Chapter 369: Market Encounter

Chapter 369: Market Encounter

The market was still as bustling as ever, and people bustled about under the giant dome. Even though there were many people, it was not uncomfortably crowded. This was the advantage of splitting up the population. Most players would not lock in a default market server, so whenever they entered the market, they would be randomly assigned to a market server. Feng Bujue did not hurry to the information tower, but he searched for the replenishment of ammo, medicine, batteries, and so on at the outer ring of system shops.

“Hey, hey...look over there. That uniform...it’s someone from Regulation, right?” a rando from a few meters away commented while Brother Jue was shopping around.

“Wow, you’re right,” another rando added. “Wait! Isn’t that Sky Swallowing Phantom Dawn? And the four next to him...they are the ‘Zhui Sheng Meng Si’ combo, aren’t they?”

The top gaming studio would normally release all the pictures of their celebrity players on their website. One reason was for promotional purposes and the other was to prevent others from faking their identity in real life. After all, there were plenty of conmen in this world, and professional players would use their online ID to interact with the world. It would be a huge blow to the player’s reputation if someone used their identity to scam others. “Wow. Phantom Dawn looks so much younger in person. He’s only a high-schooler, isn’t he?” one rando commented.

The other rando concurred and said, “Yes, it’s hard to imagine how someone so young can dominate the top spot on the combat stat ranking for so long. Since he’s the ace of Regulation, I don’t think it’s from cheating or anything like that.”

The rando sighed and said, “Sigh... that’s the world of the monsters that we won’t be able to understand.”

The other rando said, “But compared to him, there was another player that suddenly jumped up to the second place, and that is the most discussed topic right now. Everyone is guessing that the player must be a hidden ace from one of the gaming studios.”

“Hmm. I think so too. In the upcoming Tournament for the Best, he will be the black horse.” the rando replied. As Feng Bujue went about shopping, even though his face didn’t reveal any emotion, his heart was bursting with pride as he listened in on their conversation.

“Zui Seng Meng Si, is it?” After buying the supplies needed, he headed toward the information tower in the center. “Speaking of which... that Zen Dream should know me. What if he sees me and comes over to talk to me? It feels like I have nothing to say to him. It’ll be so awkward. Should I switch to another server? But just to avoid him, wouldn’t that make me a bit anti-social, even though I can’t admit that I have that tendency?”

On the other side, the five from Regulations didn’t pay attention to the players around them. The five gathered together to buy something at the Auction House. After a few days of preparations, the Regulation management had chosen the five to be at the forefront for Regulations during the Tournament. The upper management gave them some money to improve their equipment at the Auction House. For a top gaming studio like Regulation, the prize was secondary in this kind of competition. What they wanted was the placement. Game Coins were nothing, but the actual money that could be gained outside of the game, such as the advertisement fee, the sponsorship, and other paraphernalia was where the real deal was.

For example, the company released accessories such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a headset. The reason why they were so popular was due to the endorsement of their star players, wasn’t it?

“Oh, it’s you guys.” Surprisingly, all four from the Regulations group knew them.

“Huh? Who are these people?” Phantom Dawn was clueless. He really hadn’t heard of Hyotei before.

Understanding Death told him, “You should spend some time on the forum. ‘Hyotei’ is currently the fastest-rising guild on Thriller Paradise.”

“Oh? They’re that good?” Phantom Dawn asked.

“Yes, they are,” Sashimi answered. “The ones standing before you now are the strongest army from Hyotei—Ming Zi, Qu Ming, Zhen Nan, and...wait.”

The veins popped on Atobe-sama’s forehead. “Who is ‘wait’? There are only four standing here. How can you remember the ridiculous names of the other three but forget the last one, which is the most normal-sounding? You cannot remember and refer to me as Wait.”

“Oh! I remember it now. The trio is called Qu Ming Nan. Right!” Phantom Dawn said to injure Atobe further. “Oh, yes. I’ve heard of them. So they are from Hyotei.”

At this point, Feng Bujue walked past them and heard everything. Brother Jue naturally hoped to slip away. He did not want to get involved with this bunch of idiots. He sped up and mumbled to himself in his head. You can’t see me. You can’t see me. You can’t see me.

But as he sped up, he attracted attention. He thought that no one was paying attention to him. It was Zen Dream who spotted him. Brother Zen was tossing back the wine when he caught sight of a familiar-looking Joker amid the crowd, and the wine splattered out from his lips. He coughed and said, “Feng... Feng Bujue! Hey, Brother Feng. It’s me!”

The name Feng Bujue appeared to have magical properties, and it caught the attention of all the nine people from Hyotei and Regulations.

“You got the wrong person,” Brother Jue said. He then hid his face and turned to walk away.

“Don’t be shy, Brother Feng. I was trying to find you to discuss what happened in our scenario together,” Zen Dream said. He was still hung up on the encounter with the GM and Anomaly Red Iron.

“Feng Bujue, is it?” Understanding Death said in a low voice as he repeated the ID. “He’s one of the six at Gotham City. Now that I think about it... After that Killing Game, Shiva was squeezed down to the third place.” He stared curiously at Brother Jue. “Underworld Frontline... I have never heard of that guild before, and it’s not in any of the guild rankings. Have I overthought this?”