Kyoto, Yunlu Manor.
Feng Mingran stood before the old Feng family residence.
She had assumed that, after all these years, the villa and grounds would have fallen into ruin, with weeds running wild and decay and desolation everywhere…
But what she saw was an entirely different picture.
The lawn in the garden had been trimmed to perfection. Sunlight fell across it, and every blade of grass shimmered with dewdrop-like brilliance, full of life.
The flower beds were as elegant as she remembered, and the villa’s exterior had been carefully maintained.
Feng Mingran looked around briefly. There was no sign that anyone was living there.
Clearly, her parents and brothers hadn’t returned.
“Could it be the housekeeper Fifth Master hired?”
Feng Mingran wondered.
But somehow, that didn’t seem likely.
If Fifth Master had arranged for someone to tidy up Yunlu Manor ahead of time, he would have told her.
When the Feng family had suffered such a terrible calamity, who among their friends would have dared risk being drawn into such enormous trouble to keep Yunlu Manor in good condition all these years?
Feng Mingran pondered for a moment, then left without lingering.
A house was just a house. It became home only when the people you cared about were there.
*
The city lights were just coming on.
Following the game’s settings, Feng Mingran took a winding route and finally turned into a narrow lane.
At the end of it, a distinctive little tavern was just waking up.
There were no words on its sign.
The Nameless Tavern.
Intricate designs carved into the tavern’s wooden doors gave it an old-fashioned yet mysterious air.
Feng Mingran smiled. At a glance, she spotted the name concealed in the carvings: MG3.
The game she had played with Third Master back then had become reality.
Feng Mingran entered the tavern.
Inside, the design was ingenious and exquisitely considered.
The lighting was nothing like the noisy, garish illumination of an ordinary tavern. Every detail seemed like a carefully placed brushstroke, shaping the space into layers of understated luxury. Light and shadow flowed together, creating an atmosphere that was rich and unmistakably stylish.
The wooden liquor cabinets were filled with an array of limited-edition bottles, forming a display all their own.
A short-haired woman leaned against the bar. Her black, form-fitting clothes traced a stunning figure as she lazily swirled the red liquid in her glass. She was alluring and languid, with a hint of danger about her.
The bartender was mixing a cocktail with practiced grace. Tall and strikingly handsome, he looked like a work of art beneath the lights.
Onstage, the singer’s fringe was dyed a deep, dusky blue. He casually plucked his guitar strings, and a fluid solo rang out, like a tipsy breeze skimming across a vast ocean.
…
Feng Mingran took a second to scan the people in the room.
Then she walked up to the bar and parted her lips.
“One Mojithree, please.”
Her voice was soft, but it made the bartender and the short-haired woman in black pause for just a moment.
They kept their excitement off their faces, but inside, they were practically turning backflips!
Their Boss had finally appeared!
She was real—and stunningly beautiful!!
Mojithree was MG3’s exclusive signature cocktail, created specifically for the Leader in the game.
The bartender suppressed his overwhelming excitement and expertly mixed a Mojithree, as if he had rehearsed it in his mind countless times.
“Please, come this way.”
The short-haired woman in black contained her excitement and ushered her in.
The bartender and the singer with the guitar exchanged an inconspicuous glance.
In the tavern’s private room, the MG3 Leader’s ring glinted with a cool, clear sheen, making Feng Mingran look even more strikingly beautiful and aloof.
“MG3 manager, codename Xue Ren. I pay my respects to Boss!”
“MG3 bartender, codename Xingchen. I pay my respects to Boss!”
“MG3 singer, codename Zilan. I pay my respects to Boss!”
…
Their eyes shone with fervent admiration.
Their Leader had never appeared in the real world before, but that did nothing to change the fact that she was a god in their eyes!
In the game, even the briefest glimpse of their Leader could push their potential to the limit with pinpoint precision.
The countless simulated death scenarios had boosted their overall combat abilities again and again, like rockets taking off. Over the years, MG3 had been unstoppable, holding firmly to the top spot among several monstrously powerful elite organizations!
Feng Mingran gave a slight nod.
“I ask for only one thing: loyalty.”
“If you can’t offer that, then there’s only one alternative: death.”
Her words were clear, concise, and carried the weight of a verdict.
“We swear to serve Boss to the death!”
“We swear to serve Boss to the death!”
“We swear to serve Boss to the death!”
…
Their voices were perfectly in unison, not a moment’s hesitation among them.
A cold curve touched Feng Mingran’s lips.
Whatever their identities in the real world, here they were simply members of MG3!
*
Jing Tower, Kyoto’s tallest building.
Top floor, the CEO’s office.
By the floor-to-ceiling windows, Jing Yiheng’s gaze habitually searched the sea of lights for a private manor in the southeastern part of the city.
It was some distance away, but that didn’t stop him from picturing the manor’s outline with perfect clarity. In his mind, it slowly gathered into that one brilliant point in his heart, gradually matching the radiant image from his childhood memories.
Jing Yiheng couldn’t help letting a faint smile touch his lips.
“Knock, knock—”
“Come in.”
His special assistant, Mo Ke, walked in.
“Master, Yunlu Manor has had its latest round of maintenance, as you instructed.”
Mo Ke reported respectfully.
From the direction Jing Yiheng was gazing, it was obvious: Yunlu Manor again.
As Jing Yiheng’s trusted aide, Mo Ke was one of the few people who knew about his “dark history.”
In his twenty-three years, Master Jing had been the very model of human perfection.
Looks? Impossibly handsome, without a single flaw.
Family background? The Jing family was the foremost of Kyoto’s Five Great Families, and Jing Yiheng had become its head at just twenty-three. He only had to clear his throat, and all of Kyoto would tremble.
Ability? His brains and his fists were both top-notch. After all, a few years as a world-class mercenary was no joke; Mo Ke had been lucky enough to witness him in action in the same trench.
But very few people knew that, as a boy, Master Jing had once been “enslaved” by a girl.
And not just once, but twice.
Who could have imagined that the Master Jing of Kyoto had once spent an extended period working as a “fire stoker”?
Not for a day or two, but for two whole weeks!
Mo Ke strongly suspected that his Master Jing was a little short on emotional intelligence.
A bona fide masochist.
He had somehow managed to find a strange kind of pleasure in the trade of “fire stoker.”
Otherwise, why would he keep thinking about that “slave driver”?
Yunlu Manor had once been the girl’s home.
Back then, Master Jing had used his influence to find out that the girl was Miss Feng.
But by then, the Feng family had already become taboo in Kyoto.
Master Jing hadn’t cared in the slightest. He had ordered Mo Ke to renovate Yunlu Manor and maintain it meticulously.
Master Jing had said, “A person with a home has somewhere to return to.”
Anyway, that was beside the point.
At that moment, Mo Ke wanted nothing more than to let himself roar, “My passion burns like a fire!”
He meant it on Master Jing’s behalf, of course—the fire his days as a stoker had kindled!
Burning hot! And burning long!!!
…
Jing Yiheng turned around.
Mo Ke could look at that face a thousand times, ten thousand times, and still couldn’t help wanting to scream.
Damn, he was handsome! The Creator’s favorite son!!
If even one of Master Jing’s features could be stamped onto Mo Ke’s face, his looks would shoot up several levels!
“Oh, and Master—the Young Master Ming and Young Master Yun are here. They’re waiting in the reception room and want to invite you for a drink.”