Flashes of Sword slowly strode into the guild leader’s conference room. By then, four people were already seated at the conference table. One of them was his good buddy, Bladeless Swordsman, and the other three were seated on the other side of the table. They were Conquering the Castle with One Blade, Conquering the Castle with One Sword, and Not a Scaredy Cat.
After all, Jiang Hu was a famous guild, so they had quite good discipline. There was not going to be a scene where the members were happily chewing on chips during a guild meeting. However, this did not mean that they were being totally serious. At least some of them were holding a drink and would sip on it occasionally.
The snacks and drinks in Thriller Paradise were mainly to fill one’s tummy; they did not provide any buffs and could not recover one’s Life Points or Stamina Points. It would not enable the player to skip a meal in real life either. But they sold surprisingly well in-game. Be it normal players, professional players, or gold players, they would buy some to try.
Was Dream Inc. that good at selling virtual snacks? The answer was affirmative. They sold mainly three types of products. There were products that were universally or currently popular, like chips, Coca-Cola, cigarettes, and so on. Then there were the high-end products that cost quite a bit in real life like luxury chocolate and alcohol. Lastly… there were unique products that did not exist in real life, like rainbow juice that appeared in comics or original snacks with Thriller Paradise flavors like roasted eyeballs, dumplings wrapped in mummy wraps, and so on…
Even though the open beta had not been around for long, and most of these products were not expensive, the profit that Thriller Paradise had generated from snacks was far greater than other consumables sold at the shops like ammo, batteries, and medicine. These products surprisingly became one of the more useful channels for the company to earn Game Coins from the players.
As Flashes of Sword sat down, he asked, “Is Brother Enigma not here yet?”
His eyes scanned the three on the opposite side of the table. The three were all Jiang Hu members, but he was not familiar with them. Out of politeness, he still smiled and nodded at them.
Bladeless Swordsman answered, “Most likely, he’s still doing the thing that you were saying earlier.”
“Is it that complicated?” Flashes of Sword asked.
“Ha… You tossed us the thing and stopped caring about it,” Bladeless Swordsman said with a smile. “Do you know how much trouble we’ve been through? Do you think Workmanship is so easily trained? Other than Regulation, what other guild can summon players that specialize in Workmanship whenever they want?”
Flashes of Sword shrugged. “In any case, I’ve not trained that mastery before, so I wouldn’t know.”
While they spoke, the door opened again, and a man about 1.85 meters tall with a severe and determined expression walked in.
World’s Enigma, one of the three bosses at Jiang Hu, was the guild leader in-game. Assuming that there was a group of people who were lost inside a mountain, or trapped inside an unknown dangerous dimension, they would be panicking, and in that situation, World’s Enigma would naturally be the most reliable person. He simply had that presence about him. To put it nicely, he had a natural leadership ability, and to put it plainly, he looked trustworthy.
In reality, Bladeless Swordsman, World’s Enigma, and Flashes of Sword could all be considered young entrepreneurs. In the gaming world, they were known characters. However, if one asked who was the representative player from Jiang Hu, that would undeniably be World’s Enigma.
In terms of ability and strength, Dao Jian Xiao were even. In other virtual fighting games, they had tried to figure out a ranking among themselves. Not counting elements like equipment and jobs, there was no big difference between them. However, in terms of company management, Bladeless Swordsman and Flashes of Sword were much weaker. The important decision and future direction of the company had all been made by World’s Enigma. For a company that started from nothing, a brilliant leader was the foundation for success.
“Hmm… everyone’s here.” World’s Enigma took the seat at the head of the table. His eyes scanned his friends on the right before moving to the three on his left. “You have met each other, right?”
“Ah, we’ve exchanged some words,” Bladeless Swordsman answered. “But Flash just arrived. You’d better make the introduction.”
World’s Enigma raised his right arm and extended his hand to make the introduction. “This is Flash or Flashes of Sword.”
“We’re great fans!” One Sword and One Blade finally had the chance to meet their idol. In their excitement, they appeared rather cautious. Scaredy Cat next to them merely pouted like she wished that she was somewhere else.
“Haha… you flatter me, but please, act normally.” Flashes of Sword smiled.
World’s Enigma turned to Flashes of Sword and added, “Even though One Sword and One Blade aren’t professional players, they are online often, and I see huge potential in them…
“Haven’t you been complaining that you have no suitable teammates to play Killing Game with? How about you group up with them?”
“Sure.” Flashes of Sword agreed easily. He was good at reading a room. At that moment, he could either agree quickly or reject them swiftly. If he spent his time thinking about it before giving an answer, it would embarrass One Sword and One Blade. “We’re from the same guild, so there’ll be guild EXP buff. This is perfect.”
“Haha, then we’ll be in Mister Flash’s debt.” One Blade and One Sword wore their happiness on their faces. For them, to be able to join a famous guild like Jiang Hu was good enough. The ’great potential’ comment from their guild leader was enough to make their happiness last for a long time. And now it had been arranged for them to group up with Flashes of Sword. That was like a gift from heaven. They were all players using cold steel in close combat. To be able to observe an expert like Flashes of Sword, it was natural that their skill would increase.
“Other than that, this is Not a Scaredy Cat…” World’s Enigma continued the introduction. “An expert recommended by One Sword and One Blade. She just joined us today, and I wish for you to get to know her…”
When Bladeless and Flash heard that, their expression changed slightly. They thought, What do you mean by ’get to know her’? Is she your girlfriend or relative and that’s why we need to know her? But that doesn’t sound like it from the way you introduced her. That means… Even though this beauty is not our member, she is a powerful casual player that we must be able to recognize?
“Hello,” Scaredy Cat grumbled disinterestedly. The fake cuteness she put on when meeting new players was missing. In its place was the openness of a female warrior.
Since Bladeless had arrived earlier, he had already greeted her. This was Flash’s first time interacting with Not a Scaredy Cat, and he nodded in return. “Nice to meet you.”
Meanwhile, he was thinking internally, Haven’t seen her before, and I don’t think there’s a professional player by the name of ’Not a Scaredy Cat’, but it looks like Brother Enigma values her a lot… interesting.
“Scaredy Cat, you’ll join Bladeless in the future. Try to be online as much as possible to train your level. After you reach level thirty, I wish to conscript you into a special task force to focus on Nightmare Team Mode,” World’s Enigma said. “Other than that, from level thirty to level thirty-nine, there are three Ranking Skirmishes. I hope you can do it with other guild members. I will arrange it when the time comes.”
…
At the same time, inside the conference room of Underworld Frontline. When Feng Bujue walked into the room, he saw Passing Rain holding her chin with both hands, looking surprisingly listless, studying the boring event around her. Laughing Soul was throwing kernels of popcorn at Xiao Tan from across the table, trying to fill his hair up with more popcorn.
“Were you all waiting for me?” Feng Bujue asked. Now they were all in-game in sleeping mode.
“Actually, we’ve only waited for ten minutes,” Passing Rain said.
Feng Bujue turned to count the number of popcorn kernels on Xiao Tan’s head. “I’m curious, if I came later, what other variation of this game would there be?”
“Perhaps she’d have me catch the kernels with my mouth,” Xiao Tan said.
“I’m glad that you finally found a friend with the same mental age.” Feng Bujue smiled.
“Hey! I resent that! I’m obviously much mature than he is!” Laughing Soul complained.
“Of course, girls mature earlier. That’s primary school knowledge,” Feng Bujue said as he took his seat at the table. Laughing Soul gave him a side-eye and made a scary face at her sharp-tongued guild leader.
“I hear you’re going on television?” Passing Rain suddenly said.
“Ah… I knew you would have advertised that everywhere…” Feng Bujue admitted, and he asked Xiao Tan, “Hmm? By the way, how’s your left hand? Is there any residual influence from cracking the Slowing Sands with your bare hands?”
“There’s nothing wrong,” Xiao Tan replied. He raised his hand to prove it. “There’s nothing wrong with it. After getting off work, I even joined two scenarios, and I didn’t feel any changes. Perhaps after completing the Death Quiz scenario, the effect of the sand already ended.”
“Negative effects from the scenario will not be carried back to the log-in lobby,” Laughing Soul explained. “Leader, shouldn’t you be familiar with the game rules? Why would you ask a question like that?”
Because the scenario itself was different from normal… Feng Bujue replied internally.
“It’s great that you’re fine.” Each time, it was Passing Rain who pulled the topic back. Without her, this group of people could spend all day talking about nothing. “We’ve been through a few scenarios already. We should exchange our current status and levels and then prepare to start another game.”
