"Were you lying when you claimed to have met Hulk?" Wang GuiYing asked with a sigh as he looked at the boy with seriousness.
Fang Xinli gulped as he heard this question and shook his head frantically as he responded, "I wasn't lying. It was Hulk. I'm sure of it."
Wang GuiYing suddenly felt his heart skip a beat as he heard this and he sighed in relief as he closed his eyes. A small smile formed on his face and he nodded his head as he took a minute to speak, "In that case, we have a lot to talk about. I'll come looking for you so wait exactly where you are."
Fang XinLi's eyes widened as he heard this and he hesitantly questioned, "Y-You know where I am...?!"
Wang GuiYing pursed his lips and logged out of the game without even bothering to give a response to the boy.
"Um..." One of the collectors hesitantly raised his hand as he asked, "So this is a bit unrelated to the situation but... Should we run away or collect the loot?"
"..."
Asmodeus looked at the collector who had asked this question and blinked as he questioned, "Do you think the loot matters anymore...?"
The team had already lost its face and reputation after challenging Wang GuiYing.
Collecting the loot left behind by Wang GuiYing would be like open-handedly accepting the humiliation that they were already being faced with.
"Leader... Even if you don't take the loot, you'll still have to lick his boot," The other collector shrugged his shoulders as he commented.
Asmodeus pursed his lips and took a sharp breath in as he put his ego aside and spoke, "Take the loot."
Wang GuiYing immediately closed the laptop and looked at the route map, scanning over it real quick to see how many stations were left before reaching Loushanguan road station.
Loushanguan station was the closest station to Tianshan road and it took him a little more than thirty minutes to eventually reach the place. As soon as he got off of the train, he ran towards the gaming cafe location that Li Ying had shared with him.
Surprisingly enough, Fang XinLi was still patiently waiting for Wang GuiYing to arrive, however, even when the boy saw the man, he failed to recognize him.
Sweat trailed down Wang GuiYing's forehead and it looked like he had just finished a marathon. He coughed heavily and took a few minutes to catch his breath.
His eyes scanned over the interior of the gaming cafe till they eventually stopped on the boy that he was looking for.
Wang GuiYing had never met this boy before this but while collecting more information on him, he had seen a photo of the boy, and hence, he immediately recognized him.
He straightened his back and walked over to the boy as he spoke without even bothering to exchange any meaningless greetings, "Tell me what you know."
The boy gulped as he heard this and blinked in confusion as he asked, "Who are you...?"
Fang XinLi clearly knew what Wang GuiYing looked like, however, the man standing in front of him at the moment didn't exactly fit the picture that he had in his mind.
Wang GuiYing's clothes looked shabby and his hair was uncut and messy. He had a small unkept beard and it almost felt as if this man hadn't taken a shower for a week.
Fang XinLi didn't want to be too disrespectful but as he saw the man, he couldn't help but be reminded of a homeless beggar.
Wang GuiYing clicked his tongue, feeling a little annoyed as he snapped, "Your Laozi."
Fang XinLi's eyes widened as he heard the name and he looked to be in disbelief as he stuttered, "T-Trash...?"
Wang GuiYing didn't say anything as he simply waited for this boy to digest this new information.
Wang GuiYing thought, 'It's not every day that a fan gets to meet his idol so it was only natural for the boy to be this shocked.'
"It can't be!" Fang XinLi exclaimed out loudly and entered a phase of denial as he looked at Wang GuiYing's face.
"..."
"BBtrash was famous for his looks!"
Wang GuiYing nodded his head as he heard this and thought that the boy was a bit too surprised to see that the man looked even more handsome in real life, "I know, and you don't need to be that shocked. My looks are certainly praiseworthy but they still don't hold a candle against Mastermo."
In his eyes, Mastermo was clearly much more handsome.
Fang XinLi's eyebrows creased together and he gulped as he took out his phone and showed a picture of BBtrash to the man.
"Why are you showing me my picture?" Wang GuiYing asked with a small frown as he failed to understand what was going through Fang XinLi's mind.
Fang XinLi's eyes slowly widened as he finally started recognizing the similarities between the picture and the man in question.
"It can't be..." He muttered in disbelief as he gulped.
Wang GuiYing sighed as he snatched the boy's phone and spoke, "I understand that you're shocked but we have more important things to discuss. Tell me how you met Hulk."
Fang XinLi stared at the man for a long time without answering and Wang GuiYing grew a little impatient with this empty reaction.
"Are you trying to pick a fight?" Wang GuiYing's eyes dangerously narrowed down on the boy as he questioned with a small frown on his face.
Fang XinLi took a deep breath in and closed his eyes as he calmed himself down and spoke, "I won't help you!"
"Eh?" Wang GuiYing's eyebrows creased together as he heard this but before he could say anything, the boy continued.
"It's a sin to not take care of your face!" Fan XinLi exclaimed, feeling wronged, "It's a grave unforgivable sin that I, as your fan, cannot handle!"
"..."
"So we need to fix that beggar-like appearance first!" This time, Fang XinLi directly pointed at Wang GuiYing's face accusingly.
To say that Wang GuiYing was stunned would probably be an understatement. It was the first time someone had openly pointed at his face and dissed him like this so it was only natural that he felt speechless and awkward as he looked back at the boy.
Fang XinLi crossed his hands as he declared with a frown, "I would only agree to help the handsome BBtrash!"
Wang GuiYing gulped as he heard this.
Fang XinLi's frown deepened and he turned Wang Guiying around and pushed him towards the door as he spoke, "Let's get you fixed now."
Initially, Wang GuiYing thought that this Fang XinLi was just an arrogant cowardly gamer who wasn't even worth his time, but as it turned out, he felt as if he had found quite a funny naive fool.
Fang XinLi dragged/pushed the man all the way over to a unisex salon.
When Wang GuiYing sat down and finally saw himself in the mirror, he finally understood why Fang XinLi had been so shocked to see him. Even he couldn't recognize himself anymore.
He had once cared about his appearance a lot so to see such a version of himself was shocking for himself as well and he almost found it funny how this was all caused by the absence of a single person.
When Wang GuiYing remembered that person again, he couldn't even laugh at himself and simply sighed.
"As agreed, I came with you so let's talk now," Wang GuiYing spoke as he looked at Fang XinLi's reflection in the mirror.
Fang XinLi looked to be a little willing as he heard this and nodded his head as he took a seat behind Wang GuiYing.
The barber got working on Wang GuiYing, fixing the man's unkempt appearance. He started applying the shaving cream on Wang GuiYing's face while Fang XinLi finally started talking about the topic that Wang GuiYing had come to him for.
"I met him two weeks ago," Fang XinLi started with a small sigh as he recalled the memory, and as soon as Wang GuiYing heard the boy talking, his ears perked up with interest and his eyes twinkled with delight.
"Don't expect anything much since our conversation was rather short," Fang XinLi added but Wang GuiYing's interest in the topic didn't die down after hearing that.
"I was playing dungeon wars when I met him," Fang XinLi revealed as he continued, "You might not know this but dungeon wars is currently the hottest game among the players. It was released by the same company that released T.I.A.D."
When Wang GuiYing heard that name, his eyes faltered a bit and his eyebrows lightly furrowed together. He knew that Li Ling's company had released a new game but he wasn't quite sure which one it was.
"T.I.A.D. was merely a starting experiment while Dungeon wars is a more refined experiment."
"Experiment?" Wang GuiYing repeated, looking a bit confused.
Fang XinLi's lips curled up into a small smile that looked to be a bit secretive as he spoke, "I mean the final level of T.I.A.D."
"Eh...?"
"The fully-immersive virtual reality gaming experience is present in Dungeon wars as well. On top of that, the game also has the improved version of ALVI."
"Automated Living Virtual Intelligence," The two spoke together and while Fan XinLi only smiled as he spoke, Wang GuiYing's eyes widened in shocked.