Hindi alam ni Chen Gou kung ilang beses na ba siya nakatulog sa sofa habang nanonood ng TV. Madalas ay nagigising siya sa lamig at gagapang patungo sa kanyang kama. Nung magising siya ngayong araw, nakita na niya na may kumot na nakabalot sa kanya. Ang balabal ay mukhang pamilyar din. Mukhang sa kanya naman ito, kaya naman ang hindi pa masyadong gising na si Chen Gou ay naisipang matulog na sa kanyang kama. At maginhawang ibinalot sa sarili ang kumot bago nito binaligtad ang katawan. Sabay ng 'Bang', ay nahulog siya sa sofa.
Nakahawak pa din si Chen Gou sa kumot. Matagal pa bago nahimas masan ito sa kanyang pagkatuliro. Doon lang niya napagtanto ang kanyang pagkahulog sa sofa. Hindi naman masyadong mataas ang sofa. Ang pagkakalaglag dito ay hindi makakagawa ng kahit ano pero nakakatawa ito. Dinala ulit ni Chen Gou ang kanyang kumot sabay akyat. Nung makita niyang sarado ang pintuan ng storage room, alam kaagad niya na kagagawan ito ng baguhan na si Ye Xiu.
Matapos niyang ibalik ang kumot, nag mumog muna siya at naghilamos sa banyo. May nagpatunog ng doorbell. Habang hawak hawak nito ang toothbrush sa kanyang bibig, pumunta si Chen Gou para buksan ang pintuan. Nakita niya ang isang babae, na may daladalang iba't ibang bag, at nakangiti sa kanya.
"Oh, Little Tang nagbalik ka na!" nakagat ni Chen Gou ang toothbrush at sinabi ito ng puro bula ang bibig.
"Yeah, ngayon ka lang nagising?" Si Tang Rou, na may daladalang iba't ibang bagahin ay nahirapang kunin ang mga susi kaya naman nagdoorbell nalang ito. Ang resulta nakita niya si Chen Gou na ganito ang hitsura.
"Matagal bago ako natulog kagabi!" sabi ni Chen Gou na may bula pa sa bibig.
"Bakit hindi mo kaya tapusin muna iyang pagtotoothbrush mo?" matapos pumasok ni Tang Rou ay binaba na niya ang kanyang mga dalahin kung saan komportable habang pumunta na sa banyo si Chen Gou.
"Narinig kong may bago ka raw na empleyado?" habang nagtotoothbrush si Chen Gou, sumandal ito sa labas ng pintuan at nagtanong habang nakatabingi ang ulo, nakatingin sa saradong storage room.
"Yup! Sinabi nila sayo?"
"Yeah."
"wala ng bakanteng kwarto para sa kanya kaya naman hinayaan ko na lang siyang matulog diyan pansamantala." Sabi ni Chen Gou.
"Narinig ko rin na isang araw pa lang iyan dito ginalit ka na agad?" malinaw naman na nakarinig si Tang Rou ng kaunting balita galing sa baba.
Walang masabi si Chen Gou. Talagang masama! Kagabi, gusto na niyang sakalin ang lalaking ito para mamatay na. sa isang banda, ginalit siya ng taong ito, sa kabila naman, nilagyan siya nito ng kumot. Mapa buti o masama nagawa niya itong lahat.
"Anong problema?" nakita ni Tang Rou na kung saan saan napupunta ang isipan ni Chen Gou at hindi ito nagsasalita.
"Wala. Magaling talaga siya sa Glory." Sabi ni Chen Gou
"Gaano ka galing? Katulad mo?" natatawang sabi ni Tang Rou.
"Patay ka na, girl…" umirap lang si Chen Gou. Mabanggit lang ito ay nakakaramdam na siya ng lungkot. Sa una, hindi naglalaro si Tang Rou ng Glory. Matapos turuan ito ni Chen Gou para magkapaglaro sila ng sabay. Habang nagPK siya sa Arena gamit ang kanyang Chasing Haze na account, ipinaliwanag pa nito ang charm ng Glory sa kanya.
Dahil dalawa ang ginagawa ni Chen Gou ng sabay ay natalo ito ng kalaban niya ng kaawa-awa. Pero nung sinabi ni agad ni Tang Rou ang 'susubukan ko', na talaga namang ikinagalak niya.
Sa First Round, kaawa-awang natalo si Tang Rou, matapos at nagtanong siya sa particulars kung paano magagawa ang ibang mga kilos kay Chen Gou.
Sa Second Round, natalo pa rin siya. Ang resulta ay nagsariling kusa na si Chen Gou upang ipaliwanag ang ilang taktikang maaaring gamitin ng kalaban.
At sa wakas sa third round, naibaliktad na ni Tang Rou ang laban at natalo ang kalaban ng kaawa-awa.
"Sobrang dali nito!" tumingin sa likod si Tang Rou at sinabi ito kay chen Gou. Ang kanyang interesadong mukha kanina ay Nawala na naparang bula. Napatunganga naman si Chen Gou. Ang talaga namang baguhang manlalaro matapos lang ang dalawang rounds upang maging pamilyar sa controls, matapos intindihin ang mga taktika ay kaya na niyang makatalo ng iba.
Hindi alam ni Chen Gou kung gaano kagaling ang skill ng kalaban. Kaya naman madaling hiniram nito ang account na may roong kaparehas na class katulad ng kalaban ni Tang Rou sa isa sa mga bisita ng Internet Café. Kahit na naglaro si Chen Gou ng Launcher, kaunti lang ang alam nito tungkol sa ibang mga classes. Pero kahit papaano ay mas magaling naman siya kaysa sa taong kakahawak pa lang ng Glory ng tatlong rounds, isama pa ang kaniyang skilled technique.
Sa huli ay talagang natalo siya kay Tang Rou.
Hindi man gusting maniwala ni Chen Gou. Ang ayaw ng maglaro na si Tang Rou ay napilitang makipaglabang muli sa kaniya. Kahit bahagya nananalo si Chen Gou, mas marami pa rin ang talo niya kaysa sa panalo. Malinaw na pagaling ng pagaling si Tang Rou.
Ngayon alam na ni Chen Gou kung bakit hindi maiwasang matalo siya ni Tang Rou.
Hand Speed! Pinanganak talaga itong babaeng ito na may nakakagulat na hand speed. Noong mga panahon na iyon naglalaro na si Chen Gou sa loob ng tatlong taon, at ang akala niya konti na lang ang diperensiya niya sa pagiging dalubhasa. Ngunit maaari lang mapunta si Chen Gou sa walang hanggang kahihiyan.
Talent! It ay talent. Kung ang isang taong may talento at hindi naglalaro ng Glory, isang malaking panghihinayang iyon. Talagang nagsisikap ng Mabuti si Chen Gou para mapasama si Tang Rou sa paglalaro ng Glory. Pero sa huli ay hindi siya nagtagumpay. Masayang ipinaliwanag ni Chen Gou ang charm ng Glory Mainland. Paulit ulit na lang niyang nakikitang humihikab si Tang Rou na para bang malapit na siyang makatulog.
Sinubukan ito ni Chen Gou sa loob ng buong dalawang buwan pero wala itong naging resulta. Hanggang may event na nangyari na nagpasailalim sa kanya sa kapighatian. Heavenly Domain Challenge Quests.
Para makapasok sa Heavenly Domain, kailangang makumpleto ng mga manlalaro ang sarisaring quests. Isa sa mga ito ay ang pagpatay sa ilang normal na monster slaying quests, ilang boss-killing quests, ilang 'look for materials' quests at ilang Arena PK Victory quests. Pero may isang klase ng quest na nakapagbigay sakit sa ulo sa mga manlalaro, ang Skill Challenge.
Sa Skill challenge hindi lang kinakailangang matalo ng manlalaro ang kanyang kalaban. Kinakailangan din ng manlalarong magawa ang ilang kilos sa isang level na dinidikta ng system. Halimbawa, ilang combo, total damage na magagawa ng back attack, bilang ng air juglging na kailangang magawa at iba pa.
Marami ang mga manlalarong napatigil dito at hindi makapasa kahit na anong gawin nila. At si Chen Gou ang isa sa kanila. Taglagang napatigil siya sa Skill Challenge at hindi maabot ang kinakailangan kahit na anong gawin nito.
Sa huli ay ginamit ni Tang Rou ang kanyang account card. Matapos niyang pagaralan ito ng ilang araw, ay tinulungan siya nito na tapusin ang Heavenly Domain Skill Challenge.
Walang masabi si Chen Gou. Ngayon alam na niya kung bakit hindi magawang magkainteres ni Tang Rou sa laro kahit anong hirap niyang alukin ito. Kasi halos lahat ng mga manlalaro ay nagsisikap para Manalo. Pero siya, kaya niyang gawin ito ng may pagsisikap at ensayo ng walang kahirap hirap.
Pinangalanan ang Glory na 'Glory' dahil inaasahan nila sa mga manlalarong i-konsidera ang mga equipment, skills, at mga glory record. At lahat naman ng mga manlalaro ay sumasangayon dito dahil itong mga bagay na ito ay talaga namang napakahirap makuha at nangangailangan ng pagsisikap para makuha.
Pero para kay Tang Rou? Na clear niya ang Skill Challenge, na maraming manlalaro ang hindi makaalis sa ilang araw lang. Paano iyon makakabigay ng pakiramdam ng Glory? Walang kikilala sa isang task napara kalang uminom ng isang basong tubig at ininom na glory.
Napuno naman ng kapighatian si Chen Gou, pero hindi niya gustong tumigil. Sa nakaraang dalawang taon, kapag makakakita siya ng malakas ng kalaban, palagi niyang isinasabak si Tang Rou para subukan. Pero sa huli, si Tang Rou parin, ng paulit ulit at tumingin siya sa likod at nagtanong: "Ganoon lang kadali?"
Kung palagi niya itong gagawin, wala na talagang ihaharap na mukha si Chen Gou para manatili pa! Sa kabila naman titingin lang sa kanya patungo sa kanyang kalaban na hindi matalo ni Chen Gou sabay sabing "Ang dali naman nun"
Ang hirap para sa kanyang tiisin ito. Kaya naman ang resulta sa mga nakaraang buwan, hindi na muli pang ginagawa ito ni Chen Gou. Pero ngayon matapos niyang banggitin si Ye Xiu, itong mga bagay na kinikimkim ni Chen Gou ay muli na namang lumabas. Bigla naman nitong pinunasan ang kanyang bibig at itinapon ang kanyang twalya. Sa kanyang magulong buhok, malapit na dapat niyang sirain ang pintuan ni Ye Xiu: "Tatawagin ko siya para masubukan mong kalabanin"
"Ai, okay lang yan" sabay hila ni Tang rou kay Chen Gou "Hindi ba kakatapos lang ng night shift niya at natulog? Mag intay na lang tayo hanggang sa magising siya okay?"
"Oh ayos din iyon." Pagiisip ni Chen Gou saglit at pansamantalang ibinaba ang usapan. Kumuha siya ng twalya at malapit ng mag hugas. Nga maalala niya ang isang bagay: oo nga, ang mga kamay niya ay katulad sa iyo, maganda.
Chapter 46: Easy Glory
Chen Guo didn't know how many times she had fell asleep on the sofa while watching TV. She'd usually wake up from the cold and then slowly crawl to bed. When she woke up today, she found that there was a blanket warmly wrapped around her. The blanket felt very familiar too. It had to be hers, so the half-awake Chen Guo thought she was sleeping on a bed. She comfortably wrapped the blanket around herself and flipped her body. With a bang, she fell off from the sofa.
Chen Guo still held onto the blanket. It took a long while for her to recover from the daze. Only then did she realize that she fell from the sofa. The sofa wasn't tall. Falling down wouldn't do anything, it was funny though. Chen Guo carried the blanket and climbed up. Seeing that the small storage room's door was closed, she knew that this was all done by the newcomer Ye Xiu.
After putting back the blanket, she rinsed her mouth and washed her face in the bathroom. Someone rang the doorbell. Holding a toothbrush in her mouth, Chen Guo went to open the door. She saw a girl, carrying all sorts of bags, smiling at her.
"Oh, Little Tang you've come back!" Chen Guo bit the toothbrush and said with a mouthful of foam.
"Yeah, how'd you just get up?" Tang Rou, who was carrying bags of all sizes, found it inconvenient to take the keys out, so she rang the doorbell. As a result, she found Chen Guo with this appearance.
"I slept late yesterday!" Chen Guo, with a mouthful of foam, still insisted on chatting.
"Why don't you first finish brushing your teeth?" After Tang Rou entered the room, she put her stuff down wherever it was convenient, while Chen Guo continued forward to the bathroom.
"I heard that you've found a new employee?" While Chen Guo brushed her teeth, Tang Rou reclined outside the door and asked with her head tilted, looking a the closed storage room.
"Yup! Did they tell you?"
"Yeah."
"There's no vacant spot for him to live, so I've let him sleep there temporarily." Chen Guo said.
"I heard he had only come for a day and had already made you terribly angry?" Tang Rou clearly heard quite a bit of news downstairs.
Chen Guo was speechless. It was terrible! Yesterday night, she wanted to strangle that guy to death. On one side, this person made her angry, but on the other side, he put a blanket over her. Good things bad things, he did them all.
"What's wrong?" Tang Rou saw that Chen Guo's mind was wandering and that she hadn't said a word.
"Nothing. He's really good at Glory." Chen Guo said.
"How good? Like you?" Tang Rou laughed.
"You're dead, girl...." Chen Guo rolled her eyes. Mentioning this made her very depressed. Originally, Tang Rou didn't play Glory. Chen Guo tried to teach the game to her so that they could play together. While PKing in the Arena with her Chasing Haze account, she explained all of Glory's charm to her.
Because Chen Guo was doing two things at once, she had been beaten quite miserably by her opponent. But Tang Rou immediately expressed a "let me try", which made Chen Guo feel extremely gratified.
In the first round, Tang Rou was also beaten quite miserably. She then asked Chen Guo about a few particulars on how to perform a few actions.
In the second round, she still lost. As a result, Chen Guo took the initiative and explained to her a few tactics that the opponent might use.
Finally in the third round, Tang Rou reversed the situation and beat her opponent miserably.
"This is so easy!" Tang Rou turned her head and spoke towards Chen Guo. Her previous extremely interested look had already disappeared. Chen Guo looked dumbstruck. A completely new player used only two rounds to get familiar with the controls. After understanding a tactic, she could already beat others.
Chen Guo didn't know how good the opponent's skill was. She immediately borrowed an account, with the same class as the opponent that Tang Rou fought against from one of the Internet Cafe guests. Although Chen Guo played Launcher, she knew a little bit about the other classes. She was at least better than a person who had only touched Glory for three rounds, plus her skilled technique...
In the end, she actually lost to Tang Rou.
Chen Guo didn't want to believe it. Tang Rou, who didn't want to keep playing, was forced to fight another round with her. Although Chen Guo sometimes barely won a few times, she lost more than she won. Clearly, Tang Rou was getting more and more skilled.
And now Chen Guo discovered why Tang Rou could, inconceivably, beat her.
Hand speed! This girl was born with astonishing hand speed. At that time, Chen Guo had played Glory for three years, and thought that she was just a bit off from being an expert. Yet Chen Guo could only be endlessly ashamed.
Talent! This was talent. If someone with talent didn't play Glory, it would truly be a waste. Chen Guo began trying even harder to drag Tang Rou into playing Glory. But in the end, she failed. Chen Guo delightedly explained the charm of Glory's mainland. Time and time again, all Chen Guo saw was Tang Rou incessantly yawning, as if she were about to fall asleep.
Chen Guo tried hard for a full two months without any results. Finally, an event happened that made her thoroughly despair. Heavenly Domain Challenge Quests. To enter the Heavenly Domain, players had to complete a series of quests. Among those were a few normal monster-slaying quests, a few BOSS-killing quests, a few "look for materials" quests, and a few Arena PK Victory quests. But the quest that made players' heads hurt the most was still the Skill Challenge.
The Skill Challenge didn't only require that the player beat the opponent. It also required that the player performed actions at a certain level set by the system. For example, a certain number of combos, total damage done by a back attack, the number of air juggling that had to be done, etc.
Many players were stuck here and couldn't pass no matter what. Chen Guo was one of them. She was firmly stuck there in the Skill Challenge and couldn't reach the requirements no matter what.
In the end, Tang Rou took her account card. After researching for a few days, she helped her finish the Heavenly Domain's Skill Challenge.
Chen Guo was thoroughly speechless. She finally understood why Tang Rou couldn't find any interest in the game no matter how hard she tried. This was because most players had to try hard to win. She could do things that needed hard work and practice with no difficulty at all.
Glory was named "Glory" because they hoped that players would consider equipment, skills, and every record as glory. And players approved because these things truly were difficult to get and required hard work to obtain.
But for Tang Rou? She cleared the Skill Challenge, which many players were firmly stuck on, in just a few days. How could that produce any feeling of glory? No one would consider the task of holding a glass of water and drinking it as glory.
Chen Guo despaired, but didn't want to give up. In these two years, whenever she met a powerful opponent, she would drag Tang Rou to try. In the end, Tang Rou again and again turned her head and asked: "It was that easy?"
If she kept doing this, then Chen Guo's face wouldn't be able to stay on anymore! The other side would just turn her head towards opponents that Chen Guo couldn't beat and say "that was easy." This made it difficult for her to endure. As a result, in the recent few months, Chen Guo no longer did this often. But this time, after mentioning Ye Xiu, Chen Guo's sealed thoughts once again reignited. She suddenly wiped her mouth and threw her towel down. With her messy hair, she was about to smash at Ye Xiu's door: "I'm going to call him for you to try out."
"Ai, it's fine!" Tang Rou immediately pulled at Chen Guo: "Didn't he just get off the night shift and go to sleep? Let's wait until he gets up, okay?"
"Oh, that's fine too." Chen Guo thought for a bit and temporarily dropped the matter. She grabbed her towel and was about to go wash, when she suddenly thought of something:Right, his hands were like yours, very pretty.