Chapter 188 Christmas Event

Ye Du Han Tan sent the strategy to Jiang You and the others, and everyone began to study it together. Their entanglement with Lord Grim was beyond words. Especially after such a detour, they discovered that the person they needed to rely on to break the record was still Lord Grim. Had they known this, why bother with so many superficial tricks in the middle?

What made them feel slightly better at this time was Lord Grim's true identity.

Ye Qiu.

This identity, which would not have been pleasing to Tyrannical Ambition, brought some comfort to Jiang You and the others. At least, they were facing such a strong opponent, and even if they lost, it wouldn't be too shameful.

They were all consoling themselves in this way. However, such an excuse was embarrassing to voice. At this moment, they all tacitly avoided mentioning Ye Qiu and Lord Grim, focusing solely on the strategy, discussing it without saying any extra words.

As experts, they quickly recognized the value of the strategy and no longer doubted its authenticity. They also quickly understood that the red-marked content was the essence of the strategy. However, the main content of the strategy was limited to five classes, but the essence could be applied to other classes if they only learned the concept. Jiang You and the others were seriously discussing how to implement the strategy's tactics with their five-class combination.

Ye Xiu, on the other hand, had already logged off after sending the strategy to Ye Du Han Tan, leaving the computer to the early-shift cashier.

This computer was the most hardworking member of Happy Internet Cafe, working 24 hours a day. Unless the internet cafe was closed, it never had a chance to rest.

Ye Xiu went out alone for breakfast and returned to find Chen Guo standing outside the internet cafe, directing several internet cafe employees.

"Oh, are we celebrating Christmas?" Ye Xiu asked after seeing Chen Guo directing people to set up a small pine tree at the entrance of the internet cafe, hanging colorful lights and small gift boxes.

December 24th was Christmas Eve, also known as平安夜 (Ping'an Ye, Peaceful Night).

"Oh, you even know the date? You haven't lost track of time?" Chen Guo said in surprise. In her opinion, living a life where day and night were reversed, repeating the same events every day, like Ye Xiu, made it easy to forget the date.

"I just happened to notice," Ye Xiu said as he walked around the small Christmas tree.

"Not bad!" Ye Xiu praised.

"Of course."

"Are there any real items in these?" Ye Xiu knocked on some of the small gift boxes hanging on the tree.

"Of course."

"What are they?"

"Lottery prizes. Discount cards for internet access, vouchers, and stuff," Chen Guo said.

"Oh, oh," Ye Xiu understood. Chen Guo was using the holiday to boost business, just like many other shop owners.

"Hey, boss! Put some effort into your activities! You should buy a Christmas tree. What's wrong with this tree? Did you make it yourself with wire?" Ye Xiu circled the Christmas tree a few times. Although many decorations had been hung on it, he immediately saw that there was something wrong with the tree itself. This Christmas tree wasn't real; it was handmade.

"Is the handmade work not good?" Chen Guo asked, walking over.

"It's not that it's bad, but it's not as beautiful as a real tree, and it looks a bit old. Did you make it last year?" Ye Xiu asked.

Chen Guo shook her head. "My dad made it a long time ago. It's been ten years."

Ye Xiu was taken aback.

He had worked at the internet cafe for almost a month. Although Chen Guo hadn't told him personally, he had heard some stories about the owner from other colleagues. He had heard about how Chen Guo had given up college and supported the internet cafe alone after her father passed away.

This roughly handmade Christmas tree was not just a means for Chen Guo to attract business; it contained her memories of her family. This Christmas tree must hold many stories.

"Your dad's craftsmanship is good. This tree is beautiful," Ye Xiu said.

"Thank you," Chen Guo smiled, not bothering to correct Ye Xiu's awkward change of subject.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Ye Xiu asked.

"No, you go rest!" Chen Guo said.

"Oh..." Ye Xiu went back to his room to rest, while Chen Guo stood by the Christmas tree, lost in thought.

Ten years... it had already been ten years.

This Christmas tree had been with her for ten Christmases.

The first time, her dad was still here. He had made this tree that year as a Christmas gift for her. But in the nine Christmases after that, only she and the tree remained.

This tree looked a bit old... even though she had always carefully cherished it.

"Boss, can I hang this here?"

Chen Guo was lost in thought when she was suddenly awakened by a voice. An internet cafe employee was asking if a hanging ornament was in a suitable place.

"Hang it a little higher!" Chen Guo quickly returned from her memories and busily directed.

Ye Xiu went back to his room to rest, but he didn't sleep for long. He woke up before noon and came downstairs, seeing that the entire internet cafe had been decorated for Christmas.

The handmade Christmas tree was already covered with far more gifts and decorations than he had seen in the morning, almost bending it over.

In addition to this, many colored lights and Christmas posters were everywhere. The most eye-catching, of course, was the Happy Internet Cafe's Christmas lottery event promotion. This Christmas tree carried Chen Guo's memories of her family, but wasn't this kind of event the same? Happy Internet Cafe had many customs that were full of memories for Chen Guo, and she had carefully preserved each one, both objects and events.

"Not bad, not bad, very festive," Ye Xiu said to Chen Guo after taking a tour downstairs.

"Mm," Chen Guo replied without looking up.

"The Christmas event is about to start. Aren't you going to get online?" Chen Guo said. She and Tang Rou were each at a computer, busy with Glory. The event she was talking about was no longer her internet cafe but the game itself.

Internet cafes would take advantage of holidays like this to run promotions, and online games never missed out either. Throughout the year, various holidays would be updated with activities to create online peaks.

The day when Glory opened new servers each year was the same. The first holiday within a month of the new server opening was Christmas. These activities were always good opportunities to level up and find treasures. For old servers, leveling up no longer had much meaning, but for new server players, leveling up was more important than finding treasures. They didn't want to waste a single second of the event time.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Ye Xiu said with a smile. Of course, he wouldn't miss the event. That's why he got up earlier today than usual. The event was scheduled to start at 12 noon, and it was only a few minutes away.

"Just sit here. There are no empty machines," Chen Guo indicated the computer next to them.

"Hmm?" Ye Xiu was startled. He looked around again and noticed that the internet cafe was unusually busy today, with almost every computer running Glory. It seemed that the benefits that an online game event brought to an internet cafe were more effective than the internet cafe's own events.

And this machine that Chen Guo had given him was undoubtedly deliberately left for him.

With no other choice, Ye Xiu sat down, swiped his card, and entered the game.

"Wow, there are so many people..." Ye Xiu exclaimed as soon as he logged in.

"Yeah..." Tang Rou, who was in the same server as Ye Xiu, said.

Compared to the old servers, the tenth server had more players, but old server players could roam the entire map, while tenth server players could only gather in the maps below the烈焰森林 (Lieyan Senlin, Blazing Forest). As a result, the per capita area was pitifully small, making it seem even more crowded. Although technology was now advanced and there was no network delay even with a large number of people, the sheer number of people was enough to create obstacles for the event because this year's event was competitive.

Hunting down Christmas Thieves.

That was the content of this year's Christmas event. The plot was simple: thieves had stolen the gifts that Santa Claus had prepared for the players, so players needed to catch the thieves and retrieve the gifts. Then, Santa Claus would reward the players with Christmas gift packs based on the gifts they retrieved. Each Christmas gift pack could give a fixed experience reward and a random unknown reward when opened.

This task could be repeated continuously, and the event also launched a榜单 (bangdan, ranking list): the Christmas Hunter List.

Obviously, it was a ranking list that converted the number of Christmas Thieves captured into points. At the end of the event, everyone could claim the final Christmas gift from Santa Claus based on their ranking on this list. Undoubtedly, players with higher rankings would receive more generous gifts.

That was the general process of the event, but there were still many details.

For example, the gifts that were robbed back after defeating the Christmas Thieves might be equipment, medicine, or something else. Players could choose not to return these items to Santa Claus and use them themselves. Not returning the gifts would not give them points, but players could become stronger because of these items, making them more efficient in the following tasks. All the retrieved gift items would be taken back by the system after the event, but during the event, they could become a weapon to help players compete.

In addition, because players had different levels, the Christmas Hunter List was not a unified list, but several independent lists based on level ranges.

The interval was every five levels. Players within the same interval would compete on the same list, and the rewards they received would also be based on their level. As for those who changed intervals during the event by leveling up, they would automatically enter the new interval's list with their scores.