Liu Fu smiled honestly. "Yes, we used to play competitive games like basketball when we were young. We're not worse than you youngsters."
Bai Liu fell silent for a moment. "You can tell me anytime if you want to quit before the final registration in two months. During these two months, I'll try to find someone else. You're only backup options. There's no need to force yourselves."
He said that, but in truth, Bai Liu didn't have many choices. Only two months remained. Most of the veteran players who had both the intention and the qualifications to participate had already signed up. Those who had chosen not to participate would never follow a newcomer like Bai Liu. They wanted to live long lives.
Xiang Chunhua and Liu Fu understood the dangers of this competition, but they wanted to repay Bai Liu. This seemingly cold man who had bought their souls and looked like a villain had, in fact, helped them from beginning to end.
It was just a game. If they died for this young man, so be it. They had already lived long enough—far longer than Guoguo.
Compared to Liu Fu and Xiang Chunhua, who had faced life and death before, Mu Sicheng was far less calm. He completely exploded when he heard that Bai Liu wanted him to take a few newcomers under his wing.
There was silence on Mu Sicheng's end for two seconds before his voice rose in disbelief. "You want me to help you train newcomers? Damn it, are you planning to compete with a brand-new team? Are you insane? This is the solution you came up with?!"
"I'm starting to think I got tricked onto this boat by you when I was mentally unstable." Mu Sicheng sounded on the verge of collapse. "And for your information, I've never brought along newcomers!"
"So you're quitting?" Bai Liu asked softly. "I'll allow it. But after you quit, you'll have to compete alone in this virtual world."
"Or," Bai Liu continued calmly, "you can join me in the league and fight for a real future."
Mu Sicheng's voice cut off abruptly, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. A long while passed before he spoke again, hoarse and helpless. "Damn it… Do I even have a choice? Of course I'm sticking with you."
Bai Liu inserted his key into the lock but didn't turn it. Instead, he asked into the phone, "Then will you help me train the newcomers?"
There was no reply—only the sound of uneven breathing. Bai Liu wasn't in a hurry. He simply waited, not hanging up.
"You're really good with words!" Mu Sicheng burst out in frustration. Bai Liu could almost picture him running a hand irritably through his hair.
In the end, Mu Sicheng sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll try. But let me be clear—I've never taken care of newcomers. I'm not some veteran in a guild who specializes in training rookies. If you hand them to me, I can't guarantee they'll make it out alive."
Bai Liu smiled faintly. "I prefer to assume you can succeed before anything even happens."
"Bai Liu, you're really good at dragging people into your gang." Mu Sicheng sounded speechless. "You've definitely run some pyramid scheme before, haven't you?"
"I don't do illegal things," Bai Liu replied evenly as he opened the door. "Since when have I ever tricked anyone into joining me?"
Mu Ke was waiting inside the house and turned around in surprise. Bai Liu had given him the spare key earlier and told him to wait there.
"When are we starting the game?" Mu Ke took a deep breath and clenched his fists. "I'm ready to join."
From the other end of the phone, Mu Sicheng scoffed. "That's Mu Ke, right? And you say you don't trick people? Then how did Mu Ke end up on your ship?"
Bai Liu simply hung up. "See you in the game, Mu Sicheng."
[System: Welcome player Bai Liu to the game. Please pay attention to your safety.]
Bai Liu slowly opened his eyes. He was still wearing a white shirt and suit pants. He and Mu Ke had logged in together, but players' spawn points were random. Bai Liu glanced around but didn't see Mu Ke anywhere nearby.
Just as he was about to search for him—and before he could even open his system panel—a bright red warning window suddenly popped up.
[System Warning: Player Bai Liu has received a kill order.]
[System Reminder: Friendly advice—change your appearance to avoid being hunted.]
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow. "A kill order? Then randomize my appearance."
[System: Entering random appearance change program: Height (174 → 161), hair color (black, short → brown, curly, long), lip color (natural → cherry red), pupil distance widened, eyes enlarged…]
His clothes shrank automatically to fit his altered form. Bai Liu lowered his head and examined himself—the appearance of a pure, harmless high school girl.
"..." He truly couldn't appreciate the system's aesthetic standards.
Still, this would significantly reduce the chances of being recognized. Even so, Mu Sicheng could probably still find him. That guy located people by smell. According to him, Bai Liu gave off a "copper stench" that could be detected from hundreds of meters away.
Sure enough, Mu Sicheng found him not long after entering.
Mu Sicheng wore a grave expression until he saw Bai Liu's long curly hair, his reduced height, and his flat-chested high school girl appearance. He froze. "You… have this kind of hobby?"
Bai Liu couldn't be bothered to respond. He tugged his skirt down to block Mu Sicheng's wandering gaze and said flatly, "Keep staring, and I'll kill you. I received a kill order. What's going on?"
"Yes, that's what I wanted to tell you." Mu Sicheng's expression immediately turned serious. "A guild has issued a direct kill order against you."
A kill order was similar to the fireworks announcement Bai Liu had seen before. It was a broadcast message sent to all players and required points to activate—much like the global loudspeaker announcements in large-scale online games. Once sent, every player could see it.
Just as Bai Liu was asking about it, another virtual firework exploded above his head. The glowing tail drifted downward and slowly scattered over his body. A notification window popped up automatically on his panel.
[System-wide Announcement: The Zombies Guild has issued a kill order against player Bai Liu.]
[Kill Order Content: The Zombies Guild promises all players that within three days, we will kill Bai Liu and seize his two god-level NPC items (Siren's Fishbone and Ghost Mirror) in preparation for the Support Season! All players are welcome to watch! Please support the Zombies Guild in the league.]
"Zombies Guild?" Bai Liu touched his chin thoughtfully. "Is that a small guild? I've never heard of it."
"It's not a small guild." Mu Sicheng sounded speechless. "Bai Liu, could you spare a little attention from farming points? You're about to enter the league. At least familiarize yourself with the popular teams and guilds."
"I didn't see the Zombies Guild in the top ten on the league's promotion interface," Bai Liu replied calmly. "If they're not in the top ten, doesn't that make them a small guild?"
His tone was completely flat. He wasn't mocking anyone—he was genuinely asking. Yet Mu Sicheng felt as though Bai Liu had just delivered a silent slap to the Zombies Guild's face. It made him grin despite himself.
The smile quickly faded.
"They're not small," Mu Sicheng repeated seriously.
He opened his system panel and pulled up the league's support promotion interface. His finger slid across the screen until he stopped on a particular page and showed it to Bai Liu.
"The guild itself isn't especially famous," Mu Sicheng said, pointing to two player profiles. "But it has two star players. They're also the founders."
"These two are both top-tier players with S-level panel attributes." Mu Sicheng looked at Bai Liu steadily. "They're stronger than Puppet Zhang. Professional-level players. They kill easily."
[Player: Miao Feichi][Current Support Comprehensive Data: 410,000 — Ranked 67th among all participating players. Death-Free Gold Medal unlocked.][Total Points Ranking: 134][Guild: Scavenger Zombies]
[Player: Miao Gaojiang][Current Support Comprehensive Data: 230,000 — Ranked 107th among all participating players. Death-Free Gold Medal unlocked.][Total Points Ranking: 179][Guild: Scavenger Zombies]
Next to the two-player posters was a triangular video button labeled:
[Highly Popular Support Video][Mixed Edit: Best Doubles Cooperation of the Year CUT~ Highlight Moments of the Scavenger Zombies — Bloody Father-and-Son Duo Who Fear No Crime~]
The video was free. Bai Liu entered without hesitation.
Three minutes later, the video ended.
The screen froze on its final frame: a man with a shackle strapped over his mouth unlocking it one-handed before lunging forward and biting into another player's back. The victim—clearly an enemy player—screamed in agony. Flesh was caught between the attacker's teeth. Blood smeared his entire face.
Beside him stood a tall, middle-aged man resembling a Qing Dynasty jiangshi rather than a Western-style zombie. His skin was bluish, his movements stiff but powerful. He swatted away a monster effortlessly, as if it couldn't harm him at all. He had the steady presence of a mature adult—if not for the eerie corpse-like face.
"The one eating flesh is Miao Feichi. He's the main damage dealer," Mu Sicheng explained. "The zombie-form one is Miao Gaojiang. His defense in zombie form is extremely high. Classic DPS and tank combination. Since they're father and son, their coordination is excellent."
He paused.
"Both of their panel stats exceed 8,000. They're S-level players. They could kill you in a fraction of a second."
Bai Liu rewound the video a few seconds and replayed the clip of Miao Feichi biting into someone. He held his chin thoughtfully.
"So this Miao Feichi… his attack method is biting?"
"No. His primary weapons are twin knives." Mu Sicheng hesitated, his tone turning complicated. "He eats people because… Miao Feichi has an eating disorder. He prefers corpses. Fresh ones. It's rumored that in real life, he was imprisoned for attempted criminal activity. Since it was only an attempt, he's already been released."
Bai Liu lifted his eyes to look at Mu Sicheng. "You can simplify it. He likes to eat children and attempted to kidnap one?"
Mu Sicheng fell silent for a moment. "Yes."
Such a horrifying fact failed to stir much visible reaction in Bai Liu. He merely continued rubbing his chin, deep in thought. Then he looked at Mu Sicheng with complete sincerity.
"I've been very low-key. Why are they targeting me?"
"…." Low-key?
Mu Sicheng internally complained that this man had practically set the entire game world on fire, yet still had the audacity to call himself low-key.
Outwardly, however, his face remained blank. "Maybe it's because you're better-looking."
Bai Liu—currently wearing a short skirt and looking like an innocent high school girl—nodded seriously.
"So that's the reason? I knew it."
Mu Sicheng: "..."
Don't actually believe that!