Level 1 to 20 Beginner Entry Program 78

Sitting before the computer, Wu Qingchen lifted his right hand from the mouse and tapped his fingernails lightly on the desktop in turn, letting his mind go blank as he savored the newly described tale in The Rogue Ministers and Thieves.

A few dozen seconds passed. Wu Qingchen exhaled in satisfaction, came back to himself, and looked once more at the favorites page on the Mo Tie Chinese site.

A few other books showed updates as well, but after he had just finished the heavenly delicacy that was The Rogue Ministers and Thieves, those dry, ordinary staples he could usually force down without much complaint had suddenly lost all flavor.

These things... whether to read them or not... hardly mattered...

With that thought, Wu Qingchen closed the browser and glanced at the lower right corner of the screen: there was still nearly an hour and a half left before the break ended.

What should he do?

His aimless gaze wandered across the screen, then suddenly came to rest on the icon for a battle platform.

Another hour and a half. Just enough for a round!

No sooner thought than done, Wu Qingchen moved the mouse and clicked.

The battle platform login page appeared, already set to remember his account and password. Looking at the familiar account he had used for seven or eight years, now upgraded to level 60 with 1700 MVP, Wu Qingchen hesitated for a moment.

Mm... since he had finally gotten a little time to rest...

"Better take it easy," he said.

No sooner said than done. Wu Qingchen clicked twice, quickly switched the login account to his level 9 alternate with 17 MVP, and entered the game lobby to choose a room.

The waiting-player arrow pointed upward, the lag arrow pointed downward, and Wu Qingchen operated with practiced ease. The room named "New Players, Level 1-20 Welcome" rapidly climbed to the top of the lobby list.

The familiar bedroom, the familiar look of the computer, the familiar desktop on the monitor, the familiar penguin login bar, the familiar browser homepage...

With familiarity piled upon familiarity, and under the tyranny of first impressions, Wu Qingchen never noticed that this computer before him, apart from the enormous difference in hardware performance, also differed in many subtle details.

For example:

Wu Qingchen saw the familiar arrangement of desktop icons and background theme, yet failed to notice that the angle of the background image and the play of light and shadow had quietly changed, and that before he knew it, the focus most likely to catch the eye had been drawn toward the browser and gaming platform, which had also secretly shifted position.

Wu Qingchen saw the familiar favorites shelf on the Mo Tie Chinese site, yet never realized that on the first page of the shelf, aside from the strangely updated The Rogue Ministers and Thieves, every other book showing new chapters was one he rarely browsed in daily life or had already abandoned, books that were basically incapable of stirring his interest.

Thus, while the planning team and the medical team kept insisting, "Your break time is, of course, yours to decide," they were quietly guiding Wu Qingchen—

First into the book he had "decided on his own" to read, where he spent a while on The Rogue Ministers and Thieves, which "fully sympathizes with the suffering lives of the lower classes and focuses on awakening identification with and compassion for the native inhabitants of the medieval world."

Then they guided him into the battle platform he "thought he knew well"—

Quickly joining the "New Players, Level 1-20 Welcome" room, Wu Qingchen did not notice that when he hesitated, then muttered about "taking it easy" while switching from his main account to an alternate, the expression on Ji Mingming's face behind him was one of faint amusement.

Luck seemed to be on his side. With Wu Qingchen included, the battle room was just full, and the host quickly started the game.

An electronic voice sounded:

"All players are in place..."

"All players are ready..."

"Five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Game start!"

102 hours earlier, in a major coastal city, at the Warfire Esports Club.

Han Bing stared dumbfounded at the sky, dumbfounded at the huge screen suspended in midair, watching the fast-forwarded images play.

An hour and a half later.

The teammates whose homes were in this city, or within two hundred kilometers of it, were already home or on their way home.

The teammates whose homes were more than two hundred kilometers away were already racing to book plane tickets, high-speed rail tickets, or desperate carpools at highway exits.

The team leader, who usually grumbled endlessly over even a half-day leave request, that day did not waste a single word. He briskly approved everyone's leave requests, reports, or more abrupt disappearances on the grounds of "temporary outings, indefinite duration," and then, together with most of the club staff, hurriedly packed up and set out for home as well, or else for whatever route might lead them home.

Daily training was of course impossible, and ordinary order could of course not be maintained... to speak more plainly, in the whole of Earth, whether even the very idea of "ordinary days" could last a few more days was a question.

At dinner time, when he walked into the empty cafeteria, the whole club had been reduced to just a few scattered cats and kittens, all of them bachelors like Han Bing, the sort who could eat well enough alone and leave their families at ease.

As the few of them were discussing where dinner should be settled, under the escort of the "indebted proprietor," whose hair had visibly gone half white in the span of an hour and a half, a large crowd poured into the cafeteria.

Leading them was a big shot.

That judgment was easy enough to make.

Just look at the heavy air of government officialdom about the middle-aged man; look at the relieved expression on the boss's face, as though heaven had left him a way out; and look at the vice district chief who had once strutted in like a grand personage during a prior inspection, now bent over beside the middle-aged man, sweat beading continuously on his forehead. Anyone could reach the conclusion.

Without any pleasantries, the big shot walked into the cafeteria under the general manager's guidance and said only four words from beginning to end: "Are you Han Bing?"

"Yes."

And so Han Bing was "yes" all the way to Beijing, where he stood before an even bigger shot.

"Playing games? What kind of international joke is that! Playing games can make him more ambitious! Is that not utter nonsense? And a filing? Filing is nonsense too! Nonsense, all nonsense! Pure nonsense!"

The even bigger shot barked into the phone in irritation, then waved his hand impatiently.

And so Han Bing was waved into a large room that looked much like the training hall of an esports club.

By the time Han Bing arrived, there were already many people standing and sitting in the training hall.

Amid the noisy greetings, Han Bing heard several familiar voices: Zhang Li of the Blazing team, Qiu Xiaoqi of the Skystrike team, Zhu Zhifei of the Shadow team... and quite a few other old rivals.

Amid the clamorous arguments, Han Bing learned the reason he had been brought here.

Soon, Han Bing joined in the uproar as well.

"Good grief! Warcraft: Nobunaga's Ambition? Wasn't that lousy game already long overdue for a map update?"

"Weren't there already no players left?"

"Weren't they already shut down? Not yet..."