The Return of the God Level Assassin

AFTER Luo Yan found out that Filli might be in the area of the forest called the 'Silent Marsh', he immediately went to the Elder's yurt.  If there's someone in this village who would know most about that place, then it's definitely the Elder.  Luo Yan needed to know first what he would be facing before going there.

This was not the same as fighting the Blights and discovering its source.  The additional task involved him finding the source, so he technically couldn't ask about that from the Elder.  But this hidden task only needed him to find Filli and bring him back here in the village.  So it wouldn't matter if he asked the Elder about it.

"Noctis, have you decided the date of your coming-of-age ceremony?" the Elder asked when he saw him.

It was such an automatic response.  As if that was the first thing the Elder would say everytime he would see him.  Not really surprising, since he was already done with task given by the Elder, the next step should be for him to conduct his coming-of-age ceremony and finally leave the village.

"No, Elder, I'm here to ask you about something."

"Oh, what is it?"

"I wonder if the Elder could tell me what you know about the Silent Marsh?"

The Elder's expression suddenly turned serious when he mentioned that.  "It's a very dangerous area in the Crescent Woodlands.  As you may already know from the name itself, it's a marsh.  The word 'silent' was added by our ancestors because once you enter the area, you could no longer hear any sound.  That's still true until today."

Luo Yan caught the keyword, 'no sound'.  "Why could one not hear any sound when they enter the area?"

The Elder paused for dramatic effect before saying, "Because there's a very powerful beast sleeping there."  Okay?  "All the monsters in the surrounding area dare not make a noise for fear that they would awaken it.  My father, the former Elder, told me that this beast entered the moon elves' realm a millenium ago.  It was badly wounded and almost at the end of its life.  It went to one of the caves in the forest to recuperate.  It slept in that place and the area surrounding the cave has been known as the Silent Marsh since then."

Luo Yan's interest was picqued by this hidden story.  "What kind of beast was it?"

This time the Elder didn't pause and just went straight to the point.  "A dragon."

He became silent for a moment.  A dragon?  Seriously?  This hidden task wouldn't ask him to defeat that dragon in order to save Filli, right?  What, was Filli a princess kidnapped by the dragon and he's the prince tasked to save him?  He didn't like this kind of script at all.

"In Elder's opinion, do you think I can defeat this... dragon?" he tried to ask.

"No," the Elder answered so straightforwardly.  "With your current level and skill set, you wouldn't even be able to put a scratch on it."

Luo Yan winced a bit.  See?  Even the Elder thought he was not an opponent of this dragon.  Surely, this hidden task wouldn't require him to kill the dragon, right?  Because then, there's no way he would be able to finish it.  He shook his head.  No, he shouldn't jinx himself.

But in the off-chance that he did jinx himself and ended up fighting the dragon, he'd just do his best to escape with Filli.  He'd better prepare nonetheless.

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= B City =

A black cark parked in front of a two-storey modern mansion located at a very private and wealthy residential area.  The driver went out of the car and opened the door of the back seat.  A man wearing silver-rimmed glasses came down.

"I have an early meeting tomorrow.  So please do come earlier than usual."

"Yes, President Shen," the driver answered.

Shen Yi Mu walked towards the door of the mansion.  It was the type of open-area mansion that didn't have a gate.  Most of the houses in this residential area actually didn't have one.  The security here was pretty tight, one couldn't just enter the entrance of this residential area without a thorough check from the guards.  That's why most people here didn't feel that they needed a gate for their houses.

He took out his key and opened the door.  Walking inside, he immediately smelled a delicious scent.  He walked towards the kitchen area and just as he thought, he saw his nephew there.

Shen Ji Yun was wearing a black apron.  His blue gaze was concentrated on the vegetable he's cutting.  His face was still expresionless.  It was like watching a doll cooking.

Shen Yi Mu was already used to this kind of scene.  His nephew had been making their dinner ever since he learned how to.  Though the number of times he did decreased when he entered university.  He still tried to cook dinner and eat with him at least once a week.  That had been some kind of bonding for the both of them.

Shen Ji Yun raised his head and said, "Dinner will be done soon.  I'll call you once it's done."

Instead of leaving, Shen Yi Mu walked inside the kitchen and leaned on the bar counter.  "Do you need any help?"

"No."

He smiled helplessly.  Sometimes it's really hard to start a conversation with this nephew of his.  Then he suddenly remembered something.

"Zhao Cheng just told me something interesting earlier," he said pertaining to Moonlight Media's head programmer.  "He said that after the latest update, four players managed to get a newly added 'special race'.  All are first-time Arcadia players."  That was easy to check since their game avatars didn't match any existing players' biometrics.  "Apparently, one of them is doing really good.  He's only been playing for four days and he already managed to trigger a hidden event."

There was a paused in his nephew's movement, a sign that his curiousity was piqued a little.  Because in Arcadia, triggering a hidden event was not something that a beginner often encountered.  Beginner players were usually not thorough enough.  So the probability of them triggering a hidden event was quite low.

"You should try and meet him once he leaves his Origin Village.  Zhao Cheng said that this player is pretty interesting," he continued.  Whenever they do an update, the lead programmer usually watch the video of players especially those that were beginners who just started playing.  So they could check if there were bugs in the game.  Although they do have beta testers, it's not bad to be thorough.  "According to Zhao Cheng, this player's game avatar is very beautiful.  So it wouldn't probably be hard for you to find him."

Shen Ji Yun turned to his uncle.  "His game ID name?"

"Hmm... wait- let me recall.  Ah, right!  It's Noctis.  His game ID is Noctis."