible.

Then these developers made a quest line, even deliberately placing the quest trigger points at several hotspots, including but not limited to Brothel Street, outside the Imperial City gate, and the highest level of the Meditation Temple Tower.

Although they didn’t know when players would come in at that time.

But their efforts were not wasted, and their predictions were quite accurate: As the first player to enter, Wu Di indeed rushed to Brothel Street without any hesitation…

On Brothel Street, Wu Di took out not one, but five descendants as collateral, without any hesitation!

His sincerity moved the assassin.

The stranger assassin, threw him a small lump of silver and said, “If you are determined to join, the mission remains the same, but there’s one more condition: survive the chase until dusk tomorrow, and then meet me in the West Market. If you survive, I will accept you.”

During the Tang Dynasty, money and silk were used side by side, and since silver was difficult to mine, it was basically used for tribute and tax purposes instead of being used as currency. In the early and middle periods, its circulation as currency was even less than gold.

It wasn’t until the development of the land Silk Road and the maritime Silk Road, and the trade demands with neighboring countries, that silver was monetized.

But the question arises: should players carry a piece of silk around to buy things?

That would be too troublesome!

So, they made silver available anyway.

Once the game enters full-scale development in the future, decisions about currency will naturally be made by specific personnel who are responsible for that area.

Strictly speaking, they simply assist in building houses and researching combat systems, so they don’t bother with the nuances of currency.

After all, it is a [world under development, not representative of the final quality], and players will understand this.

Of course, these dilemmas only go in circles in the minds of Cloud Dream employees and don’t leave the slightest concept in Wu Di’s mind.

In his mind: wasn’t it natural to use silver in ancient times?

Wu Di quickly pocketed the silver and asked, “What should I call you?”

“I’ll tell you if you survive.” The cool response from Mr. Assassin.

“Hmph~” Wu Di was disdainful, “So can I proceed now?”

Wu Di completely ignored the subsequent threats, and his only regret was that he couldn’t witness this guy in action.

After brief thought, he went straight to Dream Spring Building.

This building’s popularity seemed to be slightly inferior to what Wu Di had just glanced at. A quick look at the welcoming girls and young servants at the door revealed that the clothing and appearance of the people there seemed to be of lower quality than the previous establishment.

Behind him, the stranger assassin followed Wu Di while making his way around to the side of the brothel, planning to climb over the wall and carry out his mission once the conflict broke out.

However, he soon stopped in his tracks, staring dumbfoundedly as Wu Di casually tossed the silver he had just received to the welcoming servant at the door.

Originally intending to stop Wu Di due to his clothes, the little servant’s expression instantly changed, and he said warmly with a bowed head, “Please come in, sir!”

After saying that, he turned his head and yelled inside, “We have a guest!”

Afterward, he warmly led Wu Di in, while the girls inside had already prepared tea and snacks to welcome the guests.

To the little servant who could calmly receive a silver coin as a reward, this was obviously a quietly generous guest!

He must serve well!

Mr. Assassin watched with wide eyes as Wu Di went into the Dream Spring Building in a lordly manner.

For a moment, he felt as if he had been scammed for money…

He even wanted to rush in and cut down Wu Di on impulse!

In the end, considering that Wu Di still had five sons held hostage by the oath, Mr. Assassin temporarily held back his impulse and began to wait silently.

But this wait went on for quite a long time…

It wasn’t until more than half an hour had passed, with his feet numb from waiting, that a commotion finally came from inside the Dream Spring Building, with the sounds of cups hitting the ground, the girls’ screams, and men’s angry roaring all coming out at once.

Mr. Assassin finally let out a sigh of relief and calmed down.

He walked quickly into the alley, pulling up his mask, and after making sure no one was watching, he took two steps back, made a short run-up, and jumped over the wall.

Meanwhile, inside the main hall, Wu Di ran back and forth, dodging the Dream Spring Building’s goons, while regretfully sighing, “One can’t underestimate a hero!”

Who would have thought that going to a brothel would cost so much money?

It’s fine if you have to pay an entrance fee, but you actually have to pay again to go upstairs!

The problem is, he only has a few dozen copper coins left on him, not enough to buy drinks.

He sighed, “I can only do tasks.”

Courtesans and stuff, see you after the game launches!

At that time, I’ll definitely give feedback to Cloud Dream and let players pay-to-win; otherwise, they’ll all be poor, and courtesans won’t even look at you!

“That’s not right either.” Wu Di made a dive and buried himself in the pile of panicked girls, as the goons pursued cautiously.

Wu Di came up with another idea: “When the game is launched, why would I even spend money? Just gather a bunch of good friends and kidnap the courtesan, right?”

“Just this street, count one for each, and kidnap…no, save all the courtesans from their pain!”

“Not a single seedy thing happens in the virtual world; all courtesans are still pure young ladies!”

“You can buy houses in Chang’an, right? Bring them home as wives?”

“No, as maids! For a wife, you have to snatch a princess!”

“No! My ambition is still too small! Just snatch the empress directly!!”

Wu Di was thinking about all these shady operations when suddenly a hand grabbed the back of his collar, pulled him down, and dragged him out to the main street.

Wu Di lay on the ground, not resisting at all as they dragged him along, but stared at the faces of the goons, preparing for revenge in the future.

Earlier, when he tried to take pictures of the goons at the brothel gate for future revenge purposes, he discovered that not only did Cloud Dream prohibit leaking information about this world through agreements, but it even disabled his camera and recording functions.

This caused him to rely on his naked eye to identify and memorize the “revenge list.”

“Bang!”

Wu Di was once again thrown onto the main street.

The goons rudely pointed their fingers at his nose, just about to curse, but a terrified scream came from the third floor of the Dream Spring Building

“Ah”

Wu Di could tell from the sound that the screaming girl had a top-notch voice and lung capacity: “Hmm, I can keep her for later, as a gatekeeper in my house; she’ll be great for passing messages.”

Soon, a man’s voice sounded

“Master Francis has been assassinated!”

Visibly, everyone in the Dream Spring Building’s hall changed color, fear and panic far exceeding the commotion Wu Di had just caused.

The goons all stared at Wu Di on the ground—obviously, he was now the prime suspect.

Some sedan chair carriers and servants also rushed over quickly.

But Wu Di still lay on the ground, too lazy to move a muscle.

According to the assassin’s words, a chase would be coming up.

The goons of the Dream Spring Building, the soldiers maintaining order in Chang’an City, the servants of Master Francis, and even the underground gangs of the ancient world would all send men to hunt him down.

It’s simply a net spread out in the sky and earth.

If it were a native, they would most likely have no chance of survival.

But

“How can you catch someone who doesn’t exist?” Wu Di asked the goons in front of him.

He waved to the people nearby and said, “Farewell, everyone!”

With a swish, without any warning, Wu Di disappeared from the ground.

He logged off.