The Boss Behind The Game

New York City, United States of America.

In the dead of night, when the hands on the clock tower converged at their zenith, chimes echoed throughout the city to announce that it was midnight.

It was pitch black on top of the clock tower where she was waiting.

In the distance, one could vaguely hear the pitter-patter of raindrops as they hit the glass.

Ding!

Emily flipped open her lighter cap and lit a cigarette. Then, she took a deep drag of it.

The faint light emitted by the cigarette illuminated a tattoo on her upper arms. It was as vibrant as the colorful markings of a venomous snake, a tell-tale sign that she was just as deadly.

As the embers of the cigarette flickered, she blew out a mouthful of thick smoke, her hand trembling unconsciously.

She felt a sense of deja vu. Right now, her heart ached with melancholy and despair, just like when she had left her older brother five years ago.

It was a gloomy and rainy day just like this, and they parted at a public bus stop.

At that moment, she desperately wanted to ask the driver to stop the car or bash the windows to attract her brother's attention, so she could jump out and run toward him.

She wanted to tear down every single obstacle between him and her.

Her breath quickened at this thought, her eyes turned bloodshot and shivers wracked her body. She had brought herself to tears with her vivid imagination.

However, in reality, she merely sat there docilely. Their shoulders grazed past each other's, as she silently watched his silhouette become nothing more than a hazy outline and fade into the distance.

After that, she walked on the road with no return. She had chosen this path herself, it was a journey with no detour.

Footsteps could be heard in the dark. As the sound gradually became audible, a silhouette slowly emerged and the surrounding street lights lit up.

A man with a beard approached from afar, holding a document folder in his hand. He was wearing headphones and seemed to be stepping in sync with the music.

A glimpse of sorrow crossed Emily's eyes as she saw this man draw near, she sincerely hoped that he would not come any closer.

Yet, she had no other choice, as this was her mission.

He was a killer!

This man was her mentor and had retired peacefully after a notorious career as an ace assassin. He was the one who taught Emily all her assassination techniques and made her who she was today.

He was a mentor and friend to her, but…

Emily slowly looked down. She rested her cheek on the cold buttstock of the gun and peered through her rifle scope, focusing her gaze on the man below.

Truth be told, with her prowess, she didn't even need the scope, but this was the last farewell to her mentor.

Bang!

A bullet swirled out of the barrel and landed point-blank on the man's forehead, which instantly exploded into a bloody shower.

She had equipped a silencer so the gunshot blast was quite faint, without alarming anybody nearby.

She took a look through her scope once again to check the fallen body on the floor below. Emily's lips quivered at the grotesque sight. Not long after, she took out a mobile phone from her pocket and dialed someone.

Beep… beep… beep…

After three rings, the call was connected, but only silence greeted her.

"Mission accomplished, the target is killed!"

"Good job, Black Lily…"

Before the receiver had even finished talking, Emily hung up. She then took her gun, called the Kiss of the Black Lily, placed it on the floor, and dismantled it at lightning speed.

Within two minutes, the complicated multi-structural sniper rifle had been broken down into individual parts and packed away in a cello case.

After doing this, she stood up quickly and climbed down the clock tower, with the cello case on her back. She used the uneven ledges of the walls to help her descend.

She immediately vanished into the darkness of the night.

After finishing this mission, Emily had earned another month of vacation but she felt lost. She had no idea where to go, or how would her future turn out.

Would she meet her death at the hands of some newcomers as her teacher just did? Or fail a mission and get arrested? Or maybe, she would die in some dark corner?

It seemed like any thoughts about her future were all related to death. Feeling pitiful, Emily's lips curled into a bitter smile.

She was a killer!

While walking, she suddenly felt uneasy. Her keen senses told her that someone was watching her from the darkness.

Her footsteps sped up right away and she broke into a sprint.

Bang!

A gunshot rang through the air, so Emily spontaneously jumped forward.

The shot had been precise, but Emily had quick reflexes. She might have avoided a lethal wound, but she sustained an injury to her calf. The wound was about the size of a goose's egg.

Knowing that there was another killer out there in the dark, Emily pulled the cello case before her without hesitation and hid behind it.

By doing so, she had obscured the killer's vision of her and thus made sure her attacker had lost sight of his target. She planned all this after deducting the killer's location from the direction of the bullet.

A silent stalemate ensued.

Other than the sound of raindrops hitting the floor, the surrounding plunged into silence.

As time went on, Emily knew her opportunity had arrived when the streetlights didn't light up.

She opened the cello case from the side, and swiftly assembled her sniper rifle.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed. This time, it did not hit Emily, but grazed the street light.

The sound of a bullet colliding with metal stirred the street lights to life again.

This time, the killer in the dark saw Emily clearly through his scope as she tried to assemble her sniper rifle. A crooked smile crept onto his lips as he aimed his gun directly at her.

Bang!

Bang!

Two opposing gunshots boomed out in unison. However, the bullets collided mid-air, bursting into a shower of metal shrapnel that scattered to all sides.

The killer was shocked.

This must be a coincidence!

Surprised by this turn of events, the killer suddenly had flashbacks about this female killer named Black Lily and all of her notorious rumors.

He immediately aimed at Emily again. Just when he was about to vehemently pull the trigger, he looked through his scope and saw a bullet appear in his line of sight, approaching and enlarging rapidly. Everything before his eyes went pitch black.

One bathed in light, while one was hidden in darkness. Despite being at a disadvantage, Emily still easily dispatched the assassin. This was her craft, and also the reason why nobody could surpass the Legendary Sniper Black Lily.

After eliminating the killer, Black Lily ripped a piece of her clothes off and quickly bandaged her bleeding calf. Then, she fought through the pain and sprinted away.

When she reached about a hundred yards away, Emily came to a sudden stop. Her calf had bled so profusely that it drained her stamina, hindering any further movement.

And just then, her cell phone rang.

Emily grabbed her phone from her pocket and tossed it into a drain beside her.

She knew that this assassination had been planned. After all, the only ones that knew her assassination and escape route was the organization.

Taking a deep breath, Emily willed herself to trudge on. Then, she noticed a building just ten yards away with a sign that read clinic.

She took a glance at her bleeding calf. She might risk exposing herself, but she could not be bothered by menial details anymore. So, she dragged her wounded right leg and limped toward the clinic.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The door swung open when she slammed on it, revealing a bespectacled man with blue curly hair who greeted her.

"Are you injured?" a man asked as he looked at Emily, surprised by her beauty and also by her bleeding right leg.

Emily nodded as she leaned feebly on the door frame for support.

Seeing this, he quickly helped Emily into the building and shut the door behind him.

...

"Hey, this is a gunshot!"

Emily's eyes turned menacingly cold as she looked at the man who was treating her wound.

"Don't... worry... I won't tell anyone," the man immediately reassured her. Even though his expression contorted in concern, he continued, "But your leg might not be saved..."

"I know that, now treat the wound and stop the bleeding so I can be on my way!"

"It'll hurt, do you want to play a game to get your mind off the pain?" the man gestured to a virtual reality headset on the table.

"No!" Emily replied impassively.

"I think you should play for a while, there's an egg-sized hole on your leg, it's going to need some filling..."

"I said no!" Emily declined again with a serious tone.

She was a killer, so she was always vigilant. Playing a game at this moment would be risking her safety by putting it in others' hands. She did not trust the man before her, so she refused his offer.

After half an hour of bandaging, the man finally finished treating Emily's wound. Then, she stood up, preparing to leave right away.

"It's just treated, don't put force on it or else the wound might re-open!"

Emily didn't reply. Instead, she turned around and walked toward the door.

It was dangerous for her to stay here and she had left her sniper rifle outside, so she had to leave as soon as possible.

She approached the door and just before she opened it, police sirens rang out from outside.

Emily's expression instantly darkened. Then, she looked at the male doctor and quickly limped back into the house.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything!" the male doctor promised her again.

After Emily entered the house, the male doctor rushed to the door and pressed the cleaning button.

Immediately, the cleaning robot outside the house was activated. They wiped away any traces of blood outside in mere seconds.

Not long after, a knock came on the door. The male doctor calmly opened the door, even though his heart thundered in his chest.

The door opened and a middle-aged man stood on the other side. He was slightly plump but wore an extremely serious expression.

"Doctor Haier, did you hear gunshots just now? Or have you seen any strangers?"

"What? Gunshots? What happened?" Haier feigned shock and confusion.

"No, it's nothing, have a good night!" the officer outside quickly deflected. They didn't enter the house to investigate since they had a few other houses to inquire.

After he shut the door, Haier hurriedly went back inside the house. However, he discovered that Emily was hiding behind the door and clutching a dagger.

"They've left!" Haier muttered in exasperation.

He didn't know why he had covered for Emily. If he had to think of a reason, it would be because of her exquisite looks.

Truly, this was her gift since the day she was born.

"Thank you!" Emily sighed in relief and thanked him.

"It's okay, my name is Haier. What is yours?" Haier smiled as he stuck his right hand out.

Emily ignored him and merely limped to the sofa outside of the house and sat down, with her brows knitted together tightly.

Awkwardly, Haier followed her out. Then, he looked at Emily and said, "There's a lot of policemen searching around outside, I guess you have to spend the night in here."

Yet, Emily remained unresponsive.

"Does it hurt a lot? Do you need to play a game? There's a really cool game that came out recently. Once you enter it, you won't feel the pain from the outside world."

Still, she did not reply to him.

After a few failed attempts at conversation, Haier felt crestfallen about the distant and stoic Emily.

Then, Emily finally replied, "Fine, give me the virtual reality headset!"

"Okay!"

A wide smile broke out on Haier's face after his successful attempt to get a response out of her. He picked up the VR headset and swiftly handed it to Emily.

"I'll help connect the computer... the game's called Battle Online... the most anticipated virtual reality game of the year!"

Emily completely disregarded Haier's words. After she put on the headset, the game interface appeared.

Anyone could tell that Dr. Haier was a game enthusiast, as the virtual interface was packed with gaming icons and a variety of other unknown special gaming software.

After scanning the icons, Emily's eyes landed on Battle Online.

She could play any game, but since Haier strongly recommended this one, she would give it a try.

Hence, she selected the Battle Online icon.

It could be said that it was a total coincidence how the Legendary Sniper Black Lily embarked on her journey to become a Hunter Legend.