The Wind Rises and Chen Guo is Showing Off

"Heh, quite ambitious, aren't you?" Sleep Admist Joy chuckled, thinking that this guy, Lord Grim, who was carrying a strange weapon, wasn't a total noob since he knew about the hidden boss. "That thing drops a lot of loot—money, to be precise. Once it shows up, we'll all roll for it."

"Sure." Ye Qiu had no objections.

The four of them entered the dungeon, and then...

"Warning: Dark Night Cat Demon approaching!" The system announced in a voice prompt.

Sleep Admist Joy couldn't help but widen his eyes. What kind of luck was this? The hidden boss appeared right after they entered. He glanced at the clueless Lord Grim and the lovey-dovey couple, and his thoughts started to churn.

"Listen to my commands, alright?" Sleep Admist Joy shouted.

"No problem."

"Whatever."

Both Liu Hao and Ye Qiu had no objections.

The four of them set off. This small dungeon posed no challenge to them. They effortlessly mowed down enemies along the way. Sleep Admist Joy was playing enthusiastically, as if deliberately trying to catch Chasing Haze's attention, like a peacock in heat.

"What kind of poses is this guy pulling?" Sleep Admist Joy's antics amused Chen Guo.

"Guys show off their strength to impress girls—like flaunting their gaming skills or bragging about their wealth," Liu Hao said with a laugh. "They also tend to turn their most handsome side toward the girl, thinking they look cool, but in reality, to onlookers, it's just narcissistic clowning."

Chen Guo nodded in agreement. "So you're saying he's deliberately trying to catch my attention?"

"Maybe. It's hard to avoid these things when gaming with a girl. Even Ye Qiu is resistant to this. He always angles his best side toward Mucheng during matches."

"Really?" Chen Guo was sceptical. She had watched plenty of recordings but had never noticed this before.

"Of course! It's true!" Liu Hao smiled. He was more than happy to tarnish Ye Qiu's reputation. Since Ye Qiu and Chen Guo would be living under the same roof in the future, Liu Hao needed to stay vigilant.

Just then, Sleep Admist Joy managed to kill two goblins with one strike. He turned his view toward Chasing Haze and asked, "So? Am I cool, girl? Aren't I way better than your boyfriend?"

Chen Guo rolled her eyes and retorted, "With your skills? I'm better than you!"

As she spoke, Chasing Haze couldn't resist any longer. She unleashed a barrage of scattered shots in Su Mucheng's style, precisely killing six goblins.

Sleep Admist Joy was dumbfounded, and even Ye Qiu's jaw dropped. For a moment, he thought that Chasing Haze was being controlled by Su Mucheng herself! The scattershot she had just used was one of the techniques from the Screen Cannon fighting style!

"Girl—no, no—goddess, you're incredible! Was that a scattershot?" Sleep Admist Joy asked, clearly starstruck. As a loyal fan of Excellent Era, he was intimately familiar with Su Mucheng's moves.

What is a scattershot? It's a technique from the Screen Cannon style, which involves quickly shifting the cannon's aim by rapidly moving the mouse, allowing for precise targeting of multiple enemies in a short period.

Few players in the online game could match Chasing Haze's accuracy.

Chen Guo, now receiving compliments, practically beamed with pride.

Liu Hao admired Chen Guo's side profile as she smiled triumphantly, her expression practically shouting, "Am I awesome or what? Please, compliment me!" He couldn't help but laugh. "Amazing. You're even better than Su Mucheng. If you had debuted earlier, you might've been the top beauty cannon master in Glory."

"Oh, stop it! You're exaggerating." Chen Guo said this, but her grin was almost splitting her face.

Liu Hao raised his hand and gently ruffled Chen Guo's hair.

He wasn't particularly interested in online games, but seeing Chen Guo like this made him realise that boys and girls were quite similar. A girl could be happy for a whole day just because a boy complimented her gaming skills, and a boy could remember forever a girl praising him for taking great photos—even if he had never actually taken one.

Despite the fact that the girl wasn't particularly good at gaming, and the boy had never taken a picture...

The tiny monsters fell one after another, and soon, they had pushed their way to the final boss: the Dark Night Cat Demon.

Sleep Admist Joy glanced at Grieving Haze, who had been slacking off and flirting with Chasing Haze the whole time. His sense of injustice reached its peak. Why did this guy have a girlfriend? And why was his girlfriend so good at gaming? Sleep Admist Joy began to plot. He already had a plan in mind: kill the Dark Night Cat Demon and start by sabotaging Grieving Haze, then move on to Lord Grim!

"Guys, let me pull aggro!" Sleep Admist Joy chuckled sinisterly and charged forward with his sword.

At first, Liu Hao doesn't think anything is wrong, but then he notices that Sleep Admist Joy has missed two of his three sword strikes. Instantly, he knew something was off.

"Why is this guy so bad all of a sudden? Wasn't he playing well earlier?" Chen Guo frowned, but she had no intention of intervening. In a dungeon, you had to wait for the MT (Main Tank) to pull enough aggro before attacking the boss. Otherwise, it was easy to overdraw aggro (OT).

"He's planning something shady, trying to kill us so he can solo the boss," Liu Hao said indifferently.

"No way! Sleep Admist Joy might be a bit clueless, but he's not that bad, right?" Chen Guo was doubtful, still believing in the inherent goodness of people.

However, Liu Hao adhered to a more cynical view of human nature. "Don't believe me? Just watch. You'll see soon enough."

Sleep Admist Joy slashed twice at the Dark Night Cat Demon, leaving deep red wounds on its skin. In pain, it let out a piercing screech.

"Aggro's been pulled! Grieving Haze, start shooting!" Sleep Admist Joy shouted.

Whether or not the aggro had been pulled correctly, Liu Hao knew. Sleep Admist Joy had only hit the Dark Night Cat Demon a few times. Once Liu Hao started attacking, and if Sleep Admist Joy eased off, the boss's aggro would eventually shift to him.

But...Liu Hao didn't care in the slightest.

Grieving Haze raised his gun to shoot, but Lord Grim suddenly blocked his way. Ye Qiu's teasing voice came through, "Don't attack. He's trying to trap you. The aggro isn't stable."

Heh, Ye Qiu is surprisingly kind, even giving me a warning... Liu Hao smirked inwardly. If it were him in Ye Qiu's shoes, he wouldn't have said a word and would have happily let everyone die while soloing the boss.

"I know." Liu Hao chuckled. "Nobody born can trick me. Since he wants to set me up, I'll just set him up first."

Ye Qiu was taken aback. This cold tone sounded oddly familiar...

"I don't mind if you set him up," Ye Qiu said. "But if you don't help him, with his skill level, the boss will eventually claw him to death."

"That's too slow," Liu Hao replied. "I'm here pulling an all-nighter with my girlfriend for the first kill. If I wait for Sleep Admist Joy to be scratched to death, who knows how long that'll take!"

Ye Qiu was caught off guard by the sudden PDA.

Next, Ye Qiu watched as Grieving Haze fired his gun. However, the bullets didn't hit the boss—they hit Sleep Admist Joy's sword instead!

*Ding ding ding!*

Three crisp clinking sounds echoed. The impact of the bullets altered Sleep Admist Joy's sword trajectory, causing him to fail to evade the Dark Night Cat Demon's claws. Three gashes appeared on his chest, and his health plummeted.

"Grieving Haze, can't you aim properly? Missing the boss is one thing, but why are you hitting me?"

"Oops, my bad... Missed." Liu Hao replied without a shred of sincerity.

"Alright, alright, I'll let it go since you're a noob. But be more careful next time!" Sleep Admist Joy sighed, realising that his plot had backfired—he had tried to set someone up but ended up being set up instead.

Since he couldn't take down Grieving Haze, he might as well start with Lord Grim. Sleep Admist Joy thought to himself, "Heal me! Can't you see I'm low on health?"

He was speaking to Lord Grim, who had been slacking off during the small monster fights by healing him and Chasing Haze. Lord Grim was playing the role of a priest.

Sleep Admist Joy's plan was simple. Overhealing could also cause OT. As long as Lord Grim healed him, the boss would shift its aggro to Lord Grim and claw him to death.

Sleep Admist Joy couldn't help but snicker, but Ye Qiu wasn't a fool. As a ten-year veteran of Glory, he certainly knew about healing OT.

"Don't be silly. I can't heal you, or the boss will aggro on me," Ye Qiu said calmly, though with a mocking tone.

Sleep Admist Joy was stunned. Ye Qiu had seen right through his plan?

Just then, a grenade exploded in front of Sleep Admist Joy, the flames obscuring his vision. At that moment, the Night Cat Demon lunged forward. Due to the blinding light, Sleep Admist Joy couldn't see the Night Cat Demon's movements and got scratched again, his health plummeting below 50%.

"Who the hell threw that grenade?" Sleep Admist Joy cursed as he quickly downed a health potion.

Liu Hao ignored him. It was, of course, his grenade. His level 5 Ammo Expert skill allowed him to use grenades. At max level, he could store 15 grenades, but for now, he could only store three.

But three grenades were more than enough!

Liu Hao flicked his mouse, and Grieving Haze threw another grenade.

"Another one?"

Sleep Admist Joy hurriedly tried to escape, but Liu Hao had predicted his movement. A bullet shot out and accurately struck the thrown grenade, propelling it right behind Sleep Admist Joy.

Boom!

Dazzling sparks ignited between the Night Cat Demon and Sleep Admist Joy.

Once again, Sleep Admist Joy's vision was blocked, and the Night Cat Demon suddenly swiped at his back.

Sleep Admist Joy's face twitched in frustration, cursing internally. Who the hell is this—an opponent or a teammate? Since when could grenades be used like this? Instead of dealing damage to the enemy, this guy was interfering with his operations!

It's no wonder Sleep Admist Joy hadn't recognised this as Zhang Jiale's signature skill, a core technique of the Hundred Blossoms Style. But even though Sleep Admist Joy didn't realise it, Ye Qiu did. After so many years of competing against Zhang Jiale, how could Ye Qiu not recognise the Hundred Blossoms Style?

Ye Xiu's eyes lit up as he looked at Grieving Haze.

A genius! To have mastered the Hundred Blossoms Style so thoroughly! The accuracy of the bullets, the arc of the grenades, and the perfect placement of the throws—it was all seamless. Most importantly, Grieving Haze had immediately seen through Sleep Admist Joy's strategy. This level of battlefield awareness was rare!

This guy was born for professional gaming! Ye Xiu was moved. He didn't realise that Grieving Haze was actually Liu Hao, nor did he recognise that Chasing Haze was Chen Guo, his boss. He saw this couple and was already thinking about recruiting them to form a new team.

Liu Hao, however, had no idea what Ye Xiu was thinking. He was the type to repay any slight. Since Sleep Admist Joy had tried to screw him over, he was going to screw Sleep Admist Joy over in return. After being scratched three times by the Night Cat Demon, Sleep Admist Joy's health was down to less than 20%, unable to survive another hit.

Grieving, Haze threw his last grenade from his pocket. With a loud explosion, the light from the screen illuminated Sleep Admist Joy's face in red. After uttering one previous curse, Sleep Admist Joy was scratched to death by the Night Cat Demon, dying and exiting the dungeon.

Chen Guo's eyes widened. The series of events had unfolded so quickly that she hadn't even had time to react. First, Sleep Admist Joy had tried to screw over Grieving Haze, then Grieving Haze threw three grenades, and finally... Sleep Admist Joy got scratched to death by the boss.

At this moment, even Lord Grim was stunned. He looked at Grieving Haze's silhouette, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity. The deviousness and ruthlessness of Grieving Haze's actions were eerily reminiscent of Liu Hao, sending a chill down his spine.

Since when could the Hundred Blossoms Style be used like this? The grenades were meant to obscure the opponent's vision and help teammates create opportunities. But this guy? He used them to obscure his teammate's vision and allow the enemy to punish his teammate. This was turning the world upside down!

After Sleep Admist Joy died, Liu Hao no longer had any intention of screwing over Lord Grim. Besides, this minor Night Cat Demon wasn't even a challenge. Even Chen Guo could solo it, not to mention Ye Qiu, especially the scattered-player version of Ye Qiu!

The three of them worked together to kill the Night Cat Demon and actually made it onto TV to complete the first kill of the boss.

This was Chen Guo's first time on TV. When she saw the world channel announcement: [Congratulations to Grieving Haze, Chasing Haze, and Lord Grim for completing the first kill of the Night Cat Demon], she felt a moment of excitement. But that feeling quickly faded away.

Being on TV... wasn't as big of a deal as she thought!

The boss dropped a pile of materials, and Ye Qiu suggested rolling for them. Liu Hao waved his hand, "We don't need the materials. You can have them all." Chen Guo wasn't interested in picking up the scraps either. As Liu Hao's girlfriend, Chen Yehui, had already gifted her plenty of orange-tier gear, so she didn't care about blue or purple-tier items. She generously declined the gear.

"Sounds good." Ye Qiu smiled as he pocketed the Night Cat Eye Stone and Night Cat Claws, also equipping a blue-tier belt that had dropped.

When they exited the dungeon, Liu Hao saw Sleep Admist Joy waiting outside, seething with rage. He was clearly there to cause trouble.

"Grieving Haze! You won't die a good death! Do you know who you've messed with? You've crossed the Full Moon Guild!" Sleep Admist Joy shouted angrily. "Just wait! Our Full Moon Guild is going to destroy you!"

Liu Hao remained expressionless, making Grieving Haze step back to reveal Chasing Haze.

Chen Guo grinned. How could she not understand Liu Hao's intention? It was finally time for her moment of glory. The Full Moon Guild? I've never heard of them, but who hasn't heard of the Jia Dynasty Guild? Although it wasn't one of the top three guilds, it was still a top-tier guild!

"The Full Moon Guild? Sorry, I've never heard of them, but I have heard of the Excellent Era Dynasty Guild." Chen Guo smiled. "Coincidentally, I'm part of Jia Dynasty. I'm the captain of Team One in the Seventh Regiment!"

When Sleep Admist Joy heard this, he quickly searched online and found out that Chasing Haze was indeed a member of the Excellent Era Dynasty.

The female player in front of him was the captain of Team One of the Jia Dynasty Seventh Regiment. Anyone who could become a captain in the Heavenly Domain must be a top-tier expert. And compared to the Excellent Era Dynasty, the Full Moon Guild was nothing!

"Misunderstanding! It's a misunderstanding! Lady Hero, this must be a misunderstanding between us," Sleep Admist Joy stammered with a forced smile.

Chen Guo was secretly thrilled. She never thought there would come a day when she could show off in Glory. Her mind couldn't help but recall a line: The winds are rising, and the Full Moon Guild is about to fall.

(End of the chapter)

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