This was not Ning Su’s first visit to the Yinhua Guild.
However, this time, there were no other players. It’s not for a replay of a dungeon instance; instead, Shi Tianzhu personally brought him in. Along the way, they still attracted a lot of attention.
Everyone they met on the way bowed and addressed Shi Tianzhu as the guild president.
Ning Su could clearly feel that the Yinhua Guild was different from the Hongyu Guild.
The Hongyu Guild and their Guild building were modern and relatively free and equal.
In contrast, the Yinhua Guild had a strict hierarchical system.
He heard from Chen Tian and Chen Qing that the status of guild leaders and ordinary members in the guild was not comparable. Those members who could only survive by exploring the complete map were far from being compared to players who dared to challenge a dungeon that just opened and bring back maps for the guild.
This was the norm for guilds in the base.
This was even more evident in the Yinhua Guild.
It was said that before Shi Tianzhu entered this horror game, she was a proud and conservative, aristocratic young lady.
Ning Su looked up at her, and Shi Tianzhu asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ning Su said, “They all respect you a lot.”
Shi Tianzhu responded with a thoughtful “Hmm” and said, “When the Yinhua Guild was established, the initial members were all saved by me in dungeons. They were grateful and respectful to me. Over time, the Guild developed this atmosphere.”
Ning Su asked, “Was the black-robed man the same?”
Shi Tianzhu stopped and turned to Ning Su, saying, “Yes, in a hellish dungeon, he was betrayed by his teammates, and I saved his life. He got the Soul-Locking Rope and killed a total of eight teammates in the next dungeon.”
“In complex dungeons, no one can predict whether a decision will save or harm others, whether it will harm a few to save more, or save one person at the cost of harming many others.”
“If you can’t understand that, it’s better not to enter dungeons,” Shi Tianzhu said coldly.
Ning Su said, “I meant to ask, now that the black-robed is gone, have you found someone to replace him in the Guild competition?”
Shi Tianzhu paused for a moment, smiled, and said, “Yinhua is so vast that we can assemble any kind of team.”
She led them to her study, which was on the highest floor in the guild, with one window facing the game hall and the other overlooking the most beautiful scenery of the guild.
They sat by the window, and Shi Tianzhu, while arranging the flowers Ning Su gave her, told him about the guild competition.
“Generally, a guild sends ten members to participate, and these ten members are decided in the last hour.”
Ning Su contemplated for a moment, “Because the last hour reveals the instance?”
Before entering the instance, there’s a 10-second preview of the instance world. Players decided whether to enter the instance based on this 10-second video.
Although for the most part, the video didn’t provide real clues, it could at least determine the environment or theme.
The “Ghost Animal” preview video told players that the instance was set in a beautiful village.
The “Manman” preview video informed players that the instance was related to children.
The “Flower Servant” preview video told players that the instance was related to flowers.
Even for expert players with different skills and weapons, their performance varied in different instances. Except for the fixed leaders, they had to choose the most suitable players after seeing the instance preview.
Shi Tianzhu nodded approvingly. “Yes, now we can only roughly preset different teams and finally confirm the personnel after seeing the preview video.”
She asked Ning Su, “Are you participating in the individual competition?”
Ning Su shook his head; he had decided not to participate.
“That’s fine,” Shi Tianzhu said. “You have the freedom not to participate.”
Ning Su asked, “Will all the expert players in the base participate?”
“In the first season of the competition, almost all the expert players participated due to the generous rewards and system invitations,” Shi Tianzhu said. “If you participate once and rank in the top ten, you must participate in the next one.”
Ning Su made a sound of acknowledgment. “The rankings seem to be mostly real, with all the expert players from the base on it.”
“Not necessarily,” Shi Tianzhu said.
Ning Su looked up at her.
Shi Tianzhu seemed to be reminiscing. “In my memory, there was one person who didn’t participate.”
“People say I was among the first to enter the game base, and I did come down from the first soul bus, but I wasn’t the first to come to the game base.”
“In our batch, a total of seven people came down from the soul bus. When we walked through the gate of the game base, we saw another person at the game base.”
At that time, Shi Tianzhu was only about ten years old.
At that time, the game base was still a barren land, with yellow soil covered in sand and gravel, and a desolate taste under the setting sun.
There was a man in black leaning against a crooked-necked tree, sleeping soundly.
In their group of seven, a man in charge shouted at him, “Brother, may I ask where exactly this place is?”
The man slowly opened his eyes and looked over. Later, they recalled that everyone felt uneasy at that moment. When they regained their senses, the person had already left.
Shi Tianzhu said, “I’ve never been in a dungeon with him, but I feel like he’s not an ordinary player. What’s strange is that I haven’t seen him since then. I don’t know if he’s dead or if it’s related to his skills.”
Ning Su was startled. Suddenly, he remembered the conversation he had with Ning Changfeng.
He asked Ning Changfeng how much the system would concede to high-level players, and Ning Changfeng said it might be to a frightening extent.
At that time, he was actually asking about Ning Changfeng’s concession level because Ning Changfeng was the top-ranked player. However, Ning Changfeng’s response seemed as if it wasn’t about himself.
***
On the base bridge, Ning Changfeng looked at the glistening river for a while, took a deep breath, and then turned to the man beside him, saying, “So, you don’t have a heart now?”
His gaze unavoidably fell on the man’s chest.
Ling Xiao opened his thin eyelids and looked at him.
“Alright, alright, you have a heart,” Ning Changfeng said. “So where is your heart now?”
Ling Xiao’s long arms leaned on the bridge, and his dark windbreaker fluttered in the river breeze. He furrowed his brows in contemplation. “It seems like someone took it away.”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
Ling Xiao puzzledly said, “I can’t remember clearly. I slept, and when I woke up, my heart was gone.”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
He felt something was off after Ling Xiao lost his heart.
Ning Changfeng asked, “Can you sense where your heart is?”
Ling Xiao replied, “Without a heart, my perception greatly decreases. I can only feel it within this base.”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
Well, in such a large base.
Ning Changfeng sighed, “Both of us wandering souls at the end of the world. In the last dungeon, my son cut my heart open, and you lost your heart.”
It was a bit mystical. In that dungeon, their hearts were treated like sacred flower cultivation vessels, disrupted and chaotic, but not damaged or lost. Now, they were still beating steadily in their chests.
And this person, whom Ning Changfeng thought would never have any issues, inexplicably lost his heart.
Ling Xiao reacted after a moment. “Haven’t seen each other for a few years, and you already have a son who can still kill you. Must be a pretty big son, right?”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
Could the loss of a heart affect language function? Why did it feel like he’s having trouble speaking?
Ning Changfeng: “I have a pretty grown-up son, in his twenties.”
Ling Xiao fell silent.
At that moment, Ning Changfeng received a message from Ning Su.
Ning Su: [President Shi is busy with something. Brother, are you treating me to dinner?]
Ning Changfeng: [...]
Mom wouldn’t feed you, so you think about Dad, huh?
He glanced at the silent man beside him and asked, “Do you not have enough points to eat?”
Ling Xiao, seemingly lost in thought, casually replied with a “Mm.”
Ning Changfeng: [I’m here at the base bridge. Come join me. There’s also a friend of mine here, we’ll eat together.]
Ning Su: [You actually have a friend?]
Ning Changfeng: [?]
Ning Changfeng: [Why can’t I have friends? Not only do I have a friend, but my friend is also tall and handsome.]
Ning Su: [...]
This was not Ning Su’s first visit to the Yinhua Guild.
However, this time, there were no other players. It’s not for a replay of a dungeon instance; instead, Shi Tianzhu personally brought him in. Along the way, they still attracted a lot of attention.
Everyone they met on the way bowed and addressed Shi Tianzhu as the guild president.
Ning Su could clearly feel that the Yinhua Guild was different from the Hongyu Guild.
The Hongyu Guild and their Guild building were modern and relatively free and equal.
In contrast, the Yinhua Guild had a strict hierarchical system.
He heard from Chen Tian and Chen Qing that the status of guild leaders and ordinary members in the guild was not comparable. Those members who could only survive by exploring the complete map were far from being compared to players who dared to challenge a dungeon that just opened and bring back maps for the guild.
This was the norm for guilds in the base.
This was even more evident in the Yinhua Guild.
It was said that before Shi Tianzhu entered this horror game, she was a proud and conservative, aristocratic young lady.
Ning Su looked up at her, and Shi Tianzhu asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ning Su said, “They all respect you a lot.”
Shi Tianzhu responded with a thoughtful “Hmm” and said, “When the Yinhua Guild was established, the initial members were all saved by me in dungeons. They were grateful and respectful to me. Over time, the Guild developed this atmosphere.”
Ning Su asked, “Was the black-robed man the same?”
Shi Tianzhu stopped and turned to Ning Su, saying, “Yes, in a hellish dungeon, he was betrayed by his teammates, and I saved his life. He got the Soul-Locking Rope and killed a total of eight teammates in the next dungeon.”
“In complex dungeons, no one can predict whether a decision will save or harm others, whether it will harm a few to save more, or save one person at the cost of harming many others.”
“If you can’t understand that, it’s better not to enter dungeons,” Shi Tianzhu said coldly.
Ning Su said, “I meant to ask, now that the black-robed is gone, have you found someone to replace him in the Guild competition?”
Shi Tianzhu paused for a moment, smiled, and said, “Yinhua is so vast that we can assemble any kind of team.”
She led them to her study, which was on the highest floor in the guild, with one window facing the game hall and the other overlooking the most beautiful scenery of the guild.
They sat by the window, and Shi Tianzhu, while arranging the flowers Ning Su gave her, told him about the guild competition.
“Generally, a guild sends ten members to participate, and these ten members are decided in the last hour.”
Ning Su contemplated for a moment, “Because the last hour reveals the instance?”
Before entering the instance, there’s a 10-second preview of the instance world. Players decided whether to enter the instance based on this 10-second video.
Although for the most part, the video didn’t provide real clues, it could at least determine the environment or theme.
The “Ghost Animal” preview video told players that the instance was set in a beautiful village.
The “Manman” preview video informed players that the instance was related to children.
The “Flower Servant” preview video told players that the instance was related to flowers.
Even for expert players with different skills and weapons, their performance varied in different instances. Except for the fixed leaders, they had to choose the most suitable players after seeing the instance preview.
Shi Tianzhu nodded approvingly. “Yes, now we can only roughly preset different teams and finally confirm the personnel after seeing the preview video.”
She asked Ning Su, “Are you participating in the individual competition?”
Ning Su shook his head; he had decided not to participate.
“That’s fine,” Shi Tianzhu said. “You have the freedom not to participate.”
Ning Su asked, “Will all the expert players in the base participate?”
“In the first season of the competition, almost all the expert players participated due to the generous rewards and system invitations,” Shi Tianzhu said. “If you participate once and rank in the top ten, you must participate in the next one.”
Ning Su made a sound of acknowledgment. “The rankings seem to be mostly real, with all the expert players from the base on it.”
“Not necessarily,” Shi Tianzhu said.
Ning Su looked up at her.
Shi Tianzhu seemed to be reminiscing. “In my memory, there was one person who didn’t participate.”
“People say I was among the first to enter the game base, and I did come down from the first soul bus, but I wasn’t the first to come to the game base.”
“In our batch, a total of seven people came down from the soul bus. When we walked through the gate of the game base, we saw another person at the game base.”
At that time, Shi Tianzhu was only about ten years old.
At that time, the game base was still a barren land, with yellow soil covered in sand and gravel, and a desolate taste under the setting sun.
There was a man in black leaning against a crooked-necked tree, sleeping soundly.
In their group of seven, a man in charge shouted at him, “Brother, may I ask where exactly this place is?”
The man slowly opened his eyes and looked over. Later, they recalled that everyone felt uneasy at that moment. When they regained their senses, the person had already left.
Shi Tianzhu said, “I’ve never been in a dungeon with him, but I feel like he’s not an ordinary player. What’s strange is that I haven’t seen him since then. I don’t know if he’s dead or if it’s related to his skills.”
Ning Su was startled. Suddenly, he remembered the conversation he had with Ning Changfeng.
He asked Ning Changfeng how much the system would concede to high-level players, and Ning Changfeng said it might be to a frightening extent.
At that time, he was actually asking about Ning Changfeng’s concession level because Ning Changfeng was the top-ranked player. However, Ning Changfeng’s response seemed as if it wasn’t about himself.
***
On the base bridge, Ning Changfeng looked at the glistening river for a while, took a deep breath, and then turned to the man beside him, saying, “So, you don’t have a heart now?”
His gaze unavoidably fell on the man’s chest.
Ling Xiao opened his thin eyelids and looked at him.
“Alright, alright, you have a heart,” Ning Changfeng said. “So where is your heart now?”
Ling Xiao’s long arms leaned on the bridge, and his dark windbreaker fluttered in the river breeze. He furrowed his brows in contemplation. “It seems like someone took it away.”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
Ling Xiao puzzledly said, “I can’t remember clearly. I slept, and when I woke up, my heart was gone.”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
He felt something was off after Ling Xiao lost his heart.
Ning Changfeng asked, “Can you sense where your heart is?”
Ling Xiao replied, “Without a heart, my perception greatly decreases. I can only feel it within this base.”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
Well, in such a large base.
Ning Changfeng sighed, “Both of us wandering souls at the end of the world. In the last dungeon, my son cut my heart open, and you lost your heart.”
It was a bit mystical. In that dungeon, their hearts were treated like sacred flower cultivation vessels, disrupted and chaotic, but not damaged or lost. Now, they were still beating steadily in their chests.
And this person, whom Ning Changfeng thought would never have any issues, inexplicably lost his heart.
Ling Xiao reacted after a moment. “Haven’t seen each other for a few years, and you already have a son who can still kill you. Must be a pretty big son, right?”
Ning Changfeng: “...”
Could the loss of a heart affect language function? Why did it feel like he’s having trouble speaking?
Ning Changfeng: “I have a pretty grown-up son, in his twenties.”
Ling Xiao fell silent.
At that moment, Ning Changfeng received a message from Ning Su.
Ning Su: [President Shi is busy with something. Brother, are you treating me to dinner?]
Ning Changfeng: [...]
Mom wouldn’t feed you, so you think about Dad, huh?
He glanced at the silent man beside him and asked, “Do you not have enough points to eat?”
Ling Xiao, seemingly lost in thought, casually replied with a “Mm.”
Ning Changfeng: [I’m here at the base bridge. Come join me. There’s also a friend of mine here, we’ll eat together.]
Ning Su: [You actually have a friend?]
Ning Changfeng: [?]
Ning Changfeng: [Why can’t I have friends? Not only do I have a friend, but my friend is also tall and handsome.]
Ning Su: [...]
