Chapter 17 – Nightmare Returns

In the dimly lit private room of a massage parlor, the masseuse was diligently serving the wealthy guest on the bed with her dexterous hands. The manager had just reminded her that this guest wasn’t just rich—he was filthy rich. If she pleased him and turned him into a regular, the commission would be huge. Even without the manager’s reminder, she would have put in extra effort, because not only was the customer loaded, he was also good-looking. Out in the real world, even if he didn’t pay, she might have been willing to do something with him.

Jiang Yang lay on his stomach, growing increasingly annoyed by the touches. He had come here to relax, not to be someone else’s entertainment. The woman’s hands were practically groping into his underwear—was this some new massage technique? Damn it, he had specifically asked for someone who actually knew how to give a proper massage because he’d been spending half his nights glued to the computer, leaving his whole body stiff.

When his phone rang, the masseuse finally slipped her hand into his underwear.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jiang Yang didn’t even bother grabbing his phone before yelling, “Stop groping me!”

The masseuse froze, unsure how she had offended the VIP guest, and stood there dumbfounded.

Jiang Yang was never the type to be gentle with women. If he hadn’t been too comfortable lying down to move, he would have kicked her out right then and there. “What are you still standing there for? Get lost!”

With reddened eyes, the masseuse fled in a panic, leaving Jiang Yang alone to fume in frustration.

What a crappy place, not even a male masseuse available. Fuck!

His frustration didn’t last long, though, because his attention was quickly drawn to the source of the text message—

Sender: Power Leveling.

For some reason, the moment Jiang Yang saw that name, a cheeky little face automatically popped into his mind—one that was always grinning, yet somehow made you want to slap him. Unfortunately, the text message was so dull it could kill an erection, its tone stiff and its contents tragic, making Jiang Yang wonder if this was sent by some new department, like customer service.

Too impatient to type, Jiang Yang dialed the number directly.

After sending the text, Fang Zheng hadn’t done anything else. He sat there intently, waiting for a reply. Even though the client couldn’t see him, he subconsciously wanted to sincerely express how seriously he took the matter and how genuinely remorseful he was.

He had expected the client to reply via text, but instead, he got a direct call. Fang Zheng hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and answering with a cheerful voice, “Hi, good evening.”

Jiang Yang frowned slightly, his brain’s CPU rapidly analyzing the voice. He quickly confirmed it was the same voice from YY. For some reason, his mood lifted. “Got your text. Now, tell me this story.”

Fang Zheng gulped, struggling to speak. “Uh… it’s a really, really, really long story… How about I call you back instead? I can’t let you waste your phone credit!”

Outwardly, Jiang Yang remained expressionless, but inwardly, a strange itch tickled him. This guy had two completely different faces—one for dungeons and one for business—making you want to bully him to death. “It’s fine. I’ll deduct it from the leveling fee.”

…Are you fucking Scrooge’s little sister or something?!

“Heh, sure.”

“You’re cursing me in your head, aren’t you?”

“No way!” Fang Zheng immediately denied, his voice rising involuntarily. When he realized this only made it more obvious, he wanted to cry.

“But,” Jiang Yang suddenly remembered something and spoke slowly, “you don’t actually have a leveling fee left for me to deduct, do you?”

Fang Zheng: “…” Damn, he was right.

The client didn’t press further. “Tell me the story first.”

Over the next two minutes, Fang Zheng succinctly recounted the feud between Mad Lad and Huaxia Dominion, naturally emphasizing how despicable Xuanyuan and Deadleaf were and how he had been forced into this mess. He casually glossed over the fact that Mad Lad was now being hunted down by the entire Huaxia Dominion guild.

“So, the moment I show my face in Huaxia Summit, I’ll get ganked immediately?” Jiang Yang, having spent years in the business world, was quite adept at summarizing.

“Ahem,” Fang Zheng unconsciously looked up at the ceiling, “pretty much, yeah…”

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yang laughed. “That sounds pretty fun.”

Fang Zheng was stunned, unsure what the client meant by that, but he still had to reiterate his business integrity. “Just send me your account info, and I’ll refund the deposit.”

“Didn’t you say leveling another account would be half price?” The client suddenly brought up another topic.

Fang Zheng was speechless. He had just said that casually, damn it! Half price for a leveling job would bankrupt him and send him straight to Siberia, TAT.

“Yeah, half price.” He spoke with the solemnity of a martyr.

“Tsk,” the client sighed lightly. “Half price… what were you thinking?”

Fang Zheng instinctively felt like the other party was haggling and immediately grew annoyed. “Half price is still too expensive? Let me tell you, this is already a desperate, tear-jerking, rock-bottom price—”

Before he could finish, the client interrupted, “What’s half of five hundred?”

Fang Zheng paused, then understood. ¹250=idiot, half-wit, fool

“Client, I really didn’t mean to, 259! 259 and I’ll level you to max!”

Jiang Yang was speechless. Shouldn’t it have been 249 in situations like this?!

One phone call with the client, and Fang Zheng felt like he had lost half a year of his lifespan. Fortunately, the client said the deposit didn’t need to be refunded, which somewhat soothed his battered, fragile heart.

Three hundred and fifty bucks—the total earnings related to Mad Lad. Not too bad.

Fang Zheng had the memory of a USB drive. Once a problem was resolved, he could instantly toss the past behind him and skip happily into the future. So, within two minutes of hanging up, he logged into Mirage Server.

The first half of Meng Chudong’s evening had been boring—no, to be precise, the past few days had been boring. In the past, he could have gone to Mount Emei to farm monkeys, competing with the system to see who was more tedious. But after the recent Heavenly Lake Dungeon and Corpse King Necropolis runs, his interest had been piqued. Now, everyone had vanished without a trace, leaving him somewhat frustrated. Milk is Mom hadn’t even set up a vending stall these past few days, making him suspect the guy had shifted his business to another server.

As if confirming his suspicions, Milk is Mom logged in briefly around eight-something, only to log off immediately, the whole thing lasting no longer than a blink.

Meng Chudong had his Little Zombie idling at Su Causeway, starting to wonder if he should move on—not to another server, but to another game.

—Years of attachment might sound like a long time, but when it came time to let go, you’d realize it was just a tiny speck in the grand scheme of life, fleeting as a white horse’s shadow.

Meng Chudong mulled over this until nine-thirty, when the healer logged in again. This time, he didn’t vanish instantly but arrived like a breath of fresh air—

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Birdyyyyyyyyyyyy~~~~~~~~

Great. After idling all night, this guy had finally noticed him.

[Whisper] Polly: Yeah.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Whatcha doin’~~~~~

[Whisper] Polly: AFK.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: AFK is so boring, let’s run a dungeon!

[Whisper] Polly: Fine, you gather the team.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Damn, how can you dump such a hard task on me alone!

[Whisper] Polly: ^_^

Fang Zheng froze in front of his monitor, feeling like he was looking at another version of himself. =_=

Nine-thirty, the post-prime-time slot—Mirage Server was as dead as a nuclear wasteland.

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: Forming a dungeon team~~ No class restrictions~~ No level restrictions~~ Dungeon TBD~~

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: Forming a dungeon team~~ No class restrictions~~ No level restrictions~~ Dungeon TBD~~

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: Forming a dungeon team~~ No class restrictions~~ No level restrictions~~ Dungeon TBD~~

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: Forming a dungeon team~~ No class restrictions~~ No level restrictions~~ Dungeon TBD~~

The deserted Huaxia channel allowed Milk is Mom to spam freely.

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: Damn, you’re not even restricting levels now?

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: What do you know? Get people first, then figure out the levels.

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: How do you ‘figure out’ levels?

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: We could borrow your account, for example ^_^

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: Screw you and your bullshit!

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: Boss, come out! Your employee’s attitude is terrible!

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: Yes, I saw. On behalf of Employee No. 117, I apologize.

[Huaxia] Milk is Mom: …

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: But this is a business account and can’t be lent out. However, we do sell max-level empty accounts if you’re interested.

Fang Zheng wanted to call Polly over to witness this miracle, but the shock was too great—for a long while, he couldn’t even remember how to type.

After an unknown amount of time, two private messages popped up—

[Whisper] Polly: Why’d you stop recruiting?

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: Fuck, my boss was standing right behind me just now!!! I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth if my bonus disappears this month!!!

Fang Zheng had no time for Polly now.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Seriously?

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: What do you think?! If my bonus vanishes, I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth!!!

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: But why would your boss come over in the middle of the night?

From what Fang Zheng knew, Diamond Seller’s company rented two unfinished three-bedroom apartments where a dozen or so employees lived and worked. The boss rarely showed up, usually only coming by to hand out salaries—a total of twenty or thirty thousand, so instead of transferring it to their accounts, he just handed out cash.

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: How should I know? He just lost his mind, I guess. Fucker opened the door like a ghost, didn’t make a sound!

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: *Pats head* Poor thing.

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: Screw you!!! Who made me this pitiful in the first place?!

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: So where’s your boss now?

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: Grabbing a midnight snack.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Tsk, didn’t even invite you guys.

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: Right now, he probably wants to stab me to death with chopsticks. =_=

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Honestly, you should quit. Partner up with me. We’re both just leveling, farming materials, flipping currency—why not be your own boss?

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: Nah, I prefer stability. Even without bonuses, at least there’s a base salary.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Fair enough. To each their own. So, wanna join us for a dungeon?

[Whisper] Diamond Seller: How are these two topics related?!

While Fang Zheng was chatting with his fellow merchant, the system notified him of a party request. Without thinking, he clicked accept, only to realize—oh, it’s an acquaintance.

[Party] Milk is Mom: We meet again.

[Party] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Fate, fate.

[Party] Milk is Mom: I still kinda want to strangle you, though ^_^

[Party] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Hero, please be merciful and let bygones be bygones! T_T

[Party] Milk is Mom: Well, compared to that guy, you’re forgivable.

[Party] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Yeah, that guy hasn’t logged in for a couple days.

[Party] Polly: He’s not Voldemort. You can say his glorious name out loud.

[Party] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Uh…

[Party] Milk is Mom: Let’s not. =_=

After Crossplayer joined, Fang Zheng spammed the World channel for a while longer, but no new faces appeared in the party. Unwilling to let the dungeon plan die, Fang Zheng sent a text to his client—

“Mirage Server, six-man dungeon. Coming?”

At this moment, he wasn’t a power leveler—just a teammate who had once run a dungeon with the guy.

The reply came quickly—

“In Huaxia Summit right now. No time.”

Fang Zheng blinked twice before realizing—he hadn’t changed the client’s account password, so… holy shit, this guy logged into Huaxia Summit?!

From Power Leveler: Having fun?

From Client 250: Yep.

From Power Leveler: You like killing people?

From Client 250: Why else would I get the Desert Set?

From Power Leveler: Too bad there’s no use for it in Mirage Server.

From Client 250: Yeah.

From Power Leveler: So Huaxia Summit is perfect right now?

From Client 250: The fuck’s with all your questions?! I just died again!!

From Power Leveler: Uh, keep going! No need to reply!

Fang Zheng put down his phone, thinking about the strange alignment between Huaxia Dominion’s siege and the client’s desires. Then he understood why the client didn’t need the deposit refunded—and that he had lost out on this deal. >_<

During the back-and-forth texts, a lot had been said in the party chat. Fang Zheng skimmed through it, then suddenly widened his eyes—

[Party] 2B Fighter Jet: Are there any girls in this party? Any? Any? Any?

How did he get here?!

[Whisper] Polly: My friend. Filling in the numbers.

Damn, can this guy read minds?!

Almost simultaneously, another unfamiliar name joined the party—a Level 55 Berserker, Blood Bulls²Blood Bull is someone who sells their blood, fitting for a berserker whose skills rely on sacrificing own HP. Don’t Graze.

[Party] Polly: Blood Bull, we only have five people. Might not be able to tackle a hard dungeon.

[Party] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: It’s fine. I haven’t logged in for a while. Why’s this server so dead now?

[Party] Polly: Everyone moved to new servers.

[Party] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Oh.

[Party] 2B Fighter Jet: Ugh! Not a single girl?!

[Party] Polly: You can tell?

[Party] 2B Fighter Jet: The IDs alone scream perverts.

Fang Zheng facepalmed. This guy had the nerve to call others out with that ID?!

Birdy-kun was always the most clear-headed—

[Party] Polly: Only five people, so coordination and teamwork are key. YY, 4876XXX.

Joining Birdy-kun’s YY channel was already familiar territory for Milk is Mom and Crossplayer’s Blessing. But when they entered, they found someone even more familiar already lounging there with a yellow tag. As people trickled in, the yellow tag greeted them—

“Hey everyone, I’m 2B~~”

So humble.

“Healer…” Fang Zheng’s voice was as quiet as a mosquito’s.

“Blessing…” Crossplayer’s voice was equally faint.

Birdy didn’t introduce himself, instead asking directly, “Blood Bull, can you hear us?”

Blood Bull replied in text chat: Yes.

2B immediately chimed in, “No mic?”

Blood Bull ignored him. So did Polly, who started the discussion. “Five people. Let’s decide which dungeon to run.”

Fang Zheng spoke first, still in a hushed voice, “How about Potala Palace’s Wisdom God…”

Crossplayer chimed in, his voice barely above a whisper, “Heavenly Lake Monster works too…”

2B was baffled. “Why are you all talking so quietly? Is there some rule?”

Crossplayer: “I just feel like… if we talk too loud… that guy might hear…”

Healer: “Better… safe… than sorry…”

2B was totally confused. “Which guy?”

Before Fang Zheng could utter his glorious name, a bright, cheerful voice rang out in YY—

“Oh, you’re all really here! I just logged in and saw the healer spamming recruitment, so I applied but got no response. Thought I’d check YY just in case—oh hey, six people now! What dungeon are we running today?”

Fang Zheng switched back to the game interface and saw a new party request. After a long internal struggle, he finally clicked accept with trembling hands. The moment his mouse clicked, he could almost hear his heart bleeding.

• 1
  250=idiot, half-wit, fool
• 2
  Blood Bull is someone who sells their blood, fitting for a berserker whose skills rely on sacrificing own HP.