Ye Xiu focused on Glory, but instead of leveling up, he was engaged in a conversation with someone from Tyrannical Ambition.
Meanwhile, Ron stood by the vending machine near the counter, checking what kinds of drinks were available while thinking about the previous match—the one where Sun Xiang overturned a group challenge, winning a 3v1.
Sun Xiang's situation wasn't difficult to read. However, in the pro scene, only a handful of people could figure out the reason behind such a play. Still, for Ron to realize things while watching a match showed just how talented he truly was.
"An intentional loss," Ron sighed. He acknowledged Sun Xiang's talent, but the way he moved was far from his full potential—it clearly showed how green and selfish he still was. "Excellent Era may have won the battle, but they'll lose the war; following this, the next matches will be difficult for them," he muttered.
Ron noticed Team 301's tactics of disrupting Sun Xiang's coordination for the upcoming team fight and knew the match was already over. There was no reason to stay and watch a losing game.
He chose his drink, but just as he inserted a coin, the surroundings turned pitch black—causing an uproar.
"Damn it! Right at the best part! "Someone shouted.
"This electricity again?! "
"Shit!"
"Hey, line up properly and pay! "Amid the chaos, Chen Guo was more worried that someone would take advantage of the blackout to skip paying.
The crowd pressed forward toward the counter. Luckily, Ron was standing on the sidelines, away from the chaos, but Chen Guo wasn't as lucky.
"Hey! If you press your body on mine again, I'll kill you! " Chen Guo yelled at the person behind her.
"Boss, it wasn't me! I'm being pushed here! " the man protested.
"Cut the crap! " She didn't believe him for a second. The poor guy wanted to cry, but no tears came out. If this kept up, the boss might really kill him, so he tried his best to hold the crowd back by himself.
"What a poor guy…" Ron muttered, sipping his drink. Since the counter was nearby, Chen Guo spotted him.
"Hey! Pull me over! " she said, reaching her hand out.
Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. Being the boss, she had every right to hop behind the counter.
"Finally! " She dusted herself off and adjusted her clothes before stepping inside, where Little Lin was handling the bills.
"Boss, do you think this problem will last long? " Ron asked.
"I don't know! That's up to the repairman! Speaking of which…" Chen Guo took out her phone and called the electrician.
After a while, most of the customers had left. Even the employees were taking turns going home. With nothing else to do, Ron decided to wait with Chen Guo for the repairman.
The atmosphere was quiet. Sensing that Chen Guo wasn't in a good mood, Ron decided to strike up a conversation.
"How's the match going? " he asked.
"Ah… There's no definite outcome yet, but before the power went out, Excellent Era was at a disadvantage," Chen Guo said with a sigh. Her earlier excitement from Sun Xiang's 3v1 victory had completely faded. What was the point of that if they lost the team match? Even without seeing the ending, the result was obvious.
"I see…"
According to Chen Guo, Sun Xiang was stuck in a 1v1, unable to help his teammates. Su Mucheng had been taken out early, after isolating both Su Mucheng and Sun Xiang. Their movements were disjointed, lacking coordination and support. At that rate, only a miracle could save them. Another loss for Excellent Era—no wonder Chen Guo was sulking.
When Ye Xiu entered the café, Chen Guo glanced at him with disdain, then turned to Ron and asked, yawning, "You're going to wait until the power's back? "
"Yes. I just got here and have nothing else to do," Ron replied.
"You look young, probably in your twenties. Don't you have school? College? " Chen Guo asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.
"I dropped out. There was nothing left for me to learn," Ron said flatly.
"Really? " She nearly jumped in disbelief. Dropping out because there was "nothing left to learn"? Ridiculous. "What about work? "
"I own real estate."
"..." Chen Guo was speechless. This guy's a rich kid! Thinking about it, though, his situation didn't seem so bad. "Good for you, then. I'll head upstairs," she said, leaving for the second floor.
Once she was gone, Ye Xiu asked, "Boss, what about the electrician? Are you going to fix it? "
His tone carried a hint of panic. Leveling was extremely important—records, first clears, and competition between guilds. Guild accounts were always leveling 24/7, so missing even one day could mean falling behind. Ye Xiu was doing business with guilds, trading his skills for rare materials to upgrade his silver weapon, so he couldn't afford any delays.
"Yes, I already called the electrician. Wait for him," Chen Guo said.
"But… what about payment? "
"Just get it from the counter," she replied before heading upstairs.
"Okay!"
The two waited in the lobby until someone finally arrived. When Ye Xiu saw the electrician, he nearly jumped from his seat.
"Welcome, welcome! "
Seeing his enthusiasm, the electrician chuckled. "Haha, I'll check the problem right away."
The two followed him, with Ron tagging along out of curiosity. However, as the electrician examined the circuits, his expression turned grim—and Ye Xiu immediately had a bad feeling.
"This isn't good," the electrician said. "It'll take quite a while to fix, and it's late. I might have to return tomorrow."
"Can't it be done tonight? " Ye Xiu asked nervously, already thinking about how to bribe him. But Ron spoke first.
"Can you explain the problem? If it's not too complicated, I might be able to help."
The electrician blinked, surprised, but began explaining. Despite Ron's young appearance, he didn't judge by looks and patiently described the issue. Ron nodded thoughtfully, following along—which astonished Ye Xiu, who didn't understand a word of it.
"I see… So that's the problem. In that case, with the two of us, it shouldn't take too long," Ron said, taking off his jacket.
Ye Xiu watched from the sidelines as Ron and the electrician worked. Ron clearly knew what he was doing—even the electrician praised him repeatedly.
What should've taken two to three hours was solved in half an hour. When they were done, the electrician thanked him warmly. "Thank you for your help, kid. Without you, this would've taken forever! "
"No problem. It was an interesting thing to do," Ron said casually.
Interesting thing to do? Ye Xiu nearly spat blood. This guy treated other people's jobs as a hobby! But the electrician just laughed good-naturedly.
When the power was restored, Ye Xiu paid the electrician and immediately logged back into the server. Since his shift was about to start, he just took over—not that there were any employees left anyway.
As he logged into his Glory account, Ye Xiu received a message from Tyrannical Ambition—the information he had requested earlier about Excellent Dynasty: their levels, classes, and equipment.
Ron was still sitting by the counter, resting his cheek on his palm while glancing at Ye Xiu from above.
"The information's here," Ye Xiu said.
"How is it? " Ron asked.
"They're definitely at a pro level," Ye Xiu said with concern. This would be a challenge—catching up to pro-level players wasn't easy. But Ron didn't seem fazed. To him, "pro-level" didn't mean "impossible." There was always a solution.
"What about our classes and equipment? We might match their skill, even if we only needed to break the record once. We'll need balance. I might have to change classes if we need higher DPS."
"Yeah," Ye Xiu nodded. "Switching from Assassin to another class might help. Do you have another level 20 account? "
"I do. All my classes have been power-leveled to at least 20," Ron said.
"If that's the case, our chances are higher. What about equipment? "
"They're standard, but I can forge silver weapons for them. It'll take time, though—I'm short on materials on this server."
"That's fine," Ye Xiu said. "With you on board, we now have two Launchers, a Brawler, a Battle Mage, and an Unspecialized."
"Beating the record won't be hard," Ron said, "but setting an unbreakable record—that's the real challenge."