Chapter 72: United Against the Cheater
As soon as the experience points hit the account, Xu Xiaofeng leveled up in an instant.
Staring at her screen, still somewhat dazed, she thought, “I didn’t even lift a finger, suddenly completed a quest, snagged 120,000 experience points, and boom—leveled up! What is even happening?”
But she quickly processed the situation.
This is a benefit from the big sister I just met! This is the reward for all my hard work cultivating relationships!
Some might say it wasn’t that hard, but Xu Xiaofeng would strongly disagree.
“I’ve been bearing a weight that ordinary people can’t handle!”
Just look at Elia’s impressive assets up front; one misstep and those things could crush her little frame flat!
Having pieced together the cause and effect, Xu Xiaofeng’s heart raced with joy. She put down what she was holding, whipped around, and planted a big wet kiss on Elia’s cheek, before hugging her tight.
“Thank you, Big Sister Elia!”
“Okay, okay. Gross!” Elia swatted away the crumbs from Xu Xiaofeng’s lips that had ended up on her face before turning Xu Xiaofeng back around.
Although she complained, her smile never faded.
“Consider it a welcome gift for my little sister.”
“Yup, yup!”
After munching on a couple of sweets and finally calming down, Elia suddenly froze.
What the heck did I just do?
This… this should count as scandalous, right? I just got all hot and bothered with a princess!
Wait a minute… I’m a minor right now! Is there an age protection law in the Otherworld? I’m on the edge here, need answers, ASAP!
“What’s wrong?” Elia, noticing Xu Xiaofeng had suddenly gone stiff, asked curiously.
Xu Xiaofeng glanced at her, shook her head, and replied, “N-no… nothing.”
Well, it’s not the end of the world, right?
Yeah, it’s all good. Girl-on-girl kisses are as innocent as daisies—nothing to worry about!
Xu Xiaofeng continued to show off her excitement.
And who could blame her? This little welcome gift saved her at least half a day’s worth of grinding for quests.
While it might take her half a day, for an average player, that would mean an entire day’s progress!
The two of them spent the afternoon tea time laughing and enjoying each other’s company, deeply immersed in their own little world.
But while they were peacefully enjoying their time together, chaos was brewing outside.
Bored players loved to stare at the level leaderboard, and they were the first to spot the changes.
Without missing a beat, one of them posted:
“Shocking! The Yuan Ying master is terrifying! Leveling up at lightning speed!”
The post simply noted that “Wind” had just leveled up 11 times.
To bait more views, the poster not only whipped up an eye-catching title but also added a tag for “Nuclear Bomb Little Sister.”
In a sense, the tag wasn’t wrong, but the players didn’t see it that way.
Some who clicked on the tag quickly realized the content was totally irrelevant and began to flame the post.
But the more they flamed, the more hype it generated.
Several similar posts had been made around the same time, but this one soared in popularity, leaving the others in the dust.
Plus, “Wind” herself was undeniably a big draw, so the post quickly made its way to the trending list, landing in the top three.
As a side note, the top trending post was about Nuclear Bomb Little Sister’s affection store, and second was about her daily quests.
The comments on the post were a mix of flames aimed at the OP, along with plenty of celebratory messages. Of course, the bystanders chimed in too.
One onlooker commented, “I wonder how much experience Fiery Conflict Across the Sky needs to level up now? Surely he’s not too far behind?”
This comment quickly became the most upvoted reply.
Fiery Conflict Across the Sky saw the post and the hot comment.
His face flushed crimson, veins popping on his forehead.
Just a third of the way! Just a third! Can you even call a temporary lead a gap in player capabilities?
Just a moment ago, he was negotiating with leaders from other guilds, selling Sunfruits at 30 gold coins each, pocketing a sweet deal, and then suddenly, news from his subordinates hit him like a ton of bricks when he spotted this post.
Leaders from other guilds—Young Master Wang, Young Master Long, Young Master Hua—caught wind of the news too, and their faces lit up when they saw Fiery Conflict Across the Sky’s darkened expression.
“Serves you right for monopolizing everything and inflating prices!”
While they might have thought this inwardly, they continued to console Fiery Conflict Across the Sky outwardly, or else they might not even get their hands on any Sunfruits.
“Brother Tian, don’t stress! This guy is definitely an official’s plant. We shouldn’t measure ourselves against him.”
“Right? Of course, you can’t compare. Just a corporate puppet.”
“Yeah, exactly! Brother Tian is my ultimate champion!”
After hearing their words of comfort, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky’s expression darkened even more.
d*mn it, if you can talk, then say something worthwhile! Sweet-talking gets you nowhere!
“Haha, you guys are right. I really don’t need to compete with a puppet. Just staying a bit ahead of you all is enough.”
“Ha ha… hahaha…”
“…”
Oof!
The others were too intimidated to jump into this conversation. Sure, they were all notable players, but there were levels to this—offend the wrong person and mere pixels could cost you your virtual life!
Quietly, they paid up and snatched their Sunfruits.
This time, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky offered surprisingly few Sunfruits; each guild only got a few hundred to a thousand at most.
To be honest, with these players’ ways of handling things, they could find ways to deal with it outside the game if necessary. If pushed to their limits, they might even jeopardize their own guilds, causing unnecessary chaos.
It’d be better to release a few and keep things stable while making a tidy profit.
This batch of Sunfruits was just enough for their core members to break through, but using them as a bargaining chip for expansion? Impossible!
“Hey, dear reader, there’s more action coming in the next chapter! Click to the next page to dive into the excitement!”
As for these guilds, aside from the seven largest amongst the player group, the rest hailed from Village 66.
As for the guilds not called over? Well, they’d be dealt with in a few days. Without those three leading the charge, they were just a scatter of loose sand, posing no real threat.
Once all transactions were completed and everyone was gearing up to disperse, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky called out to them once more.
“Everyone here represents the pinnacle of our player community. I have a proposal and hope you’ll all cooperate.”
Someone quick on the uptake chimed in, “Brother Tian, please go ahead. We’re all for cooperating, especially if it’s within our capabilities!”
“Great! I trust you’re all young and eager to climb the player leaderboard. However, the current leaderboard is somewhat slapping us all in the face.”
At this point, everyone understood.
Previously, during their Beginner’s Village stage, they couldn’t form guilds, so everyone was guild-less. But now that they had reached the main city, they’d formed formal guilds.
Yet, the player ranked first on the leaderboard, “Wind,” was still a loner with no guild.
They were all leaders of various guilds, supported by their respective organizations, and yet the top spot had been taken by a lone wolf—now that was a slap in the face!
“But isn’t he a puppet?”
“True. But this claim is unproven. My proposal is that we unite and at least find this player. Gather evidence, and if he’s genuinely a puppet, let the officials explain themselves.”
“Agreed!”
“I’m in!”
““No problem!””
But he didn’t address what would happen if he wasn’t a puppet. Everyone understood and no one brought up any such downer statements.
