The next day in London.
The Lancaster Royal Hotel in London stood tall, its grand architecture blending old-world charm with modern luxury. Crystal chandeliers were spread out across the vast lobby that cast golden light upon the polished marble floors. Guests in formal attire poured in one after the other, chatting in quiet voices.
However, Mulan wasn’t interested in any of that. Amidst the tons of varied events organized at the hotel, she was focused on only one.
She walked past the main event halls, away from the crowd of businessn, her eyes set on sothing far more exciting. Organized in one of the hotel’s large conference rooms was the London GaCon. It was an event bursting with energy that stood in contrast to the elegant award ceremony for dical professionals.
Mingshen followed behind her, his hands lazily tucked into his coat pockets. He glanced around with mild curiosity. He then took a turn towards the ceremony hall when Mulan grabbed his arm.
His eyes imdiately squinted with danger. "This distance is too close for my taste."
"I stopped you from going in the wrong direction."
"I think I am not directionally challenged to read the signs to know where the award ceremony room is."
"Which has quite so ti to begin so how about we visit the GaCon first?" Her eyes twinkled. "I am confident to impress you~"
"I am already impressed by Spicy."
"Aww, let so other people get a chance too."
So Mingshen was forcibly dragged to the GaCon convention.
"You dragged all the way here for a bunch of kids playing gas?" he drawled.
Mulan smirked. "Not just any ga. The most popular ga in the country right now. Survival Grounds."
At the ntion of the ga, Mingshen’s gaze sharpened.
Inside, the hall was hustling and bustling with flashing screens, neon lights and the constant hum of voices. Gars were discussing strategies and reporters were interviewing professional players. People moved excitedly from one booth to another, eager to test their skills.
Mulan led him to a corner where a competition was about to begin. A large screen displayed the leaderboard and among the top nas, a particular ga ID shone brightly.
Mulan threw him a proud look but he didn’t return the enthusiasm.
"What?"
"Trying to show you my amazing side."
He glanced up at the leaderboard again. "...That your ID?"
"Of course~"
"Wait. You’re actually competing?" Mingshen raised a brow.
She grinned. "Naturally. Why do you think I brought you here?"
"To torture ?"
She only rolled her eyes.
Mulan put on her headset, settling into her seat. As the countdown for the match began, Mingshen shifted his attention to the people around them. Survival Grounds was no ordinary ga. He rembered Li Beiye’s brother laying comatose in the hospital. He also rembered how this ga sohow served to bring the She cult together.
But how?
He observed Mulan navigating through the ga’s battleground with ease and expertise. It was as if she had complete command over the ga.
The ga levels kept growing more aggressive and violent the more Mulan cleared them. He tilted his head seeing all the bloodshed. Seeing her razor-focused at her ga, Mingshen thought it was a good ti to hunt for information.
He moved towards a group of developers discussing upcoming updates. Their conversations were casual but Mingshen knew better. He caught snippets of talk about anonymous high-level players and the ever-elusive ga creator - known only as Phantom.
Mingshen stared at Mulan, who he had just seen logging into the ga a couple of minutes ago.
Mulan, aka, Phantom does seem to be a star, he raised his brow.
"Phantom’s enhancents are insane. Did you see the latest updates to Survival Grounds? The ga keeps adapting in ways we never coded! The levels keep getting more innovative!" one developer muttered.
"It just gets more and more addicting. I just crossed my personal best the other day~" Another gar replied. "Only if my mom wouldn’t have interfered at the last mont, I would have made even a higher score!" He breathed hard.
Mingshen cast his gaze at the player’s face that spoke volus of fatigue. Dark circles were painted under his eyes.
Mingshen leaned in slightly. "Personal best huh?" he comnted in English, his voice smooth and uninterested.
The group looked up, their eyes widening upon seeing a handso man before them. Even boys couldn’t believe his drop-dead gorgeous face.
"Seems to be like a cool ga but too violent to my taste."
One chuckled. "It only feels violent when you are on the losing side."
"How does it feel to lose your sleep and energy?" Mingshen smiled. "From what I see, you look like a zombie at this point."
He waved his hand in dismissal. "Zombie or not, I am not backing off. I just unlocked an amazing level where I could have all the fun I want with won haha!"
Mingshen grimaced with disdain.
Pea-sized brain kiddos...
"Yeah, that She level is amazing dude. It’s like a solace for us after winning a tough battle against the monsters!"
Mingshen stared at them. "She level?"
"Yup, yup~ Though it’s not all relaxing. We still have to fight and defeat an ugly demoness. Once we win, we are awarded at a cool, secret gathering where a mysterious leader in a mask blesses us with extra potions and items!"
"Can you show that level?" He feigned curiosity.
The gar happily did so where his laptop screen loaded a dark, abysmal background tinged with red. Statues of powerful male figures were seen at every interval but female statues were either broken or missing their heads. So were depicted kneeling and begging before the male statues.
His ga avatar then walked towards a dark, loneso building with limited lighting. A crowd of other ga character avatars were present and listening to the leader on the stage as if in a trance. The leader was wearing a familiar silver mask.
Mingshen stared at the room and the atmosphere.
This is just like the charity event night...
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