Chapter 21

“Oh… it’s Atobe.” Feng Bujue turned his head and saw Master Atobe and RealNameIsHardToChoose, along with two others.

Feng Bujue hadn’t met these two, but in the Shopping Mall, all players' nicknames were visible. Just looking at their names, [ChoosingANameIsReallyHard] and [ReallyHardToChooseAName], it was clear these guys were all together.

Guys like them, whose camaraderie was evident from their game names, obviously didn’t just meet each other while playing the game. Only people who started the game together would come up with similar names. Therefore, it was easy to deduce that they were all friends in real life.

In this light, Master Atobe's game ID seemed out of place…

“Tsk, tsk… don’t try to be familiar; it’s not like I know you that well,” Atobe replied. “You screwed us over badly in that last script, you know?”

“How did I screw you over?” Feng Bujue asked.

“You’re playing dumb, huh? You told us to grind monsters and practice our specializations safely in front of the gun shop, but before we could grind for long, a super-strong monster showed up and killed us in one hit,” Atobe said.

Feng Bujue continued, “Well, did you at least get your Firearms specialization to E?”

“Mm… we did,” Atobe replied.

“Then that’s all that matters. The main objective was achieved. You guys went from nA to E in Firearms specialization, and you got equipment. So what if you died? I never said I could guarantee you’d clear the level alive,” Feng Bujue retorted. “Besides… who has the ability to guarantee someone else’s clear? I’m not the kind of professional player who carries newbies to level up.”

“Sounds kind of reasonable…” Xiao Ming said.

“What’s reasonable about it!” Atobe said, but he couldn’t think of a rebuttal. Back then, he and Xiao Ming had been completely stunned by Feng Bujue’s words and actions, and they had willingly chosen to listen to his instructions. He couldn’t blame anyone else for that. “But fine, I’m a magnanimous young master. Besides, I got a little bit of the clear reward experience later, so I won’t hold it against you.”

“Tch~” The three people behind Atobe simultaneously booed in disdain.

“Which side are you guys on, anyway?” Atobe said unhappily. He was truly pathetic as the boss of this studio; he only had three employees, and they were all his buddies.

What defines deep friendship between men? It mainly manifests as constantly tearing each other down and cursing, but never holding grudges. If two people are polite, keep a certain distance, and are careful with their words, that can only be considered a gentleman’s agreement, as faint as water.

“Hey? I see you four are wearing the same outfits, and there’s a logo on them. How did you manage that?” Feng Bujue asked.

When he saw the four of them, he noticed they were all wearing the same clothing. Now that the Shopping Mall was open, the system had naturally released a large number of different outfits, allowing players to have more freedom and personalized appearance choices. Now, those like Feng Bujue who were still wearing the system’s default black T-shirt and pants were either open beta players who hadn’t cleared many scripts, or closed beta players who had just run out of game currency.

The four people in front of him were all dressed in sportswear. The base color of their long-sleeved shirts was white, the right sleeve was blue, and one-third of the shirt from the left shoulder and the left sleeve were also blue. The pants were black, loose-fitting sweatpants. In short… Hyotei.

On the front of their right shoulders was a special logo with the words [冰帝] (Bīngdì) written vertically, with a light blue ice rose pattern floating above the text. This was a derivative of the game’s new “Guild” system. The guild leader could design their own logo, and after submitting it, it would be displayed on all guild members’ clothing. Depending on the style of the clothing, the system would display it in a suitable location, and because these Hyotei members were wearing the same clothes, all their logos were on their right shoulders.

“This is our studio’s logo,” Master Atobe said with great pride. “I designed it myself, you know!”

“Just to be clear, I personally think this logo sucks,” RealNameIsHardToChoose (referred to as Old Choosing from now on) interjected. His appearance settings also looked quite handsome, but his hairstyle was an afro.

“I’ll also make it clear that Atobe forced us to wear these clothes,” ReallyHardToChooseAName (referred to as Real Bro from now on) also said. He had also beautified his face, but he actually chose a mohawk hairstyle.

Among these four oddballs, apart from Master Atobe, who had a pretty, idealized hairstyle, the other three were: Xiao Ming, bald; Old Choosing, afro; Real Bro, mohawk. In reality, the latter three all had regular short hair, and they would never get these hairstyles, so they were indulging themselves in the game.

“Indeed… this logo is a bit girly. It seems you guys are very helpless,” Feng Bujue said in a sympathetic tone. “Fortunately, I can see that you all have remarkable bones and bizarre hairstyles…”

“Hey! Who said it’s a bit girly! It’s elegant, cold, and handsome!” Atobe interrupted.

“Big bro…” Feng Bujue put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s as girly as a piping bag filled with lemon cream…”

Atobe pushed his hand away. “I can’t understand that analogy…”

Xiao Ming said weakly from behind, “Hey… Mr. Feng, you see, we told him, but he doesn’t listen.”

Old Choosing chimed in, “He’s stubbornly clinging to his delusion…”

Real Bro also said, “Might as well change the name to Hyotei Host Club…”

“What are you guys babbling about! I’m the leader!” Atobe roared.

Because he raised his voice slightly this time, a virtual guard instantly moved next to them. These guards were humanoid, 1.9 meters tall, had no skin, and were entirely metal skeletons, looking very much like the pure robot form of the Terminator. It wore a black uniform with a huge, eye-catching “管” (guǎn - manage) printed on the back. As long as there were any abnormalities in the public space, such as a group of people surrounding one or several people, the virtual guard would instantly move to the side, maintain order, and deal with the situation.

“Is there a problem here?” The guard’s voice was set to a mechanized tone without any emotional color, but in fact, their intelligence was very high, so they generally wouldn’t act first but would ask questions first.

“It’s nothing, we’re just chatting,” Feng Bujue replied.

The guard heard this, looked at the people again, and then turned and left.

“Looks like I’ll have to go back to the login space later to read the complete version of the open beta game instructions,” Feng Bujue said with a smile, watching the guard’s back.

“Alright, I won’t chat with you anymore, lest these grandsons sell out their teammates in front of outsiders again,” Atobe said to him. “In the near future… once our Hyotei makes a name for ourselves, this logo will naturally become a symbol of the strong, oh hahaha…” He put his hands on his hips and laughed a few times, waving his hand at his three buddies. “Let’s go, let’s go…” As he left, he didn’t forget to say, “Mr. Feng, see you later. If you want to ask me for an autograph in the future, I might consider it, hahahaha…”

“Ha… haha…” Feng Bujue’s mouth twitched, and he forced out two dry laughs. “Goo… goodbye…”