When the plot-skips players into the game world

The curtain of night had fallen, and 14 Roning Street finally turned off its lights at half past ten.

Two more hours went by, and as the campus plunged into utter silence, a procession of figures crept nearby without making a sound.

They hadn't been staking out the entrance to Aiwass's residence beforehand.

These Demon Scholars didn't even bother to hide intentionally; they simply entered a bar and kept drinking until now.

Nobody would suspect that four drunken fools posed any threat—after all, this wasn't their first visit; over the past week, they had come here almost daily to drink and play cards, even mingling with some of the students.

But this time was different.

After leaving the bar, they found a small alley and used a pre-arranged sobering ritual to eliminate their drunkenness.

"Get ready to move."

The leader, a blond man in a white suit with slicked-back hair and dressed like a lawyer, said gravely.

He said in a low voice, "Jim, you set up the curse. Braden, you cut off his phone line. I'll set up the ritual with Pero and summon our demons first. Then you two come over and summon your Demon Dogs."

"Are you sure we just need the Sleep Curse?"

Jim, the shortest and youngest of the group, retorted, "The Sleep Curse can be layered with a Feeble Curse... Didn't you say that cripple's swordsmanship is formidable? I still think a Sleep Curse layered with a Feeble Curse followed by a Suffocation Curse can kill him. It's the safest way, and we'll be able to report success."

"I'm certain."

The leader answered with conviction, "If it were just him in Moriarty's dormitory, it'd be one thing... but there's also his maid and his sister. Three people—the curse's power will be already greatly diluted. This way, they won't fall into a deep sleep.

"And a Feeble Curse will make them realize they've been cursed. If any of them is a light sleeper, the sudden weakness might wake them up and they might alert the others. Don't complicate things, Jim. More curses aren't always better."

"Then how about..."

Jim spoke up again, "Or we could release poison gas into his bedroom after casting the curse. No one would even realize he was murdered; they might think it was carbon monoxide poisoning... That way, we won't be investigated by officials."

"Do you think the kind of dormitory that young master lives in is the same as your shitty little room?"

The fat Pero sneered, "How could his bedroom be connected to the kitchen? Use your brain."

"...I just have a bad feeling, Teacher."

Jim whispered, "Could it be going too smoothly?"

The leader shook his head, "It's smooth because we are well-prepared, it has nothing to do with him. You're overthinking."

About half an hour later, the preparations were nearly complete.

The Sleep Curse took effect correctly, the phone line had been cut, and two demons and two Demon Dogs had been summoned.

Despite Jim's unease,

The leader thought it was merely because the apprentice was too timid.

Jim was only sixteen this year, slightly younger than Aiwass, whom they were planning to assassinate. He'd dropped out of middle school to join a gang. He was clever, so the Lohar Society took notice of him, and due to his suitability for the Path of Transcendence, he became the leader's apprentice.

Powerful Demon Scholars always had apprentices by their side.

In some ways, curses and rituals were like cooking—the actual time spent cooking wasn't long; the most time-consuming parts were preparing the ingredients and cleaning up afterwards. These apprentices were specifically used to replace their mentors in these pointless repetitive tasks.

Which was akin to being kitchen helpers.

But actually, the leader wasn't very fond of Jim.

Demon Scholars typically need to possess a reckless attitude without taboos; otherwise, it's difficult to advance. And Jim was too timid, always pessimistically predicting things... At first, the leader would take notice, perhaps this boy was indeed a match for the Path of Adaptation, perhaps his words carried a hint of prophecy?

But after many instances where Jim's predictions didn't come to pass, the leader finally confirmed that he was just plain scared.

—Were they not cautious enough?

They had thoroughly prepared a week in advance, used four Transcendents, two of whom were elite third Energy Level. There was also the immensely powerful Blade Demon, capable of going head-to-head with a fourth Energy Level Transcendent, along with the Whiplash Demon who could support the Blade Demon. They had cursed Aiwass beforehand and cut off all his means of contacting the outside world—

For someone who was merely a first Energy Level, on the Path of Devotion, the leader felt he was being laughably cautious.

It was only because Aiwass had instantly killed an Aberrant Limb Demon that they took him so seriously.

Though Aiwass himself wasn't strong, he was still a member of the Moriarty Family. The Transcendent artifacts he possessed were formidable, and there might be other artifacts at his disposal...

So their plan was to trap Aiwass in an unwakeable sleep with a curse, then infiltrate and assassinate him quietly.

Aiwass had classes the next day. So by one in the morning, he would surely be asleep.

Since he was already asleep, he wouldn't notice being cursed with the Sleep Curse. That would make him sleep even more soundly, so soundly that even if a thief entered his house and moved everything out, he wouldn't wake up.