I am going to broadcast the coordinates of the temple to the entire community!

When not delving into dungeons or working on his quests, Jiang Heyi enjoys strolling through the trading markets where players congregate. In reality, he finds the pressure of life overwhelming, and he often does this whenever he feels down. Walking through a large supermarket, browsing the endless array of goods—even if he buys nothing—helps his emotional energy slowly recover.

In the game, he does this primarily to keep a pulse on the community; after all, information is never in short supply where players gather.

"Oh, Potato, you're here too."

"Prison Guard" was there as well, chatting away with several unfamiliar faces. Seeing Jiang Heyi, he immediately excused himself and hurried over.

"Acquaintances of yours?"

"Not really," the Prison Guard replied, shaking his head. "Just met them a moment ago."

"To be chatting so happily with people you just met—that’s you all over," Jiang Heyi remarked.

"Hey, if you want to talk, there’s always something to discuss. It’s impossible not to find a topic," the Prison Guard waved a hand. "You want to join? I can introduce you."

"I'll pass. I’m afraid of an awkward silence."

"With me around? That’s impossible!" The Prison Guard widened his eyes as if insulted, grabbing Jiang Heyi as if to prove his point.

"By the way, chatting with so many people, did you pick up any interesting news?" Jiang Heyi quickly changed the subject, avoiding being dragged into a public social execution by this social butterfly.

This was exactly the Prison Guard's specialty.

"Didn't you check the community last night? About that guild brawl."

"You mean the war of words between 'Bucket-O-Water Shenluo' and 'Dream Master'?" Jiang Heyi recalled. "I even saw you fanning the flames in the thread."

"You actually know what my ID is?"

*God, with an ID like 'Prison-Guard-Bath-Foot-Stomp', who wouldn't recognize it?*

"You really do understand me."

If he could, Jiang Heyi would prefer not to understand him quite so well.

"Anyway, 'Dream Master' lost," the Prison Guard chuckled. "Both sides spent resources to upgrade to Level 2 guilds, with full 20-man rosters, but Shenluo just crushed them. If Shenluo had gear or level superiority, that’d be one thing, but they were actually quite evenly matched. No excuses to be found."

"The way they lost was ugly, too. They were pushed to the edge of the conflict zone. One more step and they’d be out of bounds, which would have been ruled a forfeit by the 'Chosen of Khorne' guild acting as referees. Even then, they played like turtles. Instead of showing some backbone and charging, they huddled together in defense, and then..."

The Prison Guard spread his hands. "They were wiped out by ten mages raining fire from a distance."

"Even though it's just cosplay, I think the Chosen of Khorne guild’s assessment was spot on."

"What did they say?" Jiang Heyi asked, curious.

"Cowards."

*Ah.* Though blunt, it wasn't surprising; considering their name, "Coward" was a fitting assessment for a team that would rather die in a shell than launch a desperate attack.

"I thought they were some big guild. Turns out it's just a gathering of five nobodies. A bit pathetic, really."

A cynical voice came from behind. Jiang Heyi didn't realize they were talking about him at first, but the Prison Guard’s "troll-detection" radar immediately pinged, and he spun around to face the threat.

Checking their panels, Jiang Heyi understood why these three strangers were suddenly picking a fight. The subjects of the gossip had arrived.

The Prison Guard wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "Oh, wow, the great 'Dream Master' guild. You go crazy in other people's recruitment threads on the official forums, and now you want to police what people talk about in the game?"

Surrounding players stopped trading, switching to "spectator mode."

"Whether we fought well or not is none of your business," the members of Dream Master, already humiliated by their crushing defeat, were clearly lashing out.

"I wasn't judging. 'Coward' was what the Chosen of Khorne said. I was just retelling what happened tonight to a friend. What did I do wrong?" the Prison Guard asked with a cheerful grin.

A perfect mouthpiece. Jiang Heyi didn't have to say a word; the Prison Guard reduced the other side to a boiling rage in a few sentences.

The onlookers realized the trio was just looking for a punching bag after their humiliating loss, never expecting to run into a master who could tear someone apart without using a single vulgarity. Knowing they were in the wrong, the trio spat a "Just you wait" and stormed off.

Back at the guild, hearing about the confrontation, Original Fries clicked his tongue.

"They called us a guild of nobodies," Jiang Heyi said.

"Why is your tongue so dull? Can't you roast them back?" Original Fries scoffed.

The Prison Guard spread his hands, implying: *Is this my fault too? Is everything my burden to bear?*

Orange Tea looked worried. "Won't we be targeted? I've heard stories about this in other games."

Jiang Heyi knew exactly what kind of news Orange Tea was referring to. Usually, it involved "pay-to-win" whales clashing, with hundreds of players becoming cannon fodder. In those games, ordinary players truly had no fun if they crossed a whale.

But *Proof of the Stars* was different; spending money couldn't make you stronger, only more fashionable, and third-party transactions were strictly prohibited. In all the games Jiang Heyi had played, *Proof of the Stars* had the smallest initial gap between players. It was as if every player who entered the game was given a chance to start over as a baby.

"Everyone, see you tomorrow," Orange Tea waved as the notification chimed.

"See you. Let's see if the 'Embarrassing Witch' can bring us any surprises."

Despite the mockery, at a moment when they desperately needed a breakthrough, everyone was filled with anticipation for her work.

***

Watermelon Shaomai was going insane.

Her team had been suffering in the first layer of the Pristine Underground Temple for an entire night. A whole night!

Under the tag-team assault of the Frog-Headed Abomination and the Siren of Spirit-Speech, if they were lucky, they were discovered some time after teleporting; if they were unlucky, they died the moment they landed.

There wasn't much difference—just a matter of whether the team died sooner or later.

As for fighting back...

The team's biggest achievement was successfully stabbing the Frog-Headed Abomination in the eye before it entered its magic state, causing it to bleed profusely. But that only made it more violent. As for the Siren of Spirit-Speech, their attacks were completely ineffective.

A monster that killed without casting time, with nothing but a soft murmur—Watermelon Shaomai couldn't figure out how to counter it no matter how hard she tried.

"There has to be a way to clear it. The 'Reality-Fiction Boundary' group of five did it, so it's not impossible!"

If there were no precedent, she would have been certain this was a dungeon beyond their current level. But Jiang Heyi’s group had swaggered into the second layer...

She was so frustrated she could explode. After "Clock-Hand," two more people left the team. The group of 15 was down to 12. If things stayed deadlocked, her remaining crystal powder might vanish too. Driven to the wall, Watermelon Shaomai had to change her strategy.

She needed to craft a new persona!

***

Waking from a light sleep, Watermelon Shaomai sat quietly for a while, letting the experiences from her dream settle. Looking at the computer that had been running all night, she hesitated no longer. She opened the official community, "Starry Dream," and found the section dedicated to strategy guides.

She paused, then posted her edited "Strategy for Clearing the Surface of the Pristine Underground Temple," and included a link to her livestream.

The time after waking in the morning was the most active period for the game community. A large number of players were eager to share their experiences.

Watermelon Shaomai's post was quickly noticed. Because her ID was so recognizable, the moment she was identified, sarcasm and mockery flooded the replies. She saw it all, but once the heat picked up, she calmly released a portion of the recorded gameplay.

Since the game's launch, the furthest-exploring teams had only just reached the Imperial Capital of the starting continent, Anna. The "Orange Sky Strategy Group," relying on their constant flow of guides, had gained a massive following.

And now, a massive dungeon with twelve layers in an unknown region outside the starting continent—every detail stirred the players' passion for exploration.

Some liked to take it slow, finishing the starting map before looking ahead. Others were born to challenge themselves with high difficulty.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for her private messages to explode. Everyone was asking for the coordinates of the Starry Gem. Although the developers strictly prohibited third-party transactions, the paid exchange of strategy information was a loophole. She saw one tempting offer after another.

She grinned. She remembered how Jiang Heyi had checkmated her last time. She didn't want these scraps!

Seeing the timing was right, she updated her feed: "Since many are interested in the Pristine Underground Temple, I will reveal the map coordinates at Wind-Pod City after I enter the game tonight, free of charge."

She also made sure to attach the link to her previous apology post to shut some people up.

After a series of slick maneuvers, her feed was filled with replies waiting for the coordinates. Watermelon Shaomai felt a surge of satisfaction. Since being the first to clear the temple was impossible, she would let everyone else join in. Anyone would do, as long as Reality-Fiction Boundary wasn't the one leading the way.

And with this post, she might even be able to paint Reality-Fiction Boundary as selfish and unwilling to share in the future.

As Watermelon Shaomai exhaled in relief, Jiang Heyi saw her post as well. He hadn't been paying attention to her, but while browsing the community on his way to work, he happened to see the trending post.

"A decent attempt at image recovery," Jiang Heyi remarked calmly when he saw the group discussing it.

"You're actually praising her? She almost had you hunted down and ruined last time," the Prison Guard sent an emoji of a cat standing up with its fists raised, ready to fight.

"Just an objective assessment. It is a good move. It reverses her reputation to the greatest extent and gives her a chance to grab a slice of the *Proof of the Stars* traffic again," Jiang Heyi said. "I’m evaluating the move, not the person."

"I really wish I had your mindset," the Prison Guard marveled. "Aren't you worried that once she makes a comeback, she’ll rewrite history and turn you into the villain again?"

"She won't. While I’m evaluating the move, not the person, I never said I wouldn't counter it."

Original Fries chimed in, "How do you plan to counter?"

Jiang Heyi reminded them, "In the Pristine Underground Temple, our experience is far richer than theirs—they’re just stealing progress."