"Haha, Brother Jiang Yuan, come over and sit here!"
"Chuangshi Yongge," a young man around thirty years old, dressed in a casual suit with his leather shoes polished to a gleaming shine, waved at Jiang Yuan with a smile.
"Brother Jiang Yuan, it's too crowded over there. Come sit by me—it's spacious here, and you can help me level up!"
The speaker was the guild leader of Baihua Palace, the very "scratching-foot big guy" Jiang Yuan had heard about. Today, Jiang Yuan finally met him in person!
To Jiang Yuan's surprise, he had imagined this "scratching-foot big guy" to be a burly, barrel-chested man with thick chest hair. But upon seeing the real person, Jiang Yuan found him to be a handsome, refined young man in his early twenties!
"I didn't expect Guild Leader Hua Qian'gu to be so handsome!"
Hearing this, Jiang Yuan walked over and took a seat next to Hua Qian'gu, offering him a smile.
"Haha, I just enjoy playing as a healer—I'm no scratching-foot big guy!"
Hua Qian'gu laughed heartily, explained himself, and quickly helped Jiang Yuan turn on the computer in front of him.
Jiang Yuan glanced over and saw Ding Ye sitting between "Chuangshi Yongge" and "Chuangshi Xuanxuan," already wearing his helmet, his consciousness immersed in the game.
Jiang Yuan turned back, picked up his own helmet, put it on, clicked the game icon on the desktop, and entered the game!
"Ding! Welcome to the vast world of *Wanjie*. Loading map data for you..."
Upon entering the game, Jiang Yuan found himself back in the council hall of Shangjing City, the capital of the Hanjiang City Alliance.
"Ding! You have received a team invitation from player 'Hua Qian'gu.' Do you accept?"
After forming the team, Jiang Yuan heard Hua Qian'gu's voice in his ear.
"Brother Jiang Yuan, where should we go to level up?"
"We've finished all the dungeons. Let's head to the nearby wild maps and look for some bosses to fight!"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment before replying to Hua Qian'gu.
"Got it!"
Hua Qian'gu nodded obediently and followed Jiang Yuan out of Shangjing City, heading into the wilderness.
And so, Jiang Yuan spent a full two hours leveling up with Hua Qian'gu, until the door to the private room opened again and Manager Xu, dressed in a professional suit, walked in.
"Everyone, the guild leader is waiting for you in the banquet hall on the 88th floor."
Hearing the voice, the group playing games in the room took off their helmets. Jiang Yuan glanced at the bottom right corner of the computer screen and realized it was almost 11 o'clock without him noticing.
The group followed Manager Xu via the elevator to the 88th floor, a level exclusively reserved for Hengyun Group's guests—ordinary people couldn't get in.
Stepping out of the elevator, they walked down a long corridor, turned right, and entered a massive banquet hall, as large as a basketball court!
Crossing straight through the banquet hall, a screen cleverly separated the private rooms from the main area. There were four private rooms in total, named after "Plum," "Orchid," "Bamboo," and "Chrysanthemum."
Manager Xu led Jiang Yuan and the others to the second-to-last room, "Bamboo," opened the door, and said, "Please, come in."
The group filed in. Jiang Yuan was second to last, with Ding Ye behind him.
As soon as he entered and saw the real-life Cangshu Buding, Jiang Yuan was stunned.
Beautiful—she was absolutely stunning!
Jiang Yuan didn't know how to describe it. His first impression was that she was a world apart from the loud, boisterous Cangshu Buding in the game!
The Cangshu Buding before him wore a classic cheongsam. She had a rosy, almond-shaped face, captivating phoenix eyes beneath gently curved brows, a straight nose, and red lips with white teeth. Looking closely, she seemed like a Jiangnan woman who had stepped straight out of a book.
"Everyone's here. Take a seat."
Cangshu Buding spoke softly, offering a gentle smile to the group, her uniquely graceful Jiangnan aura washing over them!
"G-Guild leader, hello!"
Chuangshi Yongge and the others were also dazzled by Cangshu Buding's beauty, stammering before finally managing a greeting.
"Sister guild leader, you're so pretty!"
Chuangshi Xuanxuan, being a girl and not shy, complimented Cangshu Buding directly.
"Xiao Yun, who is this?"
Cangshu Buding looked at the girl greeting her and turned her gaze to Manager Xu.
"Guild leader, this is Chuangshi Xuanxuan from our guild."
Manager Xu quickly introduced her.
"Sister Xuanxuan, come sit here."
Cangshu Buding patted the chair to her left and smiled at Chuangshi Xuanxuan.
Just then, Jiang Yuan, who was still standing and hadn't sat down, felt someone grab his arm. Turning around, he saw it was Zhang Ergou, the guild leader of Yunqi.
"Come on, Brother Jiang Yuan, you sit next to the guild leader too."
Zhang Ergou pulled Jiang Yuan and dragged him toward Cangshu Buding.
"No, no, you and Guild Leader Hua Qian'gu should sit by the guild leader. Ding Ye and I will sit on the outside—right, Old Ding?"
Jiang Yuan quickly sat down next to Ding Ye on the far side, frantically signaling him with his eyes.
"Oh, yeah! We brothers will sit together!"
"So you're Jiang Yuan? Not bad-looking in real life!"
As Ding Ye finished speaking, Cangshu Buding's gaze fell on Jiang Yuan's face, sizing him up. The expression in her eyes felt to Jiang Yuan like she was scrutinizing him.
"Uh, yeah, not too bad, I guess, haha!"
Jiang Yuan scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward meeting Cangshu Buding's gentle gaze. He quickly looked down, pulled out the chair next to Ding Ye, and prepared to sit.
"Jiang Yuan, would you come sit here?"
Just then, Cangshu Buding spoke to him, her voice as melodious as a mountain spring.
"Sit over there! Sit over there!"
The others who had already taken their seats started egging him on, making Jiang Yuan blush all the way to his neck.
"Pfft! What's a big man being so shy for?"
Seeing Jiang Yuan's red face, Cangshu Buding covered her mouth and laughed.
"Alright!"
Under the gaze of so many eyes, Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and sat down in the empty chair to Cangshu Buding's right.
"Since we've managed to gather the guild's brothers today, let me introduce myself first. My name is Heng Yuwei, general manager of Hengyun Group. My in-game ID is Cangshu Buding. If that feels awkward, just keep calling me guild leader!"
Once everyone was seated, Cangshu Buding began with her self-introduction, then continued, "Now that I've introduced myself, shouldn't you all do the same?"
After speaking, Heng Yuwei's gaze swept across everyone's faces one by one.
"My name is Xie Hong, in-game ID Chuangshi Yongge. I run a logistics company, usually overseeing my guys loading and delivering goods!"
Chuangshi Yongge started off, introducing himself.
"Hello, guild leader. I'm Jiang Haoran, in-game name Chuangshi Xiaoxuanfeng. I work at a private company—just a regular employee, haha!"
Following Chuangshi Yongge was Chuangshi Xiaoxuanfeng. After he finished, it was Chuangshi Xuanxuan's turn.
"Sister Buding, my name is Ouyang Xuan. My surname is Ouyang, so I gave myself the ID Xuanxuan in the game, hehe!"
Ouyang Xuan giggled at Heng Yuwei, blinking her eyes, looking especially cute.