Chapter 8: Game Update, Encountering a Rich Woman

Zhongzhou City, a certain villa district.

Inside a minimalist blue-themed bedroom.

A tall, fair-skinned, and beautiful woman with a cold demeanor took off her helmet and got out of bed to go to the bathroom.

Her name was Mu Qingxue.

After her shower, she sat on the sofa, drying her hair with a towel.

As she wiped, her thoughts drifted to the game and that Tianxiang player who had caught her attention.

What was her name? Chen Xiaoyan.

Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Mu Qingxue had rarely experienced rejection since childhood.

This left her somewhat dissatisfied.

But since it was only a game, she was completely powerless against the other party.

“Tick-tock.”

Suddenly, her phone vibrated with a crisp water-drop sound.

Mu Qingxue picked up the phone and saw a message from one of her subordinates.

“Boss Mu, the Immortal Realm’s game helmet is bound to the player’s pupil membrane and DNA, so it cannot be replaced.”

“Hmm.”

Mu Qingxue replied with a calm, single word and put down the phone.

She had originally planned to buy the game helmet at a high price and build her own guild in the Immortal Realm.

Now it seemed that plan was doomed.

She could only post on the game forum, offering a high reward for recruitment.

She was already level sixteen, but the experience gained from monsters on the second floor of the Demon Suppression Tower was too little.

Even if she played non-stop for several days, it was impossible to level up.

According to Mu Qingxue’s calculations, she needed to grind for at least ten more days to level up.

Therefore, she shifted her focus to the trial quests.

The Shushan Sect’s trial quest was to clear a level ten dungeon: Monster Village.

Monster Village had been a green and tranquil village, a paradise untouched by the world, just over a decade ago.

Unfortunately, the village had been chosen by a spatial teleportation point from the Endless Demon Domain.

Countless monsters poured out from the teleportation point, destroying the entire village, while the environment was corrupted by demonic energy, turning it into a monster’s haven.

Afterward, the Immortal Realm Alliance’s Shushan Sect and the Zhenwu Gate jointly sealed the entire village to prevent the teleportation point from expanding.

However, the seal was unstable, and some low-level demons and monsters would still escape and roam around the village.

This was the Shushan Sect’s trial quest.

Unlike the monsters inside the Demon Suppression Tower, these real monsters were stronger and more ferocious.

When Mu Qingxue accepted the quest, Elder Sword Dustzi from the Shushan Sect had advised her.

Monster Village was extremely dangerous; it was best to team up with trial disciples from the Tianxiang Sect to increase the success rate.

Among all the sects in the alliance, only the Tianxiang Sect’s disciples could be fully trusted to watch one’s back.

She wasn’t a newbie; she naturally knew that entering the dungeon without a healer was suicidal.

In recent days, Mu Qingxue always logged onto the game forum to check Tianxiang Tower after logging out, but strangely, there were no trial posts from the Tianxiang players.

They only discussed their deputy sect leader and nothing else.

Finally, today she saw a level fifteen Tianxiang player forming a team, which made her very happy.

But then…

Mu Qingxue suffered from a kind of psychological affliction, or rather, a shadow.

She was afraid of seeing men.

This mental trauma was related to her childhood experiences.

The Mu family was a famous wealthy and charitable family in Zhongzhou City.

As the eldest daughter, Mu Qingxue was once kidnapped by traffickers because she was too playful as a child.

In a dark, cold, damp basement, she had witnessed two men break a child’s leg and send him out to beg on the streets.

The child’s heart-wrenching screams remained vivid in her memory.

Not only that, Mu Qingxue had been very cute and delicate as a child.

A trafficker had taken a liking to her and wanted to try tasting a child.

The disgusting yellow teeth and suffocating, wicked smile instantly scared Mu Qingxue into tears.

Though she was ultimately rescued by her family, from that moment on, she developed gynophobia.

No matter who she saw, as long as it was a man, that childhood scene would flash through her mind.

Fear!

Helplessness!

Even including her own father. But over more than a decade, her condition had improved considerably—at least she could exchange a few words now.

Because of her childhood misadventures, she now never left the house and rarely stepped outside.

Apart from necessary meetings, company work was mostly done through video calls.

Moreover, over 80% of her company’s management were women.

Her motto was: Men are the most evil beings in the world.

***

Back to the game.

Chen Xiaoyan added a girl named Weekend Lazybug as a friend.

Weekend Lazybug’s game ID was Chongchong.

These details didn’t matter; what mattered was money.

“Chongchong, remember to call me Brother Yan from now on.”

Chen Xiaoyan led Chongchong to the plaza and casually said.

“Brother Yan?” Chongchong tilted her head, her cute face showing a hint of confusion.

“Yes.”

“But Sister Xiaoyan, aren’t you a girl?”

Chen Xiaoyan stopped, hugged her bear, and turned with a wry smile.

“If I told you I’m a guy, would you believe me?”

Chongchong gave Chen Xiaoyan a side eye that basically said, Do you take me for a fool?

“Sigh! I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Chen Xiaoyan spread her hands helplessly.

“Sister Xiaoyan, let’s talk about leveling up, okay?”

“Fine.”

Chen Xiaoyan propped her chin with her hand and sized up this cute girl.

“You’re level eight now. If you reach level ten, we’ll go down the mountain to do the trial quest. How about that?”

She hadn’t wanted to bring a Tianxiang player before, feeling they weren’t useful.

But money changed everything.

She was playing the game with the intention of making money; why not earn if possible?

Chongchong had no objections and immediately nodded in agreement.

“Sister Xiaoyan is so powerful, I’ll leave it to you. I don’t really know how to play.”

“I don’t really know either. It’s my first time playing a full-immersion online game,” Chen Xiaoyan laughed.

Chongchong pursed her lips and dragged out the sound, “Okaaay…”

“By the way, can we contact each other in real life?”

Chen Xiaoyan immediately understood what she meant and didn’t refuse.

She gave her QQ number.

QQ, besides chatting and socializing, was also good for financial transactions.

“I’ve noted it down. I’ll add Sister Xiaoyan once I log off.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, Chongchong, how many skills do you have now?”

If she was going to help level her up, she needed to know her character’s information.

“Four: Spring Breeze Guidance, Gale Step, Healing Technique, and Marvelous Hand Revival.”

Gale Step and Moon Shadow Step were similar; the former focused on speed and footwork, the latter on agility and lightness.

Healing Technique and Marvelous Hand Revival, by her explanation, were both recovery skills.

《Healing Technique: Instantly restores (spirit × skill level × 2) health points to teammates, cooldown 30 seconds》

《Marvelous Hand Revival: Restores (spirit × skill level × 0.5) health points per second to self and teammates for 5 seconds, cooldown 10 seconds》

No matter how she looked at it, these skills were very different from the ones Chen Xiaoyan had learned.

Could it be that she really hit the jackpot?

“Chongchong, have you found skills like Mu Yu Han Guang or Return Wind Umbrella in the library?”

Chongchong shook her head.

“Sister Xiaoyan, ever since I saw you mention Mu Yu Han Guang in the game forum, I asked other Tianxiang players, but none have found it in the library.”

“Maybe it’s a hidden quest reward you completed?”

Chen Xiaoyan smiled awkwardly.

“Well, I thought you all had it. Turns out it’s a hidden reward. I didn’t even know.”

“Really envy you, Sister Xiaoyan,” Chongchong curled the corner of her mouth, her thoughts unknown.

“Alright, Chongchong, enough talk. Wait for me here a moment.”

Chongchong nodded and quietly waited.

Chen Xiaoyan opened the friend chat channel and contacted Dao Ji Shi Kong and Wo Ming You Wo Bu You Tian.

【Chen Xiaoyan: I have something to do. Might be late by a few hours】

【Wo Ming You Wo Bu You Tian: Then hurry up. Bro’s already heading down the mountain】

【Dao Ji Shi Kong: Okay, I’ll wait for you】

She closed the private chat channel and smiled.

“Alright, all set. Let’s go to the Demon Suppression Tower.”

“Okay, Sister Xiaoyan.”

Outside the Demon Suppression Tower.

Just as they were about to enter, a game system prompt suddenly popped up.

【Attention all players!!!】

【The Immortal Realm game is about to update its version. Please log off safely within ten minutes. Players who fail to log off will be forcibly disconnected by the system.】

Chen Xiaoyan was dumbfounded.

That mysterious game company was actually updating?

“Sister Xiaoyan, looks like the game is updating.”

Chen Xiaoyan shrugged.

“Chongchong, nothing we can do. We’ll have to level up next time.”

“No problem. I’m logging off now. Sister Xiaoyan, remember to approve my QQ friend request.”

“Sure.”

Then, Chongchong’s character flashed and disappeared from the spot.

Chen Xiaoyan clicked log out as well.

***

In reality, Chen Xiaoyan took off her helmet and immediately opened her phone to log into the game forum.

She wanted to see if there was any information about the game update.

But there was none.

Not a single insider tip from the game company?

Chen Xiaoyan felt disappointed.

Looks like she would have to figure it out on her own.

“Beep beep.”

At that moment, her phone showed a QQ notification.

【Weekend Lazybug sent a friend request. Approve?】

Chen Xiaoyan smiled. Chongchong was back.

She clicked approve immediately.

Weekend Lazybug: Sister Xiaoyan?

Yanling Assassin: I told you I’m Brother Yan ╮(︶﹏︶)╭.

Weekend Lazybug: I don’t believe it.

Yanling Assassin: Who tells the truth these days and gets believed?

Weekend Lazybug: I’m not stupid. The Immortal Realm characters are scanned from real bodies.

Yanling Assassin: That’s a bug. Don’t believe me? Let’s video chat?

Weekend Lazybug: No, not convenient now.

Weekend Lazybug: Sent a golden glowing [Red Packet] ×10

Yanling Assassin: ???

Weekend Lazybug: Hmph, I told you, you level me up, you pay (so generous.jpg).

Yanling Assassin: Haha, aren’t you afraid I’ll run off with the money?

Weekend Lazybug: A top expert like Sister Xiaoyan would never do that.

Chen Xiaoyan scratched his head, both amused and exasperated.

Had this girl never been scammed online before? So easily trusting strangers.

Well, luckily she met an honest and trustworthy guy like me.

But when he opened the red packets, he froze on the spot.

He thought it was ten packets of 100 each, but it turned out to be ten packets of 2,000 each.

QQ’s red packet limit was 2,000.

If it wasn’t capped, how much more would she have sent?

“Holy crap, I actually met a rich woman?”

Chen Xiaoyan’s hands trembled.

Weekend Lazybug: Sister Xiaoyan, why aren’t you saying anything?

Yanling Assassin: Fool, just handing over twenty thousand like that? What if it’s a scam?

Weekend Lazybug: I think Sister Xiaoyan wouldn’t scam me. Besides, it’s just small money.