On the streets of the Long City Arena, people screamed and shouted a single name.
"SelaXiu!"
"SelaXiu!"
"SelaXiu!"
Chu Ying high-fived everyone in the restaurant.
"She did it! She really did it!"
"That was epic," Rin said, her hair bouncing as she plopped into the seat again.
"No!" Lion cried. " I bet on the expert!"
"I bet on the Rookie," Bear said, throwing a smug look at the other.
Lion glared at him. "What a stroke of rotten luck! Can a Rookie really play like that?"
"She must be a professional," Ro said with a longing sigh. "I wonder which guild that SelaXiu belongs to."
"Probably not in the top ten," Rin said. "Otherwise those people wouldn't be the ones attacking her."
"To have that strong a player," Fin said with a frown. "I imagine a new team is going to overtake the Leaderboard."
"She is still only one player," Rin said. "A team is more than one person. If you want to beat the big guys, you need more than one person."
"What are you guys talking about?" Gu Shu asked.
The others looked at her in surprise.
"The Regionals?" Chu Ying said to her.
Gu Shu furrowed.
"Well," Chu Ying said with a strained smile. "The Other World is one of the 10 games selected for the E-Sports Alliance."
"You think that she is at that Level already?" Gu Shu asked Ro in surprise.
Ro gave her a decisive nod. "How else would she be able to beat three experts already?"
"And one of them is Immortal EverHill," Fin said in awe.
The rest of them nodded.
"Is he a big shot?" Gu Shu asked.
"The Guild Leader of Immortal Radiance," Lion said.
Bear nodded. "And it has Yaksha in it!"
"Oh?" Gu Shu looked at the excited faces around her, unable to connect with the enthusiasm they showed. It was just a game.
Gu Shu had always thought so and she couldn't understand the near fanatic love these people showed for this game. Going as far as to learn who are the big names in it.
And even Cheng Xiu had the same aura at times when they were younger. But with her mother's death...
Gu Shu's grip on the spoon tightened. She didn't want to think about the Cheng Xiu of that time. It was an image she didn't even want to remember.
"So this Yaksha is an Immortal like them?" Gu Shu asked.
"How can that be?" Lion asked with a shake of his head.
"Yaksha is Role-Player!" Bear said to her.
"Meaning?"
"He takes on a role in the game, basically," Chu Ying said. "People who have played in the Beta version of the game got a chance to have a preset identity for them in the later versions of the game. There is no real advantage, I think. Just a different identity to the default 'human' race all of belong to."
"And it's not that exclusive," Fin said. "If you have enough money you can change your identity to beastmen, Elves, dwarves, trolls, giants, pixies, fairies or anything."
"Yaksha is different though!" Ro said with a glare at Fin.
Fin cringed. He forgot that everyone except him was a 'Yaksha' simp in the group.
"How is he different?" Chu Ying asked, trying to save Fin from being killed.
Fun gave her a grateful look.
"Yaksha is Vampire-Demon hybrid!" Ro said.
"And he has an NPC as his aid!" Lion said.
"I heard she is hot!" Bear said to Gu Shu.
Gu Shu sweatdropped. How was an NPC being hot equal to such high status?
"And he is the No: 1 in almost all Leaderboards," Rin said. "The only ones he is not in are Guild things, which he doesn't participate in much."
"He is in Immortal Radiance as a mascot," Bear said to her.
"But Immortal EverHill is also powerful!" Chu Ying said, her eyes shining. "And for Sister Xiu to have beat such a person-"
"He was weakened to Level 10," Gu Shu said.
"So was SelaXiu," Fin argued.
"She is so great!" Chu Ying said. To her, Cheng Xiu was already a legendary existence in real life, but now, Cheng Xiu's position in her heart was even more exalted. She grabbed the mug of beer in front of her. "Here! Here! Let's celebrate her victory by drinking some more! The next 5 rounds are on me!"
Everyone cheered and grabbed a refill.
Gu Shu pursed her lips as the people around her screamed in excitement.
She felt a twinge of jealousy at Cheng Xiu's rise to fame but she squished it down fast. Cheng Xiu was her best and only friend. She was not allowed to have such thoughts about her.
It was just that...Cheng Xiu seemed to always stand out wherever they went.
She knew it wasn't Cheng Xiu's fault, and Gu Shu was the one who forced her to play the Other World knowing her friend would garner attention in the game but...she still felt a bit jealous.
Being a hyper-genius meant Cheng Xiu was good at everything she tried to do and Gu Shu knew she shouldn't compare herself to that standard but it was not easy to not do.
"She still has seven more experts to go," Gu Shu found herself saying in a whisper.
The loud, rowdy atmosphere diluted the effect of her voice. No one heard it.
Gu Shu's mind went to a time when they were kids and had played their first VR game.
Father Gu had forgotten to turn on the Child-safe mode on the VR helmet.
She remembered a little ten-year old Cheng Xiu standing before her, with her hands stretched out, hiding a little Gu Shu from view.
A man had stood in front of them, looking ready to leap and a gun pointed the little girl's head.
Gu Shu could still feel the horror she felt at realising what was happening.
"Don't worry A'Shu!" a squeaky voice had said from her front. "I'll protect you! I'll jump towards the man's gun and you should run away!"
Gu Shu had shaken her head vigorously.
"You should listen to me, A'Shu! I'm smarter! And I'll die a hero!"
Thankfully, Gu Shu's father had come before that happened and forever traumatised her but it still left a shadow in her mind.
From then on, Cheng Xiu had become her shield, her protection.
And Gu Shu felt disgust rise in her at her own jealousy. She had no right to be jealous.
Gu Shu took a deep breath in and calmed her mind down.
"I hope you find your love for games again," Gu Shu said, hoping Cheng Xiu would feel her well wishes.