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Anchor Hall
Chapter 197: Cheat
“……”
The guild members, who were already prepared to drive people away, watched in astonishment as their guild leader, with a seemingly indifferent but actually familiar demeanor, invited that particularly arrogant-looking anchor into the office.
With a “click,” the door closed tightly.
Only a dead silence remained in the guild hall.
The guild members stood dumbfounded, staring in disbelief: Wait, what’s going on?
Su Cheng, standing nearby, picked up the teacup from the table and took a sip. It seemed that after seeing the newcomer, his earlier tension and awkwardness had completely disappeared.
Quite tasty.
He looked at the guild members who were still in a daze and kindly said:
“It’s nothing, you’ll get used to it.”
“Huh? Get used to what?”
The guild member was stunned for a moment, unable to comprehend the situation.
“The new guild leader’s way of doing things,” Su Cheng said.
“?!”
After hearing Su Cheng’s words, the two were both furious.
How arrogant can you two be?!
How could they act as if the deal was already settled when it was still so uncertain?!
***
Wen Jianyan walked into the office and looked around.
The space was not large but very tidy, with a meticulous and serious atmosphere that was very similar to Chen Mo’s personal style.
“Long time no see.”
Chen Mo looked at Wen Jianyan, his eyes showing a hint of surprised curiosity. “I didn’t expect that the newest top 34th would be you.”
Thinking of the speculations and rumors on the forum, he asked:
“…The strongest newcomer?”
“Yes.” Wen Jianyan nodded without hiding anything.
“So…” Chen Mo mentally calculated for a moment, his face revealing an expression of astonishment. “The Antai Community instance was your which instance?”
“Third,” Wen Jianyan thought for a moment and said.
Although he had already anticipated it, hearing the confirmation from the person himself was still quite shocking.
Chen Mo was taken aback.
In the “Antai Community” instance, Wen Jianyan had left an overly deep impression on him.
Whether it was the initial disguise to blend into the instance or the final single-handedly turning the tide against many, all were too astonishing, completely unlike operations a newbie with only two instance experiences could pull off.
In that instance, Wen Jianyan had almost single-handedly turned the tables against the odds.
Chen Mo’s gaze fell on Wen Jianyan, his expression slightly complex.
The young man before him had a handsome face, with a long-standing casual and playful smile at the corners of his lips, looking both familiar and unfamiliar.
Most anchors in the Nightmare instances had a great capacity to forget.
Only by getting used to forgetting could they survive one terrifying instance after another, seemingly endless, until they forgot emotions, forgot death, forgot fear, and became primitive beasts that only knew how to survive.
After the Antai Community, Chen Mo had experienced two more instances, one solo and one team instance.
Chen Mo had thought that those previous memories had long faded, but the moment he opened the guild door, walked inside, and saw the familiar face, all the memories rushed back like a tide.
The past scenes seemed to come to life, vividly and freshly appearing before his eyes, as if they had just happened, making his heart tremble.
“……”
Chen Mo took a deep breath and looked up at the young man in front of him.
If anyone else had come today, regardless of the offer made to the guild, Chen Mo would have unhesitatingly refused.
However, Wen Jianyan was different.
He not only saved his life but also handed over the right to deal with the traitor in the end…
He was a person who clearly distinguished between gratitude and grudges.
“So, it was you who contacted me on the app, wanting to buy the guild?” Chen Mo’s face was openly puzzled. “Why?”
Given Wen Jianyan’s outstanding performance now, he was definitely in the spotlight within Nightmare. With his current momentum, joining any top-tier guild would be easy.
Those large guilds, in order to recruit talents, would definitely promise benefits and statuses unimaginable to ordinary anchors. They would also concentrate the guild’s resources on nurturing him. Joining a guild would bring benefits far greater than acquiring a small, emerging guild, especially one that had nearly collapsed after several instances…
After the traitor disappeared and they realized the acquisition was hopeless, several large guilds that had been eyeing them covetously began openly suppressing them.
Potential guild members were poached, and they were besieged in the subsequent team instances, suffering heavy losses.
…Wang Hanyu.
At the mention of this name, Chen Mo couldn’t help but press his lips together.
This was his comrade and brother, who had fought alongside him since entering Nightmare but, in the end, chose such a humiliating conclusion…
Even though he had never mentioned it, the impact and shock of this matter had never truly dissipated.
“People with different ideas cannot work together,” Wen Jianyan said.
Those guilds, whether large or small, had already become accustomed to being ornamental fish here, scrambling for the pitifully small amount of fish food.
But Wen Jianyan did not intend to be like them.
He planned to shatter this broken fish tank.
However, Yun Bilan, Wen Ya, and others were completely different from Chen Mo.
And Wen Jianyan knew that you must use different rhetoric for different people.
He raised his eyes and said unhurriedly:
“The form of the guild doesn’t matter; what matters are the members of the guild, right?”
Wen Jianyan stared at Chen Mo, the guild leader struggling to sustain under the pressure of many other guilds: “Isn’t that why you didn’t initially plan to sell the guild, unwilling to let it become a shadow of other guilds?”
“…!”
Hearing this, Chen Mo couldn’t help but feel a shock in his heart and subconsciously press his lips together.
“I think so too.”
Wen Jianyan took a step forward, staring intently at Chen Mo not far away, his gaze deep as if he could see through everything. “What I need is not a guild that burns lives like firewood, exploiting shadow guilds to cultivate better scoring machines for higher rankings and better resources.”
“Of course, some guilds have offered me an olive branch,” Wen Jianyan shrugged and said lightly, “But they don’t need teammates; they need tools.”
“And one thing you got wrong, I don’t want to buy your guild.” Wen Jianyan winked at him with a smile. “I really came to apply for a job.”
“What I need is merely a name to use in the game against other large guilds. I prefer joining over snatching.”
Wen Jianyan stared at Chen Mo, a smile playing on his lips. “So, you can continue managing the guild in the same way as before, without needing to change anything.”
Suddenly, Chen Mo’s mind wandered.
For some reason, a scene from just before the end of that instance flashed through his mind.
Antai Community.
That filthy, bizarre, and despairing quagmire, the painful struggle teetering on the edge of collapse and madness, and that savior, as if tearing through the dark clouds, pale, pure, and alluring.
“With me, your guild will never become a shadow of any large guild.”
The young man’s voice was gentle, without emotion, but filled with inspiring confidence, an almost arrogant self-assurance that had a frightening, irresistible charm.
“Your friends will become my friends.”
He extended a hand to the suffering—
Those who believe will be saved.
The meeting was neither long nor short.
Outside the office, two guild members were restless, frequently glancing at the closed office door. In contrast, Su Cheng, who was also waiting outside, seemed much more at ease.
He had already drunk several cups of tea and even finished an entire plate of pastries with his tea.
When the guild members were at their most anxious, the office door finally opened.
The two instantly sprang to their feet.
At the open door, Wen Jianyan and Chen Mo walked out one after the other.
Contrary to their expectations, their guild leader didn’t look angry or indifferent, unlike when other guilds had come to acquire them in the past…
The two members were stunned for a moment, exchanged glances, and showed expressions of uncertainty and doubt.
However, the only good news was that Wen Jianyan didn’t seem inclined to stay long. He waved at Su Cheng and said with a cheerful smile:
“Let’s go.”
Su Cheng dusted off the crumbs on his hands and stood up.
Admittedly, Ji Guan’s cooking was better, but this wasn’t too bad.
Watching Wen Jianyan and Su Cheng walk away, the two members breathed a sigh of relief—they thought their leader had driven away the arrogant guy, and all was well.
Just as they were about to step out, Wen Jianyan turned back and waved at Chen Mo: “See you in three days.”
“!?”
The two members gasped.
Wait? See you in three days?
Why see you in three days?!
Under their incredulous gazes, their leader Chen Mo nodded, looking calm, seemingly not offended by the other’s overly friendly attitude.
Suddenly, they felt a sense of impending doom.
After leaving the guild, Su Cheng looked at Wen Jianyan and asked the question the two inside wanted to but didn’t: “Three days later? What happens in three days?”
Wen Jianyan opened his phone and started contacting his future team members, answering without looking up, “We’ll handle the transfer procedures for our new teammates and have a heartwarming team-building event.”
“So, it worked?”
Wen Jianyan blinked: “Almost.”
…As expected.
Su Cheng’s mouth twitched.
No surprise; this guy had achieved his goal through trickery again.
He asked, “So, how many points did you end up spending?”
Wen Jianyan: “None.”
Su Cheng was stunned: “Huh?”
“They spent points to hire me as the guild leader,” Wen Jianyan said lightly. “I didn’t ask for much, just a hundred points.”
Su Cheng: “…”
He thought Wen Jianyan’s initial offer of a hundred points to buy the guild was outrageous, but now, not only did he spend nothing, he even made a hundred points off them.
And the other side probably felt it was worth it.
“Oh, and,” Wen Jianyan seemed to remember something, looking up with a pleasant smile, “I also got a vice leader who won’t cost anything, will help with paperwork, and has a good personality.”
Su Cheng: “………………”
Oh, got it.
A free, hardworking assistant with guild management experience, right?
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