"You've really been a bit distant from the gaming world, haven't you?" Fang XinLi asked with a small chuckle, "Even a newbie is well-aware about this."
Wang GuiYing gulped as he heard this but took no offense from the boy's words and didn't bother saying anything to that either.
"At first, Dungeon Wars was like any other game with no VR feature but a few months ago, it got a bit updated and a new feature was added. Of course, the system was yet to be perfect, and hence, they didn't make the feature available to all players. The feature was only unlocked if you crossed a certain level of the game and to date, there aren't many people that have crossed that certain level."
"Skip the rambling and tell me how that is related to Hulk."
Fang XinLi closed his eyes and pursed his lips as he cursed Wang GuiYing in his mind. It wasn't every day that he got a chance to discuss such things with a person he admired. In fact, he was sure that Wang GuiYing would be interested in the topic and he felt that it would be fun to talk about games with Wang GuiYing since the latter was a well-known expert in the field.
However, the boy was disappointed to see that Wang GuiYing was not the least bit interested in the details and only wanted to know about Hulk.
Fang XinLi took a deep breath in and calmed himself down as he spoke, "I'll get to that in a moment. You should listen to me since what I'm saying is pretty important if you want to look for your friend."
Wang GuiYing immediately shut his mouth up and listened attentively as he heard this.
"The certain level that I talked about is actually the tenth golden pass level from the fifth stage. To give an example, let me tell you that the stage you played with us was the second stage, and beating the snake would get you the tenth bronze pass. Hence, after winning against that snake, you have achieved the tenth bronze pass of the second stage."
It was a bit confusing but Wang GuiYing understood it well.
"You might have heard rumors of how the snake is the most dangerous beast inside the game, but that rumor is somewhat incorrect since the snake is only the strongest beast of the second stage. In order to advance to the next stage, you don't need to beat the snake, all you need to do is gain enough magical stones. Once you have the required amount of magic stones, you can ascend to the next stage and would get to fight even stronger beasts."
"The people who normally ascend to the third stage don't get there by beating the strongest beasts, they get there by beating many smaller beasts and collecting enough magical stones. Since we let you in on our team, you were able to fight inside the second stage without having to worry about ascending to it from the first stage. That's another way, a person can ascend."
Wang GuiYing listened carefully to what the boy was saying and with a frown, the barber also concentrated on cutting Wang GuiYing's hair. The barber was probably not having the time of his life dealing with such unkempt hair that even a barbarian would not have.
"If a team can ascend together and let in members after their ascension to the next stage, the new member would get a free ticket to the higher stage. However, most people only use this advantage to ascend to the second or the third stage."
"Remember what I said about having to collect magical stones for ascension earlier?" Fang XinLi asked but didn't wait around for a response as he spoke, "Well, most people fight a ton of weak beasts and collect magical stones for ascension but once they get to the third stage, their progress comes to a standstill as the beasts in the third stage are not exactly weak for them. The beasts from the third stage are either equal in power or more powerful than the snake that you fought. This is also the reason why my team refuses to ascend to the third stage although we have enough magical stones."
"In rare cases, there are people talented like you who beat all the strong beasts and manage to ascend all the way to the fifth stage. In the fifth stage, they can go against the beast of the golden pass level and if they win, the new feature would be unlocked for them and they would get the rare chance of transmigrating into the fully immersive VR game."
As soon as this was said, there was an odd silence in the room and only the snipping of the hair-cutting scissors was heard.
"Once you reach that level and unlock the feature, you would also have the advantage of going through all the stages of your own free will. Currently, I can only play inside the second stage and cannot access the first stage anymore but for the ones with the VR feature, it is different. They can access any stage that they want since they are fully inside the game."
In Wang GuiYing's head, he seriously prayed for Hulk to not be one of those players who had access to the secret feature, but unfortunately, God never heard his prayers.
"Hulk is one of the only few players who has unlocked the feature."
"Damn it," Wang GuiYing cursed under his breath.
"I met him when I was playing solo on the eastern plains of the second stage. It was only for a few seconds but I am sure that it is him."
"How can you be sure? What was his username?" Wang GuiYing impatiently asked. Just like the promise that he had made to Zhou Xinyi, the man had also made a promise back to him. If BBtrash wouldn't play without Hulk0_0 then Hulk0_0 would also not play without BBtrash.
If the username was Hulk0_0 then it was much more likely for the player to be an imposter and not the real one.
"That..." Fang XinLi sighed as he spoke, "I don't know."
"Huh?"
"Their names aren't visible to the ones who haven't passed the golden pass level of the fifth stage."
"Then how do you know it was him?" Wang GuiYing asked with his eyebrows furrowed together with suspicion.
"Because I'm a fan."
"..."
"I have followed you two for a long time so I'm an expert at this sort of thing. In fact, every time you guys played, it was always Hulk fighting and protecting you while you hardly took any action so I'm more thorough with his style of playing rather than yours. There is no way I can be wrong."
The boy was only stating facts but for some reason, Wang GuiYing couldn't help but feel as if he had been dissed by the boy. It was indeed true that Hulk was always the one fighting and protecting him but it was not like Wang GuiYing was a coward who forced the man to do all that!
"When I bumped into him, he defeated a three-headed bull and the fighting style was very similar to the Hulk that we all know."
"So you assumed that he was Hulk with just that?" Wang GuiYing questioned, still feeling suspicious.
"Of course, not." Fang XinLi smiled widely as he revealed the most important information, "He talked about you."
"!!!" Wang GuiYing's eyes widened and he snapped his head back to stare at the boy in shock, not believing that the boy had been rambling till now without mentioning anything about the most important clue.
"Sir, please don't move your head so much," The barber sighed as he spoke, trying his best not to curse at a customer, "You're not making this any easier for me. Just stay still, would you?"
"What the hell did he say?" Wang GuiYing asked Fang XinLi, turning back to face the mirror after listening to the barber's scolding.
"He had a message for you," Fang XinLi spoke with a confused expression, "He said that he was waiting and he wanted me to deliver those words to you."
It seemed that Fang XinLi was not quite able to understand what Hulk had meant to say with those words but Wang GuiYing immediately understood.
"That's all he said?" Wang GuiYing asked as he suddenly stood up from the chair and the barber almost had a heart attack, afraid that he'd cut the man's ear by mistake.
"That's about it. He disappeared after saying that. I wanted to deliver those words to you but I had no way of contacting you so I just revealed it on a live stream and hoped that the news would reach you."
Fang XinLi smiled brightly as he saw Wang GuiYing's face that once again looked just as handsome as it once did, "And luckily enough, seeing that you are here now, it seems that my efforts were not wasted."
Even the barber's eyes widened as he saw Wang GuiYing's face and in his mind, he wondered if he was God for having turned a barbarian into such a handsome model.
Wang GuiYing was perhaps the only one who was not shocked to see his handsome appearance in the mirror.
"Since you dragged me here, pay for it as well," Wang GuiYing spoke as he headed for the door, "I'm leaving now."
Fang XinLi was left speechless.
He dragged the man here just to see that handsome face but it seemed that he was only able to catch a glimpse of it before the man abandoned him and left.
The barber looked at Fang XinLi with a smile as he asked, "Shall I lead you to the cash counter?"
"..."