Chapter 73: In And Out of Game

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

The night sky of Jiang City was famous in China.

There was no need for colorful neon decorations or any kind of indulgence. Just the moon hanging in the sky was enough to illuminate half of the Jiang City. Even near midnight, it was still like the morning before sunrise.

After drinking for some time now, the group was more open. That was especially the case for Qiu Yuan and Zheng Ziliang, who were the most excited. They had even begun each other brothers. Netherblue was drinking beer alone, with all kinds of vegetable dishes, while watching them play quietly, with a smile from time to time.

“I… I need to visit the washroom.” Qiu Yuan stood up slowly with her ponytail swinging around. She put her hand around Zheng Ziliang’s shoulder and said, “Bro, let’s go together.”

“Great, I need to visit the washroom too.” Zheng Ziliang was half drunk, and his well-prepared hairstyle was in a mess. The two were going to the toilet arm in arm with each other. Lin Jie shook his head and stood up, about separate them.

Bu Yi pointed at Lin Jie and said smilingly. “Let me take them to the washroom. I’ll need to go too.”

“You are drunk too?”

“I… I drank too much mineral water.”

Bu Yi pulled Qiu Yuan’s hand away and put it on her shoulder. Who knew that Qiu Yuan would not behave like her usual self and start swinging her hands around and grabbing randomly. Bu Yi let out a cry and dodged. But she was afraid that Qiu Yuan could not walk steadily, so she put her hand around Qiu Yuan’s arm again weakly. As Bu Yi had been taken advantage of, Netherblue looked at the pepper spray in her hand not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Big Sis, it’s just us left.” Lin Jie poured himself a cup of beer and raised it up. “Cheers.”

Netherblue belonged to a very temperamental class of girls. She was tall and hot, but it could be seen that she was more conservative. With such sexy legs, a girl would be eager to wear short skirts and stockings in summer, wantonly attracting the attention of passersby, rather than an implicit long skirt. She chuckled and raised her glass. “You finished it. I’ll just drink what I can.”

Lin Jie laughed and downed his cup of beer. “By right we should not talk about business at the table, but I can see that you have a lot to say.”

Netherblue nodded and said, “Yes.”

“I’m surprised that a child can lead us by the nose.” She said with a big smile, “Fu Sheng, what’s the purpose of your game? With your ability, you can make a lot of money in the game, and your income is comparable to that of white-collar workers, right?”

Lin Jie shook the cup in his hand and murmured, “This game can bring me more than just the income of white-collar workers. I want more!”

“Get more and sacrifice more?” Netherblue tapped her finger, “When you have more sacrifices, your gain may not seem so important.”

Lin Jie understood and replied, “I understand.”

“No, you don’t. You know, I even think that you are like two different people in and out of the game. Maybe you already know that. In the game, you are very organized, have a clear purpose, willing to pay any price to complete what you want to do. You are ambitious and decisive. I believe that Fu Sheng will become a monarch.” Netherblue looked at Lin Jie meaningfully before she continued, “But in the real world, you are different. You are indecisive, and you have lost all the skills in the game. Why? You seem to value something very much, is it family? Friendship? In reality, these things are as important to you as breathing.”

“I’m worried that you can’t handle these two roles. If one day, Fu Sheng asked us out instead of you, how do we choose?

“The most important thing for a person is to follow their heart. You are too young to understand. But I’ll tell you this in advance, remember, follow your heart.”

When the solemn words of Netherblue came to an end, Lin Jie was lost in thought.

Lin Jie knew the future of the game world, but he did not know about the future of the real world. In The New Age, he managed and controlled the whole situation. Every minute and second had to be calculated properly. The heavy sense of responsibility and oppression made him gasp for breath. However, the real world was more like a place to vent one’s primitive character.

People in the real world were under too much pressure, so they entered the virtual games to distress. But Lin Jie was the exact opposite.

Lin Jie sighed, and his tone changed a lot. “Every family has its own difficulties.”

“We shall stop talking about that.” Netherblue shifted the topic and laughed. “How is Brotherhood’s development going?”

Lin Jie nodded but shook his head again. “Currently the Brotherhood monopolizes most of the Mercenary Association’s business, and the volume of daily transactions is quite large. But I still need something – glory!”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Me? I need an opportunity and a sharp edge!”

Upon speaking about games, Lin Jie’s eyes closed slightly, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind. The dungeons in The New Age were quite extensive. There would always be suitable dungeons for players at any level. However, there were several dungeons that all players had to face! That was the main mission dungeon, also known as the Historical Dungeon!

Such a dungeon was made up of dozens, sometimes hundreds of dungeons. Thus, it was a relative huge dungeon to start with, and the link between all dungeons would form a complete storyline.

The first Historical Dungeon was the War of Light! This dungeon had accompanied the players for nearly a year, and taught all the games a lesson on what was a true epic dungeon! Missions included the whole continent, all kinds of NPCs, props, monsters, might help in clearing the dungeon! All kinds of stories, history, anecdotes… Interlude with a grand world outlook.

Netherblue noticed Lin Jie’s eyes and frowned a little. Then, she said, “You need a sharp edge, and my team can’t provide it to you. You can also see that Water, I, even Innocent Killer, are not top-notch players. But I can recommend someone to you.”

“Who?” Lin Jie’s eyes lit up.

Netherblue looked at the direction of the toilet and pointed the small figure that was bringing the two drunkards back with difficulty – Bu Yi.

“Bu Yi?” Lin Jie was stunned.

In Lin Jie’s previous life, Bu Yi could be considered an average player. Other than Maxim Shield, she could not play any others. ‘Netherblue believes that Bu Yi has the potential to be a sharp edge?’

“Bu Yi has great potential, but she lacks passion in games. Maybe just in a few days, she will stop playing the game. Maybe she will go for piano.” Netherblue smiled and said, “You can try teaching her some techniques. Maybe, she will give you a surprise.”

Kuang-

Zheng Ziliang sat down on the chair, opened his dimmed eyes, reached out and patted his thigh, and cried, “Come on, Qiu Yuan, sit here.”

Bu Yi put Qiu Yuan on her seat in a hurry and trotted to the toilet herself. She was busy taking care of the two, so she had held it in all the way. When she got back to her seat, her little face was all red. Any girl who held it for so long would probably be like that.

“Come on, drink,” said Zheng Ziliang and picked up the beer.

Lin Jie frowned, took a bottle of soy sauce from the side and poured it in. The beer turned dark instantly, with the air bubbles of malt wine.

There was a saying, “a hero drinks in one mouthful,” and Zheng Ziliang was the perfect example of that as he picked up the cup and finished it in one mouthful. His face was twisted together. “I feel… It tastes a little strange.”

Lin Jie drunk calmly. Netherblue looked at the moon. Bu Yi buried her head and continued to eat the dishes in the bowl. Qiu Yuan was almost asleep in a daze… Zheng Ziliang touched his head and did not know why, so he continued to pick up the beer. Lin Jie kept adding soy sauce quietly.

After drinking… soy sauce for a while, the drunk Zheng Ziliang finally became more clear-headed. He realized the drink in his cup was soy sauce.

“This…” Zheng Ziliang stared.

Lin Jie saw the matter was heading in a bad direction and quickly signaled to Zheng Ziliang, which meant, “You drunk idiot! How can you send Qiu Yuan back like that? I was helping you no matter how you see it.”

Zheng Ziliang realized it and gave him a thankful look.

That was what it meant to be sold and helped to count money.

Bu Yi glanced at the pink bear watch on her wrist and exclaimed, “It’s almost 12 o’clock! Let’s go now.”

“F*ck, 12?” Lin Jie was shocked and quickly pulled Zheng Ziliang to pay the bill. He jumped onto the driver seat and drove off.

Zheng Ziliang was dejected. “What are you anxious about? It’s only 12 o’clock. It’s common for us to drink outside until three or four o’clock.”

Lin Jie said, “It’s common for you, not for others. Don’t ask, send Bu Yi home first.”

Bu Yi’s parents had a rule that she had to go home before 10 o’clock every day. However, because she often went to Qiu Yuan’s house to play, and Qiu Yuan was a girl with a sweet mouth, her parents loved her. Thus, they had relaxed the timing to 12 o’clock.

If it exceeded the time limit, she would be grounded for one month and not allowed to go out!

This method of education was a little more severe than dealing with children, so Bu Yi was not good at communicating. She was an introvert. During this gathering, Bu Yi had formed probably no more than 10 sentences, out of which only 5 were to Lin Jie, and 3 of them were still onomatopoeic words.

Whoosh!

The Rolls-Royce’s speed was very good. When it stopped, it was precisely 23:54.

Bu Yi got out of the car, knocked on Lin Jie’s window and gave a sweet smile. “Thank you.” She looked at Zheng Ziliang that was riding shotgun and smiled. She waved goodbye and rushed into the house.

“I’ll send you back.” Lin Jie started the car and advanced smoothly.

Qiu Yuan laid on Netherblue’s thighs, rubbing her face around. She suddenly sat up and raised her right hand. “I don’t want to go home! Dude, let’s go to the hotel!”

Zheng Ziliang, trembling all over, said solemnly, “Go home! It’s not good to play outside in the middle of the night.”

After saying that, his face was full of invisible tears. ‘What on earth is “not good”? Is that even me?’