Chapter 62: Butterfly

Chapter 62: Butterfly

Targeted?

Qin Fei raised one eyebrow in surprise, looking at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye was like an eager pigeon, chirping non-stop, "Did you just level up to D-rank, Brother? Just now, not long ago?"

The eyes of the three people beside him widened, especially Xiao Xiao's.

Qin Fei lifted his hand to touch the tip of his nose and said, "Mm-hm, that's right."

"Your name has appeared on the Newcomer Rankings, ranked at..." Lin Ye sighed, looking at Qin Fei with a wordless expression, "Number one."

Although it had only been about half an hour since Qin Fei's name emerged on the rankings.

As far as Lin Ye knew, discussions about this matter were already taking place everywhere.

Everything had happened too abruptly.

The Newcomer Rankings were applicable to D-class and C-class Streamers, with a complex algorithm determining the rankings, not simply based on the number of points a player held.

Instead, the system considered a player's level of completion, the value of their stream room, their appeal to the audience, and numerous other factors before generating an overall ranking.

In simpler terms, Qin Fei was now officially recognized by the system as the strongest and most promising C- or D-class Streamer with the highest potential to enter the overall rankings.

Lin Ye had even heard that the upper echelons of several major guilds had taken notice of Qin Fei and were already searching for him.

As Lin Ye spoke, he led Qin Fei and the others through the trash-filled alley, walking backward.

The gossiping people hadn't mentioned how the guild leaders planned to deal with Qin Fei.

But, given the inherent nature of human beings, Lin Ye didn't think Qin Fei would be facing anything positive.

Otherwise, why would everyone else on that ranking have concealed their personal information?

After finishing his explanation, Lin Ye let out a long sigh of relief.

Ever since he learned about this situation, he'd been anxious. Seeing that Qin Fei hadn't hidden his personal information on the rankings, Lin Ye hurried to the entrance of Central City to warn him.

His fingertips were numb from too much tension.

But now, it was fine.

Qin Fei had grasped the situation.

Lin Ye had an inexplicable trust in Qin Fei, believing that as long as he wasn't ambushed when off guard, Qin Fei would surely have a way to handle any situation.

Speaking of which, Lin Ye was also quite perplexed.

More than two days ago, around the same time as Qin Fei and the others, Lin Ye had prepared himself for his second live broadcast.

The reason for his haste was simple – he felt that he couldn't wait any longer.

If his comfortable life eroded his resolve, Lin Ye might never summon the courage to start another broadcast until all his rest time was consumed, forcing him to be forcibly teleported into a dungeon by the system.

It was better to step back into danger while his sense of crisis was still lingering, rather than waiting for another ten or so days before cowardice engulfed him once more, only then facing the threat of death.

Before starting the live broadcast, Lin Ye had made a visit to Area E.

He wanted to see Qin Fei and Xiao Xiao again, but Sun Shouyi informed him that Qin Fei and Xiao Xiao had already entered the live stream.

Lin Ye felt a tinge of regret but was also helpless about it.

The progress of Lin Ye's second live broadcast was swift, lasting only 24 hours in total. Naturally, this also meant that the frequency of encountering crises had significantly increased.

Every single moment during those 24 hours was filled with heart-stopping suspense.

Lin Ye barely survived a harrowing ordeal, escaping the instance by the skin of his teeth. He hadn't earned many points, but at least he had preserved his life.

He had originally assumed that he would have to wait much longer outside before encountering Qin Fei and the others. Yet, to his surprise, only a day had passed when Qin Fei's name suddenly appeared on the Rookie Rankings.

Lin Ye was utterly astonished.

He was aware that Qin Fei had just been promoted to an E-rank Streamer. Clearly, what Qin Fei was going through right now was his very first broadcast after ascending to the E-level.

In just one match, he had soared from obscurity straight to the top of the rookie rankings.

This is a ranking only accessible to D-class Streamers!

A leap across a major ranking tier!

Comparing himself, after his second stream, Qin Fei hadn't even established the confidence to survive the third round, let alone advance to E-class.

Qin Fei wasn't merely impressive.

He was defying the heavens!

Fortunately, others were unaware of this fact; otherwise, the number of people wanting to ambush Qin Fei would likely multiply.

Xiao Xiao's mouth gaped wide enough to fit an ostrich egg: "You really advanced to D-class??"

Qin Fei nodded: "Just now."

Xiao Xiao turned to face Lin Ye, their eyes locked in a stare.

Both of them looked at Qin Fei with a dazed expression, feeling that despite standing right in front of them, he seemed less like a living person with each passing moment.

The contrast between his meager points and the shocking realization that his ranking had made such an impact was almost impossible to put into words.

Listening to Lin Ye's lengthy explanation, Qin Fei finally recalled that during the settlement process, the system had indeed announced, "Congratulations! You have entered the Newcomer Streamer Rankings!"

At that time, Qin Fei hadn't taken it seriously.

But he never expected this ranking to cause such a stir.

Still, there was something Qin Fei didn't quite understand.

Even if he were to make the list, wouldn't it be under the name 'Xiao Qin'?

How would those people locate him through an ephemeral username, and how did Lin Ye determine that 'Xiao Qin' was Qin Fei?

By the side, Ghost Fire, who had listened to the entire conversation, asked in a daze on Qin Fei's behalf, "But how will they find him?"

San Tu frowned, shooting Ghost Fire an annoyed look.

They had clearly explained these matters when guiding new members into the guild, and it was obvious Ghost Fire hadn't been paying attention.

"The Newcomer Rank, if I'm not mistaken…"

San Tu fell into a moment of contemplation before explaining, "For first-timers on the rank, the system will publicly share their real-time location and a portion of their live streaming screenshots."

This design was rather unfair and even carried an overt maliciousness. It was hard to fathom what the system had been thinking.

"However," a hint of confusion appeared between San Tu's brows.

"Didn't the system prompt you with an option to conceal that information?"

In the Rule Realm, almost every player who made it onto the Newcomer Rank would choose to hide their personal details.

Because if they didn't, they'd be like a moving satellite, constantly under public scrutiny wherever they went.

More dangerously, it would expose their appearance.

Player-on-player killing was forbidden in Central City, so being publicly located within the city wasn't as much of a threat.

However, once other players memorized one's face, there was a high chance of encountering various underhanded tricks in the subsequent instances.

"Our Dark Flame had an ancestor who made it onto this list before, ranking around the 50th position. In the settlement space, the system asked if he needed to conceal his personal information."

Qin Fei finally understood at this moment.

He was absolutely certain that the system had never asked him if he wanted to hide his information.

Moreover, the system didn't tell him what rank he was at.

In fact, the system deliberately concealed the announcement of his ranking among a flood of point settlement notifications, successfully deceiving Qin Fei.

San Tu said, "There's no time to waste. You have to hurry to the Service Hall and hide your location."

Qin Fei hadn't been on the list for long. The Service Hall's leaderboard couldn't be recorded through photography or other visual means. Even if, as the schoolboy had mentioned, many people were already discussing this matter, the circulation of Qin Fei's personal information wouldn't be overly widespread.

It wasn't too late to handle it now.

But, the sooner, the better.

As they spoke, the group had already passed through the alley.

On the other side of the alley was a side entrance to the F-class residential area, not too far from the main gate. Between the two was a row of garbage bins that stretched out in an orderly formation. From this side entrance, one could even catch a glimpse of the bustling crowd at the main gate.

Everyone present—except for Qin Fei—had spent time in the F area before. However, neither San Tu nor Xiao Xiao had any recollection of this side door.

San Tu looked at Lin Ye in surprise.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Lin Ye rubbed his head and chuckled. "Not many people know about this path, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to pass through it, so generally, no one comes here."

This was a dedicated waste disposal passage for the F-class area's cleaners.

Just like how Qin Fei had encountered that scalper earlier, within the Rule Central City, players could find all sorts of jobs.

Although the points earned weren't high, for low-level players who didn't fare well in the game, it could still be a decent option.

Lin Ye had only stayed in the F area for three or four days, so he naturally hadn't taken up the job as a cleaner.

However, as a model student who had just given a speech under the national flag before entering the dungeon, he couldn't help but intervene when he saw a cleaning auntie being bullied in the F area.

Lin Ye felt sorry for the auntie.

She appeared older than his own mother but was unfortunately dragged into this perilous live broadcast. For survival, even after escaping the instance dungeon with great difficulty, she was still forced to work intensely every day.

The thought of his family made Lin Ye very sad.

How were they now?

Were they frantically searching for him outside? Was he missing, or had he died?

The System's power was so immense and mystical; perhaps it had completely erased all traces of his existence in the outside world. His family might have already completely forgotten about him by now.

Out of a sense of empathy, Lin Ye helped the auntie with her work every day until just before his second entry into the instance dungeon.

As a token of gratitude, the auntie gave Lin Ye a key to the garbage disposal door in Sector F.

At that time, the side door key seemed useless. However, both the giver and receiver tacitly understood that in such a chaotic territory, an extra path to take might save one's life at any moment.

Lin Ye cherished that key. The cleaning auntie had given it to him, and she would need to spend five points to replace it from the System.

The five points might seem insignificant, but they represented Auntie's entire day's wage.

After leaving the instance dungeon, Lin Ye had even gone to the garbage station to look for her, but within just one day, someone else had taken over her job.

Auntie had been forcibly teleported into an instance dungeon.

He didn't know if he would ever have the chance to see her again.

That was how the Rule World functioned – beneath even the most mundane daily routines, there seemed to lurk a cruel undercurrent of instability.

Using his key, Lin Ye unlocked the door and urged, "Let's hurry. We'll take the back alleys where there are fewer people."

From the moment Qin Fei's name appeared on the rookie rankings, those who wanted to find him split into two groups.

One group waited at the entrance to the transitional space, while the other remained in the service hall, ready to track Qin Fei's real-time movements after he left the instance dungeon.

Lin Ye said, "It's fortunate that almost none of those photos captured Brother Qin's face clearly."

Moreover, the images were very blurry. If someone hadn't seen him before, it would be difficult to identify Qin Fei based on those pictures alone.

Qin Fei softly clicked his tongue.

He highly suspected that, after hiding the notification about concealed information, the System was acting out of guilt and doing something somewhat human-like for once.

As Lin Ye had predicted, the backstreet was deserted.

It was a narrow path, barely wide enough for one person, with the rear walls of houses on both sides. As they walked towards the central street, through the gaps between buildings, Phantom Fire suddenly caught sight of a few flamboyant silhouettes.

His eyes widened as he grabbed at San Tu's sleeve. "Holy cow! Sister San Tu, look, aren't those butterflies?!"

Butterfly was an experienced player with an obsessive-compulsive cleanliness that bordered on irritating. Why would she be in a place like Area F?

Could it be...

An unpleasant thought crept into Phantom Fire's mind.

Sure enough, in the next second, one of the group ran to the side of the road and stopped a few F-rank players.

"Did any of you see a young man around here? He'd be about this tall, quite thin, and has a refined appearance."

The person said, gesturing at them with raised hands. He wished he could give more details, but those blurry photos were truly abysmal.

"He just came out from the Transition Center."

Players from Sector F didn't recognize the man before them and only found his high-end equipment intimidating. They shook their heads repeatedly. "With that description, we could draw a circle around the Transition Center's entrance and find 18 candidates. How would we know which one you're looking for?"

After speaking, they quickly fled.

The skilled player rubbed his head and turned to look at the person behind him. "Lord Butterfly?"

It was a tall man with an effeminate appearance. His skin was snowy white, his eyes narrow, and his long black hair cascaded down his shoulders like silk.

If one only looked at him from the shoulders up, they might mistake him for a woman.

He wore a black robe with variously colored butterflies embroidered upward from the hem. As he walked, it seemed as if the butterflies were about to take flight, dazzling anyone who watched.

"It doesn't matter. Let's continue searching ahead," Butterfly's voice was indistinguishable between male and female. "In such a short time, he couldn't have gone far."

As he spoke, he reached up to touch his ear, seemingly using some sort of communication device to contact others.

"Is he still there?" the butterfly inquired.

Without knowing what the person on the other side had said, the butterfly lowered its gaze for a moment before resuming its steps forward.

San Tuo's expression turned solemn upon hearing the commotion behind them.

From the time they left the instance dungeon and appeared outside the city until they passed through the alleys and entered Area F, only a few minutes had elapsed.

Yet, those people had already found them.

This clearly indicated how much importance they placed on Xiao Qin.

Moreover, the person who came was actually... A hint of wariness flickered in San Tuo's eyes as he looked past the dilapidated houses that layered Area F.

"Oh, right," Xiao Xiao suddenly realized something.

He glanced at Qin Fei. The young man beside him wore a loose white shirt, looking both neat and casual. His finely chiseled face was exposed, leaving nothing to the imagination.

"There aren't many people here, so you're not drawing attention with your outfit. But once we reach the service hall, I'm afraid you'll be noticed the moment we step in," Xiao Xiao said, feeling a headache coming on.

The leaderboard was prominently displayed in the center of the Service Hall. If Qin Fei's photo really was on it, even if it was blurry, a comparison with the real person would reveal some clues.

Besides, everyone now knew that Qin Fei would rush to the Service Hall as soon as he left the instance dungeon. Countless pairs of eyes were undoubtedly fixed on that busy entrance.

The fact that no one in Area F recognized Qin Fei didn't mean they wouldn't in the Service Hall.

Qin Fei, however, remained unperturbed.

Everyone else, excluding him, seemed to be on high alert, as if facing an imminent threat.

Especially Ghostfire and Sanzu, who looked half-dead after seeing that flamboyant man, as if Qin Fei were leaving them for the heavens the next day.

Qin Fei was quite curious about the man's identity, but there was no time for further discussion now.

It was evident that the leaderboard's positioning wasn't very precise. Qin Fei and his companions had almost reached the edge of the district before they heard the hurried footsteps of Butterfly's group closing in from behind.

Butterfly's underlings were clearing the way for their boss: "Don't block Butterfly Lord's path!"

Qin Fei raised his eyebrows in embarrassment at their aggressive shouting.

What background do these people have?

They were so overly dramatic that he found it a bit unbearable.

When Phantom Fire heard the approaching Butterfly, his anxiety grew more apparent.

He reached out into thin air, plucking a black hooded windbreaker from his personal space and pressing it into Qin Fei's hands. "At least use the hood as some cover."

Although Phantom Fire didn't actually believe it would make much of a difference.

But, even if it was like covering one's ears while stealing a bell, it could at least provide some mental comfort.

Qin Fei didn't refuse and draped the garment over himself.

Xiao Xiao's lips twitched.

Would this really shield anything?

Although his face was now obscured, from a distance, he gave off an aura of guilt, as if he were a thief trying to hide his deeds.

The service hall was right across the street, with two long queues at its entrance, all filled with players conducting their business.

Amidst the bustling crowd, everyone was discussing this matter.

"I heard that representatives from the four major guilds are looking for him."

"How do you know? Isn't it only Butterfly's people searching for him now?"

"Butterfly is also looking for him?! Then he's doomed!"

Xiao Xiao and Lin Ye flanked Qin Fei on either side, shielding him as they passed through the crowd. Hearing this, they couldn't help but feel alarmed.

"May I ask," Xiao Xiao whispered to San Tu, "What does your guild plan to do if you find him?"

His tone sounded ominous, and if not for Xiao Xiao's knowledge of the situation, one might have assumed that Qin Fei had become the top fugitive in Central City.

San Tu frowned. "I'm not sure. If our guild or Black Feather is searching for Xiao Qin, it's likely that they want to recruit him as a core member."

Black Feather and Dark Flame, as the top two guilds on the leaderboard of the Rule Realm, generally conducted themselves with integrity.

She paused, her expression turning solemn. "But if people from other guilds are also searching, I'm not quite sure about their motives."

Not every guild was welcoming to newcomers.

Especially the high-ranking ones.

The resources in ABC-rated worlds were limited, with over 90% contested among various guilds.

Sometimes, eliminating a nascent talent was equivalent to pruning a future strong arm of a rival guild.

There were even players with exceptionally unique talent abilities who specifically targeted these swift newcomers.

—Just like the Butterfly from earlier.

Recalling those individuals, San Tu's brow furrowed with irritation.

"The person in the butterfly robe just now was the president of an advanced guild," she whispered a bit more softly.

Within the Dark Flame's internal database, someone had compiled a list of all known player talent skills and their respective categories.

Among them, there was a category marked as extremely perilous - the Control Stream.

"The Butterfly is the leader of the Butterfly Guild. Though their guild isn't large, every member possesses formidable combat strength."

The reason was simple.

Butterfly solely recruited players from the Control Stream, along with those puppets they controlled.

The proficiency in control skills varied, and Butterfly was undoubtedly the most dominant among them.

The butterfly's innate skill is also called Butterfly. It can implant butterfly eggs into a player's body, much like how people from the Miao territory in those fantastical novels cast gu curses.

Phantom Fire continued to explain.

Saying this, he shivered.

"…I saw it once before, and it was utterly terrifying."

What kind of skill could frighten will-o'-the-wisps to such an extent?

Qin Fei, Xiao Xiao, and Lin Ye gazed together at the Ghost Fire.

Although Ghost Fire was currently just an E-rated streamer, he had participated in numerous live streaming sessions.

The reason for his lack of upgrade was simply to hone his skills; about half a year ago, he had encountered Butterfly in a dungeon.

"Players who have been invaded by Butterfly's eggs would unknowingly develop an immense admiration for it, similar to how subjects behave before a Queen in a massive insectoid lair."

"Their bodies would stiffen at a specific time, and threads would extend from their pores, wrapping them until they transform into a gigantic egg."

The moment they break free from that egg, they become complete puppets of Butterfly.

From then on, they obey Butterfly without question, treating every word as gospel.

"The key difference between Butterfly and other control flow players is that each of his puppets willingly submits to his manipulation."

They would live and die for him, venturing into any danger at his behest.

"Ever since Butterfly ascended to A-level, every puppet he has chosen has been at least B-rated."

"There was even an instance where he managed to control an S-rank player. To this day, that S-ranker remains the sharpest blade in his hand."

It was just unclear why he had set his sights on Qin Fei, who had just been promoted to D-rank.

"F*ck, that's insane," Xiao Xiao said, wide-eyed with astonishment.

This turned out to be an innate talent of an individual.

It was infuriating just to think about it!

Why were there such vast differences between people?

Some were dragged into the game worlds, struggling through mud and blood, always on the brink of death.

Others could leverage their innate abilities to thrive amidst crises, slaughtering their way through effortlessly.

"The Butterfly advanced from the Experience World to an A-rank world in less than a year, which is an incredibly rapid pace among all players," San Tu Road commented.

"Do not let the Butterfly find you, or else..." She warned solemnly.

Though she didn't finish her sentence, everyone understood her meaning.

At this point, Xiao Xiao's face had turned ashen.

He glanced at Qin Fei.

The young man beside him remained calm, a subtle smile in the corners of his eyes and an air of gentleness enveloping his entire being, showing no trace of tension.

Xiao Xiao was astounded by Qin Fei's composure.

Of course, in Xiao Xiao's estimation, Qin Fei was equally powerful.

Given time, he would undoubtedly become an awe-inspiring figure, one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Butterfly, or even surpass him by leaps and bounds.

But could Qin Fei really live to see that day?

Xiao Xiao lifted his head, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

Not far away, Butterfly and his group were already heading in their direction.