In the "Longyue Gaming" shop on the second floor of the Songjiang IT building, the young boss was calibrating Jiang Yuan's newly purchased computer, worth over 160,000 yuan.
Before long, the new computer was set up. The boss opened the old computer's chassis, pulled out the solid-state drive, then opened the new computer's case and connected the drive to the new interface. With a few swift taps on the blue holographic screen, a large "Loading" icon appeared, and a progress bar quickly jumped from 1% to 100%.
"Boss, it's done! All the data from your old computer has been transferred to the new one!"
As the progress bar finished, the boss turned and said to Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan tried tapping the virtual light screen a few times and found that all the data from his old computer, including materials for his graduation thesis and the game *Wanjie*, were in their proper places. He nodded with satisfaction and thanked the boss.
"Handsome, what do you want to do with this old computer?"
The boss reinserted the hard drive into Jiang Yuan's old computer and pointed at the chassis.
"Pack it up for me. I'll send it back to my hometown."
Jiang Yuan was sentimental. This computer had been with him for years, and he had grown attached to it. Besides, it still worked fine, so he couldn't bear to throw it away. He decided to ship it home for his soon-to-retire father to use for casual gaming.
"Sure."
The young boss nodded, quickly strapped the old computer back onto a cart, and handed it to Jiang Yuan.
Leaving "Longyue Gaming," Jiang Yuan pulled the cart with one hand and carried the new computer with the other. He went to the third floor of the IT building, where gaming peripherals were sold, and spent 900 Longguo coins on the latest Aoyun gaming chair. He left his school address for the shop to deliver it the next day, then walked out of the IT building.
It was already past nine in the evening when he returned to the dorm, with just over an hour until the game's launch. Jiang Yuan picked up his phone, ordered takeout, and quickly set up the new computer. When he turned it on, two beams of white light shot out, and the blue holographic screen generated by the full-projection technology bathed the entire dorm in a dreamlike glow.
"Awesome!"
Jiang Yuan gave a thumbs-up at the screen. Truly, the top-tier computer was incredible.
Soon, the delivery guy arrived with the food. As Jiang Yuan ate his sizzling beef brisket rice, he tapped open the official website for *Wanjie* and found the update announcement in the relevant section.
"*Wanjie* Version 1.1 Patch Update Announcement: 1. New Alliance feature added, with four major alliances: Emperor's Continent, Cold River City, Skywave Mansion, and Ten Thousand Mile Alliance. Players can choose any alliance to join at NPC 'Shangguan Yun.' 2. New gameplay 'Alliance Raid' added. Guilds that join an alliance can select a headquarters within the alliance's territory. When the alliance raid begins, different alliances can attack each other's headquarters to plunder supplies, lumber, and jade to strengthen their own alliance. Weekly alliance raid rankings will be held, with the top three guilds receiving generous rewards. 3. New 'Battlefield' gameplay added. Players level 90 and above can register for the battlefield at NPC 'Wanjie War God' from Monday to Friday. The winning side receives 120 Immortal Points, the losing side 15, with up to ten matches per day. 4. New 'World Martial Arts' cross-server battlefield gameplay added. Players from different servers can register at 'Wanjie War God' every Tuesday at 7:30 PM. The winning side receives points, the losing side 200 Immortal Points."
"Nice! I've got a way to earn Immortal Points now."
Chewing on a piece of brisket, Jiang Yuan mumbled indistinctly as he read the battlefield features in the announcement.
After eating, Jiang Yuan took out the trash and went for a walk on the school's back field to digest. When he returned to the dorm, he checked his phone—just under ten minutes until the game launched.
Putting on his helmet and connecting it to the new computer, Jiang Yuan clicked on the *Wanjie* game icon!
As soon as the game opened, an update screen popped up. Jiang Yuan glanced at the patch size—over 100 GB!
Good thing he had upgraded his computer; otherwise, after a few more updates, his old hard drive would have been overwhelmed.
After about seven or eight minutes, the game was updated. Jiang Yuan went to the bathroom, and by the time he came back, he was ready to log in.
"Ding! Honorable warrior, welcome to the Great World of Huaxia. Loading your map, please wait..."
With the familiar prompt, Jiang Yuan's consciousness was pulled into the game world. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the back garden of the Lord's Mansion in Peace City.
"Meow!"
Suddenly, a cat's cry rang out. The Persian cat, Miao Miao, leaped onto Jiang Yuan's shoulder and began licking his cheek with its rough little tongue, acting very affectionate.
"Miao Miao! I missed you so much!"
Seeing Miao Miao again, Jiang Yuan was overjoyed. He hugged the cat's neck and said happily.
"Beep beep beep!"
Just then, the icons for his friends Wen Ding Cang Sheng and Hamster Pudding lit up and flashed in his friend list.
Opening their chat windows, the messages from both were similar—both asking for Jiang Yuan's opinion on which alliance to join.
Jiang Yuan replied to each, arranging to meet on the street outside the Lord's Mansion. Then, with Miao Miao, he walked out of the mansion.
Soon, he saw Wen Ding Cang Sheng and Hamster Pudding approaching on the street outside. As soon as they saw him, they asked in unison, "Jiang Yuan, which alliance should we join?"
Looking at the two leaders of the largest guilds in the game, Jiang Yuan smiled helplessly. "Shouldn't this be something for you two guild leaders to discuss? Why are you asking me?"
After the main quest in Anyang Town, both Wen Ding Cang Sheng and Hamster Pudding had unconsciously come to see Jiang Yuan as their decision-making center. So, right after the game update, they rushed to seek his advice.
"Brother Jiang Yuan, you might not know. During the maintenance hours, Ao Shi Long Huang rallied several guilds to form two alliances to target you!"
Wen Ding Cang Sheng had a wide network in the game world, so his intel was sharp. As soon as the Ao Shi guild made a move, he had accurate information.
"Heh! Looks like the Ao Shi guild really holds a grudge against me. What's the current situation?"
Jiang Yuan chuckled. It seemed the Ao Shi guild was determined to oppose him.
"Right now, the Ao Shi guild has allied with the War God guild, Nine States guild, Fenghua guild, Mushui guild, and Junlin guild, planning to join Emperor's Continent and the Ten Thousand Mile Alliance. Cold River City is the weakest, with only small guilds there. Skywave Mansion is our intended alliance. Would you be willing to join, Brother Jiang Yuan?"
After analyzing the situation, Wen Ding Cang Sheng looked at Jiang Yuan.
"Pudding, aren't you the leader of our Creation guild? You should make the call!"
Jiang Yuan glanced at his own guild's "boss" and asked helplessly.
As the guild leader, Hamster Pudding had to prioritize the guild's growth. If they joined Skywave Mansion with Wen Ding's guild, the headquarters would go to Wen Ding, leaving Creation with a secondary branch. That wouldn't be ideal for Creation's expansion.
"I want to join Cold River City. No one there can threaten our Creation guild's claim to the headquarters. Are you coming with me to Cold River City, or are you joining Wen Ding's faction?"
Hamster Pudding stated her thoughts, leaving the choice to Jiang Yuan.
"Alright, let's go to Cold River City. Wherever you go, I go!"
Without a second thought, Jiang Yuan agreed to Hamster Pudding's choice.