Jiang Shi didn’t expect to receive such a sudden apprenticeship request, but when he thought about how much Serious Young Man before him resembled him, it all made sense from that perspective.
Not to mention, during his five-year retirement from gaming, he was surprised that he still had dedicated fans. This level of dedication touched him.
Jiang Shi thought for a moment and then expressed his thoughts quite objectively, “Even though we’re both Light Elves, your main role is a priest, but I play as a runemaster.”
“That’s not a problem,” Serious Young Man said. “I just want to learn tactics from my master.”
Gentleman Fan, who was nearby, laughed and said, “You’ve asked the right person. Jiang Shi is a pro, and he’s a real badass.”
Jiang Shi glanced at him, his tone showing no excitement, “Thank you for the compliment.”
Serious Young Man held his gaze steady and with a hint of anticipation, he asked, “So, is the final answer?”
Jiang Shi chuckled, “Since you put it that way, I can only say that I’m willing…”
“He means he’s willing to be your master,” Han Yuze interrupted before Jiang Shi could finish his sentence. “Congratulations on your apprenticeship.”
Jiang Shi didn’t understand why Han Yuze had to chime in at this moment, but he went along with it, saying, “Congratulations to both of us.”
Han Yuze: “.”
Jiang Shi didn’t expect to suddenly acquire another disciple, but upon reflection, it didn’t seem like a bad thing. After all, he had some free time, and as long as they were both part of the Light Elf faction, he could teach him a few things, even if they were from different professions.
Jiang Shi casually sent a friend request to Serious young man, saying, “Well, I’ll add you first.”
At that moment, Scavenger who had been silent until now, spoke up, “Add me as well.”
“Sure.”
The more friends, the better, and Jiang Shi didn’t mind. Gentleman Fan also joined in, saying, “Count me in, count me in.”
Scavenger didn’t seem eager to engage with him, but for the sake of the team, he accepted the friend request with a stoic expression.
The whole process made the quiet patient in the background, Deep Well Ice Player, appear even more isolated. For him, all social activities were unnecessary and a bit rogueish.
Another person who remained motionless was Han Yuze. The reason was simple: he had no interest in participating in this.
Han Yuze stood silently on the sidelines, and when he looked up, he saw Serious Young Man who had become friends with Jiang Shi approaching him.
His initial reaction was that the young man wanted to add him as a friend, so he wondered whether he should act as if they were strangers or pretend to be familiar with him. However, Serious Young Man came up to him and suddenly lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of curiosity, “God Yu, it’s been five years, and you still haven’t won someone over?”
Han Yuze: “?”
Serious Young Man didn’t seem to need his response, and after making eye contact, he wore a very polite smile. It was as if he was inquiring about some intriguing information.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he looked over at Jiang Shi and said in a nonchalant tone, “Master, shall we continue?”
The sudden change in attitude and the way he addressed him so naturally, without any hint of discomfort, made Han Yuze realize that this new disciple might not be as easy to handle as he initially thought. He sighed quietly while gazing at the sky.
With a sigh, Han Yuze opened his friend list and found the green avatar.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy about the term “disciple” at this moment. Even when he saw the green icon, his heart skipped a beat.
He quickly sent a message: “Have you been online all day today? What’s going on with the guild?”
The guild displayed next to the green avatar was still “The Crusaders.“
After Han Yuze officially found his next home, he naturally wanted to go with him. However, seeing that his master was still fooling around at the Seven Silver Coins leisure pension club, he was not in a hurry to quit the club for the time being.
In recent days, he has been patiently lurking undercover in the Crusaders’ inner circle, and incidentally annoying people.
Today’s battle between the Qing faction and the Green Fanatic was like watching a full-length movie.
At this moment, when Han Yuze asked, he immediately summarized the entire situation, ending with a bit of Schadenfreude1.
[Green Fanatic: In short, the Old Man
[Green Fanatic: Master, you weren’t in the guild chat, so you don’t know how intense it was. Especially after the news that you started taking action, the flaming and insults, tsk.]
[Green Fanatic: I’ll organize the chat logs and send them to you when I have time; I guarantee it’s a hilarious read!]
[Yu Weize: Not urgent.]
[Yu Weize: Pay attention to the movements of those professional players; it seems quiet now. What’s going on?
[Green Fanatic: Oh? I’m not sure. You know, everyone knows I’m affiliated with you. So, when you left the guild, these people got extra cautious around me. They intentionally avoid me when they see me on the street.]
[Green Fanatic: I actually think they’re just feeling guilty. If they hadn’t done anything wrong in the middle of the night, why would they be afraid of a ghost knocking on their door?]
[Yu Weize: Are you calling yourself a ghost?]
[Green Fanatic: …]
[Green Fanatic: Forget all that! But one thing I’m sure of is that Old Man has already informed the guild members in the wilderness maps to return. They’ve probably given up on the open field PvP. What we need to watch out for is the next move; there’s definitely a follow-up. I ran into Akdas just now in the guild territory, and his expression looked pretty sinister!]
[Yu Weize: Understood. Keep an eye out for any developments and notify me immediately if anything happens.]
[Green Fanatic: Roger, I promise to complete the mission!]
[Green Fanatic: But… when can I join you, Master? You can’t get too carried away playing on your own and forget about me.]
Han Yuze: cough
Although it was somewhat heartless, during the exciting Qing faction activities today, he had momentarily forgotten about this disciple who was still in the wolf’s den.
Glancing at the figures around him who had finished eating and were gradually coming online, he reassured him symbolically: [Don’t worry, I won’t forget. I need to get back to work.]
It could be said that humans were efficient and swift in doing everything to have fun.
In a short amount of time, the group had all finished their meal.
The first to come up was Gentleman Fan, followed by the Deep Well Ice Player and the Scavenger.
The least impatient person was probably Serious Young Man. After Jiang Shi came online, he waited for a while before he finally resurfaced calmly.
After the Qing forces assembled, they continued their operation.
Han Yuze relayed the information obtained from Green Fanatic.
Upon hearing it, the others finally understood why they couldn’t find any members of the Crusaders in the wilderness maps anymore.
They had some expectations, and that curiosity lingered until they continued searching and only found a few scattered individuals. Eventually, their enthusiasm waned.
Gentleman Fan, who had been trying to motivate the team, finally gave up, “It’s not fun anymore. Should we consider a top guild instead? There’s no one here.”
Han Yuze said, “They’re probably planning something else.”
Gentleman Fan replied, “They’re taking an awfully long time to plan. Looks like we won’t get any action today. Shall we call it a day?”
“Sounds good.” Jiang Shi was impressed by how the Crusaders adapted to the situation and had no objections to the suggestion. “Let’s continue next time. For now, let’s disband.”
“Alright, we’ll keep in touch.”
Scavenger left the team first, and then one by one, the others followed suit.
Jiang Shi noticed that Han Yuze was still standing on the side and didn’t seem eager to log off. He asked, “Not satisfied yet?”
Han Yuze replied, “Well, a bit. Do you want to clear a few more maps?”
As a player who had just returned, Jiang Shi had not yet opened all the transfer points in these high-level maps. He said he was clearing the Qing forces, but he was actually just running around the maps.
For him, this proposal was definitely worthwhile, so he had no reason to refuse, saying, “I’m fine with that.”
Han Yuze felt content as he saw himself being reassigned from the second team back to the first.
With the 25-player raid team switching back to party mode, it became a world of their own, just the two of them.
His mood instantly brightened.
This might be the only time he felt satisfied with the Crusaders’ “consideration.“
Because there were hardly any Crusaders left in the wilderness maps, they had eliminated any potential disturbances. This allowed Han Yuze and Jiang Shi to turn the Qing forces’s actions into a sightseeing tour.
In the past, Han Yuze would have scoffed at gamers who did nothing but run around, take pictures, and explore the scenery.
However, at this moment, he deeply experienced the joy of these scenery-loving players.
Crossing oases in a barren desert, exploring history through the remnants of ancient ruins, walking on pristine white snow in the high mountains, and gazing at the brilliant stars from the mountaintop… all in all, it was a joyous date for the two.
Leaving aside whether Jiang Shi had any thoughts on the matter, from Han Yuze’s perspective, it was indeed a perfect experience.
Until after they activated a new teleportation point, he suddenly noticed that the night had fallen. Glancing at the system time, his happiness waned.
Thinking about the message he had received earlier in the day, Han Yuze fell silent for a moment and then blurted out, “It’s getting late, are you ready for bed?”
Jiang Shi checked the time, which had just passed 8 o’clock.
Isn’t that early?
Jiang Shi furrowed his brows and looked at Han Yuze with a puzzled expression, “Not yet ready for sleep.”
Han Yuze nodded, “Let’s keep going then.”
However, not even five minutes after they had set off, he turned to Jiang Shi again, “You’ve been playing since this afternoon; are you tired? How about going offline to rest for a bit?”
Jiang Shi: “…”
Jiang Shi: “Not tired.”
Two figures raced through the desolate trees.
It was only 8:10, but Han Yueze thought for a moment and opened his mouth once more, “It’s already dark. It’s probably time to go to bed, right?”
After several times, Jiang Shi couldn’t help himself, “…Are you unwell?”
Han Yuze: “.”
Isn’t it because I care about you…
Han Yuze was about to look up at the sky when he received a message from the undercover comrade.
[Green Fanatic: Master, even though they’ve been avoiding me, I managed to find out something!]
[Green Fanatic: These guys aren’t giving up so easily. Old man seems unable to catch your people, so he secretly went to the black market! It looks like they’re planning to place an order to hire assassins!]
Han Yuze raised an eyebrow.
Oh, this just got more interesting.
- “Schadenfreude” is a German word that has been adopted into English. It refers to the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction derived from the misfortune, suffering, or failure of others. It’s essentially taking joy in someone else’s pain or misfortune. ↩︎