"Let’s goooo~~"

I was dragged away from the room entrance. As the light grew brighter, so did my certainty. The girl in front of me was none other than the ace of Purple Lily, the CGL Hall of Famer who showed off a great depth of skill in Who Will Rise, and one of the best assassins in China, Moonkiss!

……

"Wait."

Deeply puzzled, I stopped after we exited the KTV. "Are you Moonkiss?"

"Of course I am. How else would I have recognized you?" Moonkiss smiled.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Weren’t you supposed to be together with Luo River God of the Capital? Why are you in Suzhou now? What… what’s going on here?"

Moonkiss giggled. "I used to be Beiming Xue’s classmate in high school. What’s so strange about that? That being said, I transferred during the second year of high school, so I haven’t seen her again until the Who Will Rise tournament."

"Beiming Xue never told me about you…"

"That’s because I specifically told her not to."

"Why?"

"You already know why…"

Moonkiss smiled meaningfully at me before answering, "I didn’t want our relationship to disturb the peace between Purple Lily and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls."

Surprise quickly gave way to understanding. She was a smart girl. When I learned that she was a friend of Beiming Xue, the thought of recruiting her into Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls had passed through my mind. As a top-tier assassin, her skill wasn’t too poor even when compared to Farewell Song. Moreover, she was quite the beautiful girl. It was entirely possible to turn her into a symbolic figure in our guild like Beiming Xue. She could’ve been the leader of our assassins.

However, Moonkiss had intelligently and politely rejected my thoughts even before I voiced them. By telling me that she had asked Beiming Xue to keep quiet about her, she was also saying that she had no intentions of joining Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls.

……

We walked together along the night streets. There were stalls and restaurants all over the place.

"I didn’t think you would attend our student gathering. It was a huge surprise to me," Moonkiss said with a smile.

I replied, "Beiming Xue came all the way to Suzhou alone because I asked her to. It’s only right that I return that trust and ensure her safety. Besides, it’s quite late in the night right now. I can’t possibly let a girl like her go out by herself."

"Mn. It looks like Beiming Xue found a reliable man after all."

"What is that supposed to mean…"

"Hehe~"

"Oh right…" I suddenly recalled something. "What is wrong with that Ouyang? I feel like he’s attacking me for some reason, but I don’t recall ever seeing him in my life, much less offending him."

Moonkiss burst out in laughter. "Are you serious? It’s obvious that Ouyang boy is enamored with Beiming Xue. In fact, he had fallen for her since as early as high school. I heard that he wrote Beiming Xue a love letter, and she got so angry that she turned it in to the class teacher. After that, his father made him quit school and learn their family business instead…"

Moonkiss stared at me. "You came together with Beiming Xue, and everyone could see that she’s extremely attached to you. Can you blame Ouyang for being jealous and angry when the two of you walked in like the perfect couple? Hehe. Besides that, Ouyang had worked hard for the past couple of years. He had opened his own shop and bought a car before he was 22 years old, and it was an achievement most of his peers couldn’t boast to have. It makes sense that he would become a bit too confident of himself…"

I nodded quietly while walking across a tactile pavement.

Moonkiss put her hands behind her back, turned around and walked beside me in reverse. She smiled brightly. "Don’t be gloomy. It’s Beiming Xue’s right to be together with whoever she likes, not his, so Ouyang had no right to be jealous from the beginning. Plus, Beiming Xue isn’t a girl he could pursue, not when his competitor is the Little Heavenly King, Falling Dust himself. As a pro gamer, your worth is counted in tens of millions or even hundreds. He’s nothing but a speck of dust in front of you…"

I grinned. "That’s why I didn’t retaliate. It would be too heartless of me…"

"Hehe, you’re such a bad person. Now I’m worried that Beiming Xue would stray off the right path because of you!"

……

In the end, I chose a Hunan restaurant and ordered a couple of dishes. We sat at a table and ordered a drink each while we waited for our food to be packed.

"Why don’t you tell me about yourself?" I smiled at Moonkiss.

"What’s there to say?" Slumped rather lazily on the opposite side of the table, Moonkiss replied, "I didn’t resume my education after I dropped out during the second year of high school. I played Eternal Moon Corporation’s flagship game at the time, Spirit of Grief, and found out that I was pretty good at it, so I kept playing until I won the MVP award for the second place group during the sixth WSL and had my name recorded in the CGL Hall of Fame. It was just luck though. Eternal Moon Corporation had wanted to talk to the champion of that tournament, the Snow Moon party led by Dark Shadow Drifter and Paralyzing Wind and Sorrow about adding them to the CGL Hall of Fame. Since they were thinking about retiring, Paralyzing Wind and Sorrow tried to trade their spot for 200 RMB instead. However, the officials had rejected their request, and they in turn refused the offer to be added into the CGL Hall of Fame out of anger. That was how I became a CGL Hall of Famer…"

She sighed. "I founded a small guild of my own, but my guild territory was destroyed by Candle Dragon. It was during that time I met Sister Wang Luo and joined Purple Lily. You should know everything else that happened afterward. Sister Wang Luo held a deep grudge against Fang Zhuo, so I helped her in her fight against Candle Dragon until now. Now that I think about it, our guilds share pretty similar circumstances with each other. That’s why we came to be allies, am I right?"

I nodded affirmatively. "Yes, you’re right. Now that city teleportation is unlocked, the three major cities must coordinate with each other during the Nation Wars. This alliance is but the natural result of that. By the way, Beauty Luo must be pretty angry right now because she failed to prevent Candle Dragon from nabbing the first guild territory of Wind City, isn’t she?"

Moonkiss burst into a giggle before shaking her head. "Of course not. Quite the contrary, Sister Wang Luo accepted the loss quite easily. After we lost the territory battle, she told me that guild wars aren’t decided in a single day. If we wish to beat Candle Dragon one day, then we must do things one step at a time, and we cannot falter just because of a loss. The mental warfare between kings is decided by their control over the rhythm of the war, not a single battle or two."

I nodded approvingly. "Beauty Luo really is an extraordinary person; a heroine most adept at devising strategies!"

For some reason, Moonkiss shot me a weird look before sucking at her straw. "Sky City’s the one that’s full of heroes, okay? Do you know how much pressure both Wind City and Vanished God City felt? Ling Xueshang, Warsky, and October Rain were veterans of the trade, but now there’s also Wind Fantasy and From Water to consider. Sister Wang Luo told me that all three of you are geniuses among geniuses, and the amazing part is that all three of you are gathered in one place. That is why we both believe that Sky City will be the center of the guild wars and even the Nation Wars as well, hehe…"

I shot her a dumbfounded look. "You are exaggerating. We’re just normal players, okay…"

"Hehe, your denial is futile. Just wait and see if you really don’t believe me…" Moonkiss stretched her back lazily. "No matter how powerful Candle Dragon is, it can’t change the fact that Snowy Cathaya and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls have become powerful enough to sway the hearts of any China player. The days where Candle Dragon is the sole strongest guild of China are already over…"

I couldn’t help but smile. "That doesn’t matter. What matters is that the servers of China grow stronger and more interesting because of us. That, is what I consider a true honor."

"Mn!"

……

The food we ordered finally arrived. As we walked back with the packed food, Moonkiss kept chatting, "Lu Chen, there’s a female warrior in your guild called Chaos Moon, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Her ID matches mine, so I was wondering if I could have a relationship with her…"

"WTF!"

The corner of my lips turned upward. "No way, you can’t waste your beauty or Chaos Moon’s in a lesbian relationship! That’s so selfish! Think of the feelings of other male players…"

"So what? I don’t believe in love anymore! Oh right, I heard that you shared a great relationship with From Water and Wind Fantasy? So, how were they? You guys had a threesome yet?" She stared at me with shiny eyes.

I couldn’t hold myself back any longer. "Moonkiss, never join our guild, now or ever…"

"Why…"

"You’ll bring corruption to our ways…"

"Hehe, now that I think about it, maybe it’s not such an impossible proposition after all. Maybe Sister Wang Luo will agree to a political marriage between a representative of Purple Lily and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. It’ll be like the kingdoms of the olden days! I don’t mind sacrificing myself for the cause. What do you think?"

"Do what you want. Nobody wants you anyway…"

"Uuuu…"

……

When we returned to the KTV, we saw that everyone was still engaged in a casual conversation with each other. Beiming Xue walked up to me and said, "You took your time, big bro. I’m so hungry I could die…"

"Mn, enjoy your food while it’s still hot!"

The two of us immediately chowed down our food without paying any heed to the audience around us. They were all eating snacks or downing beers anyway. Moonkiss also grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stole some chopped pepper fish head for herself. Her features lightened up as she praised the deliciousness of the food.

In the room, the former classmates continued to chat with each other or sing karaoke. That Ouyang didn’t drink because he claimed that he had to drive later. I didn’t drink either because I had to drive Beiming Xue back home.

Ouyang’s attitude toward me wasn’t really good. He arrogantly asked me some loaded questions—

"How much do you earn per month, Lu Chen?"

"Hmm, that depends…"

"Surely you’ve earned at least 5000 per month, right? I heard that life as a pro gamer is pretty difficult, although I guess it’s for Beiming Xue to taste the hardships of life when she’s still young than later."

"How can you say that? Assuming that I earned a paltry sum of 2000 RMB per month, that is still no reason to make Beiming Xue suffer, is it?"

……

Beside me, Moonkiss couldn’t hold her incredulity and spat out her drink. She stared at me and said, "Fuck, I can’t believe you just say that, you heartless bastard…"

Ouyang looked completely confused.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was 11:30 pm. It was really starting to get late, and if we didn’t return home in time He Yi might actually come to the city in search of us.

We all went downstairs and arrived at the car park. Ouyang hadn’t touched any alcohol, so his footsteps were very stable. He walked up to Beiming Xue solicitously and said, "It’s too late to take a taxi, Beiming. Would you like me to send you home?"

Ouyang then took out his car keys in one practiced motion and pressed a button. Not far away, a red-colored Honda Accord lit up.

I couldn’t help but smile and wrap an arm around Beiming Xue’s shoulders. "It’s fine, we have our own car, but thank you for your sentiment…"

I pulled out my own car keys and pressed a button. My new and cool BMW X12 immediately responded with a beep.

In that moment, Ouyang’s face turned as ugly as you could imagine. Barely holding in her laughter, Moonkiss shook all over like she was going to faint at any moment.