Chapter 2

Leveling up proceeded smoothly. Gu Fei lured the monsters, the girls rained down fire, Gu Fei delivered the final blow… and, Luo Luo winked at him every now and then. Everything was progressing in an orderly fashion.

But Gu Fei really couldn't take it anymore. During a fruit break, he called Bing Liuli over. He sent Bing Liuli her favorite apple and asked, "What's up with Luo Luo? Did you see?"

"I saw it," Bing Liuli giggled.

"What's wrong with her!" Gu Fei asked.

"You're really dense!" Even Bing Liuli dared to make fun of Gu Fei. "Luo Luo-jie is crushing on you!"

"Crushing? How is that possible?" Gu Fei understood what crushing meant, but he didn't understand why Luo Luo would suddenly develop a crush now, after they had known each other for so long. If she suddenly became infatuated after confirming his identity as a Close Combat Mage, 27149, that would be too superficial and fantastical. Besides, with Luo Luo's calm personality, how could she suddenly develop such an uncharacteristic hobby? This was the second thing Gu Fei didn't understand.

"These things happen!" Bing Liuli said, shaking her head. "Maybe it's just a sudden feeling."

"Too cunning," Gu Fei said, looking at Luo Luo. Luo Luo saw him and immediately winked at him again.

This wink wasn't flirty or seductive at all. It was... teasing...

The word suddenly popped into Gu Fei's head, and he immediately broke down. He was actually being teased by a girl. He wanted to cry but had no tears!

"Qian Li, have you finished your apple yet??" Luo Luo called out, her voice like singing.

"Blatant teasing!" The girls giggled as they watched Gu Fei's embarrassment.

Gu Fei ran away without a word, luring monsters from afar.

"No resistance! How boring!"

"Really? I think it's more interesting when there's no resistance..."

The girls had different perspectives on the proper attitude after being teased.

Leveling continued like this. Despite such an unusual offensive, Gu Fei didn't make any mistakes in luring monsters, which showed his mental fortitude.

Gu Fei calmly lured the monsters, calmly ate his fruit, and calmly endured Luo Luo's teasing. He thought that if he got used to it, it would stop. But this tactic was clearly outdated. The young people of the new era had an unimaginable persistence and perseverance when it came to things they were interested in.

The girls' positions were safe from the monsters' attacks, and Gu Fei's skills kept him safe as well. As a result, Luo Luo, the priest, had nothing to do. Her healing spells were cast on Gu Fei endlessly. Gu Fei felt like he was being stripped naked by the healing spells.

Gu Fei persisted, and Luo Luo continued, until the leveling session ended.

The girls' gaming time suited Gu Fei quite well. Just as he was checking the time and thinking it was about time to log off, the girls all agreed that they should rest. Everyone gathered and left the leveling area. Everyone was extremely satisfied with today's gains. "What time tomorrow?" Everyone asked Gu Fei.

"I'm just a substitute..." Gu Fei said.

"Come with Yu Tian! You need to level up anyway!" the girls said.

"I'm used to solo leveling..."

"What's the fun in leveling alone? Come on!" A group of girls surrounded Gu Fei. "We'll bring you fruit! You just need to come!"

"You like bananas, right? I'll bring you more bananas tomorrow," one girl said.

"I'm not a pet. You can't just bribe me with some bananas," Gu Fei laughed.

"Besides bananas, we only have apples, peaches, and pears. Which one do you want?" the girls asked.

Gu Fei patiently explained, "Look, I've been in the Rebirth Purple Crystal since the first day it was established. When have I ever leveled up with everyone?"

The older girls fell silent. The four new girls continued to ask curiously, "Why not?"

"Because I'm used to solo leveling..."

"What's the fun in leveling alone..." The question went back to the beginning.

"Qian Li Daxia, don't be so stingy. Take us little girls with you!" Luo Luo said.

Gu Fei didn't say anything. Actually, the reason why Gu Fei had always leveled up alone wasn't because he minded leveling up with others, but because no one had ever asked him to level up with them. Back then, he had planned to level up with Fireball, but Fireball had refused with great integrity. After that, the six members of the Young Master Elite Team never had the habit of leveling up together. As for the Rebirth Purple Crystal, they had never shown such enthusiasm towards Gu Fei as they did now. Gu Fei was alone and always went to high-level training areas. Naturally, he couldn't make any partners while leveling up. For various reasons, Gu Fei had always been leveling up alone. It was definitely not, as Jian Gui said, a deliberate choice for a master who needed to stand alone.

Gu Fei wouldn't have refused the girls' enthusiastic expectations under normal circumstances, but at this moment... Luo Luo's sudden transformation into a flower痴 had really shocked Gu Fei.

"What, are you afraid of me?" Luo Luo smiled.

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm just not used to having a priest take such good care of me," Gu Fei said casually.

"Then you'll get used to it!" Luo Luo said.

"See you tomorrow," Gu Fei said.

"See you tomorrow," Luo Luo said.

Back in Cloudy City, everyone went their separate ways. Some went to the safe zone to log off, while others went to do personal errands. The end of leveling didn't mean that everyone had to log off. During the peak hours from dinner to bedtime, various guilds and mercenary groups would organize some collective activities to cater to those with normal routines. Truly large-scale, long-term operations would only begin after everyone had rested in the dead of night.

As Gu Fei passed by Little Lei's Tavern, he saw Han Jia Gongzi emerge with bright eyes.

"Hi!" Gu Fei greeted him.

"Starting work," Han Jia Gongzi hiccuped and greeted Gu Fei before heading towards the city gate. He was one of the representatives of those with abnormal routines. They only started their work full of energy after others had rested.

Gu Fei went to the safe zone and logged off.

The next day, Gu Fei had more free time and logged in early. There was still a long time before the golden hour in the evening. Gu Fei strutted around the streets with the Dark Night Flowing Light Sword, hoping to encounter a few robbers, but he was unsuccessful.

Most players were law-abiding. They would only fantasize about possessing top-quality equipment in their hearts, but they wouldn't actually do anything out of line.

As for those who were truly criminal elements, they had also adopted a more rational approach. Although Gu Fei's Dark Night Flowing Light Sword looked like a top-quality item at first glance, no one could see its attributes when identifying it, so no one would act rashly.

Top-quality equipment referred to equipment that was significantly better than ordinary equipment in terms of attributes. However, if the attribute itself was trash, then the equipment would only be a shining piece of top-quality trash. People who robbed equipment either wanted to use it themselves or sell it for money. No one robbed equipment for collection purposes, so no one would spend the time and effort on something whose attributes couldn't be seen.

Chasing someone down to force them to drop specific equipment was a very tiring project.

After wandering around without any gains, Gu Fei unconsciously arrived at Little Lei's Tavern. He went inside and greeted Little Lei, who pointed to their usual private room. The gesture meant: Your people are inside.

Gu Fei went in and saw Yu Tian Shen Ming hunched over, writing!

"What's up? Did you bring your homework into the game again?" Gu Fei asked.

Yu Tian Shen Ming looked up, then continued to write, "Writing a manual!"

Yu Tian Shen Ming's legendary mage manual turned out to be just a whim. That day, he had taken Gu Fei to buy a stack of notebooks and several pens, giving the impression that he was going to accomplish something big. Afterwards, Gu Fei asked about it several times, but Yu Tian Shen Ming kept putting it off. A month passed in the blink of an eye. When Gu Fei asked again, Yu Tian Shen Ming would directly pretend to be ignorant. Gu Fei had already given up hope, but he didn't expect him to be back at it today. He wondered what kind of medicine he had taken.

Gu Fei picked up a book and flipped through it casually before throwing it down and asking, "How's the bounty mission going?"

Yu Tian Shen Ming looked gloomy. "Killed three. The fourth one was interrupted."

"What happened?" Gu Fei asked.

"Too many people. I didn't dare to attack." Yu Tian Shen Ming was a master, and judgment was an important quality for a master. In some situations, after looking at the scene and knowing that there was no chance of victory, he naturally wouldn't attack.

"What would you do if you encountered such a situation?" Yu Tian Shen Ming asked Gu Fei. He believed that Gu Fei must have encountered this during his mission. And he probably encountered it often, since most players spent most of their time in the game leveling up with their companions.

"Walk over and kill them," Gu Fei said.

"Nonsense! That's you." Yu Tian Shen Ming felt that he shouldn't have asked this question. Gu Fei's situation was too different from theirs. Not only did he have the ability to instantly kill, but he was also a super practical expert. Some of the methods he could use were simply impossible for Yu Tian Shen Ming and the others.

"Doing it like this, it's impossible to complete a hundred times in a row!" Yu Tian Shen Ming lamented.

"Do you want me to help you?" Gu Fei said.

"How?" Yu Tian Shen Ming widened his eyes.

"I'll go with you! I'll wear down his health, and then you can just shoot an arrow from afar, and it's solved," Gu Fei said.

"This... this..." Yu Tian Shen Ming was surprised. This method wasn't impossible, but it would take up a lot of Gu Fei's time. The ultimate goal was to help Yu Tian Shen Ming get the reward, while Gu Fei himself wouldn't get any benefits. Even blood brothers might not be willing to help with such a big favor, right?

"What?" Gu Fei looked at him in confusion.

"Brother, you're my blood brother!" Yu Tian Shen Ming was moved to tears.

"Little brat, no respect for elders. Call me uncle!" Gu Fei scolded.

"Help me刷鞋(a term that is too specific to translate without context), and you can call me grandpa!" Yu Tian Shen Ming rushed forward and grabbed Gu Fei. "Let's go, let's go!"