Chapter Thirty-Five: The Celebration Banquet

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Online Game: A Shot of Blood, No Pop-ups. The second update is here—please support with recommendation votes!

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That night, in the Quiet Moon Hall on the sixth floor of Dreamstar Grand Hotel, Qimen Corporation held a lavish celebration banquet.

Mr. Iron, in front of all the company executives, personally transferred 200,000 credit points into the account of every participant in the Survival Road event using his own crystal card. Then he transferred an additional 600,000 credit points to Long Zhan Xingye, fulfilling his earlier promise.

Long Zhan Xingye gave Wu Hua, the New Reporter, and Tu Tiao 100,000 credit points each, while the rest split 30,000 credit points among themselves.

Everyone was satisfied with this arrangement. Tu Tiao had sacrificed himself in a self-detonation, and the New Reporter had blown himself up as well, so they deserved a larger share. As for why Wu Hua also received 100,000 points, Qin MM began to show off her reporter skills, embellishing the escape story with vivid details and making it sound utterly spectacular.

Especially the part where Wu Hua single-handedly took on Snow Night Fairy, shot the fuel tank, avenged Fei MM, and finally delivered a stunning shot that killed Murong Longcheng in an instant, leapt onto the elevator after smashing the switch...

The people from Qimen Corporation listened spellbound; even Mr. Iron and Tianna were captivated. Tu Tiao and Ri Wan were deeply impressed. Wu Hua remained modest, responding humbly, though inwardly he was very pleased—mostly because Qin MM was such a master storyteller, throwing in a flood of adjectives and idioms, even local slang, with phrases like: “stunning shot, gentle strike, soaring kill, the charm of that bullet, wow amazing, wow how’s that possible, wow incredible, my god…”

When Mr. Iron heard Wu Hua had taken down two top experts from Blue Ocean Corporation, he insisted on paying Wu Hua an extra 20,000 reward points, but Wu Hua firmly refused. He knew one shouldn’t be too greedy; Mr. Iron was likely trying to recruit him for Qimen Corporation, but no matter how much money was offered, Wu Hua wouldn’t accept—it was about his freedom.

Instead, Long Zhan Xingye mentioned during the banquet the idea of forming a guild or company, inviting Wu Hua to join. Wu Hua said he would consider it.

The banquet was a joyful affair. After a round of feasting and drinking, Wu Hua knew it was time to say goodbye to everyone. He had become the hero in everyone’s eyes. Shoot You Without Guilt and Ugly Yet Handsome clung to Wu Hua, wanting him to join them for a night at “Double**,” but before Wu Hua could answer, Tu Tiao and Ri Wan protested—they wanted Wu Hua to join them at the underground nightclub for drinks. Su20 and Wandering in Jianghu insisted he come to their teahouse for mahjong. Fei MM and Qin MM, the beauties, resolutely refused to let him leave, saying they wanted to shoot a special edition advertisement…

The group argued endlessly, but finally Wu Hua gently declined all invitations—not because he didn’t want to go, but because the system’s mandatory logout time was approaching. If he didn’t rest soon, he’d be in trouble.

Everyone had no choice. After adding each other as friends on their receivers, they let Wu Hua leave.

After logging out, it was already midnight. Wu Hua visited the player forum. The forum was in chaos, filled with posts about the recent survival mission. Qimen Corporation’s reputation was soaring. Now nearly everyone knew that Qimen Corporation’s three top players had survived.

Players who participated in the event thought the mission was thrilling and exciting, hoping for more such activities. However, there was strong dissatisfaction with Lida Group, the game’s operator. Many had lost levels and equipment, needing to spend credit points to replace them, and Lida Group had made a tidy profit.

Other players were busy asking about one thing: which expert had actually managed to take out two of the Seven Fairies? They wanted to get autographs…

This event had clearly become known to players all across the major cities…

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“Hua, you’re awake?” Ah Jie poked his head in from the doorway, smiling. “You’ve played games all day and haven’t eaten—trying to become immortal?”

Wu Hua put down the mouse and grinned, “Jie, you’ve already prepared a late-night snack, haven’t you?”

Ah Jie laughed, “Then hurry up and come.”

When a huge plate of dumplings was placed before him, Wu Hua did not hesitate to devour them. He was truly famished, but his mood was so good tonight that he decided to eat a hundred dumplings before doing anything else.

The clock on the wall pointed to 1 a.m. As Wu Hua swallowed dumplings, a faint sense of warmth swept through his heart. In the middle of the night, Ah Jie had obviously stayed up waiting for him to eat.

Wu Hua was about to say something grateful, but Ah Jie spoke first: “Hua, you need to take care of yourself. You can’t keep playing until the middle of the night and expect me to look after you forever, right?”

Wu Hua paused, thinking Ah Jie had a point. He’d been living here for half a year and hadn’t even visited the city once.

“How about this, Jie—let’s just hire an hourly worker, or maybe a housekeeper,” Wu Hua said seriously.

“Pfft—” Ah Jie sprayed his tea. He admired Wu Hua’s way of thinking—it always veered off in unexpected directions.

Ah Jie gave a sly smile, “Hua, I have a classmate from middle school, a really good person, and we’ve stayed in touch for years. I think…”

Wu Hua said, “I get it, call him over. I’ll pay two thousand a month, including meals and lodging. Jie, let me tell you, I just made a bundle in Star Battle, a full three hundred thousand credits…”

“Pfft—” Ah Jie sprayed again, “Can you be serious?”

Wu Hua was puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

Ah Jie replied, “Here’s the thing—I’ve already arranged it. Tomorrow at 1 p.m., you’ll meet at Sweet Honey Café in Baling Community.”

Wu Hua didn’t look up, “Fine, meeting an old classmate. You should have a few drinks, don’t worry about me.”

Ah Jie stared at him, “You’re going alone.”

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“Pfft—” This time Wu Hua sprayed a mouthful of scallions, “Bro, are you out of your mind?”

“I’m serious. Her name is Yu Jialing, same birth year as you, a few months younger. She works at a small company, really a good person. Besides, I’ve already set up the meeting…” Ah Jie spoke eagerly.

“Wait.” Wu Hua interrupted, eyes wide, pointing at his own nose, “You… mean you want me to go on a blind date?”

Ah Jie said, “Oh, it’s not a blind date, just introducing you to a new friend—just make a friend, right?”

Wu Hua replied, “Right, that makes sense.”

Seeing Wu Hua’s less-than-pleased expression, Ah Jie quickly added, “I know you’re used to being alone, but just do it for me this time—I promise, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll play Star Battle with you.”

“You have the patience for gaming?” Wu Hua thought for a moment, “But I have no money, you know blind dates are a scam for free meals. What if I can’t pay? Sweet Honey Café is expensive—a cup of coffee alone…”

Ah Jie interrupted, “OK, OK, I’ll lend you money. Swipe as much as you want, pay me back whenever.” With that, he magically produced a China Bank credit card.

Wu Hua had no choice. The conversation had gone this far; if he didn’t go, he’d really be letting Ah Jie down.

“I knew these dumplings weren’t just cooked for nothing. Fine, I’ll go, at worst I’ll just go through the motions.”

“That won’t do.” Ah Jie said sternly, “You need to take it seriously.”

Wu Hua quickly agreed, “Alright, alright, I’ll be serious.” Though he said it, his mind was elsewhere: he hadn’t even checked the loot from Snow Night Fairy yet! Once this blind date was over, he needed to deal with it quickly; the item’s stats should be decent. Oh heavens, finally you’ve let me reform and open up—I will surely make progress in future events.

That night, Wu Hua dreamed his crystal card exploded—not from someone else, but because it had too many credit points and burst…