[High-dinsional life-forms have invaded humanity, making them stakes in a ga of Russian roulette, plunging every participant into a world ga where one question lingers—will the rules of this world remain as familiar as we know them to be?]
[The answer is affirmative, yet it’s also negative.]
[...The lighthouse that leads mankind lost at sea, and the ever-present existence beneath the brightest light, it’s not so easy to be such a being.]
[With countless gazes watching, every single action gets infinitely magnified.]
[But this world, it needs soone to stand up.]
[Whether it’s because "only through resistance can there be hope," or "to resist till the end for the sake of resistance itself."]
[What cannot be crossed, ends up being crossed.]
[In such a bewildered crowd, in the face of danger looming over everyone, we need a spotlight.]
[And beneath the spotlight, we need a person.]
[And this person, just happens to be the Number One Player.]
[And the Number One Player, just happens to be Su Ming’an.]
[We have various nas for him—Number One Player, Ming An’an, Su God, Ming’an Bro, Su Lighthouse...]
[But behind all these nas, lies a judgnt we have all made about him.]
[This judgnt will determine our stance and attitude, and it will also decide whether we can truly beco "Light Pursuers" in the literal sense.]
[People of the super topic, in your view—I ask you—]
Su Ming’an was looking at this line of bold words, each word feeling like a heavy hamr.
And upon seeing the last line of the question, he slightly averted his eyes.]
[—Is he Su Ming’an, or the Number One Player?]
...
"—Create virtual scenery! Daylight Floating City! Entry Tickets for 10 Points, perfectly recreates the White City environnt, without any danger! Players who haven’t experienced it yet, co try it out!"
"Tour groups are ready to set off! One-on-one, one-on-two groups with guides available! Guides are over seven-hundred strength and have experienced at least three worlds, welco New Players who wish to join!"
"Looking for live stream moderators, Casual Players are preferred, just need to handle cereal bros and inappropriate comnts, terms negotiable..."
Under the simulated weather of the Main God Space, the sky was clear and bright.
With the help of the new chanism "Create Virtual Scenery," many scenes that exist only in people’s fantasies have been constructed.
And in the most bustling squares, there were many people scrolling through channels, advertising.
Dai Yong was one of them. In Zhai Xing, he had been an insurance salesman, and after realizing he was not cut out for fighting in the world ga, he quickly retreated behind the scenes and went back to his old job.
For instance, becoming a forum spamr.
For instance, selling Props for secondary Occupation Players.
For instance, becoming a cereal bro... but he’d washed his hands of that.
Dai Yong considered himself a person who had forsaken low-level tastes and had professional ethics! Even if he had dabbled in cereal-related part-ti jobs back in Zhai Xing, he now had no intention of continuing in that role in this kind of ga... That wouldn’t look too good.
Others fought and adventured through thick and thin, and you fild; others toiled at blacksmithing, and you dealt with cereal.
...That’s just inappropriate.
So, after contacting a major "travel group" interdiary organization, he decided to beco a marketing representative, hustling for clients.
And it was at this mont, he saw a player who looked like a potential big spender walking by.
He quickly approached.
"Hello, would you like to learn about our travel group that specializes in guiding novice players through the ga? We have contracts to sign, with system authentication, and whether you choose to be a guide or a tourist, you can benefit from it..."
His pitch faltered slightly.
Because he suddenly realized that the seemingly easy mark he had randomly picked from the crowd was rather remarkable in appearance.
...Quite handso, in fact.
Remarkably handso.
The potential client’s blond hair seed to be dyed by sunlight, eyes shimring with the lustre of white pearls, eyelashes nearly transparent under the daylight; eyes that harbored sunshine made one think of an angel’s smile when they looked your way.
He appeared to have spent a sleepless night, yet the resulting dark circles did not look out of place—rather, they added to a lancholic charm, looking like a decadent artist you might find in photos shared on QQ Space.
...Such a stunning foreigner.
Delicately pale, the epito of a beautiful youth.
Ever since entering the World Ga, Dai Yong had grown accustod to being surrounded by foreigners. Even when off work, he preferred staying in Dragon Country’s service area—being constantly with foreigners, he always felt there was a considerable cultural difference.
But now, he seed to have t an exceptionally attractive foreigner.
"Travel group?"
The other party actually spoke up, seemingly very interested in the matter.
A very professional Dai Yong continued swiftly, "Ah... It’s an organization where high-level players guide novice ones into the ga... Typically it’s one on one, or one on two, but the latter requires a much stronger player, and the cost will be higher. We use contract paper produced by the Main God Store to establish agreents, ensuring a fair transaction for both sides. The fee acquired by the high-level player will be taken from the future points earned by the novice..."
"Oh..." The beautiful youth responded:
"A viable organization, mutual progress?"
"Right." Dai Yong wiped sweat from his brow—sohow, standing before this foreigner, he felt an unusual amount of pressure:
"We also thought that this ti, there may be many novice players wanting to re-enter below, so we ca up with this model. After all, if the interdiate points are wiped, using this high-level player as a kind of ’safe deposit box’ can reduce the high casualty rate of novices when they first start the ga. Get strong by following strong, right!"
The beautiful youth nodded slightly.
Dai Yong was eager to recruit him into the group—seeing his deanor, he wasn’t soone ordinary. As a marketer, he couldn’t let go of any potential custor.
But before he could speak further, the other person spoke again:
"So, does that include those top-ranked players?"
"Uh, what did you say?"
"Guides." The beautiful youth looked at him. "It would be safer for stronger, top-ranked players to guide the novices, right? They often have the capacity to spare."
"Well..." Dai Yong laughed awkwardly: "Actually, we have made contact with so top-ranked players, such as Geode, who is ranked seventy-third in the world and currently serving as the number one guide in our travel group."
"Number one guide." The beautiful youth’s words carried a hint of amusent: "I thought it would be the Number One Player."
"Haha... You must be joking, how could the Number One Player have the patience to guide novice players..."
"That’s the thing." The beautiful youth smiled slightly: "I don’t really like such chanisms."
"Uh... Ah?" Dai Yong stiffened.
"I also detest this ga." The beautiful youth said, "I dislike any extre will that dominates, a world that forces people to complete tasks is very troubling... The leaderboard system is even more so, overturning the old world’s definition of ’greatness’, and the so-called pinnacle players in the top ranks have traits I simply can’t appreciate."
Dai Yong silently wiped off his sweat—you don’t have to say you dislike sothing outright!
Moreover, on the street, suddenly saying so much to a salesman... Dai Yong really wondered if this foreigner had so issues.
He knew that the Number One Player had many supporters. Even those who were not fervently fond of him would generally have a favorable impression. During the short stay in this crowded square, there had already been many unfriendly glances cast their way.
Not to ntion, this fat sheep had basically launched a map cannon, bombarding all the top players at once, detonating mines that were not stepped on before.
"Traveling group..." The beautiful boy seed not to notice these glances, casually nodding his head, "Good, I like it."
A sincere smile appeared on his face.
Then, he passed Dai Yong, as if the conversation had never happened, and continued on with his original pace.
The gazes of others—he paid them no mind.
He was still pondering over the story he had just made up.
He was Boris Ziosecku, a Romanian.
Born in the land where vampire legends originated, his parents were devout and mild-mannered Christian believers. Although not wealthy, they still insisted on helping the poor, always showing rcy to the less fortunate.
He had a fondness for various folk legends and loved the arts, yet never imagined that he would one day be swept into this world where freedom and art were utterly restricted.
A very small number of people beca the core of the world. Those who were truly great in the scientific and artistic fields remained unknown. All art and entertainnt were tailored for the tastes of the few, and beyond that, no one paid attention.
As a pure artist, he detested such a world, but was still deeply moved by stories with profound artistic beauty, giving him a sense of being torn apart.
Naturally, his impression of the top-ranking players wasn’t good, especially after learning about the actions of that self-proclaid "artist," the madwoman from Dragon Country nad Su Style.
...What kind of artist is she? Just a self-destructive star-chasing girl, her actions were in so ways no different from girls who, failing to repay loans taken to pursue stars, jumped off buildings. At most, they wore the label "voluntary."
Seeing her figure still active on the forums enraged him.
He looked at his backpack, where a prop shaped like a four-pointed star lay quietly.
As his fingers brushed over it, he saw a clear description:
[Number Transmitter·Unique Prop: Obtained in the area of Ming Hui within the Fifth World, a special identity prop that allows specifying a player to enter the sa instance world without prior knowledge of the number.]
He enjoyed telling stories. When providing aid to the poor, he loved to speak of the eerie legends from his holand.
And now, perhaps he could carefully prepare a story that might move the top-ranking players; a beautiful, wondrous tale that could provoke imagination and resonate with others, much like a work of art.
"What should I say?" he murmured, "Upon eting him, what kind of beautiful story could I tell that could truly transform him...?"
...
Su Ming’an arrived at the agreed location.
As he looked at the ssage forwarded by Lin Yin, he checked again, making sure the coordinates were correct.
Main God Space server, number 97, a very ordinary mixed server.
There was no specific nationality planning, and due to its earlier server number, it was a popular living area for Adventurer Players of various nationalities.
And there, covered in black mist, rushing to the coordinates to et Noel, he saw a long line.
People of various appearances were queuing up in a line that stretched from one end of the street to the other end of the square.
He was not in the mood to honestly join the queue—he wasn’t that free. When he arrived at the front of the line, he saw what people were queuing for.
A circular portal, blue in color, large enough to admit one person, similar to a teleportation gate.
And standing off to the side was a casual player.
Casual players are generally easy to recognize, they don’t exude any intimidating presence, wear plain clothes instead of armor, and they don’t back away with the alacrity of a startled rabbit when approached.
"If you want to enter the paradise, you need to queue up."
The casual player, wearing a baseball cap, noticed him and tapped the sign beside them.
Su Ming’an shifted his gaze to it—
[Structure Virtual Scenery No. 03·Paradise]
[(Recreating Zhai Xing’s beautiful scenery, available for a thousand visitors! Co bring your child to experience the joy of Disneyland all over again!)]
"..."
Su Ming’an looked at the line and, sure enough, they were all obviously casual players, with children tagging along.
...He really didn’t quite understand the thought process of these casual players.
He double-checked the coordinates.
"Oh—You’re here!"
Suddenly, he heard a stir in the crowd, and it seed like soone was calling out softly. When he turned around, he heard the enthusiastic voice of a blond youth about one ter sixty tall, waving and approaching.
World Rank Number Two, Noel.
Su Ming’an still rembered what he looked like.
...But what he hadn’t expected was that, like Lv Shu and Mizushima Kawa Sora, when they first t for tea, such peak players really didn’t bother to conceal their identity.
The crowd buzzed instantly, even the children turned their heads to look at the golden-haired youth as if he was bathed in sunlight; the atmosphere suddenly heated up.
"It’s Noel..."
"It’s really Noel! I rember him!"
"A live Noel, my God—"
"World Rank Number Two? He actually lives in this district..."
Su Ming’an still rembered the scene when he was recognized in the First World. That scene... was almost like a zombie siege, forcing him into the fountain with the Boss Rabbit statue; he only managed to escape by cutting down the statue.
Now, here was Noel, World Rank Number Two, showing up alone in such a busy place... and not even slightly disguised.
Su Ming’an stood still, watching the crowd that seed ready to break from the queue. The streets beside them suddenly filled with a bunch of curious onlookers, mostly children. Their eyes glead as they watched Noel, sparkling with fervor.
...The familiar scenario of being surrounded was probably about to ensue.
Su Ming’an didn’t know if Noel had ever experienced sothing like this but judging by his undisguised deanor, he probably hadn’t.
Only by knowing pain does one start to cherish.
...So let the other guy feel the "affection" of the public now. After all, he was cloaked in Black Mist; he was safe.
Su Ming’an moved aside, planning to leave the epicenter before it turned into a celebrity et-and-greet.
He heard the sunny young lad call out loudly:
"—Su Ming’an, I’ve been waiting for you for ages!"
His tone was brimming with enthusiasm.
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