Chapter 51: Meeting Wang Xuming
Bai Cha didn’t ask any more questions.
Because her roommates had just returned.
In the following days, besides browsing the game forum and looking for clues related to her dream, Bai Cha was still writing her thesis.
There was no other way; graduation was approaching. In fact, both of her roommates were already interning. She had taken a day off because of her illness.
She would have to start her internship soon, or she wouldn’t be able to graduate.
But the current situation…
Bai Cha could only take it one step at a time and enter the game again to see what was going on.
Once she entered the game, her life in the real world would obviously be disrupted.
However, the day before entering the game, she first went to the game town.
Guilds were all in the town, as she had seen on the forum.
Eternal Radiance Guild, ranked tenth.
Guild leader Xu Mingwang, an S3-level expert, ranked tenth on the leaderboard.
Xu Mingwang, Wang Xuming…
Bai Cha went directly to the entrance of the Eternal Radiance Guild.
The guild’s setting, as luxurious as a palace, didn’t feel particularly noble.
Instead, it was a bit too ostentatious.
The guild even had a front desk.
It was a boy, sitting there watching a live stream on his panel.
Seeing someone walk in, he looked up, his eyes slightly brightening.
“Yo, beauty, what’s up?”
Bai Cha nodded slightly and said, “I’m looking for Xu Mingwang.”
The boy was taken aback, then carefully sized up Bai Cha.
“You’re Bai Cha, right? Please wait a moment…”
He picked up the phone on the table and dialed a number.
“Guild leader, someone’s looking for you, that girl you mentioned.”
Hanging up the phone, the boy gestured for her to follow him and led her to a room.
“Wait here for a moment. He’ll be here soon. I’ll get you a cup of tea. What would you like to drink?”
“Plain water.”
The boy chuckled and said, “Funny that, our guild only has that. You really have a discerning eye.” Bai Cha: “…”
Was that how the word was used?
A cup of steaming plain water was placed on the table. The boy went out, and the door was quickly pushed open again.
A flashy young man dressed in glittering jewelry walked in.
“Ha, I knew you could guess who I was. But I didn’t expect you to come find me only today. I’ve been waiting for you here every day.”
Wang Xuming, or Xu Mingwang, pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Bai Cha. He looked much more unrestrained than in the game.
Perhaps it was because of his appearance.
He was naturally born with a face that was both aggressive and extraordinarily dazzling.
Even a bit frivolous.
Bai Cha wasn’t interested in his looks, but she still carefully sized him up. He had absolutely no resemblance to his in-game appearance.
“Can you hide your appearance in the game?”
That shouldn’t be a simple hiding; even the panel information was hidden.
“Yeah, the mall sells face-changing options, 200 points each time. But if you want to hide your panel information as well, you’ll need to spend an extra 500 to exchange for a hiding item.”
Bai Cha: “…”
Sorry, that was beyond her personal affordability.
“You’re S3,” Bai Cha said. She actually already knew his level but still wanted to confirm one last time.
“That’s right. So you’re definitely a newbie. What level are you now?”
Xu Mingwang crossed his hands on the table, leaned forward, his flirtatious eyes gleaming.
Bai Cha frowned imperceptibly and leaned back in her chair.
“F9.”
There was nothing to hide.
“Yo, first time in a dungeon, not bad. If it weren’t for me, you might have gotten even more points.”
Bai Cha wasn’t here to discuss such things with him.
“Why were you so sure I was a newbie back then? Your level shouldn’t correspond to a newbie’s level either.”
“Just a hunch,” Xu Mingwang leaned back lazily and said casually, “See, you admitted it as soon as I said it, so that confirms it.”
Lies.
Bai Cha took a sip of water.
“But to be precise, I went in for someone else. I came to you to ask about this. What level of item is needed to deceive the game and pull someone in to replace oneself in the game?”
Xu Mingwang’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
He finally sized up Bai Cha seriously.
“Don’t casually say these things to others in the future… Secondly, I just knew something was off about you when I was in the game. So that’s how it is, no wonder…”
Xu Mingwang thought for a moment, then pulled Bai Cha up and walked to the window, pointing to a Chinese-style building outside.
“That guild, the Voodoo Guild, is ranked 17th, not as high as us. But their guild leader has been dedicated to various witchcrafts. Among them, his substitution technique is incredibly exquisite. Generally, players in the game who want to buy substitution-type items will look for him to make them.”
“Given your situation, besides the people in their guild, I can’t think of anyone else who could replace a real-world person with someone in the game.”
Bai Cha remembered his words, but at the same time looked at him with some suspicion.
“So certain?”
“No, I didn’t say it must be someone from their guild. I just said it’s the only people I can think of. I don’t understand this aspect. If you want to know more, you can look for them. But the people there are particularly insidious. You might get caught as soon as you go in and end up having to take a hit for them.”
As Xu Mingwang spoke, he spread his hands, then leaned closer to Bai Cha, placing one hand on her shoulder.
“But our guild isn’t like that. Our guild is very friendly. Would you consider joining us? Are you going into a dungeon next? We can find someone to guide you!”
Bai Cha: “…”
No need to exaggerate that much.
“I haven’t decided whether to join a guild yet. I want to officially enter a dungeon and see what it’s like first.”
Xu Mingwang wasn’t disappointed.
“Okay, then I’ll wait for you to come out. Oh, do you know which dungeon you’re going into?”
“‘Hidden Surveillance.’ I’m going in tomorrow.”
Xu Mingwang paused, looking at her with some surprise.
“Going in tomorrow? Today is the sixth day, tomorrow is the seventh day…” He pretended to count on his fingers.
“There’s something wrong with your game account, dear,” he said, imitating the game’s voice.
“So this is the second question I came to ask you. What’s the usual time interval for players entering the game? Is my situation very special?”
“Not really…” Xu Mingwang scratched his head, “I also go in once every seven days. Generally speaking, once you reach S-rank, you’ll go in once every seven days.”
But Bai Cha was only F-rank.
“Wait a moment, let me check your instance. Do you know what level it is?” He took out a laptop from his backpack.
“C9.”
Xu Mingwang paused.
“Whoa! Sister, you wouldn’t… still be acting as a substitute for someone else, would you?”
As he spoke, he turned the laptop screen around.
“This is indeed a C9 dungeon. There’s very little information about it on the forum. But we’ve also collected some. The clear rate is only 10%, which is quite rare for a C-level dungeon.”
“Unless there’s a high-level player in your instance, otherwise, considering you were chosen for this dungeon, plus the time you’re entering, and the fact that you said you originally came in as a substitute, I can only think of this one possibility.”
Clearing dungeons for someone else.
So she was entering instances that seemed certain death, and at a high frequency.
