Oppressive Authority and Combat Skills

How could something this trivial turn into such a fuss?

"Hmm? Boss Liu, do you have any good ideas?"

"Of course." Liu Bai wore a confident expression. "First, Eden wants to use her real name, right?"

Eden nodded. "That's right."

"But if you're starting out as an idol from scratch, your name needs to be eye-catching too."

Eden continued nodding. "That's true... but the names Miss Gui comes up with either have no distinguishing features or go completely overboard."

Guinaifen spread her hands, making it clear she wasn't taking the blame. Eden was simply too demanding.

"Isn't this kind of name something you can just come up with on the spot?"

Liu Bai let out a deep sigh.

Although he knew he was supposed to be the decision-maker, he hadn't expected to have to handle something as trivial as naming people too.

"Little Gui, get ready to type—Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden. How about that? It perfectly combines the two requirements: eye-catching and her real name."

Eden: "..."

Guinaifen: "..."

"Why are you two staring at me? Type it." Noticing their strange looks, Liu Bai frowned and glared back.

"How about 'Eden Eden E'? It sounds a little nonsensical, but... well, thinking about it carefully, it actually sounds pretty good. It rolls off the tongue." Eden looked away and patted Guinaifen on the shoulder.

"Doesn't 'Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden' roll off the tongue too? Little Gui! You tell them!"

However, Guinaifen, seated before the computer, peacefully patted her chest. "Relax. So Boss Liu has things he isn't good at too. Looks like I'm still useful after all."

"...You two have absolutely no artistic taste." Liu Bai was deeply dissatisfied with their attitudes.

"No one would ever want to be called that!"

Eden's tone rose several notches, a rare occurrence.

She absolutely did not want people to call her "Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden" in future interviews!

Just imagining people calling her "Ms. Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden" in the future...

At award ceremonies, they would announce before everyone, "Please welcome Ms. Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden!"

When she went out, people would say, "Ah, isn't that the famous online Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden?"

Aaaaaaaaaah—!

Not only would it make her seem narcissistic, it would make her seem mentally ill too—!

"This has nothing to do with art at all! No, it's outright insulting art!"

Absolutely! Absolutely!

She absolutely would not accept a name like this!

It wasn't a matter of whether it was good or bad!

It was the kind of thing that would become black history!

Even if she became famous someday, people would say, "Oh, the singing queen Eden? Her online name when she was young was 'Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden.'"

When she was old, someone might even interview her and ask, "What were you thinking when you debuted under the stage name 'Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden' in your youth?"

After she died and entered the textbooks, music books would record, "The legendary songstress Eden once debuted under the name 'Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden' in her youth..."

Power and Oppression, and Combat Skills

Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden

Eden stared lifelessly at her newly registered account.

Liu Bai had shamelessly used his authority to "persuade" Guinaifen and Eden.

She didn't want to do this anymore.

Before this name could become her black history, she should decisively run away.

At worst, she would spend the rest of her life barely surviving beneath the sin of betraying their trust.

"Don't worry, my naming skills are absolutely flawless."

Liu Bai patted his chest as he assured Eden and Guinaifen.

"Little Gui, tell them. When have I ever screwed anyone over?"

"Right now?" Guinaifen stroked Eden's back.

Ultimate Super Beautiful Angel Eden... well, after saying it so many times, it really did start to feel strangely catchy.

But this naming sense... even Chang Chang probably wouldn't come up with a name like that, would she?

No, although Chang Chang might not be able to squeeze out much in four months when it came to poetry and literature, Guinaifen still thought the name Guinaifen sounded very nice.

Boss Liu should probably never be allowed to name things again.

"Mm, I've already booked the 3D model. Don't worry, you won't show your face during the stream. A name is just a label for the viewers to see."

This man was saying such high-sounding nonsense with a completely serious face!

"I suddenly realized Boss Liu has a hypocritical side. Is this what they call a scandal?"

"...It's hard to imagine what you must have gone through to seriously think your naming sense is good."

Having recovered a little, Eden promptly followed up with another stab.

"Anyway, let's try it first. If it really doesn't work, we can change the name. If that still doesn't work, we can delete the account, run away, and start over."

Liu Bai also spoke up to comfort them.

Those two kept mocking him, stirring up his rebellious spirit.

Liu Bai wanted to see which of the names they came up with could compare to his.

"...Forget it. I'll go adjust the microphone and find a few songs for you to listen to later."

Hearing that, Eden sighed and decided to face reality.

After settling Eden's matters, Liu Bai and Guinaifen went out again.

Although someone had reminded them to pay attention to their safety lately, Liu Bai was also secretly racing against time.

Besides, if someone was targeting him, they most likely weren't trying to kill him.

And honestly, World Serpent was already an extremely radical organization.

"Hey... there's a fireworks shop here too. Boss Liu, can you lend me some money?" Guinaifen spotted a little store by the roadside that greatly interested her.

"Here. Consider it this month's salary." Liu Bai directly transferred Guinaifen a sum of money through his wristband. "Are you making firecrackers?"

"Mm. I'm planning to buy some firecrackers and modify them. I'm not very good at fighting, but I still want to do everything I can to help you, Boss Liu."

Whether she had been exiled to a mining planet or after her eldest brother became an interstellar pirate, Guinaifen had always been very well protected.

A small part of Guinaifen's combat skills came from her childhood as the daughter of a duke, another part from being influenced by her older brothers, and the rest from learning acrobatics.

Basically, she was a hodgepodge of spears, staffs, exotic weapons, and all sorts of strange things.

But... she was actually pretty capable. Flourished spear and staff techniques had evolved from martial arts, and she was a Pathwalker herself, making her even more formidable.

Guinaifen was at least confident she could retreat unscathed from the hands of several Cloud Knights.

—Though she had no actual combat experience.

—And Cloud Knights like Chang Chang didn't count.

In any case, now that she was throwing herself into battle to protect others, Guinaifen had nothing to hesitate over.

She couldn't let something she regretted from her youth happen again, could she?

"Fine. Once you're done shopping, just wait for me at the bookstore."

This time, Liu Bai intended to make a large purchase at the bookstore.

His goal was to select some skill books for combat.

Liu Bai had already finished reading the previous three books. With attributes of 3/3/3, he already had decent combat ability.

For more advanced intermediate attribute books, he would have to go to the Sumeru headquarters to buy them. He probably wouldn't have access to intermediate attribute books for quite a long time.

Skill Book: Fingertip Lightning Storm

Description: Fires purple lightning from the fingertips for continuous low-power attacks.

Learning Requirement: Electro Vision

Price: 100000g

Lisa's normal attack in the game, and they dared charge a hundred thousand for it... ridiculously expensive.

Besides, Liu Bai couldn't use skill books that required a Vision yet.

However, Visions were not as difficult to obtain as they had been in the original game.

The chamber of commerce could obtain unactivated Visions. By gathering the appropriate materials, one could activate the corresponding element.

Alchemy could also be used. Liu Bai did know how to create a Vision, but the quality of his current materials was insufficient.

In terms of the mod, they were more like simple spellcasting tools, without the complicated significance they had in the original game.

Skill Book: Blade Parry

Description: Shake a bladed weapon to parry an enemy's physical attack and build up the corresponding enemy's posture gauge. Once the posture gauge is full, you may perform an execution that deals massive damage. Note: Do not attempt to execute Robert with a small knife. Also, know your own strength.

Learning Requirement: None

Price: 300000g

Parrying.

The concept was actually extremely widespread in action games.

But if one were to ask which game had the most visually impressive parries?

About eighty percent of the answers would probably be "Sekiro."

Mm, this skill book came from the "Sekiro Mod." Besides parrying, players could also craft a Mortal Blade in that mod. Its stats were average, but its visual effects were cool.

Well, although Liu Bai had no combat experience, he could shake a blade.

He just had to keep shaking it.

As for that warning, it was simple. It meant executions also depended on weapon stats. If the opponent's armor was thick enough, you wouldn't be able to stab through it. And parrying also depended on your own strength...

But Liu Bai had no intention of using the Salted Fish Blade for executions anyway. Staying alive came first.

This was the one.

Then he needed to find a martial skill that suited the sword at the end...

Mm, Kamisato Art: Iai.

They were both normal attacks, so just because it was a five-star character's normal attack, why was it twice as expensive as Lisa's normal attack?

So angry he was shaking with cold...

After choosing his combat skills, Liu Bai went back to selecting life skills.

The next skill he needed to improve was... computers.

Only with a high enough computer skill could he forge an identity for Firefly and let her come out.

It would also make it easier to arrange the characters he drew in the future.

The only problem was that computer skill books didn't have balance-breaking mod items like attribute books did.

But the upside was... regardless of level, reading them would grant experience.

Liu Bai swept up every computer skill book on the first floor.

There were so many that the bookstore clerks had to help carry them.

"Done."