As the city lights began to glow, the street lamps flickered in and out of view among the sparse shadows of the trees. In the dim light, the long benches lining the narrow forest path had long since lost any available space; couples, entwined in various intimate poses, clung to each other, declaring their sovereignty over their chosen territory.

As night fell, couples would occasionally seize the cover of darkness to hold each other tightly—head to head, cheek to cheek, arms around shoulders and waists, legs tangled together—beginning their long night of “intimate communication.”

Charles Bennett’s apartment was nestled deep within these lush, shaded trees. The area around Bailu Mountain Medical University was famously tranquil, attracting many who wished to escape the city’s noise and buy a home here. As for Charles Bennett, his reason for purchasing an apartment here was, of course, its proximity to the university for convenient classes, and also to ensure that his other identity, when carrying out bounty missions, wouldn’t cause unnecessary trouble.

However, reality rarely matches expectations, and this saying became the true portrait of Charles Bennett’s experience after buying this apartment.

Even two years later, Charles Bennett still couldn’t figure out how his two best friends from the same dorm—William Harris and Brian Lee—managed to knock on his door the very next day after he moved in. In the end, Charles Bennett could only attribute the discovery of his residence to Brian Lee’s hound-like sense of smell, and from that day on, he had no choice but to accept that this place would become the trio’s regular hangout.

When the moon hung at the tips of the willows, Charles Bennett’s two best friends barged in as usual. The burly Brian Lee carried five steaming bowls of beef offal noodles, placing two in front of Charles Bennett and William Harris, then sat on the sofa opposite them, facing the cool air from the AC, and leisurely enjoyed the three large bowls of noodles before him. William Harris, meanwhile, skillfully pulled an infrared binocular from his backpack and began, through the window, to enjoy the passionate dramas unfolding among the lovesick couples in the woods.

Half-reclining on the sofa, Charles Bennett was long used to his friends’ antics. In fact, he himself was rather carefree; even during missions, if Brian Lee swung a knife at someone right in front of him, or William Harris embraced a beauty and performed a live erotic show, Charles Bennett wouldn’t even bother to look up.

To be precise, these three—somewhat famous as campus heartthrobs at Bailu Medical University—were all a bit eccentric, with backgrounds that seemed clean but were actually rather murky. Birds of a feather flock together; perhaps that’s why the three of them could get along so well.

Holding three sheets of paper—the game background of “Night Lord,” profiles of top players, and the “Beginner’s Survival Guide” written by William Harris earlier that day—Charles Bennett was now frowning as he tried to summarize, organize, and memorize the information. In fact, Charles Bennett had no trouble with the first two pages, but after skimming through the “Beginner’s Survival Guide,” he found himself completely lost amid the technical jargon. In the end, he could only give up, thinking he’d have to wait until he was in the game to figure things out through practice.

After carefully putting away the three sheets, Charles Bennett sat at the table and opened his beef offal noodles to eat. At the same time, Brian Lee finished off his three bowls, and William Harris, standing by the window, sighed at the lack of new sights, shook his head, and put down the Russian-made military infrared binoculars.

“Xiao Qian, you’re going to play a game? ‘Night Lord’?”

Brian Lee was one of the two people at Bailu Medical University who knew Charles Bennett’s true identity. From the faint murderous aura Charles Bennett sensed from his friend, and the surname “Liu,” he always suspected Brian Lee was related to Liu Lie, the biggest mob boss in Dushan City, but Charles Bennett had never tried to investigate or confirm it.

Since they were best friends, why care about his background? In friendships, if you deliberately probe into what’s behind someone, things often get complicated.

While eating his noodles, Charles Bennett nodded. “Yeah, E-rank bounty hunter assessment mission.”

Brian Lee’s expression grew serious as he agreed, “Definitely a tough mission!”

William Harris, who was happily enjoying his noodles, nearly choked on his soup when he heard this, rolling his eyes at his two friends and thinking with disdain: Yet another complete rookie.

Brian Lee and Charles Bennett had very similar backgrounds; their lives were worlds apart from those of ordinary college students. Charles Bennett spent his free time studying all the disciplines at Bailu Medical University. In his words, learning to save lives not only helped him protect himself during bounty missions, but only by mastering the art of saving lives could he become better at taking them! Yet, his academic performance always hovered around the middle of the class. In reality, Charles Bennett’s true abilities were in no way inferior to William Harris, who topped the class.

As for Brian Lee, his extracurricular life was much simpler: fighting and hacking people. In his two years at school, he was already known as “the undefeated champion of the Three Mountains and Five Peaks.” Or, when his testosterone had nowhere to go, he’d slip into a high-end club to take care of his “inventory.”