The notion that supporting NPCs inevitably carry hidden quests was a conclusion drawn by the Pioneer Guild in the previous timeline after analyzing big data on all hidden tasks.
In this current timeline, however, players of the Illusory Game were still largely focused on the main storyline characters. Minor figures like Nakaoka Mami, barely a step above background characters, had clearly escaped widespread notice so far.
Luo Jie's explanation caused dawning expressions among everyone present.
Though it sounded unbelievable at first glance, careful consideration of each point revealed his reasoning was logical and well-founded, not mere fantasy.
"So, Night Demon, you sent Chieftain to the East District Mall... to protect Nakaoka Mami?" Dancer finally understood the deeper meaning behind Luo Jie's seemingly scattered earlier arrangements.
"Correct. I wanted to see if I could unlock the hidden quest for the treasure location at the East District Police Station through her."
While he framed it as an attempt, Luo Jie was absolutely confident. That's why he'd assigned the defense-specialized Chieftain to Mami's location, the East District Comprehensive Mall, from the start.
Though hesitant, no one voiced opposition. In the world of Illusory Game players, no significant power came without risk. Pursuing only safety inevitably led to mediocrity. If they were content with mediocrity, why would they risk their lives in this high-danger instance that had already seen two consecutive failures?
"Alright, we'll set Mami aside for now. There's another matter I want to ask about." Sapphire's expression turned serious. "Night Demon, what are your plans regarding Miyamoto Rei?"
Protection targets in the Illusory Game weren't unilaterally assigned. If a quest NPC rejected their assigned player's protection and moved beyond a certain range, the system would recognize the termination of the guardian relationship and declare the original protector's mission failed.
Therefore, the moment Miyamoto Rei was abandoned by her assigned player, she reverted to an unprotected state.
An unprotected quest target was a major complication. Aside from protagonists like Kōta Takashi with their plot armor, most unprotected targets struggled to survive alone. Leaving Rei unattended meant she could easily become a bossified version of herself somewhere on the Fujimi City map.
Considering the terrifying power displayed by the only known example – Kirishima Shizuka's "Oni Transformation" – even if a bossified Rei was weaker, Luo Jie couldn't guarantee he could protect Jūryō Sakurako if they encountered her. This was the true difficulty of this Highschool of the Dead instance, prefixed with "Supernatural." The seven main characters were like a house of cards in delicate balance; the loss of any one could cause the collapse of the others.
"I intend to take Miyamoto Rei under my protection as well," Luo Jie stated his plan calmly.
"What?! Are you insane?" Both Dancer and Sapphire exclaimed simultaneously, their voices loud with genuine shock.
"Huh? Who's insane?" Jūryō Sakurako slid open the wooden door from the next room, poking her head out curiously.
"Nothing, no one's insane," Luo Jie waved her off.
"Oh." Sakurako nodded, seemingly accepting it, her mind quickly moving on. "By the way, I found a really big bathhouse behind this building earlier! Xiao Ye, do you want to join me?" (◕‿◕✿)?!!!
The others instantly turned to stare at Luo Jie, their faces etched with disbelief. Even with Sakurako's famously airheaded personality, basic boundaries between men and women existed. For her to suggest bathing together meant her fondness for him had reached a level where she felt absolutely no need for caution.
What on earth had this Night Demon done to Jūryō Sakurako? Did he slip some kind of strange drug into her food?
Luo Jie cleared his throat and projected the attributes of his [Umbrella Enemy] title onto the visual communication panel shared with the group.
[Umbrella Enemy] Type: Title Effect: +30 Favorability with members of hostile factions towards Umbrella Corporation in any instance where it exists. +20% Damage, +10% Accuracy, +10% Critical Hit Chance against Umbrella Security Service (USS) forces and Bio-Organic Weapons (BOWs). Unlock Condition: Eliminate a fully equipped USS squad.
Since they were in the same temporary team, even if Luo Jie didn't reveal certain attributes, the others could deduce them from observable effects. Hoarding information seemed petty; it was better to be straightforward. Besides, titles, unlike equipment, were permanently bound to the player – they couldn't be stripped or dropped. Revealing them wouldn't invite trouble; powerful titles could even act as a deterrent.
As expected, the appearance of the [Umbrella Enemy] title plunged the comms channel into dead silence for over half a minute. Then, it exploded like hot oil meeting cold water, instantly spammed with countless "666s".
"Hey, we agreed no flooding the chat..." Luo Jie's message was immediately buried. He had to speak aloud to be heard. "You hid that pretty well, Night Demon," Dancer said, instinctively moving to sling an arm around his neck like before. But her hand stopped halfway, restrained by the natural deference a lower-tier player feels towards a higher-tier one – a feeling familiarity couldn't completely override.
Luo Jie shrugged lightly. "I did say I was actually pretty strong. You just didn't believe me..."
Dancer shook her head with a wry smile. Experience was a double-edged sword. Who could have guessed the seemingly clueless newbie picked up by the roadside was actually a hidden powerhouse?
Brawler, less expressive by nature, reacted more calmly. "So... that Night Demon at the top of the points leaderboard... that's you too?"
The Illusory Game wasn't a video game; the points leaderboard allowed duplicate codenames. Final rewards went directly to individuals, so the system didn't care about duplicates. When they first saw "Night Demon" on the leaderboard, Dancer and Brawler assumed it was someone else using the same name – it wasn't uncommon. Now, however, it was clearly this Night Demon before them. Annihilating a fully equipped USS squad wasn't a feat just any veteran could pull off.
"It is indeed me," Luo Jie confirmed, seeing no reason to hide it now.
The implications of being ranked first were obvious. Struggle flashed across the faces of Dancer, Brawler, and the others. Ultimately, none dared voice a desire to follow Luo Jie's lead.
"Sorry, Night Demon. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just... I still think it's better not to be so aggressively ambitious," Dancer said apologetically.
Luo Jie smiled indifferently. He had anticipated this outcome. From the perspective of teams like Ivory Mountain Chieftain Squad and One-Winged Angel Squad, their decision was understandable. Not every player could farm points as effortlessly as he seemingly could. A deficit of tens of thousands of points might be just one night's work for him, but for players like Dancer and Sapphire, it could mean two or three entire instances yielding no profit. They couldn't afford to gamble, and they didn't dare.