Are the Three of Them Together?

"Want me to help? But you three don't seem very sincere..."

With his arms folded across his chest, Xuan Sheng leaned back in his chair and slowly shook his head.

"Huh?"

The three somewhat restrained people were all startled, unable to understand what had gone wrong.

"Look, didn't I say I wanted you to bring pretty young ladies over?"

Xuan Sheng's lips curled as he pointed at Zhao Min.

"The quality's not quite enough~"

The young man was purely nitpicking when he said this.

Although Zhao Min's aura was somewhat youthful and she was indeed a grade below Mo Rui and Yi Qing in terms of looks, in this world, where there was neither makeup nor face customization and everyone showed their true faces, Zhao Min's proper features and excellent figure already made her a rare, high-scoring beauty.

"Hey... you..."

Having been needlessly provoked, Zhao Min's face flushed red. She was just about to slam the table and rise, but the reason in her heart forcibly stopped her.

They had come to ask for help. They couldn't put on airs.

"Big Shot, don't joke around... Given the current situation..."

Zhang Zhan secretly doubted whether this guy was reliable, but his face showed no change. He continued smiling as he replied.

"Ha~ Fine, I suppose she'll do."

Ignoring the murderous glare from the robed girl, Li Xunsheng spread his hands.

"I can understand being short on food, but why come to me? I can't conjure food out of thin air either, can I?"

"It's like this. Since we've already fallen behind, all of us from the platoon joined Lone Star City's army so that we could survive in this world."

As Zhang Zhan said this, his face held both sighs and pride.

They had once been soldiers. They never expected that after entering this world, they would ultimately return to their old profession.

However, the fact that the entire team had earned the recognition of this world's soldiers did indeed give him reason to be proud.

Other players couldn't even join the army if they wanted to.

"Joined?"

"Big Shot Li, this isn't the same as what we did before."

Seeing a hint of confusion appear on Li Xunsheng's face, Zhao Jun hurriedly explained:

"When we accepted Legion Missions before, we could also earn War Merit upon completion, but... that mission system was somewhat like being a mercenary. In short, it was relatively free. It didn't count as joining the army, but we were still recognized for helping them."

"But truly joining the army... means becoming official soldiers. We receive more benefits, but also sacrifice some freedom and have mandatory missions to complete."

"Hmm... Isn't that pretty good for you?"

"No... For some reason, the army's supplies aren't sufficient, so we still have to find food ourselves."

At this, Zhao Jun's face turned bitter.

At first, he had thought that his comrades had found a way around the problem. By joining the army, they would gain the basic guarantees necessary for survival.

Unexpectedly, Lone Star City's military had a strange attitude toward the "outsiders" who joined them—in other words, players like them.

They didn't treat them as members of the army at all. Instead, they left them completely to their own devices, while providing far fewer guarantees and restrictions than expected.

"The situation is that the several areas near Lone Star City where food can be farmed—places that drop things like beast meat and rations—are all occupied."

Their comrades had arrived too late. They didn't want to cause trouble, nor did they have the ability to do so, and they had nearly been squeezed out of every area where they could survive.

It was as if Lone Star City's many NPCs had finally come to their senses. Whether it was the price of food or the rewards from ordinary missions, everything had begun changing specifically against the outsiders.

In short, instead of trying to make a living through those NPCs, it was better to kill monsters for ingredients or mine and gather herbs to barter.

"Hmm... So how can I help?"

Xuan Sheng truly lacked an understanding of the situation facing most players.

"Although things are getting worse, we've still found a way out. The military has provided us with a route."

Zhao Jun took out a map and pointed at Lone Star City.

"Look. From here all the way to here, if we can clear this road, we'll reach a settlement no player has visited before—a village in the Elf Forest!"

In this world, any place no player had visited was pure land.

Whether it was friendly NPCs or untouched wilderness, there were far too many resources to exploit.

"An elven territory?"

"Yes. We're actually being sent there as envoys to establish a friendly garrison on behalf of Lone Star City's military."

Although they had found a solution, they simply didn't have the strength to put it into practice...

"Once we reach that settlement, we'll be able to establish a teleportation route. Unfortunately... our supplies are nearly exhausted. With such a long journey ahead, I'm afraid we won't be able to make it there on our own. We'll die halfway."

His expression solemn, the man looked at Xuan Sheng almost pleadingly.

This concerned the lives of all his comrades, so Zhao Jun had no choice but to trouble Big Shot Li again.

Even though he knew they already owed this Big Shot far too much, in such a desperate situation, Big Shot Li was the only lifeline he could think of.

Seeing how completely honest Zhao Jun was as he explained all their information without holding anything back, Zhang Zhan, who was meeting Xuan Sheng for the first time, couldn't help feeling puzzled.

Although Zhao Jun and Zhao Min had spent the entire journey praising Brother Li and recounting his exploits, whenever it came to exactly what abilities Brother Li possessed, the two of them became evasive and refused to explain clearly.

The problem was, he hadn't found any name beginning with "Li" on the level rankings.

Was someone like this really worthy of such trust?

"Xuan Sheng?"

Just as Li Xunsheng was considering how to help, the door behind him opened slightly. Yi Qing, still bleary-eyed, rubbed her eyes and walked out of the room.

Yi Qing was still somewhat dazed, but the moment she saw outsiders in the shop, her expression straightened, and she once again became as cold as ever.

"Sister Qingyi, you're here too?!"

Zhao Min, who had just been secretly glaring fiercely at Xuan Sheng, suddenly cried out when she spotted her idol.

Qingyi?

Zhang Zhan had just looked through the level rankings. He froze slightly, then his eyes widened.

[First Place: Ren Wo (Lv.11)]

[Second Place: Qingyi (Lv.10)]

[...]

Holy crap, it was the second-ranked Big Shot!!!

Maintaining his composure, Zhang Zhan opened the private-message page and immediately began roaring at Zhao Jun.

You never said we were also coming to see the second-ranked Big Shot!

No... Platoon Leader, I didn't know she was here either...

Unlike the excited platoon leader, Zhao Jun was already so shocked that his heart had gone numb...

He knew that these two had a very good relationship and contacted each other often.

But wasn't Big Shot Li involved with the boss lady here...

Why did it seem that Big Shot Qingyi lived here too???

Were the three of them together?!

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