Chapter 150: Xinyu is a Novice

After reading this post, Murong Shanshan refreshed the forum, and an eye-catching title immediately jumped into her view: Murong Shanshan makes a stunning appearance at the exhibition, leaving the entire venue in an instant uproar!

The title of the post was in bold red letters, and having been up for merely three minutes, it already had dozens of replies!

"No way, how could it be this fast..."

Opening the post, Murong Shanshan was utterly dumbfounded. The computer screen vividly displayed the scene of the two of us at the gaming exhibition venue that afternoon. At that time, we hadn't noticed anyone taking pictures at all, and were thoroughly absorbed in appreciating that gaming showgirl wearing shoulder straps.

There were a dozen or so photos in total, documenting everything from the moment we entered the venue until Murong Shanshan dragged me away, feeling almost like a live broadcast from the scene.

I couldn't help rubbing my nose and said with a somewhat fortunate smile, "I never expected that by basking in your glow, I'd actually end up on a trending potential post like this!"

Murong Shanshan said with annoyance, "Don't speak too soon, take a look at the final remark in this post yourself!"

I hurriedly took a look, and a few seconds later, the smile vanished from my face――

Murong Shanshan read aloud the contents of the post: "The man accompanying Murong Shanshan is suspected to be Qingcai Baiyutang, the top-ranked player on the Silver Moon City leaderboard. However, the editor always felt he looked rather familiar. Later, with a colleague's reminder, I realized that this person is remarkably similar to tot_lin, the star player of the AR3 team TOT from a year ago. I suppose anyone who is an AR3 player should still remember him!"

I was somewhat flustered. Murong Shanshan smiled faintly and continued reading: "Players in Silver Moon City should have all heard that a month ago, the TOT team stopped participating in the league, and their leader Ye Qiu logged into *Yue Heng* under the ID 'Little Ant on a Leaf', while other team members also adopted names starting with TOT. Even many TOT fans eagerly adopted this name, hoping to join the Mourning Legion. Yet tot_lin chose the ID 'Qingcai Baiyutang'. What kind of relationship does he actually have with the several female players of the Qingcai family? Has tot_lin and the TOT legion already broken apart as rumors suggest?"

"Damn it, who is this kid? How does he know my background so clearly?"

"Just look at his ID..." Murong Shanshan pointed her finger at the screen. Beneath her fair and tender finger, the poster's username was starkly visible: Forever TOT!

So it turned out to be a loyal TOT fan...

Murong Shanshan scrolled down the post. The first few replies were nothing more than praising how gorgeous the beauty Murong was, and how deeply infatuated the posters were, wishing to develop some kind of relationship beyond friendship with her. It wasn't until around the dozenth floor that a slightly normal person finally appeared.

Floor 12: "Lin Fan, even if you quit TOT, you will always be the hero in my heart!"

Floor 13: "Support Lin Fan! Support Murong Shanshan! Support Sword and Rose!!"

Floor 14: "I'd like to ask, is Lin Fan going to establish a guild? Strongly requesting to join!"

Floor 15: "I so hope lin can return to TOT. Those days were full of happiness because of you guys~!"

Floor 16: "The floor above is an idiot!"

Floor 17: "Let's keep it quiet and everyone guess Murong Shanshan's vital statistics?"

...

The language further down became somewhat unprintable. Even an MM as formidable as Murong Shanshan couldn't help blushing, her cheeks flushing red.

"Close it. It seems there's nothing of value left," I muttered.

Murong Shanshan very cooperatively closed the webpage, then opened Baidu, typed in the two characters "Lin Fan", and hit enter. A massive array of materials regarding me instantly appeared on the screen, with the very first one being a brief post about my departure from TOT, yet it had climbed to the top spot purely on the strength of its high view count.

Murong Shanshan opened several webpages in succession, letting out continuous sighs of amazement as she read: "Gosh, you actually have such a glorious history..."

I was utterly speechless. After a long while, I said, "Shanshan, I'm heading back. I'll just be practicing my profession skills on Silver Moon Mountain these next few days. Don't bother me unless something important comes up."

"What's the matter? Are you angry?" Murong Shanshan blinked her pretty, large eyes, her gaze somewhat hazy.

I shook my head: "How could that be? It's just that I find it quite annoying to have these old scandals dug up again. It's better to log into the game, enjoy some peace and quiet gathering herbs, and spend some time alone..."

Murong Shanshan parted her lips, and after a long moment, she said, "Why don't you move in with me? I'm quite bored living alone, and there's no one to talk to even during meals. I'm about to go crazy."

I couldn't help laughing and said, "Our teachers once taught us not to speak while eating and not to converse while sleeping. It's better not to talk during meals."

"Fine, fine. I know you can't bear to leave your little priest and elven archer, right?"

Looking at Murong Shanshan's snow-white, delicate face, I couldn't resist reaching out to gently stroke it, smiling as I said, "Shanshan, I'll come over to see you often from now on. Don't throw little tantrums. Sister Lin and Xinyu took me in during my most difficult times; I can't just leave whenever I please. Besides, I can get ready-made meals over there every day. Don't tell me you can cook for me every single day..."

Murong Shanshan sighed softly, feeling quite speechless, and had no choice but to say with lingering reluctance, "Alright then, remember to contact me once you're in the game~"

Returning to my lodging, it was just around 3:00 PM, leaving three hours until dinner time—more than enough to practice some gathering.

Logging in, I appeared at the exact spot where I had previously rescued the Potion Master, and prepared to check the items and equipment in my inventory.

"Whoosh~!"

A massive torrent of crimson fire rain descended from the skies, instantly scorching me black and blue. While standing in the flames, my HP bar plummeted rapidly, accompanied by the screams of several females...

Looking up, I saw Lu Xuehan, Xinyu, and a crowd of others battling monsters here. It was quite a lively scene today; all the MMs from the studio had come over. Guozi, the Level 37 little female knight, was shouldering the task of pulling monster aggro, while Xinyu, that powerful archer, acted as the primary DPS alongside Lu Xuehan. Xu Lin and the other MMs were merely touching the cute little sprite-grass in a symbolic manner to pass the time.

Lu Xuehan trotted all the way over and asked with a smile, "How come you only just got here? If it weren't for you earlier, other players might not necessarily have escaped my attack range alive."

Xu Lin conveniently pulled me into the party. Looking at the several MMs in the distance, I asked, "Why did you bring these heavy-hitters along today? Aren't you afraid of dragging down your leveling speed?"

Xu Lin replied helplessly, "I didn't want to either, but the players who were teamed up with them today unexpectedly dispersed, and I couldn't find anyone trustworthy on such short notice, so I had no choice but to bring them along."

"How could the party members disperse? Weren't they always a tightly-knit group?"

I was somewhat puzzled. Based on what they had mentioned during meals previously, the situation was quite clear: the four MMs—Guozi, Joly, Liu Yun, and Li Qing—had been grinding levels in a fixed party with over a dozen male players. Among those male players, a few seemed to harbor romantic interests in the MMs, but they had always remained quite shy and hadn't crossed any lines. This dynamic had persisted for nearly half a month, yet why had they split up today of all days?

Xu Lin instructed Lu Xuehan to burn down the monsters and explained herself: "It shouldn't have come to a split, but looking at how things turned out today, staying together for grinding was simply impossible. It happened because the person who was supposed to join the group today actually knew one of the original players in the group..."

I was momentarily baffled, so I asked, "So what? Knowing each other just means knowing each other, isn't that even easier to get along with?"

Xu Lin couldn't help smiling faintly and said, "It's not what you think. The player wanting to join was an MM. As soon as she entered the party, she realized she knew one of the male warriors, so she demanded that Guozi kick that warrior out of the party. When Guozi asked for a reason, that male warrior spilled the beans, revealing that he had video-chatted with this MM before and had simply remarked that she wasn't pretty..."

I was somewhat dumbfounded. Xu Lin chuckled and continued, "Then the two of them started hurling verbal attacks at each other within the party chat. The MM threatened to summon her husband's brothers to wipe out this party. When everyone heard that, they were all dumbstruck, so they hurriedly requested to leave the party one after another. And their excuses were brilliantly righteous, such as: 'The apartment complex is cutting off power', 'My computer is smoking and needs repairs', or 'My wife is coming back, I gotta go beat up some MM...' And there was an even more hardcore one who declared, 'The army is assembling!' So, with no other choice, Guozi had no option but to disband the party, and everyone agreed to team up for leveling again tomorrow."

After Xu Lin finished speaking, she let out a slight sigh. I couldn't help sweating profusely and said, "You guys carry on grinding. I'll practice my profession skills here and pick up some free EXP along the way~"

Xu Lin smiled without commenting. Xinyu rushed over after letting out several Multishot volleys, and playfully asked me, "Why did you come back so late today? I thought you wouldn't be back until evening~"

"What, do you take me for the kind of person who can be captivated by mere beauty?"

Xinyu giggled, and suddenly leaned forward, pressing her entire body tightly against mine. Two mounds of snow-white softness felt as though they were about to leap out, and her deep cleavage left my mouth feeling dry. Unable to resist, I reached out to embrace Xinyu's plump waist, drooling as I said, "Xinyu, how about a kiss?"

"But someone just claimed to be a man of strict moral integrity." Xinyu stared into my eyes with a face full of smiles.

Xinyu was placed right in front of me like a piece of delectable cake. Although I knew full well that if I made a move, the success rate would be terrifyingly high, I still couldn't bring myself to make a firm decision. Sometimes, it felt rather nice just staying like this; whether it was Lu Xuehan, Xinyu, or Murong Shanshan, I didn't need to feel guilty toward any of them, nor did I need to prematurely decide which one to take as a wife~

With lingering reluctance, I glanced once more at Xinyu's upright and full breasts, swallowed my saliva, and said, "Knowing full well that I'm a man of honor, stop tempting me! I need to go gather herbs."

Xinyu asked in astonishment, "Gathering herbs? Since when did you learn herbalism?"

I was equally surprised and asked her, "Haven't you ever heard of secondary professions?"

Xinyu shook her head blankly.

A wave of dizziness washed over me: "You little noob!"