Chapter 1 Adjusting Strategy

At this moment, Rootless Nitrite needed to adjust the studio's strategy, but was immediately faced with a major problem: Bai Shi Jing Lun (Hundred-Worldly Classics).

This was a talent he had hired at a high salary, and more importantly, he was a professional, useful specifically for efficient leveling methods. As for other aspects… his combat was indeed very strong, but not so strong as to warrant such a high salary. The studio's main source of income was still through scavenging and observing the market. Relying on killing monsters to drop top-quality equipment was a matter of luck, and the studio couldn't possibly rely on that for survival. How could they afford to keep the most expensive person in the entire studio for such a minor project?

Fortunately, Bai Shi Jing Lun was not an unreasonable person. Rootless Nitrite was confident that if he explained the current situation clearly, the man would understand, and it wouldn't be too difficult to part ways peacefully. However, Bai Shi Jing Lun had always been diligent and hardworking, and was an honest and kind person. At this point, he was essentially firing someone simply because he no longer needed them, so Rootless Nitrite didn't feel too good about it.

Bai Shi Jing Lun was already making Rootless Nitrite uncomfortable enough, and at this moment, he was secretly relieved that he hadn't immediately tried to recruit Chen Qiyi yesterday.

When Ying Qi Studio collapsed and its owner disappeared after being doxxed, Rootless Nitrite considered whether he should try to win over Chen Qiyi to keep the efficient leveling method firmly in his hands.

He hadn't done it because he hadn't found a way to contact Chen Qiyi. The man hadn't been online since yesterday, and Rootless Nitrite had gone through many channels without finding a real-world contact method. Clearly, this was because Gai Shi Qi Ying (Unparalleled Hero) also considered Chen Qiyi a key talent, so he was hiding him very carefully, not giving others a chance to contact him. No one in Ying Qi Studio besides himself knew how to contact Chen Qiyi offline.

Gai Shi Qi Ying's move had inadvertently helped Rootless Nitrite, saving him from the trouble of carrying an extra burden. At this point, Rootless Nitrite only needed to take care of Bai Shi Jing Lun first.

Bai Shi Jing Lun was also offline, so he could only be contacted offline. Rootless Nitrite picked up the phone, but a trace of hesitation flashed through his mind. The game company wanted to control efficient leveling methods – this was just his own analysis from the announcement. What if he was just overthinking it?

He had already gotten rid of Bai Shi Jing Lun, but what if he found out that the business could still be done and had to ask him back? Rootless Nitrite felt embarrassed just thinking about going back and forth like that. It seemed that his skills were not yet up to par, and his face hadn't been trained enough!

"Am I really overthinking it?" Rootless Nitrite opened the webpage and repeatedly studied the game company's announcement. After all, their Yunteng Studio had grown overnight due to an opportunity, and its foundation was still very shallow. They didn't know anyone in the game company and couldn't get any information, so they could only speculate on their own.

After pondering it over and over again, Rootless Nitrite finally hardened his heart. He decided to trust his own judgment. Hesitation leads to chaos, and now was not the time to hesitate.

"Hello, Xiao Bai?" Rootless Nitrite finally dialed the phone…

A few minutes later, the call ended, and Rootless Nitrite put down the phone with a hesitant expression on his face.

What he wanted to do went smoothly, and stopping the cooperation with Bai Shi Jing Lun met with no resistance. But what he didn't expect was that Bai Shi Jing Lun was the one taking the initiative to end the cooperation. When he called, he was still exchanging pleasantries, preparing to get to the point, but Bai Shi Jing Lun had already cut straight to the chase, first expressing his apologies, and then saying that he hoped to stop the cooperation.

Rootless Nitrite was stunned for a moment and blurted out a question about why. Bai Shi Jing Lun said that he had urgent matters to attend to, so he couldn't play the game for the time being, and therefore couldn't help out in the game anymore.

Rootless Nitrite didn't act like he had gotten a good deal and readily agreed to a peaceful termination of the contract with Bai Shi Jing Lun. But the matter was so coincidental, so smooth, that it made him feel a little unbelievable.

"Could it be that the game company is taking a two-pronged approach, both restricting their studio and communicating with these professionals?" Rootless Nitrite couldn't help but think of this possibility. The game company was much more powerful than them, and there weren't many such people. So far, there were only Qian Li Yi Zui (Drunk a Thousand Miles), Bai Shi Jing Lun, and Chen Qiyi. The game company could either force or entice them, but taking down these three people shouldn't be a problem, right?

Thinking this, Rootless Nitrite returned to the game. Chen Qiyi was still offline. He asked Fei Chang Ni Tian (Extremely Heaven-Defying), and Qian Li Yi Zui was also still absent. However, Qian Li Yi Zui's online habits meant that being offline at this time was very normal.

By evening, the game had calmed down a lot. The game company's statement had gradually subsided the wave of condemnation against the studios. The players felt that their unity had won a victory. Although there were no material rewards, they were quite satisfied in spirit.

But that night, Qian Li Yi Zui still did not come online.

Rootless Nitrite felt that something must have happened, but Fei Chang Ni Tian and Qian Li Yi Zui's other friends didn't seem as concerned as he was. Gu Fei wasn't a guy who took the game too seriously, and becoming the world's number one expert in a lazy and casual manner had left them speechless. It wouldn't be strange if he didn't play the game for a day or even two or three days.

But on the other hand, everyone was looking forward to Gu Fei coming online. They were still waiting for the game to become his family's! Yu Tian Shen Ming (Godly Voice of the Universe) currently had a piece of paper in his pocket, filled with things he wanted. He seemed to be treating Gu Fei as Santa Claus.

When Xi Yao Wu (Slender Waist Dance) heard this rumor, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn, that kid is hiding deep!"

So everyone took the opportunity to ask Xi Yao Wu if she wanted to buy a game to play around with, but Xi Yao Wu rolled her eyes: "Am I crazy? Is it necessary?"

Xi Yao Wu wasn't the kind of person who liked to exaggerate or brag, so from this answer, everyone could see that she could probably afford a game, but as she said, there was no need. It was a bit exaggerated to raise a cow yourself just to drink milk. Even for Qian Li, the rumors were just that his family wanted to get involved in the business, not that they were going to buy it for him to play with.

Gu Fei was still not online, and some people began to urge You Ge (Brother You) to call and ask. In fact, who could be more curious than Brother You? Brother You really wanted to know how amazing this unique friend they had met in the game could be. Under everyone's urging, Brother You finally left the game to call Gu Fei, but returned to the game shortly after, bringing very lonely news: "The phone is off, I can't get through."

After all, a phone being off wasn't a big deal, so everyone didn't think too much about it and continued with their own business.

One day, two days, three days... three days passed, and Gu Fei still didn't come online. Brother You, urged by everyone, called again and again, but the phone number remained switched off.

Everyone realized that the situation seemed a little delicate. Added to the fact that Bai Shi Jing Lun hadn't shown his face for so many days, and that the Jian Nan You (Seven from South of the Sword) group, who were close to Bai Shi Jing Lun, didn't know where he had gone, and that his phone also couldn't be reached, everyone began to become suspicious.

The information provided by Rootless Nitrite was worth considering, but not enough to draw a conclusion. Even if the game company had imposed restrictions on these people, the most they could do was ban their accounts. How much power could they have to make these people turn off their phones?

Bai Shi Jing Lun said that he had something to do and couldn't play the game. Could that also be Gu Fei's reason? They were of the same kind, so could they have coincidentally encountered the same kind of thing?

This group of otaku players really didn't have much insight into Gu Fei's circle, and they didn't know what it would mean if these people suddenly disappeared collectively.

"Could it be that they're going to hold a martial arts conference?" Yu Tian Shen Ming guessed randomly.

"Can't you use your phone at a martial arts conference?" Brother You guessed along.

Martial arts conference… phone… putting these two things together felt particularly discordant, even just talking about it.

No one knew the answer. The internet was sometimes like this: when a person was there, you could feel a living person was right beside you, but when he suddenly disappeared one day, there was nowhere to find him.

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed, and Gu Fei and Bai Shi Jing Lun still hadn't shown up. Everyone felt very lost. When Gu Fei was around, they all felt a lot of pressure, but when the source of this pressure was gone, everyone had a feeling of losing their support. "Always being hung up on before being pulled around" – but at least one thing was right: Gu Fei was an important figure in their group. Even if he didn't play the game for long every day, he had unknowingly become their backbone. Everyone recalled their experiences in the game, and every major event would have had a different ending without Gu Fei. This was a reflection of his important position!

"Is Qian Li really not coming back?" Yu Tian Shen Ming clutched his little piece of paper, on which the things he wanted had become unimportant. What he was thinking now was just that this friend could come back.

"Who knows?" Zhan Wu Shang (Invincible) rarely didn't mock Yu Tian Shen Ming this time, and also looked wistfully into the distance with him.

"Hey, who's that person!!!" Yu Tian Shen Ming suddenly pointed his hand in the distance.

"What?" Zhan Wu Shang didn't have eagle eyes and could only squint as he waited for "that person" to get closer.

"It looks like Qian Li!" Yu Tian Shen Ming said.

Zhan Wu Shang paused for a moment, but was clearly not as stunned as Yu Tian Shen Ming. He opened his friend list and saw that Qian Li Yi Zui's name was still blacked out.

The person gradually approached, and Zhan Wu Shang looked up, also feeling a little dazed. Indeed, this person looked somewhat like Qian Li.

The person got closer and closer, seemingly heading towards the tavern behind Yu Tian Shen Ming and Zhan Wu Shang. But the two could now confirm that this person was not Qian Li. Their appearances were indeed somewhat similar, but the difference in their demeanor was too great. Qian Li always walked straight, giving people the feeling that he was a piece of iron, neither bending nor softening. But what about this one? This was basically a puddle of mud, walking in a way that made people feel like they were crawling. Could this be Qian Li?