39. The "Old-Fashioned" Su Yu

At 12:30 PM, Snowflake-Fall logged in.

Snowflake-Fall: "Brother! I have to tell you something incredibly interesting!"
"A madman broke into our classroom today, slapped our teacher Mr. Fang hard in the face, and then actually jumped out from the third floor!"
Snowflake-Leopard: "..."
Snowflake-Fall: "Isn't that super interesting?"
Snowflake-Leopard: "..."
Snowflake-Fall: "Huh? Brother, you cleared 'Thundercliff'? Not bad!"
Snowflake-Leopard: "Fall, that's not important. I need you to help me contact Nemesis..."

...

A few minutes later, Su Yu received a private message from Snowflake-Fall:
"Hey, hey, hey, great master, my brother wants to see you."
Su Yu: "Your brother?"
Snowflake-Fall: "My brother is 'Snowflake-Leopard'! The one who just got the first clear of the 'Thundercliff' dungeon."
Su Yu: "..."
Su Yu was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Snowflake-Fall to be Snowflake-Leopard's younger sister!
In his previous life, he had never heard of Snowflake-Leopard having a sister.
But on second thought, it made sense; after all, in his past life, Snowflake-Fall had quit the game early, so it was normal for her to have no fame.
Snowflake-Fall: "My brother wants to meet you. Since he wasted your time, he's willing to offer you some compensation—whether it's in-game equipment, currency, or even cash or untraceable black cards in the real world. You can name the amount."
Su Yu: "No need for compensation. Tell him to meet me at the entrance to the Level 10 Wolf King Valley."
Snowflake-Fall: "Got it, great master!"

...

Su Yu gathered the equipment dropped by the raccoon and headed toward Wolf King Valley.
He had intended to meet Snowflake-Leopard anyway, so since Snowflake-Fall had invited him, he simply agreed.
As for setting the meeting place at Wolf King Valley, it was because he didn't want Snowflake-Leopard's group to see him bullying raccoons; it would look rather unseemly.
Besides, Su Yu had already reached Level 8, and he had already secured the first kill of the Raccoon Boss, so there was nothing left here to linger over.

...

The Evening Breeze Woods and Wolf King Valley were both on the west side of the novice village.

Su Yu arrived at the entrance of Wolf King Valley first.
A few minutes later, Snowflake-Leopard's five-man team, along with Snowflake-Fall, arrived.
Looking at the steep cliffs at the entrance of the valley, the expressions of the five grew solemn.
Although they had each obtained a piece of rare equipment, training in a Level 10 monster zone was still extremely taxing. The fact that Nemesis could train here spoke volumes about his strength.
Standing at the entrance, Su Yu sized up Snowflake-Leopard.
Snowflake-Leopard looked exactly the same as he did in his previous life—a square jaw, well-defined features, and a look of steely determination.
Snowflake-Leopard was also sizing up Su Yu.
Hmm, he looked like a very ordinary young man.
However, Snowflake-Leopard felt that the way Su Yu looked at him was strange; it was a... kindly gaze? It was the sort of kindly look he had only ever seen from the old cadres at the military district.

"Hello, Nemesis. I'm Snowflake-Leopard. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Snowflake-Leopard stepped forward and reached out to shake Su Yu's hand.
But Su Yu had no intention of shaking his hand.
Su Yu kept his hands behind his back and looked at him with a face full of kindness: "Hello there, young man."
"..." Snowflake-Leopard's mouth twitched.
He was nearly thirty-six years old; this was the first time he had ever heard a young person address him in such a manner.
However, considering Nemesis's exploits in the game, he didn't dare to take him lightly.
Snowflake-Leopard said solemnly: "I came here this time to invite you to join our guild."
"If you are willing to join, I can offer you the position of Vice President and the highest level of benefits in the entire guild!"
"Caliber is Truth" chimed in from behind: "Yeah! Just join our guild. Our guild is united and friendly, the atmosphere is excellent, and there isn't a single woman in the guild right now. You'll definitely be satisfied after joining!"
His words immediately drew side-glances from everyone present.
Su Yu's mouth twitched slightly as well.
However, he slowly raised his arm, waved it lightly, and said in an old, creaky voice:
"Forget it. This is something for you young people to play with. An old fellow like me, who should have vanished into history, won't be participating."
"Should have vanished into history?" Snowflake-Fall repeated, looking thoughtful.
Snowflake-Leopard continued to ask: "Then... Senior, I have another purpose for coming here. I want to ask you, after reaching Level 50, what kind of rewards does the game actually give?"
Snowflake-Leopard noticed something was off.
The old, creaky tone Su Yu was using now was completely different from the young man's voice he had heard when the "Mega-Broadcast" was posted yesterday!

But Snowflake-Leopard couldn't quite grasp the situation, so he decided not to act rashly and played along with Su Yu's tone.
Su Yu kept his hands behind his back, his upper body slightly hunched: "Give me a reason, why should I tell you?"
The five of them exchanged glances.
After a silent communication, Snowflake-Leopard let out a soft breath: "Senior, we are from the State."
"The State? Guo Fengxiao? Heh, that's an old acquaintance." Su Yu nodded with satisfaction.
If only he had a long, gray beard to stroke right now, it would have been much more natural.
Su Yu said in a world-weary tone: "Very well, I will reveal a little bit to you."
"But before I speak, I want to ask you: do you really understand this world?"
He raised his right hand slightly, and a large amount of electrical charge gathered in his palm, crackling loudly.
"Caliber is Truth," who was standing opposite and was also a Mage, was shocked when he saw Su Yu's movement: "How is this possible?"
"What's wrong?" The four teammates turned to look at him.
"It's like this," Caliber is Truth explained. "This spell is 'Lightning Bolt.' I bought a scroll for it at the warehouse last night."
"But after I cast 'Lightning Bolt,' the bolt flies out of my hand instantly. How is Nemesis able to hold the lightning in his hand for so long?"
The four teammates listened in confusion, but the Priest, "Steel Torrent March," seemed to have realized something.
The five of them looked at Su Yu again, their expressions now much more solemn.
Su Yu smiled, canceled the "Lightning Bolt" spell, and said slowly:
"Have you ever considered this possibility? That this isn't a game at all, but a new world built upon the ruins of a necrotic one?"
"That the spells learned and the powers gained in this new world could, at a certain point in time, be brought back to the Blue Star?"
Su Yu wasn't spouting nonsense. In his previous life, there was already a small amount of evidence proving that *Evolution* was a new world modified by the Singer civilization, not just a simple game.
The five of them were completely stunned.
The information in Su Yu's words was too massive; they couldn't digest it at all.
After a long silence, Snowflake-Leopard finally regained his composure and asked cautiously: "Senior, are you implying that once one reaches Level 50, it is actually possible to bring one's in-game strength into the real world?!"
If that were true, the stakes had just become monumental!