Game’s Dogma

Because there was a mythical judge of the Underworld with the surname Chui in oriental myths, Judge Chui and his notebook was nicknamed ‘The Book of Life and Death’. Such a nickname also made him fairly well known.

When Judge Chui took out his notebook, everyone turned silent. He swept his cold gaze across the crowd and said, ‘ID: Decasins. Humiliated Assassin Coalition by calling us mad dogs. Verdict: five deaths. Who else wants to challenge our guild?’

Judge Chui’s voice was as chilly as ice, sending a shudder through everyone’s spines.

‘We, Assassin Coalition, uncovered this quest. Taking advantage of it is an irrefutable right of ours. We aren’t greedy enough to monopolise it ourselves, but only the qualified can take part.’

His words were arrogant, infuriating even, but it sounded weirdly reasonable—reasonable in a world where the strong preyed on the weak.

‘Whoever believes that they’re qualified to share the spoils can step forwards. I, Judge Chui, swear that I’ll determine your qualifications justly and fairly. Assassination Coalition will let anyone qualified through.

‘Those who aren’t well-known or are just here to test their luck, please leave. While Assassination isn’t the most famous or powerful guild, I trust everyone knows how costly it is to offend us.’

The entrance to Mount Soughslit was now shrouded in a strange atmosphere. Ordinary players wanted to defy Assassination Coalition, but no one dared to take the initiative after Decasins was identified by Judge Chui among the crowd and recorded onto his deadly notebook.

Those who were listed on Judge Chui’s notebook had always received the right ‘punishment’. The second-line guild with several hundred members was good proof of how well Assassination Coalition keep their word. It was a different story if a targeted player never went online or deleted their account though.

His verdict of five deaths meant losing five levels through consecutive deaths. Even if it cost everyone in Assassination Coalition five levels, they would still go through with it, which made them all the more terrifying.

A mad man or two were scary enough. Now imagine several hundreds of them.

Moments later, a person emerged from the crowd and made a palm-fist salute while saying, ‘Judge Chui, am I perhaps qualified to enter Mount Soughslit?’

Judge Chui looked at the player and nodded seriously. ‘Moonless Night, guild master of Dark World. Currently ranked thirteenth in Ranked Arena battles. Of course you’re qualified. Please, you may enter with your members.’

The Assassination Coalition members who were guarding the entrance gave way for Moonless Night’s squad.

An ordinary warrior saw it as an opportunity and used Dash as he made a run for the mountainous path. Members of Assassination Coalition immediately jumped into action, slaying the foolish player who was trying to take advantage of the situation on the spot.

Moonless Night wasn’t exactly in a good mood either. In terms of strength, Dark World was levels above Assassination Coalition, yet he didn’t dare to be on their bad side. Top guilds treasured their members; even in battles between guilds, both parties would usually pull back once enough damage was dealt to avoid making pointless sacrifices.

However, this unspoken agreement didn’t exist for Assassination Coalition. For the sake of their guild’s reputation, they were willing to start over from scratch.

With Moonless Night taking the first step, some notable guild masters and mysterious veterans stepped forth one after another. Surprisingly, Judge Chui even had information about masters who lay low. He would list out their feats and accomplishments that were unbeknownst to others before proclaiming they were qualified to enter.

For example, there was this middle-aged woman named Phoenyx who didn’t have a tad bit of fame. Still, Judge Chui managed to calmly list out her deeds.

‘Pursued by three second-line guilds and survived. Defeated the hidden boss of Demon City, skeleton archer commander, alone in Normal difficulty. Please enter.’

Even Phoenyx sent them an amazed look before she put it out of her mind and entered Mount Soughslit.

Such great intel collection capability was even more dangerous than powerful brute strength. The mysterious organisation Heavenly Handlers naturally came to mind when it came to intel.

‘I’m sure he’s from Heavenly Handles,’ said Clairaudiencer. ‘The feeling he gives off, I’m familiar with it. He’s definitely a part of them.’

And by ‘them’ Clairaudiencer meant Heavenly Handlers—because he belonged to the organisation’s outer sect.

Heavenly Handlers was an intel organisation set up by the system and was separated into outer and inner sects. Once a player was part of the inner sect, he’d surely skyrocket through the ranks even if his level was low. The amazing intel collection capability and network was every guild’s dream.

Once a guild had such a person, they’d know everything from what their enemy guilds’ moves were to which guilds did certain powerful players join. Everything would be within their grasp. It was as the saying went, ‘Know thyself, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.’

Judge Chui was likely one of the very few players who managed to enter the inner sect of the Heavenly Handlers in such a short period.

Chau Yu grinned and looked at Clairaudiencer with a burning desire in his eyes. Perhaps Clairaudiencer only received the Heavenly Handlers encounter quest because he was a curious person at heart. Such a setting, such a game, everything was simply so fascinating.

‘Mr Chui, may we enter?’ Chau Yu made a step forwards, making everyone murmur among themselves.

Empyreal Spire had been taking the spotlight lately. Still, given their scale and structure, they couldn’t make it big. Putting other things aside, guild wars alone were beyond them. How could they fight guilds with thousands of players when they only had several dozen?

Judge Chui nodded. ‘The master of Empyreal Spire is clearly qualified to enter.’

Drako Yau passed through the crowd along with players from Underworld and Allurers.

The former top player of War of the Daemons, Hades ‘Diabolos’ of Underworld.

Swaying cities and countries with a smile, Dakki the guild master of Allurers.

This was the first time Judge Chui had a change in expression. It wasn’t because of Dakki’s womanly charms, nor was it due to Hades’ demonic presence or the confident Chau Yu.

It was all due to the man with a red mask, Mask.

Judge Chui’s knowledge about Mask was no more than what everyone knew. The Siege, a hundred win streak, the Bear King Incident… Even ordinary players knew about such feats as they were no secret at all. However, it was strange for Judge Chui, a member of Heavenly Handlers’ inner sect, to know so little.

He had a detection skill taught only to members of Heavenly Handlers, Discern. It was a skill that even Clairaudiencer, an outer sect member, had. What separated them was his ability to level the skill up, a perk available only to inner sect members. The higher the level, the more information he could detect. Yet everything was blocked off by Drako Yau’s Mask of the Hidden Dragon.

He had once tried to obtain intel on Mask through Heavenly Handlers’ network, but his efforts were for naught.

There wasn’t any intel on Mask?

No. He simply wasn’t authorised to access anything related to Mask.

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