Seeing the Mule's affirmative reply, Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief. The Mule didn't rush to send over the contract, but instead sent a pile of completed mission files from other players who had used [SOS Signal, Out-of-Body Projection].

Li Ang was to review them to show that, as the Mule had said, this matter was safe and harmless for the invitee.

Li Ang silently praised the Mule's professionalism and spent a good amount of time reading through these completed files, comparing them to the official completion records released by official departments of various countries on the player forum (official departments selectively disclose some details of script missions in the form of free documents for all players to consult).

He finally confirmed that the invitee did indeed occupy a position of guaranteed profit without loss.

Afterward, the Mule discussed some details of the cooperation with Li Ang.

First, if Li Ang agreed to sign the contract, he would transfer an advance payment of 1,000 game coins.

The mission would begin in eight hours.

When entering the role-playing mission, the Mule's employer would use the [SOS Signal, Out-of-Body Projection] item to send an invitation to the invitee through the player number.

After the invitee accepted the invitation, they would assist the employer in completing the mission.

If they withdrew halfway, the final payment would not be paid.

If they could persist until the employer completed the mission, then regardless of whether the invitee had fully assisted or not, the employer would transfer another 1,000 game coins, as well as a fine-quality piece of equipment.

If the invitee was not satisfied with the equipment, the employer would select a few more items of the same grade from their inventory as a replacement.

Or, the reward could be converted into 1,000-3,000 game coins, depending on the final completion evaluation of the mission and the extent of the invitee's contribution.

Li Ang asked half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Your employer is really generous, isn't he? Before even entering the mission, he's already throwing down 1,000 game coins per person, as well as a precious SOS Signal item. He's not even sure if the invitee will rage quit halfway, or slack off and coast through the whole thing."

The Mule calmly replied, "My employer trusts my judgment, and I also trust my judgment of the clients I've dealt with before.

"You are a person who honors contracts, or rather, you are a person who doesn't mind honoring contracts to the extent of your abilities and morality.

"Please don't think this is a worthless trait. In the extreme Darwinian dark forest that is the Killing Game, just being able to do this is already a moral paragon.

"And considering your perfect performance in previous missions, I believe that this mission will not exceed your capabilities and moral bottom line."

Li Ang: "...You have a high opinion of me. I really hope those teammates who misunderstood me in the past could hear what you just said."

The Mule sent a smiling face emoji and, through the friend system, sent a copy of the [Secrets Beneath the Surface (Party B)] that he had previously signed with Li Ang.

The main function of this [Secrets Beneath the Surface] scroll item was to allow two players to jointly keep information confidential and not actively leak it to the outside world.

If either party wanted to leak the secret, they would experience cognitive impairment and be unable to reveal the secret.

In other words, it could not force the invitee to do their best to help the inviter in the script mission.

The only binding force was the personal reputation of the Mule, the information broker.

Li Ang glanced at the contract, confirmed that there were no problems, and then signed the contract under the witness of the system.

They mutually agreed not to reveal any details of the mission to the outside world after the mission.

After signing the contract, Li Ang stretched and told Chai Da Xiaojie about it. After a little preparation, he waited to be summoned.

Several hours later, the Mule sent a message, and the notification bar of the player panel also vibrated.

[Player hj18***9527 has used the SOS Signal, Out-of-Body Projection item to invite you to participate in a script mission.]

[Accept?]

[Yes/No]

Li Ang clicked confirm, and in the next second, he appeared fully armed in a dark, dense forest.

The forest was always one of the best initial locations for players to be teleported to.

This forest wasn't quiet.

Occasionally, the sound of wind, the rustling of grass and trees, and the scurrying of insects, birds, and small animals could be heard.

The trees were tall and straight, with lush foliage providing shade.

The flowers and plants were green and vibrant, emitting a fresh fragrance.

The bright sun hung in the sky, scattering warm sunshine.

However, something was always wrong...

The colors, the colors of everything were too bright, so bright that they didn't seem like real things. Instead, they were like oil paintings with countless layers of color, so overly detailed that they were annoying.

At this moment, Li Ang was floating in mid-air. His whole body was wrapped in a black, tight-fitting suit, revealing only his eyes and mouth. The corners of his mouth were raised in a sinister smile, and he held a gleaming dagger in his hand.

There were several other people appearing in the forest.

A man was wearing a leather coat, a black t-shirt underneath, had a crew cut, and wore sunglasses. In his hand, he held a classic Winchester m1887 shotgun.

A woman was tall, had long, light golden hair draped over her shoulders, and wore green armor with a cape similar to that of an elven ranger in an online game (relatively conservative, unlike the revealing outfits in low-quality online games). She held a camera in her hand.

A blonde girl wore a large, pointed, round-brimmed black hat, with a white lace bow hanging on the hat. She wore a black and white dress that looked like a maid's outfit or a witch's gown. Her expression was cold.

These people, like Li Ang, were floating in mid-air.

Their forms were vaguely transparent.

They cast no shadows on the ground.

Clearly, they were all members of the expert consultation team hired by the Mule's employer.

Then... where was this employer?

Li Ang moved his gaze from examining the others (who were also examining him) and fixed it on the only person standing on the ground.

It was a handsome Caucasian man with short black hair, wearing an immaculate gray suit, with a somewhat bewildered expression on his face.

The few people looked at each other, and no one spoke.

The Caucasian man looked down at his palms.

After observing them,

He raised his head and spoke first, in a magnetic, deep voice, "Hello everyone, I am the employer for this mission.

"You can call me John Smith."

"A timeless, classic fake name,"

Li Ang crossed his arms in front of him and smiled, "As a big spender who can hire a professional strategy team with money to burn, you're being quite stingy with your personal information, not even willing to reveal your player name to the strategy team. That seems a bit strange..."

John Smith looked at Li Ang and said politely, "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, just a little curious,"

Li Ang smiled and didn't answer directly.

Actually, he had been very curious before the mission started.

What kind of person would seek an information broker to hire an expert team?

First of all, he was unlikely to be an important figure in an organization – a truly important figure could find a team within the organization, without having to resort to a third-party information broker.

Secondly, he wouldn't be an unknown nobody – poor people couldn't afford several SOS Signals.

This employer was probably not good at fighting or strategizing himself.

He had a lot of resources,

But for some reason, it was inconvenient for him to seek help from other large organizations.

A researcher who betrayed the organization and was wanted?

A personal merchant who bought and sold in the Killing Game?

Or... an information broker?