Zhan Long

Chapter 144 - Strawberry Matcha

Holding her chopsticks, Lin Wang Er stared at me with a look of disdain and asked, “Really?”

“Everything is for the future of the studio…” I spoke righteously.

“You tool…”

“…”

……

Quickly finishing my meal, I sent a grumpy Lin Wan Er upstairs. Then I ran from the campus to the studio. Finally, we had found some new blood. If she was both adorable and pleasing to the eyes, then we would keep her, regardless of her gaming ability. Good men shouldn’t be picky eaters.

Since I sprinted the whole way to the studio, I was panting like a dog when I pushed open the door.

“Huaa!”

Entering with the wind, I saw Wolf quietly sitting in the studio’s parlor. Sitting in front of him was a girl wearing a milk-white dress suit, a matching beige skirt, a head of long hair, and a graceful disposition. Was this the cute girl that Song Han was talking about?

Since her back was facing me, neither of us could see each others face. When Wolf saw me, he immediately stood: “Our studio’s boss is back!”

“Ah?”

The girl exclaimed in surprise and slowly turned around to face me. All of a sudden, a pretty face which possessed an ethereal beauty was in front of me. With one glance, I had already thought up her scores. A 10/10 face, 9/10 grace, 9/10 figure and what looked to be a 34C, which was quite fitting for her stature. Her gorgeous eyes were luminous and clear, as if dust had never fallen upon them, and sparkled as she looked up at me, part surprised, part excited.

“You…You’re the Xiao Yao Zi Zai of Ba Huang City?”

Strangely enough, I became quite nervous. Although I had been around Lin Wan Er, who was a beauty herself, this is still the first time I was meeting this girl. Her rating definitely wouldn’t be too far from Lin Wan Er’s. Deep down inside I was thanking the heavens above. I didn’t know why the gods gave our Zhan Long Studio this kind of luck, but to have this adorable girl work here? We would absolutely keep her…

Sitting a short distance away, Wolf was about to start drooling at the sight of her. Even Fox, who was normally strong willed, kept sneaking glimpses while computing the studio’s accounts.

“You’re… Xiao Yao Zi Zai?” She asked once more.

I walked up and held out my hand with smile: “My name is Li Xiao Yao and my ID in Destiny is Xiao Yao Zi Zai. Hello!”

The girl smiled back, reaching out to give me a handshake. Her hand was soft. “Hello…I’m Xue Rou…My Destiny ID is Strawberry Matcha, and, erm, right now I am a Lv 27 Wind Elf Swordsman…”

Nodding my head, I looked at her and said, “Hey, have you looked at our studio’s hiring requirements?”

“Yeah, I understood about 40% of it.” She nodded her head in affirmation.

I laughed as I pointed at a chair: “Why don’t we sit down to chat?”

“Ah, okay. Thank you…”

Looking at her slowly and carefully sitting down, with a cautious grace, I couldn’t help but praise her. What a great girl, why was she applying to work here at Zhan Long Studio? What has the world become…

“Alright, let’s talk…” I contemplated for a moment and then spoke, “What do you hope to gain from our Zhan Long Studio, Matcha, and what do you think you can offer this studio?”

Looking at me with a pair of big eyes, Matcha looked both silly and adorable. A small blush appeared on her cheeks as she said: “I came for the 3000RMB starting pay. My only request is that the studio can pay me on time each month. As for what I can offer to the studio…erm, I can cook, do laundry, and clean. My in-game level isn’t high, but I will try very hard to improve that…”

Looking at her, it was clear to me that she lacked confidence in her gaming abilities, but I laughed and asked: “What is your own understanding of a Wind Elf Swordsmen?”

Matcha was stunned for a second, her long lashes blinked together a few times before she said, “Wind Elves can fly; if it is possible to group together more than 10 Wind Elf Swordsmen, Mages, Healers and so on, it would be possible to cover greater distances and fly over large obstacles to quickly attack. In a battle, Wind Elves are a highly mobile force. They may even be comparable to the mounted Knights that appear later in the game. Even though early on they may be hard pressed by Mages and Archers, later in the game, they will definitely be the main attacking force.”

I could not help but nod in admiration, “Hm … not bad. So Matcha …have you PK’ed before in game? And what is your win rate?”

Matcha’s face blushed furiously once more, “On record, I’ve only PK’ed 7 times. My win rate is 0 kills to 7 deaths … My control isn’t that great; I can never find north and I’m really bad at dodging…”

Wolf Totem became green-faced, “Brother Xiao Yao…This?”

I nodded and laughed, “It’s alright. People can be trained to learn game mechanics. Matcha is very knowledgeable in tactics, and …Matcha, how old are you now?”

“23 years old…”

“Uh…”

I glanced over at Wolf and Old K and said,”From now on, you guys call her Big Sis Matcha, don‘t forget it. Matcha’s level is a bit low, so think of ways to help her level to a minimum of Lv 40 within the next 3 days. Also, Fox, prepare a few pieces of equipment for Matcha. I want her to at least be wearing a full suit of Silver Tier gear, or else she’s going to die too easily while leveling.”

Fox and the rest nodded to my commands, “Got it!”

Matcha got a little excited and abruptly stood as she cheerfully asked, “Boss, does this mean… you’re agreeing to let me join Zhan Long Studio?”

I smiled at her and nodded, “Yep!”

As I spoke, I stood up and held out my hand. Matcha was confused for a second before giving me a handshake. Her hand was as soft as before. I smiled and said, “Matcha, Miss Xue Rou, I welcome you to the Zhan Long Studio. From now on, we’re family, so let’s work hard together, build Zhan Long into the best gaming studio in the country, and let the whole continent of Destiny shake upon hearing Zhan Long’s name!”

Matcha nodded earnestly, “Yep, I’m going to work hard. And, erm…Boss, you’re really cool! Give me a signature later, I want to give it to my little sister, she really likes you!”

Me: “…”

……

I opened the China Gaming Teams’ official website and added a new member to the Zhan Long Studio: Xue Rou, 23 years old, ID “Strawberry Matcha”, Lv 27 Wind Elf Swordsman. From now on, Zhan Long Studio would officially be a 5-man team, and at a moments notice, we would be able to gather the minimum 5 people required for a world tournament or championship.

As I sat by the window holding a cup of water in hand, Matcha stood at my side hesitating slightly. She asked, “Boss, is there anything else you need?”

I shook my head, “I don’t think so …oh right, where do you live Matcha? You should come live at the studio from now on; is there any problem with that?”

Matcha quickly nodded in confirmation, “Okiedoke, no problem. I live at Wen 2nd Street which is pretty close to here. I don’t have a lot of belongings either. But Boss, which room will I be staying in?”

I glanced at her and said, “Since I normally don’t stay at the studio, I guess you can sleep in my room.”

“This…” Matcha grasped her hand into a little fist. She turned her head around to look at Song Han and the guys, and a slight wariness appeared in her eyes.

I couldn’t help but laugh and gave her a pat on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, even though Ran Min looks really scary, he is really a wolf wearing a sheep’s skin… Wait no, a sheep wearing a wolf’s skin. He is very docile and definitely won’t bully you. Plus, you’re sleeping in my room, and Song Han’s room is right in between you two, and Song Han’s character is definitely trustworthy.”

As I spoke, I looked at Song Han and softly said, “Little Wolf, from now on you’re in charge of Matcha’s safety. If I hear that she ever gets bullied by anyone, I’ll rush here within 10 minutes and end you…”

Song Han laughed aloud saying, “Don’t worry Xiao Yao, even though the three of us are single, we absolutely won’t make a move on one of our own people, not to mention Big Sis Matcha. We’ll definitely take good care of her.”

“Hm, if that’s so, then good!”

Putting down my cup, I asked, “It’s about time to go back to leveling, what are you guys planning to do in the afternoon?”

Ran Min responded, “We have it all planned out. This afternoon, we’re going to Wild Plains to kill Lv 47 Wild Wolves. Leveling this way should be quite fast. Why don’t we bring Matcha with us?”

Song Han frowned, “We have a lot of people, and the monsters’ levels aren’t that much higher than ours. If we bring her, I’m afraid she won’t get too much experience.”

Matcha looked at me and dejectedly said, “Boss, I’ll come back in an hour with my belongings and the game helmet. You guys don’t have to help me level, I should be fine on my own…”

I pondered for a second, “Alright. Little Wolf, go with Matcha and help her move her belongings back to the studio. Fox, draft up a contract for Matcha, let’s temporarily sign for one year?”

Matcha cutely nodded, “Mhm. Sounds good.”

Me: “Go online in an hour. I’ll add you to my friends list. Song Han and the guys are busy at the moment, so I’ll just bring you with me to train for an afternoon. Let’s first try to get to Lv 30 because Lv 27 really is too low now.”

Matcha excitedly spoke, “Oh Oh, Boss is going to personally help me level up. This is even better! Alright, I’m going to go get my belongings!”

“Okay!”

……

After sending Matcha and Song Han downstairs, I immediately rushed back to Liu Hua University. I’ll have to remain near Lin Wan Er or else Lin Tian Nan will notice my absences. I was especially cautious since I would be getting a raise to 50K per month next month. Honestly, this would really help supplement the studio’s meager income. Just thinking about a monthly salary of 50K made me smile with glee. In the near future I could be a man who is tall, rich, and handsome (in other words, a winner).

3 PM sharp: Went online.

I was Lv 51 with 94% Exp, but temporarily I wouldn’t focus on leveling up. Taking out a bunch of equipment from storage, I set up a stall for half an hour as I waited for Matcha to come online. The first thing we need to do when she comes online is to bring her up to Lv 30. Right now she is a member of Zhan Long, and thus her level can’t be too low, or else she won’t be able to become a part of the main force in the future.

I looked up the ID Strawberry Matcha, but was notified that the player was not online. Thus I returned to selling equipment.

Finally, at almost 4 PM, I looked up the ID again. A “DING!” sounded as the system notified me that the player was online. I immediately sent a friend request, and a few seconds later, a female Wind Elf’s portrait appeared on my friends list. It was the Lv 27 Wind Elf Swordsman, Strawberry Matcha. With a head of long, dark-green hair, and a pair of big eyes, she looked almost exactly like she did in real life. The only difference was that she changed her hair color in-game. As a whole, she still looked refreshing and cute.

“Boss! Good afternoon~” She took the initiative to send me a message.

I immediately replied, “Matcha, where are you right now in Ba Huang City? Come over to the north gate square, I’ll be waiting here. Let’s bring you up to Lv 30 before anything else.”

“Okay, I’m coming right now!”

“Ok, I’ll wait for you…”

……

After waiting for almost 5 minutes, a pretty Lv 27 Swordsman came out of the bushes outside the city gate. Holding a green colored Green Tier long sword, she ran with her hair swaying out behind her. A pair of stunningly gorgeous legs showed as her gown fluttered from her sprinting. Such a beautiful Wind Elf Swordsman, who else could it be but Strawberry Matcha?