A message suddenly popped up on the wristband, reminding Zheng Xun that they were about to reach the airport.
Zheng Xun saved his progress and returned to reality from the simulation.
When he woke up, he saw the three people from Songbird.
Su Hairong reminded him that they were almost at the airport and Songbird's private plane was waiting. Zheng Xun nodded, his mind still on the simulation.
Three people had actually died.
And that enthusiastic, stuttering security guard hadn't seemed normal either.
He didn't know whether the guard had become a freak or simply hadn't realized he was dead.
Zheng Xun put the player wristband Cheng Jie had bought on his left wrist and fastened it.
He looked up at Xiao Jun.
"I want the recording of the last run in the Locust Sound instance."
Xiao Jun nodded.
"It's all ready for you. You can watch it once we're on the plane."
With that confirmation, Zheng Xun asked no more questions and began fiddling with the wristband.
Just as in the dream, he spotted the simulated instance icon at a glance.
Zheng Xun pretended not to see it. The icon wasn't in a conspicuous spot, so the other three naturally didn't notice it.
A lot of players downloaded all sorts of random apps onto their wristbands. It wasn't unusual.
He opened the White Tower Forum, and a virtual screen popped up, displaying posts on every imaginable subject.
The winter transfer window was in full swing, and the hottest discussions concerned player transfers among the major guilds: whose star player had left, and who had found a hidden gem in the trash zones. Star players naturally attracted the most attention, and the slightest development could cause an uproar online.
There was plenty of gossip too. Thanks to the way their guilds promoted them, many star players had fanbases of their own. Zheng Xun spotted a post about a male player breaking up with his girlfriend, its title followed by a "hot" tag. Wherever there was gossip, the spectators brought their stools.
Naturally, Zheng Xun's name was among the hot topics too.
[Is Zheng Erchui, god of war of the trash zones, really joining Songbird? Anyone in the know, come discuss]
Zheng Xun opened the thread.
: Just like the title says, did Erchui really sell himself to Songbird just like that?
: Second floor. What else? Songbird offered him silver-plus. What rookie wouldn't want silver-plus? Unless a horse monkey had chewed on his brain.
Horse monkeys were a type of low-level monster in White Tower instances. Though low-level, they were extremely reckless, taking on anyone regardless of strength. They also spat, and once they latched onto someone, there was no getting away without losing a couple of chunks of flesh.
When it came to chaos in the White Tower, Brother Horse called the shots.
The third-floor user continued the thread.
: A horse monkey might already have chewed on Erchui's head [dazed horse monkey.jpg], but is there really not a single guild competing with Songbird for him?
: How could they compete? Songbird's silver-plus is probably worth about as much as a powerhouse guild's bronze contract.
: You can't calculate it like that. There's still a barrier between Songbird and a top guild like Ten Thousand Ages. The gap is about ten Sen Miaos.
: The Shuishui Gang can't even walk down the street without getting kicked out of nowhere! The Shuishui Gang is furious!
: Speaking of which, can Sen Miao recruit a few living people or not? Is that former top guild just going to let itself fall into decline?
: How? The boss cries poverty at every press conference, unless they meet ten Erchuis with something wrong with their heads.
: Weren't we discussing Erchui and Songbird?
: What's left to discuss? Songbird isn't a scumbag like Nine Cauldrons, picking up rookies for free and then running off.
: Songbird will probably send Zheng Xun into an instance soon. Just wait for the Erchui show.
The thread was lively and replies came quickly. Zheng Xun grew tired after reading three or four pages; he was never quite so energetic outside an instance.
But he could tell that Xiao Jun was using him to generate buzz.
Zheng Xun offered no direct opinion on the matter. He closed the forum page, and before long, the car came to a stop.
This time Xiao Jun didn't need to make a big show of things, and he led Zheng Xun through the VIP passage.
Even so, the media still photographed Zheng Xun getting out of the car with a Songbird team jacket draped over his shoulders, yawning.
It seemed his joining Songbird was already a done deal.
Zheng Xun yawned as he walked, and Cheng Jie couldn't help himself.
"Are you that sleepy?"
Zheng Xun squinted at him.
"Cheng Jie."
"What?"
Hearing his full name all of a sudden made Cheng Jie's heart skip.
"Are you a loudspeaker that gained sentience? You're so noisy."
"..."
I only said one sentence!
He's infuriating.
Xiao Jun had Su Hairong hand Zheng Xun a red-and-gold bag containing a handbook and guide for every new Songbird member, along with a guild mascot plushie and other items.
"Once we reach District 068, I'll have to go out of town for a meeting. Zheng Xun, someone else from the guild will meet you. If you need anything, tell Hairong or Cheng Jie."
At that, he remembered something.
"Hairong also has an instance to run in the next couple of days, so stick with Cheng Jie. He'll be going into Locust Sound with you this time too, so it'll be good for you to get acquainted beforehand."
Ever since Songbird had reshuffled its guild operations team, it still hadn't found particularly suitable professionals, so some positions within the guild were currently filled by more senior players.
Su Hairong and Cheng Jie were both high-level White Tower players.
Before Cheng Jie could object, Zheng Xun reacted first.
"No. Just seeing Cheng Jie puts me in a bad mood."
"..." Cheng Jie was ready to explode. "You think I want to look after you?"
Zheng Xun kept his handsome, fair face perfectly straight.
"Look at that. This is Songbird's attitude. I'll post right now that I'm a free agent."
"Hey, hey, hey! How can you go back on your word?" Cheng Jie panicked.
Of course Zheng Xun wouldn't break his word. He was just stirring up trouble for no reason.
Xiao Jun and Su Hairong could both tell, so they said nothing and let Zheng Xun pick on him.
"Where will I stay when I get to Songbird? Will I be sharing with someone?"
The thoughtful and meticulous Xiao Jun had already arranged everything.
"We've arranged a room just for you. But if you want to live with another team member and get to know the situation, that's fine too."
Su Hairong looked back with a smile.
"You can stay with me too."
Zheng Xun nodded.
"Then I'll stay with Cheng Jie."
Cheng Jie: ?
"You find me so annoying! And you still want to live with me! Are you doing this on purpose?!"
"Yes."
Zheng Xun told it like it was.
"..."
Cheng Jie sulked to one side, while Zheng Xun's mood improved.
Joking aside, he was living with Cheng Jie so he could get familiar with Songbird as quickly as possible.
Compared with Su Hairong and Xiao Jun, Cheng Jie wasn't as calculating and was easier to understand. Zheng Xun didn't want to waste too much time guessing what other people were thinking.
At heart, Zheng Xun wasn't someone who enjoyed socializing. The simulated instances took up a lot of his energy, and if possible, he wanted to spare himself every other hassle.
Songbird wasn't his final destination, but it was a good place to settle temporarily.
As they talked, the group boarded the plane one after another.
After a few "friendly" exchanges with Cheng Jie, Zheng Xun was tired. Once aboard, he didn't say a word, curling up in a spacious seat to watch the replay.
Xiao Jun had just given him a tablet with the video of Songbird's second team's last run in the Locust Sound instance already loaded onto it.
The captain of Songbird's second team was the guild leader's younger sister, Tao Xueqing. She was only seventeen, very young, but highly capable.
She had entered her first instance at ten, nearly seven years ago, and had taken over the second team last year. She had already successfully cleared one S-rank instance, four A-rank instances, and several B- and C-rank ones.
Tao Xueqing's appearance didn't match her abilities. She looked like a pretty, introverted girl. If she had been able to attend school normally, she might have become a popular campus beauty at university.
Captain Xiao Tao spoke softly even when assigning tasks to her teammates. But judging by her arrangements, every step she took was reasonable and reflected her experience.
It could be said that if Locust Sound had been an ordinary A-rank instance, Tao Xueqing would already have brought her team back safely and added another achievement to her record.
But the problem was that one of their team members had accidentally triggered a 3S-difficulty nightmare side quest.