Shen Huai stared at the cute avatar of Yuxue Feifei on the screen, lost in thought.
Song Xueyang, known for his meticulous thinking and unpredictable tactics, was nicknamed the “Ghost Fox” among professional players. If he intended to approach Shen Huai, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to deliberately use a sniper from the same profession.
But they were already friends. Song Xueyang could have just talked to him openly, so why use a smurf account to deceive him?
The more Shen Huai thought about it, the more confused he became. If Song Xueyang had some ulterior motive that he didn’t want Shen Huai to discover, why did he shoot so openly when Shen Huai was being hunted?
Unable to figure it out, Shen Huai decided to wait and see what Song Xueyang was up to.
Everyone chose a treasure chest to open, and the materials from the third boss were significantly more than the previous two, making their long battle worthwhile.
Of course, the President of Maple Moon, who was never short of materials but was on edge the whole time, expressed that he had never played such a physically and mentally exhausting dungeon!
Shen Huai counted the materials, and a notification in the bottom right corner indicated he had received new mail, which was from Yuxue Feifei.
—”A tribute to Master O(∩_∩)O”
The mailed items were the materials that had just dropped from the boss.
Shen Huai privately messaged Yuxue Feifei, “Your equipment hasn’t been upgraded yet. These materials are useful for you.”
Yuxue Feifei quickly replied, “It’s okay. Once I learn the Assassin playstyle from Lion Tiger, I’ll switch to an Assassin account O(∩_∩)O~”
Seeing this somewhat cutesy expression, Shen Huai felt like laughing. Thinking that Yuxue Feifei might actually be Song Xueyang, he accepted the materials without hesitation.
Perhaps the dungeon was too challenging, as no one left the team even after exiting.
Yiye Bianzhou, still unsatisfied, said, “Bro, you play Assassin really well. Want to join our guild?”
Fengyue Wubian was shocked, “Bro??!!”
The Assassin in front of them, with long flowing hair and a curvaceous figure, had a name as pure as it could get—Mu Wange. Yet Yiye Bianzhou called him “bro”?
Yiye Bianzhou explained, “You didn’t know? He’s a guy. He bought the account and got a bounty on him before he could change the name.”
Shen Huai, “Yeah.”
Fengyue Wubian was so shocked his jaw almost dropped. This Assassin was a guy, so he wasn’t Song Xueyang’s white moonlight? Was it a misunderstanding?
But it shouldn’t be. Just looking at the captain’s eagerness, if he wasn’t pursuing a partner, it was hard to believe.
“Don’t interrupt,” Yiye Bianzhou insisted, “Bro, join our guild. Mobei and I are both in it. Although we don’t have a professional team backing us, we’re a level 5 peaceful guild. Everyone’s active in tasks, and the atmosphere is great. If you join, we can do guild tasks together.”
He genuinely admired Shen Huai’s skills. In his view, Shen Huai’s technique was on par with some professional players. More importantly, he was humble and never blamed anyone, even when the Luozhiyuan dungeon was a mess.
Actions speak louder than words. Such a person would definitely be a dedicated guild member.
Shen Huai glanced at the guilds of Yiye Bianzhou and Mobei, both named “Tianshan Snow Lotus.” He had no impression of the name, but it was indeed a level 5 guild.
“Thanks, but it’s not convenient for me right now,” Shen Huai politely declined.
The Xiaolang Guild members were pushed back this time, but Zui Xue and the others clearly hadn’t given up. Offending a well-known guild in the professional area, joining any guild now would only cause trouble.
Yiye Bianzhou thought of Shen Huai’s bounty situation. Their guild was full of peaceful, casual players, with few arena players, and couldn’t really protect Shen Huai, who was in the spotlight.
He felt a moment of regret but admired Shen Huai’s character. While he was eager to recruit him, Shen Huai was considerate of the guild, making Yiye Bianzhou feel a bit ashamed.
“So, you’re not joining any guild?”
In “City of Despair,” although PVE and PVP were separate, PVP skill points had to be exchanged through PVE dungeon merit points.
“Not planning to join for now.”
Shen Huai thought it was simple. He could join a guild after entering a professional team. Not doing guild tasks for a while wasn’t a big deal.
Song Xueyang sent a private message to Fengyue Wubian, who could guess its content without opening it. He typed, “Why not join Fengyue! The Xiaolang Guild wouldn’t dare bully us, and this matter would be over.”
“Yeah!” Yiye Bianzhou said happily, “If you join Fengyue, Zui Xue and his group wouldn’t dare bother you. I didn’t expect the President of Maple Moon to be so generous, I’m impressed!”
Fengyue Wubian: …
He really wanted to know if Yiye Bianzhou was complimenting or mocking him.
Shen Huai showed a faint smile. Fengyue Wubian’s words seemed to confirm that Yuxue Feifei was indeed Song Xueyang.
Wanting him to join the Fengyue Guild to smoothly resolve the account-buying incident?
No way.
“No, I’m not that familiar with Fengyue.”
Fengyue Wubian, being rejected for the first time: “…”
Yiye Bianzhou, seeing someone refuse Fengyue’s invitation for the first time: “…”
Although disappointed, Haixing, who was happy to see the captain suffer, thought—well done!
Captain Song, having experienced many ups and downs, wouldn’t be defeated by the current challenge!
Yiye Bianzhou awkwardly changed the topic, “By the way, bro, we’re going to raid the Mysterious Tribe tonight. Want to join?”
“No, I’m going to the arena tonight,” Shen Huai paused and added, “Disciple and Tianya, come with me?”
Yiye Bianzhou: “…”
He suddenly admired Shen Huai. To dare bring such a troublesome disciple, it was like a small team destined to lose points!
In the training room, Haixing excitedly shouted, “Whoa! Feather God invited me to the arena!”
He immediately typed “yes!” in the game, but then felt a bit down, realizing he had to continue pretending to be a newbie to hide his sharp skills from Feather God.
Song Xueyang pretended to be troubled, “Master, maybe you shouldn’t take us? We’re really bad.”
Shen Huai smiled slightly. How could he miss the chance to observe Song Xueyang?
“Master will carry you.”
*
After dinner, Shen Huai logged into the game and sent arena invitations to Yuxue Feifei and Tianya.
The arena in “City of Despair” used the same format as the professional league, divided into 1V1, 2V2, and 6V6 team battles. Among them, 1V1 had a fixed map, 2V2 had a random map, and 6V6 had three modes, each with different victory conditions and maps.
As an Assassin, Shen Huai’s profession was naturally suited for duels, making the 6V6 team battle mode less effective. He rarely played it, but with Yuxue Feifei and Tianya, he had to go for the 6V6 team battle mode.
The group entered the arena, with Song Xueyang diligently pretending to be a game newbie, asking questions. Shen Huai didn’t expose him and patiently answered.
The arena mode randomly matched players with teammates and opponents of similar ranks. All three of their accounts were at the Warrior rank. The difference was that Yuxue Feifei and Tianya’s accounts had few arena matches but nearly 100% win rates, while Shen Huai’s account had played dozens of matches in the S5 season with a not-so-high win rate, indicating the previous owner wasn’t skilled in Assassin PK.
The system notified a successful match, and the random mode was unfortunately the attack-defense mode, which Shen Huai was least skilled at. The attack-defense mode, like many battle games, involved lane development and team fights, with team fight performance often determining victory.
Shen Huai’s team consisted of an Assassin, Yuxue Feifei’s Sniper, Tianya’s Ice Mage, a random Qi Master, and two random Swordsmen.
The opposing team had a Gunner, two Mages, a Warrior, a Holy Light, and a Sorcerer, making it a well-rounded lineup for a random match.
After loading the game map, the system provided a 1-minute introduction to the map and gameplay, during which players could discuss strategy.
As soon as the game started, a Qi Master named “West Wind” in the team typed two words, “We lost.”
The Light Sword Swordsman sent a question mark.
West Wind continued, “No healer, no tank, and an Assassin. What are we playing?”
In arena mode, players often encountered those with strong biases against certain professions. Even when Shen Huai reached the Divine Might rank in the previous region, teammates still disliked his profession, let alone at the Warrior rank.
Having encountered such people often, everyone ignored it. The Light Sword Swordsman simply asked, “Who’s leading?”
Of course, Song Xueyang and Haixing hoped Cang Yu would lead, but the Qi Master named West Wind said, “Sigh, I’ll do it.”
He even acted reluctantly.
The Swordsman skeptically asked, “You? Can you handle it?”
“If I can’t, can you? 10 minutes, if there’s no advantage, just surrender. Don’t waste time here.”
The Swordsman typed two words, “Hehe.”
West Wind seemed oblivious, “Listen to my command. The Assassin and Light Sword guard the East Gate, the Heavy Sword and Sniper guard the West Gate, and I’ll guard the main gate with the Mage.”
Just as he sent this message, the black-clad female Assassin had already activated Wind Walk and rushed towards the West Gate, typing a line in the team chat.
“Disciple, follow me.”
The short Sniper wobbled along behind her.
Song Xueyang wasn’t surprised by this outcome. He was eager to follow Cang Yu.
Haixing gleefully cursed “idiot” in his mind.
West Wind’s plan wasn’t bad. The Light Sword and Assassin were both agile, fast attackers, capable of catching the enemy off guard. The main gate had the most minions, making it easy to farm. Going through the main gate with a control-type Ice Mage would be very comfortable, and the Heavy Sword, with its control abilities, could protect the Sniper.
But he didn’t consider the terrain. In the defense mode, the three gates were in the East, West, and South directions, with a moat surrounding the city walls.
The South Gate (main gate) was the most spacious, closest to the other two lanes, suitable for quick support professions. The West Gate was densely wooded, with bushes and trees providing cover, ideal for stealthy professions like Assassins and Snipers. The East Gate, backed by mountains, was narrow with little room for maneuvering or hiding, making it a death trap for Assassins.
Seeing someone not following his command, West Wind started typing again, “Sigh, 10-minute quick surrender, always encountering newbies who don’t understand human language.”
Haixing: “Hehe.”
The two people you called newbies were Song Xueyang, the captain of the Fengyue team, who gave all professional teams headaches, and Cang Yu, a 3-million-follower god being courted by major professional teams.
Listen to your command? Not happening.