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Chapter 3

Jiang Chen gave him a call.

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Fang Jingxing was born suckling on a golden spoon. Since he was small, all the stars cupped themselves around this baby moon.

After he fell in love with gaming, he had his family take over a club. But, feeling that becoming the boss would be unsuitable, he instead concealed his identity and debuted as a newcomer. He personally took to the competition stage and used his strength to make a name for himself. Now, his domestic fans alone had surpassed ten million.

Those who liked him were too many. He had also heard too many praises of all kinds.

Originally, he thought he would once again feel aloof when hearing the praise. Who would have thought that it would play out differently? Having lived 25 years, this was the first time he heard someone liked him because he was healthy and had a hard life.

He thought it was a bit novel.

In the end, the other party did not give him any explanation.

Jiang Chen’s mood was poor; he felt disinclined to deal with people. “Why are you asking a hundred thousand questions?”

Fang Jingxing said, “I’m curious.”

Jiang Chen rattled off, “I have no obligation to answer you. You are not……”

His cartridge got stuck in his gun. He bowed his head to take a look at the statue’s description. He then cooly turned back and — as if nothing had happened — calmly continued, “…not Behold Lofty Mountains.”^[1]

Fang Jingxing: “……”

This movement was too obvious. Captain Fang immediately felt as if his IQ had been insulted.

He thought to himself, could this perhaps be a fake fan, and asked, “You can’t remember his ID; are you even his fan?”

Captain Jiang refused to admit that he lied and took this reversal as a learning experience. He coldly stated, “New fan, just became a fan.”

Once he said this, he glanced at the pedestal again. He ignored the various kinds of awards and specifically looked for the name. This time, he completely remembered it in a second.

—— Behold Lofty Mountains (JX) (Fang Jingxing)

Behold the lofty mountains; admire the scenery while passing through.

The name was Fang Jingxing, and the national ID was taken from “Behold the lofty mountains.” It just happened to match, making it very easy to remember. As for the letters…… if his assumptions were true, it should be the ID used when competing in the world competition.

His eyes flicking back and forth, Jiang Chen finally realized that the man before him seemed to have the same profession as the statue.

Reaching this step, he absolutely could not ask the question, “You couldn’t possibly be the person himself, right?” and instead asked, “Are you also his fan?”

Fang Jingxing did not know whether to laugh or cry because of this fake fan. “Somewhat.”

He said this while looking at the other person’s chest.

In the Keyboard edition, the character’s ID was located above their head, which was both eye-catching and convenient for identification.

But in the Virtual Reality edition, players may think that the row of characters above a character’s dead seemed somewhat unsightly, so they had two options. Option 1 was to pin the ID above the head; Option 2 was to pin the ID on the chest.

Both of them had decided to pin the ID on their chests. This Seal Master before him had a row of characters floating on the left breast pocket —— it was the Martian Language Jiang Chen casually wrote while discontent —— rich was Fang Jingxing’s experience and knowledge, yet as far as his eyes could see, at this moment, he did not know who to address the other party.

He secretly thought his ID 「 ah 」 was casual enough, but as it turned out, there was something even more willful.

Jiang Chen did not know what he was thinking and stated, “We are both fans of the same family; let’s not question it anymore.”

Fang Jingxing spoke very well this time and said with a smile, “Since we are fans of the same family, then why don’t we team up to brush monsters?”

Jiang Chen glanced at him.

Just a moment ago, this kid had obviously planned to leave, yet after he had spoken three words, this plan changed. He didn’t understand, but he also didn’t care about teaming up. He accepted the invitation.

Fang Jingxing walked together with him, shoulder to shoulder. He wanted to investigate this fake fan’s background.

He wasn’t narcissistic; in truth, his fame was too high.

Official closed beta invitations were, for the most part, given to elite players.

Now that a new season had started, each team was preparing for their matches. The main force in the closed beta were now few; it was basically composed of training camp newcomers and perhaps retired players. There were also various gods and famous anchors —— for this portion of people, except for the very few gods who only focused on playing the game and did not like watching competitions, it was impossible for someone to not remember his ID.

Apart from this, there were two possibilities. 

One possibility was that the person got a closed beta account due to a trusted relationship. The second possibility was that the person was from the game company.

He was not interested in the former, but he was quite interested in the latter.

Reportedly, to have better game experience, the Virtual Reality edition had a lot of modifications made, as well as an increase in hidden plots and rewards. If he took this person to play, perhaps he would discover something.

Captain Fang shrewdly struck his abacus, pa pa sounds echoing. He fastened a “suspected staff member” hat onto Jiang Chen’s head without the other knowing anything at all and then headed quickly to the plaza.

The two followed the main road and arrived at a wild area, where they saw a large wisteria tree.

It was planted right in the middle of the wild area. Its branches spread out very high, layer upon layer of vines with small purple blossoms spread outward and hung down. This extremely magnificent sight perfectly divided the turf into four regions, each region having mobs with nothing in common with another region.

Fang Jingxing eyed this newly added plant. With a smile, he said, “After the server started, this place will definitely become a sacred place to visit.”

There existed thirty missing years between the Wandering Dream Jiang Chen remembered and the current version. He simply could not determine what was newly added, so he concisely replied with an “En” before saying, “Let’s brush monsters.”

The two chose a nearby area and brushed the mobs

Fang Jingxing had talked with NPCs enough to rise to Level 5. He had thus learned a single skill when he was in the plaza.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen was at Level 2. At present, he could only use basic attacks. The monsters in this area were all Level 5 mobs, and he had a 3 level difference. A single careless mistake would have him lying down on the street.^[2]

Fang Jingxing chose a small monster but did not attack it immediately. Instead, he kited it. When he passed by his companion, he glanced over — and did not look away.

When transitioning from keyboard to virtual reality, breaking old operations, habits, and viewpoints would certainly be difficult to do at first.

This Seal Master was naturally not an exception, but he unexpectedly prevented the mobs from touching him by relying on footwork, constantly dodging and adjusting. After a short period of time, he had quickly adapted to this new mode and changed from defending to attacking. He used basic attacks to kill the mob, his blood not dropping even slightly.

This footwork was executed with complete confidence and ease. He was evidently an elite player.

He had no choice but to toss out his previous judgment. Could it be that this was not a staff member, but rather an actual player?

Jiang Chen looked over at him after killing the mob and saw that his mob was still at full blood. He thought that this guy had not adjusted yet and then went back to fighting.

Two minutes later, Jiang Chen rose to Level 5 and finally obtained a skill. Fang Jingxing was completely catching fish with his hands.^[3] He had only fought two mobs during this time. This could be regarded as him eating Jiang Chen’s experience. In the end, he only rose to Level 6.

Jiang Chen said, “Truly veggie.”^[4]

Fang Jingxing laughed and explained, “Something happened just now. Let’s change locations. Brushing Level 5 monsters is boring.”

The two of them arrived at the lakeside and began attacking high-level monsters.

This time, Fang Jingxing became serious. Teamed up together, these two experts brushed monsters and caused their experience to rise at lightning speed.

A while later, two players climbed ashore from the lake and saw this scene. Their judgment was limited, but they were not blind. After whispering a few sentences to each other, they guessed that these two men were probably professional players.

Jiang Chen and Fang Jingxing also discovered their presence.

At this time, it was too difficult to see another living person in this area, so the two of them halted their actions one after another.

Fang Jingxing saw that they were Level 16 and spoke up first. “Did you two also just begin to play?”

Of the two, one was a Divine Warrior, while the other was a Swordsman.

The former said, “We entered several days ago but spent the entire time fighting monsters in the water, so our speed is a bit slow.”

With these words, Jiang Chen and Fang Jingxing understood the situation.

Wandering Dream’s new season still used the keyboard mode. But although the news had not yet talked about converting to virtual reality, it could always change in the future. Operating in the water was originally difficult, so these two people went to practice in advance. 

These two were most likely training camp newcomers.

Fang Jingxing laughed. “Oh.”

The Divine Warrior said, “Which club are you two from?”

Jiang Chen said, “I don’t have one; a simple passer-by.”

Fang Jingxing said, “I also don’t have one.”

This was clearly not the expected response. The Divine Warrior gave a forced smile and tactfully did not continue asking.

The Swordsman said, “We’re going to challenge Spider Cave. Do you want to come?”

Jiang Chen had not heard of Spider Cave and remained silent.

Fang Jingxing was somewhat moved. He and the Seal Master were already Level 10. Spider Cave was a Level 15 instance for a party of 5. There was a 5 level difference, which just happened to be the limit for eating bonus experience. These two were from a training camp and had a solid foundation of skill. These two could definitely take their low-leveled accounts to fly and save them the effort.

He looked at his teammate. “Let’s go.”

Jiang Chen nodded and followed him into the new party.

Those two men walked up to them and looked at their IDs habitually.

One was called 「 ah 」; the other was called 「 {xu-5cc靉の！ 」.

Having never been baptized by Martian language, these two newcomers were subdued on the spot. They stared blankly, not knowing what to call this person.

The Divine Warrior said, “Your…your ID, what does it mean?”

Jiang Chen had been fighting monsters up until now, and his anger had already evaporated. He thoughtlessly said, “It means five of love.”^[5]

Swordsman: “……”

Fang Jingxing: “……”

The Divine Warrior was relatively simple and counted on his fingers. He thought to himself that the other was making an ass of him^[6] and said, “The numbers don’t match up!”

Jiang Chen said, “The aches and rubbish of love.”

The Divine Warrior said, “Still does not match.”

Captain Jiang had no patience. “Believe it or not.”

The group chatted while walking, bypassing the small lake for a mountain.

They walked halfway up the mountain. Just as they were about to turn the corner of the mountain path, the Swordsman suddenly swayed, with his body tilting and falling straight down. A corpse laid at the bottom of the mountain.

The three of them, still atop the mountain, stared blankly and then simultaneously gazed down.

The Divine Warrior asked, “What happened? Disconnected?”

The Swordsman revived on the spot a few seconds later, his voice trembling and weak. “I…… I am scared of heights……”

The three people above: “……”

Virtual reality was quite close to reality. Apart from not feeling tired, there was basically no difference in climbing up the mountain in-game and in reality. This was truly miserable.

The Swordsman was also not well and expressed that he would slow down. He directly disappeared offline.

The three people above: “……”

Yet he died before he accomplished his career.^[7]

They had yet to walk through the gate of the instance, and a thigh^[8] had already died.

Luckily, there was a Divine Warrior who could pull monsters.

They continued to walk up and successfully reached the instance.

Spider Cave was situated at the top of the mountain. Mobs were bumblebee bats.

The entire time, the Divine Warrior chopped melons and sliced vegetables, taking his two teammates to the boss’ nest at the end.

Jiang Chen sized it up.

This cavern was five meters in diameter, and he had yet to see the boss’ silhouette.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a shadow dropped down on his head. A large spider fell down.

Having previously been separated by a screen, even those scared of spiders in real life could fight it without pressure.

But now that it was converted to virtual reality. The incomparably hideous, vivid, lifelike-spider, that grew to one’s thigh dropped straight in front of the Divine Warrior.

The Divine Warrior instantly went crazy. “Holy shit aaaaahhhhh!”

Jiang Chen: “……”

Fang Jingxing: “……”

The Divine Warrior threw down the boss, turned around, and ran away.

This instance had a setting lacking in a moral sense. After entering, the cave was sealed up.

Thereupon, he directly ran into the closed cave entrance. He turned around and saw the spider crawl forward two steps. Collapsing, he said, “Don’t come aaahhh! Mahler Gobi dog developers! Let me out!”^[9]

Jiang Chen: “……”

Fang Jingxing: “……”

The two of them were caught completely off guard and froze for a while.

Immediately after, the spider released a skill, striking the closest person — Fang Jingxing — and wiping away 35% of his blood.

Fang Jingxing: “……”

Jiang Chen immediately snapped out of it and retreated two steps.

At the same time,  the Divine Warrior discovered that a spider seal gradually oozed out of the walls. Wailing, he threw himself at Jiang Chen and rigidly clung to him.

Jiang Chen said, “Don’t pull me.”

The Divine Warrior did not hear him at all, already too scared to the point of incoherence. “Fuck his ancestors%￥#@……”

Jiang Chen then knew that there was no point in talking further.

He turned to look at the situation of his teammate who was forced to hold aggro. He raised his brows in surprise.

In the cavern, the space for movement was limited. With a 5 level difference, and facing the final boss, two or three touches would send him to death. This kid, apart from the first hit, did not endure any more hits. His footwork was akin to moving clouds and flowing water; it could be described as warming the heart and delighting the eye.^[10] 

While they were brushing monsters together earlier, he had seen that this teammate’s ability was not bad. Now at this critical moment, he could thoroughly make out this teammate’s strength. He was definitely a professional player, most likely the core of the team too.

An unfamiliar profession, an unfamiliar instance.

He gradually became fascinated. The Divine Warrior went offline during his lack of awareness, up until his teammate spoke up.

Fang Jingxing: “Are you just going to watch?”

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and then gave him a call. “666.”^[11]

Fang Jingxing: “……”

Jiang Chen clapped. “Refuel.”

Fang Jingxing: “……”

Jiang Chen said, “Don’t be absent-minded, pay attention to footwork.”

Fang Jingxing laughed, his tone very gentle and soft.

Jiang Chen’s heart skipped a beat, his intuition ringing.

A moment later, he saw the person pull the boss and rush toward his direction.

⬖ ⬩F⬩L⬩Y⬩ ⬗

The author has something to say:

Thanking everyone for their overlord tickets and nutrient solutions, muah~~ 520^[12] muah~~

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Footnotes:

[1] The Book of Songs – Xiaoya, Chexia《诗经·小雅·车辖》 高山仰止，景行行止。
Metaphor for moral nobility, upright behavior – a noble virtue worthy of imitation. Yes, this is the idiom that the Jingxing in Fang Jingxing comes from (though it can be read as Jinghang, Jingxing is used more for names). A more detailed explanation will come up later in the novel.

[2] Actual slang reads as “push down onto the street.” In this case, referring to how characters die and fall to the ground in role-based games.

[3] 摸鱼 – On one hand, it means fishing in troubled waters, but it can also mean to loaf on the job/slack off/be idle. The definition used is the latter.

[4] veggie/vegetable = weak/poor skills (aka a weakling)

[5] {xu-5cc靉の！
(￣ ￣|| )
靉 (ài) means “misty/cloudy/obscure”
but it is a homophone for 爱 (ài) which means “love”
の (no) is Japanese and means “of/belonging to”
so… ignoring half of the Martian language, 5靉の = “five of love”

[6] “ass” as in “donkey”
phrase means to play a joke on/play around with him

[7] The line “出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟” ( “Yet he
died before he accomplished his career, / How could heroes not wet their sleeves with drips of tear!”) is taken from the poem, The Prime Minister (蜀相, shu xiang) by Du Fu. It refers to how Zhuge Liang died before he could finish he could seize victory.
(Re-)Translation taken from <http://www.itspoa.com/UploadFiles/2019-03/369/2019031119370659084.pdf>

[8] “thigh” as in protector/support

[9] Mahler Gobi (desert) is a place where grass mud horses (supposedly alpacas) live.
grass mud horses = fuck your mother (aka another way to say “fuck you”)
dog is often used as an insult/curse in Chinese
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_Mud_Horse>

[10] moving clouds and flowing water = very natural and unforced
warming the heart and delighting the eye = pleasing

[11] <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%89%93call>
“*call* is English, influenced by Japanese コール (kōru), and refers to the act of fans “calling out” (i.e. shouting) and swaying their glow sticks together in live performances.”
666 = number slang, describing someone who is very powerful/cool/awesome
homonym for “牛牛牛”(niú niú niú) or “溜溜溜”(liù liù liù)

[12] 520 is number slang for “I love you”. 520 (pinyin: wǔ’èrlíng) represents 我爱你 (pinyin: wǒ ài nǐ).

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