Chapter 12: The Twelfth Cup

Chapter 12: The Twelfth Cup

The official recommendation for players to form teams and register their squads had just been posted, and the administrative hall was already swarmed with players registering voluntarily.

A lean middle-aged man with a slight accent shouted through a megaphone, "Everyone, please don't push or crowd! Form a line! Come over here, this side is less crowded. Those who need to leave the safe zone to fight should register first. Elderly sir, you can wait a bit longer!"

He stood in the midst of the crowd, like a piece of driftwood battered by waves, struggling to maintain order.

He Wuning was about to join the queue when Yi Luo pulled him aside. "Follow me; internal personnel register elsewhere."

"This isn't open to everyone, only internal personnel and their families..." Yi Luo deliberately paused, noticing He Wuning's frown before continuing, "and special personnel."

He Wuning followed Yi Luo with a blank face, his eyes scanning the back of this "Light of Humanity," contemplating where a kick would leave the clearest footprint.

Did those who praised him on the forum ever meet him in person?

Yi Luo was completely unaware that his posterior had narrowly escaped harm. He led He Wuning around the crowd and into the building.

Inside the hall, it was much quieter than outside. Most people wore uniforms or combat gear similar to Yi Luo's. As soon as Yi Luo entered, someone called out, "Brother Yi, have you decided on your team yet? Many won't rest until you register! Hurry up!"

Yi Luo laughed and turned to He Wuning, showing off. "See?"

"I'm very popular. You didn't lose out."

He Wuning remained cold-faced and ignored him. Q-jam excitedly looked around. "Baby, look! There's a system over there!"

He Wuning followed its gaze. At the reception desk, a young man was typing furiously on a keyboard. In the corner sat a cage containing a system that resembled a block of butter, its face filled with despair as it stretched two tiny legs through the cage bars.

Q-jam whimpered sympathetically. "Why is it locked in a cage?"

Yi Luo shrugged and explained, "We still don't know the game's intentions, so during work hours, we keep the systems in shielding devices to prevent them from stealing confidential information."

Q-jam protested, "We wouldn't do such things!"

He Wuning thought for a moment. "Do you sell these cages...?"

Q-jam panicked. "Baby, what dangerous thing are you thinking about!"

"Not for sale." Yi Luo looked regretful. "Only available upon application for internal personnel, but if you write a report, you might get one."

He Wuning hated writing reports; even monster strategies were dictated to Xue Xun. Thus, he reluctantly gave up, sparing Q-jam.

Yi Luo led He Wuning into the registration hall, and all eyes in the room turned to them. He Wuning instinctively stopped.

"Stop staring, it's making me uncomfortable."

Yi Luo glanced at them, deflecting their gazes, and walked straight to the registrar, tapping the table. "Register us."

"Sure!" The registrar quickly entered the information, eyes filled with admiration. "Brother Yi, you actually got He Wuning to join your team! I mean, brought him into the squad!"

Yi Luo chuckled and peeked at the form. "We need a team name?"

He turned to He Wuning. "You have good taste, you come up with one."

He Wuning recalled Yi Luo's disdainful "tsk" at his milk tea cart and suspected he was up to no good, waiting for a show.

He said expressionlessly, "You Live, I Die."

Yi Luo: "...Fine, let's go with that."

The registrar was speechless. "That's too unlucky! If I register this, my boss will kill me. How about 'Together in Life and Death'?"

Before He Wuning could refuse, Yi Luo shook his head. "It's not much better. Those superstitious old men will still beat you up seeing the word 'death.'"

The registrar scratched his head. "How about 'In This Together'?"

He Wuning was unimpressed, and Yi Luo shook his head. "Let's settle for that. Don't make it harder for him. Any more changes and it'll become 'Sleeping Together.'"

He Wuning: "..."

After registering, they were given a certificate. The registrar dutifully advised, "Theoretically, there's no limit to the number of people in a team, but dungeons are limited to five members. We recommend forming a five-member team."

"Okay." He Wuning responded. "No problem, I don't do dungeons."

Yi Luo tilted his head slightly, looking thoughtful. He Wuning had never provided any dungeon strategy information, always seeming to operate outdoors, never entering dungeons.

Before Yi Luo could ponder further, He Wuning had already started walking away. Yi Luo hurriedly greeted the others. "Tell the old man I'm on a mission."

He grabbed his teammate certificate and quickly caught up with He Wuning.

"Where are we going?"

He Wuning answered succinctly, "Trading Center."

...

The Trading Center was just as crowded as the administrative hall. Rumor had it that due to last night's update, many players had finally bought equipment they had been hesitant to purchase, wanting to be fully armed from head to toe.

Inside the trading center, there were rows of sales counters on either side, and two large blackboards in the center. The left board listed items for acquisition, and the right board listed items for sale, both with transaction codes. Players could approach the counter staff to facilitate transactions.

Electricity was scarce, so most places had reverted to using pen and paper.

He Wuning glanced briefly at the boards but did not join the crowd. Instead, he headed to the sales counter. He wanted to sell the miscellaneous items he had obtained from last night's battles. Posting them on the board would take too long, so selling directly to the counter was quicker.

This meant selling the equipment directly to the officials, who would distribute most of it to combat squads and internal personnel. Items not immediately needed would be sold externally, though the buyback price would be slightly lower than on the trading board.

The counter staff had an "Item Appraisal" skill, allowing them to check the abilities and levels of items not belonging to them. She swiftly tapped her calculator, quoting prices for each item to He Wuning.

He Wuning did not haggle, simply pulling out each piece of equipment. After fighting monsters all night, his backpack was full of desirable items that would make others envious.

Yi Luo curiously examined his loot. He Wuning took out a sniper scope and was about to place it on the counter when he paused, as if just remembering that the person in front of him used a sniper rifle. Turning his head, he asked, "Do you want it?"

"It increases hit rate and vision."

"Yes." It was exactly what Yi Luo needed, so he didn't refuse and nodded.

He Wuning held out his hand, "Pay up."

Yi Luo had gained some understanding of him by now and wasn't surprised at all, "Sure, how much?"

He Wuning thought for a moment, and the salesperson helpfully estimated, "We would buy it back for around 7,000 coins."

He Wuning nodded, "7,000, on credit."

He tossed the sniper scope to Yi Luo and continued emptying his backpack.

Yi Luo could easily afford 7,000 coins. After confirming the equipment's attributes, he took out the gun, attached the scope, and glanced at He Wuning, "Can't you just give it to me if you want to?"

He Wuning glanced at him from the corner of his eye, "Who's giving anything? Pay up."

Yi Luo put away the gun, looking amused at this stubborn yet kind-hearted guy, "When will you collect?"

He Wuning didn't turn his head, "When I'm in a bad mood."

Yi Luo showed surprise, "So you're actually in a good mood right now?"

He Wuning: "..."

Sometimes he couldn't understand his focus.

After emptying his backpack, He Wuning asked the salesperson to post a purchase request and a sale request. He wanted to buy fragments with a "?" mark whose purpose was unclear, and sell three types of milk tea that provided 10% bonuses to defense, health, and attack.

What he really wanted were Admin Permission Fragments, though the chances were slim. With so many players here, someone might have them.

The items for sale needed to be appraised, and He Wuning knew the rules, carrying three samples with him.

The salesperson asked, "Would you like to leave the samples here or have me contact..."

In the game's fallen zone, only the game-provided communication devices worked. Other phones, radios, and even computers could only be used offline.

Players usually added the salesperson as a friend after posting their requests, allowing the intermediary to connect them with buyers or sellers. He Wuning had already added the salesperson as a friend, but now he had a more convenient method.

"No need, they can contact 99999995 directly." He Wuning boldly used his delivery number as his personal number. Q-jam looked at him, wanting to say something but ultimately kept quiet while He Wuning was busy.

Few players had numbers, but those with special professions often had unique opportunities. The salesperson unsurprisingly added the number.

He Wuning asked, "Can you add a note? Recommend buying more than 20 cups of milk tea before calling, and... if you encounter an unusually strong monster, you can also call this number."

He didn't plan to sell the milk tea through the trading center; he just wanted to use the traffic to advertise for free, similar to Q-jam's small ads on the player forum.

This request was a bit odd, and the salesperson couldn't help but look at him a few times. She glanced at Yi Luo beside He Wuning and finally nodded.

She asked, "Anonymous transaction?"

"No, not this time," He Wuning nodded, "Thanks."

Without his name attached, people encountering strong monsters probably wouldn't call for help.

Sometimes, reputation mattered.

He collected the money and then swept through various healing items available on the counter. In this game, healers were rare, and means of regaining health were scarce. His permissions weren't enough to unlock the healing effects of milk tea, so he relied on these items.

Yi Luo followed He Wuning closely, with Q-jam hanging on his shoulder. Suddenly, Q-jam whispered, "Boss, someone has been sneaking glances at you! More than five times in a minute!"

"You've picked up the nickname quickly," Yi Luo glanced at him and suddenly turned to block a short young man following behind him. The young man was startled and fell to the ground, likely due to guilt.

Yi Luo put his hands in his pockets and raised an eyebrow, "Following me?"