Chapter 69

"Oh... It's Atobe," Feng Buju turned around and saw Atobe-kun and Nantake, with two other people beside them.

Feng Buju had never seen these two before, but in the mall, all players' nicknames were displayed. Looking at the names of the two: [Nantake] and [Tannake], it was clear they were a group.

People like them, whose game names revealed their companionship, were obviously not just acquaintances from playing games. Only those who started the game together would choose similar names, so it was not hard to deduce that they were all real-life friends.

In this case, Atobe-kun's game ID seemed a bit out of place...

"Go away... Don't act like we're close or anything," Atobe replied, "Didn't we get screwed in that last scenario because of you?"

"What do you mean 'screwed'?" Feng Buju asked.

"Are you kidding? You told us to grind weapon proficiency at the gun shop, but before we could finish, a super-strong monster came and one-shotted us," Atobe said.

Feng Buju added, "Did you at least get your weapon proficiency to E?"

"Um... Yes," Atobe replied.

"Then that's it. The main goal was achieved. You got your weapon proficiency from N/A to E and got some gear. Dying is just part of the game. I never said I could guarantee you'd survive the scenario," Feng Buju countered, "Besides, who has the ability to promise that? I'm not a professional player who trains newbies."

"It does make sense..." Nantake said.

"What sense?" Atobe retorted, but he couldn't think of a good counter-argument. At the time, he and Nantake were completely taken aback by Feng Buju's words and actions, and chose to follow his lead. He couldn't blame others for that, "But whatever, I'm a generous person. Besides, we did get some experience from the completion reward, so I won't hold it against you."

"Tch~" The three people behind Atobe simultaneously made a derisive hiss.

"Who are you guys, anyway?" Atobe said, annoyed. So, being the leader of this studio was truly a tragic affair; he only had three employees, all of whom were his friends.

How do men show deep friendship? Mainly by tearing each other down and cursing, but never holding grudges. If two people are polite and keep their distance, speaking carefully, it's just a superficial friendship.

"Hey? I noticed your uniforms are the same, and there's a logo on them. How did you do that?" Feng Buju asked.

When he saw the four of them, he noticed they were all wearing the same outfits. Now that the mall was open, the system had introduced a wide variety of clothing options, allowing players to have more freedom and personalized appearances. Those who still wore the default black T-shirt and pants were either public beta testers who hadn't completed many scenarios or internal beta testers who had just spent all their game coins.

The four in front of him were dressed in sportswear. Their long-sleeved tops were white with a blue right sleeve, and the left third of the top and the left sleeve were also blue. They wore black, loose-fitting athletic pants. In short... Hyotei.

On their right shoulder, there was a special logo, with the characters [Hyotei] written vertically, and above it, a light blue ice rose. This was a new game feature, a derivative of the "Club" system, where the leader could design a logo that would be displayed on all club members' clothes. Depending on the clothing style, the system would place it in an appropriate position. Since these Hyotei members were all wearing the same outfit, the logo was on their right shoulder.

"This is our studio's logo," Atobe-kun said proudly, "I designed it myself!"

"Let me be clear, I think this logo is pretty bad," Nantake (referred to as Laoqu from now on) interjected. He looked quite handsome, but his hairstyle was a wild afro.

"I also want to make it clear that Atobe forced us to wear this outfit," Tannake (referred to as Zhenge from now on) added. He had also beautified his face but chose a mohawk hairstyle.

Among these four oddballs, besides Atobe-kun's rather handsome hairstyle, the other three were: Nantake, bald; Laoqu, afro; Zhenge, mohawk. In reality, the latter three all had regular short hair, and they would never get these hairstyles, so they indulged themselves in the game.

"Indeed... This logo is a bit girly. It seems you guys are quite helpless," Feng Buju said sympathetically, "But I see that you all have unique bone structures and hairstyles..."

"Hey! Who said it's girly! It's elegant, cold, and handsome!" Atobe interrupted.

"Bro..." Feng Buju placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's as girly as a piping bag full of lemon cream..."

Atobe pushed his hand away, "I can't understand your analogy..."

Nantake said weakly from behind, "Ah... Mr. Feng, you see, he won't listen to us."

Laoqu added, "He's stubborn..."

Zhenge also chimed in, "We might as well call ourselves the Hyotei Gigolos..."

"Shut up! I'm the leader!" Atobe shouted.

Because his voice was a bit louder, a virtual guard instantly moved to their side. The guard was humanoid, standing at 1.9 meters tall, with no skin, just a metal skeleton, resembling the pure robot form of the Terminator. It wore a black uniform with a large, prominent "Management" character on the back. Whenever there was any unusual activity in the public space, such as a group surrounding one or more people, the virtual guard would instantly move to the side to maintain order and handle the situation.

"Is there a problem here?" The guard's voice was set to a completely emotionless, mechanical tone, but they were actually quite intelligent and generally wouldn't take action, just ask questions.

"No, we're just chatting," Feng Buju replied.

The guard looked at the group again and then turned and left.

"Looks like I need to read the full public beta game guide in the login space later," Feng Buju said, watching the guard's back with a smile.

"Alright, I won't waste time with you. I don't want these guys to sell out their teammates in front of strangers," Atobe said to him, "In the near future... when we make a name for Hyotei, this logo will naturally become a symbol of strength, ohahaha..." He laughed, placing his hands on his hips and waving at his three friends, "Let's go, let's go..." Before leaving, he added, "Mr. Feng, see you later. If you ever want to ask me for an autograph, I might consider it, hahaha..."

"Haha... ha..." Feng Buju's lips twitched, and he forced a dry laugh, "S-see you later..."

{Piaotian Literature}