I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Zhang Chaoyang stared at the line of text on the screen, his brows furrowing.

He played World of Warcraft for a year and never heard of ruby ​​cat's eye in the arena.

But he was too embarrassed to say directly, "What are you talking about?"—what if it was some high-level jargon he had never encountered before?

After all, he only has 1,600 in the arena; there might be people with 2,200 or higher who are really researching these things.

So Zhang Chaoyang tried a different approach: "If we're talking about cat's eye stones, what grade would be suitable?"

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "It depends on your budget."

Mr. Wang, the general manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "If you have money, go for full +5; if you're a little less, go for a mix of +5 and +4. But your weapon must be fully upgraded. If it's not, your damage will drop significantly. Whether you can win at your rank basically depends on your burst damage in the first two rounds."

Zhang Chaoyang seemed to understand a little bit, yet also seemed to understand nothing at all.

What does "just watch the first two rounds to see if it goes off" mean?

Isn't what you do in the arena about control chains, dispels, baiting interrupts, and using pillars to block line of sight? When did anyone start describing the arena as "just watching the first two rounds for burst damage"? That sounds more like the logic of a turn-based game.

But before Zhang Chaoyang could ask, Shen Kang sent another message.

"What sect do you belong to?"

Zhang Chaoyang stared at the words "sect" for a full five seconds.

In World of Warcraft, there are no factions.

It's called a profession.

But he thought that's what experts call each other, so he patiently replied, "Thief."

Dormitory next door

Shen Kang glanced at the word "thief" that Zhang Chaoyang had sent him, and now he couldn't quite tell whether Zhang Chaoyang had actually switched from World of Warcraft. After all, Tianshan was an assassin class, and many original Tianshan players called Tianshan thieves.

Then I thought about how Tianshan could fight Wudang.

Then he typed away on the keyboard and sent a reply.

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "Thieves are a natural counter to mages. You only need to pay attention to one thing: critical strike. Max out your rubies, and then stack critical strike chance on the rest. Once you have over 60 critical strike chance, the probability of getting a triple attack will be quite considerable."

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "What level of ice attack did you apply to your weapon?"

"..."

Zhang Chaoyang felt his brain was starting to malfunction. Critical hit? Ice attack? He had played World of Warcraft for a year and had never seen these terms in any strategy guide.

"You mean 'critical hit'..." Zhang Chaoyang typed carefully, "...is it a critical strike?"

"Pretty much. But be careful, high critical strike chance won't result in critical strike damage; in fact, it will decrease. It needs to be combined with armor penetration. How much armor penetration?"

Zhang Chaoyang stared blankly at the screen.

Break through the defenses.

He didn't know what armor penetration was. He only knew about armor penetration, but that was called "armor penetration," not "armor breaking."

The word "breakdown" didn't remind him of any attribute in World of Warcraft, but rather of his feelings when the Orcs had just destroyed his base.

Zhang Chaoyang wondered, could it be that Shen Kang wasn't playing World of Warcraft?

But the thought only flashed through his mind before he dismissed it—Jiang Yateng had just said that Shen Kang played World of Warcraft quite well. While Jiang was a sycophant, he wouldn't lie about something so easily exposed.

Then there's only one possibility: Shen Kang's game is too advanced, so advanced that a newbie like me with a score of 1600 can't understand it at all.

Zhang Chaoyang's pride wouldn't allow him to continue exposing his ignorance. He decided to gloss over it for now.

"It's alright at penetrating defenses, it's enough."

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "How much is enough? Send me a screenshot."

"It's not convenient to take a screenshot right now, I'm still in the queue."

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "Alright. Anyway, just remember, when it comes to competition, it all boils down to two things."

Zhang Chaoyang perked up.

Are we about to get down to the practical stuff?

"Which two points?" Zhang Chaoyang immediately typed to ask.

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "First, is your stone hard enough?"

Zhang Chaoyang nodded thoughtfully.

The stone is probably a metaphor for equipment?

Equipment is indeed very important. It's common to get crushed in the arena when you have low gear level, and he can accept that.

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "Secondly, is your macro well written?"

"I know a genius who writes incredibly awesome scripts. He specializes in artificial intelligence and can time the enemy's skill activation perfectly, making me look like a grandson."

Zhang Chaoyang's half-finished hand froze in mid-air.

The skill's timing is perfect, down to the second?

Artificial intelligence?

Zhang Chaoyang felt that the distance between him and Shen Kang was not just a wall, but an entire dimension.

Zhang Chaoyang has been playing World of Warcraft for a year and has never used cheats!

Even the plugins used are only the officially certified BigFoot.

In his eyes, using scripts is no different from cheating.

When Shen Kang talked about this, his tone was as casual as if he were saying, "The braised pork in the cafeteria was pretty good today," and there was even a hint of boasting—not about the script itself, but about the identity of the big shot who wrote the script.

Zhang Chaoyang tentatively typed a line of text: "Does your server not handle scripts?"

"Do what you want."

Mr. Wang, the general manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale, spoke in a plain tone, yet his words were filled with a sense of self-righteousness.

"So I usually log in at night, and play manually during the day. But to be honest, manual PvP is just so-so. If you fill up your gems and set up your macros, you can stand there and not be killed by the opponent."

If you stand still, they can't kill you.

Zhang Chaoyang read the sentence three times to make sure he hadn't misread it.

He was kited to death in the arena, polymorphed and taken down by mages, and stunned so badly by rogues that his hands left the keyboard. He never knew what it meant to be "unkillable by standing still".

If such a realm truly exists, it must be another world beyond his imagination.

Zhang Chaoyang suddenly felt something was wrong.

From beginning to end, his conversation with Shen Kang seemed to be going on, but it also seemed like they were on completely different wavelengths.

He was talking about circling the pillars in the arena to trick people into interrupting him, while Shen Kang was talking about hitting the stones to make macro adjustments.

He was talking about thieves attacking mages, while Shen Kang was talking about stacking critical strike chance to the sixty-something.

The two of them chatted back and forth for quite a while, and somehow every sentence they said matched the previous one, and every sentence they said didn't match the previous one.

Zhang Chaoyang stared at the chat history again, reading it over and over, and the more he looked, the more something seemed off. Then a suspicion welled up in his mind—was Shen Kang actually playing World of Warcraft?

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to try a different approach.

"Shen Kang, how long have you been playing this?"

"It started at the beginning of this semester."

It started at the beginning of the semester? Zhang Chaoyang did some quick calculations and realized that it had only been about half a year.

How can someone reach the point where they can "stand still and be unkillable" in just half a year? He struggled in the 1600 MMR range for a year, while Shen Kang became a godlike player in just half a year?

unless……

"How much money did you recharge?" Zhang Chaoyang typed, finally asking the most crucial question.

"I haven't calculated it precisely, but it's probably tens of thousands."

Looking at the words "tens of thousands," Zhang Chaoyang suddenly felt that all his previous confusion had been resolved.

It's not that Shen Kang is being sophisticated; it's that he's playing a completely different game!

While he was diligently practicing his skills, researching tactics, and memorizing the skills of various professions, Shen Kang was spending money on stones.

Tens of thousands of yuan is enough for him to pay four years of tuition and still have change.

Then Zhang Chaoyang suddenly thought of a question: What game is Shen Kang talking about, such as ruby ​​cat's eye stones, critical hits, and armor penetration? There are no such things in World of Warcraft.

"Shen Kang, may I ask what game you're playing?"

"The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils."

Zhang Chaoyang looked at the four words on the screen and slowly, word by word, typed out a sentence: "I've been talking to you about 'World of Warcraft' the whole time."

Shen Kang remained silent for a while.

Then he sent me a message: "Oh, you mean World of Warcraft!"

Mr. Wang, the general manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "No, what's so fun about PvP in World of Warcraft? Come play Tian Long Ba Bu, I'll take you. We'll create our own guild, and I'll find a pro to write a script specifically for our guild to steal bosses. All the resources on the server will be ours."

Zhang Chaoyang stared at the passage, and Jiang Yateng's words from earlier suddenly flashed through his mind—"Shen Kang plays World of Warcraft quite well."

That's a lie.

Shen Kang had never played World of Warcraft. Jiang Yateng was talking complete nonsense, the kind of nonsense that was made up on the spot without even a draft. And yet, he actually believed it, went to Shen Kang for advice on arena tactics, and even forced himself to talk to him for ages about ruby ​​cat's eye stones.

Zhang Chaoyang took a deep breath and typed: "So Old Jiang said you're incredibly strong in PvP in World of Warcraft?"

Shen Kang replied quickly: "He probably got it mixed up. Last time I talked to him about 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils,' he probably didn't distinguish between them."

Can't tell the difference? Zhang Chaoyang knows Jiang Yateng too well.

Jiang Yateng wasn't unaware of the difference; he simply didn't want to. At that moment, he made up a reason to fool himself, and he didn't care what would happen if he was exposed later—because he felt he wouldn't ask Shen Kang again.

Zhang Chaoyang thought for a moment, then, feeling a little unwilling, finally typed a line: "So, the effect of standing still and not being killed by the opponent is from spending tens of thousands of yuan?" That sounds pretty cool.

"Pretty much. If you also deposit tens of thousands, you can too."

Zhang Chaoyang quickly did the math in his head. Tens of thousands of yuan—his dad's monthly salary was 3,500 yuan; even if he saved for a year without spending a penny, it wouldn't be enough. Games were never played like that for him.

"Forget it, I'll just play my World of Warcraft instead."

"Whatever you want. But seriously, if you can't get past 1600 in the arena, don't keep thinking about your skills. Sometimes the problem isn't with your skills, it's with your computer's specs. Max out your specs first and see."

Zhang Chaoyang stared at the word "configuration" and suddenly realized that Shen Kang wasn't entirely showing off his wealth. Although the two of them had been talking at cross purposes the whole time, this sentence inexplicably touched a nerve with him tonight—he often couldn't win in the arena, and he did feel that the opponent's skills weren't that great either, it was just a numerical advantage.

Whenever he was outmatched by the opponent's stats, Zhang Chaoyang would play a few rounds of Warcraft to vent his frustration.

That's why he was playing Warcraft just now.

The more they fought, the more heated it became.

Equipment configuration...

After thinking for a while, Zhang Chaoyang abruptly ended the cross-server chat.

"Alright, that's enough. I've arranged to play a few rounds with Lao Jiang."

Mr. Wang, General Manager of AAA Building Materials Wholesale: "Okay. Let me know when you want to play 'Tian Long Ba Bu'."

Zhang Chaoyang closed the dialog box, switched the mouse back to the Warcraft III interface, and clicked "Rematch".

The countdown to the match was ticking away, and he leaned back in his chair, unable to resist glancing back at Jiang Yateng.

Jiang Yateng was still writing the proposal, his keyboard clattering away, the document already filled with several paragraphs. The title bar clearly stated: "Pilot Program for Cross-University Textbook Circulation - Taking the University of Technology as an Example".

A freshman, on the last night before winter break, instead of packing his luggage or playing games, sat in his dorm writing some kind of pilot program plan.

The scene itself felt unfamiliar to Zhang Chaoyang.

He didn't know what kind of understanding Shen Kang and Jiang Yateng had reached, nor did he know what the purpose of writing this plan was, but he suddenly felt that Jiang Yateng's running to Shen Kang's side might not be simply to flatter him.

At least, someone who only knows how to flatter wouldn't be writing proposals in the middle of the night.

Match successful, game loading progress bar starts climbing on the screen.

Zhang Chaoyang looked away and flexed his fingers.

who cares.

He didn't want to get involved in Shen Kang's world; he had his own battles to fight and his own responsibilities to fulfill.

He'll reach 1600 in the arena eventually through his own skill!

Loading complete, game begins. This time Zhang Chaoyang chose Night Elf, and the opposing team was Human. He took a deep breath and pushed the mouse forward.

He decided to switch races this time and try his luck.

Dormitory next door

Shen Kang did not immediately close the chat box with Zhang Chaoyang, but stared at it for a while.

He had a fairly deep impression of a classmate named Zhang Chaoyang, after all, the owner of the game "Tian Long Ba Bu" that he played had the same name.

On the first day of school, Zhang Chaoyang surprised him when he went on stage to introduce himself.

However, Shen Kang wasn't thinking about Zhang Chaoyang right now; he was thinking about Jiang Yateng.

"So, it sounds like Jiang Yateng told his roommates, 'I'm a Warcraft pro'?..."

Shen Kang roughly guessed what had happened.

He usually laughs and jokes, but he's also observant of certain situations, knowing that the students in the next dorm look down on Jiang Yateng a little.

Judging from today's events, Jiang Yateng did not choose to directly erupt or confront the issue, but instead adopted a different approach.

This did indeed give him a better understanding of Jiang Yateng.

After thinking for a while, Shen Kang stopped thinking about it, closed the chat window with Zhang Chaoyang, and switched to the "Operation Coordination Committee".

Everyone's online, chatting about winter break.

Unknown Box: So you're not coming back tomorrow?

Khaki Cat: Hmm, Shen Kang has something else to do.

Guan Bupo: How come he still has things to do even on holiday? I feel like he's busier than the chief.

Kachi Cat: Shen Kang is quite busy.

Guan Bupo: If she doesn't come back, you can come back first.

The khaki cat didn't say anything more.

After a short while, Professor Xiao spoke up.

Unknown Box: Forget it, it's only a matter of two days. I'll come back naturally when I'm done. I think we shouldn't bother with it.

Guan Bupo: Okay.

……