In the Development Department office.
Diana leaned against the filing cabinet.
Celine sat calmly next to me, appearing quite composed.
Diana glanced to confirm the door was closed before saying, "This is absolutely ridiculous!"
Celine asked cautiously, "boss, are you referring to CEO?"
Diana seemed uncomfortable even hearing that name. She said quietly, "Never mind him! Everyone knows the situation now, right? The company plans to invest in cultivating top players and professional production teams in 'Ethereal Surge'. We'll also be managing in-game business activities. The SnowMoon studio members are all specially recruited gaming experts, so of course we can't lose to others. I hope you all take this seriously!"
Diana surveyed us and continued, "You're all off work this afternoon. Go home and log in directly. We'll meet at the east gate plaza in Twilight City. I need to build my own team! If you have any high-level friends, bring them along. Before long, we'll form our own mercenary group!"
I hesitated, wanting to bring up the SwordFire guild, but decided against it. We weren't that familiar with each other yet, and I didn't really know Diana. After all, she didn't have a good impression of me.
Diana grabbed a piece of paper and handed it over, saying, "Each of you write down your in-game name here. I'll contact you later!"
Celine and Summer quickly signed. I wrote my game name "Frivolous Scholar". Perhaps because I hadn't been in American top ten for long, no one seemed to notice.
With that, Diana dismissed the meeting.
Half an hour later, I was back home. Seeing it was only 1 PM, I had a glass of water and opened my computer to check the official 'Ethereal Surge' forum.
To my surprise, the homepage featured news about a "First Beauty Mage PK Video"!
Could it be about Breeze Embracing Moon's PK video?
Excited, I immediately opened it. After a brief buffer, the video began playing!
On screen, five berserkers surrounded a mage, eyeing her menacingly. Judging by their equipment's luster, these berserkers all had black iron tier armor or better!
The mage they surrounded was clearly female, with a nice figure, though her face wasn't visible. Above her head floated four large characters: Breeze Embracing Moon!
It really was her!
The battle began with the explosion of the first fireball. Breeze Embracing Moon's beautiful figure moved as if dancing on waves. After a few evasive maneuvers, she miraculously escaped the berserkers' pursuit. Even more impressive was her perfect positioning control, leading the five berserkers in circles until they were dizzy, not knowing where to strike!
Just from this, I could tell that Breeze Embracing Moon was definitely a skilled mage player. I never imagined a woman could play at this level!
Fireballs and ice arrows whistled through the air. The berserkers fell one after another. What was shocking was Breeze Embracing Moon's ice damage - a simple ice arrow took out more than half of a level 22 berserker's health! Killing a berserker every three seconds demonstrated incredible strength!
The battle lasted less than two minutes before the berserkers were defeated.
Scrolling down, I realized this video had exploded on the forum. Countless players were fervently worshipping this female mage who was ranked first in China and third globally. After all, reaching level 28 within days of the game's launch was no small feat. The comments were also quite spicy:
1st comment: Breeze Embracing Moon, American #1 female mage, American #1 beauty player!
2nd: Breeze Embracing Moon, I love you! Leave your Whatsapp number!
3rd: Those berserkers are such idiots! Just charge at her!
4th: Such a rare beauty! It'd be worth dying to chase her as a girlfriend. But how can an ordinary guy like me catch her attention?
5th: Reply to 4th: On a dark, windy night, quietly hang yourself alone at Twilight City's gate. You might just catch Breeze Embracing Moon's eye.
6th (a female player): (Jealous) Hmph! What's so great about Breeze Embracing Moon? My figure is better than hers! (Uploaded photo)
7th (Forum Moderator): Sister from 6th comment...
8th (that female player): Moderator, why did you delete my photo?
9th (Forum Moderator): Deleting your post wasn't because you're not in the same league!
...
I nearly spat out my tea. These people were too outrageous! The replies had already exceeded a thousand, so I couldn't read them all.
I quickly closed the webpage, grabbed my gaming helmet, and entered the game!
Checking my status, I was level 25 with 88 gold coins. My ranking had dropped to 124th in US, while the top female mage Breeze Embracing Moon had reached a terrifying level 30. I had no idea how she leveled so fast!
I went straight back to the newbie village square, restocked on potions, then spent 1 gold coin at the teleportation array to transfer to Twilight City!
Twilight City, one of American eight secondary main cities, was a paradise for low to mid-level players to train and resupply. The surrounding areas were rich in leveling resources and NPCs offering quests!
After a flash of light, my surroundings changed completely. Opening my eyes, I found myself in an ancient city with white walls and black tiles. Two rows of shops lined the main street in the city center. Several NPC soldiers carrying halberds slowly patrolled by.
Opening the map, I confirmed this was indeed Twilight City. After orienting myself, I determined the east gate plaza was just ahead. I immediately jogged over, making sure to turn off all my equipment's glow effects. If Luna and Summer saw my set of epic gear, they'd surely strip me on the spot!
There weren't many players in Twilight City yet. Most were still struggling around the newbie village, as the monsters there scaled up to level 30 and were good for training.
In the distance, I could see several people already standing in the white stone-paved plaza.
A rather impressive level 22 swordsman wielded a faintly glowing rapier. Her game ID was "Ice Tea". Actually, this name was quite fitting. Like her persona, Celine seemed cold at first glance, but after getting to know her, you'd find she was warm inside - just like ice tea, meant to be savored slowly.
Next to Celine was a petite level 21 archer, clearly Aria who's game ID was Falling Rain in Silence. Her equipment wasn't great, with just a black iron tier bow.
Not far away stood a level 20 assassin in leather armor,Luna, her ID clearly visible: Purple Moon!
Luna was talking to a level 19 summoner, who wore a full set of mage robes and held a staff. Her name was "Last Summer", obviously Summer.
I walked up quickly, saying, "You're all here already?"
The girls turned, almost unanimously exclaiming, "Wow! Is that really Silas? Already level 25, so high!"
I smiled slightly, saying, "Archers level quickly, it's nothing special..."
Summer immediately came over, grabbing my arm and saying, "Silas! Take me leveling later, okay? I don't want Luna to take me, she's so clumsy. She died twice while leveling last night!"
I cautiously replied, "You have to promise that when leveling with me, you won't flirt with male players from other teams. Otherwise, it'll be very troublesome for me to deal with!"
Summer pouted coyly, "You're so mean, how could I be that kind of bad girl..."
In just a few days, I'd come to realize that Summer, this girl who loved to act coquettish, was already quite formidable. However, I really couldn't muster any interest in her.
...
After waiting a while, Celine said, "Why hasn't our boss arrived yet? Did she run into trouble? Does anyone know her game name?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Just then, a sweet female voice came from behind us: "Sorry to keep you all waiting!"
We turned around, and I was immediately stunned. The others were equally shocked into silence!
Wearing a fiery red mage robe, graceful and nimble, with flowing long hair - standing before us was an incredibly beautiful female mage!
"Gulp!"
I swallowed hard, finally managing to squeeze out a sentence: "Breeze Embracing Moon..."