Elf Badge

A cybercafe in a university town—

"Awesome!"

"Attack!"

"Blocked them!"

"Get him!"

"No way!"

"What a crazy strategy!"

"These two guys are just too good!"

The crowd in the cybercafe clamored, watching a match of the game Warcraft being played on the computers.

"Haha! Yes! Victory!"

The match ended in just half an hour, and the outcome was exactly as expected: Huang Long, known as the Warcraft King, had emerged victorious.

Speaking of Huang Long, the Warcraft King, anyone in the vicinity of the university town who played Warcraft knew just how superb his skills were. Whoever went one-on-one against him was essentially asking to be abused. Moreover, he didn't rely on speed like those other top-tier players; instead, he waited until his opponent was at their most confident with a fully maxed-out army. Once they clashed, he would use his perfect micro-management to wipe them out with minimal forces, then wait for them to rebuild their army only to crush them again, leaving them feeling like crying without tears. Consequently, few dared to challenge his skills.

"Haha, I won. Boss, you said if I won, you'd give me that badge I had my eye on, right? You have to keep your word!" Huang Long picked at his ear, looking at the chubby cybercafe owner with a happy smile on his face.

He had seen that badge on the owner's counter. It was an exquisite piece; the back featured a massive throne, while the front depicted a handsome elf. Since Huang Long's favorite faction to play in Warcraft was the Night Elf faction, he had taken a liking to it at first sight.

After much pestering and begging from Huang Long, the owner had finally agreed that if Huang Long could defeat him using the Night Elf faction, he would give him the badge.

Huang Long was quite confident in his gaming skills, and since the Night Elf faction was his favorite, he had agreed without hesitation. That led to the scene just moments ago, which had attracted a large crowd of onlookers.

After the match with the owner, Huang Long realized that this chubby, easygoing man who usually kept a low profile was actually a Warcraft expert. Even he had only narrowly defeated him.

Huang Long breathed a secret sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't toyed with his opponent as he usually did. Perhaps it was his desire for the badge, but he had laid out various contingencies from the start, which was why the owner's forces had collapsed so easily during the final battle.

Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Huang Long's forehead. If he hadn't been so desperate for that badge, he might have lost due to a moment of carelessness. If that had happened, not only would his reputation have been ruined, but he would have missed out on the Night Elf badge as well!

"The badge is yours, of course. You're a talented kid, I didn't expect you to be this strong!" The chubby owner wiped the sweat from his forehead and gave a wry smile.

After speaking, the owner stood up and went to the counter drawer to retrieve the box containing the badge.

"Damn it, I can't believe I didn't put it away during the time it took me to go to the bathroom and you saw it. What rotten luck!" the owner grumbled with dissatisfaction, his belly full of resentment.

"Nothing I can do about that. It's just fate that I'm meant to have this badge. You and it were just passing ships!" Huang Long feigned disappointment, a classic case of someone who had gained an advantage and was still acting smug.

"Perhaps, you really are fated to have it!" The owner laughed heartily at these words. However, Huang Long, who was busy admiring the silver badge, failed to notice the mysterious, sharp glint that flashed in the eyes of the seemingly helpless owner.

"Well, Boss, I'll be heading off now!" Seeing the owner's reluctant expression, Huang Long grew wary. Fearing the man might try to take it back, he quickly found an excuse to leave.

Watching Huang Long scurry away, the previously annoyed owner suddenly calmed down. He gazed at Huang Long's retreating back as if lost in deep thought.

After a long while, the owner finally snapped out of it and muttered to himself, "Finally found a suitable person. I wonder if it will succeed this time!"

The next day, people discovered that the most popular cybercafe in the university town had a "For Sale" sign on the door. It was shocking; the place had always been packed to the brim, so how could it possibly be closing down?

"How does this thing work? It seems quite strange, and it has an inexplicable attraction!" Huang Long looked at the silver elf badge in his hand, fiddling with it constantly.

Huang Long was an orphan, but since high school, he hadn't taken a single cent from the state. He believed he was self-sufficient and shouldn't reach out for help; that money should go to those who needed it more than he did. Therefore, since high school, he had worked while studying, eventually managing to get into a third-rate university. Over the years, due to his constant exposure to the world, he had developed a very mature mindset.

Later, relying on his talent for Warcraft, he participated in many tournaments and won quite a bit of prize money. He had also engaged in betting on games or items like he did today many times, and he won far more often than he lost.

"This trinket is actually quite interesting. I wonder how that owner got it? Probably custom-made!" Huang Long thought quietly, arriving at his dormitory entrance without realizing it.

"Rumble!" Thunder rolled across the sky.

"Is it going to rain? Oh no, the quilt on the balcony!" Huang Long suddenly remembered something, immediately quickening his pace as he dashed up to the sixth floor of his building.

"Phew, it hasn't started raining yet. Good luck!" Huang Long reached the balcony and found that it wasn't raining at all; it had just been a few rumbles of thunder.

"Screw you, you bastard, scaring me like that!" Huang Long gestured with his middle finger toward the sky and grumbled, "Making me run so hard for nothing!"

"Boom!" A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking Huang Long directly in the chest—right where he had placed the silver elf badge.

"Damn it!" Huang Long let out a startled cry, then fell silent. On the balcony, there was no longer any sign of him.

In the void, two figures stood slowly, looking at the spot where Huang Long had disappeared. One laughed, "Well, we've fulfilled our final responsibility. Everything that needed to be done, we've done!"

"Yes, let's leave it at that. The previous three have already been sent out; now we can only wait for the results," the other figure said slowly.

Immediately, the two turned into a wisp of clear shadow and vanished.

First Arrival in Another World