Chapter 187: Abyss
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
CloudTraveller was stunned for a moment, “What?”
ChatMasterWu was about to explode with anger. Nothing was more disheartening than seeing his ultimate skill’s damage barely matching the mana he expended. It was normal for warriors to grab flags at a resource point, and having mages or healers providing protection was also expected. But what was abnormal was having countless warriors and healers at a single flag point, with high-defense warriors all crowding there to channel and capture the flag, while numerous enemy players were mingling around pretending to grab the flag.
“It’s impossible to break through!!” ChatMasterWu watched as another dodge notification appeared, “What kind of devil is BrokenOracle? How could he think of having Bitter Melon grab the flag?! Are all the Abyss warriors here?”
Kawaii added, “…It’s not just warriors, the healers are here too.”
“Use group control, interrupt them,” CloudTraveller instructed.
ChatMasterWu replied, “The hit targets are limited. Their giant shields and defensive shields never stop, and a large portion of our control effects are being offset! Damn, the healer even dispelled again! Doesn’t dispelling cost anything?!”
A guild leader weakly spoke up, “Boss, you know… Abyss is famously known for having a lot of healers!”
ChatMasterWu was speechless.
Abyss faction had a higher proportion of healers, so they had always focused on attacking buffs rather than healing buffs. However, now that both healing and defensive buffs had fallen into Abyss faction’s hands, the healing effects and the benefits from healing were greatly increased. With defensive buffs adding high defense and resistance, it felt as if two extra layers of armor were added to an already fortified shell.
Their attacking and controlling buffs had been offset against each other.
But that wasn’t the real challenge. They could exhaust their opponents, but exhausting them didn’t necessarily mean they were gaining the upper hand.
ChatMasterWu looked at the nearby warriors, especially the one who had just squeezed in, and suddenly felt as if his sword had dulled.
Bitter Melon, the highest defensive warrior in all of Celestial Horizon, was also the person with the highest resistance on the field. The enemy’s healers were very orderly in their dispelling, and with various defensive skills in place, the effectiveness of control skills used against them was greatly diminished. Even with their control skills enhanced by buffs, they couldn’t hold back so many people from capturing the flag.
Both sides were controlling and competing for the flag, but the key issue was that they couldn’t clear out the enemy players. The opposing players not only had higher resistance but were also tougher. In the same flag-capturing environment, their elite team, which was well-balanced in both offense and defense, found itself at a disadvantage!
In the chaotic B resource point, Bitter Melon arrived with a strong presence. Amid the sword fights and skill effects from both allies and enemies, he calmly began to start capturing the flag, saying, “I’m about to activate immunity to control. Provide me with some protection and make sure the enemy doesn’t interrupt me.”
Yu Zhen used a crowd-control array to interrupt some players’ movements, quickly relaying instructions in the channel, “Activate immunity, and let the three healing teams follow you. Keep the array master’s shields for defense at the resource point. The rest focus on capturing the flag!”
Su Mo instructed, “After capturing the flag, follow our route back and deliver it to the nearby Winter God’s base.”
Bitter Melon replied, “No problem, I’m charging in.”
In the Abyss command channel, the others were hearing about the intense battle at point B and the powerful clash at point C. The battle for the resource vehicles had just begun, and both factions were already in full conflict.
This situation was beyond their expectations.
Early this morning, BrokenOracle had announced that the strategy for today’s resource battle had been adjusted. It seemed that the results of discussions among various commanders and elite team leaders from the previous night had led to this new plan. Not all the guild leaders involved in the resource battle were aware of the command channel’s specifics. Before they could fully understand the adjustments, they received orders from their own management to organize teams within the faction, with three types of teams being formed.
The resource battle was different from the resource grab; it involved a large number of people and was difficult to manage. Generally, it relied on major guild teams for coordination, with the rest filled by casual players.
There were three main types of teams:
-
A large team consisting of numerous warriors and healers, along with other control professions. Each squad in this group included two healers, two warriors, and one control profession.
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A main force team, which gathered a lot of control and offensive players. This team had no warriors in the front line; instead, it was composed entirely of physical swordsmen in the front, aggressive mages in the middle, and a few healers in the back.
-
An assassin team, consisting entirely of assassins with a small number of controls and healers.
This arrangement essentially broke the team into separate parts: a defensive team with no offensive capabilities, a violent but fragile main force team, and a lonely assassin team.
Shortly after forming the teams in the morning, a familiar but not well-known commander, momo, joined the command channel. momo did not provide much explanation but simply assigned the three types of teams. The defensive team was tasked with capturing a distant B resource point rather than guarding the Vicinity resource point. The main force team, which had a lot of offensive professions, was to stay at point C, managing the resource vehicle there. The remaining assassin team was assigned to point D.
“B point is so far away, and the mobility is weak. What if we can’t hold the position!?”
“Reinforcements will arrive slowly, and they’ll get stuck halfway. That place isn’t our stronghold, so there’s no way to respawn nearby.”
“Teleporting also takes time…”
The guild managers in the command channel didn’t fully understand this strategy. Not only was it a matter of dispersing forces, but could such a team allocation actually hold up?
“Why is mobility needed?” momo said calmly, “As long as our personnel don’t die, we don’t need mobile support. They just need to reach B point, capture the flag, and then return from B point to the Winter God stronghold.”
Since not dying meant no need for support, they assembled a large number of healers.
To capture the flag, they gathered many warriors suited for flag grabbing.
To disrupt the enemy’s flag capturing, they included a few output professions with short-duration control.
So now, the defensive team not only accomplished their task but also became entangled with the Eclipse faction team at B point.
They couldn’t kill the Eclipse faction members, and the Eclipse faction members couldn’t kill them. Both sides were just grinding it out, waiting to see who would capture the crucial flag.
In the channel, Strawberry couldn’t help but worry, “What if Big Brother Bitter Melon can’t capture the flag?”
Other commanders were also concerned. What if the enemy captured the flag instead!?
“If we can’t capture it, we’ll just delay. With so many people, we can take turns taunting and grabbing the flag player. An hour is a long time, and even if we block the road, we can block it to death,” momo said with a smile. “But if we can’t capture the flag… well, it’s just a bit embarrassing.”
Watermelon said sourly, “Isn’t that right? So many healers have gone over there. If we can’t capture it or hold it, we might as well keep the healers for our assassins.”
Other assassin leaders agreed, “Exactly!”
The main force team leaders also felt it made sense.
The warrior team leaders in the command channel were speechless.
How could it be that they couldn’t capture it? If they couldn’t, it would be a disgrace to the warriors!
“How could we not capture it?!”
“Are you kidding? We’re about to send the resource car back.”
“To the Winter God point, right? We’re just waiting for Big Brother Bitter Melon.”
“Big Brother Bitter Melon, keep it up.”
Bitter Melon said, “It might take a little longer, it’s been quite a while.”
Su Mo replied, “It’s okay, take your time.”
Fortunately, Bitter Melon lived up to his name. As the resource car’s refresh time reached 15 minutes, with his teammates’ protection, Bitter Melon finally finished reading the progress bar and successfully captured the resource car’s flag.
After capturing the flag, as he moved, the resource car began to move as well. The player who had captured the flag bore the emblem of the flag, and immediately, all the firepower from Eclipse faction players was concentrated on Bitter Melon. Then they discovered—
They couldn’t inflict any damage!
CloudTraveller hit a brick wall at the C point. The main force team led by BrokenOracle seemed to lack a front line, but with the help of defensive arrays and some array masters, the physical swordsmen standing in the front line had powerful offensive capabilities. Their team initially intended to press into the resource point to capture the car but was pushed out by the physical swordsmen in the front line.
The controlling professions on the other side were even more numerous than they had anticipated. The same control and push strategies they employed were being countered by the opposing team’s advantage in profession composition, which neutralized their attack and control buffs. Moreover, this resource point was within the Vicinity of an Abyss stronghold, and even single-player resource transporters from the Abyss faction had increased in number. Even without direct command, seeing so many Eclipse faction players pressuring the resource point prompted the Abyss players to begin attacking Eclipse players on their own.
In no time, the number of Abyss faction players overwhelmed the number of Eclipse players.
Under the harassment from Eclipse faction’s eight elite teams, the main force team led by BrokenOracle still managed to capture the resource car flag at the C resource point.
The player who captured the flag was none other than the somewhat tanky physical swordsman ClearWindIsHere. After seizing the flag, he was immediately protected by multiple healers and Daoist priests, with defensive symbols and healing lights continuously supporting him. Despite enduring numerous remote damage attacks from Eclipse faction, he managed to survive with his tough but unconventional build.
CloudTraveller’s team, having come from a distance to contest the flag, couldn’t match the firepower or the speed of Abyss faction’s support. As time went on, their numbers dwindled while Abyss faction’s presence at the C point grew. Gradually, they found themselves at a disadvantage in this confrontation.
Venturing further into the crowd to capture the car would have been tantamount to suicide.
CloudTraveller had to give up, saying, “We can’t capture the car at the C point. How are things at the AB points? What about the D point?”
“There’s no one at the A point. We are already transporting the car from here,” replied Nightfall.
“They must have concentrated their forces on the B and C points. With so many people split up, it’s impossible for them to have that many left at the C point.”
At that moment, someone shouted in the channel, “The D point has been ambushed, the firepower is too intense, we can’t hold out.”
Eclipse faction had sent few people to the D point, as it was the most distant resource point from their two strongholds. Initially, they hadn’t planned to waste time at this resource point. So, CloudTraveller had sent the main force team to capture the C point and only sent three teams to the D point.
However, it turned out that the D point was the weakest in terms of defense.
Eclipse faction’s three teams arrived and encountered Abyss faction’s assassin team. This assassin team had few healers but very strong firepower. In a 3 vs. 3 fight, Eclipse faction found themselves at a disadvantage in terms of firepower and support speed. As a result, the resource car at the D point was taken by the three fragile assassin teams of Abyss faction.
Moreover, the assassins had high movement speed. The assassin carrying the flag quickly started running with it, while the few healers in the assassin team focused on the flag carrier. The other assassins followed with great momentum, moving the resource car towards Abyss faction’s stronghold.
“They’ve dispersed their professions,” CloudTraveller hadn’t expected Abyss faction to be so bold. They had sent all high-defense professions to the B resource point, leaving only the main force team and assassin team at the C and D points. Thus, under the same number of people, only a large team with high burst and control professions could overwhelm them in firepower, even if their forces were nearly depleted, they remained calm.
“Keep the car at the B point. It’s far from their Winter God stronghold, and their all-tank team moves slowly. Find a way to delay them,” CloudTraveller said, opening the map to check the movement of each resource car. He suddenly noticed the B point resource car moving slowly and was momentarily stunned. “Why is the B point car moving?”
“They’re carrying the flag, and it’s Kuguo!” ChatMasterWu exclaimed, “How can we stop that? All the defensive skills and healing are focused on him. Even if he can’t be killed, his resistance is high; he either dodges or is shielded from attacks.”
Players at the B resource point in Eclipse faction complained bitterly. When they saw Kuguo capture the flag, they weren’t panicked. They believed that as long as they could kill Kuguo, they could secure the flag.
In reality, they were overestimating their chances. The Abyss faction’s tank team, bolstered by healing and defensive buffs, was a mobile fortress. All the warriors and healers protected Kuguo, the flag carrier, positioning him in the center, providing him with defensive skills and healing. Whenever a player tried to squeeze in to kill Kuguo, they were pushed back and taunted by warriors in a continuous chain, and also faced additional control effects.
Even though their team moved at a snail’s pace, any movement was still movement. Such a defensive fortress was impossible to break through or control, and they could only watch as it slowly advanced.
Eclipse was caught off guard by this distribution. They tried to take the C resource point but were thrown off by the profession allocation. They couldn’t stop the B point and couldn’t compete with the firepower at the C point. By the time they turned to the D point’s resource car, it was already too late.
“Our car at the A point is almost there,” Ye Ban Zhong Sheng said. “We’ll go support the B point. You guys figure out how to stop the car at the C point.”
Sleep asked, “Did BrokenOracle take the wrong medicine today? How did he come up with such an unconventional team composition? Isn’t he worried about the main force team making a mistake and losing the C point?”
“That’s because they took the healing and defensive buffs that gave them the confidence to do this,” Ye Ban Zhong Sheng frowned. “Plus, they have more healers in their faction, which gives them more options. They’ve made good use of the double-layered defense buffs.”
“The opposing commander isn’t BrokenOracle,” CloudTraveller said as his team arrived at the C point Vicinity to try to stop the car again. BrokenOracle and Haitang were known for their steady and innovative command styles, but this new approach seemed reckless rather than strategic. If they couldn’t secure the C point, it would be a major blunder.
BrokenOracle and Haitang wouldn’t have made such a move; the commander had to be someone else. If it was just a guess before, now CloudTraveller was almost certain. “I remember a commander with this style. He’s never commanded a resource battle or participated in a capture battle, so I hadn’t considered him.”
“Momo, he’s also from Abyss faction.”
***
Within the Abyss faction, the C point resource car moved amidst the clash, while the assassin team responsible for escorting the D point resource car, after clearing out the ambushing players, transported the car at an impressive speed, almost matching the speed of the A point resource car to reach their base.
“The A point’s fighting force seems to have gone to the B point,”
“B point’s defense is strong, but it might not be enough for two large teams to hold,”
Watermelon said, “Find a way to hold them off for now. Once the assassins finish their transport, we’ll go support.”
Su Mo said, “No, the defensive team can hold for a while longer. We don’t need to specifically protect the flag. Find a way to delay their forces over there.”
“What about the B resource car?” Haitang asked.
“It’s not about taking as many resources as possible, but about finding a way to surpass them in resource control,” Su Mo explained. “We might not be able to secure the B point car, but similarly, they shouldn’t be able to take it from us either.”
BrokenOracle understood. They could safely secure the resources at the C point while Eclipse had only managed to capture one car at the A point. The B point car was still blocked on the road, and they were continuing to delay. Momo’s strategy was simple: transport the resources if possible, and if not, make sure Eclipse couldn’t take them.
He said, “Our resource car is almost there. CloudTraveller should also return to attempt to secure the B car soon. At that time, our main force at the C point will assist, and we’ll drag it out with the defensive team.”
Watermelon was puzzled, “So what should our assassins do now?”
“The A point’s team has arrived, and there is no defense there now,” Su Mo said with a smile, “With so many solo transport players at the A point, isn’t this your assassins’ specialty?”
Watermelon was momentarily stunned but quickly responded, “Got it!”
With no one guarding the A point, it was a prime opportunity for their assassins. They didn’t need any healing; they could simply kill and loot in the wild.
The other people in the command channel were speechless.
Right, if they couldn’t secure the resource car, they could at least intercept the solo players.
At the C point, Eclipse faction still couldn’t secure the resource car. Eventually, the A point’s resource car was delivered to the base. Ye Ban Zhong Sheng, leading another large team, went to assist with the B resource car. They barely managed to break through Abyss faction’s seemingly impenetrable defensive line. However, breaking through was only partial; the defensive team was very adept at dragging out time. While they were exhausting the defensive team’s players, Abyss faction’s escorted C and D resource cars also reached their base.
The main force of Eclipse faction, having circled back from the C point to target the B car, faced off against Abyss faction’s main force, which immediately arrived to contest the car after delivering theirs. The two teams clashed intensely; Eclipse faction’s firepower was fierce, while Abyss faction’s team was heavily armored and well-supported. After ten minutes of fighting, Eclipse faction expended tremendous effort to kill the flag-bearing warrior, Bitter Melon. The flag for the B point resource car fell to the ground, and the competition turned into another flag scramble.
At that moment, a message popped up within Eclipse faction:
“Damn it, their assassins went to steal the A point!”
“Three teams of assassins, damn!”
“Damn, those Abyss orphans!”
“A point has been buried, can we get a large team back to protect it?”
“Send some people back to A point for protection.”
CloudTraveller felt the situation was becoming increasingly difficult. Despite having a similar number of players, they were struggling to overcome Abyss faction’s teams. The early loss had diminished their morale, while Abyss faction grew more confident with each battle. Coupled with the solid defense of their defensive team, they not only did not fall into a disadvantage but began to gain the upper hand.
At this crucial moment, Abyss faction still had the resources to send their assassins to steal from the A point.
“Divide three teams to return and protect A point. Tell the people in the faction not to run to B point to deliver resources; they should all go to A point,” CloudTraveller had to make a temporary adjustment. At such a moment, they were too late to adjust their team’s profession setup and were unable to harass Abyss faction’s players. They could only try to minimize the losses.
For Abyss faction’s assassins, it was the most enjoyable day in the wild. Their assassin team not only managed to deliver the D point resource car but also had the chance to loot in the wild. Facing the unguarded A point, they acted like locusts, killing the resource-running teams that came from A point and taking their resources. Without a second thought, they returned to their own base.
Without healers, they certainly couldn’t match the elite teams, but ambushing and killing in the wild was straightforward.
With so many resources, even if they didn’t engage in direct combat with the elite teams, the resources they managed to transport were enough to accumulate achievements and points.
After successfully stealing from two groups, Eclipse faction finally sent people back. Their objective was accomplished, so they avoided the large teams and continued to lie in wait in the wild to steal resources.
In the blink of an eye, it was almost 11 o’clock, and the second wave of resource cars was about to respawn.
Eclipse faction’s players had indeed captured the flag for the B car, but problems soon arose. They simply didn’t have enough time to deliver the B car back to their base. With the resource cars respawning at 11 o’clock, any cars that hadn’t reached their destination would disappear. Even if they managed to capture the flag, it was useless because they couldn’t deliver it in the remaining time. The flag would vanish, and a new round of competition was about to begin.
“Abandon the flag and return to defense,” CloudTraveller had to concede. “We won’t waste time this round. Let Zenith Expanse guard the A point flag, and everyone else return to defend the B point. Let’s secure the two cars first.”
Against a team like Abyss, which was composed of warriors and healers, attrition wasn’t effective. They needed to use heavy firepower to wipe out the entire team to capture the flag. Their advantage was their durability, but their weakness was their slow movement speed. As long as they could annihilate the team in one go, capturing the flag wouldn’t be a problem. Therefore, they needed to allocate more players to guard the resource points. This round required stability; they couldn’t afford to go for the enemy’s big flag.
“That’s not right!”
“Damn, Abyss’s tank team has gone to the A point!”
“They’re aiming to capture the A point flag.”
“Seriously!! Their defense team has already reached the resource point and isn’t moving from there!”
“They’ve abandoned the B point!!!”
The Abyss faction’s tank team might have been slow-moving, but slow or not, did that mean they couldn’t seize the initiative? They occupied the position first.
Knowing that Eclipse faction couldn’t deliver the B flag to their base, the defense team had withdrawn early. Other players thought they were searching for a teleportation point to regroup. Little did they know that the defense team wasn’t heading to B point but instead to A point. A whole team of warriors and healers comfortably turned the A resource point into their camp, crowding around the resource car spawn location, regenerating mana and health while waiting for the refresh.
They had made their stance clear and sent a message to everyone in the Eclipse faction.
Their target this time was the A point. If the Eclipse faction had the capability, they could send a large team to fight them, right?
CloudTraveller paused for a moment, almost laughing with frustration. “They’re trying to use their tank team to drain us out.”
***
In the Abyss faction’s command channel, momo came up with a new plan, “They’ll likely return to defend the A and B points this time, but that’s okay. We’re not here just to capture flags; the defense team should continue to drag them out. We just need to pressure the resource points and prevent their big flags from escaping.”
Without defense and healing buffs on the opposing side, their resistance couldn’t withstand the continuous taunts and knockbacks. While their defense team couldn’t kill anyone, they could certainly control and stall, stretching the time sufficiently.
The warriors understood their role: either capture the flag or let it go.
They were effectively playing a waiting game, dragging out time if they couldn’t capture the flag. Besides, they might still capture the flag—didn’t they just hold it in the first wave?
“This time, the assassin team will go to the C point, and the main force will head to the D point. The goal remains to transport the resource vehicles,” momo continued, “They won’t be coming to grab our flags immediately. We’ll move quickly to transport the vehicles and then go after their flags.”
Their objective was straightforward: drag one vehicle, transport two vehicles, and steal their isolated resources in the wild.
The rest would depend on how flexibly they could adapt.
After a round of fighting, the various team leaders had understood their team’s tasks. Hearing the command, they immediately threw themselves into their assigned roles—some focused on transporting vehicles while others concentrated on stalling.
By 11 o’clock, the second wave of resource vehicles began to be contested, and more players logged into the faction. Many Abyss faction players were a bit disheartened by last week’s faction battle. Even though they knew their faction had secured two strongholds, the continuous disadvantage had left them feeling frustrated.
However, they couldn’t avoid the faction battle. With double rewards this week, they had signed up and were obligated to participate. To their surprise, upon logging in, they discovered that their faction’s accumulated resources had surpassed Eclipse faction’s. Not only that, but the faction was also buzzing with activity, with many players actively forming teams for field battles.
[??? Our resources are actually leading?] [Is it morning? It’s so lively??] [Why does it feel so exciting to fight now!] [What’s going on? Who should I invite into the team now!]
The scene was completely different from what they had expected and from last week’s situation.
Last week, they had been struggling in field battles, facing setbacks everywhere. But this week, the anticipated dull scene didn’t materialize. Instead, everyone was buzzing with excitement, and the faction channel was constantly updating.
[Why do we need to form a warrior team???] [I just joined the main team and got kicked out. They told me to join the assassin team.] [I’m a warrior. Which team should I join??] [Warrior, please respond.]
Late-arriving players eagerly joined the large teams, and once a team was filled, they started another one. After joining, they followed the major teams into battle and soon realized that today’s strategy was not only less frustrating but also quite enjoyable.
Warrior players experienced the joy of never falling, while healing players felt the security of stable healing.
Assassin players reveled in the pleasure of seeing their kill count rise in the wild, eagerly rushing to grab and transport resources.
Main DPS players were slightly less involved, but the thrill of scoring kills was an exhilarating experience, especially the unparalleled sense of achievement when securing kills with low health.
The word spread, and many Abyss faction players began calling their friends to join the faction battle.
“What, you’re still asleep? It’s a holiday, and you’re sleeping instead of fighting in the faction battle!?”
“Get online, get online, get online! It’s a big win for the faction battle, hurry up and come for the rewards.”
“What, you didn’t sign up for the faction battle? Oh, never mind, your fun doesn’t matter.”
“It’s so exhilarating! Today, I’m going to grind Eclipse into the dust!!”
…
As more people came online, the numbers advantage grew, and the battles between the factions became increasingly intense.
In the intense command channel, momo said, “Continue with this strategy until the resource points refresh. Pay attention to adjusting positions when the 3-hour resource point reset happens. Don’t worry about being at a disadvantage; prioritize sending two cars while alternating between dragging and grabbing. Then, support the warrior team.”
BrokenOracle understood the plan, “Got it, we’ll handle it.”
Some team leaders were confused, “Huh? Is momo not going to command anymore?”
BrokenOracle replied, “He’s going offline for lunch.”
apple added, “Yeah, it’s lunchtime.”
Other team leaders: ???
They were in the middle of an exciting fight, and now lunch???
Does holographic online gaming still involve eating? Nutrient pods should handle that!
“What’s the big deal about sleeping?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t rest while the fight is so intense!”
“Exactly, let’s organize a push to their base during lunch!”
“Oh.” momo said calmly, “We’ll take a break; you guys continue playing. See you in the afternoon.”
Other team leaders: ??? You guys?
Not long after, momo’s ID in the command channel went dark.
At the same time, another ID went dark.
The slow-to-react online game leaders finally realized what “we” meant.
“Oops, I think they mentioned they were living together last time.”
“Huh? I heard they were just temporarily staying together?”
“You’re out of the loop.”
“Isn’t this basically living together? They both went offline.”
“Ah, then we’ll just have to wait for them to finish their meal. In the meantime, we can organize an assault on their base. With so many players online right now, it should be an exciting defensive battle.”
After a team leader said this, several high-ranking commanders fell silent.
apple said, “Assault on the base? Maybe that should be in the evening.”
Watermelon added, “Forget it, isn’t grabbing cars more fun?”
“Huh?” a team leader asked, “It’s just lunch, right?”
“You’ve got it wrong,” BitterMelon explained patiently, “Lunch takes time, and after eating, you need to digest. Once that’s done, you need to take a break, which also takes time. Then there’s an afternoon nap, which means it’ll be three or four in the afternoon.”
Watermelon asked, “I understand lunch and naps, but what’s this ‘doing something else’ you’re talking about?”
Haitang said, “What else could there be? Don’t you get it?”
Watermelon: “?”
Other team leaders: “?”
apple said, “The boss knows a lot!”
Banana added, “The boss is married!”
BitterMelon said, “Ahem, ahem, ahem.”
***
[-Yu Zhen: I’ll be there soon.]
[-mo: Okay.]
When Su Mo logged off, the aroma of food wafted from outside the house. His meetings with Yu Zhen mostly occurred on weekdays; after his classes, Yu Zhen, who got off work, would pick him up. If there were no plans for the evening, he would stay over at Yu Zhen’s apartment, and the next day, Yu Zhen would drop him off at school on the way to work.
However, since his parents were at home, Yu Zhen rarely visited on weekends. On one hand, he was busy with work; on the other hand, they didn’t want to appear too affectionate in front of his parents.
Su Mo had considered this issue before. He wanted to tell his parents about his boyfriend, but Yu Zhen asked him to wait a bit longer and to give him some time.
Su Mo didn’t mind, but Yu Zhen had been overly cautious about the matter.
Su Mo had informed his parents in advance that Yu Zhen would be coming over for lunch. Knowing that Yu Zhen was coming, Chen Shanqu had asked Su Mo about Yu Zhen’s preferences and prepared two dishes that Yu Zhen liked. “Go to the study and call your dad. He should be in the study playing games now; he just finished with work.”
“There are quite a few young people at the office who play games. Last time your dad went to the office, he ran into a few young students and somehow got into a conversation about games,” Chen Shanqu said with a smile. “Some young people have also joined the project for the Frozen Star Domain. I heard your dad is playing Celestial Horizon, so they wanted to team up with him in the game.”
Realizing she had let something slip, she quickly added with a smile, “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Your dad didn’t want me to mention it.”
“I know,” Su Mo said, pausing before he smiled and said, “I’ll go call him.”
Although Xu Zhixing hadn’t said anything, Su Mo could see that the study was equipped with a Celestial Horizon-specific loading device, which could only play Celestial Horizon.
His father had kept his gaming habits mysterious, but Su Mo knew he was playing the same game. As for why he was playing games, Su Mo wasn’t so naive as to miss it. Given Chen Shanqu’s and Xu Zhixing’s efforts to learn about him and his interests, it was clear they were trying to understand his likes and hobbies.
Not long after Su Mo went to the study, Yu Zhen arrived, bringing a lot of gifts with him. Chen Shanqu smiled and told him not to bring anything next time and to wash his hands and get ready for lunch.
At the dinner table, Xu Zhixing seemed to have learned from Chen Shanqu that the secret was out, so he said, “Your mom couldn’t keep her mouth shut. I told her to wait until I leveled up more before telling you, but she just couldn’t help herself.”
Chen Shanqu said, “It’s been so long, and you’re only level 30.”
Xu Zhixing corrected her, “I’m level 31 now.”
Su Mo hesitated, thinking his dad must have played for a while to only be at level 31?
Xu Zhixing explained, “I was mostly looking at the buildings. Several of them are models restored by our office. The drafts back then were even processed by me.”
Chen Shanqu laughed, “Got it. Play more when you have time.”
Although Xu Zhixing had little interest in fighting, Celestial Horizon was more than just combat. Last time, he had wanted to invite his wife to see the game’s scenery, but she said she didn’t have time and turned down the idea, saying creating a character was too much trouble.
The scenery in the game was indeed beautiful.
Yu Zhen asked, “Uncle is playing Celestial Horizon?”
Chen Shanqu replied, “Yes, he’s even trying out the assassin class. Is it called assassin?”
“The full name of the Sect is Flaming Thunder Mountain, and assassin is just one of its branches. So what if he plays assassin? When I first saw the promo video for the game, the assassin class looked really cool,” Yu Zhen said.
Xu Zhixing added, “Right, son?”
Su Mo agreed, “The assassin is indeed very cool.”
Yu Zhen glanced at Su Mo but said nothing, instead serving him some food.
Chen Shanqu briefly focused on Yu Zhen, but soon her attention was drawn away by other sounds around her.
“Though the gameplay is a bit challenging, I keep hearing from Sect players that assassins used to be very strong, but lately, with the outdated version and the targeting, they’re not as powerful as before,” Xu Zhixing continued. He had learned quite a bit about the game and its terminology from chatting with the younger folks at the office, and found it a good topic to discuss with his son.
Su Mo, interested in the game conversation, added, “Assassins are still quite strong. I’ve played on someone else’s account before, and it didn’t seem nerfed.”
“I don’t know. I heard it from Sect players,” Xu Zhixing said.
He thought for a moment and continued, “They said something about being targeted by an archdemon. It seems that assassins aren’t doing well in the wild now.”
Su Mo was taken aback, “Archdemon?”
Xu Zhixing got more into it and kept venting to his son, “I forgot the exact name, but it’s something related to summoners.”
