Chapter 1 Well Met

"Brother Jue, you're just in time! We just finished a script," Wang Tanzhi said directly after adding Feng Bujue to the team.

It was two o'clock in the morning in real-time. As soon as Feng Bujue entered the login space, he received an invitation to join Xiao Tan's team.

"You've leveled up pretty quickly," Feng Bujue said, looking at the levels of the three people in the team. The last time he saw Xiao Tan in the game, he was still level 12, but now he was level 14, just like Si Yu and Bei Ling.

"I bought an experience boost card, and I just cleared a medium-length script," Xiao Tan replied.

"Very good. You guys keep queuing up. I'll go explore the Survival Mode alone first, and then I'll queue up with you," Feng Bujue said.

Bei Ling's voice rang out from the channel, "Don't forget about the signing."

"Oh, right. It's more cost-effective to start the guild first, so we can get a team experience bonus," Feng Bujue said. "Okay, I'll open a conference room and invite you guys. We'll talk face to face."

After he finished speaking, he operated the touchscreen and sent out a conference room invitation. Then he switched menus, opened the guild-related link, and followed the prompts through a few steps, which triggered a system prompt: [Before confirming your operation, please ensure that there is at least one free space in your inventory.]

Feng Bujue clicked confirm, and another prompt popped up: [Please enter the name of the guild you wish to create and receive the signature list.]

He stopped at this step, thinking, "Hmm... I should discuss this with them. If I just pick a name... Xiao Tan would be easy, but Si Yu and Bei Ling might not sign."

Feng Bujue left the screen, turned around, and pressed the conference room button. When the elevator doors opened, he walked in. The other three were already waiting inside.

Xiao Tan and Bei Ling had also changed out of their default newbie outfits.

Bei Ling was wearing a full set of black anti-terrorism assault gear, completely covering herself from head to toe. If she displayed the black cotton mask and helmet, she would probably look like a Counter-Terrorist from *CS*, and it would be difficult to tell her gender from a distance. It seemed that she was determined to develop in the direction of firearms or sniping.

Xiao Tan bought the Assassin Brotherhood set. He chose a deep red coat with a golden shawl. The clothes had a hood on the back, which could be worn to cover the upper half of the face. The upper body, waist, and legs were equipped with many leather cases that could hold throwing knives and ammunition. He wore fingerless gloves on his hands and deer-skin boots on his feet. At first glance, he had some assassin flair.

Although the two of them were fully armed in terms of appearance, what they were doing at the moment was very discordant with their image. Bei Ling, in her anti-terrorism suit, was eating ice cream, while Xiao Tan, in his assassin suit, was eating bagged potato chips.

"I said... what's with the snacks?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Bought them from the system store," Xiao Tan said. "Although it's just a virtual sense of taste simulation, it can satisfy your cravings." He held out the bag of chips. "Brother Jue, want some?"

"I know where they're sold. What I'm asking is, why did you buy them?" Feng Bujue said.

"Uh... well, it's the opening day, and chips are half-price..." Xiao Tan replied.

"Half your head! You're wasting inventory space!" Feng Bujue said.

Bei Ling added, "You can buy inventory, too." She licked her ice cream. "Upgrading a ten-slot inventory to fifteen slots costs a total of one million game coins."

"That's about one hundred RMB per slot," Feng Bujue blurted out, almost instantly converting it at the current exchange rate of about 1:2000. "Well... it seems I should save my game coins. There are a lot of places to spend money."

Feng Bujue didn't have any spare money to recharge. Besides, he was hoping to earn some money from Thriller Paradise, so there wasn't much point in continuing this topic. At this moment, he turned his head and saw Si Yu standing by the door, leaning against the wall. Si Yu's personality was naturally not the type to buy snacks in the game. After their eyes met, she was the first to speak to Feng Bujue, "I'm sorry about what happened this afternoon."

"Uh... it's okay," Feng Bujue replied. "Didn't you... already say hello in the email?"

"Is that so..." Si Yu murmured, "You're that type of person..."

"Um... what are you talking about?" Feng Bujue vaguely sensed that there was something behind her words.

Bei Ling, who was sitting at the table, laughed. "My cousin probably thinks you're the type who can break up with someone with just a text message."

"Don't listen to that little devil's nonsense," Si Yu corrected. "I just think you're the type who's very easy to talk to."

"Hey... isn't that the same thing..." Feng Bujue said unhappily.

Xiao Tan laughed and slapped the table, spraying out crumbs of chewed potato chips, "Right on the mark!"

"I'll stab you to death and then you'll see blood, too," Feng Bujue said.

Bei Ling interjected, "Alright, you guys will have plenty of opportunities to tear each other down. Let's get down to business. Where's the guild signature list?"

"Didn't get it yet," Feng Bujue replied. "I was just going to ask you guys, what should we name the guild?"

"Oh? You're quite democratic," Bei Ling said. "Speaking of which... I really haven't thought about this question."

Si Yu said from the side, "Let's discuss it now. You guys make suggestions, and I'll be responsible for vetoing the unsightly ones."

"Sister Yu, we haven't even said anything yet, and you already know there will be unsightly ones?" Xiao Tan said.

"Hey? How come this kid started calling her 'sister' after just a few hours?" Feng Bujue turned his head and said to Si Yu.

"You want to call me that too?" Si Yu replied coldly in her usual calm tone.

"I called you that once, didn't you say I was older than you, so it wasn't appropriate?" Feng Bujue said, "If I call you 'meimei' (younger sister), you'll think I'm taking advantage of you... right?"

"I had already forgotten, but since you reminded me," Si Yu said, "then consider yourself automatically giving up this opportunity."

"Tch... who cares about calling you that? Since ancient times, those who call themselves 'brother' are always running errands, and those who call themselves 'emperor' have a life of nine deaths and one survival. I won't do that," Feng Bujue said. "I think the name Si Yu is pretty good."

"Cousin is playing hard to get." Bei Ling always had a smile on her face, and her tone seemed very mischievous, but her words often hit the nail on the head. "She wants you to call her Si Yu."

"No one will think you're a mute if you don't speak," Si Yu glared at her teammate who was selling her out, and slowly walked over and sat down beside her.

Bei Ling stuck out her tongue and quickly changed the subject, "I propose that the guild be called... Bei Yu Tan Feng!" When she said the first three words, she hadn't thought about what to say next at all. It was really thanks to her quick wits that she was able to finish the sentence.

Xiao Tan said, "Why are the girls' names in front of ours..."

"You have an opinion?"

"Um... we'll be adding other members in the future, and Brother Long should be joining too. This name is debatable," Xiao Tan said tactfully since he didn't dare to answer, "I do have an opinion."

Feng Bujue crossed his arms in front of his chest, wearing a thoughtful expression, and said, "My suggestion is... The Paranormal Human Research Center."

"Vetoed." Si Yu calmly said those two words a fraction of a second after Feng Bujue finished speaking.

"Why?" Feng Bujue asked shamelessly.

"Unsightly." These words weren't said by Si Yu, but by Bei Ling and Xiao Tan in unison.

"Then you, kid, say one now." Feng Bujue didn't bother with the girls, but glared at Wang Tanzhi with a threatening gaze. "If you don't say it well... I'll chop you up and feed you to the pigs."

"What kind of dialogue is that! Who do you think you are!" Xiao Tan shouted, "At least let me think for a while!"

"Anyway, there's nothing to do, let's all think slowly together," Si Yu said, leaning against the back of her chair.

"First of all, we should determine the tone of the guild. Like those Order and Gods kinds of names are usually studio names. And some names with a domineering aura, such as 'Invincible Under Heaven,' 'Reign Over the World,' and 'Dominate the World,' are obviously trying to make a name for themselves in the game. Small guilds like ours can't compare to them in terms of financial resources and number of people, so those very ostentatious and strong names can basically be excluded." Feng Bujue said as he sat down at the conference table, striking the signature pose of Ikari Gendo, crossing his fingers and holding them near his philtrum. "Secondly, those incomprehensible, overly long names that have a strong otaku vibe should also be avoided. A good example would be something like 'Far Eastern Magic Siesta Society.' Using this kind of name is very likely to attract some bear children whose actual age is close to Xiao Tan's mental age."

"Hey! You're the one who's done the most research, aren't you! You just said it without batting an eye! That's a lot of information!" Xiao Tan shouted.

"Finally, names like English, Japanese, French, etc., or those mixed with obscure words or Martian language, are both easy to misread and have the suspicion of trying to show off, so they must also be excluded." Feng Bujue continued.

"You still managed to say what you wanted to say by relying on censorship! How did you do it!"

"Alright, under these premises, let's all brainstorm." Feng Bujue said, "Whoever doesn't say it well will have Xiao Tan chopped up and fed to the pigs."

"What does it have to do with me if others don't say it well!" Xiao Tan directly picked up a few pieces of potato chips and threw them at Feng Bujue. "Even if I don't say it well, it's not enough to chop me up and feed me to the pigs! Besides, this game doesn't have a setting for chopping up and feeding pigs!"

Coming up with a name was indeed quite troublesome. Besides the points Feng Bujue mentioned, there were various other issues to consider. Everyone's preferences were different. Even if the guild name couldn't satisfy everyone, it shouldn't be something that a certain member strongly disliked. In addition, names that were particularly unsightly or incomprehensible to outsiders wouldn't work either. After all, they would have to wear the badge and go out to meet people in the future. If they really used the name "Paranormal Human Research Center," it wouldn't be a problem for Feng Bujue to wear that label and go out. It wouldn't feel out of place at all. But if the girls wore that badge, it wouldn't be good if people thought they were weird aunties.