"The Internet Cafe will close soon. Players, please exit the game."
The system notification sounded.
Game time was up.
"No way, it's already this late?"
"Oh no, the pharmacy is closing! I still need to buy medicine for Dad!"
At this moment, Li Xiaoyao, who had been engrossed in watching a player behind him, snapped back to reality, as if waking from a dream.
Because he had been watching so intently, he had temporarily forgotten the time.
He rushed out of the Internet Cafe in a hurry and left.
Immediately after, other players also logged off one after another.
They weren't as rushed; they walked out slowly, discussing as they went.
Besides talking about their game progress, the most discussed topic was naturally the upcoming new game.
"A new game?"
"Is a new game coming out?"
At this time, Liu Shiwan, who had also just exited the game, was a bit curious after learning about it.
However, after hearing other players say that this new game seemed to be a similar type to monster hunter, she showed disappointment.
She had tried playing monster hunter before, but she really didn't like that style.
When the new game came out, she might still give it a try, but her interest was now much lower.
So, she quickly put the new game out of her mind and instead considered matters in Stardew Valley.
Ever since she co-oped with Liu Zhengyuan and the other two last time, she had realized a problem.
That is, playing alone made game progress much slower.
When she co-oped with the three of them, even though they were new players, they could help her a lot, making her feel much more relaxed.
It was no wonder that the players in the Farming Team could make such rapid progress in just a few days.
"It seems I need to find a few people to help me too!"
Thinking of this, Liu Shiwan's beautiful eyes shifted, as if she had an idea, and she couldn't help but quicken her steps as she returned.
...
The next day.
Early morning.
In the back mountain of the Royal Academy, within a cave rich in Martial Qi, several stone chambers were built.
These were specially used for the academy's students to cultivate in seclusion, and the effects were excellent.
However, because the number of stone chambers was limited, reservations usually had to be made in advance, and each seclusion could not exceed one month.
"Haha, I actually succeeded in breaking through on the last day!"
At this moment, the door of one of the stone chambers was pushed open.
A tall, handsome young man walked out, laughing heartily.
His name was Wu Hao, the eldest son of General Wu Zhenglong, and today was exactly the deadline for his seclusion in the stone chamber.
Wu Hao looked at the silver star ring appearing on his wrist, his face showing a proud expression.
"Two stars in one month, and a major realm breakthrough at that!"
"This speed, I'm afraid even those core students, no, not even the Heaven Rank students are as fast as me!"
Wu Hao, whose confidence was quite inflated at this moment, felt that he needed to show off.
He quickly strolled around the academy, but after walking a circle, he didn't see anyone.
"Where is everyone?"
"Why is the academy so deserted today?"
Then, Wu Hao ran to the Martial Arts Plaza and looked again, but still no one.
Although it was still very early, it was important to know that the Royal Academy's martial arts atmosphere was very good.
Normally at this time, even if there were no classes, there should already be many students practicing martial arts in the Martial Arts Plaza.
"What's going on?"
"Did the academy have a collective holiday today?"
Wu Hao was a bit puzzled.
Although he knew that some students had gone out for training, that should only be core students and Heaven Rank students.
It wasn't until he walked to the academy gate that he finally saw many people walking out of the academy.
"Eh, is that...?"
He saw a familiar figure walking towards him among them.
Wu Hao was delighted and couldn't help but smile as he went up to greet him.
"Hey, Zhang Tao, look!"
"I broke through to Silver during this seclusion! Aren't you surprised? Isn't this unexpected?"
However, at this moment, Zhang Tao turned a deaf ear, didn't even look at him, and walked straight forward.
Wu Hao was dumbfounded; he and Zhang Tao had always had a good relationship.
Wu Hao originally wanted to ask Zhang Tao where he was rushing off to so early in the morning.
But in a flash, the other party had already walked far away.
"What's happening?"
Wu Hao stared at Zhang Tao's back, stunned.
But he didn't know that Zhang Tao, at this moment, was concentrating on pondering the game in order to clear it as early as possible, and simply didn't hear anyone talking to him.
And just as Wu Hao was Stunned, he saw several figures running out of the gate, all of whom were acquaintances.
"Hurry, hurry! I should be able to defeat the three Ancient Dragons and see the final boss today!"
"I'm almost there too, I'll try to clear it tomorrow!"
"Hmm, that way I can play the new game the day after tomorrow."
Wu Hao heard them saying some inexplicable things, and then they rushed away in a hurry.
They didn't even notice him, let alone greet him.
He didn't know where they were going either.
This made Wu Hao even more confused.
"Forget it, I'll go home first!"
Finally, Wu Hao couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it and decided to go home.
Because he had been in seclusion for a month, he hadn't returned home.
"Young Master, you're back?"
When he arrived home, everyone in the General Estate enthusiastically came to welcome him.
"Hmm!"
Wu Hao looked at these kind and familiar faces, and only then did his mood improve a bit, then he asked, "Where's my father?"
A servant said, "The Master went out on official business; he'll probably be back in a while!"
Wu Hao nodded, smiled, and asked again, "Then what about Wu Lei? He shouldn't be up yet, right?"
Speaking of Wu Lei, Wu Hao's smile grew wider. The three brothers of their General Estate had always had a good relationship.
However, Wu Lei had always admired his second brother more, because his second brother had extremely high cultivation talent and had even fortuitously joined a major Martial Arts sect.
But this time, if he knew that his own cultivation had also progressed so quickly, it would surely surprise him greatly.
Thinking of this, Wu Hao was already eager to see that kid's surprised expression.
He was just about to go look for Wu Lei.
However, he heard the servant say, "The Third Young Master is already up, and he's already gone out!"
"What?"
"He went out too?"
Wu Hao was bewildered and couldn't help but ask, "So early? Where did he go?"
He could understand it for others, but that kid Wu Lei, he knew, always liked to sleep in. Going out so early in the morning was completely out of character.
He saw the servant say with a somewhat strange expression, "Recently, the Third Young Master has been going out this early every day. It seems he's been playing at a place called an Internet Cafe!"
Upon hearing this, Wu Hao looked even more confused.
Internet Cafe?
He knew all the places Wu Lei liked to go.
But what was this Internet Cafe?
Could it be some fun new place that appeared in the city during the month he was in seclusion?