252 I am a Coward

On the highest floor, the 36th floor, of the Golden Bridge Hotel, the Jin Hai Fellowship Party had officially started.

Most of the participants present at this event were well-known figures from various sectors of Jin Hai City. On the contrary, only a minority consisted of students who were about to graduate from Jin Hai University.

The Jin Hai Fellowship Party held this year was the grandest one yet, and the number of people invited this year was also the highest compared to past occasions. As a result, the soon-to-be graduates of Jin Hai University were provided with more career prospects. This was especially true for players of God’s Domain. Many people from all walks of life had an optimistic view on God’s Domain’s future, because aside from allowing its players to experience battles and adventures, God’s Domain also allowed players to enjoy various lifestyles and forms of entertainment. The array of activities one could experience in God’s Domain was much more abundant than in the real world, and this aspect of the game allowed many corporations in the real world to integrate and develop themselves in the game.

Currently, there was an energetic old man in his sixties, who wore a white tunic, sitting at a corner of the event venue. Meanwhile, surrounding the old man were some of the most influential and powerful figures of Jin Hai City. Zhao Ruoxi’s second uncle, Zhao Jianhua, was seated among these powerful personages as well.

“Are they not here yet?” the old man in the white tunic suddenly asked He Youcai who stood beside him.

“They’ve already arrived, but…” He Youcai’s expression faltered as he hesitated on his words.

The elderly man before him was both the Headmaster and Chairman of Jin Hai University, Xu Wenqing, and he was a very influential man in Jin Hai City. The reason being, under Xu Wenqing’s tutelage, many students had graduated from Jin Hai University with outstanding achievements, and such a contribution made Xu Wenqing a well-known and well-respected character in the various sectors of Jin Hai City. Xu Wenqing’s influence was so great that he could easily send Jin Hai City into an uproar with his words alone.

“Speak,” Xu Wenqing suddenly said in a cold voice.

“They’re outside right now…” He Youcai answered feebly, the sudden pressure making the knees of an inexperienced youth like him go weak.

“Since they’re already outside, why aren’t they coming in?” Xu Wenqing questioned, “Don’t tell me they want this decrepit old man to invite them in?”

“Who do they think they are? They actually want Elder Xu to invite them in? Do they think that, just because they’re good at playing a game, they can disregard us?” Zhao Jianhua angrily said.

“You few, go take a look at the situation and call them up. Tell them that I said so.” Xu Wenqing felt that something was amiss after light contemplation. Aside from the professional players from gaming workshops, quite a few well-known figures from fighting competitions were still absent from the event as well.

“Yes.” Receiving the command, Xu Wenqing’s bodyguards, who stood by his side, immediately took the elevator down the hotel. These bodyguards wore black suits and black sunglasses, and all of them had tall and robust bodies.

“I don’t understand what is going through these people’s minds. What’s the point of staying downstairs instead of coming up? Has something happened downstairs?” Zhao Jianhua felt furious at the absentees, and his view of professional gamers lowered even further now. In his opinion, no matter how good a gamer was, they were, in the end, still gamers. Without corporations supporting and financing them, they would only remain as small fries in society.

“I, too, am curious. Just what sort of mentality do young people have nowadays? Maybe we old folks are no longer able to keep up with the changing times?” said a middle-aged man dressed in black martial artist clothing with a self-deprecating laugh. As if he was a great ocean, the man gave others a calm and gentle feeling, and one would not be able to find a hint of energetic spirit coming off this man.

However, nobody present in the room would dare look down on this middle-aged man. The reason being, this man was Jin Hai City’s well-known martial arts master, Chen Wu. Several years ago, Chen Wu was the reigning champion of Jin Hai City’s fighting competition. He was the uncontested number one back then. However, now that he was older, he no longer participated in any fighting competitions. Instead, he had started his own dojo in Jin Hai City, which was very well-received.

“Master Chen Wu must be joking. Young people nowadays just don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. It is only a virtual reality game. With Master Chen Wu’s skills, if you entered that game called God’s Domain, you can easily become one of the apex experts there,” Zhao Jianhua said.

“The real world and the virtual world are different things entirely. Moreover, times have changed. The future belongs to the younger folk now.” Chen Wu shook his head. As a martial arts practitioner, he was very sensitive towards matters that occurred around him. He could clearly feel the change of an era approaching quickly. It was especially true with the appearance of God’s Domain. Ignoring the fact that corporations all over the world were already investing in God’s Domain one after another, just the number of players the game had already surpassed one’s imagination. Anybody could easily tell how huge a potential God’s Domain had. Moreover, there had to be yet another secret being kept hidden about God’s Domain.

Although Chen Wu did not know what exactly this secret was, he did know that it was a secret capable of attracting the countless corporations around the world to scramble madly over. The virtual reality game known as God’s Domain was definitely not as simple as it appeared to be.

Meanwhile, although the various major corporations in Jin Hai City had similarly invested in God’s Domain, they were simply like stray cats that smelled the scent of fish. They had no idea at all what sort of secrets God’s Domain possessed.

After Chen Wu and Zhao Jianhua chatted for a bit, Xu Wenqing received a call from one of his bodyguards.

“Elder Xu, the people down here say that they have an important matter they need to do right now. They will need some time before they can go up.”

“Important matter? What could be more important than the Fellowship Party this time? Don’t they want the sponsorship and support from other corporations anymore?” Xu Wenqing’s tone turned grim. Although he did not show it on his face, many who knew Xu Wenqing’s temper immediately realized he was angry.

“It seems that they are trying to meet with one of Zero Wing Guild’s upper management. However, there are too many people lining up right now, so it will be some time before they are done.”

“Zero Wing Guild? Is it a Guild from God’s Domain?” Xu Wenqing asked, curious.

Wasn’t it just a gaming guild? Was there a need for so many famous gaming workshops to try to suck up to it?

Could this Zero Wing Guild be a very powerful existence within God’s Domain?

Although Xu Wenqing did not play virtual reality games himself, he was still familiar with the well-known Guilds within the virtual reality world. Even so, Zero Wing was not among the famous Guilds he knew of.

“They say that Zero Wing is an extremely famous Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom. In certain aspects, Zero Wing is even superior to first-rate Guilds. Many corporations are also wishing to meet the upper management of Zero Wing. However, due to Zero Wing being overly mysterious, nobody has ever found a chance to make contact, so none of them want to miss this chance right now.”

“Putting it in such a way, this means that Zero Wing Guild isn’t an existence that can be ignored.” Xu Wenqing grew interested in this Zero Wing Guild, especially since such a Guild had appeared in a city like Jin Hai City. “To think that such an amazing Guild has appeared in our Jin Hai City without this old man knowing. Since it is so, invite this representative of Zero Wing Guild to come up and have a chat. This old man wishes to see just what kind of person this representative is.”

Moreover, it would not be a good thing to have so many participants of the Fellowship Party staying downstairs instead of being present at the actual event. He might as well have the representative of Zero Wing come up. That way, the guests from other gaming workshops could also participate in the Fellowship Party.

Everyone was shocked when they heard Xu Wenqing actually inviting an unknown guild representative to the Fellowship Party.

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Meanwhile, outside the Golden Bridge Hotel, Xu Wenqing’s bodyguards had already met up with Shi Feng. They then relayed their employer’s intentions to Shi Feng, inviting him upstairs.

However, to these bodyguards’ surprise, Shi Feng immediately rejected the invitation.

“Mister Shi Feng, Elder Xu is wholeheartedly inviting you to join him upstairs. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed,” the leader of the bodyguards patiently persuaded Shi Feng.

“I understand. However, I am still not done with the recruitment here. Also, even if I do agree, you’ll have to ask the people lining up here if they’ll agree to let me go.” Shi Feng smiled as he pointed at the long line in front of him consisting of over a thousand people. He then continued, “Moreover, even if I am willing to go with you, someone inside will also chase me out again. I am a coward. That person has threatened me and said that I am not allowed to set even a foot in the hotel. I still have many people I need to interview, so please stop making things difficult for me.”

Xu Wenqing’s bodyguards were immediately rendered speechless. Wasn’t this just blatant disregard of them? However, they had no choice but to report this matter back to Xu Wenqing.

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“What? Someone is threatening him from entering?” Xu Wenqing couldn’t help but laugh when he heard these words. He then said, “Then, tell him that, as long as this old man is here, I guarantee that nothing will happen to him in this Fellowship Party, and nobody will dare chase him out.”

“However, he still says that he doesn’t dare enter. He doesn’t wish to be chased out for a second time,” the bodyguard said helplessly.

“Chased out for a second time? Does that mean he was originally a guest of this Fellowship Party?”

“Yes.”

Xu Wenqing was stunned. However, anger immediately shot to his head when he finally reacted. Someone had actually dared to chase out a guest that he invited! Wasn’t this just giving him a slap across his old face?

“Who? Who dares chase away a guest I invited?” At this moment, Xu Wenqing’s voice turned extremely chilling. Although he was not a martial artist himself, the pressure he emitted caused many of those present to become fearful.

The bodyguard trembled as he slowly said, “He Youcai.”