Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Through the headphones came a long, helpless, and resigned sigh from Su Enxi, followed by even more frantic keyboard typing.

"Damn it, this budget is going to explode."

Chapter 137 Twenty Million US Dollars

In the presidential suite of a five-star hotel in Beijing, Su Enxi walked barefoot on the soft carpet, with several huge screens surrounding her.

Financial data, satellite maps, personnel monitoring screens, and various analysis windows are running simultaneously.

She had just ended a call with Mai Shutoku, her fingers tapping on the table, her brow furrowed.

"Fate, Lu Mingfei, slay," she muttered to herself, taking a large gulp of iced coffee. "How can I make that loser believe he can slay a dragon? Do I have to keep telling him on repeat that I'm the chosen one?"

Traditional psychological suggestion or temporary training is obviously too late, and the subject is Lu Mingfei, so the effect will most likely be counterproductive.

We need a more subtle approach, one that aligns with his way of thinking, and one that can even inspire him to develop convictions spontaneously.

Su Enxi's gaze swept across the screen, and suddenly, a small window in the corner caught her attention. It was the surveillance footage of Lu Mingfei's hotel room.

In the scene, Lu Mingfei idly opens his laptop, and the screen lights up, revealing the login screen for World of Warcraft.

An extremely bold and absurd plan, yet strangely fitting Lu Mingfei's otaku tendencies, instantly took shape in her mind.

"Games!" Su Enxi's eyes lit up, like a gambler who had discovered a new continent. "That's right, games!"

For a boy like Lu Mingfei who lacks confidence and a sense of accomplishment in the real world, the successful experiences in the virtual world are one of the few ways he can build a sense of self-worth.

If the idea of ​​slaying the dragon could be rehearsed or even implanted into his subconscious in a way that he is familiar with and good at.

Su Enxi immediately sat up straight, her fingers dancing across the virtual keyboard like a blur.

She accessed a global corporate database and quickly identified her target: Blizzard Entertainment.

“Twenty million US dollars. No, we need to add more, to make sure they can’t refuse,” Su Enxi calculated rapidly. “For a game company, especially one that’s developing a new version, this windfall is enough to make them break all the rules.”

She quickly drafted an extremely brief but essential collaboration proposal, then picked up another encrypted satellite phone and dialed a number.

On the other end of the phone was the chief counsel of her large legal team, based in North America, and known for handling all sorts of unconventional business agreements.

“James, I have an urgent mission for you,” Su Enxi said. “Go immediately to Blizzard Entertainment headquarters in Irvine, California. Bring the highest level of confidentiality. Your goal is to get them to agree to expedited processing for a special project within 24 hours.”

James, the lawyer on the other end of the phone, was clearly used to his boss's wildly imaginative requests and calmly replied, "Understood, Ms. Su. What are the project details and our quote?"

"Project details: In the next major patch for World of Warcraft, urgently integrate a brand new raid instance with the highest storyline priority. The name and core design of the final boss must strictly adhere to the document I sent you," Su Enxi said rapidly. "Our offer: $20 million, cash payment, no equity stake, no interference in the subsequent operation of the game. The only requirement is that all the design of this raid instance must be completely in accordance with our requirements, and we must achieve the world's first kill."

Even the well-informed lawyer James remained silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone, trying to process this absurd request.

"Ms. Su, if I may be frank, the development process of game companies is usually..."

“There’s no usual way,” Su Enxi interrupted him. “Tell them that money isn’t the issue; time is. If they’re worried about the technical implementation and player feedback, they can make this instance a limited-time event or a special story event. After the first kill, it can be appropriately weakened or adjusted. But the first kill achievement and limited-time rewards must belong to our team.”

“I will do my best,” Attorney James replied cautiously, “regarding the BOSS's design and the first kill reward.”

"I'll send you the details right away. The BOSS's name is 'Fenrir, the King of Earth and Mountains.' The backstory is that it abducted a princess from a human kingdom, any king will do, and it dwells in a huge underground mountain labyrinth, with countless warriors embarking on a journey—a cliché but effective plot."

"The first kill must be achieved using a legendary weapon set called 'The Seven Deadly Sins'. Each weapon's item description must have a prominent inscription."

"The blood of kings must end with the sword."

Attorney James noted down the odd request: "Okay, Ms. Sue. I will include this as a core clause in the provisional agreement."

“This isn’t a temporary agreement; it’s a mandatory clause,” Su Enxi emphasized. “Tell them the money can be deposited immediately. If they don’t agree, I don’t mind using that money to buy some Blizzard put options.”

This is a blatant threat.

Attorney James understood immediately: "I get it. I will make them feel our sincerity and determination."

“Great. I’ll wait for your good news.” Su Enxi hung up the phone and immediately sent over the detailed requirements document she had prepared.

After doing all this, she leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if she had completed a precise operation comparable to a financial sniper strike.

She could even imagine the expressions on the faces of the designers and executives in the Blizzard headquarters conference room when they saw the proposal, from shock and absurdity to hesitation and struggle after seeing the huge checks, and finally to compromise under the power of capital.

A few hours later, the encrypted communicator lit up with a message from lawyer James:

"The agreement has been signed. Blizzard has utilized all available development resources, and the new dungeon, Mountain Nest, will be available for a hot-update in 36 hours. The first kill race will begin simultaneously. The boss name, backstory, reward weapon, and glyphs have all been meticulously designed to meet your requirements. Our studio account is ready."

The message was accompanied by an electronic agreement and a concept art of the BOSS that Blizzard's art department had rushed to produce at the request. It depicted a ferocious giant wolf made of rock and lava, lurking in a deep cave, exuding a sense of oppression.

Su Enxi smiled with satisfaction. She switched screens and looked at Lu Mingfei's slightly confused and nervous face on the monitor.

"Alright, White Rabbit," she murmured to herself, "The real world is too cruel, so I'll give you a simpler scenario to rehearse. I hope you can improve a bit, at least memorize the line 'All kings' blood must end with the sword.'"

She picked up the intercom and contacted the technical team in charge of the game studio. "Everyone, get ready. In a week, we need to get the world's first kill of the new World of Warcraft raid, Mountain Nest. During the process, the key is for Lu Mingfei to be responsible for the final kill of the boss Fenrir, and to use the 'Seven Deadly Sins' weapon for the final blow. I repeat, he must be the one to deliver the final blow."

Even though it's just virtual data, that's exactly what she wants—the sense of "ritual" and the "successful experience."

She wanted Lu Mingfei to unknowingly kill Fenrir, the king of the earth and mountains, and subconsciously connect the Seven Deadly Sins with the Dragon King of the End.

This may be the most expensive and outrageous form of psychotherapy in the world.

Su Enxi looked at the Blizzard logo and the $20 million transfer record on the screen, and curled her lip: "Twenty million, that's enough to buy so many bags of potato chips. Lu Mingfei, if you dare to mess up this time, I'll delete your game account!"

Chapter 138 In short, it's very leisurely.

Inside the luxury suite of the BJ Kassel Hotel, Lu Mingfei sprawled on the soft bed, staring blankly at the ceiling light.

This was completely different from the dragon-slaying mission he had imagined.

There were no emergency meetings, no mysterious maps, no dangerous packages from the equipment department, and even Professor Schneider's face, which could scare children to tears, did not appear in the video conference.

The only instruction was: "Stay put, keep a low profile, and observe the situation."

So, three days had passed since they arrived in Beijing, and the four of them felt like they had been forgotten in this luxury hotel.

Fingel was extremely satisfied with this, spending his days either watching pay-per-view movies in his room or studying the hotel menu, trying to maximize the amount reimbursed by the college.

Chu Zihang maintains a regular schedule, practicing swordsmanship, meditating, and analyzing intelligence at fixed times every day. Although the intelligence is currently scarce, he is like a clock that has been wound up tightly.

Frillie was still very interested in BJ, even though she had stayed at Xia Mi's place for half a month before.

She's become very particular about food these days.

Holding a review app recommended by Lu Mingfei, she dragged him to eat at almost every well-regarded restaurant near the hotel, from hot pot to roast duck, from douzhi and jiaoquan to donkey rolls. She especially loved sweets and exquisitely presented pastries.

Lu Mingfei was happy to act as a tour guide and dining companion, since being with the quiet Frilline was much more relaxing than facing Fingel's nagging and Chu Zihang's low mood.

But most of the time, he still felt a sense of anxiety and unease about having nothing to do.

Especially when he logs into World of Warcraft.

That night, he logged into his Blood Elf mage character "Mingminghencongming" on the first server as usual, intending to do some daily quests to pass the time.

Shortly after it went live, a dialog box popped up:

[Dragon Slayer]: Hey bro, need some DPS? Our fixed team needs a high-damage mage, guaranteed to have all your gear socketed, fly through dungeons the whole time, and efficiently level up.

Lu Mingfei paused for a moment, looked at his shabby blue and green outfit and his not-so-top-tier level, and replied, "You've mistaken me for someone else, haven't you? My equipment is terrible."

[Dragon Slayer]: That's right! It's you! You're clearly a smart pro! Our captain looked at your previous battle logs and said your movement is amazing, your awareness is top-notch, it's just that your equipment is holding you back! Come on, we'll carry you!

Before Lu Mingfei could react, an invitation to join the team popped up.

He clicked "accept" almost unconsciously, and was then pulled into a team full of max-level characters with dazzling equipment.

The team leader is this warrior tank called "Dragon Slayer," and there are several other classes whose IDs all exude the air of professional dragon slayers, such as [Dawn of Light], [Avalanche], and [Fel Purifier].

Over the next few hours, Lu Mingfei experienced what it truly meant to win without effort.

The captain used a summoning stone to teleport him directly to the entrance of the highest difficulty dungeon, and then he followed behind, picking up equipment and gold.

The teammates cleared monsters at an absurdly fast speed, their teamwork was so seamless that it was as if they were all operating the same system, their positioning was incredibly precise, and they were so familiar with the BOSS mechanics that it was as if they designed it themselves.

Lu Mingfei hardly had to do anything. He would occasionally press Frost Arrow twice as a token gesture, and he could see his experience bar rising rapidly, and his inventory filled with more and more purple gear.

"Wow, your damage output is amazing! With just a slight upgrade to your gear, you'll crush us!" [Dragon Slayer] praised enthusiastically in the voice chat, his sincere tone making Lu Mingfei wonder if he had amnesia and was actually a hidden gaming genius.

The same thing happened repeatedly.

Whenever he goes online, there are always a few enthusiastic netizens with cool IDs, superb skills, and luxurious equipment who can accurately find him and, without saying a word, pull him into various efficient teams to farm dungeons, fight battlegrounds, and do world quests.

His level skyrocketed, and his equipment score improved rapidly, quickly reaching the level of a top-tier player.

He even inexplicably joined a guild called the Kassel Expeditionary Force. The guild had a lively atmosphere and organized various activities every day. However, the guild leader and officers took special care of him, a newcomer, and would ask him first if he needed any good equipment.

While enjoying this unprecedented gaming experience, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but wonder, "Am I having a stroke of good luck? Do I really have a talent for gaming that I hadn't discovered before? Or is it just that Beijing's feng shui is particularly good for me?"

He also tentatively asked his teammates, "Why are you all so nice to me?"

The other party's responses were always impeccable: "What a coincidence, sir!" "Our captain admires people with potential like you!" "Guild policy: supporting newcomers!"

This good fortune even extended into reality.

When he and Frilian went out to eat, they always happened to run into restaurants that were having promotions or discounts, or the owners would give them free dishes when they were in a good mood.

He was almost grazed by a speeding sports car in front of the hotel. The car stopped abruptly just centimeters away from him in a way that almost defied the laws of physics, and the driver got out and bowed and apologized.

Even when he couldn't sleep at night and turned on the TV, he would happen to catch a replay of his favorite old StarCraft match.

All of this exuded an eerie harmony and a sense of unreality. It was as if an invisible hand was quietly manipulating the threads of his destiny behind the scenes, laying out a soft carpet for him so that he could walk comfortably.

"Senior brother, do you think I've been having a stroke of good luck lately?" Lu Mingfei finally couldn't help but ask Chu Zihang while eating breakfast.

Chu Zihang put down his milk glass, glanced at him, his gaze calm and unwavering: "Luck is part of ability. But excessive success often means there's a bigger scheme behind it. Stay vigilant."

With bacon stuffed in his mouth, Fingel mumbled, "What scheme? It's definitely some hidden perk the academy arranged for us S-class underlings because they see how hard we've worked! Maybe Norma is secretly taking care of us! Lu Mingfei, while we're still lucky, quickly check if the lottery ticket the hotel gave us will win!"

Frillie gently stirred the hot milk in her cup with a small spoon and said softly, "The gifts of fate always come with a price tag. Enjoy the moment, but also be prepared."

Lu Mingfei nodded as if he understood, but his slight sense of pride was quickly suppressed by his unease.

He returned to his room and logged into World of Warcraft again.

As soon as it went live, the guild channel exploded with excitement.

[Guild] [Dragon Slayer]: @MingmingIsSmart is here! Perfect timing! Blizzard just released an amazing limited-time dungeon, "Mountain Nest," with the final boss being "Fenrir, King of the Earth and Mountains"! You must use specific gear and the Seven Deadly Sins to defeat him!

[Guild] [Dawn of Light]: Holy crap! This boss name and equipment names are so cool! We have to get the first kill!

[Guild] [Fel Purification]: Mingming, we've been waiting for you! We've formed a fixed raid group, guaranteeing you the first kill, and we'll give you the gear!

Fenrir, the king of the earth and mountains?

The Seven Deadly Sins?