Chapter 44: The Supreme Celestial Court

Lu Kuan had already guessed most of Xue Da’s intentions and couldn’t help but marvel at the sharpness of his gaze. It was likely that Xue Da, upon learning Lu Kuan’s identity, had immediately rushed to wait outside his private room.

“I don’t have any plans for that at the moment,” Lu Kuan politely declined. After all, playing games at the internet café was merely a stopgap measure; once he reached university, he intended to rent his own apartment and enjoy the game world in a space both private and secure.

Xue Da wasn’t sure if Lu Kuan was simply being polite or had other intentions. He quickly added, “We can discuss the salary further. I know your family’s situation. I can advance you three months’ pay right now—no need for any IOU or paperwork. Just come here every day and play games.”

This was a sincere offer; had Lu Kuan not had other plans, he might have been tempted to agree.

Lu Kuan stood up, smiling. “Manager Xue, I really don’t have such intentions at the moment. Thank you for valuing me so highly. My parents are waiting for me at home, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Seeing the calm eyes and steady tone of the young man before him, Xue Da realized that no further persuasion would make a difference. He simply laughed, “Alright then, let me walk you downstairs.”

The entire Zero Distance Internet Café was in an uproar. Four hours earlier, people had doubted the authenticity of the “Stellar Camp video,” suspecting it was a staged performance. Yet, just four hours later, Lu Kuan had seized the attention of gamers worldwide by claiming a “world first.”

“Legend!”

“It really is Lu Kuan, my god…”

“Is this the kid who got the purple gear?”

People were buzzing with excitement, their gazes toward Lu Kuan ablaze with fervor. Feeling uncomfortable under their scrutiny, Lu Kuan whispered to Xue Da, “Boss Xue, could you do me a favor? Next time, can I come in through the back door?”

“No problem,” Xue Da replied with a hearty laugh, patting Lu Kuan’s shoulder.

“Thank you, then,”

Lu Kuan smiled too, then added, “Boss Xue, just call me by my name. ‘Sir’ sounds too awkward.”

“Of course! I’m a few years older than you. I’ll call you Little Lu from now on,” Xue Da said, laughing heartily.

Lu Kuan didn’t mind Xue Da’s friendliness; that’s just how the world worked. When you were insignificant, no one gave you a second look, but once you showed your value, opportunists would flock to you.

In some ways, Lu Kuan himself was the greatest opportunist.

To keep a low profile this time, Lu Kuan took the side path home, circling around the back of the house to the front gate, where he saw his father standing beneath the streetlight. One hand in his pocket, the other holding a lit cigarette.

Countless times in his youth, coming home at night, Lu Kuan had seen this familiar scene at the alleyway entrance. His nose stung, and he drew a deep breath to keep tears from falling.

“I’m home, Dad,” Lu Kuan ran up to the gate.

His father’s expression was as usual. He beckoned Lu Kuan home and, for once, even asked about his enjoyment in the game.

“It’s pretty good,” Lu Kuan replied, grinning.

His father nodded, pinching the cigarette between his fingers, hands behind his back, and spoke earnestly, “No matter what you do, don’t think about making big money at first. Focus on doing the task at hand well. Even if you don’t make a career out of it, it’s still life experience.”

Lu Kuan gave a look of being taught, nodding solemnly. “I understand, Dad. I’ll remember.”

“Hurry and get to bed now. You play so late every night,” his father said, waving him off, extinguished the cigarette, tossed it to the ground, and went to his room.

Lu Kuan stood there for a while. Truth be told, he wished his father would nag him a bit more, just to enjoy the feeling.

...

Early the next morning, Lu Kuan was still half asleep when Dai Guang called.

“You sly devil! So tight-lipped—didn’t even tell me you finished your advancement quest so quickly!” Dai Guang shouted, venting his “discontent.”

“You got up early just to scold me?” Lu Kuan stretched in bed, replying lazily, “Relax, I’ll help you with your class quest tonight, but it’ll probably be late. I’m still out in the wild, haven’t returned to town yet.”

Dai Guang continued to rant, venting his anger at being “deceived” by Lu Kuan, then hung up, satisfied.

“Fatty…” Lu Kuan muttered helplessly. He couldn’t get back to sleep, so he got up to eat breakfast. But just a few minutes after putting down his phone, it rang again.

“Little Lu, are you up yet?” Xue Da’s cheerful voice came through.

Lu Kuan was a bit surprised. “Just got up. Anything I can help with, Boss Xue?”

“It’s like this—I noticed that the college entrance exam results are being released soon. Shouldn’t you and Liu Xueliang bring your things over?” Xue Da inquired.

Lu Kuan checked the date. Indeed, he’d been so busy with in-game matters that he’d forgotten. Tomorrow was the day the exam results would be announced.

“Alright, I’ll bring the stuff over shortly.”

He made arrangements with Xue Da, ate breakfast, and logged onto the forum.

No sooner had he logged in than the private message alert sounded urgently. Opening his inbox, Lu Kuan found a message from the Supreme Celestial Community.

“Are you Old Lu? I’m the deputy moderator of Supreme Celestial. Please reply if you see this.”

Oh? Could this be related to the awakening quest?

Lu Kuan immediately replied. Only then did he realize that the number of rejected messages in his inbox exceeded 9999+!

Official forum IDs were linked to game characters, so it wasn’t difficult for people to track down Lu Kuan’s forum ID. Fortunately, he’d set his inbox to reject messages from strangers, otherwise it would have exploded.

Lu Kuan cleared his messages with one click and, while waiting for a reply from Supreme Celestial, began browsing the forum.

The headline news was no longer yesterday’s “world first advancement quest.” After all, it was just a level 10 quest; attention and hype could only last so long.

Now pinned to the top was an official blue post from the game: “The game will soon launch equipment, pet, and power rankings. Equipment and power rankings will be published tonight. The pet leaderboard will be opened once players collectively capture one million pets.”

“Rankings? So this is when they launch…” Lu Kuan tapped his forehead, dissatisfied with his memory.

In Lu Kuan’s view, rankings were more beneficial than harmful. Some said they fostered vanity or were a way for game companies to make money, but there was no denying they brought greater vitality and competition to the game.

He wondered where his purple ring would place in the rankings.

“Beep beep~”

A new private message arrived. Lu Kuan clicked it open, and his brows furrowed slightly at the content: “Room 10299, come within five minutes.”