Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

”You really are ambitious, and it’s almost blatantly obvious, Yayu.”

After hearing Lin Yu’s ”confession,” Fish looked at him and once again offered her fair assessment.

However, in the context of the Marauders, this remark was not a form of suspicion. Instead, it carried a fair amount of admiration.

”Of course... the fact that you can display your ambition without disguising it is even more valuable than the ambition itself,” Fish said, looking at the scar-covered, wildly feral figure before her. ”Although there’s no precedent for this, if you complete this mission beautifully, I do have the authority to let you skip the position of an ordinary member right after joining. That said, what position do you hope to attain?”

”Branch Team Leader.”

Lin Yu answered without a moment’s hesitation.

”Ahaha, interesting,” Fish snapped her fingers. ”Branch Team Leader... that’s a position second only to the Branch Chief within an entire province. If you hope to obtain that position, the biggest obstacle won’t even be your qualifications, but your Rank. With a First-Tier Rank, it’ll be very hard to command respect.”

”No matter. As long as they’ve seen me and fought me, they’ll acknowledge me eventually.”

Lin Yu spoke with full confidence.

”But there’s no vacancy for that position right now.”

Fish explained earnestly.

”You mean I’d have to compete for the position?”

Lin Yu asked after thinking it over seriously.

Then, while mulling it over, he spoke again: ”If I defeat any one of them, does that mean I can take that person’s position?”

”For an ordinary Team Leader, yes. But a Branch Team Leader is different. Besides, I don’t think you can win,” Fish said, propping her chin on her hand. ”However... since your goal is Branch Team Leader, there is a suitable position I can promise you right now. ’Branch Team Leader Candidate.’”

”This was originally meant for potential members... The ’Heavenly Artisan’ who introduced you was considered for recommendation to this position. It’s just that although everyone knows his bad luck comes from being constantly targeted by that super rookie from the Order’s side, causing every operation to fail, the fact is his paper record looks absolutely terrible,” Fish sighed. ”Anyway, I can recommend you as a candidate, but you really have to complete this mission beautifully... Otherwise, it’ll be hard to command respect.”

”Although I get along well personally with ’Heavenly King’ and ’Lingxian,’ that doesn’t mean there are no factions among us. When there are more people, things inevitably become complicated. Two years is simply too long. Long enough for many pure things to sour,” Fish said with a hint of melancholy. ”So, are you confident?”

”Of course. I will complete this mission beautifully.”

As Lin Yu spoke, Fish laughed again: ”What a big talker. You don’t even know the mission details yet.”

”It’s just going to Pure Abyss to collect Mermaid Tears. No matter how many you want, I’ll collect far more than you need.”

Lin Yu said proudly.

”This mission isn’t as simple as just collecting, Yayu. Mermaid Tears aren’t a unique item in Pure Abyss. They’re produced whenever a ’Mermaid Royal’ dies or grieves to the extreme. Since there are quite a few members of the Mermaid Royalty, there are quite a lot of these things.”

”They’re excellent materials for brewing potions and enhancing weapons,” Fish explained. ”However, that doesn’t mean Mermaid Tears are a dime a dozen, because the act of possessing and collecting Mermaid Tears is regarded as blasphemy by the Mermaid Kingdom of Pure Abyss...”

”And we’re taking action this time because we used the shared item that our boss ’Diviner’ placed in the organization to divine that during the upcoming ’Tide Summoning Festival’ of the Sea Demon Kingdom in Pure Abyss, one of the largest Mermaid Tears holders in all of Pure Abyss, ’Sea Eye Sovereign,’ will publicly sell a portion of Mermaid Tears...”

”And Sister ’Heavenly King’ really needs this thing, so she specifically asked the boss to do a divination, confirming that one of our members will be in the ’Tide Summoning Festival’ for the next dungeon. So we started recruiting members broadly to collect it for her.”

”But publicizing information like this will probably alert the Order... Well, after just dealing with the Psychological Society, they probably won’t take it too seriously. It’s likely just small-scale harassment. For Second Tier... they definitely won’t send someone at the level of ’Director’ or ’A-Yin,’ but we still need to be careful.”

As Fish spoke, Lin Yu restrained himself from letting his facial expression go too far out of control.

No...

Fish’s prediction was completely wrong.

Or rather, the Marauders probably never expected that after finishing off the Psychological Society, the Order had no intention of resting, biding their time, or digesting the results. Instead, they immediately formulated a strategic objective to strike at the Marauders.

And moreover, they really had already approached ’Director.’

”It’s just that Director came to your Marauders instead, so there was a scheduling conflict, which is why he didn’t agree to the Order’s request.”

Lin Yu grumbled inwardly, thinking that this counted as him single-handedly defending the Marauders against Director and banning that guy.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t use this to claim credit.

However...

Fish’s words did remind Lin Yu of something.

”If it’s not Director coming, then it might very well be ’A-Yin’...”

All in all, Lin Yu still pretended not to know any of this insider information and spoke calmly.

”I see... No matter who comes, even if it’s Director himself, I’ll send him back with his tail between his legs.”

”Heavenly Artisan said he’s very strong, but based on his description, he may not necessarily be my match.”

As Lin Yu spoke, Fish shook her head: ”Don’t be so optimistic. This ’Director’ grows very quickly. Heavenly Artisan last crossed blades with him quite a while ago.”

”I just watched a recording of him dueling someone not long ago... Although your movements just now when you fought Sea Cucumber were fast and your strikes were sharp, and I can tell you’re not weak... against him, you really need to be careful.”

”Of course... your growth rate isn’t slow either. For the next dungeon, you won’t be going up against him anyway, so it should be fine.”

As Fish spoke, Lin Yu nodded: ”I understand.”

”But... from what you’re saying, I should have a teammate, right?”

”What kind of person is that teammate... From what you’re saying, they were selected because their location was calculated to be suitable for the next dungeon, is that right?”

Fish nodded upon hearing Lin Yu’s question: ”I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. That person isn’t weak either.”

”Although she joined the Marauders not long ago just like you, and even just recently advanced to Second Tier... she’s an excellent support.”

Hearing this, Lin Yu actually became curious.

Within the Marauders, an organization full of Egoists, there would actually be an ”excellent support”? That was truly rare!

Fish glanced at her Social module: ”Anyway, if you have time, I can call her over so you two can chat first.”

”That person is a ruthless one too. She personally killed her own boyfriend... Oh, and she seems to have some connection with ’Heavenly Artisan,’ though she wasn’t introduced by him.”

”Let me find it... Ah, found it. It’s ’April’!”