38. Snow Leopard

The level 9 monster zone is located in the Twilight Breeze Woods, northwest of the village, and is the territory of raccoons.

【Little Raccoon Lv9】
HP: 120

In the Twilight Breeze Woods, grey and white little raccoons run, jump, and play. Their fur is sleek and shiny, and they look chubby with long, fluffy, grey-and-white striped tails—they look absolutely adorable!

However, Su Yu remembers that because of their cuteness, they caused quite a stir among players in his past life a few days after the servers opened. Players complained on the official forums that the raccoons were too cute to strike, and those who steeled themselves to attack were met with glares from nearby female players. The players collectively petitioned the game developers to change the monsters.

And later, the developers actually listened. In a major update a month later, all the raccoons were replaced by mummies wrapped in white cloth. The Twilight Breeze Woods were also transformed into a massive tomb, where ghosts would float by—it was terrifying! At the very least, when Su Yu entered the game in his past life, the level 9 zone was already a grand tomb, with ghosts haunting the area and getting into "intimate contact" with the players.

Being able to see the "raccoons" before they were deleted made this trip worthwhile for him.

"Cute is cute, but this 'normal' style suits me better. Tomb mummies and the like are just too grim."

Su Yu hardened his heart, transformed into a "Raccoon Slayer," and began leveling up in the level 9 zone. Since there wasn't a single player around him, he didn't have to worry about anyone's judgmental glares.

...

The time spent leveling is always tedious. As Su Yu mechanically cast spells, used scrolls, and drank mana potions, he browsed the game's built-in official forum to see if the trolls had come up with any new trends or memes.

Recently, a meme called "Indonesian Telecom" had become popular. The "ding" sound in the climax of the "Indonesian Telecom" clip was identical to the system notification "ding" in *Evolution*! Consequently, netizens began creating parody videos, photoshopping the *Evolution* game's external supervisor into the clips and adding the text "Evolution: 30,000 Credits."

Just as Su Yu was watching with interest, a strange sound suddenly echoed within the game. Closing the forum interface to listen carefully, he realized the sound came from a server-wide announcement:

【Server Announcement: Players Snow Leopard, Range is Truth, Caliber is Justice, Unbreakable Alliance, and Steel Torrent March have successfully cleared the level 5 five-man dungeon "Thunder Bluff." They are rewarded with one random rare-quality piece of equipment...】

This server-wide announcement was different from the one Su Yu had triggered.

Su Yu's announcement had played three times, but this one ended after just once. Once the announcement concluded, it was time for Snow Leopard's advertisement. A deep, resonant male voice sounded in Su Yu's ears:

"Hello everyone, I am Snow Leopard, guild leader of 'The Relevant Department.'"

"Join our guild after level 10, and every member will receive a monthly stipend of 2,000 Flower Credits. There are no mandatory missions, no forced participation in activities, and certainly no requirements to hand over equipment or currency. That is all I have to say."

Snow Leopard's advertisement was brief and punchy. He and his team had discussed it repeatedly before settling on this version. The ad sounded unrefined, but it was precisely this kind of "unrefined" approach—one that touched upon the immediate interests of the general public—that allowed for widespread dissemination. If they had used something high-minded like "Our goal is to dominate the server" or "Recruiting ambitious individuals from all walks of life to build the strongest guild," players would at most reply with a "Good, very spirited" before moving on. But when "2,000 Flower Credits" was mentioned, many people's eyes lit up.

After Snow Leopard's ad aired, players began discussing it with their companions:

"Someone cleared the 5-man dungeon again!"
"The Relevant Department? What a strange name."
"2,000 credits a month! Doesn't that mean the helmet pays for itself in just over a year?"
"I don't have a guild yet, I'll go check it out."
"Let's go together!"

Although most of these players were people who could afford the 30,000-credit helmet, no one would turn down an extra 2,000 credits a month. Many became interested in the "Relevant Department" guild.

Meanwhile, a look of intrigue appeared on Su Yu's face.

"The Relevant Department? Is Snow Leopard already starting to make a name for himself this early?"

Snow Leopard, whose real name is Zhong Feng, holds the rank of Major General and is a rare Druid class player. The government had noticed the unusual nature of *Evolution* before the Great Change began, so they tasked Snow Leopard with forming "The Relevant Department" to investigate from within the game. Snow Leopard had a keen instinct for game narratives. With his extensive criminal investigation experience and the help of a team of experts, he completed two main story quests in succession, becoming the first player in the country to reach level 50.

He was also the first human on Blue Star to realize that in-game strength could be manifested in reality. (Only Legendary talents could manifest in-game strength early, and at that time, no Legendary talents had appeared globally.)

The rest of the story goes without saying. After Snow Leopard manifested his strength, he received tremendous support from the government. With his innate power coupled with the state's prioritized allocation of resources, he eventually became one of the top human powerhouses of his past life and a pillar in the fight against the Skrulls.

"Snow Leopard..." Su Yu muttered, "I might be able to make contact with him in the future."

...

While Su Yu was reminiscing about Snow Leopard's life, the group in the "Thunder Bluff" dungeon was also discussing him.

On top of Thunder Bluff, Range is Truth brandished a bow, showing it off happily: "Look! This was the first-clear reward! A level 5 rare-quality bow! The attack power is as high as 20!"

"Alright, old Zhang," Unbreakable Alliance said with a wry smile, "You're someone who has flown a J-50 fighter jet; don't get so excited over a piece of junk bow."

"What do you know?" Range is Truth shoved the bow toward his face. "Look closely, this is rare-quality gear! I bet even Nemesis doesn't have rare equipment!"

Snow Leopard stood to the side, motionless. He stared at the corpse of the boss, 【Cairne Bloodhoof】, lost in thought: "You say we wiped 8 times before clearing this dungeon; how did Nemesis manage to solo it? The difficulty of 'Green Green Grassland' is no lower than this."

"This..."

His teammates fell silent. The smile on Range is Truth's face gradually faded. Even though he had obtained a rare-quality weapon, it was still completely impossible for him—even as he was now—to solo a dungeon. He couldn't even defeat the first or second boss alone. How exactly did Nemesis do it?

"No! I must have Luoluo reach out to Nemesis again. We absolutely must find out the contents of the level 50 reward." Snow Leopard made his decision and opened the private chat interface.