He had barely caught his breath when another message from Ji Shileng arrived.
Shang Jianli immediately set down his water and replied.
[We Met as Snow Fell]: I heard this weapon has a high attack stat, so I went and pulled for it.
He didn’t want Ji Shileng to lose.
He wanted him to win.
A long while passed before the reply came.
[Shileng]: You really went to some expense! There was no need. This kind of weapon is better suited to one-on-one arena matches.
[Shileng]: Guild battles like ours are more about strategy and ganging up on people…
At the other end, Shang Jianli smiled.
[We Met as Snow Fell]: It’s fine. Details decide the outcome. A higher attack stat is still better than a lower one.
Su Ke leaned over beside Ji Shileng and muttered:
“Seriously? He just decided to pull for that weapon and got it?”
Ji Shileng opened [We Met as Snow Fell]’s profile. The other player hadn’t enabled privacy settings, so the exact stats of all his equipment were visible.
He moved his cursor over the glittering golden weapon. Before he could speak, Su Ke exclaimed:
“Damn. Another whale!”
The weapon was called the Shadowflash Sword.
The only way to obtain it was to pour money into its limited weapon banner.
Path to Stardom had introduced special limited weapon banners specifically for big spenders.
A weapon could only be obtained once a player’s cumulative spending on its banner reached a set amount.
This prevented lucky players from getting it immediately and improved the experience for those willing to spend heavily.
After all, if someone else pulled it on their first try, wouldn’t those who had spent so much look ridiculous?
“Shileng, I think we’re guaranteed to win our opening match tonight”
Su Ke was brimming with confidence.
Ji Shileng studied the opposing guild’s information and rubbed his temples.
“They aren’t weak. Don’t underestimate them”
Su Ke waved a hand dismissively.
“Not weak doesn’t mean strong. I had people infiltrate their guild for two days. Their promising players were poached by the bigger guilds ages ago”
Ji Shileng closed the clutter of windows, leaving the guild interface on his screen.
He couldn’t help laughing.
“You even sent in spies?”
“Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never lose”
Su Ke winked at him.
Lately, guild leader Ji Shileng had fully embraced being a hands-off boss. Almost everything had been arranged by Su Ke.
While recruiting members, he had also planted several capable players in other guilds as spies.
The guild battle would begin at eight sharp. Ten minutes remained.
As the guild’s commander, Su Ke already had his microphone on.
Ji Shileng switched to the game forum. Despite Su Ke’s assurances, his instincts told him victory would not come so easily tonight.
He entered “guild buff items” into the search bar.
After skimming a few posts, he returned to the game, opened the top-up page, and began spending.
Buying one 648 bundle at a time was too slow. He called one of his own operations staff, transferred a hundred thousand star coins to the man’s bank account, and asked him to credit the entire sum directly to his game account.
Su Ke stared.
“Why are you suddenly throwing money at the game?”
Ji Shileng certainly didn’t lack limited weapons. Besides, the Shadowflash Sword wasn’t to his taste. A certain person named Ji preferred guns.
He wouldn’t be pulling on this banner.
“My instincts say it won’t be that simple”
Ji Shileng opened the shop.
“If things start going wrong, I’ll buy buffs for the whole team”
He continued nonchalantly:
“If I’m wrong, I’ll just consider it boosting our own game’s revenue”
A few hundred thousand star coins were hardly worth worrying about.
During every guild war, the shop opened a dedicated section for each guild’s big spenders.
Every item cost a fortune and could only be used in guild battles.
Su Ke thought Ji Shileng was worrying unnecessarily. Their members were the best of the best, with a thorough understanding of the game.
But at his last remark, Su Ke nodded in agreement.
“True. Once the battle’s over, I’ll put some money into our game too. Give the revenue a boost”
“Boss Su! Your microphone’s still on”
An employee quietly reminded him.
Su Ke and Ji Shileng: “…”
The battle hadn’t even begun, and they had already had their first mishap.
“It should be fine”
Su Ke muted himself, scratched his head, and gave an awkward laugh.
Ji Shileng sighed helplessly.
“It’s all right. Most of them are our own people anyway”
Besides, the identity behind his username wasn’t much of a secret.
People already knew he was Joker Studio’s owner.
Shang Jianli quietly took note of the conversation between Ji Shileng and Su Ke.
With a few minutes remaining, he began buying top-ups in rapid succession, one 648 bundle after another.
He wanted to support Ji Shileng’s career too.
With one minute left until eight, every guild member was ready and assembled on the Sky City map.
Whichever side breached the opposing base first would win.
The rules were simple. Everyone was eager to begin.
Ji Shileng equipped his longest-range photon gun, intending to stay behind the main force once the battle started.
He hadn’t played in far too long. With everything happening lately, he hadn’t found time to get back into practice either.
His game sense could keep up, but his hands might not.
He suspected he would probably drag the team down.
To avoid dying repeatedly and feeding the enemy stats and buffs, he intended to stay safely hidden and quietly build an advantage.
Su Ke used two movement skills to charge straight to the front. When he failed to spot the familiar dazzlingly white figure ahead, he turned toward Ji Shileng’s monitor.
[Shileng] was strolling leisurely at the very back of the formation, looking as relaxed as could be.
Su Ke: “…”
Remembering his friend’s circumstances, he understood.
“Want me to assign someone to protect you?”
As guild leader, Ji Shileng was bound to be targeted by enemy players hoping to disrupt their morale.
“It’s fine. I’ll just stay in the back”
He changed his character into a drab gray outfit, determined to blend into the crowd.
“The shop has a new Target Lock item this time”
An employee raised a hand to address the two bosses.
“Target Lock?”
Ji Shileng looked blank.
Su Ke had been responsible for everything related to guild battles lately.
The employee’s voice grew quieter.
“Once it’s used, the target can be located no matter where they hide”
Put simply, it was effectively a wallhack.
Ji Shileng: “…”
Why hadn’t anyone said so sooner?
He immediately changed his character into a blue-and-white combat uniform.
If he was going to be seen regardless, he might as well look good.
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