Chapter 73: Dong Xin’s Plan

“Who is it this time?” Gu Mengyan, being the closest to the door, muttered as she stood up and walked over to open it. As the door swung open, she found yet another unfamiliar man standing outside. “What is going on today? Why is it so lively? This is really something—feels less like a hotel in a strange city and more like neighbors visiting each other at home!”

The man outside was momentarily taken aback by Gu Mengyan’s words, the greeting he had prepared stuck in his throat.

Chen Hao, upon seeing who it was at the door, also paused in surprise. He first offered Dong Xin an apologetic smile, then got up and walked over. “Shaotian? Why are you here? Did you come to see me on purpose, or...?”

To everyone’s astonishment, it seemed Chen Hao actually knew the man at the door. Gu Mengyan, Fan Yirou, and even Dong Xin herself were all surprised. What was with today? One after another, people kept knocking at their hotel room, and each visitor seemed to be an acquaintance of Chen Hao’s. Was this some sort of old friends’ reunion in a faraway city?

While Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou wondered about these things, Dong Xin’s curiosity was piqued regarding the identity of the newcomer. At the same time, she began to question Chen Hao’s sudden trip to Christar.

Dong Xin hadn’t lied to Chen Hao and the others about her real identity—she truly was a senior staff member at Illusion Corporation, responsible for designing certain scenes in the game. But there was more she hadn’t revealed: she was also the very same GM whom Chen Hao had encountered the last time he entered the game and rescued Vivian. Back then, the intelligent monster NPC leader had referred to her as “Miss Dong.”

Dong Xin was the GM who played the role of the human leader, and she had once faced off against Chen Hao. She was also the girl whom Chen Hao had defeated in their youth—a defeat she had never forgotten.

To this day, she was the only person who knew that Chen Hao had once entered the game world. All other intelligent NPCs aware of this fact had been wiped out—not dead, precisely, but their data corrupted and reset. After such a reset, not only would the NPCs forget what had previously happened, but it was also uncertain whether they would retain their intelligence at all. But that was another story.

As for Dong Xin’s suspicions about Chen Hao’s purpose in Christar, the reason was simple: she still couldn’t figure out how Chen Hao had entered the game world. The system had no external network access, yet somehow this outsider had managed to log in. Judging by his earlier questions, it seemed he hadn’t used any conventional physical connection, but instead had logged in wirelessly? That was an astounding notion.

Dong Xin could only imagine the upheaval this would cause if she reported it to the company, and how much trouble Chen Hao would be in. Honestly, whether or not Chen Hao got into trouble meant little to her. She hated him to the core. After being defeated by him as a child, she had never gotten over it. Before Chen Hao appeared, she had been the rising star of the martial arts world, the one everyone pinned their hopes on.

Then, out of nowhere, this upstart boy—slightly younger than her—had utterly overwhelmed her, as if an adult toying with a child. From that moment, she had trained with even greater determination, vowing to one day take her revenge.

But years passed without any news of Chen Hao. He never came looking for her again.

Later, after some digging, she learned that Chen Hao had once said, “There’s no point in fighting someone you’ve already beaten. Doing so only causes further psychological trauma. Better to leave it be.” Hearing this made Dong Xin even angrier. That scoundrel! Did he think so little of others? As if victory was assured! “Spare me the false compassion!” she fumed. He was nothing but a jerk.

This only drove Dong Xin to work harder at her martial arts, cutting herself off from nearly everything else, all for the sake of one day defeating Chen Hao.

A few days ago, when she finally met Chen Hao again—even if only in the game—she at last had another chance to cross swords with him. When her underling NPC reported that a staff member named Chen Hao had entered the game, she barely reacted at first. The name was far too common. But when she heard this Chen Hao was rather skilled, she immediately realized who he was.

She was elated. After all these years, she finally had a lead on that detestable boy. So she volunteered to enter the game as a GM, officially to “personally test the game’s progress.”

But during her days in the game, she found no trace of Chen Hao. The only clue was the little NPC girl—Vivian—who had awakened self-awareness and had once been with Chen Hao. Dong Xin initially guessed that Chen Hao had noticed something amiss and was deliberately staying offline. She didn’t know that, in reality, Chen Hao had no idea how to re-enter the game. His first entry was pure chance—he had no idea when or even if he would ever return, which was why he hadn’t appeared in so many days.

Because of this misunderstanding, Dong Xin set up a scene: she ordered one of her elven NPCs—not a monster—to secretly observe Vivian. She hoped to find Chen Hao through Vivian.

But Vivian seemed equally clueless, searching everywhere for Chen Hao and even venturing to the edges of the Elven Forest several times.

Hearing this report, Dong Xin was struck by an idea: why not use Vivian as bait to lure Chen Hao out? Since Chen Hao had once rescued her, perhaps he would do so again if she was in danger.

So she ordered her NPCs to seize Vivian at the edge of the Elven Forest and take her away.

Dong Xin hadn’t really expected this plan to work. After all, Chen Hao and Vivian had only met by chance, and Vivian was just a computer program—why would Chen Hao care about her fate?

Yet, by coincidence, Chen Hao happened to log in again within the next couple of days—and his entry point was precisely where Vivian was being held. He had no idea this was all part of Dong Xin’s scheme, nor did he know Vivian had been captured.

Dong Xin, for her part, didn’t expect to encounter Chen Hao either; she thought he’d just been lurking in the game all this time. Upon learning that Vivian had been taken, she assumed he’d been quietly tailing her, waiting for his chance to rescue the girl.

And so, by a twist of fate, Dong Xin and Chen Hao crossed paths and even fought.

This wasn’t part of Dong Xin’s original plan. She had intended to approach Chen Hao under some pretext, first find out how he entered the game, then quietly assess his skills: had he improved over the years, or remained stagnant?

If the former, she would have to keep training and wait for another chance. If the latter, she would defeat him on the spot, hand him over to the company, and deliver a cool retort: “A woman’s revenge can wait ten years.”

But it turned out Chen Hao really had improved. Dong Xin still didn’t know how he’d seen through her, or why he’d attacked her so suddenly. In the end, things spiraled out of her control, and she was forced to use her last resort—a self-destruction move.

Later, after losing track of Chen Hao in the game, she decided to get close to him in real life. That was why she transferred to the technical department.

Once again, she was caught off guard: Chen Hao had resigned! Not only that, but Gu Mengyan had quit with him, embarrassing Dong Xin in the process and giving her yet another reason to resent Chen Hao.

Afterward, Dong Xin wasn’t sure why, but she immediately requested leave from the higher-ups and followed Chen Hao and the others to Christar, which led to today’s encounter.

Dong Xin believed that Chen Hao’s entry into the game must have a special cause—perhaps he was a spy sent by a rival company, there to steal secrets. He’d joined the technical department to gather intelligence, found a bug, and used it to enter the game during development. Now, having completed his mission, he resigned to avoid suspicion. As for Gu Mengyan, she must be his accomplice—a cover. Fan Yirou might be their contact or handler.

Now the three were in Christar, which, as Dong Xin knew, was a place full of secrets. Illusion Corporation owed much of its success to this very location; the company housed critical facilities here.

Who would have thought that Chen Hao and his crew had been operating right under the company’s nose for years without detection? Dong Xin resolved to get to the bottom of things. She might not be a match for Chen Hao, and if discovered she might not be able to defeat him, but she was confident she could protect herself.

Now, with yet another stranger appearing at the door—someone Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou didn’t recognize—Dong Xin found herself doubting her own theories. Could it be that only Chen Hao had a special mission, and Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou really were just ordinary people?

She didn’t dwell long on these thoughts, turning her attention back to Chen Hao’s conversation with the stranger at the door.