Lin Yu's "explanation" for Chen Zhuo would definitely be hard for ordinary people to believe immediately.
But...
Fortunately, Chen Zhuo's trust index in Lin Yu was exceptionally high.
Even though this reason sounded somewhat ridiculous, Chen Zhuo still nodded in convinced acceptance.
"Wow, Game Master big brother, you're really so kind-hearted, actually caring this much about my mental health."
Lin Yu smiled and said: "Alright, I have other matters to attend to, time is precious... your collaboration from now on will be up to you two to discuss!"
After speaking, Lin Yu turned and left, walking toward the other side of the road.
Chen Zhuo barely had time to say goodbye when he saw a car pass by...
Then, the other's figure suddenly vanished!
"What powerful ability... appearing and disappearing mysteriously, truly worthy of being the Game Master!"
And the "Lin Yu" who disappeared...
Naturally wasn't the real Lin Yu, but an illusion created by Hannah.
"What powerful ability... appearing and disappearing mysteriously, truly worthy of being the Game Master!"
Watching Hannah maintain her invisible state as she dangerously yet safely quickly crawled back from between the rolling wheels of the road and jumped back onto his shoulder, Lin Yu quietly sighed in relief.
"Finally made a perfect exit."
But next, he still needed to continue negotiations with Chen Zhuo using the "Xia Yue" identity.
Chen Zhuo looked toward the "Xia Yue" that Lin Yu was impersonating and lightly coughed.
"Ahem, so that means... you actually weren't a 'new player' back then, right?"
Hearing Chen Zhuo get straight to the point with this question, Lin Yu nodded quite pleased.
He had really been afraid Chen Zhuo wouldn't notice this point!
"Correct, though I'm not much more experienced than you—that was only my fifth dungeon. I just entered the game one month earlier than you all."
Chen Zhuo listened, his expression becoming somewhat excited.
"Oh, does this mean it's because my hidden points are very high that such a situation occurred!"
"My first round dungeon already matched me with a player who had cleared four dungeons!"
Through extensive cross-verification among players, everyone generally knew...
Excluding interference from items like [Team Cards], each dungeon in the 『Death Game』 had a certain "range" for difficulty and the other players one might encounter.
Within this range, the difference between the strongest and weakest players in a dungeon usually wouldn't be particularly large.
Although the "first round" was special, normally the entire dungeon would consist of new players...
But if among the newcomers there was someone with excessively high "potential" and extremely strong hidden power, and the same batch of new players couldn't produce monsters of similar caliber, situations might occur where non-new players joined new player dungeons.
This situation was extremely rare, probably about as uncommon as encountering high-level NPCs who could recognize "players as players."
So the more Chen Zhuo thought about it, the more excited he became.
"In that dungeon, you and I were the only survivors—does this mean I was among all the newcomers in that dungeon..."
"Sorry, but you're probably overthinking it," Lin Yu interrupted Chen Zhuo gently in an extremely soft tone, "The ones in that dungeon with the most potential, enough to pull me in for balance, should have been that 『Soldier』 and 『Lone Wolf』..."
Speaking up to this point, Lin Yu showed a very gentle smile and spoke in a joking tone.
"You really should thank me though—if I hadn't dealt with those two, if you had faced them... well, though it's hard to say who would have won or lost."
Xia Yue said thus.
Chen Zhuo didn't stubbornly argue at all, immediately speaking respectfully: "Thank you, sister, for saving my dog's life. I hope you can continue carrying me from now on... may I ask how I should address you?"
"Zhu Ming," Lin Yu skillfully reported his false name, "This is my 'code name'... and yours?"
Chen Zhuo spoke: "Ahem, my forum ID is 『Ai-chan Lifelong Devotee』... you can call me 'Little Zhuo'."
Although he had expected Chen Zhuo's forum ID would be quite abstract, Lin Yu hadn't expected it to actually be this abstract.
So Lin Yu could only maintain Xia Yue's persona as someone completely unfamiliar with otaku culture, showing appropriate confusion.
"Your forum ID has no relation to 'Little Zhuo' at all, right?"
"Yes, Little Zhuo is my childhood nickname in real life," Chen Zhuo answered honestly, "After all, calling five characters according to the ID would be troublesome and somewhat embarrassing... calling me Lifelong or Little Push would also be strange..."
"Then couldn't I just call you Little Ai or Ai-chan?"
Lin Yu blinked, asking curiously and puzzled.
Speaking here, Lin Yu showed a very gentle smile and spoke in a joking tone.
"That absolutely won't do! That would be too blasphemous! You absolutely cannot call me that!"
"Just call me Little Zhuo!"
Seeing Chen Zhuo react so intensely, Lin Yu slightly pursed his lips.
"Alright... in that case, why not just set your forum ID as 'Little Zhuo' from the beginning?"
"That also won't do," Chen Zhuo's voice remained firm, his eyes revealing extremely tenacious willpower, "This is faith."
Lin Yu's face showed an expression of "not understanding but respecting."
"I think I understand... let's put the naming matter aside for now."
"Let's talk about the teaming matter... since that was your first round, the next one you'll participate in is your fifth dungeon, right?"
Lin Yu asked, and Chen Zhuo nodded.
"Yes."
"Since it's not a 『Promotion』 dungeon, why specifically hire experienced players to carry you?" Lin Yu asked puzzled, "Is your dungeon difficulty very high?"
"Whether points or [items], keeping them in your own hands and converting them into your own strength is the optimal solution, right?"
"Not exactly, Senior Zhu Ming," Chen Zhuo shook his head, "As you said, my first dungeon went too smoothly, so during my second dungeon I somewhat looked down on this game—thinking I could become a lone, lofty powerhouse... so I almost lost my life."
"From then on I realized, even though I have potential, I'm actually someone more suited for team play."
"Therefore... for my third and fourth dungeons, I hired some experienced players to help me clear—though not for 『Promotion』, with help it indeed went much more smoothly!"
Chen Zhuo said seriously: "Being able to find others to help oneself is also a manifestation of strength, isn't it?"
Hearing Chen Zhuo's words, Lin Yu considered for a moment before speaking again.
"I don't mind carrying you once, it's just... continuing like this, your points will eventually run out someday."
Chen Zhuo listened, looked at Lin Yu, and suddenly said.
"Have you not looked at the post I published yet?"
"Why not search my forum ID and take a look?"
Chen Zhuo said, his tone filled with confidence.