Chapter 42 Part 1

When the last dessert was served, a strange feeling finally surfaced in Bo He's heart.

An elegant and quiet environment, delicious dishes, two people sitting in silence, and no other customers around.

No matter how she looked at it, this didn't seem like a work meal.

Seeing him pick up his napkin, Bo He finally found a chance to speak.

"President Qin, I want to get good at the game quickly. We should go back to the company."

"Seeing you so eager, I'm very gratified. I'm sure we'll sync up and develop good chemistry soon." Qin Chuan smiled and took out his phone. "Come on, let's start."

Bo He: ???

Seeing that she wasn't moving, Qin Chuan asked strangely, "What's wrong?"

Bo He said, "Shouldn't we work overtime at the company?"

Qin Chuan: "Isn't it more comfortable here? There's food and drink, and we'd be stuck in traffic on the way back. We can save the time it takes to return to the company and play a few more rounds. Won't you be able to go home earlier too?"

The last sentence convinced Bo He.

A waiter came in to clear the leftover dishes, served a fruit platter and some light tea, and the two of them leaned back against their bamboo chairs—

Opened the game, and started to team up.

Bo He felt that since she had already shown her noob side, she definitely couldn't suddenly display a superhuman performance now.

So she played it safe and steady, carefully maintaining her noob act, and followed Qin Chuan after landing.

When Qin Chuan entered the factory, she followed behind him. When Qin Chuan picked up gear, she was naturally left empty-handed.

At first, Qin Chuan was focused on picking up items and didn't pay attention. It wasn't until gunfire rang out from behind and the system notified him that a teammate had been eliminated that he realized Bo He had died.

The "Peppermint Tea" who had astounded him with a flying arrow in Nine Heavens, the one he desperately wanted as his master; the "Peppermint Tea" who had fought one against ten in a dungeon, pushing "Shield of Zeus" into a wretched state; the "Peppermint Tea" whom even top players from other servers sought out to play matches for them, had actually been killed right after landing, a goner who died before even picking up any gear.

Would anyone believe it?

Of course, Qin Chuan didn't believe it.

But he knew Bo He was skilled, whereas Bo He didn't know that he knew she was skilled.

He couldn't even expose this fact; she could simply deny it to the death.

The battlefield changed in an instant. After being distracted for just a short moment, Qin Chuan was sniped.

He died with his eyes open.

Bo He was still cheering on the side: "President Qin, you're amazing!"

Qin Chuan: ...

The two stared at each other.

Qin Chuan smiled slowly and said gently, "It's alright. You're just getting started, so it's common for your performance to be unstable. Don't worry, we'll just practice slowly."

"President Qin, to what level do we need to practice?"

Bo He reflected for about half a second, wondering if she should go learn some acting skills from her godfather Zhuo Yi, to make her "steady but noobish" performance more believable.

Qin Chuan pretended to think. Bo He's heart was in her throat, truly afraid he would say something like ranking up from Bronze to Diamond.

"For any game, no matter how unskilled you are, you'll get the hang of it after a few more rounds. How about this, let's set a more relaxed goal. As long as we can consistently maintain a top-three standard before the company competition, that'll be good enough."

Top three sounded difficult, but for Bo He, it was naturally not a problem. What she had to worry about was how to meet Qin Chuan's requirement without being seen as acting.

"What about tonight? What standard do we need to reach?" she asked.

Qin Chuan: "Let's play until you get the hang of it."

What does "getting the hang of it" mean?

It was a very abstract term.

But for a veteran gamer like Bo He, it was easy to understand.

She often had moments of genius in her operations and positioning during PKs. For example, when an enemy clearly used a fatal blow at extremely close range, logically, it would be 99.99% impossible to dodge, but Bo He would somehow dodge it. Several of her PK matches in Nine Heavens were still frequently cited by game streamers as classic case studies for teaching.

Someone once dug deep, asking Bo He exactly how she did it, but in reality, she herself found it difficult to explain the feeling in that instant.

It was like a duel between masters. Often, at the moment of life and death, inspiration would suddenly strike, allowing one to use a move they had never grasped before or an ultimate skill they had long struggled to master. It was a moment of sudden enlightenment and inspiration, ultimately becoming that 0.01% possibility.

Profound and mysterious, wonderful beyond words.

This kind of thing was often difficult to describe in concrete language.

In short, Qin Chuan's standard was both lenient and strict. As for whether she had "gotten the hang of it," wasn't it ultimately up to him to decide?

In her mind, Bo He cursed Qin Chuan from head to toe. She sighed inwardly and resignedly followed him in parachuting.

Qin Chuan suddenly seemed to remember something. He looked up and said, "Although this is an amateur competition and unrelated to our actual jobs, I was the one who kept you here, after all. From now on, after work every day, I'll pay you triple the overtime rate. I'll pay for it out of my own pocket."

Bo He feigned politeness: "How could I accept that?"

Qin Chuan mused, "Since you feel embarrassed..."

Bo He: "But since President Qin is so earnest and sincere, it would be disrespectful of me to refuse."

Qin Chuan wanted to laugh but held it back. His self-control was excellent, his ability to remain impassive had long reached a sublime level, and Bo He actually didn't notice.

As they spoke, their in-game characters landed at the Sacrificial Altar in the tropical rainforest.

This was also a popular hot-drop for resources.

Qin Chuan landed a step too slow, and gunfire was already erupting all around.

He landed on the topmost layer and didn't even have time to talk to Bo He before he hurriedly bent down to pick up gear.

His luck wasn't great. The area had already been looted once, and after running across half the layer, he only managed to find a pistol.

Qin Chuan made a swift decision and jumped into the interior of the Sacrificial Altar.

The sounds of footsteps around him were chaotic and jumbled.

On the map, there were four or five footprint indicators alone.

Qin Chuan could only run and hide with his pistol, at least to save his own skin first.

At a time like this, even though he was in a game, he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency, a race against time. Qin Chuan could feel his heart beating a little faster than usual.

In a narrow encounter, the brave emerge victorious. The gunfire paused for a moment, and two or three footprint indicators disappeared, while Qin Chuan huddled motionless in a corner.

Because if he moved, his footprints would appear on the mini-map and be spotted by the opponents.

The opponents were all armed with an AK in their left hand and a Mini14 in their right. Qin Chuan currently had no armor, was all alone, and a single pistol couldn't even break their skin. He could only hold his position.

Thinking of the phrase "alone and helpless," he subconsciously looked up.

"Where are you now?"

Bo He said, "I'm on the third layer. Should I come find you?"

Qin Chuan: "Give me a weapon if you have a spare."

Bo He: "Okay, I'm coming up to find you."

Qin Chuan didn't doubt Bo He's skills in the slightest. As long as she wanted to, basically no one could stop her.

He saw Bo He clambering up from the third basement level. Just as the distance indicator between them was shrinking, a figure suddenly flashed at the doorway of Qin Chuan's room.

His heart jumped, and he raised his gun, aiming at the person's head.