The sky was dim, thunder rumbled, wild winds swept through, and rain poured down.
It was just past seven in the morning.
Outside the Internet Cafe, players began to appear one after another, clad in raincoats, arriving early to queue up, unmoving through thunder and rain.
Knowing that it was still early before opening time, they could only chat among themselves, but most of their conversations revolved around games.
Today, Ouyang Qing didn't oversleep and arrived early. He stood among the crowd, wearing a thick raincoat, one hand holding an exquisite food box prepared by his household's servants, and the other already gnawing on a beast leg. He realized his appetite seemed to have increased recently.
While eating, he winked at Wu Lei, who was beside him, and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Old Wu, I heard you haven't even defeated an Ancient Dragon these past two days, and you're stuck on your game progress. What do you say, do you want us brothers to come and help you?"
"Hmph, you'd have to be able to reach my level first!"
Wu Lei snorted, his face full of disdain: "And if I can't beat it, what good are a few of you? It'd be useless!"
Ouyang Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and reminded with a smile, "Sorry, but we already caught up to your game progress yesterday!"
"What!"
Wu Lei's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but look at Dugu Mu and Oriental Bright beside him for confirmation. The two also nodded and said, "Yes, we already defeated the Extinction Dragon yesterday!"
And just then, out of nowhere, Liu Chengfeng, who was beside them, also interjected, "I can also defeat the Extinction Dragon today. Following the boss's guidance, it shouldn't be too difficult, and I'll soon catch up to your progress!"
Wu Lei was stunned.
They've all caught up?
Wu Lei felt a bit depressed.
He was originally the first, apart from the boss, to defeat the Extinction Dragon, having the fastest game progress. He had planned to clear the game in one go.
But he didn't expect the difficulty to soar again later in the game. The remaining Ancient Dragons were ridiculously strong; he tried to fight them all but couldn't defeat a single one.
Even when he sought guidance from the boss, the boss said these Ancient Dragons were enhanced, battle-hardened Ancient Dragons, meaning they were especially difficult to defeat.
Achong had also been busy with household affairs recently and had no time to play games, so he couldn't even find suitable helpers.
In the end, unable to defeat them, he could only go and farm other monsters, hoping to get better equipment and practice his skills. For example, he had already repeatedly defeated the Extinction Dragon many times.
Seeing this delay, other players had already caught up right behind him, making Wu Lei even more anxious.
"No, I can't practice slowly anymore. The Taichi Sword's moves and techniques are too difficult and time-consuming to master."
"So, I can only put some effort into weapon and armor builds..."
Wu Lei considered himself a veteran player of the Internet Cafe. If the boss was better than him, so be it, but he had no intention of being surpassed by other players before clearing the game. He couldn't help but ponder countermeasures.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Several members of the hunting team, including Zhao Tie and Liu Hu, actually arrived even earlier.
They didn't wear raincoats, letting the heavy rain pour on them, yet they stood there chatting calmly.
Zhao Tie suddenly brought up, "You all should have received the hunting team's notification yesterday, right? We're going out of the city to hunt again tomorrow!"
Liu Hu responded, "This joint hunt, I heard, is quite large-scale. We probably won't be able to return for several days!"
Someone nodded along and said, "Looks like we won't be able to play games for many days!"
"What a pity, I was originally planning to try and catch up to Lord Wu's game progress!"
"Yeah, by the time we come back this time, they've probably already cleared the game!"
Zhao Tie: "..."
Zhao Tie was speechless seeing everyone's regretful and disappointed expressions because they couldn't play games.
What he originally wanted to say was that since they were going out of the city to hunt tomorrow, why not play a few less hours today and go back to prepare well?
But now it seemed that this remark was a bit superfluous and unnecessary, because no one was worried or cared about this issue at all.
Including Zhao Tie himself, if he were to ask himself, bringing this up now, rather than worry, it was more about anticipation.
Thinking about it, it was truly a bit unsettling.
He used to utterly detest, even fear, hunting desolate beasts, but now, not only had he become addicted to hunting desolate beasts in the game, he even wanted to try it in reality.
If he were to truly die at the hands of a desolate beast one day, he would surely say before his death: This game, it truly harms people deeply!
...
As eight o'clock approached.
The rain lessened, the sky gradually cleared, revealing a hint of light, and more and more people gathered in front of the Internet Cafe.
Suddenly.
A bright and captivating figure was seen walking quickly from outside the alley, immediately attracting the attention of many and causing an instant uproar.
"Oh, isn't that Liu Shiwan, Liu Shiwan?"
"What, where is she?"
"It really is, Shi Wan, why are you here?"
"Could it be that Shi Wan, you're also here to play games?"
Everyone was too engrossed in playing games yesterday and didn't notice Liu Shiwan's presence, so they all showed surprised expressions upon seeing her arrival.
Many people present were very fond of Liu Shiwan's singing, dancing, and zither music, considering themselves her loyal fans. However, recently, they had been immersed in games and had no mind for other things, so they realized it had been quite a while since they had gone to support her.
"I came here, of course, to play games, just like all of you!"
Liu Shiwan smiled lightly and said, "I find the games here really interesting!"
"So Liu Shiwan also likes the games here, that's great!"
"Shi Wan, how far have you played?"
"How's your game progress?"
"Are you interested in playing online together later?"
When everyone heard that Liu Shiwan was indeed here to play games, they felt like fans hearing that their favorite celebrity shared the same hobby. Amidst their surprise, they eagerly started asking questions.
Facing everyone's enthusiasm, Liu Shiwan could only truthfully answer, "My game progress shouldn't be far. I just started playing and only learned how to cultivate and plant parsnips. Then I got addicted to fishing and cooking. But what is this 'playing online' you're talking about?"
"Ah?"
"parsnip? Fishing? Cooking?"
"So Shi Wan, you're not playing monster hunter, but the new Stardew Valley? Didn't they say that new game wasn't fun?"
"Yeah, I heard it's a very boring farming game. I wasn't even planning to play it."
"Liu Shiwan, I strongly recommend you play monster hunter!"
"Exactly, even if you can't beat it, we can play online and carry you. Playing online means several players can play in the same world!"
At this point, everyone realized that Liu Shiwan was not playing "monster hunter," but "stardew valley," which was somewhat unexpected.
"I see, I understand. But I think I won't be changing games for now!"
Liu Shiwan said with a serious expression, "I think Stardew Valley is also very fun. Although it might indeed be just a farming game as you said, after actually playing it, it's truly addictive. I really like it there!"
"Really?"
"Is Stardew Valley really fun?"
Everyone looked at each other, half-believing, half-doubting.
"Since Shi Wan said so, maybe that game is actually good!"
"Why don't we try it too?"
"Alright, anyway, we probably won't catch up to monster hunter's progress anytime soon!"
When they saw Liu Shiwan's expectant expression, they were somewhat moved, which also made some people who had originally lost interest in the game consider trying it again.
This was probably the so-called celebrity effect!