Chapter 601: New Members
Chapter 601: New Members
Liu Yue 13th, 1 AM.
Feng Bu Jue entered Xiao Tan's conference room right on time. As usual, he was the last of the four to arrive—because he was too punctual.
Now, this place had transformed into something resembling a superhero headquarters...
The six walls had all been replaced with high-tech Dark Metal Walls, each adorned with cyan light-flow circuitry. Two embedded light strips ran along the ceiling.
The original narrow conference table had been swapped out for a medium-sized, oval six-seater. Its curved surface tapered downward into supports and a base firmly connected to the floor. The whole piece looked less like furniture and more like a sculpture.
On the other side of the room sat a three-section luxury sofa with a coffee table in the center. In a nearby corner, surprisingly, stood a refrigerator...
Additionally, on the wall at the far end of the room, there was now an ultra-large screen. It could play movies (yes, Dream Corporation offered in-game movie services, though some titles required payment due to copyright issues) or connect to the projection function on the conference table for touch-based simulation operations.
"Huh~" Feng Bu Jue paused as he entered, momentarily thinking he'd opened the wrong room. A second later, he realized, "This setup looks pretty good."
"That's right... You wouldn't believe how amazing the decoration shop in this game is", Xiao Tan said with a pained expression from the sofa. "Even real-world furniture malls aren't this extreme. Their commodities 'root directory' alone has dozens of pages. Xiao Ling and I spent the entire night shopping..."
"Heh... Is that so?" Feng Bu Jue replied with a grin as he walked toward the sofa, then flopped down with a satisfied groan. "Ahh... All that effort was worth it."
"You didn't spend a single coin or lift a finger", Ruo Yu coldly interjected from the other side. "What effort?"
"Tch." Feng Bu Jue snorted. "Aren't you just enjoying the fruits of others' labor?"
"Actually, I went with them that day", Ruo Yu replied. "But five minutes in, I realized I was just getting in the way, so I went dungeon grinding instead."
"Oh?" Feng Bu Jue turned to Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling. "Did you two set off a flashbang in public?"
"Where would we get a flashbang?" Xiao Tan scratched his head and feigned ignorance.
Xiao Ling scoffed. "Not as blinding as you and your cousin sister putting on a fireworks show in real life", she said with a smirk. "Those old classmates of hers were practically scared out of their wits that night."
"You two ended up with rich partners..." Feng Bu Jue joked. "Can't we two weirdos show a little affection once in a while?"
"Who's your partner?" Xiao Ling turned away with a disdainful look.
"Who's showing you affection?" Ruo Yu narrowed her eyes, shooting him a scornful glance.
"Alright, alright..." Feng Bu Jue shrugged with a grin. "No jokes. Let's get serious..." He paused briefly. "A few days ago, I successfully cleared the Nightmare Difficulty team dungeon."
"Heh... Heheh..." Xiao Tan dryly chuckled. "So does that mean we're dragging ourselves through nightmare mode tonight because of you?"
"Exactly! With me, your old driver, leading the way~" Feng Bu Jue declared smugly. "How could we possibly fail to clear the game?"
"If you mention those three words again, be ready to die", Ruo Yu replied coldly, her tone serious.
"We're on the same team. You can't kill me in-game..." Feng Bu Jue countered.
"I never said I'd kill you in-game", she calmly replied.
"Mm..." Feng Bu Jue immediately turned serious. "I'm sorry."
"Apology came fast!" Xiao Tan's teasing was equally quick.
Hmph—
As they chatted, the conference room door opened again.
A slender figure in a black trench coat and top hat stepped in.
"Oh? Everyone's here." An Yueqin smiled and waved at the group. She wore bright red gloves that matched the red bowtie at her collar.
"Editorlord, what's with this outfit?" Feng Bu Jue asked, puzzled.
"Hehe... Jackal Doctor, cool, right?" She raised a finger and tipped her cap brim.
"Real Jackal wears a hood, and his brim's a full size wider", Feng Bu Jue retorted. "Plus, he wears a black necktie and white gloves."
"Tch... Your Joker cosplay isn't even that accurate", An Yueqin scoffed. "Why don't you dye your hair green, soak your face in chemicals, and slash your cheeks open with a knife?"
Feng Bu Jue spread his hands. "Ah~ That's true. Only someone wearing the Investigation Corps Set here looks remotely like the original character."
"I just picked a set that's moderately thick, storage-convenient, and lightweight", Ruo Yu replied. "Unlike you, who scrounges together mismatched pieces just to cosplay."
"Fair point", An Yueqin agreed, turning to Feng Bu Jue. "You're not even low-income. Why be so stingy playing a game? Why not just buy a full Joker Attire?"
"He didn't just save money—he made hundreds from the game in May..." Ruo Yu added.
"Ah?" An Yueqin's eyes widened. "Say, Bu Jue, are you planning to become a Classplayer? Is it really necessary?"
"You two tag-teaming me—give it a break..." Feng Bu Jue drawled, clearly annoyed. "Big Miss, how many levels are you even at? Shouldn't you be grinding instead? Do you really need to attend the guild's high-level meetings?"
"High-level? You wish", Ruo Yu shot back. "I invited her. She's new, so we should help out. The guild warehouse has plenty of skills and equipment we can give her."
"Right, right", An Yueqin nodded. "Also..." She turned to Feng Bu Jue. "Stop calling me Editorlord and Big Miss. Do you really address people like that in-game?"
"Fine..." Feng Bu Jue sighed. "In front of outsiders, I usually call these three 'Si Yu,' 'Xiao Tan,' and 'Bei Ling.' Your nickname is 【Shi Shang Hua Jian】—should I call you Shi Shang?"
"Sounds like a name for a pure manly guy", An Yueqin replied.
"How about Huajian then?" Feng Bu Jue offered.
"Mm... Works", An Yueqin thought for a moment and agreed. She knew if she refused, Feng Bu Jue would start spouting nonsense and calling her "Stone" or "Ruhua" anyway.
"So when we're alone, can I call you Qin Qin too?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
"Dare you?" An Yueqin slammed her hand on the nearby conference table.
"Commander, that's insubordination", Xiao Ling whispered with a smirk. "What punishment do you think you deserve?"
"Fine, fine... Editorlord", Feng Bu Jue said. "Only your girlfriend can call you Qin Qin, right?"
"Hmph", Ruo Yu coldly snorted, catching his sarcasm. "Envy-jealousy-hatred?"
"Exactly. Rain Sister can call me Qin Qin, but you can't", An Yueqin added.
"Sigh..." Feng Bu Jue rubbed his forehead. "The guild master of Hell Front has no dignity at all..."
In truth... She barely had dignity to begin with.
"So what about me?" Xiao Tan raised his hand.
"Call her Qin Jie", Xiao Ling replied.
"I'm older than her", Xiao Tan countered.
"Oh? So what would you like to call her~" Xiao Ling suddenly turned sultry, eyeing him with mischief.
"Mm..." Xiao Tan wisely surrendered in 0.5 seconds. "Actually, I'm just a primary schooler. Calling anyone 'Jie' works."
...
The group chatted in the conference room for a while, watched a movie, and ate some snacks from the refrigerator (since they'd bought it, not using it would be wasteful) before starting preparations.
The four skill cards Feng Bu Jue won in the Summit Confrontation had already given two scouting cards to Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling. The remaining two medical proficiency cards were still in the warehouse. Now, they could be given to An Yueqin along with other artifacts.
Judging from her "Jackal Doctor" outfit, An Yueqin was aiming for a medicine-plus-martial-arts path. Though she hadn't reached ten levels yet, the learning conditions for those two medicine skills weren't high. She'd likely master them before level twenty.
Additionally, Hell Front had accumulated various other items over time. Their attributes were decent, but selling them felt wasteful. The four guild members couldn't use them, so they'd stockpiled them. Now, An Yueqin's arrival solved that problem.
Soon, Miss An was fully equipped and left to run instances. She took even the skills and equipment she couldn't use yet. After all, for a wealthy player like her, satchel and storage chest slots were never an issue.
After An Yueqin left, Feng Bu Jue maliciously turned to Ruo Yu with a teasing grin. "Your girlfriend's so lucky. When I was a newbie, no one gifted me skills or gear."
"Oh, do you want to respec?" Ruo Yu replied flatly. "Whether in-game or real life, I can help you reset anytime..."
"Hehe..." Feng Bu Jue chuckled without answering. For a moment, his eyes flickered with something unreadable. That won't work... Whether in-game or real life... I still have too much left to do...
...
The four formed a party and returned to the Login Space to queue up.
After exchanging some intelligence with his teammates, Feng Bu Jue decided to start with a Common Difficulty team scenario. The night was long, and there was no need to jump straight into Nightmare Difficulty. A common scenario would serve as a warm-up.
(End of Chapter)
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