Invitation to Mei Guang

Su Mucheng finally shook her head. "It's getting late, I need to rest."

"..." Liu Hao sighed. "Good night."

...

On the other side, Ye Xiu, who had just evaded a round of pursuit, stretched lazily, got up to move around and made himself a cup of coffee.

The night is tough to endure, and coffee is a great companion for staying awake.

"They won't come back, will they?" Tang Rou asked while sipping her milk tea.

"Who knows?" Ye Xiu replied.

"What kind of grudge do you have with them?" Tang Rou asked.

She found the situation strange. They were clearing a dungeon when suddenly, a group started hunting them down as if they had stolen their eggs.

"Well... how should I put this?" Ye Xiu scratched his face. "I've monopolised all the guild records, even snatched first kills above my level. But guilds rely on dungeon records and first kills to build their reputation."

Tang Rou suddenly understood. "Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents."

"Sort of, but I was forced into it," Ye Xiu smiled.

If he didn't do this, how could he quickly obtain the rare materials needed to upgrade the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella? In fact, provoking the various guilds was part of his plan. As long as he won this battle, he could make the guilds cede territory and compensate him while also selling them dungeon strategies.

Although doing this is a bit evil...

...

Liu Hao and Sun Xiang were leisurely making their way toward ambushing Lord Grim, based on the information provided by Ye Du Han Tan.

When they arrived at Hard Village in Kongji City, Liu Hao suddenly noticed that Steamed Bun Invasion was fleeing frantically with a large group of pursuers behind him.

Steamed Bun Invasion's operations were decent; with a few twists and turns, he shook off the crowd and hid in a trash bin in the corner.

"Where is he?" The pursuing coalition was puzzled.

Liu Hao suddenly felt playful and controlled. Grieving Haze aimed at the trash bin in the corner and fired a shot.

The coalition leader reacted quickly, immediately understanding Liu Hao's intention. After thanking him, he quietly led the group to surround the trash bin.

Steamed Bun, hearing the silence outside, peeked out to survey his surroundings. When he realised he was surrounded, his smile froze on his face. "How did they find me in such a good spot?"

The leader chuckled and gave the order: "Attack!"

And then... Steamed Bun Invasion perished.

...

"You're terrible!" someone suddenly said behind him.

Liu Hao turned around in confusion and saw a Summoner, not very high level, only around level 20, who had probably just completed their class change.

But the Summoner's ID caught Liu Hao's interest.

"Mei Guang!"

"You know me?" Mei Guang asked, puzzled.

"I don't, but your ID is Mei Guang," Liu Hao smiled.

"…"

"Why did you say I'm bad?" Liu Hao asked curiously.

Sun Xiang was puzzled as to why Liu Hao was chatting with an unknown online game player. Isn't it obvious that you're bad? Do you even need to ask why?

"Because you tattled."

"Tattled?" Liu Hao suddenly understood. "That's true. We all hate tattlers. When I was a kid, someone secretly reported me to the teacher, and I got called to the principal's office."

"Then why did you tattle?"

"If someone does something bad, would you report it to the police?"

"Of course!" Mei Guang didn't hesitate.

"Likewise, Steamed Bun Invasion did something bad, so I reported him. Is that a problem?"

Mei Guang frowned. "What bad things can one do in an online game?"

"For example, maliciously stealing dungeon records, maliciously snatching first kills," Liu Hao said with a smile.

Mei Guang was brilliant and quickly understood. "So that's why all the major guilds are hunting Lord Grim and his team!"

"You even know about Lord Grim?"

"I'm looking for him," Mei Guang said. "Do you know about the Burial Ground dungeon record?"

"I know," Liu Hao said.

"I've studied the Burial Ground dungeon and done detailed data analysis, but no matter how much I research, I can't replicate Lord Grim's dungeon record."

"So you're planning to find Lord Grim and ask him in person?" Liu Hao asked.

Mei Guang nodded. "Yes, do you know where Lord Grim is?"

"I do," Liu Hao said, "but how can you be sure that once you find Lord Grim, he will reveal the secret of his dungeon strategy to you?"

Mei Guang was stunned. Yeah, he hadn't considered that. Why would Lord Grim share the secret of his dungeon record with him?

"I still want to ask Lord Grim. What if he tells me?" Mei Guang, a top student in the Mathematics Department in real life, was driven by curiosity. He feared he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight without getting a clear answer.

At that moment, Liu Hao suddenly realised that Mei Guang might be a rare talent. If he could recruit him to the team to become Excellent Era's exclusive data analyst, specialising in analysing the weaknesses of opponents, wouldn't that be a powerful asset?

"Lord Grim definitely won't tell you," Liu Hao asserted.

"Why not?" Mei Guang was confused. Based on his investigation and understanding of Lord Grim, he didn't seem like a difficult person to get along with.

"Do you know about the strange weapon that Lord Grim wields?"

"I do. It's called the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. It can freely change forms and use skills from all 24 classes before level 20. It's a silver weapon."

"Silver weapons may seem shiny on the surface, but to keep them strong requires a huge investment in materials," Liu Hao said. "If Lord Grim wants to upgrade the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, he needs a large amount of rare materials. But he can't possibly gather that many materials on his own, so he needs to obtain them from the guilds' warehouses."

Mei Guang listened quietly.

"However, due to certain reasons, Lord Grim's mercenary business was forced to end. Without a source of materials, Lord Grim had no choice but to monopolise all the first kills and dungeon records, forcing the guilds to compromise. But this has led to all the guilds uniting to hunt him down..."

"Now, Lord Grim is actually trying to defeat all the guilds, then sell his dungeon strategies to them," Liu Hao said. "This way, the dungeon strategy becomes a trade secret, so Lord Grim definitely won't tell you."

Mei Guang suddenly understood but then realised something was off. "Why are you telling me all this? We just met, didn't we?"

"Because... I know the strategy for the Burial Ground dungeon."

"Really?"

"Of course," Liu Hao confirmed.

Seeing the other person fall silent, Mei Guang immediately understood Liu Hao's intention: "You want something from me?"

"You're smart," Liu Hao grinned. "I want to invite you to the Excellent Era Club to become the data analyst for the Excellent Era team!"

A data analyst? Mei Guang was a student in the Mathematics Department and was particularly sensitive to data, excelling in data analysis, so he naturally knew what a data analyst's job entailed.

"Are you a staff member of Excellent Era?" Mei Guang asked.

"Sort of, but to be precise, I'm actually the captain of the Excellent Era team," Liu Hao said.

"Vice-captain!" Sun Xiang interrupted from the side.

Liu Hao shot Sun Xiang a glare. Although he held the title of vice-captain, who the real captain of Excellent Era was didn't even need to be said.

"So you're the famous Liu Hao, the demon king who can foresee the future!" Mei Guang was shocked.

Liu Hao thought to himself, what kind of absurd marketing slogans are these? A demon king who can foresee the future? Isn't that a bit too cringy? And you believed it so quickly? 

(End of the chapter)