T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 225, Section 224: The Passage of Ghost Soldiers
Upon arriving at the company, Chen Shaoyu immediately went to Zhu Huo's office.

As I hesitated, the door was already pushed open.

The sun rose slowly, and its warm light streamed through the French windows, bathing the slightly tired face of the candlelight.

From the moment the candlelight revealed its miracles, he became convinced that the puppet before him was omnipotent.

This was the first time Chen Shaoyu had seen her look so haggard.

The desktop was messy, with piles of paper documents scattered all over the floor, making it impossible for him to find a place to step.

While the candlelight still made him somewhat dazed, Chen Shaoyu bent down and picked them up one by one, tidying them up and putting them back in their place.

"I'm sorry," Candlelight apologized immediately, "It's been fixed."

Should we issue an announcement?

“This time, the victim only has the boundary between reality and virtuality. Let’s communicate and handle it privately,” Candlelight said. “I’ve erased the video recordings related to the bug.”

This is different from the way it was handled in the past.

"The group of people I encountered at the boundary between the virtual and the real..."

He immediately shut his mouth.

Chen Shaoyu realized that he had become increasingly curious lately.

This is not a good sign, but he finds it hard to suppress.

“They are players too,” Candlelight explained, “At this moment, you are not the only ones playing the Proof of the Stars.”

Just as Chen Shaoyu was about to speak, his phone rang.

"Brother Shaoyu, the breakfast you ordered has been delivered. What would you like to eat?"

"Beef shumai, red bean buns, corn juice, uh..." Chen Shaoyu looked up at the candlelight, "Give me two more servings of shumai."

The call ended, but the conversation between the two continued.

He pondered for a moment, then asked, "How many worlds are there together?"

"If you ask this, you can't ask 'Why were you chosen?'"

After careful consideration, Chen Shaoyu chose to satisfy his most pressing curiosity.

"make a deal!"

"4."

"Only 4?"

Chen Shaoyu was surprised; he had estimated the number to be at least hundreds or thousands.

However, considering that one person like Zhu Huo can connect four worlds and hundreds of millions of living beings, ignoring spatial barriers to enter a bizarre and wonderful game, this power is truly frightening.

His phone vibrated; it was a colleague reminding him that breakfast had been brought over.

Apart from Chen Shaoyu, almost no one stays on this floor where the candles are lit.

Everyone holds candlelight in deep reverence.

Besides... this job pays well, has little work, and offers good benefits. They don't want to be like some people who are inexplicably kicked out of the company.

There's no harm in following the rules.

Even after leaving the company, they remain tight-lipped when relatives and friends ask about it.

To avoid annoying questions, some people either move out of their homes and live directly at the company, or lie and say they have already resigned, for fear of letting the cat out of the bag.

Chen Shaoyu took out two portions of beef shumai and broke them apart in front of the candlelight.

The juices were overflowing, and the aroma of scallions and beef filled the room, causing the candlelight to involuntarily sniff.

"Eat something. It may not remind you of anything, but there's nothing happier than being full."

"I am a doll, and eating me would only waste your food."

"If this planet could survive without you, it should be destroyed." Chen Shaoyu chewed heartily. "Everyone in the company paid for this; it would be a waste not to finish it."

He added, "What if you suddenly break down one day? Wouldn't it be such a waste to log off without experiencing anything?"

The candlelight accepted the kindness.

While eating, Chen Shaoyu checked the latest topics on the community forum.

Today was another exciting day; the video on the boundary between reality and virtuality went viral once again.

It's hard to find anyone like the boundary between virtual and real worlds, with over a million followers, most of whom are active fans.

Every time a video is posted, not only the Chinese server community but also the foreign server's content creators get excited.

Level 9, Cleared

The title is simple and unadorned, reflecting a consistent style that blurs the lines between reality and fiction.

Yesterday, many people were worried that other guilds that had entered the 9th floor would overtake them, but overnight, they once again raised the progress of their strategy by one level.

“I remember yesterday, when Jailer Bro was chatting with people from the Funny Tree Guild, he said that he would speedrun through the 9th floor tonight. At that time, some people thought that Jailer Bro was just showing off.”

"Here I am. First, I apologize. Please forgive me. I've filled my feed with pictures of prison guards. Please take a look, prison guards."

Chen Shaoyu clicked in and took a look. The purity was very high. He thought the prison guard would like it.
The reply styles in the comments section on the boundary between reality and virtuality are very diverse, which is closely related to the chaotic nature of the members.

Just as some people offer tribute to the jailer, others naturally send incense to the tea god.

People have been urging the Tea God to start a live stream, collect cyber incense offerings, and achieve cyber Dao fruition, but the Tea God seems to be blind to this immense wealth and has no reaction whatsoever.

Her Bilibili account only shares photos of her holidays and trips with everyone; there's nothing else on it.

Because of her overly Buddhist attitude, every video of hers has people sending "please change your luck" or "please bless you" messages regardless of the context.

As Chen Shaoyu scrolled through these meaningless comments, he slowed down his eating.

"Why does it always seem like the game has a walkthrough in advance for the Virtual Reality Boundary? Ordinary players who need to prepare carefully and challenge several or even a dozen difficult dungeons can just easily pass them? When will Virtual Reality Boundary release a complete walkthrough video? It's really confusing to only have snippets."

Criticism has persisted, and even after the World Championship, despite positive reviews both online and offline, the boundary between reality and fiction cannot please all players.

"Did the Chinese server operators leak the strategy guide for the boundary between reality and virtuality?"

This kind of rhythm was mostly drowned out by supportive replies, barely making a ripple, but it did stir up Chen Shaoyu's imagination. "Candlelight," he asked, "You've been paying special attention to the boundary between reality and illusion lately."

There were signs of trouble before the holiday, and after the holiday, Zhu Huo arranged for him to record the real-time game progress at the boundary between the virtual and real worlds, and granted him a lot of administrative privileges for this purpose.

Candlelight has always treated all players equally, but he sensed a slight bias in the boundary between the virtual and the real.

He wasn't familiar with the foreign servers, but in the Chinese server, this treatment was unique to this individual.

"They are special."

Zhu Huo glanced at the vinegar dish in front of Chen Shaoyu, dipped a shumai in it, and chewed it with satisfaction.

"I told you, the star-studded lineup is not just a game, but also a selection process. Their performance is the closest to the requirements."

Chen Shaoyu's heart skipped a beat: "What are you screening?"

“Only those who are close to the end can know,” said the candlelight. “I hope to find the right person before I forget even this.”

The conversation was heading in a pessimistic direction, so Chen Shaoyu quickly changed the subject.

"What type of worlds are the other three worlds we're playing with? Can you tell us?"

The candlelight stared at Chen Shaoyu.

Just as he was feeling a bit carried away and his curiosity was running wild, the candlelight spoke.

"One is very similar to the martial arts stories in your literary creations. Before experiencing dramatic changes in the world, it develops step by step."

"They, stepping into the new era, are like you who have just learned how to make fire."

Chen Shaoyu immediately grasped the meaning of the metaphor.

"The other one is very close to what you call the fantasy literature worldview. When I arrived, it already had a very complete magic system, but to me, that magic was not sophisticated."

Chen Shaoyu thought for a moment and figured that with the power of the candlelight, seeing the natives performing magic would probably be like a child waving a sparkler that flashes with colorful lights and performing acrobatics for a strong adult.

Noticing the candlelight suddenly stop, he couldn't help but ask, "Where's the last one?"

The sound of a vibrating phone interrupted their conversation.

Seeing the name in the contact's name, Chen Shaoyu answered the phone at the prompting of the candlelight.

What's the story behind the possibility that the World Championship might not be held?

The man on the other end of the phone skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point, his tone revealing a hint of anger.

“I notified him last night; all the other server stakeholders have been informed,” Candlelight said.

Chen Shaoyu lowered his voice and asked, "Then how should I answer?"

"Tell him there's a reason for this, it's a probabilistic event, and to prepare a contingency plan."

This……

My brain raced, trying to figure out how to polish these words.

He paused for a few seconds, then said.

"There's nothing we can do, but we should try to make contingency plans."

The man on the other end of the phone was also stunned; these words sounded like the way they usually gave orders to subordinates…

After conveying the possibility of an emergency, Candlelight took out the form that had been reviewed beforehand.

"Let's begin the first batch of dividend transfers."

The first batch of profit-sharing transfers was originally supposed to begin when the World Championship venue was finalized, but Candlelight brought it forward.

Are you afraid of memory loss and forgetting?
I returned to my workstation with the form in hand, and my colleagues were gathered around, chattering away.

The busiest time for the Chinese server operation is during the peak online hours in the evening, so there isn't much time for players who are constantly playing during the day to adjust to the time difference, and everyone is relatively free.

"Take the form and let the other side know that we can split the payment... What are you looking at?"

"Hey, make way, let Shaoyu see."

He leaned closer and was surprised to see yet another new video on the boundary between reality and virtuality.

A comprehensive overview of Freya's skills and appearance, the boss of the ninth floor of the Underground Temple.

"This part alone, which is edited, is 24 minutes long, the length of a standard anime series."

"Friendly reminder: it doesn't have an opening or ending theme song, so it's more substantial."

"How did they do that? The post also said that more content will be released after the editing is finished. It's amazing!"

"Could there really be a problem with the boundary between reality and illusion? How can they handle every single skill perfectly?"

"Small skills aside, the video has two large-scale mechanics: one is dealing with Freya's clones in the inner and outer fields respectively, and the other is using Freya's dropped blood sword to create a safe zone underfoot to avoid damage. Can you really understand these mechanics immediately on the first try?"

Chen Shaoyu was on site last night and knew that this was the result of the boundary between reality and illusion coaxing Freya into using the same moves.

In order to make the teaching demonstration as realistic as possible, both parties also agreed to fake the fight.

Before the trigger, Freya would give a hint in advance to help them deal with the boundary between reality and illusion, which made it seem like they were very familiar with Freya's every move.

The players' suspicions are quite reasonable, and a few words of explanation later will clear up the misunderstanding.

“No problem, I’m on site,” he told his colleagues.

"No, Brother Shaoyu, this is what we care about."

My colleague swiped the mouse and revealed a comment that already had nearly 6000 likes.

"Does this confirm that the boundary between reality and virtuality is in cahoots with the Chinese server's operations team? They've been so blatant about leaking information that it's disgusting how the Chinese server is creating so many gods."

The immediate follow-up comments were, "I hope the boundary between virtual and real worlds won't be deleted. I've already moved it to the external website. I want to see if the Starfire headquarters will care."

My colleague said, "The number of likes and comments is very unusual. It's not just Bilibili; on Douyin, an hour after the video was posted, similar comments received a lot of likes and took up the top spots, and the number of comments also skyrocketed."

He pulled up a self-made chart that showed that negative comments about the boundary between reality and illusion surged sharply at a certain point.

This group of people seemed to appear out of thin air.

(End of this chapter)