Quadruple split.

Chapter 2842 The Road to the Beginning

Chapter 2842 The Road Back

Real time AM 10:29
S City, Crimson Constellation Club, 3rd Floor, Common Lounge
"Brother Lei."

The first person to notice Xinglong entering was Han Guang, who abruptly turned to look at the door and shouted, "What delicious food did you sneak out to eat? Why didn't you take me with you?!"

It was clear that, given the terrifying skill of the old man in the cafeteria who, though not officially the father-in-law of Boss Luo, was in fact the father-in-law of Boss Luo, Han Guang didn't even need to think to know what Xinglong had been up to since he disappeared early in the morning.

"Eat alone!"

Even though he was outside the game, the gentleman who had somehow acquired a white cloak suddenly stood up, pinched his pinky finger, and exclaimed in a theatrical voice, "Eating alone~~~~~ Wow!"

Xinglong glared at the gentleman and said irritably, "After you finish playing the game, you'll spend at least an hour putting on a face mask, doing your hair, and doing aerobics. How could I possibly take you out to eat?"

Alas!

The gentleman shook his head, fiddled with his frizzy, vicious perm, and lamented tragically, "Damn, so heartless."

"And you."

Xinglong turned to look at Hanguang and said indifferently, "After I got up, I saw you carrying instant noodles back to your room. It's one thing not to eat properly, but you're blaming me for not taking you out to eat?"

Han Guang, who had been egging them on, scratched his head sheepishly and said in a low voice, "I was just thinking that instant noodles are convenient, and I bought them online last month for 1.9 yuan, a whole 20 packs, it would be a waste not to eat them."

"You should eat less of those unhealthy things."

Pioneer shook his head, peeling an apple while saying without turning his head, "If you don't get enough nutrition, you'll go bald."

Han Guang: "...Although I've heard that the body will cut off the hair supply as soon as it's malnourished, but...but that's probably a joke, right? It can't be true, can it?"

"You can go back and ask the sorcerer and the peerless master to verify whether this is a joke or not."

The pioneer grinned and said jokingly, "While they may not necessarily be malnourished, they certainly have a lot of experience when it comes to hair care."

Han Guang imagined himself going to talk to those two well-known strategists in the industry about hair, and immediately shuddered, banishing the terrible thought from his mind and shrinking back, not daring to speak.

"Speaking of which, why are all these smelly men gathered here today?"

Pioneer took a bite of his apple and asked curiously, "Where are the girls?"

The gentleman shrugged and said succinctly, "Taotie."

Pioneer: "...Huh?"

"It seems like Sister Meimei took them to a buffet."

For some reason, Han Guang always managed to figure out Han Mei's movements immediately and smiled, saying, "I remember there's a newly opened all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant right across from our club."

"Tsk tsk, food and sex are human nature."

The gentleman clicked his tongue, turned to Han Guang, and raised an eyebrow: "So, why aren't you coming along?"

Han Guang paused for a moment, then said blankly, "I ate instant noodles this morning, and there are only girls over there, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to go with them."

“Dull-witted”.

The gentleman sighed and said helplessly, "Not sexy enough."

Han Guang twitched the corner of his mouth and said in a dry voice, "I don't think it's necessary to be so lewd."

"It's alright."

The gentleman chuckled coldly and said casually, "Then you can eat instant noodles for the rest of your life."

Han Guang: "!?!?!?!"

"Alright, alright, stop with the small talk."

Xinglong casually tossed the neatly arranged apple peels on the table into the trash can, then turned to the Gentleman and Pioneer, who hadn't been participating in the limited-time dungeon raids lately but was instead leading a regional world quest in the Southeast Continent: "How's it going over there? You left early today, remember to check yesterday's daily report if you didn't come."

"It's in the final stages."

Pioneer looked at the trash can with a regretful expression and casually said, "After this mission is completed, we should be guaranteed to get an epic item, and we'll probably be able to complete the first stage of Silvermoon's class quest."

"Congratulations! The second lady in the club to get an Epic item!"

The gentleman shouted loudly, then turned to Xinglong and shook his finger: "If you don't step up your game, you'll fall out of the top ten."

Han Guang immediately shook his head and said, "That's impossible. Although the captain hasn't broken through to the Epic level yet, there's only one Grand Yin-Yang Master, Gu Xiaole, ahead of him right now. How could he possibly fall out of the top ten?"

Xinglong glanced at Hanguang and frowned, saying, "But how come I remember that I wasn't second, but fifth?"

"Uh, Captain, what you're saying..."

Han Guang chuckled and said with amusement, "Those three at the very front aren't... uh, sorry, I was wrong."

"Ah."

Xinglong nodded and accepted Hanguang's apology, then said seriously, "Listen carefully, if you yourself feel that you can never catch up with certain people, then you really will never catch up with them."

Han Guang's expression turned serious, and he immediately nodded, saying, "Yes!"

"Alright, alright, it's break time, don't be so serious."

Pioneer waved his hand cheerfully and said in a light tone, "Besides that great Onmyoji, the three in front are indeed a bit abnormal. You all know about the game [Innocent Realm]. If they really are three talent monsters like Cordova, they can definitely achieve a dimensional reduction attack, at least before the Epic stage."

The gentleman nodded slightly and agreed, "Indeed, but it's not enough to prove anything."

"I know, I know. I have plenty of professional ethics, and so does Xiao Han."

Pioneer clenched his fist, his lowered eyes gradually sharpening: "There's still a score we haven't settled."

Xinglong gently patted Xianfeng on the shoulder and laughed, "Still not over it? If we really want to count, we've probably beaten [Windbreaker Bird] more times than they've beaten us, right? If we lost last time, we'll win next time. We can't keep holding onto this grudge."

"That debt wasn't recorded against [Windbreaker Bird]."

Pioneer looked up at Xinglong and said seriously, "That debt is on your record."

Xinglong was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "Me? What have I done to offend you?"

“We owe you, Captain.”

Although he didn't participate in that team competition, he knew very well that even if he had appeared, there would have been no chance of turning the tide of the battle. Han Guang, who had defeated that [Windbreaker Bird], sighed deeply: "This score can't be left unresolved."

Xinglong opened his mouth: "You..."

"We did our best."

The gentleman, who was even more senior than Xinglong and had been teammates with that first-class star when he first entered the game, chuckled, then stood up and walked briskly towards the door: "But if you don't want to become a burden in this game, just 'trying your best' is far from enough."

Xinglong didn't say anything, but just watched the gentleman leave. After a while, he smiled bitterly and said, "The way you say that makes it sound like I've never considered you a burden."

"You definitely don't."

The Pioneer, having finished the last bite of his apple, stood up and, with a standard basketball shooting motion, threw the core into the trash can. He then slapped Xinglong on the back: "But we have pride too. If others can't do it, that's one thing, but think about the [Windbreaker Bird] back then... they could find excuses, too."

After saying that, Pioneer left rudely, saying "I'm going to the practice room for a bit" and then playing music out loud on his phone.
"Um... Captain."

Perhaps because he and Xinglong were the only ones left in the lounge, Han Guang, who had become inexplicably nervous, swallowed hard before whispering, "You should know that no one means anything by this, right?"

"Haha, are you trying to fool me like a child?"

Xinglong chuckled and said, "I know exactly what you guys are thinking, so you don't need to worry at all that I'll be upset about this. On the contrary, I think this is exactly the kind of mentality you need right now."

"Huh?"

Han Guang, who had initially thought Xinglong would be downcast because of everyone's self-blame, looked at him blankly and asked, "Is that so?" after realizing he had been completely wrong.

Xinglong nodded matter-of-factly and smiled, "Of course, don't forget that the [Realm of Innocence] can do more than just raise my ceiling. For you, there is also a lot of potential to be explored. The current situation is just the 'growing pains' of the early stages of the game. Putting everything else aside, do you think I can enter the Epic realm?"

Han Guang nodded vigorously without hesitation: "Of course!"

"So, do you think you can make it into the Epic tier?"

"I... uh, I guess that should work too." "What about Winter Plum, Pioneer, Gentleman, Bloodstained?"

"The Pioneers are fine, but as for Sister Meimei... she might need a bit of luck, but given our current efficiency in discovering and conquering so many difficult tasks, it shouldn't be a problem. Oh, right, there's also the reward for the limited-time dungeon. Sister Meimei has been grinding for contribution points all along, so it definitely won't be low."

"That's fine."

Xinglong nodded in satisfaction and said seriously, "You need to know that after entering the Epic realm, in addition to hard work and talent, the degree of development of your own character is also very important. And you have explored too little in this regard. Think about Ling Jie, the MVP of the team that day in [Windbreaker Bird]. His talent may not be stronger than yours, but in [Innocent Realm], a game where anything is possible, his degree of self-development far exceeds that of you."

"This……"

Han Guang nodded very slightly, then hesitated and asked, "Can I do that too?"

Xinglong didn't speak, but calmly looked at Hanguang with a faint smile.

really--

"Do not."

Almost instantly after those words left his mouth, Han Guang's gaze hardened: "I will definitely do it."

"Come on."

Xinglong gave the boy in front of him a thumbs up and said with a smile, "Many times, you need to try to forget that I'm here with you."

Han Guang nodded vigorously: "Yes, Captain!"

"But when you feel like you've given it your all, but you're still just a little short."

Xinglong gave himself a thumbs-up and revealed a bright, cheerful smile.

"Remember, I'm here for you."

……

At the same time, in the B2 level of the Red Constellation Club, the gym...
"beauty!"

The gentleman strode in, arms outstretched, and proclaimed in his powerfully dramatic theatrical voice, "It is the beauty of diligence! The beauty of health! The beauty of vitality! The beauty of loss! It seems you have finally found the treasure you never lost, my friend! This truly brings tears of joy!"

beep—

Without hesitation, the cleaner, whose back was soaked with sweat, stopped the treadmill. He rolled his eyes, jumped off the machine lightly, and asked irritably, "Can you stop talking in that annoying theatrical tone?"

"Fine."

The gentleman wearing a white mask shrugged and said in a voice that Xinglong and the others had almost never heard before, a voice that was casual and magnetic, "Since it's the old captain's order, I'll just suppress my artistic talents for now."

"I think what you have is at most an artistic talent."

The cleaner grumbled, wiping the back of his neck with a towel as he asked, "How did I end up here all of a sudden?"

"Because I heard that Yuan Fei seemed to have suffered a blow and had been locking himself in his room and wouldn't come out."

The gentleman snapped his fingers and said leisurely, "Now that you don't have that little burden by your side anymore, will you still come to exercise at this time like before? I couldn't help but think about it, so I came over."

The cleaner grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the side and casually unscrewed the cap—

Bang!
With a muffled, jarring sound, the bottle of water in his hand fell to the ground, slowly soaking the thin carpet.

"whispering sound."

The cleaner pursed his lips, then bent down to pick up the half-empty bottle, drank it all in one gulp, and casually tossed it into the trash can, saying nonchalantly, "This illness really came at the right time."

The gentleman pinched the tip of his nose through his mask and asked, "When was the last time?"

"Three weeks ago, on the night of [date]."

Without hesitation, the cleaner gave the exact time and complained, "I was playing a mobile game in the gaming pod when my hand slipped and I almost got my nose smashed."

The gentleman nodded slightly: "I see."

"What do you mean?"

"So, you really are going to leave after all?"

"Leave? Where to? I just had a fit of illness, is it really necessary for you to kick me out like that?"

"You've been mentoring Yuan Fei."

"What's wrong? He's the boss's best friend's son, how could I not take care of him?"

"You took Bloodstained to a new level yesterday."

"Xiao Jiu dumped that hot potato on me, what can I do? I have to make the most of my salary, right?"

"You are trying to leave something behind for the [Red Constellation]."

"What the heck? How did I..."

When are you leaving?

"..."