Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 194 It’s You!

Ye Ci was almost late for her class on the next day. She had barely entered the lecture hall before the bell rang, signalling the beginning of classes . This was a very unfortunate event for Fang Susu who had an excited grin hanging on her face. It was obvious that there was something she needed to say to Ye Ci, but was unable to do so as the class had just started.

Noticing her effort of trying to suppress her excitement, Ye Ci wrote down some words in her notebook, “What? Have you been constipated for 3 days straight?”

Fang Susu glared at Ye Ci before furiously scribbling in the notebook, “Do you want to die? I go to the toilet everyday! Constipation has nothing to do with me! Do I look like I’m constipated?”

Ye Ci chuckled, and ignored Fang Susu. She knew that Fang Susu had something to share, but they were currently attending the class of one of the most renowned professors on their campus. The professor was strict, and prohibited students from talking in his class, and would often direct questions at his students. He would even randomly call out names before, during and after class. Nobody had the courage to skip one of the professor’s classes.

Despite her strong desire to share her story with Ye Ci, Fang Susu was forced to suppress herself It was as if she was sitting on pins and needles. The old man standing on the podium adjusted his spectacles, and chanced upon Fang Susu who was excitedly fidgeting around. After looking up her name on the seating plan, the old man spoke up, “Miss Fang Susu.”

Fang Susu quivered when her name was called by the professor. All thoughts of speaking with Ye Ci immediately left her mind as she stood up, “Here!”

“Were there a lot of people in the female’s lavatory earlier on?”

“Huh?” with the expression on Fang Susu’s face, it was as if she had seen a ghost. She was lost for words, and could not even fathom the meaning behind such a random question. But, with the old man waiting for an answer, Fang Susu replied, “I-I d-don’t know.”

“Ah... There must be a lot of people queueing up in the lavatory then.” the old man nodded. The students were confused. Ye Ci who was a witness of the professor’s sharp tongue in her last life however, hid her head behind a book, trying her best to hold back laughter.

“If that’s the case...” the old man adjusted his spectacles and directed an innocent smile at Fang Susu, “So why do you look like you’ve missed your chance to go to the lavatory before the class started?”

Fang Susu was so embarrassed that her face immediately blushed into a bright shade of red.

“Do you want to go to the lavatory?” as the students began to chuckle, the old man continued with a very concerned tone, “Don’t hold it in. You youngsters do not know the dangers of holding your excrements in...”

“Sir! I don’t feel like going to the toilet! And I’m not going to the toilet!” Fang Susu who was embarrassed by the professor cut the old man off.

The old man continued on with a kind tone, “Ah... I see.. Sit down then. I know it’s my fault. You’re a girl after all. I shouldn’t have mentioned something like this.”

“Sir!” Fang Susu’s anger flared. What the hell does this old man want? I have not even started talking? Why did he call me out and humiliated me? Is he still a man?

“Ahh.. Alright then. Let us begin the class.” noticing that Fang Susu was truly angry, the professor started the class.

Although Fang Susu was gravely offended by this brief episode before the class, the students paid the incident no heed. The professor’s “immoral behavior” was a widely known fact. The old man had even remembered to say the following words to Fang Susu after class: “Miss Fang Susu, hurry and go! The class is over.”

After throwing his words at Fang Susu, the old man immediately left the classroom, and Fang Susu’s scream of rage was followed by the laughter of her classmates.

Ye Ci quipped: “Go, go! Our class ended earlier, the female toilet is still not full yet...”

“Ye Ci do you want to die? Do you want to get killed?” Fang Susu was both infuriated and amused by Ye Ci’s words. She leapt and Ye Ci and began duking it out with her, filling the classroom with much glee.

After being chased around, Ye Ci was barely able to survive the onslaught by Fang Susu. She moved the book that she had been using to cover her face aside, and smiled at Fang Susu who was flustered, “Fine, fine, my bad. It’s not like you don’t know how the old man is. Is there anyone that has not been made fun of by the guy? He’s too strong of a BOSS, no tank can survive his wrath for long, so don’t try and challenge him.”

Fang Susu guffawed at Ye Ci’s words, “Alright, let’s move on. I have something that I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Ye Ci began packing her books, ready to head to the study room.

“I was notified by Qin Churuo yesterday that their guild was able to secure 20 spots for a field trip to the Fate headquarters. Are you going?” Fang Susu’s face was full of excitement, and her round eyes lit up with joy.

The Fate HQ? Ye Ci was momentarily stunned. She could still remember her time in the Fate HQ in her last lifetime. It happened several months before her reincarnation. At that time, she was already a famous top Sorceress in Fate. She was received with a polite reception during her time in the Fate HQ. All of it was just like a dream for her current self.

“So... Are you going?” Fang Susu nudge the dazed Ye Ci on the arm, drawing her attention.

“I’m not a member of World Conqueror.” a feeling that Ye Ci herself was unable to describe crept into her heart. She could not even figure out her own feelings. Do I want to go? Or do I not feel like going? Or am I afraid to go?

“Well, we’re buying our own plane tickets anyways! Let’s go! It doesn’t matter if you’re not from World Conqueror! Besides, you’re the only god-tier player in our campus. If you don’t go, the group that we send over will look shabby compared to the other guids. Most of them sent their expert players over during their visit to the Fate HQ.” Fang Susu immediately began her process of persuading Ye Ci into joining her in the trip.

Ye Ci shook her head, “If they find out that I’m Gongzi You, do you think I will still have my peaceful days? Your man will be the first one to come after me.

“Aiya, he doesn’t know! Don’t think too much about it! Just go with me! Go with me! I’ll be forced to sleep alone if you don’t go...” Fang Susu immediately clung on to Ye Ci.

......

Ye Ci already intended to visit the Fate HQ as a walk down her memory lane of her last life. Fang Susu’s invitation gave her the final push. After all, she cared dearly for her friend. Hence,, Fang Susu was able to persuade Ye Ci into joining the trip without much effort. Qin Churuo was very welcoming, and gave no objection. Bai Mo, on the other hand, was jealous and shamelessly insisted that he should be brought along as well. His pleas fell on deaf ears. It was a 5-days event, and they would probably not be able to log into the game. With ‘Upwards Ho!’ making preparations to start their next expedition into a dungeon, the guild leader must be present.

After assurances from Ye Ci that she would take many photos in the Fate HQ, and request the permission for a field trip by ‘Upwards Ho!’ members to the Fate HQ, Bai Mo finally dropped the subject.

In the end, Bai Mo could only send Ye Ci on her way with tears in his eyes while waving a small handkerchief.

It was just a 3 hours flight from Ye Ci’s city to the Fate HQ. But after departing from the airport early in the morning, it was already 4pm in the afternoon by the time the large group of 20-odd members finally reached their destination.

City C was in a different timezone from City A. For a citizen of City C like Ye Ci, who was used to having the sun hanging high on their head at 4pm, the sight of the darkening skies of City A was a very foreign one.

In City A, the sun rises and sets early every day. When the Fate employees received their visitors on the next day, the group was still tired from the jetlag.

Xie Ke, the employee who was in charge of receiving Ye Ci’s group was somebody from the Public Relations Department. After discovering that their visitors were beset by jetlag, Xie Ke let out a hearty laugh,

“I am originally not from here as well. The sun sets earlier in my hometown. When I moved here I was not used to it as well and only adapted after living in city A for a long time.”

Being close to the visiting group in age , Xie Ke was quick to acquaint himself with them.

As soon as Xie Ke began his brief introduction of the headquarters on the bus, the group’s anticipation rose.

“Will you be the one showing us around the place, Xie Ke?” Fang Susu was very excited. She even wished to grow a pair of wings and fly into the Fate HQ right now.

“Oh, I will only be your guide for the outdoor area of the building complex. As for the intricate parts of how the game was created and how everything is operated, there will be an expert taking my place.” Xie Ke shook his head. In such a huge company, every employee had a specialised field of their own, and Xie Ke was definitely not specialised in game designing. It was only natural for someone who was well-versed in that field to take his place.

The entire Fate territory was situated in a suburban area not far away from the lodgings of Ye Ci’s group. It would take them an entire day to reach the place if they were living in the city. The group chatted excitedly on in the bus, and after an hour of travelling on the road, Xie Ke pointed at a verdant and lush place that looked like a garden, “Look! Our headquarters is right there!”

The group immediately looked towards the direction Xie Ke pointed.

A lush green forest stretched itself before Ye Ci’s eyes, with a big, artificially made lake carved into the edge of the greenery. She could even hear the melodious chirping of birds and smell the sweet fragrance of flowers. Tears welled in Ye Ci’s eyes. This is the place. I’m back!

When she walked out of here back then, she took part in the PVP tournament. Following that.. Following that..was the worst part of her life.

However, for her current self, it was just like a dream.

The entire complex was very huge. If Xie Ke had not pointed out that the buildings hidden from view behind the trees were in fact offices, nobody would’ve thought that this area that looked more like a park was the headquarters for the world’s largest VRMMORPG, Fate.

Every step uncovered a new scenery, and the group stopped frequently for photographs. Ye Ci herself was not very enthusiastic when it got to taking pictures, but due to her promise to Bai Mo and a very passionate Fang Susu, she took many pictures. She even took a group photo with the World Conqueror members in front of a large Fate logo that stood in the heart of the complex. Xie Ke, who was in charge of taking photos of the group, went through 20 different cameras, helping members of the groups with their pictures. Afterwards, they headed inside while happily chatting with each other.

The main building was very unique, with a harmonious combination of Chinese and Western elements incorporated into its architecture. Despite not being flashy, the design of the building was pleasing to the eyes. It was a warm and welcoming place.

After leading the group through the door, Xie Ke approached the two gorgeous ladies at the front desk, “Notify the development team that our visitors are here. Get them to send someone to receive our guests.”

The receptionists guided the group to the resting lounge, while Xie Ke took his leave, receiving words of gratitude for his hospitality.

Before the group could finish the coffee served to them, Ye Ci spotted an extraordinarily young man walking towards the front desk, who was then redirected to the resting lounge after a brief conversation with the receptionists.

Ye Ci was not the only one among the group who had noticed the man. The rest of the group started discussing the age of the young man in hushed tones.

“Is this person from the development team? Or is he one of the game designers?” they had received prior notice from Xie Ke that a member of the development team would be guiding their tour. In their minds, even if the game developers were not people of old age, none of them expected a member of the development team to be that young.

The person appeared to be roughly 19 years of age, and had a handsome appearance with fair skin. He was a very gorgeous young man, with dimples showing on his face as he smiled at them.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. I think this could be an intern. He doesn’t even look 20! How could he be one of the developers?! Besides, they must be very busy operating such a large scale game. Do you think one of them would have the time to show us around? This has to be an intern!”

Many members of the group reached a similar conclusion. However, they were not dispirited. After all, the fact that they were allowed to get a tour around Fate HQ was enough to excite the group. At this point, the identity of the tour guide was no longer their concern.

Looking at the young man, Ye Ci mused to herself, this is a very small world. I never thought that I would run into him in this place.

She could still remember her last visit to the Fate HQ. The picture of this person was shown among one of the Founder Fathers of Fate, crowned as a hero. But at this point of time, he was still an insignificant young developer. The world is such an unpredictable place.

“Hi everyone. My name is Wang Jiangnan, but I’m sure a lot of you know me by my ingame name.I am Customer Service No.094!” Wang Jiangnan bowed to the group, and a broad smile appeared on his youthful face.

Ye Ci casted a sideway glance at the rest of the World Conqueror members. As expected, they were all astonished.

Most of them knew Customer Service No.094, as he was the moderator for the Dragon Dance Competition. At that time, he was working with a low level Human character. Despite sounding young, he was expected to be over 30 years old due to his graying hair and his long beard. They had never expected him to be someone that was barely 20 years old. How could they not be surprised?

“Wow! You’re No.094? Are you one of the developers?”

“Customer Service No.094, how old are you?”

“Is it tough working for Fate?”

......

When they had recovered from their initial shock, Wang Jiangnan was peppered with endless questions. Ye Ci, who was standing at the back of the crowd, noticed that the receptionists paid the visitors no heed. It appeared that situations like this were a common occurrence. The young age of one of the members of the development team was definitely shock inducing.

Wang Jiangnan was used to the torrent of questions. He led the group into the facility while methodically answering their questions.

Ye Ci trailed slowly behind the group. She basked in the strange feeling of revisiting this place, paying no attention to whatever Wang Jiangnan had to say. She silently compared the current Fate HQ and the Fate HQ during her visit in her last life. At that moment, even somebody as cold as Ye Ci felt a pang of sadness.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that Ye Ci had already been here in her past life, she was not intrigued at all by Wang Jiangnan’s introduction. As someone who had reincarnated, Ye Ci already possessed the knowledge of any trailers and future patches of the game. The central point of this trip held no interest for her.

She herself did not even know why she made the decision to visit the Fate HQ. There was really nothing significant in this place.

“We’re currently at the exhibition hall. This is where we display the awards received by Fate and the gifts we received from our players.” As Ye Ci was bored out of her mind, the group was suddenly led by Wang Jiangnan into a very large gallery.

The hall was decorated lavishly, and the entire place was bright and clean. Soft light fell on the displayed items. The atmosphere resembled a visit to a museum.

“This trophy was awarded to Epoch Online, the predecessor of Fate, for being the most favourite MMORPG game of players. I’m sure a lot of you had played or perhaps heard of the game. It was the game that Fate was based on, known as the most advanced game of its time. Of course, every game loved by players is a good game. This is why the trophy was very important to us.” Wang Jiangnan explained to the group as he pointed at a large trophy in the exhibition room.

As Ye Ci looked at the trophy, she remembered her trip to the Fate HQ in her past life. The shelf was full of medals and trophies awarded to Fate. In the 10 years the game was released, Fate has won countless awards and trophies that decorated the shelf with their brilliance.

“Wow! This thing here is made by us!” Fang Susu spotted a familiar item among the gifts from players that were displayed in the hall, and immediately called Ye Ci over, “Little Ci! Look at this!”

Ye Ci had originally not paid attention to Fang Susu, and was silently staring at the Epoch Online’s trophy, reminiscing about the moments of her last life. She had never seen the trophy among the sea of trophies awarded to Fate. She was startled by Fang Susu’s gentle and pleasant voice, which was able to catch the attention of everybody in the room.

Noticing that she had somehow became the center of attention, Ye Ci lowered her head and walked towards Fang Susu at a quick pace.

Wang Jiangnan stared at the girl who was walking quickly. Despite having her head lower, he managed to get a glimpse of her face. She felt familiar. It was as if he had met the girl somewhere. Wang Jiangnan was very confident with his memory, but he could not just initiate a conversation without knowing for sure.

And most importantly... He did not think that it would matter if he got an answer from her.

Paying not much attention to the girl, Wang Jiangnan continued guiding the group around the exhibition hall.

Ye Ci saw the object on display – it was a small embroidered handkerchief. Despite the poor quality of the fabric, the embroidery was fine and detailed, clearly showing the effort of its creator.

It was a masked Huntress with a bow in her hand and a panther by her side. The embroidery itself was beautiful.

“Little Ci, does it look nice?” Fang Susu stared at Ye Ci with glistening eyes. Her smile and the dimples on her cheeks made her exceptionally cute, “I’m the one who did this. Does it look nice?”

Ye Ci nodded, and offered her sincerest praise, “It is beautiful.” For someone as clumsy as Ye Ci who could not manage even simple paper cranes, it was an impressive feat. She could not even sew a button back onto her clothes, not to mention embroidering something.

“This is modeled after you.” with a smile, Fang Susu recounted her first encounter with Ye Ci in the game. She looked just like this, with the exception of the mask. Her elegance was engraved deep in Fang Susu’s heart, “It’s cool right?”

Ye Ci was slightly embarrassed after being praised. She let out a low chuckle, “Your handiwork is great!”

“I did not finish it alone. A number of us worked together to complete this embroiderment, and we mailed it here as a new year gift.”

Wang Jiangnan, who had overheard the conversation between the duo as he led the group towards the display cabinet let out a broad smile, “Ahh.. Thank you for the gift. We received a lot of presents from fans, and all our employees gathered to open the parcels.”

He then slightly lowered his voice and continued, “Even our CEO and the Chief Developer came over to help. Every one of us was intrigued by the gift. We seldom receive such a gift, especially one representing and combining both Eastern and Western elements so perfectly... because of that, our CEO and the Chief Developer began volunteering to open any incoming parcels!”

“Why is that?” the players were curious, “Isn’t that a job for the office clerks?”

“They like the surprise,” said Wang Jiangnan with a huge grin. He was momentarily stunned when he laid eyes on Ye Ci.

She did not seem to pay attention to what he was saying. She felt so aloof and indifferent.. Wang Jiangnan then remembered that the girl has been trailing behind the group during the tour, it was as if she was either very familiar with the Fate HQ, or did not care about the tour at all. She lacked the enthusiasm and excitement of players when they first visited the facility.

Wang Jiangnan could not help but scrutinize her for a while.

Feeling a gaze on her, Ye Ci looked around and caught the eyes of Wang Jiangnan, who nodded apologetically before retracting his gaze.

Wang Jiangnan did not expect to be caught as he studied Ye Ci secretly. Under that cold and sharp gaze, he shifted his view somewhere else.

When the group was finally back in the resting lounge, Wang Jiangnan allowed the players a moment of rest. He walked up to one of the players that he had acquainted himself with and asked in a low voice, “Is she from World Conqueror?”

The player took a glance at Ye Ci and answered in a similarly low voice, “Nope, she’s not from our guild, but studies in our campus. She’s a friend of Fang Susu, the girl who sent you the embroidery.”

“Do you know her in-game name?”

After a moment of thought, the player shook his head, “Nope. Nobody mentioned it before.. She’s just a normal player I guess.”

Wang Jiangnan nodded. The player might be right about Ye Ci, but his own instincts told him, that she was not just an ordinary player. Perhaps due to his interaction with video games since young, he developed a sharp intuition to recognize the differences between experts and normal players.

For any other individual, an expert player was no different from a normal player in real life. But Wang Jiangnan had a sixth sense that allowed him to identify a gamer’s ability.

He was able to recognise Flawless Reflection earlier on, before he could introduce himself. He had never seen a picture of the player in real life, but was able to tell that Qin Churuo was no normal player at first glance.

Wang Jiangnan was proven correct after the players did a brief self introduction. The guy was indeed Flawless Reflection of World Conqueror, who was one of the top players in the Eastern Continent.

When he was facing this girl however, he became unsure of himself. She had the air of a predator, but he just couldn’t be sure. That was why he could not resist inquiring after the girl from World Conqueror members. Maybe because he was a gamer himself, he refused to miss the chance of meeting an expert player. He could not forget about that mysterious girl.

“What’s her name?”

“She’s not from our guild” replied one of the players after a brief pause, “She was never there when we had our meetings in school. She’s here because she’s friends with Fang Susu. I think she’s a freshman.” the player, realizing that he had not answered the question asked by Wang Jiangnan, grimaced before he continued, “There are two words in her name... Flawless Reflection told me about it before, but I just can’t remember. They’re rather hard to pronounce.”

“Oh... I see...” Wang Jiangnan was disappointed.

Noticing his defeated expression, the player spoke up, “Do you need my help? I can find out about her name.”

“It’s alright.” Wang Jiangnan declined the offer and redirected their conversation to something else. Hell, if that player went ahead and asked in his stead, wouldn’t it be like telling the world that I was interested in that girl? If it somehow became a scandal, it would be bad.

Gossip is a fearful thing.

Wang Jiangnan did not wish to cause any problems for himself and for the girl as well.

The next event of the tour was something that every member of the group had looked forward to. It was to test out the game in Fate’s facilities. The players would be able to play the game in sandbox mode, utilizing their creativity to create items and various sorts of things in the game, which will then be used by the developers as sources of inspiration in the coming patches and expansions of the game.

This was why Fate welcomed players to their headquarters. When everybody adds fuel, the flame rise high. Only the gamers themselves know what was best for the game.

At the same time, the developers in Fate HQ tried their best to put themselves into the players shoes.

Wang Jiangnan led the group into a gaming lounge. 25 of the 100 gaming cabins within the lounge were already open. A young lady immediately greeted the group upon their arrival.

Wang Jiangnan introduced his colleague with a smile, “This is our Developer No.387. Her name’s Lin Dan, and she’s here to help each of you to activate your character cards. All you need to do is to tell her your IGN, and she will activate a one-time-usage memory card containing the full details of your character. You can log into the game by plugging this character card into the gaming cabin. The usage of the cards however, is limited to only 1 hour. All data within the card will be erased when the time’s up as a measure to protect your in-game belongings. So, every second counts. Feel free to voice out any opinions you have about the game!”

The excited players immediately swarmed over Lin Dan for the character cards. It was a thrilling experience to be able to contribute to the development of one’s favourite game. Not only that, they were doing it in the headquarters of the game itself! It was a very wonderful feeling!

Ye Ci was the only one who stood at the edge of the crowd. Noticing her behavior, Wang Jiangnan walked up to her and nodded, “Miss, are you not getting your character card?”

As the saying goes, “never slap the smiling man”. It was unreasonable for Ye Ci to react coldly to Wang Jiangnan who was smiling at her. She can’t really tell him that she was not interested in playing. If she’s not interested, why come in the first place? To avoid gossip, humans must at times conform to the norms.

“I’ll wait for my turn. I’m not in a hurry anyways.” Ye Ci nodded.

She could not even remember how many times she had met Wang Jiangnan. When she first met him in her last life, he was already known as the “Father of Fate”. She met the person again during the PvP tournament. And when they met next, Ye Ci had already reincarnated into her current life. At that time, Wang Jiangnan was a little known developer full of ambition that he was unable to realize. He even had a conversation with her about his ideals. It was all still fresh in her mind.

The Wang Jiangnan in front of her right at this moment... He seemed to be moving towards his ideals.

But... What about her?

Where does her ideals lie?

That’s right... She feels so familiar. That detached smile, and the intensity of her words... Wang Jiangnan could feel a sense of familiarity from the girl, but he was still unsure. He spoke up after a slight pause, “It’ll take some time for them to complete the activation process. I can get a card for you right now.”

“Uhh... I don’t think it’s a good idea. It feels like I’m using the backdoor (arghhh i don’t know how to english this properly!!!)” Ye Ci was momentarily stunned.

“It’s okay, I’ll get them to queue up over here later.” as the future main developer of Fate, Wang Jiangnan had certain outstanding qualities. His tone was gentle, but it was laced with an overbearing aura that would not allow somebody else to refuse him.

Although faint, the pressure could still be felt.

“Alright then.” Ye Ci met Wang Jiangnan’s gaze. It was a gaze filled with perseverance and determination. Somebody with such a pair of eyes tend to be more tenacious than others, mused Ye Ci.

She followed Wang Jiangnan to a special looking computer, which was quite a distance away from the group. Their conversation would not be overheard if they kept their voices low.

Wang Jiangnan asked in a low voice after turning on the computer, “What’s your in-game name?”

Ye Ci lowered her gaze, and spoke up slowly after a moment of thought, “Gongzi You.”