Chapter 1 Aftermath

After discovering that the arena quest issue wasn't an issue, Ye Xiu spent a whole day in the arena. On the official forum's arena section, discussions about Lord Grim went from nonexistent to rampant, with threads piling up and many repeats throughout the day. In stark contrast, the complaints section looked like it was being spammed with complaints.

Lord Grim was problematic.

Quite a few players held this view. To summarize, their reasoning was roughly threefold.

First, he disregarded the level and equipment gap of 20 levels, playing as if it were nothing.

Second, the weapon in his hand could change, which was unheard of (note: definitely not swapping weapons).

Third, according to multiple players who lost, they were killed from start to finish by a set of combos that were more precise than a robot.

Any one of these points would be enough to raise suspicion, let alone the fact that Ye Xiu combined all three?

Ye Xiu still wasn't aware of all this. What he did notice was that it was becoming easier and easier to join rooms, and people were even proactively inviting him after he left each room. Moreover, those he had defeated were quite persistent, often wanting to be defeated four or five times before reluctantly giving up.

Lord Grim's fame spread far and wide, exciting the players in the tenth server. Soon, some tenth server players who joined the discussion listed out Lord Grim's glorious deeds in the tenth server one by one.

As a result, Lord Grim's suspicious points increased, and the complaints section was spammed again.

But the official response that followed caused an uproar among the players.

The complaints section decisively posted a pinned thread, stating that the Lord Grim matter, which had been the subject of large-scale player complaints today, had been investigated and found to have no violations. Related complaints should not be posted again, with one warning for the first offense and a ban for the second.

Glory's official handling of complaints had always had a good reputation. One was one, two was two, and it was always fair, without much explanation. This treatment was in line with the complaints section's consistent style, and that was not what caused the uproar among the players.

What caused the uproar was that since the complaints section said there was no problem, then Lord Grim probably really had no problem.

In that case, ignoring the 20-level level and equipment gap and comboing everyone from start to finish was all due to personal skill? As for that unheard-of weapon… if it was unheard of, then it must be a self-made weapon. Did this person actually have a self-made weapon?

Discussions about Lord Grim began to spread, no longer limited to the arena section. As long as it was a Glory forum, there was talk about Lord Grim.

Ye Xiu finally noticed something. It was very obvious: no matter where he went, there were spectators outside the arena, and there were more and more of them. Some IDs even appeared repeatedly, clearly following him.

"You're famous," Chen Guo said with a smile from the side. They both quickly realized why there were so many spectators. Clearly, Ye Xiu had quickly become famous in the arena after playing for so long.

It would be a miracle if he wasn't famous. Chen Guo muttered to herself. She had been watching from the side for a long time and had become numb to it. Was Ye Xiu really fighting matches in the arena? It was more like he was playing dodgeball! He would enter each match, make a move, and then it would be over…

He had played all day without losing a single match.

No, even saying the word "lose" was an exaggeration. He hadn't encountered a single setback. As long as Ye Xiu made a move, he would sail smoothly to the end.

"Aren't you tired?" Chen Guo had even asked him this. In her opinion, Ye Xiu must be very tired from playing so fiercely and accurately in every match.

"Tired? Why would I be tired?" Ye Xiu retorted.

"You play like this every match…" Chen Guo said vaguely. She didn't know how to describe it accurately.

"Oh… it's nothing, very easy," Ye Xiu said.

Chen Guo understood. In Ye Xiu's eyes, these players were not opponents at all, but ants. Those combos were like casually stepping on an ant. It was extremely easy for him, but the problem was that the ants couldn't resist at all. So the ants cried out, "How amazing! How scary!" while the great god just casually lifted his foot again and crushed the screaming ants.

Videos of how the great god crushed ants also began to appear constantly in the video section, one after another, endlessly.

The players were very excited. Such a prominent figure had not appeared in Glory's online game for a long time. Those who had appeared in the past would soon be noticed by the clubs, then pulled into the team and begin their professional player careers. Some of them were quickly eliminated and fell into obscurity, some gained a foothold through hard work, and some became truly top figures in Glory.

What about this Lord Grim? What would happen?

His strength should be beyond doubt, right? The veterans watching the videos were making their judgments. A 20-level level and equipment gap, yet he still easily crushed one opponent after another who was higher level than him, and he also had the ability to create self-made weapons. Any one of these things was enough for a club to extend an olive branch to him!

The discussion even included speculation about which team Lord Grim would be poached by, and there was even analysis of which team he would be suitable for. After studying his class, discovering that none of his opponents in the arena were lower level than him, and noticing that he had been playing in the arena for an entire day, the players quickly and decisively deduced that he was doing the challenge quest for the Heavenly Domain.

"He's a talent!" Players from all walks of life sighed.

"He'll soon become a professional player!" everyone thought.

No one suspected that this person was a professional player himself, because no professional player would have the time to run to the online game to do the challenge quest for the Heavenly Domain and endlessly bully ordinary players.

This day quickly passed.

The next day arrived, and players who were paying attention to this matter quickly browsed the major esports websites to see if there was any news of new talents being discovered, but there was none.

Then, they entered the various Glory forums and found that discussions about Lord Grim continued to be intense. Some media reporters even tried to interview this person in the game, but they had not yet been able to make contact.

Everyone who gossiped was studying Lord Grim.

The first person to gossip would definitely mention Lord Grim.

This was only the first day.

Two days, three days, four days…

The days passed one by one, and Lord Grim's whereabouts were no mystery at all. People were chasing after him in the arena to watch his matches every day, and many people even took the initiative to fight him, begging for a loss. Being instantly killed by Lord Grim's combos became the trendiest thing in Glory after the Spring Festival.

Ye Xiu knew about all these developments for so many days, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He only wanted to complete the challenge quest as quickly as possible. The more people who lined up to challenge him, the better.

One day, Huang Shaotian's alternate account, Flowing Tree, logged on again and made a lot of noise.

"Damn it! You've PKed with so many people, how come you don't have time to fight me?" Huang Shaotian queued up multiple times, begging for a fight, but to no avail. His resentment was immense.

"Questing…" Ye Xiu replied. He really didn't remember seeing an invitation from Night Rain, but even if there was one, Ye Xiu would have decisively rejected it. Fighting that guy would take more than a minute or two, and he might not even win. It would be a waste of time!

"Wait until you get to the Heavenly Domain, just you wait!" Huang Shaotian threatened.

Ye Xiu replied with an extremely cool emoticon and ignored him.

This New Year, because of the sudden appearance of such a prominent figure, the players of Glory did not feel lonely at all. Watching Lord Grim's activities seemed even more lively than the Spring Festival system events. Some people even bought a new tenth server account card just to go to the tenth server to watch in person.

There were obviously a lot of bored players.

But what puzzled everyone was that they had already dug up almost everything they could about Lord Grim, so why hadn't any clubs recruited him yet?

Almost every veteran player had a team they supported in their hearts, and many people even began to actively contact the clubs to make recommendations.

The various clubs, hearing the fans' calls, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The clubs' reactions were not as slow as the players thought. They had all received reports as early as the first day. Within the club system of Glory, there were also professionals similar to scouts in football and basketball. These people, whether full-time or part-time, usually had to discover talent themselves. Now that a talent was so loudly and publicly displayed in front of them, it would be too much to ignore. It could be said that on this day, each club received more than one related report.

In a club, management, the team, the guild, equipment research, and talent scouting could be said to belong to different departments. The information they knew might or might not be shared, depending on the circumstances.

Lord Grim was Ye Qiu.

Most of the guilds knew, and some of the teams knew, but whether other departments knew was uncertain.

But in any case, at this stage, Lord Grim had been pushed in front of the clubs. Regardless of which department knew, the information would soon be shared. Lord Grim being Ye Qiu would soon be no secret within the clubs.

As a result, the clubs' pursuit of talent ended there. If it was Ye Qiu, then the focus would be on another level.

While the players were just gossiping and looking for fun, the clubs were seriously considering the fact that Ye Qiu was in the limelight in the online game from the perspective of their own interests.

Combining the rumors that Ye Qiu would reorganize a team and make a comeback, the clubs tacitly agreed not to reveal that Lord Grim was Ye Qiu. Announcing this matter at this time would detonate countless eyeballs, attract countless expectations, and attract countless followers. It would be good if the clubs didn't cause trouble; there was no reason to help Ye Qiu create momentum for his comeback.

What could he accomplish with just one person?

The clubs didn't dare to underestimate Ye Qiu, but they didn't think that he could accomplish anything significant by himself. Causing some sensation in the online game was something any professional player could do, after all, their realm was different from ordinary players. Ye Qiu might just want to use this sensation to create momentum. They couldn't stop him, but they certainly wouldn't help him. That was what all the clubs were thinking.