Chapter 88: Did You Really Think This Was Just a Movie?

Huang Ying admitted that at first, he was only here to watch the show.

That’s right, to watch the show!

He had even prepared to personally flood the chat with sarcastic comments, planning to embarrass this arrogant streamer so thoroughly that he wouldn’t be able to finish his broadcast.

But in the end, what happened?

Where was the nervousness that should have come with a first live stream? What about the pressure of facing millions of viewers? Had it all been eaten by a dog?

It just didn’t make sense!

In the half hour since the stream began, Huang Ying hadn’t managed to spot a single mistake from the other side. It was as if the broadcast had been pre-recorded, flawless in every way.

Huang Ying even started to wonder if he was watching a Hollywood blockbuster, with the streamer simply narrating the protagonist’s actions. Of course, that was just an illusion. He’d played Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate himself, and the on-screen game prompts were still visible—there was no way he could be wrong.

Despite his frustration, Huang Ying wasn’t so angry as to lose his reason. The stream would go on for a long time yet. He simply didn’t believe the streamer could maintain such seamless performance forever. As soon as a single mistake appeared, that would be his chance to strike back.

...

After Jacob’s mission was completed, the game’s perspective shifted to Evie Frye. Compared to Jacob’s canonically reckless personality, Evie’s stealth and assassination moves were far more stylish.

Inside a shabby train carriage, Evie finished marking points on her map, then set it alight, destroying the evidence. Two red-coated guards burst in, and the real game began.

“The first guard can be lured with a whistle, and then...”

Hearing the whistle, the red-coated guard approached the cover. Evie sprang forward, her left-hand blade snapping out and plunging into his chest. She quickly dragged the corpse behind cover before moving on to her next target.

On the speeding train, most enemies had their backs turned, making stealthy assassinations a breeze. Perhaps as a nod from the game’s creators, Evie’s attire was leagues better than Jacob’s. Her lithe feminine frame and clean, decisive movements added to the spectacle, and judging by the barrage of comments on screen, her popularity vastly outstripped Jacob’s.

“There are two enemies in this carriage. Air assassination on the one behind first...”

Evie leaped from above, wrapping her arms around the red-coated guard’s neck. With a twist of her hidden blade, blood sprayed from his throat—kill confirmed.

Before the first body even hit the ground, Evie darted behind the second target, sliding in to knock the guard off balance before dispatching him with a blade to the heart.

Kill number two!

Evie is so cool!

Girl, how are you this awesome?

Assassin in disguise!

Compared to the berserker Jacob, Evie is the real assassin, isn’t she?

...

Evie’s opening sequence was just as impressive as Jacob’s, perhaps even more so due to the elegance of her assassinations. Where Jacob’s moves were brutish, Evie’s were light and swift—much more befitting of an assassin. And, of course, she was a woman.

Yet, by this point in the stream, many viewers were fixated on one thing: the protagonist wasn’t looting bodies!

With enemy after enemy collapsing to the ground, the “lootable” marker flashing on each, viewers with obsessive tendencies couldn’t bear it. Killing and looting corpses was tradition—how else could one get rich?

Why isn’t our angel looting bodies?

Seriously, doesn’t she need supplies?

Supplies? Isn’t her throwing knife supply always full? Why bother looting?

At this, many viewers realized that from Jacob at the start to Evie now, not once had the streamer stopped to loot a corpse. Many had nearly forgotten that looting was even an option—the actions were just too smooth, the immersion too deep, as if watching a film. What movie protagonist stops to loot every corpse?

“Looting? There’s just no need to waste time. Why bother with supplies? Once the auto-loot skill is unlocked, we’ll talk about it.”

Luo Chen explained that he could simply assassinate his way through with his hidden blade. Why would he need to replenish supplies from grunts? As long as nothing was wasted, the number of throwing knives was always enough.

Wasting time?

The more than twenty million viewers watching could only sigh. Was this what they called the world of experts? Even the much-anticipated looting was dismissed as a hassle. How were ordinary gamers supposed to keep up?

Throwing knives were a godsend for players with poor stealth skills—a one-hit solution, usually hoarded because there were never enough. Yet here was someone complaining that there were too many.

Support the streamer! In a movie, when does the hero ever stop to loot bodies? Just assassinate your way through!

Exactly. As an assassin, using only the resources you carry to complete your mission is what real perfect synchronization means!

Hey, are you really treating this like a movie? The upcoming stages are way harder than this. Not looting? Impossible!

You don’t know a thing! He’s an expert, all right? An expert!

...

At this point, only Huang Ying, who’d been waiting for a chance to stir up trouble, could seize the moment. He’d waited so long for a slip-up and finally caught one in Luo Chen’s words. You’re not going to loot for supplies? You’re aiming for the fastest completion?

Perfect—he could latch onto this statement. With a little encouragement from him, how could Luo Chen backtrack now?

If Luo Chen stubbornly insisted on such high standards, he was bound to stumble eventually. Assassin’s Creed wasn’t easy—some stages were so tough that even Huang Ying couldn’t guarantee perfect synchronization under these self-imposed rules, let alone a rookie streamer.

And once a mistake happened, would this newcomer be able to maintain composure under Huang Ying’s relentless attack? Not falling apart would already be impressive.

Of course, Luo Chen noticed the commotion in the chat. He didn’t need to guess to know that Huang Ying was behind it, and the rest were probably paid shills. Out of over twenty million viewers, who else but Huang Ying would try to trip him up?

Still, Luo Chen didn’t bother to argue. The challenge was tough, but not impossible. If he succeeded, wouldn’t Huang Ying just be boosting his reputation?

In the game, the train carrying Evie slowly came to a halt. Up ahead was a heavily guarded restricted area—the laboratory, their destination.

Thanks to Book Friend Yakumo Family’s Mo for the 200 Starting Point Coins tip. Thanks to Book Friends Xiao Xiaoming and Fallen Flower for the 100 Starting Point Coins each—throwing flowers! By the way, regarding the translation of Jacob—some translate it as James, others as Jacob... Baidu isn’t very reliable.