"Soft Mist! Haha, that's a good name—Soft Mist, Chasing Haze," Gou Gou blurted out. "Anyway, what about your class? Ye Xiu said you could try many, but that's a bit wasteful. It's more practical to have one in mind since you'll have to settle your skill set eventually."
"Hmm… I'm thinking of a class that could take on an assassin," Tang Rou said, pondering.
"An assassin? Actually, Little Tang, there's no such thing," Chen Guo replied.
"You mean no class can counter assassins? " Tang Rou asked in disbelief.
"No, absolutely not! What I mean is that the counter depends on player skill," Chen Guo clarified.
"The reason some Launchers are wary of Assassins is because Assassins dominate close-range combat, while Launchers are superior at long distance. It's a bad matchup on small maps. Still, it takes a lot of skill to handle close combat as a Launcher—or to close the distance against a skilled one."
"I see… So that's how it is. Ron must be really good, then, to deal with Lord Grim both in close and long range," Tang Rou said. She had seen their fight, and as someone who'd been humbled by Lord Grim herself, she knew how terrifying his skills were.
"Yes, he's truly good. I even suspected he could become a pro. If those two weren't fighting on a fixed field, he might've even beaten Ye Xiu," Chen Guo said bluntly.
"Anyway, Little Tang! How about playing a Battle Mage? " Chen Guo suggested, diverting the topic.
"A Battle Mage? You mean like that Battle God you keep talking about? " Tang Rou asked.
"Yes! A Battle Mage is—" Chen Guo began explaining excitedly, mostly talking about Ye Qiu. Her voice carried through the room, overheard by the returning Ron.
He didn't pay much attention to her rambling and simply turned on his computer to play Glory.
While the girls chatted, Ron was busy toying with his equipment editor. He was trying to upgrade his level-15 silver weapon—the same one Ye Xiu had mistaken for level 20.
Without the slightest care in the world, he disassembled the weapon as if speedrunning. If anyone saw him, they'd probably have a heart attack.
*A silver weapon being treated like this? Even in the pro-alliance, no one would dare!*
Every material was precious, and silver weapons had to be handled with care.
That was common sense.
But Ron was built different. He didn't care whether the upgrade succeeded or failed. For him, it was all an experiment—just fun with the editor. Materials were precious to others, but to him, they were just resources. Besides, what he used could easily be obtained again.
Piece by piece, he separated the components. Then, checking his material stock from dungeons and trades, he nodded. It was enough. He reopened the editor and began modifying—cutting, polishing, hammering—testing out every feature.
The room was noisy, but Ron didn't mind. The Frost Wolf Fang he'd gotten from a level-20 dungeon was being reforged. Once it reached the ideal shape, he set it aside. Nine more to go. He repeated the process until everything was ready.
Tang Rou noticed him but didn't greet him. She focused on moving her female character to the quest area. The beginner village was packed, and even taking a quest was hard. Judging by the queue, she'd be waiting a while.
Bored, she decided to sneak a peek at Ron's screen. Normally she wouldn't, but when it came to her brother, she acted differently. She quietly watched him work, unnoticed.
An hour passed. Ron finished adjusting his materials, wasting a few in the process but luckily having enough spares. Otherwise, he'd have to run another dungeon.
Once done, he reassembled his dagger and checked the stats.
"A failure…" Ron sighed tiredly.
Just one glance told him the dagger didn't have the additional effect he wanted—Frost Bite—and the attributes hadn't changed. That meant the materials were incompatible. He'd need new ones.
As he thought, he noticed movement beside him. Tang Rou had been watching. Deciding to speak first, he said, "Still stuck in the beginner village? "
"Yeah, there are too many people," Tang Rou replied.
"I see… That might be a problem. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard—you chose Battle Mage? "
"Yes! I think it suits me best—and it can fight your Assassin class," she said boldly.
"I see. If you'd chosen Assassin, I'd have been disappointed," Ron said flatly.
"Well, I know you would, so I chose something else," Tang Rou replied with a teasing smile.
"Are you two actually flirting? " Guo Guo interrupted. She'd been watching them for a while.
"Nope," Ron denied immediately.
Tang Rou just smiled and looked at him, not bothering to deny it.
"Anyway, your name's Ron, right? Do you know a lot about Battle Mage? " Chen Guo asked.
"Oh? Are you asking for a lesson? I have some proficiency in every class, though not as much as with Assassin. Still, if you're looking for a guide for Little Tang, you shouldn't just look blindly online," Ron said.
"Look blindly? But those videos were made by the number-one Battle Mage—Ye Qiu! " Chen Guo argued.
"Yes, but those videos are a decade old. Things have changed a lot. Some guides might make things complicated for Little Tang instead of helping her. The game's been updated for ten years—following outdated tutorials won't help," Ron countered. His argument made sense.
Chen Guo realized that. Still, she wasn't proficient with Battle Mage—her main was Launcher—so even understanding Ye Qiu's videos was hard for her. "Then what should we do? " she asked.
"Well, you can ask Ye Xiu," Ron suggested.
The moment she heard his name, Chen Guo frowned. Just thinking about him annoyed her. "Ask that guy to teach Tang Rou? Wouldn't he just lead her astray? "
Ron shook his head. "To play Unspecialized at that level, you need a deep understanding of every class."
He pointed out Ye Xiu's strength. "Boss, think of it this way—do you think you could overpower me if you used his unspecialized in a fixed field? "
"…No," Chen Guo admitted quietly, not even minding Ron calling her 'Boss.'
"There you have it. And there's actually a catch," Ron added.
"A catch? " she asked.
"Ye Xiu's Unspecialized is still low-level. That means he's only starting with it and has never used that class before. So whatever his main class was, he must've been *incredibly* good at it. I'd say his familiarity with Assassin might not be on my level—but at least second to me."