CHAPTER 29: THE GHOST IN THE DATA
The dungeon clear times didn't make sense.
I pulled Drifting Wind's incomplete PRD profile—the data we'd collected during the Desolate Lands run, the positional patterns and execution timing that had flagged them as professional-tier. The profile was thin, built from a single party session and whatever the system could extrapolate from combat footage.
But the numbers were clear.
[Drifting Wind — Solo Dungeon Clears (Logged)]Frost Forest: 10:12 (Current record: 10:44 — Lord Grim)Boneyard: 8:31 (Current record: 8:47 — Lord Grim)Desolate Lands: 11:23 (Current record: 11:47 — Lord Grim)
Thirty-two seconds faster on Frost Forest.
Sixteen seconds faster on Boneyard.
Twenty-four seconds faster on Desolate Lands.
Solo.
No party support. No healer. No DPS rotation optimization.
Just one Ghostblade running dungeons better than a four-person team with an Unspecialized shotcaller.
I cross-referenced the execution patterns against my meta-knowledge of professional players. The Glory Alliance had dozens of Ghostblade specialists across its teams—each with distinctive movement habits, skill timing preferences, and positioning tendencies that made them identifiable even without seeing their character names.
No match.
The style was clean, efficient, and anonymous in a way that felt deliberate. Whoever Drifting Wind was, they were actively avoiding patterns that could identify them.
They don't want to be recognized.
But why?
If you can run dungeons this fast, you should be on a pro team. You should be famous. You should be...
I paused.
Unless you're not famous yet.
Unless you're someone who hasn't made their name.
Unless you're someone who's hiding their potential for reasons that don't make sense.
The PRD's positional habits data gave me the first real clue.
Drifting Wind used Ghostblade terrain shortcuts that weren't in any public guide. The movement patterns were too precise to be improvised—they were learned behaviors, drilled until they became automatic.
I recognized the efficiency markers.
Tiny Herb training methods.
Those shortcuts aren't random discoveries—they're from Tiny Herb's proprietary dungeon optimization database.
The same database that produces the most technically precise players in the Alliance.
I mentally scrolled through every Tiny Herb player I knew from the source material. Wang Jiexi's Magician. Gao Yingjie's Witch. Li Yihui's Knight. Liang Fang's Sharpshooter.
And one Ghostblade.
Qiao Yifan.
The failed Assassin who eventually switched to Ghostblade.
The player Tiny Herb miscast in the wrong class for years.
The player who joins Team Happy during the Challenger League arc.
But the timeline didn't fit.
In the source material, Qiao Yifan was still struggling on Tiny Herb's bench at this point—a substitute who rarely got playtime, his Assassin skills mediocre at best. He didn't discover his Ghostblade potential until after leaving Tiny Herb, after hitting rock bottom, after finding his way to Lord Grim's unconventional team.
The player in my PRD data wasn't struggling.
The player in my PRD data was running dungeons faster than records set by a three-time champion and a team of talented recruits.
Either my meta-knowledge is wrong...
Or something changed.
Or Qiao Yifan was always this good, and Tiny Herb never knew it.
I sent a party invite to Drifting Wind.
No response.
The character logged off within thirty seconds of my message.
Skittish.
Like someone who doesn't want to be noticed.
Like someone who's afraid of attention.
I grabbed a napkin from the café's supply closet and wrote two words: "Qiao Yifan?"
Then I stared at them.
If I'm right, this is a future Team Happy member.
Someone I need for the comeback.
Someone whose talent is wasting away on Tiny Herb's bench because they put him in the wrong class.
I could approach him now. Tell him about Ghostblade. Speed up his development by months.
But the source material whispered a warning.
Qiao Yifan's journey matters.
His failure matters.
The rock bottom he hits before finding Lord Grim is part of what makes him valuable—not just his skills, but his gratitude, his loyalty, his understanding of what it means to be given a second chance.
If I recruit him now, before he's ready...
I might get a skilled player.
But I might lose the team member.
I crumpled the napkin and threw it in the trash.
[PRD Profile Updated: Drifting Wind — Status: Watch Only. Hypothesis: Qiao Yifan (Tiny Herb, unconfirmed). Action: Monitor without contact. Priority: Let them come to Lord Grim on their own terms.]
The profile flag glowed in my interface—a reminder that not every opportunity should be seized immediately.
Patience.
Let him find his own path to the bottom.
Then be there when he needs a way back up.
My stomach growled. I'd been so focused on the data analysis that I'd forgotten to eat—again. Chen Guo had started leaving sandwiches on my station during overnight shifts, the silent acknowledgment that her new partner had terrible self-care habits.
I found today's offering—cold turkey on wheat, slightly stale—and ate it while reviewing the PRD's broader server data.
The notification arrived between bites.
[Server Announcement: Excellent Dynasty is offering a 10,000 yuan bounty on player "Lord Grim." First player to kill Lord Grim ten times receives the full reward.]
Ten thousand yuan.
Real money.
Chen Yehui isn't just fighting a guild war anymore.
He's turning the entire server into a hunting ground.
To supporting Me in Pateron.
with exclusive access to more chapters (based on tiers more chapters for each tiers) on my Patreon, you get more chapters if you ask for more (in few days), plus new fanfic every week! Your support starting at just $6/month helps me keep crafting the stories you love across epic universes.
By joining, you're not just getting more chapters—you're helping me bring new worlds, twists, and adventures to life. Every pledge makes a huge difference!
Join now at patreon.com/TheFinex5 and start reading today!