Talking to Ye Xiu was almost like traveling back in time. The way we chatted online was no different than 10 years ago. With his hand speed, he could still chat with me and play Glory at the same time without any problem; a talent that I had always been jealous of. He was also still the same shameless, laid back guy who loved Glory.
[What's up with your name nowadays? I thought it was Ye Xiu, but why does YiFan call you Ye Qiu.]
[There is a story behind it.]
[Going to tell me?]
[Nope. Maybe one day. :)] I swore he and his smiley faces rub me the wrong way.
[Should I call you Ye Xiu or Ye Qiu then?]
[Ye Xiu is fine.]
After we figured out his name situation, we chatted about the old times, work, All-Star Weekend, my training with Tiny Herb, and Glory in general. If I could play Glory right now, I'm sure he and I would have been in the Arena 'comparing notes', or more accurately him beating me up completely. I never once had come close to beating in on PvP since we met.
[Is Su Ge (苏哥) with you still?]
[No.]
Sadly, I found out Su Ge had passed away shortly after I quit and lost touch with everyone from the first server. I cried when I found out the news. I partied with the two often for dungeon runs back in the days when everyone else labeled me a hacker.
x
Su MuQiu (苏沐秋) was such a optimistic, cheerful guy. Unlike Ye Xiu, he was good with words and easy to talk to. He gave support to people when they needed. I still remembered that I used to log in sometimes just to talk to him when things got stressful offline – things like school, parents, grades, and moving to a different country. The universe was so unfair. Why don't nice guys ever get happy endings?
[I'm sorry to bringing it up. I didn't know.] I felt bad for unknowingly bringing up the topic. It must be hard for Ye Xiu even now since they were really close back in the days.
[I'm fine, but what about you? You must be hurting.]
[Let me cry for a bit, then I will be okay.]
Ye Xiu and I shared a moment of silence before moving on to other topics.
[If you get fired from the company, want to join my team?] Ye Xiu asked. The thing with Internet chats was, you can't see if the other side was serious or not. But I also had a feeling that Ye Xiu was someone hard to read in real life too.
[The White Robed Witch can't join any team. I signed that contract years ago. You can't afford me anyways.]
[You want sponsor my team then? The preorder went well I heard J.] He was now holding out his hand asking for money? It seemed like he had become the god of the shameless over the years too. From what I heard from YiFan, Ye Xiu has been like that since they met online.
[If you followed the preorder site, you would have seen I had given up a portion of my commission fee. I won't be getting that much back.]
[What a waste of money.]
[Don't remind me. Wang JieXi already told me the exact numbers.]
[Haha. Big-Eye Wang is always so tactless.]
I rolled my eyes at the message. It wasn't like the guy I was talking to was any better. I was starting to think it runs in the sport. I hope YiFan won't become like either of the two if he stayed in the pro scene.
[Why do you need money? Are you in some kind of trouble?]
[I'm starting my own team.]
[What are you offering in return?] I still couldn't tell if he was joking or being serious.]
[You can decide on the team name. Oh wait, my boss is giving me a look. No go on that offer.]
I wasn't sure what to say so I just sent back a sweat drop emoji.
[I will consider but I want to see something formal in writing about your team before I will give you a cent.] If he really needed some financial help, I am not against the idea. But he was stating something as outlandish as building his own Glory team. I was a bit doubtful. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't toying with me and wasn't actually going to use my money on street drugs or alcohol.
x
After chatting with Ye Xiu until the sun came up, we finally said our goodbyes for the night. Even though the man had his own agenda when he messaged me, he still told me a few areas that were unpopular with players that I could level up peacefully at.
He also told me to hurry up and get a PC, and into the Heavenly Domain so we can 'play like old times'. I knew better than to believe what he says on the surface. He probably planned to use me for free labor to hunt for rare materials or something when I there, but that didn't sound bad at all. At least it will be time spend with an old friend.
He also told me that YiFan had got into Heaven's Domain at level 55 just a few days ago. I had never seen YiFan's Ghostblade, One Inch Ash, so I was looking towards seeing and playing with his main character. I quickly copy and pasted the maps he suggested in a document before going to bed. Thank goodness I have today off or I would have called in sick anyways.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see Ye Xiu unspecialized character, his unique weapon, and his play style. The man had never fail to surprise me with game mechanics that I never knew was possible. Even for me, who wasn't very informed with the in game situation, knew that Lord Grim was famous not only in the 10th server, but in all the servers. Just two or three weeks ago, it was huge news on every eSport channel that all the famous Glory characters logged on to see Lord Grim in action in the Arena.
I personally didn't find and read that piece of news. But when you work for the gaming company, you hear just hear these things everywhere. From the rumors floating around the work cafeteria, it seemed like Ye Xiu was planning to come back to the pro scene.
x
A week after the preorder event, I still visited Tiny Herb for my daily dose of training with Wang JieXi. The computer was in progress, but not ready yet. With Project Vaccaria preorder done, my schedule was more normalized. I was able to work on my projects in the normal 9-5 hours. Afterwards, I would take a bus to Tiny Herb to train for an hour or two and leave after dinner Monday through Thursday. Weekends were more troublesome because sometimes the team was away for a competition.
On those days, I just rent out a private room at an Internet Café to do some serious grind to level up, or attempt the Heavenly Domain chain quests, or go to the Arena to beat up random people after I get bored. I dressed like a slob in sweats on those days to blend in the café. It seemed to work since the café manager never spared me a second look anytime I went. But just for extra privacy, I paid good money for a VIP computer room every time.
As for the Heavenly Domain quests. Let me tell you, the chain quests were not just long. They were really, really long…like almost never ending long. They were hard as hell too. After tackling the quests for almost a month and now at level 62, I was still not done with the chain quest or the Arena portion of the quest because of the 8 level of suppression.
Leveling had been better and faster after talking to Ye Xiu. I ran into less and less players online at the maps that he had recommended. The spawn rate was a little slow, but it was still better than being bombarded and followed by a bunch of people all the time, and getting absolutely nowhere.
I have to admit the skill portion of chain quests was still a bit difficult for me. I was definitely doing better after starting the training simulations at Tiny Herb, but my technical skills was nowhere to being pro. So with some skill and lots of luck, I was able to completely them one by one. YiFan had offered to help multiple times, but I decided that I should use these quests as extra training instead of treating them like a burden.
For the Arena portion, there was no shortage of people across the servers who wanted to challenge the White Robed Witch. I didn't mind since I needed wins streaks to complete the quests. But with the level suppression and my current skills, it was not a piece of cake. There were definitely some strong players in the masses that made me broke the win streaks that I needed for the Heaven Domain Arena quests. As I currently stand, I was no different than the above average normal players. I still had a long way to go.
Sometimes Ye Xiu or Old Man Han, on random accounts, would watch from the sidelines and give me pointers afterwards via QQ when they had a moment to spare. Both of them did not challenge me in the Arena because they knew there was no benefit for me to win against them due to the level difference. If the field were set to fixed field, it would not count towards quest. And if they fought serious, they would beat me to a pulp no problem and mess up my winning streak for the Arena quests for sure.
x
Another week later, a few boxes arrived in the mail for me at the apartment front desk. The boxes contained different computer pieces, hardware, PC accessories, and a gamer's chair; everything was a courtesy of Tiny Herb. Since the preorder made the Tiny Herb owner richer, this was the least that the Owner could do for me after he found out I was in need of a gaming PC. Considering how much money I gave up with 4% commission for the pre-order, the owner still made out like a bandit even after giving me the free computer stuff.
Tiny Herb also sent YiFan, and YingJie one Sunday to put together and set up my new fancy-dancy gaming PC computer. Per everyone from the Tiny Herb team, in the world of people who loved computers and games, naming your computer was a must. Naomi's Computer would simply not do.
From the day Wang JieXi said he would talk to his boss about the computer, everyone from Tiny Herb wanted to know what I was going to name my computer. After picking out a sleek glossy white aluminum case with black accents, I decided on Eve from the movie Wall-E. Another reason was due to she was my first gaming computer ever. Eve was the first woman created by god per western religion, and this is my first computer. Get it?
x
When the boys arrived early Sunday, they went to set everything up like expert IT guys. The computer was quickly set up and working within half an hour, but the chair was a complete different story. I chuckled as I watched the two teens tried to decide how assemble the chair. They were computer guys, not handymen. As they were figuring things out, I decided to order pizzas for everyone. It was getting close to lunch and treat people for a meal for manual labor was just common curtsey.
Pizza was a delicacy in China. In America there was many 5 dollar (~30-40RMB) for a large options everywhere. In China a 'large' pizza was closer to 60 to 80 RMB and the size of a large pizza was significant smaller than in the states. To make up for the large price difference, there were many interesting choices that I have never seen before. In the end I ordered 2 pizzas – a seafood supreme pizza and a plain cheese pizza – and a 2-liter soda for delivery.
By the time the food arrived and tablet set, the teens still had made no process. The two argued over the poorly written direction. Do you put parts A & B together first? Then how does part C fit into A & B? That was one of the mysteries in life.
During lunch, I put in a blu-ray movie on the TV. But no one was really watching, so it was just for background noise. I took a peak at the directions when they boys ate lunch. I couldn't read all the Chinese characters but just by looking at the step-by-step images, it seemed fairly straightforward. I smiled inwardly at how both boys seemed to lack common sense. After lunch, I continued to watch the boys from the sidelines – very amused – and made no movements to help out.
x
About 2 or 3 in the afternoons, I received a message from Wang JieXi. He was wondering where his two members were since they had been gone for a more than a few hours now. I quickly let the captain know the boys were just finishing up and will be back soon.
"Hey guys. Your captain needs you back soon." I interrupted YiFan and YingJie who both kneeled clueless in front of the pile of chair parts, the unhelpful directions, and a crappy one-time use screwdriver that came in the box.
"But, we haven't put it together yet." YingJie spoke up first.
"Sorry, we couldn't get anywhere with it." YiFan sighed in defeated as he tried to make the heads and tails of the directions.
"It's fine. I had a good show."
"?" The boys stared at me in pure confusion.
"Don't worry about it." I laughed from my place on the couch and waved the two off. "Head back soon before your Captain decide to come over personally to get you guys."
After I made sure the two were on the next bus back to Tiny Herb, I messaged Wang JieXi to let him know YingJie and YiFan were on their way now so he could stop worrying. I'm sure Wang JieXi only really cared about YingJie's whereabouts since he was Vaccaria's successor. I swore that I would somehow make Wang JieXi notice YiFan and regret his decision one day.
I watched the bus disappear down the road and around the corner. I carried a bittersweet feeling in my heart. This would mark the last interactions I would have Tiny Herb. The computer was now set up in my apartment. I now had absolutely no reason to go to Tiny Herb ever again.
x
I opened the door to my silent apartment. It seem a big quieter, bigger, and lonelier than before. I missed the two boys' presences already. In the last 4 months or so, I had spent majority of time in and out of Tiny Herb and hanging out with the people there. Being alone and not able to go there anymore made me a lonely. I sank into the couch and stared at the TV screen played the credits to the movie that had been long nice forgotten. I looked around my bare single bedroom apartment. Besides what the apartment came with and I had brought over from the move, I had not bought anything new to fill up the place.
The apartment was newly refurnished and move-in ready for me. It came with a full kitchen, washer-dryer combo machine in the bathroom, and all the furniture currently in the apartment. This included, not limited to, the foldout couch, the coffee table, the TV stand, the TV, and the computer table. Sure they weren't anything too fancy, but they weren't so poor quality that they would fall apart when I shut the front door either. The only things extra I brought with me were a foldable workshop table, a foldable chair, and whatever is in the boxes.
Most of my life was still in boxes. After the initial attempt to unpack my life in the first week here, I have been living out of boxes since then. Only clothing items, bedroom essentials, bathroom essentials, and art supplies were fully unpacked. Books, movies, and my prized figures boxes were all stacked neatly in the corner of an apartment from heaviest on the bottom and lightest on the top. The packing tape had been all cut opened from when I checked to make sure everything arrived in good shape and when I needed to dig something out occasionally. I should really start putting things onto the shelves that were collecting dust, but I just couldn't find the motivation today or any other day.
Everything in the kitchen probably was covered in a layer of dust after so many months. I told myself that I would buy fresh produce and eat healthier in China, but that had not happened yet. Eating out was just so cheaper and much more convenient. There was a pork bun vendor right outside of the apartment and 7-11 close by. The tealeaf eggs (茶叶蛋) from 7-11 were so addicting! It was so easy just to grab something quick on the way home and not worry about it.
With a last look around my quiet apartment, I decided I have to get the chair put together before the clumsy me would trip over it and die with out anyone knowing. Following the step-by-step pictures, I put the chair that had stumped YingJie and YiFan together in about 30 minutes. It was only slightly more complex than a regular office chair, but wasn't all that much different either. With the last wheel on the chair twisted into place, I pulled it up into an upright position.
Without nothing much to do, I opened up Glory on the new computer that had been downloading for the last few hours in the background. Sitting in the most comfortable chair in the world in the comfort of my home, I familiarized myself with my brand new gaming engine. Consider that I would spending a lot of time in this chair in the next couple month, I was glad that Tiny Herb was kind enough to send over one of the better ones on the market.
To Crystal: Thank you for your kind review. Really appreciate it. I agree with your analysis with Naomi and WJX. I def see them drifting somewhat in the near future. Although, in my honest opinion all the pro-players and Naomi are all love-idiots/clueless to love. ┐(´д｀)┌ Who knows if their spring will ever come.
To Guest: Yes it will be another god-tier character. I believe Naomi meets ZZK again and the next figure will be decided in the next chapter =)