Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 13: The 3-Man Meetup
Just as Duan Fei noticed the two of them, they also noticed him.
A ten-year-old girl ran over, holding an old man’s hand. She looked up at Duan Fei and said, "Mr. Smith, you’re looking well today."
There was no ID above the little girl’s head, which meant she was a native NPC, not a player.
The girl looked quite cute. She wore simple overalls, and though her face was a little dirty, she had a sunny disposition.
Her smile was so charming that it was impossible not to like her.
Looking at her smile, Duan Fei felt his own mentality shift to that of an old man, and he couldn’t help but want to spoil the little girl.
"You look very cute today, too."
Duan Fei fumbled in his pockets, wanting to take something out of his inventory to give her as a gift, but then he remembered that inventories were disabled in this instance.
Shrugging helplessly, Duan Fei told the little girl to go on and play. Then, looking at the old man beside her, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
"Why are you named Cuihua! That doesn’t fit your gender or your style at all!"
This old man was in his early seventies. His sweater was a bit worn, and his glasses were covered in cracks, but he still looked like an old, British-style gentleman.
It was just that his name was so bizarre that Duan Fei couldn’t stop himself from wanting to laugh.
When Duan Fei mentioned his name, Cuihua looked like a deep freezer, his expression dropping to sub-zero temperatures.
Before he could speak, Little Fatty, who was standing to the side, grabbed Duan Fei and whispered, "Have you got a death wish?!"
"What? Is it illegal to make fun of someone’s name in this instance? Why have a name like that if you don’t want people to roast it?"
"Are you really this dumb, or are you just pretending? You don’t know who Cuihua is?"
"What, is it illegal not to know who someone is?"
"Why do you have such a beef with the law? Fess up, is your real name Zhang San?"
Through Little Fatty’s explanation and a news link he sent, Duan Fei finally understood who Cuihua was.
A genius Spear Master. A while ago, he had achieved the Ninth Rank in Long Spear and won the youth division championship.
Ancient Martial Arts were very popular in this world, and the art of the Long Spear had a huge modern following. The annual Long Spear competitions consistently pulled in viewership ratings of over 10 points.
Not long after winning the championship, he was injured while acting heroically and was now recuperating at home.
Of course, he hadn’t come out of it badly; he had taken down seven armed thugs with a single Long Spear.
After being injured for his heroic act, Cuihua had paused his competitive activities and started playing "Abyss" as part of his recovery.
In "Abyss," players couldn’t bring their real-world skills into the game, but their existing aptitude allowed them to acquire related skills much faster.
Because he already possessed a high level of Long Spear technique, Cuihua’s in-game spear Skill leveled up quickly. His incredible combat prowess allowed him to become a top-100 player during the open beta in a very short time, and he was currently a hot topic.
Despite his great strength, his reputation wasn’t the best. He was known for being cold and arrogant, offering only the most basic courtesy to his opponents during matches, which had earned him the title of "the most impolite Ninth-Rank Spear Technique user in history."
His recent heroic act had salvaged some of his public image, but it still wasn’t quite enough.
Hearing Duan Fei and Little Fatty whispering to each other, Cuihua said coldly, "Don’t—"
"’Don’t talk to me if you value your life.’ That’s what you mean, right?" Little Fatty said warily. "As expected of the number one sharp-tongue. He’s already getting ready to tear into someone."
Raising a hand, Cuihua frowned and said, "I—"
"’I, Cuihua, am a top-100 player in this game! From now on, when you see me, you’d better bow your heads and greet me politely. If I tell you to go east, don’t go west. If I tell you to beat a dog, don’t you dare go chasing chickens for me. Otherwise, there’ll be hell to pay.’"
"Sor—"
"’Calling the cops is useless! You’re dead for daring to provoke me! Not even Jesus can save you, I decree it!’"
"Don’t—"
"’Don’t think I won’t touch you just because this is a game! I’m a local, and I have a hundred ways to make your life in this game impossible!’ There now, bro, no need to speak; I’ve said it all for you. See? He’s just that bad-tempered."
Cuihua fell silent.
He looked up at the sky, his indifferent gaze as cold and unapproachable as an old steak forgotten in the corner of a freezer for ten years.
Looking at Little Fatty, Duan Fei said with certainty, "That was a great translation. You completely captured the essence of a cranky old bro."
"To be honest, I’ve studied all of the top 100 players. If this were a Skill, I’d probably be at the Legendary Level by now. Even though the great god Cuihua has a bad temper, he’s extremely professional when it comes to gaming, so we can still rely on him. Don’t worry, I’ll be in charge of sucking up, you be the brains, and Cuihua can be our muscle. We’ll still crush this instance."
"Young man, you’ve got it all figured out!" Duan Fei clapped Little Fatty’s shoulder happily.
"It’s nothing special. Let’s get started."
Cuihua stared daggers at the two of them, but couldn’t get a single word out.
After comparing their current Attributes with Little Fatty, Duan Fei discovered that Little Fatty’s agility was very high, but his Power and Constitution were ridiculously low.
Little Fatty just gave a bitter smile and detached his right arm.
Yep, a prosthesis.
Cuihua’s Attributes, on the other hand, were quite balanced. With no obvious weaknesses, he would likely be the main Warrior of the three.
After confirming their respective roles, Duan Fei asked, "I can’t open my quest interface right now. Can you guys?"
"Me neither." Little Fatty shook his head, nonchalantly inserting a hand into his cheek as he spoke.
In the game, Little Fatty’s avatar was an old man with a scarred face. The most conspicuous wound was on his left cheek; he could easily stick his fingers through it to touch his own tongue, a habit he seemed to indulge in constantly.
"I see. It’s probably because the opening plot sequence hasn’t finished yet. This time is likely for us to check our surroundings and gather information. Let’s split up for now and regroup when a mandatory plot event occurs."
Little Fatty had no objections, and Cuihua gave a cold nod.
After they separated, based on the current information, Duan Fei deduced that they were probably supposed to wait for the people who had gone out to return.
He stood up and walked around, discovering several simple sheds in the hospital courtyard. Inside each shed were a few mattresses.
Mattresses weren’t a scarce commodity, so it was likely one per person. From this, he could estimate that the entire camp, including the players, had about twelve people.
’Excluding the players and Mary, that leaves eight people. If a fight breaks out, it’ll be tricky. Even with my Spiritual Armor, it could still be a problem.’
’My current Spirit is 31. Spiritual Armor converts one-third of that to my other Attributes, which should give me superhuman abilities temporarily.’
’Although it’s not great to assume the others are hostile before I’ve even met them...’
’...But Duan Fei had seen plenty of twisted games. He knew that if some game designers had even a single brain cell to rub together, they wouldn’t come up with such absurd scenarios.’
’Besides that, I also need to figure out my Talent Effect.’
’The attribute panel wasn’t showing any particularly bizarre numbers, which meant my Talent was a bit deeply hidden and would take some time to figure out.’
Thus, when Little Fatty came looking for Duan Fei, what he found was a seventy-year-old man trying to glitch the game by attempting to tuck his foot behind his head.
After a long silence, Little Fatty silently opened his messenger app and took a screenshot.
Duan Fei leaped up and lunged toward Little Fatty, but the other man, not to be outdone, turned and fled.
As he ran, he even had the spare energy to taunt, "Hey, you limper! Can’t catch me!"
"I’m gonna kill you! And how can you even take a screenshot right now!"
