T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 193, Section 192: Still a Win-Win Situation

"Su Mian?"

"Su Mian!"

Orange Tea shuddered, looked up, and saw the teacher with a puzzled expression.

Holding the materials given to her by the teacher, Orange Tea walked out of the office, touched the temperature of her forehead with her hand, and shook her head.

For some reason, she seemed a little confused today.

I was spacing out for a little while while getting lunch, and only snapped out of it when a classmate reminded me.

Then, just now, her thoughts seemed to inexplicably break off?
Since playing Proof of the Stars, my sleep schedule has been very good, and I don't seem to have a fever...

"strangeness."

When the fries arrived home, Jiang Heyi had just opened the lid and taken out a plate of steamed sea bass. He poured hot oil over it, and the sizzling sound filled the room along with the aroma.

"Yes, you're back just in time. Dinner can start now."

It's great to have another person in the family.

Steamed sea bass, stir-fried beef with broccoli, and a side of scrambled eggs with tomatoes made up the dinner menu.

There's absolutely no need to worry about leftovers for two people; fries will solve everything.

"Your cooking is so delicious, just how good is Cuttlefish?"

She eats fries with gusto; she's a carb queen, capable of mixing mashed potatoes with rice and serving dumplings as a side dish.

"I feel like I could open a shop and make a living," Jiang Heyi said. "Anyway, they're much better than me... I'll try my best to catch up."

"It's okay if I don't work hard, things are fine as they are now."

French Fries poured the sauce from the scrambled eggs with tomatoes into a bowl, mixed it with rice, and started the "clean plate" campaign.

She suddenly paused.

Her long-standing habit of living alone made her realize that she was now eating with someone else.

Jiang Heyi didn't seem to find anything wrong with it; on the contrary, he was very happy that she had finished eating.

"There's still a long time ahead, so we can't stay the same all the time. It's also very interesting to improve gradually."

There's still plenty of time... French Fries suddenly started having all sorts of thoughts.

It's quite long, including the double game time within the game and daily activities outside of it.

While I was daydreaming in class today, I suddenly thought, under the influence of the Proof of the Stars, could it be considered that players participating in the game have gained an extended lifespan in a different way?

"By the way, have you felt a little sleepy today?" Jiang Heyi suddenly asked. "You mean, suddenly feeling confused."

The fries were taken aback: "You guys have that too?"

She was busy with classes today and didn't check her phone much, so she didn't know that the entire guild was experiencing a problem with people losing focus.

It wasn't serious, but because Orange Tea casually mentioned it in the group chat, everyone noticed the problem.

French Fries' initial reaction was similar to Orange Tea's; they thought it was due to lack of sleep and decided to increase their original 8-hour sleep time by half an hour, or perhaps stay in bed a little longer in the morning.

"Anyway, we have potatoes."

Thinking about this, she couldn't help but laugh.

Jiang Heyi continued, "I subtly inquired with people from Khorne and Orange Sky, and they both reported that everything was normal in reality recently, but I still felt something was off, so I contacted Chen Shaoyu."

"How did he say?"

"He believes it may be due to our intense work among the stars last night, simultaneously working on two different outcomes without interruption, which led to fatigue accumulation."

French Fries frowned: "No further explanation?"

"No."

……

……

"Everyone at the boundary between virtual and real reported dizziness. It wasn't serious, but the fact that everyone was experiencing the same thing drew their attention."

"In terms of explanation, I used the term 'accumulated fatigue,' but I believe they may have some questions."

Ever since the candlelight performed a “miracle” in front of him, Chen Shaoyu’s relationship with her has become more casual.

Therefore, Chen Shaoyu, who was called over at dinner time, brought his lunchbox and was now eating heartily in front of the candlelight.

Chen Shaoyu was startled when the candlelight stared directly at him.

"do you want to eat?"

In terms of relaxation, Chen Shaoyu at this moment should be in a class of his own on the entire planet.

The candle replied, "Eating is not necessary for me. Food is precious and should not be wasted on me."

A strange feeling welled up inside Chen Shaoyu.

If there's anything that can resonate with the hearts of people living in this country, perhaps food is one of them.

This statement made him even more convinced that, just as Candlelight herself had said, she had no ill intentions towards the people here, and her only purpose was for the game to run smoothly.

"May I ask what exactly happened at the boundary between the virtual and the real?"

The candlelight replied, "Redundant information has not been processed properly and has accumulated."

"Uh……"

Seeing that Chen Shaoyu didn't understand, she continued to explain: "They have experienced too much in the game, and it takes them more time to sort out their thoughts after waking up than before."

“Under normal circumstances, players would not encounter this threshold… This is also related to me.”

"Did you do this on purpose?" Chen Shaoyu asked.

"I am currently handling the second batch of game lottery, player information screening, and game information registration. The information threshold of the Stars has been lowered, and they happened to complete major plot advancements during this period, resulting in subtle side effects."

She added, "This level is harmless; your brains are far more powerful than you realize."

Chen Shaoyu believes this, and that the terrifying upright ape became the dominant species on this planet because of it.

The candlelight reveals a great deal of information.

Although I knew that she was the one who screened and processed the entire game, hearing it from her mouth gave me a completely different feeling.

“Nothing will happen tonight,” Candlelight said again. “The second batch of player information has been processed, and this may be the last batch.”

"Ugh?"

The candlelight doesn't shy away from the topic: "To put it in a way that humans can understand... I also have a threshold limit."

According to data obtained by Chen Shaoyu through access permissions, the number of players of the game "Proof of the Stars" is currently close to 3500 million worldwide.

If the number of qualified candidates is the same in the second batch, it will fluctuate around 7000 million.

Taking time zone differences into account, no game company's servers in the world could handle 1500 million people online at the same time.

"Such incidents that blur the line between the virtual and real worlds should be dealt with swiftly when they occur on the forum." After giving the instructions, Candlelight issued the order to leave.

Although she didn't eat it, the duck leg rice was so fragrant that the aroma filled the room.

After Chen Shaoyu left, Zhu Huo turned on the air purifier, took out perfume and sprayed it to dispel the smell.

She removed the head once more, repeating the search process.

Amidst the shimmering light, there seemed to be something she desperately longed to find.

The candlelight lied.

The number of people online at the same time is not her upper limit.

She had some minor health issues.

……

……

Because they have long been at the forefront of the game, they possess far more skills and resources than ordinary players. Therefore, after advancing to the World Championship, the community's function gradually became a news station for obtaining first-hand information, blurring the lines between the virtual and real worlds.

Jiang Heyi is currently collecting information.

Regarding mint, there have been 188 new discussion posts in the past month. 159 of these posts are about defeating or killing mint.

Since the server opened, very few players have triggered the Mint storyline.

Some players' first impression of her was that she was greedy for money and had a slightly nasty personality.

Because she boasted about being a genius while selling medicine, most players considered her a fraud. Given the amazing gameplay of Stellaris, players who didn't want to be taken advantage of in the cyber world kept their distance.

However, with such a large player base, it's inevitable that some curious players will want to know what kind of scams they might be getting.

The potions that Peppermint initially sold were of a dual nature, as those who know, know.

The powerful combination can be used to blast away the first-level BOSS of the underground temple.

It's a dud, a smoking, unusable shell.

Most of the mints that players encounter are the latter.

If the potion you receive is of extremely poor quality, you will definitely want an explanation, at which point Mint will immediately run away.

Players, the Fourth Calamity will certainly not tolerate an NPC selling fake medicine.

Among the players who killed Mint, some dropped strange items.

【Mint-flavored Lucky Pendant】

During the qualifiers, Mint gave Orange Tea an accessory to enhance her luck.

The item description didn't mention whether it could increase the attributes of the hidden panel in the game, but players were thrilled.

In the game, items with the "Good Luck" affix often have remarkable effects.

As players explored the boundaries between reality and fiction in their storylines and dungeons, a wave of enthusiasm arose among players in both domestic and international communities for finding and killing Mint.

Strangely, some people did get pendants from killing the monster, while others got nothing but a bunch of useless potions from the mint's corpse.

"French fries, come take a look at this?"

French Fries, having just finished his daily workout, wiped the sweat from his brow and walked into the room.

The moment she leaned down, Jiang Heyi quickly looked away and turned her head, which was halfway turned to the computer screen.

"The pendant... could that pendant also be the beginning of some storyline?"

French Fries immediately understood what Jiang Heyi meant.

Jiang Heyi blushed and nodded.

Previously, in order to reassure Mint, they had repeatedly suppressed her desire to share.

Thinking about it carefully, this must be the time to assign tasks to them.

It's reasonable that Mint, a mere potion apprentice, could climb to the capital of Anna for further studies based on her talent.

But where did she get those powerful scrolls?

A mental magic capable of effectively killing elite units of the Clear Ones' underground temple—this level of power is comparable to that of Queen Mirrorheart across the entire Ana Continent.

"That nun who saved her... could she be a big shot?" Fries guessed.

“But…” Jiang Heyi scratched his head, “According to the plot, she must have encountered something that caused her to hide her identity and live in a small church in a city-state on the edge of Anna. What could a ninth-level powerhouse encounter to become so disheartened?”

My curiosity was piqued.

Since there are still two days before the siren forges Zhong Zemo's shield, we might as well take a trip to investigate.

Returning to the game, the boundary between reality and virtuality quickly led back to the guild.

They didn't want a lose-lose ending as an extension of the storyline; that route was too awful.

We need to use the key quickly to change the outcome.

"Potatoes~~~~~~"

Kesha pounced, pinning Jiang Heyi beneath her, her plump siren tail wrapping around his waist.

Ksha tied Potato up tightly, and the siren gently rubbed against him like a big cat.

She had drool dripping from the corner of her mouth, her face full of happiness, and she kept muttering "potato, potato".

The opening scene was so exciting that both the bed and the prison guard exclaimed, "Yes, this is exactly what we wanted to see!"
"Everything I have belongs to you, it's wonderful... This is the best decision I've ever made in my life."

"Potato...let me kiss it."

"Aww, aww, aww~~~~" The person in the quilt who was cheering was covered up by Zhong Zemo's hand, while his other hand held the jailer.

Although the jailer hasn't shown any abnormality yet, these two clowns shouldn't have made a sound while watching the show.

In this scene, appreciate it first, then appreciate it again!

Whether you're watching the kesha and potatoes or observing the reactions of the fries, it's a spectacular sight.

"Wait, wait?" Jiang Heyi noticed something was wrong as soon as he logged on.

Why is Kshatriya so enthusiastic...?

Didn't they mess everything up?

Although they have escaped the capital and survived, the Fallen Star Siren will soon be at war with the Anna Empire.

He didn't think Kesha was a love-struck fool who disregarded his people.

"Go to war? With whom?"

Kesha blinked her big, watery eyes, stunned by Jiang Heyi's serious tone, her gaze filled with confusion.

"Falling Star, and Anna...why did they go to war?"

"Didn't we kill Anna's nobles?"

"Yes, those eight people from Giza deserved to die."

"Besides these, what other great noble families are there?"

Kexia suddenly realized what was going on. She smiled slightly and unexpectedly hugged Jiang Heyi's head, pressing her pink lips together.

Jiang Heyi's face turned as red as blood. He tried to struggle, but...

It's so soft... I'll just enjoy it for one more second.

A few seconds later, Ksha, her face flushed, slowly raised her head, her eyes brimming with love.

"Potato, if you want to tease me, then I'll have to strike first." Ksha licked his lips. "Kill only Giza, let the others go, and it'll be a win-win situation for both us and Anna. Wasn't this part of the plan we'd already made?"

"You've already achieved your goal, but you pretend to be half asleep to scare people. Potato, you're so mean!"

The fries, which had already been dipped in ketchup, relaxed.

Those on the boundary between reality and illusion looked at each other in bewilderment.

"You mean...we and Anna will both benefit?"

"Potato, if you want me to kiss you, you don't need to pretend you don't know, you can do it anytime."

Ksha's words indirectly answered everyone's questions.

Mint, who was busy in the guild, also gave an affirmative answer.

"What's wrong with you two? Have you been working yourself to death outside?" Mint's mother scolded, hands on her hips. "Don't come here to tease me if you have nothing to do!"

Unbelievable, why is this happening?

According to the key's description, they should have been able to choose their own ending, but before they could even make a choice, a win-win situation was already determined?
"Where's the key?"

Jiang Heyi quickly checked his backpack and found that the key had disappeared. In its place was a gift bag that had been prepared in advance.

"Misleading Quest Item Description Gift Pack?"

The reward is two red self-selected materials.

In other words, if a win-win ending is achieved, the ending is locked; if a lose-lose ending is achieved, they can still enjoy the rewards and retain the right to activate world events.

The people at the boundary between the virtual and the real were somewhat confused. The things that had happened to them recently seemed a bit... strange?
But something feels increasingly strange.

(End of this chapter)