Sacred Souls: Genesis-Chapter 159 - 158 Not Just a Game (Third Update)

Chapter 159: Chapter 158 Not Just a Game (Third Update)

All three lord-level Molten Core Dragons turned into materials in the players’ backpacks with the assistance of Queen Mei and the Lion Heart Knight.

However, the entire stronghold of the Dancing Nuclear Guild had been thoroughly destroyed in this battle, the only usable building being the ancient tree, which now had less than five thousand health points remaining.

Zhao Mingwei, upon hearing this news, logged in using VR equipment immediately after the match ended.

His login location was right at the center of the Dancing Nuclear Guild’s stronghold. Zhao Mingwei crouched down to pick up a piece of charred component from the ground.

The physical effects and modeling of the Holy Spirit were still so impressive that Zhao Mingwei was amazed—no, this was reality.

When Zhao Mingwei wiped the ash off the component with his fingertips, he could still vaguely see a line of small characters imprinted on it.

...

‘From Chang Qing’s hands, hehe.’

This component was from Xia Shan’s mining machine; Xia Shan had made sure to stamp every part when she built the mining machine.

Zhao Mingwei could see the effort Xia Shan had put into this mining machine, but now it had turned into wreckage, with parts even disintegrating into the magma.

“This situation is pretty bad. I’m kind of glad I didn’t join the Dancing Nuclear Guild,” said Lin Xi, who also logged in and appeared next to Zhao Mingwei. In the distance, half of the ancient tree of the Dancing Nuclear Guild was burned to charcoal.

“Old Song must be freaking out right now.”

Zhao Mingwei wasn’t in the mood for banter with Lin Xi and walked straight to the Bunny Fluff, who was directing the repair of the camp.

“Bunny Fluff.” Zhao Mingwei tapped Bunny Fluff’s shoulder with his hand.

“Mr. Laugh… You finished the match? Oh… the Guild Master is online too?”

Bunny Fluff’s attire was very fitting for ‘her’ ID, currently sporting a pair of pink bunny ears headgear which enhanced the hearing range, an advantage for commanding.

Right after Mo Shigui handed over the guild stronghold to Bunny Fluff, a bunch of lord-level bosses suddenly appeared and blew up the stronghold. Such a big mistake could have led Bunny Fluff to resign in disgrace, but she was still trying to rectify her error.

“No, what about that NPC named Yekana you guys hired earlier?”

Zhao Mingwei looked around and only saw members of the Dancing Nuclear Guild and members of the Abyss Temple who, despite chatting nonstop, were helping nearby.

But no matter how hard Zhao Mingwei searched, he couldn’t find Yekana.

“Yekana, she… was eaten by a Molten Core Dragon during the battle.” Bunny Fluff’s long bunny ears drooped in that moment. “Her status bar says ‘missing’ not ‘dead,’ so she should still be alive, right, Mr. Laugh?”

After Bunny Fluff said this, Zhao Mingwei applied Wind Breath to himself and disappeared in front of Bunny Fluff, running towards the exit of the stronghold… and at that moment, Jiang Qiao was just at the exit of the Dancing Nuclear Guild stronghold.

“Good afternoon,” Jiang Qiao waved at Zhao Mingwei.

Zhao Mingwei ignored Jiang Qiao, bypassing him, but in that instant, Jiang Qiao grabbed Zhao Mingwei’s arm.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

The strength of a Mind Energy Master was nowhere near Jiang Qiao’s, who was possessed by an earth spirit—at least in theory. Still, Jiang Qiao nearly got dragged along as Zhao Mingwei surged forward with immense force.

“Where are you off to?” Jiang Qiao grabbed Zhao Mingwei and asked a question he shouldn’t have.

“Guild Master…” Zhao Mingwei wasn’t the impulsive type. After being seized by Jiang Qiao, he regained his composure and said, “Guild Master, how many people are in our guild? Let’s gather them for the next instance.”

He started thinking of ways to rescue Yelena, knowing that relying on himself alone was impossible, as the gaming experience on Biland Island wasn’t great for lone wolf players.

The deeper one ventured into the island, the more lord-level monsters one encountered, requiring at least groups of five to twenty players to defeat.

If the Magic Thieves’ instance was deep inside Biland Island… then they definitely needed to assemble a whole strategy group for the battle.

“Does our guild have only five members? Have you forgotten?” Jiang Qiao noticed Zhao Mingwei’s inner anxiety, but he didn’t show it on his face.

For Zhao Mingwei, logging in during such a sensitive period was already an impulsive act.

It was during the Competitive League season. The reason Mo Shigui had handed over a week’s guild command to Fluffy Rabbit was to prevent their guild and club from being targeted by haters on Weibo during other games.

“Then I’ll get in touch.” Zhao Mingwei opened his friend list; he had quite a few friends, about three hundred.

These weren’t friends from Spirit, but rather from the Sky Palace chat tool. These friends could sync their accounts in Spirit if they had created one there.

These three hundred or more people were friends Zhao Mingwei had accumulated over his ten years of gaming.

Out of them, only fifty-three had registered accounts in Spirit, and at this moment, twenty-one were online and on the Biland Island map.

These twenty-one IDs were simple; most of them were core members of the eight major guilds, including perennial top-ranked solo players. All seven guild leaders, except Mo Shigui, were there.

As Zhao Mingwei prepared to send a group message, this time Lin Xi placed his hand on Zhao Mingwei’s shoulder.

“Xiao Ye, this is a bit too much,” Lin Xi said.

“Too much?” Zhao Mingwei turned around and looked at Lin Xi, not understanding what was excessive about calling friends to join an instance.

“We’re still in the midst of a competition. Just logging into another game is risky enough. Didn’t you see that even after Old Song’s home was practically demolished, he still hasn’t logged in? We have a match tomorrow, and here we are, running an instance in this game, and you’ve called so many people… This could ruin our reputations if screenshots get posted on Weibo,” Lin Xi said seriously.

This issue touched on the reputation of professional players and club management. Zhao Mingwei already had enough detractors.

Just yesterday, the club released a PR statement stating, ‘Player Zhao Mingwei’s playing of other games during the May Day holiday is a normal personal entertainment activity and has nothing to do with professional conduct or regulations; our club will also increase oversight over Player Zhao Mingwei’s daily training, being committed to maintaining the professional environment of the competitive circle.’

The statement managed to suppress the negative trends for a while because it was the holiday season, but now that it was the league season… It could be said that if Zhao Mingwei practiced leveling alone and wasn’t caught, that was one thing.

This time, by gathering elites from the other seven major guilds, Zhao Mingwei was staking all the professional honors he had earned over the years on this.

“Is it worth it for an NPC? Even if it dies, it can be respawned next time,” Lin Xi couldn’t bear to watch; he was Zhao Mingwei’s top fan, having watched Zhao Mingwei evolve from an obscure player to a world-renowned Grand Devil.

Zhao Mingwei should have been able to retire perfectly, adorned with honors.

“…” Zhao Mingwei grabbed Lin Xi’s arm resting on his shoulder, his grip so strong that even Lin Xi could feel the pain feedback from the VR suit.

“I know what I’m doing,” Zhao Mingwei said.

He knew what he was doing, but he couldn’t tell others that this world was real, that if the NPC died, it truly died, not just as a set of data but as a living being, dying amid fear, anxiety, and regret.

“Xiao Ye, if you really want to keep playing, I’ll pull your internet plug!” Lin Xi warned.

He could really do so by simply disconnecting the internet cable from Zhao Mingwei’s VR equipment, and he had every right to—it was to protect the club’s reputation and Zhao Mingwei’s honor!

“Then I can go to the neighboring Dancing Nuclear venue,” Zhao Mingwei, hearing Lin Xi’s threat, suddenly smiled, recalling his long-past days of scrimping to play games in internet cafes when he had little money.

Back then, Zhao Mingwei spent all his money on internet fees instead of meals, and Lin Xi had threatened, “If you keep playing, I’ll have the cafe manager disconnect your internet.”

But Zhao Mingwei didn’t listen… it was only when the café lost power that Lin Xi was able to pull Zhao Mingwei out to have a meal of skewers.

“The neighboring venue? Did you not understand that Old Song and the others can’t play either?” Lin Xi was saying this when Fluffy Rabbit, standing behind him, suddenly spoke in a somewhat scared voice.

“Guild Leader, have you logged in?”

“Damn!” Lin Xi turned around and found that the entire elite of the Dancing Nuclear Guild had logged on, including many professional players. Seeing this, Lin Xi straight-out yelled, “Old Song, aren’t you afraid your club will be blasted by haters!”

Mo Shigui did not respond to Lin Xi, heading straight toward the charred ancient tree.

“Mother clucker, one internet addict, one deadpan; the club that signed you two really drew the short straw,” Lin Xi could only shout exasperatedly.