Chapter 311

Constance yawned, then before answering she poured herself another glass of brandy, using the alcohol to ease the faint headache caused by the alcohol.

"You mean that VR game that's been hot lately? I originally wanted to try it, but I didn't get a spot, so I spent the money I'd saved for a headset on booze instead—what's up?"

"That's how it is: I met a talented person from Huaxia in the game, and I found that his family's ancient martial art gets amplified many times over in the game, its power ending up exactly as recorded in the old texts; also, some players who trained martial arts from childhood see their real‑world skills get a boost in the game; most importantly, the players who learn these arts from them in the game also show similar effects."

Howard paused there, as if giving Constance time to think, and also as if choosing his words.

"So I wanted to ask you, senior, you said your ancestors were legendary demon hunters and that you yourself learned lots of magic from your grandmother—is that really true?"

What she got in return was Constance's angry roar.

"Huh? What do you mean 'is it really true?' You're actually doubting whether I'm for real!"

Her face flushed red, she snatched the glass beside her, fixed a hazy stare on it.

"I'll now show you the great magic of our Morris family—how to make this glass of liquor endless!"

……

"I'm casting! Wait, mobilizing magic takes time… hold on, I'm chanting the spell, oops! Ah… uh…"

No matter how hard she tried, the liquor in the glass didn't change at all; instead, the involuntary mouth sounds she made made Howard cover his face and pull his phone away, pleading.

"All right, all right, I believe you! I believe you can do magic now—great one, just rein in your powers."

But Constance wouldn't let it go, keep making excuses for herself.

"I'm just off today, the ambient magic here is too thin… you can look up my genealogy—my ancestors really were many legendary figures!"

Nonsense—if it weren't for your ancestors' prestige, a ditzy woman like you wouldn't be able to sit in one of London's priciest bars, guzzling drinks to get drunk; you should be like me, grinding at the company, meetings by day, gaming by night.

Howard didn't dare say that, so he just humored her like soothing a child.

"Yes, yes, you've shown me their names countless times! They're all super impressive—worthy of being in Huaxia's history textbooks."

Having gained his assent, Constance finally let up, drained her drink in one gulp, and slumped back onto the table.

"All right then, so why are you calling me? Did you scrounge up some new booze? I want another round of that… the strong white one!"

"No, I wanted to ask… I have a beta test invite code here—are you interested?"

……

Just as Howard thought the senior had dozed off accidentally and was about to hang up after hearing the first snore, a sentence suddenly came through his ear.

"Do you have cigarettes and booze over there?"

"Tsk, truly unexpected yet somehow expected…"

"Booze is definitely available, and the black‑malt beer and whiskey from LeinuoVillage are pretty good—at least to my taste—and as for cigarettes… I've come across something like tobacco, just haven't had a chance to develop it yet."

"Deal."

Those two utterances were quick and low, coming from a hazy smoke‑and‑booze voice, making Howard instinctively want to confirm again.

"Huh? What did you just say…"

"When you sign up, remember to mail me a helmet as well, help pay the activation fee, and stuff a few bottles into the parcel… I mean a few cases of liquor, and if you could throw in some cartons of cigarettes, that'd be even better."

"You!"

——

"Hey, this is really over the top—how could our EastJapan transmigrators possibly be this stupid, right, ShanShang?"

On a seaside road in a small town of EastJapan, a richly dressed boy was affectionately putting his arm around another boy's neck, forcibly holding his phone sideways in front of him.

Unfortunately his friend seemed uninterested, just grabbing his backpack strap and constantly trying to push him away.

"Matsui, I have zero interest in games—no matter how much you tell me, I won't get it."

"Gee, you're so boring—no wonder everyone else in class is dating, only you still need me to walk you home."

Matsui had no choice but to let go of ShanShang and sent a comforting message to his girlfriend, who kept complaining.

He furtively glanced at the ambiguous text on his friend's phone, feeling a strange oddness in his heart; ShanShang lowered his voice, less explaining to Matsui than admonishing himself.

"... Besides, the spring exams are getting closer, and my dad's dojo still needs my help—I don't have time to play."

"Hehe, as expected of a girl from the big city, you really know how to have fun!"

Unfortunately, Matsui, his mind wholly absorbed in the joy of love, didn't hear ShanShang's muttering; he tapped the phone a few more times, then put it away satisfied, and when he spoke again it was already another topic.

"By the way, when I visited your dojo earlier and looked through the records, it said your ancestors were something about… anti‑magic?"

"Ahhh!"

That word was like stepping on ShanShang's tail; he immediately shouted a correction.

"Slay demons! It's 'slay demons', not 'counter‑magic'!!!!!"

But his anger seemed to be part of his friend's scheme; Matsui had reached the end of his rope.

"Ah right, demon‑slaying ninja, anyway you turned adult last month, so are you interested in going into the game together to show off your skills?"

"Game?"

ShanShang blinked, recalling how every night he had to go online to watch the livestreams from Huaxia, then his dad would get excited and shout at the TV; he shook his head.

"I told you, I really don't have time."

"Actual combat… I mean literal combat! Still no time?"

"Ah?"

Matsui gave a faint smile, then patted the bewildered ShanShang on the shoulder like an elder.

"I recall your grandfather used to say that to become a qualified ninja, inheriting your ancestors' mantle of punishing the wicked and benefiting the people, you must be extraordinarily brave; to achieve that, besides hard training, you simply cannot miss any chance for real combat."

"But nowadays EastJapan is a peaceful country—aside from snapping a few molesters' fingers on the train, beating a few harassing thugs near school, in this coastal town where even proper gangs can't take root, you'd hardly find any combat opportunities; but the game can!"

"Ali! Do you really not want to go into the game and match wits with the world's top players, and fight to the death against strange monsters from another world?"

ShanShang Ali stopped in his tracks.

"Well…"

——

"I'll give you three minutes to say everything you know! Otherwise, I don't mind using this thing in my hand to have close contact with your face."

Dim lighting, messy furnishings—in the room that should be a forest ranger's cabin, a blood spur hollering is tied to the chair, beaten beyond recognition, so the guy probably lost the ability to speak.

But the burly man standing before him didn't care about that; firmly believing in the GreatMemoryRestorationTechnique, he slowly slipped brass knuckles onto his thick right hand, and just a minute later he punched the man's cheek again.

"Sukabuli, you're being stubborn! I think you're looking for death! If you can't find the goods by tonight's end, I'll twist your head off and personally deliver it to your wife!"

With several teeth flying out amid blood spray, the man, in extreme terror, somehow reconnected some nerve and finally regained his ability to speak.

"I'm saying, I'm saying! Big brother, I actually wanted to say this earlier! I did it, but the goods aren't what I wanted to swallow; they forced me… uh?"

He was about to blurt out through tears and cries when he realized that this living Death God had somehow walked out of the room.

Clearly in the freezing, bone-chilling wilderness, the burly man wearing only a vest felt no cold at all, calmly lighting a cigar for himself.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, then glanced at the ajar door and answered the phone in his hand.

"Sir, I've captured the person; he's tight-lipped and under interrogation. Do you have any further instructions?"

"What... a game? Sir, I'm a professional hitman; I should maintain absolute loyalty to my employer, but having me play a game seems… uh?"

The hitman, speaking in a lowered voice to the little black box, suddenly changed expression, and two excited, vicious lights flared in his eyes.

"Really? Great! No problem—I'll bury this guy and then go report back to you!"

After hanging up the call labeled GrayBear, the employer in the bright office rubbed his neck, threw on his coat, and prepared to attend tonight's banquet, after all there are still many guests waiting for him to appear.

But before leaving, he also didn't forget to shut down what might be the world's safest computer; the last image on the screen was a stream of world news.

【Huaxia expert: Suggest relevant departments enact laws to limit adults' playtime of Double Moon Struggle】

【Insiders reveal that EastJapan Prime Minister SiYanzai is pushing a bill to levy special taxes on transactions related to Double Moon Struggle】

【A Florida legislator said on TikTok that the existence of Double Moon Struggle is the latest proof that Huaxia is trying to surveil the privacy of the white eagle】

【A renowned professor at Royal University denies the reality of Yangyue World, stating it's entirely a rumor fabricated by Great Holy Seat Company to promote the game】

【A prominent Middle Eastern tycoon announced he would pour a hundred billion dollars into building the world's most luxurious Double Moon Struggle club, and sincerely invites top players worldwide to join】

【Newro Deep Space Entertainment announced it would establish a new company whose main business might be incubating in-game internet celebrities for Double Moon Struggle】

【Countries worldwide are rolling up their sleeves, issuing this year's game-related memos, all pointing at Double Moon Struggle】

When the first electronic game was announced in the 1950s, absolutely no one could have imagined that one day a game would cause such a huge impact, moving countless people's joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness worldwide, stirring up a frenzy enough to sweep the entire world, drawing in both black and white paths, good and evil, who flock in and never tire of it.

And those big figures trying to ride the waves of the era never imagined that they would merge the futures of two worlds, that the mastermind behind all this, sitting in an inconspicuous room in a second-tier city in Huaxia, was cracking open an ice-cold cola and watching the show.

Scanning news from around the world, the increasingly crazy headlines even made Ji Ming can't help but marvel at how strong these people's sense of profit is—this butterfly of mine merely flapped its wings a little, yet they act as if they'd rather build a wind power plant on the spot than just blow a tornado.

But on the third day after the closed beta ended, LaoZhao specially invited a few from the team, including Ji Ming, to have a meal together; Aurora, unable to leave the sanatorium due to injury and illness, joined via a care call, making it the first time everyone met offline.

This meal was certainly more than just food; after a round of commendations and reading aloud a congratulatory message from higher-ups, LaoZhao announced that the Special Operations Squad, thanks to its excellent answer sheet, had received an overall promotion, thereby separating from National Security to establish a department dedicated to handling Yangyue-related affairs.

This department is called the Huaxia Stationed Yangyue External Affairs Handling Bureau, abbreviated YangYueExternalAffairsBureau, with LaoZhao as its inaugural director; besides him, many talented individuals will join, forming multiple specialized units with different research focuses… Ji Ming glanced at the list and almost thought he had crossed into the Marvel world.

Naturally, the other team members would all participate, but for Ji Ming's external status, LaoZhao also gave him three options to choose from.

The first option is to obtain the regularization many dream of, and the bureau will buy his three invitation slots at a price slightly below market rate; thereafter, Ji Ming will have backing both in reality and in the game as long as he completes the organization's tasks on schedule, making everything smooth sailing.

The second option is to quit the team, with the bureau purchasing his slot at a price slightly above market rate as a reward for his efforts in providing intelligence during this period; however, correspondingly, he will necessarily be monitored for a while until he is completely cleared of suspicion as an insider.

The third option is to retain his current status, with the bureau buying his slot at market price, and then providing Ji Ming with selectable tasks; as long as he doesn't act as a double-agent, he can continue steadily as his own information broker.

Ji Ming naturally chose the third option, and LaoZhao knew he would, so after the gathering he gave him a black card.

"Come if you have something to do, come even if you don't—don't worry, we're all our own people."

No matter what, it's still a path, so he put it away and planned to continue enjoying his rare few days off.

However, just as he closed the page, preparing to simply have some canned caviar and fiercely eat steamed buns, Feixin suddenly chimed with a friend request notification.

This familiar development made Ji Ming's heart skip a beat; he slowly moved the mouse to the lower-right corner, only to discover it was an account with a blue-haired maiden avatar, ID Gaia.

As for what was filled in the application information…

【Please approve quickly, I'm Mom!】

ThirdVolumeOtherWorld, pretty exciting, huh?

End.