23

ven though finding some confidence in her feminine behavior through the straightforward boy's social media updates seemed a bit off, in esports, there's no need to differentiate between male and female. Zhong Qing felt justified.

Winning is the only truth.

At this moment, the Reincarnation guild, having divided up the boss loot, was naturally holding their heads high. Lone Drink felt he had good judgment—this girl wasn't just a top player; she was a powerhouse. Looking to the side, he saw Three Realms Six Paths raising an eyebrow and tapping his foot, showing off in the guild leader chat, living up to his introverted but flashy persona.

[Three Realms Six Paths]: What do you think? We played pretty unexpectedly this time, huh?

[Southern Star]: …Were you the one commanding?

As he replied, he glanced nervously at the star of the youth training camp sitting nearby and Wang Jiexi, who had appeared behind him, so anxious that he even forgot to ask for an autograph.

[Yo Feng Dian]: As if! He can only show off like this when we meet in the arena. When it comes to world bosses, just look at how many he's taken down this week.

[Spring's Ease]: What's going on? Arrian was taken by Reincarnation?

[Southern Star]: Is that Elementalist your new commander?

[Three Realms Six Paths]: …I say, we're not even in the same guild, so ease up on the intel gathering.

"Is there a recording?" Wang Jiexi asked.

He wasn't upset about professional players losing a world boss, as Jiang had already pointed out—his mind was still on the playoffs, not some wild boss. His inquiry was more of a reflex, driven by his talent-scouting instincts.

"N-no, we didn't have time," Southern Star responded, feeling even more anxious.

How could he have predicted that Reincarnation, despite arriving late, would use the terrain to their advantage, clearing out Tyranny's forces before taking out his own guild? Fortunately, he hadn't lost focus and realized that the only possible commander on the other side was that Elementalist in the hardest-to-snipe position.

Three Realms Six Paths hadn't denied it and was instead scolding him for prying, which was confirmation enough.

"If you encounter them again, make sure to record it."

Wang Jiexi patted Gao Yingjie on the shoulder, signaling for him to follow. In his view, experiencing some setbacks in the game was a good thing.

Getting focused and eliminated would teach this future star something valuable.

Zhong Qing logged in after getting home, around 9 p.m.

As soon as she entered the game on the Elementalist account she had received from the Reincarnation guild, a friend request popped up, making her marvel at how some people could be so persistent when it came to PvP.

"I thought you were going to stand me up again!!"

The two exclamation points in the private message were particularly eye-catching.

"…You know I had to take the subway, right?" She had to remember that while her home technically counted as a part of the outer city suburbs under S City's urban planning, it was still over an hour's ride from the Reincarnation club. Add to that her rented place wasn't right next to a subway station. Leaving the club at around 7 p.m., getting home by 9 was already a blessing.

She covered her face, wondering if she had been too lenient with Sun Xiang from the start. But considering he was the first professional player she had met after arriving in this world, she couldn't help but be a little softer with him.

After all, he didn't mean any harm, and while she was playing the role of a strategist with average hand speed, she needed someone to help her keep her skills sharp.

"You're really not afraid of being watched in the game, huh?"

Sun Xiang's Crossed Sword was still his professional character. Fortunately, while waiting, he had picked a secluded spot and hadn't been spotted yet.

"Training ground?" After meeting up with the Elementalist, Wu Lan, he lifted his heavy sword, showing some intent to fight.

"No need for the training ground."

Although Crossed Sword was a professional character, Everlasting Cloud was still a small team, and that showed not only in the limited number of Silver equipment but also in their quality. With Zhong Qing's sharp eyes, she could tell that some of the Silver gear he had was probably the kind that only had slightly better basic stats than Orange gear, without any special additional properties.

As for Wu Lan, before logging off today, she had carefully swapped some of her Orange gear in the guild warehouse for items that better suited her preferences. While this didn't necessarily provide a big boost, it made her equipment more familiar and aligned with her playstyle.

Moreover, this character had been lucky with skill points. Though not quite at professional level, they were still a few dozen points higher than most accounts, allowing her experience to bridge the remaining gap.

Sun Xiang's Berserker was indeed impressive, but Zhong Qing believed her own skills were just as good.

And for a Berserker, even when playing another class, guessing what a Berserker would do next was almost instinctive.

"Alright, don't say I'm bullying you," Zhong Qing could easily imagine the slightly arrogant, proud expression on the boy behind the screen. But having confidence in your main class wasn't something to be judged.

"Map?" Sun Xiang directly entered the arena room he often used.

"Random is fine."

1v1 arena, map: Mirage Tower loading.

This Mirage Tower wasn't the desert map you might expect. Instead, it resembled a misty Miao ethnic altar. The floating towers, shrouded in fog between the distant mountains, seemed sometimes real and sometimes like illusions, though they were inaccessible. The actual battleground consisted of four areas: the altar, the lake, the short cave path leading to the altar, and a small flowerbed by the lakeside.

With limited visibility due to the mist, this map was obviously in her favor.

The Elementalist Wu Lan loaded in at the top left, while the Berserker Crossed Sword appeared at the bottom right.

Without hesitation, she quickly moved toward the cave, alternating between sprinting and walking, but she didn't enter the cave. Instead, she swiftly climbed a vine-covered trellis along one side and perched on a sturdy branch, hiding her character in the shadows of the trees.

[Crossed Sword]: What the heck is this creepy map?

[Crossed Sword]: Let's just fight at the altar.

[Wu Lan]: Sure, see you at the altar.

Zhong Qing didn't move her character from its position. From Sun Xiang's spawn point, he would have to pass through this area to reach the altar. However, he didn't seem entirely off guard.

The footsteps she heard in her headset suddenly stopped, followed by the sound of something brushing through the grass on the other side, but she still didn't move.

Her eyes were locked on the Elemental Power skill in her toolbar. As a levitation spell with no flashy visual effects, it was extremely useful in this situation.

Hit!

For a Berserker to break through an Elementalist, they had to close the distance, but that wasn't easy in this corner.

Being levitated into the air, Crossed Sword didn't hesitate to use Dash Stab to charge into a group of bats hidden in the cave. Then, with a Reverse Slash, he aimed to attack the Elementalist through the cracks in the cave ceiling.

Moving swiftly among the branches above the cave, the light-footed Elementalist leaped out of his attack range, not forgetting to throw an ice projectile through a gap to slightly deflect the heavy sword that was about to cleave through the ceiling.

As Wu Lan seemingly glided down from above without anyone noticing, she didn't miss the momentary stiffness in the heavy sword swing. A dense Ice Thread spread out in a pattern that would be impossible to decipher from a first-person perspective.

Sun Xiang was undoubtedly a genius. He activated Berserk before the Ice Thread had fully spread, using the super armor from Mountain Crash during Berserk to block the expanding ice thread, then—

Blood Shadow Wild Blade!