Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
Jiuhua City was famous for its warriors!
As a poem goes: There are 10,000 types of wines in Jiangnan, and there are countless warriors in Jiuhua. When those from this city encounter each other, they will sit down and enjoy a drink together. Next to their brave stallions, high towers, and green willows stands.
This poem described Jiuhua City perfectly!
– Yunshan Tavern –
Taverns like this one existed all over Jiuhua City. Yunshan Tavern wasn’t famous, but its prices were extremely reasonable. Most warriors enjoyed the occasional drinks, so they often invited their friends to enjoy a cup or two at this tavern while discussing events happening around the world. It was a popular form of entertainment here in Jiuhua.
Naturally, warriors like Liang Shi, who weren’t a part of any forces but were powerful, had a few like-minded friends.
“Shi, come, drink!” They drank cups of wine, one after another, demonstrating their warrior-like personalities.
“I wonder if anything big has happened in Jiuhua City recently,” a forty-or-so years old man, who had a goatee and carried a long sword on his back, laughed aloud. “My metal-chopping sword is becoming rusty!”
“Haha, you’re right!” Another man with sideburns chimed in, “Brother Liang, did you call us over today because you’re in trouble? Or is it because… you have a job for us?”
Then, the same man patted his chest and declared, “Tell me what kind of trouble you’re in. We’re all brothers, so you don’t have to be so polite!”
Liang Shi made another toast to them before he replied with a smile, “You have mistaken, my brothers. I called the two of you here today to inform you of some news.”
“Is it something good?”
“It is!” Then, he began explaining Resident Evil to them…
As soon as the people around them heard Liang Shi say that it was something good, they began eavesdropping and listening to him intently.
“Resident Evil?”
“A game? You enter another world?”
No one, including the eavesdroppers, understood what Liang Shi was talking about; the more he tried to explain, the more confused they got.
“It’s like a world that exists in novels?”
“I hear what you’re saying, but no matter how real these things seem, they’re bound to be fake,” the middle-aged man with a goatee said. “What you said made me curious, but neither of us are at a game-playing age anymore.”
Upon hearing this, Liang Shi shook his head. “This isn’t just a fun game. I can’t really explain the full benefits of it right now, but let’s go try! I’m headed there right now; would you like to come with me?”
“But…” His friends began to hesitate; they would go with him to do anything else, but to play games?
How absurd!
“Please don’t take me wrong,” Liang Shi explained upon seeing their hesitation. “I admit that this game is good, but it’s extremely beneficial to a warrior’s qi and fighting skills. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have recommended it to the two of you.”
“Sure.” After some thought, they nodded their heads. However, the man with the goatee added, “We don’t have much to do, so we might as well go with you. But, allow us to make things clear; we will just go there to watch. Young people games might not suit us.”
Liang Shi repeatedly nodded before the three of them paid, got up, and left.
“It’s so weird and mysterious!” Upon seeing them leave, the eavesdropping warriors looked at each other and murmured, “What are zombies… handguns, and… Alpha Team?”
“Should we… go with them?” The warriors glanced at each other.
“Let’s go!”
…
Lingyun Academy was one of the four greatest academies in Dajin. Countless warriors and talented individuals gathered here to study, and numerous martial arts masters taught here.
The academy’s students are divided into four houses – Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang. Newly-admitted students were first placed into the Huang House. Then, they were divided into different classes according to their examination scores.
Today was the first day of classes for new students.
There were 40 students in Class A of the Huang House, and everyone in this class was among the top in the entrance examinations; they were the best of the best! Some students had already tempered their bodies and developed warrior qi, becoming real warriors!
This class included Song Qingfeng.
Being able to be in this class meant that he was a genius amongst geniuses, but he wasn’t aware of that.
During the break, the other students went to ask their mentors questions about training while Song Qingfeng and his friends sat back and began chit-chatting.
“Qingfeng, if we imitate Jill’s technique and find a teammate who will guard outside, will we be able to overcome that trap?”
“No.” Song Qingfeng immediately invalidated this suggestion. “I don’t know if you two paid attention, Barry’s gun looks similar to the shop owner’s Magnum Revolver but is more powerful. Regular teammates won’t have weapons like that.”
“The truth is, I found a young woman from Bravo Team called Rebecca yesterday. She had a normal handgun,” Song Qingfeng continued. “If this gun can break the trap, I’ll just do it myself. Why would I rely on others?”
“Brother Song, you found a teammate already?” Lin Shao and Xu Luo exclaimed, “How did you find her? How is she compared to Barry?”
“She’s really gentle. Although she’s not as strong as Barry, she can heal you when you’re injured. She also knows where the zombie antidotes are hidden.”
“Brother Song, why didn’t you say anything earlier!” The others’ eyes emitted green light. A pretty girl was absolutely essential while adventure-seeking!
The herbs and medicines that they used to for healing were scarce, let alone blood serums that cured zombie poison!
“I can’t believe you hid this from us!”
“Brother Song, tell me where I can find her!”
“…”
The three of them chatted enthusiastically while the other students in the room listened in confusion.
Suddenly, a young man in a yellow robe walked up and bowed at Song Qingfeng. “Brother Song, the academy is revealing the rankings of all its students soon, are you…”
Before he could even finish, three pairs of eyes glared at him. “Not interested!”
“…” The yellow-robed boy looked awkward. Those who were accepted into Lingyun Academy were all extremely outstanding individuals. If one could make it onto the Heaven, Earth, Xuan, or Huang lists, he or she would not only become famous in the Jiangnan Region, they would also be recognized by the academy.
How come Song Qingfeng and the others are not interested in it? He was in disbelief!
“What are zombies and hunters?” Everyone understood the definition of these words, but no one knew what these words meant in this context. In addition to the yellow-robed young man, the others who wanted to be friends with Song Qingfeng all left in disappointment. They just couldn’t join the group’s conversation.
“Weird… Did something new happen in Jiuhua City that we don’t know about?” Students looked at each other, extremely curious as to what they were talking about.
‘Shotguns’ and ‘Bravo Team’ were all words they’ve never heard of! The more they thought about it, the more interested they became. Someone declared, “Later on, I’m going to investigate and see if anything new happened in Jiuhua City!”
…
“Zixin, you just came out of mediation. You probably don’t know that the most popular novel right now, Celestial Warrior, came out with its eighth chapter!” A girl wearing a green dress, about 17 or 18 years of age, walked in front of Xu Zixin. The golden bell on her wrist chimed as she waved her arm back and forth. “Let’s go buy it together now!”
“Maybe later.” Xu Zixin shook her head.
“Hey, Zixin. Don’t you like that novel?”
Xu Zixin smiled. In the past, she would have run over to buy it as soon as the novel came out, but now… to her, nothing could compare with Resident Evil.
Moreover, novels were just for entertainment, and she would only read them during her days off. She had to focus on improving her fighting skills. By playing Resident Evil, she could train and be entertained at the same time!
“If you want to read it, you should go buy it. I found something more interesting yesterday.”
“Something more interesting?” The green-dressed girl tilted her head and looked at her. “What’s that?”
Xu Zixin pointed in front of her. “We’re here.”
Only then did the other girl realize that it was a small shop. But the shop… wasn’t open yet?
Upon seeing this, Xu Zixin’s face turned grim. Didn’t the owner say opening time is 8 AM?
It was already 9 AM, and the shop hadn’t opened yet.
Moreover, she also saw a bunch of people waiting outside the door. One of them was the tall, beefy warrior who gave her hints yesterday.
She pointed at the door and asked, “Why isn’t this shop… open yet?”
Liang Shi smiled bitterly. “I don’t know either, it was like this when I got here…”
“What rotten luck!” The man with sideburns placed his hands on his waist. “I think we should just split this shop up with an ax!”
“Brother Wu, don’t be so rash!” Liang Shi immediately pulled his friend back; Wu Shan had a hot temper, so Liang Shi was truly scared that he would smash this shop.
Indeed, the shop hadn’t opened yet because Fang Qi just got out of bed.
He shook his dizzy head back and forth before looking around his room. Hey, where’s fatty?
I think I heard him say… He suddenly remembered that around 8 AM, Wang Tai woke him up to tell him that he was going to Lingyun Academy. After hearing that, Fang Qi went straight back to sleep.
After a short snooze, he looked at the clock and realized that it was almost 9 AM!
He quickly put on his clothes, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. It took him 20 minutes to get ready.
Only then did he go downstairs and unlock the door of his internet café.
When he did, he saw a few grim faces staring at him; Fang Qi took a few seconds to figure out what was going on.
“Why are you here… so early?” he asked the five people outside his shop.
“Early?” Everyone’s faces darkened even more.
“Are you the owner of this shop?” The middle-aged man with sideburns took a few steps forward and stood in front of Fang Qi. His eyes were squinted, and he was emitting dangerous energies.
“I am,” Fang Qi replied in a confused manner.
I didn’t offend this person, why is he looking at me with such animosity?
“Brother Wu, let’s… play the game first! Let’s play the game first.” Liang Shi quickly pulled him back and explained, “My brother, Wu Shan, has a hot temper, so please don’t get mad at him, shop owner. Let’s go inside.”