Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

30 hours!

In these 30 hours, the flow of people in streets, parks, amusement parks, and other entertainment establishments had skyrocketed 100 times. The snack street outside Lin Jie’s University of Arts and Science was full of students wandering while the game was undergoing maintenance.

“Tsk. Look Jie. There are so many new faces on the street. This is the only time that people are willing to step out of the house and accept reality.” Zheng Ziliang said sentimentally, “Many chose to indulge themselves in the game as it’s a place where it doesn’t matter who you are there. That’s why virtual games are so popular.”

Lin Jie smiled and said, “Well, that’s half true. The game is similar to real life in some areas. The rich players are like babies born with silver spoons. The resourceful players are like people that started with all kinds of remedial lessons from external sources from young to make sure they have a promising future. There are rare cases where nobody strives in games too nonetheless. The game merely closes the gap between everyone.”

“C’mon philosophers. Check out what I found here.” With a smile on his face, Zhang Rong took them to a nearby shop, which turned out to be a small coffee shop. The coffee shop was a new one as Lin Jie had not seen it the last time he had visited the area. The decoration was up to standard, and the layout was carefully planned—it was a nice little space.

The coffee shop was very crowded, but they spotted an empty table.

It was not really an empty table. It was just a 4-seater table with two empty seats.

This was the cleverness of this coffee shop. Setting up a big table for four instead of a small table for two could increase sales and reduce floor space. It could even allow romantic relationships to happen if two single ladies met another two single men.

Thus, the highlight of this coffee shop was when it was crowded with customers as it gave them the excuse to share a table with others.

Many guys passed by intentionally because there were two girls sitting at this table. One of them had purple and long hair to her waist and wore hot pants with pantyhose. Her top was a light color denim shirt. Coupled with her beautiful and charming little face, she looked rather seductive and lively. The other girl was wearing a much more ordinary dress. She looked like a typical, good student. She was gentle and quiet, yet still beautiful.

“Wow! Who is there?” asked Zheng Ziliang.

“Charming Smile.” Lin Jie was surprised to see her there too. She had been quite famous in his previous life. She was a Shaman in the game. She would be well-known after the Best Of The Best competition as she had used her character to the fullest. Everyone would remember that match as her team consisted of four more noobs, or better say trashy players, and she had beaten the other 5-man team on her own.

Zheng Ziliang looked at Lin Jie, clearly surprised that he knew them.

“Come on! Let’s go and talk to them.”

Zheng Ziliang was stunned. He knew Lin Jie inside out, and there was no way this guy would be interested in a girl. Back in high school, Lin Jie had been spending all his time on games and study. The only genders he knew were male and not-male! He could even ignore girls like Bu Yi sometimes!

It did not make sense at all!

The truth was that Lin Jie was attracted by her game character. Savage Blade needed a Shaman anyway. With a pro like her, it would be a waste not to have her in the team. With her Chain Lightning and his Thunder Spear, it would be easy to farm monsters. Her Chain Lightning could enhance the splitting effect of his spear and cause multiple paralysis effects—even better than Thunderstorm!

There were three types of Shamans in The New Age. Healing, Support, and Elemental. Elemental Shamans could summon totems and use lightning attacks, which were very powerful and the core skill for Elemental Shamans.

Zheng Ziliang stood in the distance and watched with interest. He wanted to see how Lin Jie wanted to accost the girls.

Lin Jie walked with confidence to Charming Smile’s side and picked up a brand new 100$ bill, which he had dropped on purpose. “Hey, I believe you dropped this.”

Charming Smile looked at her purse and picked up the money. She smiled and thanked Lin Jie.

“No need to thank me, just buy me a drink will be enough.” Lin Jie sat down beside them, like it was the natural thing to do, and asked for a cup of coffee from the waiter before Charming Smile could refuse. He then asked Zheng Ziliang to join him.

Zheng Ziliang stared at Lin Jie in disbelief. ‘That? Isn’t that too simple?’ He walked over and sat down—he had yet to recover from the shock!

Charming Smile looked at the two of them and said, “My boyfriend is coming soon. Where should he sit?”

“No prob. Just ask for one more chair later,” Lin Jie replied calmly. He knew that the so-called boyfriend was nonexistent.

The girl beside Charming Smile looked and Lin Jie and exclaimed, “I know you! You are the guy who exercises in the field every morning around 6!” She pulled on her friend’s shirt and said, “That’s the guy I have been talking about! He is so cool! I tried to invite you, remember?”

Lin Jie was embarrassed. Why was he so famous? Wait, why was this girl even awake at 6 when most people were still sleeping!

“Oh… He’s that guy.” Charming Smile stretched out her hand and asked, “Handsome, your phone number?”

“Ermmm. We will put that aside first. I have something to discuss with you,” replied Lin Jie. “Best Of The Best is going to begin soon, and the winner gets 100,000$! You are interested, right?”

Normally, other girls would continue asking for the phone number on their friend’s behalf. However, when Charming Smile heard about the prize, she was immediately thrilled. “REALLY? 100,000$?!”

“Yeah. I want you to join my team and win this together.”

“So confident?” Charming Smile looked at Lin Jie and paused for a moment before continuing, “Fine, I don’t have a team yet anyway. You won’t let me down, right? Anyway, did you happen to pick up more money I may have dropped accidentally?”

Lin Jie was rendered speechless. He stood up and smiled. “Chill lady. How much you can get depends on your performance for the match. I can assure you that we will be the winners. I’ll add you as a friend after the maintenance. See ya.”

Lin Jie knew that she was a money face from his previous life, and thus went and talked to so confidently.

‘Hmm, I’ve got Charming Smile now. Another milestone for Savage Blade,’ thought Lin Jie.

They stood up and were about to leave when Charming Smile called out, “Hey handsome, the cashier is on the left. Don’t forget the bill~”

Lin Jie had no choice but to pay the bill for all four of them.

Zheng Ziliang, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke to Lin Jie. “I think… we did not drink our coffee yet…?”

“…”

In the next few hours, they just wandered around the school. Although the competition was brought forward, there was no need to panic. Zheng Ziliang invited four summoners from Brotherhood and formed a team that fought with minions. Star Kill invited Childe and Lost Camel and two other Bandits to form a team with high explosive damage.

Time flew, and the maintenance was soon completed. The crowd seen on the streets started to disperse quickly.

…

—”10 seconds for the system maintenance to end. Please wait patiently.”

—”The game is starting soon.”

—”Welcome back to the City of Light!”

The lights flickered, and Lin Jie was back to the familiar street. The entire City of Light was covered in white light, and millions of players were online. It was amazing that this large amount of data did not crush the system.

Lin Jie added ‘Charming Smile’ to his friend, but she was not online to accept it. Lin Jie could just imagine how surprised she would be when she saw Codename Lone Wolf was adding her. Would she ask for his signature?

“Skyworm Valley party! Need a healer, tank, and DPS.”

“Recruiting Brotherhood members to explore General’s Tomb.”

The street was filled with messages requesting to form parties. The new map had attracted many players. Lin Jie was the same. The map also had a few guys from the other realm. He knew that there were Runes containing the Nine Great Techniques hidden in them. If he managed to absorb them, it would be beneficial to advance his Nine Great Techniques.

“General’s Tomb…” Lin Jie looked at the edge of the City of Light, where a giant skull was marked. He smiled secretly. General’s Tomb had been a Hidden Relic in his previous life. It was a place of death for a Legendary Warrior, and it contained a large number of grave goods. The number of antiques was worth the adventure.

Ready and off he went!

Lin Jie had sufficient potions, and his equipment’s durability was almost full. The plan he had for the Ice Shrine needed to be used again! He needed to be Level 50 in order to perform well in Best Of The Best. Or else, Hungry Tiger and others would not be easy to handle.

“Jie, we are going to the Death Desert. You wanna come?” asked Bu Yi.

“You guys are enough. By the way, there’s an ancient relic in the center of the desert. It would be difficult for you guys right now, do not get close to it.” Lin Jie warned.

Bu Yi was slightly disappointed. “Okay, you are going to the new map, right?”

“Erm… General’s Tomb.”

“Okay, I will use my Ocean’s Heart and teleport to you if needed.”