Forums and Sister

"Strength standards?"

As a "Newcomer Player" who had only just experienced one Game, Lin Yu was naturally a little confused.

Still, he tentatively made a guess based on his only Game experience.

"Uh, class strength?"

"That does have something to do with it... But for most people, class strength only makes up a very small part of it. After all, depending on the Instance, a class's strength isn't absolute."

The middle-aged man wagged a finger.

Lin Yu thought for a moment, then made another "guess."

"Could it be the number of Game Instances cleared?"

Lin Yu carefully voiced his guess.

"That's not exactly wrong, but... it isn't a 'hard requirement.' Plenty of people who've gone through seven or eight Instances might not be able to beat a super-strong Newcomer Player who's cleared just two."

The middle-aged man rubbed his chin. The diamond-studded gold watch on his wrist swayed and made Lin Yu's eyes swim.

"For a Newcomer Player like you, there's actually only one 'criterion' that matters—the number of Items you have."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man looked at Lin Yu.

"Young man, the 'gun' in your hand should be an Item, right? Getting such a powerful Item reward in your first Instance... You're pretty lucky. Of course, your own strength is probably quite extraordinary too."

As the middle-aged man spoke, Lin Yu nodded slightly without denying it.

He had a vague suspicion in his heart.

"So, these 'Items' can be traded and circulated among Players?"

"The gathering is a place where Players trade these Items with one another?"

The middle-aged man froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Newcomer, you're quite sharp. You understood it right away!"

"Exactly... This is the largest and most reliable 'offline gathering point' in Jiang City. All the Death game Players in Jiang City come here to exchange tradable Items from the Game."

The middle-aged man spoke, and Lin Yu pondered for a moment. "Are trades made with 'money'?"

"It's very flexible. You can use real-world money if you want. After all, there are always people who are very strong in the Death game but have an unsatisfactory life in the real world... So naturally, they might want to use this Game to change their lives."

"But most of the time, everyone prefers to trade with 'forum points'!"

As the middle-aged man spoke, Lin Yu frowned.

"Forum points? That forum... So it isn't just a website where everyone discusses strategies?"

As Lin Yu spoke, the middle-aged man laughed.

"You really are a Newcomer Player who knows nothing... Here, add me on WeChat. I'll send you the forum."

He pulled an old-fashioned phone from his trouser pocket, one of those elderly models made by Huawei.

He opened WeChat, and Lin Yu scanned his QR code.

The middle-aged man's WeChat name was "Harmony brings wealth," and his profile picture was a statue of a good-natured golden toad. It actually resembled him quite a bit.

"All right, young man. I've sent you the installation package. Once you install it, enter my WeChat ID as your inviter. Go home and look through the forum yourself!"

"The gathering's the day after tomorrow. Don't stand around here anymore. If someone sees you talking to me, you might bring trouble upon yourself."

The middle-aged man spoke, and Lin Yu looked at him in surprise.

"Big Brother Harmony brings wealth, do you have a lot of enemies?"

The middle-aged man laughed.

"If you go through a few more Instances, you'll have enemies too... What, you didn't make any enemies in the Newcomer Instance?"

"There aren't even close brothers at a gambling table. In a Game that uses 'lives' as stakes, it's far too easy for people to develop grudges against one another."

Lin Yu nodded silently.

He thought back to the faces of Yu Longguo, Yao Zhengye, Bao Liu, Xu Xiumei... and Xia Yue.

Needless to say, if even one of them survived, they would probably hate him to the bone and pursue him to the death.

Especially Yu Longguo and Xia Yue...

Just thinking about those two was a headache.

With that thought, Lin Yu decided to speak again.

"Big Brother Harmony brings wealth, the people who die in the Game... there's no way they can come back to life, right?"

"Of course. The Death game is the final chance... So you'd better cherish it. I believe very much in 'fate.' You came here and met me today—that's fate too."

"Harmony brings wealth" patted Lin Yu on the shoulder.

"I hope I'll still see you at the gathering the day after tomorrow and the one next week!"

"I hope so too!"

With that, Lin Yu turned and bid farewell to the middle-aged man.

He then reached the intersection, mounted his bicycle, and quickly returned home.

By then, night had already deepened, and all was silent.

But after opening the door, Lin Yu suddenly saw a figure lunge at him from the darkness.

"What's going on?!"

Could it be that mysterious junior girl from before?

No, her height was wrong. Could it be her accomplice?!

Or perhaps an enemy of that middle-aged man?

Or just another Player?!

Lin Yu was utterly shocked. He immediately raised his hand and summoned the Item revolver, pressing it against the lunging figure's lower abdomen!

But in the next moment, a somewhat familiar shampoo scent entered his nose.

Then a sharp pain shot through his ear.

"Ow—It hurts, it hurts!"

Lin Yu cried out.

"Smack!"

The girl clutching Lin Yu's ear switched on the living room light, her expression extremely displeased.

"Xiao Yu, you're really something now... You've come back after eleven o'clock two nights in a row!"

The round-faced girl had short hair and wore loose home clothes. She barked at him sternly.

Lin Yu raised both hands in surrender. "Sis, spare me. Yesterday was rehearsal, and today was a dinner..."

The girl before him was Lin Yu's only natural enemy—his elder sister, Lin Zhao.

Although she was only five years older than Lin Yu, their parents had disappeared when the siblings were young.

Over the years, Lin Zhao had gone from working part-time while studying to dropping out and opening a shop to support Lin Yu through school. She was practically no different from his mother.

Lin Yu didn't care about anyone, but he couldn't bear to worry his sister.

"Bullshit. I ran into your club president at the shop just now. She said your club didn't have a dinner at all." Lin Zhao raised her voice by an octave. "You've even learned to lie now, have you?"

As she spoke, Lin Zhao rose onto her tiptoes and snatched the revolver from Lin Yu's hand.

"And you brought a gun? Were you planning to shoot me?!"

"It's a prop from the club. I brought it home to get a feel for it," Lin Yu said cautiously. "You suddenly jumped out of the darkness just now and scared me, so I took it out to make myself feel safer."

Lin Zhao felt somewhat helpless at his words.

"All right... Where did you go tonight, then?"

Looking at his sister, Lin Yu opened and closed his mouth.

He didn't want to lie to her, but just as the middle-aged man had said...

The matter of the Death game was impossible to speak of.

It was as though some invisible force had sealed his mouth.

In the end, Lin Yu could only smile and speak.

"The role I'm playing this time barely survives, so I got too immersed in it. I rode my bike to the riverside to clear my head..."

"I was afraid you'd worry, Sis, so I lied."