Chapter 159: Younger Brothers and Sisters

Chen Hao and Zhuge Taxue looked at each other, naturally understanding what was going on. The large number of humans and elves suddenly appearing in the Elven Forest should be the massive influx of human players and elven NPCs who flooded into the game right after virtual reality went live.

Of course, among them, certain players must have chosen the Elven race during character creation, meaning they naturally spawned directly inside the Elven Forest. To Vivienne, who could not tell the difference between the two, all elves were the same; there was no distinction between NPCs and players.

"It seems that apart from the two of us, everyone else entered the game just like normal!" Zhuge Taxue replied with a meaningful look.

Chen Hao nodded. "That must be it. The only thing I can't figure out is that my previous entries into the game happened through a very special method, and to this day I still don't understand how it worked. But this time, whether it was me or you, we both logged in normally through gaming hardware via the network. So why is the situation inside the game still the exact same as before?"

Zhuge Taxue shook her head. "To be precise, only your situation inside the game is the same as before; I am entirely different. Although my previous entries into the game were all due to Dong Xin teleporting me to her specially customized gaming scenarios, no matter what, I still entered through normal physical network methods. If it weren't for meeting you today and being inexplicably dragged into the game by you, I should be just like all the other players right now—standing in line, waiting to log in, and grinding quests bit by bit to level up!"

"Uh..." Faced with Zhuge Taxue's complaining words, Chen Hao didn't know what to do other than awkwardly scratch his head. Suddenly, he remembered something. "Right, speaking of me bringing you into the game, I recall that when we suddenly entered from inside your teahouse, you still had a menu interface and a weapons and equipment inventory back then, right? Why are they gone now?"

Zhuge Taxue rolled her eyes and shrugged. "How would I know? Something that even you, the main culprit, can't figure out—how could I possibly know?"

"The main culprit..." Chen Hao silently savored the meaning of the phrase, then glanced at Vivienne beside him. At this moment, the little girl was staring at the two of them with a curious expression, quietly listening to their conversation.

To be honest, Vivienne practically didn't understand most of what they were saying. Furthermore, Vivienne had an inherently curious personality, yet for some reason, she hadn't interrupted this time. Her gaze was fixed straight upon the two of them, and there was no telling what was going through her mind.

Chen Hao helplessly shook his head. "Forget it! Standing here blindly guessing won't help us figure out what's going on anyway. Why don't we go outside and look around instead? To be honest, I've been looking forward to the launch of virtual reality for ages. Whether viewed from the perspective of a player or as the starting point of our future business, this is an exciting development, isn't it? If we want our gaming studio to outperform the others, we must be the very first to stand at the starting line! We must constantly think about staying ahead of our peers. Only by establishing an advantage a step early can we better expand our business and build our own brand!"

Chen Hao spoke earnestly and eloquently, but Zhuge Taxue's next remark was like a basin of cold water poured straight over his head.

"Yeah! What you're saying makes total sense, but I honestly don't understand where this 'advantage' of yours is supposed to be. Are you referring to the fact that our character avatars don't even have information menus? Or are you talking about the fact that we completely lack an equipment inventory slot? What I'm most curious about is: even if we go out to fight monsters and level up like this, where are we supposed to put the materials we bring back? Heck, even whether we can equip weapons in the first place is a huge question mark!"

"We'll figure out a solution for that eventually! If all else fails, we still have Mengyan and the others, right?" Chen Hao was temporarily out of ideas and could only comfort Zhuge Taxue with those words.

"You really live up to being the great Master Chen, acting so carefree about such an important matter! Please, you come from a wealthy family with vast resources, so you don't care about these things. Even if the studio fails and goes under, it's no big deal for you. I'm nothing compared to you; I'm just the owner of a small teahouse in a remote area. Because of a single trick you used to talk me into it, I followed you all the way here to start a business without even packing my luggage. What if, in the end, I come here and can't do anything at all, only to be chased away by you and slink back to Kustar in disgrace?" Zhuge Taxue complained.

"Aiya! Rest assured!" Chen Hao patted his chest to reassure Zhuge Taxue. "Even if the gaming studio doesn't make a single penny, I won't short you a cent of your salary. And I guarantee it will be way better than running your teahouse in Kustar!"

"Hmph!" Zhuge Taxue snorted. "This young lady is not the type who just eats without working. If you're going to pay me for doing nothing, I'd rather go back to Kustar and keep running my little teahouse!"

"Relax! I'm not going to support you for free; you're not my personal secretary!" Chen Hao smiled. "Even if the studio doesn't succeed, I was planning to open a martial arts gym anyway! You can be in charge of that side of the business. Seeing how well you managed your little teahouse, running a small martial arts gym shouldn't be much of a problem, right?"

"A martial arts gym?" Zhuge Taxue replied dismissively. "I have no interest in that whatsoever!"

"Uh..." Chen Hao scratched his head. "Then how about I have you work at my dad's company? Our family business is quite large; surely we can find a suitable job for you there? Whatever happens, it'll still be better than Kustar!"

Zhuge Taxue remained noncommittal, not answering Chen Hao's question, and instead turned her gaze in another direction.

Thinking that this wouldn't tempt her either and completely out of options, Chen Hao gritted his teeth and said, "Well, if all else fails, you can just be my butler! Young masters of wealthy families like me usually have butlers at home. Although there's already one at home right now, that's the one my old man hired. But I'll inherit the family business sooner or later, and by then I'll need to choose someone I trust completely to act as my butler. Let's just have you do it!"

After saying this, Chen Hao noticed that Zhuge Taxue didn't reply. Puzzled, he looked over at her and discovered that she was staring blankly toward Vivienne's position, her mouth gradually dropping open.

Because Chen Hao had been chatting with Zhuge Taxue with his back turned to Vivienne, he had no idea what was happening. When he turned his head around, he displayed the exact same expression of astonishment as Zhuge Taxue.

To his shock, Vivienne, who had been standing off to the side, had begun to emit a faint glow. This light grew brighter and larger very quickly, soon wrapping around Vivienne's entire body.

Yet the little girl Vivienne stood there with her eyes closed and motionless, as if she had lost consciousness, letting the radiance envelop her completely.

It wasn't until the brilliant light completely shrouded Vivienne, blocking her from the sight of both Chen Hao and Zhuge Taxue, that the two of them snapped out of their daze.

Chen Hao hurriedly called out, "Vivienne, what's wrong? What's happening?"

However, Vivienne inside the light still did not open her eyes to answer Chen Hao's question.

Just as Chen Hao reached out his hand to try and touch the pillar of light, the radiance strangely surged along Chen Hao's arm and poured into his body, vanishing into his physique in the blink of an eye.

Terrified, Chen Hao frantically patted and checked himself all over, only to find that nothing felt abnormal. Then he remembered this was just a game anyway—even if there were anomalies, what of it? Could it possibly be stranger than the way he had entered the game in the first place? Deciding not to worry about it, Chen Hao shifted his gaze back toward Vivienne's location.

Yet when Chen Hao looked at Vivienne... no! To be precise, when he looked at the female elf standing before him, Chen Hao was rendered too stunned for words.

Standing in the exact spot where Vivienne had been was another female elf. She was noticeably taller than Vivienne—even half a head taller than the statuesque Zhuge Taxue. Furthermore, the mature aura radiating from her face was something Vivienne could never compare to.

Forget Vivienne; even Zhuge Taxue, Gu Mengyan, Fan Yirou, and Dong Xin couldn't hold a candle to her.

If those individuals were to stand beside her all at once, this unfamiliar female elf would undoubtedly look like the grand elder sister to all of them.

While Vivienne had silver-white shoulder-length hair, this newcomer possessed golden hair that reached down to her waist. Coupled with the slight, upward curve at the corner of her lips, it exuded an enchanting and bewitching aura.

As for her figure and appearance...

Chen Hao instinctively glanced at Zhuge Taxue beside him, subconsciously making a comparison between the two.

The reason he did so was because this unfamiliar female elf possessed the kind of peerlessly gorgeous face that undoubtedly sat at the pinnacle of the pyramid in Chen Hao's mind.

Among the people Chen Hao knew, the only one who reached this standard was Zhuge Taxue.

Purely in terms of facial features, it was hard to say who was prettier, as both possessed their own unique charms. However, their temperaments were entirely different. Vivienne, after all, leaned more tomboyish in her attire and demeanor.

If one were to use an anime character as an analogy, Zhuge Taxue was like Saber from Fate.

Meanwhile, the other person was an unadulterated *ojou-sama* queen; that overwhelming aura made Chen Hao feel as though he were looking at Bayonetta from Bayonetta.

And in a manner very similar to Bayonetta, there was also a small, black beauty mark right at the corner of this female elf's lips...

"You... who are you? Where did Vivienne go?" Chen Hao asked, maintaining a guarded expression, because the formidable queen-like aura emanating from the other party made it slightly difficult for him to breathe.

As for Zhuge Taxue, she had long since instinctively hidden behind Chen Hao, peeking out with only half her head to observe cautiously.

The woman narrowed her eyes, curved her lips into a smile, and took a gentle step forward. She reached out a hand, hooked it under Chen Hao's chin, and let out a laugh: "Oh~~ hehehehe!" She let out a queen-like chuckle that Chen Hao found completely unsurprising. "Did you forget about me so quickly? Big Sister is Vivienne, ya know! My dear little brother Chen Hao~~~ and lovely little sister Zhuge~~~"