Chapter 55: The Wailing Hive

Late at night, I returned to my dwelling, weighed down by exhaustion.

House-hunting was truly no simple task. Throughout the entire evening, I had inspected three rental properties. Two of them were not only far from the internet café, but also filthy, dilapidated, and completely unlivable. The third one was a hazardous building; the landlord claimed it merely looked dangerous while actually being as secure as a fortress, but for the sake of my own survival, I indignantly rejected it on the spot.

In the living room, Lin Qingying was still busy processing documents, showing no intention of acknowledging my presence. Therefore, after a hasty wash, I retreated to my room and went to sleep.

……

The next day, business as usual.

Lu Xiaobei was tapping away furiously, engaged in a dance battle with someone. The dance moves of the character on her screen were utterly exaggerated, incorporating even the Russian Grand Wheel. Anyone unaware would have thought she was trying to blast a crater into the mother planet.

Right at that moment, a young man walked into the internet café.

He was dressed in casual wear, his face wreathed in a lazy smile, holding a cup of COCO milk tea in his right hand and carrying another packaged cup in his left.

"Here to go online?" I asked, looking up.

"Going online is fine, not going online is fine too."

He stared at me with a meaningful smile. "You're Ding Han?"

My heart gave a slight jolt, and I nodded. "And you are?"

He raised his hand slightly and laughed, "The Milk Tea Immortality-Extending Sage!"

So it was him. A regular in the top five of the Xicheng rankings, rumored to be the strongest esper of the Crimson Firmament Guild, as well as the vice leader of the guild and the right-hand man of Dragon-Slaying Spear.

"My name is Xu Tian."

The Milk Tea Immortality-Extending Sage handed me the packaged cup of milk tea. "I didn't know which flavor you liked, so I bought you the most standard coconut jelly milk tea."

"Oh?"

I smiled, accepted the milk tea, opened it, and took a sip.

At this point, Lu Xiaobei stopped dancing, turned to look at me, and then glanced at Xu Tian.

I offered a faint smile. "A friend."

"Oh..."

She gave me a look that clearly meant "you sure have a lot of friends," then went back to playing her game on her own.

Xu Tian pulled an empty chair over and sat down beside me. "This place of yours is nice... quiet, and the boss is really pretty!"

"Don't get any ideas about my boss, thank you."

I crossed my arms, squinting at him with a smile. "Milk Tea Brother, spit it out. What brings you here?"

"Alright."

Xu Tian lowered his voice. "Got time tonight? Our boss has set up a banquet and would like to invite you for a drink."

"Dragon-Slaying Spear?"

"That's right."

Xu Tian said, "Don't overthink it. It's purely to make a friend, with no ulterior motives. Everyone in our Crimson Firmament Guild is very simple-minded."

"That's fine, I suppose."

I muttered after a brief pause, "Can you check with Guild Leader Dragon-Slaying Spear first? I don't drink, and my alcohol tolerance is abysmal—three drinks and I'm out. Will it be alright if I substitute tea for wine when the time comes?"

"Of course, no problem."

Xu Tian said, "Set me up with a PC. I'll play for a bit and head over to the restaurant with you later."

"Sure."

I assigned a PC to Xu Tian. Cradling his milk tea, he went over to log in, fired up the game *Stone Age*, and logged into a level-32 archer. The moment he started, he was unleashing volleys in all directions, fierce to an absurd degree.

Another character of many talents.

I crossed my arms and leaned back into the net-admin's throne, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of strategizing from behind the scenes. Dragon-Slaying Spear inviting me to dinner was definitely not as simple as just having a meal; in all likelihood, just like One-Blade Soul-Entry, it was an attempt to recruit me to their side. Currently, the competition among guilds in the Xicheng region was fierce, and players on the rankings almost all belonged to guilds. Among the top ten, probably only Ruolin and I remained guildless.

Therefore, someone like me who maintained a stable position in the top three and had secured first place in regional event points was naturally a prime target for recruitment.

……

Zhao Hang dragged his feet and didn't show up to take over the shift until five-thirty.

Xu Tian rose to his full height and glared fiercely at Zhao Hang. "Young man, why do you have zero concept of time? Being this lazy, how can you expect the boss to think highly of you or promote you?!"

Lu Xiaobei nodded, in deep agreement.

Zhao Hang was completely dumbfounded, asking me in a low voice, "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Never mind him, go get to work."

I stood up and put on my jacket. "Lu Xiaobei, my shift is over."

"Go on, go on."

Lu Xiaobei remained immersed in her game, without even turning her head.

Walking out of the internet café and entering the ancient city, I arrived at a restaurant shortly afterward. Xu Tian led the way, and the moment he pushed open the private room door, there were already four or five people inside.

All of them were players, and Dragon-Slaying Spear was among them.

I had to admit, Dragon-Slaying Spear was an exceptionally young player, looking to be around 25 years old at most, yet exuding an aura of competence from head to toe. A calm smile hung at the corner of his mouth, making him appear refined and approachable.

"Boss, our Shadow-Chaser big shot has arrived!" Xu Tian laughed.

Dragon-Slaying Spear immediately stood up to greet me, smiling. "Ding Han, I've heard a lot about you... My name is Chen Ruhai, from Suzhou."

"What a coincidence."

I reached out to shake his hand, smiling. "I'm from Suzhou too."

"Oh?"

Dragon-Slaying Spear said, "Let me introduce myself. I used to play for the LPL team EDG, under the ID EDG.long. I wonder if you've ever heard of it?"

"The substitute ADC who took the fall for the Spring Split finals was actually you?" I was startled.

"Cough, cough..."

Dragon-Slaying Spear looked somewhat embarrassed. "After the LPL scene went a bit cold during those years, I ventured into other games, including this one, *Star Abyss*. I never expected this game to be so realistic, actually pulling our whole group right into it..."

"Tell me about it."

I nodded with a smile, after which Dragon-Slaying Spear motioned for everyone to take their seats.

The conversation that followed wasn't about any classified secrets; it was just trivial chatter about our respective worlds, filled with laughter and cheers. Interacting with the people from Crimson Firmament was indeed much more comfortable than dealing with those from Twilight of the Gods. Dragon-Slaying Spear's vision and perspective were simply incomparable to someone like One-Blade Soul-Entry.

"Ding Han."

After three rounds of drinks, Dragon-Slaying Spear's face was slightly flushed as he steered the conversation toward the main topic. "You are currently one of the most popular players in the entire Xicheng region. To be able to secure first place on the regional quest leaderboard and effortlessly obliterate that Tier-2 firepower specialist from Twilight of the Gods—I trust your combat prowess is certainly top-tier. Have you ever considered joining a guild?"

"To be honest, I really haven't considered it yet."

My stance remained unchanged. Joining a guild brought far too many restrictions, and it was very likely I would lose control over my own life, forfeiting the lifestyle I had already grown accustomed to. Therefore, I replied quite tactfully, "I'm a rather lazy person, and I've grown used to being free and unfettered. If I actually joined a guild, I certainly wouldn't be able to get used to it. So, Guild Leader Long, I know you want to invite me to join Crimson Firmament, but I truly can't agree to this for the time being."

"Mm, I understand."

Dragon-Slaying Spear said, "How wonderful it is to be free and easy; no one wants to be restrained. But the reason I invited you is simply because, while we players seem to hold tremendous advantages in this world, we are actually fighting a lonely battle with meager forces. What I am doing is merely consolidating the power of the players so that when the time comes—when we inevitably have to tear off our masks—we will have the capability to fight the indigenous inhabitants of Star Abyss."

"Guild Leader Long is truly far-sighted..."

"Cough, cough..."

Dragon-Slaying Spear looked slightly awkward and smiled. "No worries. Even if you don't join Crimson Firmament, I, Chen Ruhai, still acknowledge you as a friend, Ding Han. There's certainly no problem with all of us being friends."

"That goes without saying."

"Hehe..."

Beside him, the Milk Tea Immortality-Extending Sage laughed. "Ding Han, since you put it that way, we actually do have a matter we'd like to trouble you with. Actually, it's not really a trouble; it's destined to be a win-win situation."

"Oh?"

I was surprised. "What matter?"

Dragon-Slaying Spear paused thoughtfully before speaking. "We recently discovered a hidden map—an insectoid nest called the Wailing Hive. There are restrictions within this map; a maximum of only ten players can enter. Moreover, we have already sent a Phantom Assassin in to scout far ahead. The final boss of this map is a purple-tier Boss!"

"A purple-tier Boss?!"

I was struck dumb with astonishment.

Even the other accompanying players nearby wore stunned expressions. Clearly, Dragon-Slaying Spear hadn't shared this piece of intelligence even with these close confidants.

A purple-tier Boss at the current stage of the game was an unfathomable entity, something players had no business meddling with!

However, if one could genuinely manage to slay a purple-tier Boss, the probability of obtaining powerful purple equipment would be exceptionally high. After all, this would most likely be a first kill of a purple-tier Boss. Once successfully slain, the rewards would be unimaginable.

"Ding Han, would you consider joining this raid?"

Dragon-Slaying Spear smiled. "There's a setting in *Star Abyss* that I quite like: there is no such thing as snatching boss equipment. All equipment is generated in the form of Esper Crystals. After joining our ten-man squad, the more you contribute, the greater your own final gains will be. Furthermore, it's a win-win situation; if the raid succeeds, everyone profits handsomely!"

"This..."

I glanced at my own equipment. It looked impressive on the surface, but in reality, it was pathetic. Although I did possess a few blue-tier items, slots like my gauntlets, greaves, and cloak were completely empty, and the boots I wore were still the Winterspring Boots, which provided a mere 2 points of defense. Where was I showing any semblance of being a top expert?

Yet, hidden maps like the Wailing Hive should theoretically yield a higher drop rate for monsters.

Moreover, the teammates were formidable. Dragon-Slaying Spear's crowd was indeed much stronger than Xiaobai, Ruolin, and Axe, and their team synergy would be far higher.

Still, I remained somewhat hesitant.

People are unpredictable, especially in a fully realistic game like *Star Abyss* where everyone values equipment and skills above all else. If I truly harvested a massive haul, what was to stop the Crimson Firmament members from suddenly turning their guns on me and instantly vaporizing me?

After all, once a player dies, their interdimensional storage space and everything on their person have a 100% drop rate!

"I'd like to discuss this with my friend."

I deliberated for a moment. "After all, this is no trivial matter."

"Haha, naturally."

Dragon-Slaying Spear was an extremely perceptive individual and smiled. "Of course it's no trivial matter. As the first players in the Xicheng region to challenge a hidden map and a purple-tier Boss, our people will be mounting mobile phones on themselves to livestream this entire raid process on the dark web."

By saying this, he proved that he had already seen through my thoughts and understood my concerns.

"That works too."

I smiled faintly. "I wonder what the conditions and requirements are for this raid on the Wailing Hive, so I can prepare ahead of time."

"Nothing much, just some issues regarding ammunition and supplies."

Dragon-Slaying Spear said, "However, if you happen to face difficulties with supplies, our Crimson Firmament side can provide your full array of ammunition and provisions."

I was slightly taken aback. Chen Ruhai's vision was truly grand; even this could be provided?

"I do have ammunition; I've stockpiled 10,000 rounds of submachine gun bullets, which should be more than enough."

I said in a deep voice, "It's just that regarding medical supplies, I currently don't have much. It would be best if Crimson Firmament could provide some."

"No problem."

Dragon-Slaying Spear readily agreed. "First-aid kits that restore 30% of health—I'll give you three. I'll also hook you up with a few doses of adrenaline that restore 20% health. Do you have any need for hemostatic medicine and bandages?"