Chapter 420: Chapter 406 Confrontation! (4000 words third update!)

President Yin personally led the team to visit the Bug Master and his mother on the second day.

The Bug Master lived quite far away from the city center of Shangcheng; it took President Yin almost two hours by car to get to the entrance of his residential area.

This place might be where the housing prices in Shangcheng are the cheapest, but cheap is still relative to Shangcheng standards…

President Yin had learned from the president of the Dancing Nuclear Guild’s subsidiary that the Bug Master’s family background was very ordinary, just like the majority of people, with parents who came from other cities to make a living and find opportunities in Shangcheng.

The house they lived in was also rented, not bought… The Bug Master even often bragged in the guild about how he never asked his parents for pocket money as a child, and that he had earned it all by himself through power-leveling services.

Unfortunately, the Bug Master could only share this joy with his friends in the Holy Spirit network.

“What a coincidence.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, President Yin looked out the window and saw an old friend… It was the owner of Conqueror of the World, and although he was disguised, President Yin recognized him immediately.

Before coming here, President Yin had already guessed that the owner of Conqueror of the World was behind the harassment of the Holy Spirit, but why he did it? There was no reason and no benefit, just pure stupidity.

But President Yin didn’t expect him to be stupid enough to buy a plane ticket from Jiangcheng to Shangcheng to supervise this interview.

“Boss, I suggest that it’s better for you not to show up,” said the driver who also recognized the owner of Conqueror of the World from a distance. This driver served as half an assistant to President Yin and was aware of what President Yin was currently dealing with.

President Yin had come personally just to be on the safe side, to oversee the delivery of the Bug Master’s Medal of Honor and property deed.

But the owner of Conqueror of the World came with a bunch of media reporters, obviously planning to continue stirring up the controversy around the Holy Spirit and internet addiction.

If President Yin appeared, it wouldn’t help mitigate any negative impact on the Holy Spirit; it would drag the Dancing Nuclear Guild into the mire instead.

“There might be a problem if we come by ourselves, but no worries… we have help. Uncle Sun, just park the car here.”

President Yin, having come in person, was prepared for high-intensity confrontation with these reporters. The appearance of Conqueror of the World’s owner was just like adding an extra mob for President Yin to defeat, and an easy one at that.

After President Yin got out of the car, two staff members from the Dancing Nuclear Guild followed. President Yin glanced at his watch; the Scholar of the Orange Cat… that was what President Yin called the old lady, and her staff members would arrive in a few minutes.

The owner of Conqueror of the World and the reporters had already entered the residential building, with the Bug Master’s home located on the first floor.

The interview seemed to have been ongoing for a while; President Yin could hear a woman’s resentful crying even standing outside the building.

After thinking for a moment with a touch of malice, President Yin walked directly into the building and approached the busy crowd of reporters.

But the reporters didn’t notice President Yin at all.

Well, that made sense… his online followers probably weren’t as numerous as the bubbles in a cola mania, right?

The reporters didn’t notice President Yin, but the owner of Conqueror of the World did. Their eyes met, and he seemed a bit guilty, wanting to look away.

But then he thought about how President Yin had also caused him quite a lot of trouble, including helping behind the scenes with Zhao Mingwei’s lawsuit.

With that thought, he stopped avoiding his identity and walked up warmly to shake hands with President Yin.

“Isn’t this Mr. Lu from the Dancing Nuclear Guild?” he said.

“Do you still have time to run up to the city? Aren’t you afraid your guilty secrets will be exposed?”

President Yin had no intention of playing the brotherly act with this guy, but his words had already caught the attention of the reporters who were doing interviews.

“The Mr. Lu from the Dancing Nuclear Guild? Hello, I am a reporter from the Uptown TV Station, we are doing a program…”

The reporters who were still interviewing swarmed over like hyenas drawn to the scent of carrion upon hearing President Yin’s identity.

President Yin didn’t reek of rot, but these interviewing reporters still maintained some professional integrity, and their initial questions were very tactful, which was ‘We heard that you know a student named Li Cong from a game called Holy Spirit, is that right?’

This question made President Yin sigh softly. He glanced at the two staff members he brought with him, one of whom was his secretary. The secretary kept shaking her head, trying to remind President Yin that now was not the time to speak carelessly.

However, President Yin gestured faintly to the interviewing reporter, who immediately understood his intent and handed over the microphone to him.

“I know what you want to find out from me, so I’ll just say it directly: Yu Chong… that is, student Li Cong, is a member of our Dancing Nuclear Guild. I entrusted him to participate in the final battle on Biland Island two days ago.”

President Yin’s stream of answers stunned the crowd of reporters. They were initially expecting to coax some facts out of President Yin with offhand mentions, but now he had bluntly divulged all the sensational news they were trying to dig up!

The secretary’s expression turned embarrassingly awful upon hearing President Yin’s words, and her face read ‘Boss, please, no more!’

“Mr. Lu, do you realize that Li Cong is…”

“I know he’s a senior high school student, and I also know he spent nearly twenty-one hours in an internet cafe immersed in the Holy Spirit world without rest, in order to complete the task I entrusted to him!” President Yin answered even quicker than the reporters could ask.

This time, the reporters were not just stunned but dumbfounded. The host reporter quickly organized his thoughts, pondering if he should change the title from “The Point of No Return for a Teenage Internet Addict” to something like “Inducing a Student to Play Games Nonstop Before College Entrance Exams, The Sinister Motive Behind the Dancing Nuclear Guild’s Boss?”

“You… you mean that you… encouraged an underage individual to go to an internet cafe two days ago? And you encouraged him to indulge in online gaming on the eve of his college entrance exam?” the reporter asked a question that was highly offensive to President Yin, tremblingly.

“Here,” President Yin abruptly returned the microphone to the reporters as he answered the question.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Because the things I’m about to say next, you probably won’t record. Even if you do, the meaning could be somewhat different,” President Yin said, tossing the microphone to an assistant of a reporter, then looked directly at the camera and said, “I didn’t induce Yu Chong to go to an internet cafe; it was his own choice. But he chose to execute the task I entrusted to him two days ago and did so with all his might. I… am very grateful to him.”

President Yin expressed his gratitude to every member of the Beheading Squad; their dedication surpassed that of the players defending against the attackers on Biland Island.

The casualties suffered in the battle made President Yin feel extreme guilt towards the Beheading Squad’s decision, but he certainly had no regrets. Not a single member of the squad had let him down! Each had pushed to their limits.

“So it was you who harmed… my child?” Yu Chong’s mother had been listening on the side and managed to grasp the gist of the conversation: Yu Chong had spent twenty-one hours in an internet cafe playing Holy Spirit on the eve of his college entrance exams, and one of the main culprits was President Yin.

“I didn’t harm your child, nor did Holy Spirit,” President Yin did not dodge the question but strongly retorted instead.

“Yet you still claim innocence.”

“Ma’am, do you have any idea how poor your child’s academic performance was before he played Holy Spirit? Do you really think he could have gotten into a university with those grades?” President Yin’s voice was calm, but his words cut to the quick.

The reporters on the side were so shocked they could hardly hold their microphones steady, and the boss of the Sovereignty of the World was utterly baffled. He and the reporters thought the same thing: they assumed they’d need to employ some tactics to corner President Yin into an embarrassing position.

But President Yin’s boldness was… much greater than their dirty tricks. Without their coercion, President Yin had readily spoken all the answers they wanted to hear.

Even more sensational.

“You… you…” the mother of Yu Chong was so angry she couldn’t get out a complete sentence.

“Mr. Lv, don’t you think your words are a bit too much?” The reporter couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Too much? Not necessarily. Video games might have affected your child’s academic performance, but there are so many students who play games… why is it that your child is the last in his grade?” Mr. Yin’s words did seem a bit out of line.

The main reason was that he was indeed harboring some anger–the injuries from cooking meat in a black pot were just an incitement; everyone had paid such a heavy price to defend Biland Island and the world after that.

Mr. Yin did not expect the Saints to receive broad recognition, but at the very least, such… foolish defamation should not occur.

“Are you suggesting that Li Cong’s poor academic performance is due to the educational system?”

Just then, the reporter took a sharp turn and threw an even more fatal question at Mr. Yin.

“Yu Chong has talent in Saints, and with his talent, he can depend on the Saints to live comfortably in reality, to the extent that he achieves far more than others. I’m here to deliver the reward Yu Chong won in the Saints.” Mr. Yin also used a method of changing the subject so abruptly that it made one wonder why he should even respond to the reporter’s questions.

“Rewards from the game? Could it be…” An assistant in the reporter’s team picked up on Mr. Yin’s words rather unfortunately.

“A real estate certificate for a property worth three million in the south of the city, that’s the reward Yu Chong won playing Saints. We’re here to deliver it to him,” Mr. Yin said.

“Is that true? Do you get a house for playing Saints? Is that even possible?” The reporter’s focus seemed to have been diverted by Mr. Yin, but he quickly asked, “Do you really think a house is worth more than an education?”

Mr. Yin didn’t respond to the reporter. Instead, he walked past him and entered Yu Chong’s home.

“What are you doing?” Yu Chong’s mother was somewhat dissatisfied with Mr. Yin’s brash entry.

“The rewards won in Saints, including the property title, belong to Yu Chong himself. He has full authority over them. If I’m not mistaken, he will soon come of age. Could you tell me where Yu Chong’s room is? I need to transfer some related documents to him.” Mr. Yin played the part of a Saints customer service representative without a hitch.

Yu Chong, who had been hiding in his room and in a state of self-isolation, heard someone calling his Saints ID rather than his real name and suddenly opened his door a crack.

Before he could even poke his head out to understand what was happening, something was thrown at him, and Yu Chong reached out to catch the item that had been tossed through the crack of the door.

It was a badge, a silver badge… It looked extremely exquisite from the outside.

What is this?

“That’s your Savior Star badge; I had someone make a replica based on the one in the game,” Mr. Yin told Yu Chong, who was hiding in his room.

“Savior Star? Mr. Yin?”

Yu Chong instantly recognized the familiar voice; in disbelief, he opened the door wider to see the crowd of people squeezed into his living room.

“It’s me.”

“You… why are you in my home, and this Savior Star…”

“Your honor badge, a title that only the top ten players on the Saints Merit List can obtain. Congratulations on winning this honor, and I also want to thank you for taking out that pesky Heart Thief in the nick of time,” Mr. Yin said.

“I… took down the Heart Thief?”

Yu Chong hadn’t quite caught the first part of what was said; just the last part was enough for him, and somewhat headache-inducing, he tapped his head, his previously dark eyes instantly reddening.

Possibly, the thing that had troubled him more than his mother’s opposition was the guilt he felt for dragging his teammates down at the last moment.

But he hadn’t dragged his teammates down!

“Mr. Yin… I don’t want to go to school anymore, I want to play professionally!” In a moment of heated passion, Yu Chong blurted this out, even to the chagrin of the overlord of the prominent guild.

“There are no professional competitions in Saints now, what would you play?” Mr. Yin’s rejection was just as straightforward.

“To all reporters, let’s end today’s interview here.” The overlord of the prominent guild could be pretty clever at times; Yu Chong’s words had already shifted the potential trouble from the game itself to the professional players.

“End it here, what do you mean? Keep filming!” Mr. Yin, however, interrupted the overlord of the prominent guild ahead.

“Lv Yinling, have you gone mad? These documentaries have a value orientation! Do you really think playing video games can be portrayed so nobly? Even if he won a house, the negative image of him skipping school to play games before the college entrance exams is undeniable!”

“I understand, so don’t stop the crew from continuing,” Mr. Yin said.

Of course, Mr. Yin knew the reasons behind the guild overlord’s irritation; if Mr. Yin steered the topic toward professional players, it would undoubtedly be self-destructive.

By then, if the crew produced a documentary titled “High School Junior Skips Classes to Play Games in Hopes of Becoming a Professional Player,” everyone involved would be done for!

“Do you truly believe that video games have no effect whatsoever on young people?” The reporter didn’t understand Mr. Yin’s aggressive stance.

“There is an impact, but individual cases don’t represent the majority.”

“I don’t think Li Cong can be considered an individual case. I see the shadow of many young people who neglect their education due to video games,” the reporter started to argue with Mr. Yin.

“I see… let’s switch to someone else for the interview,” Mr. Yin suggested, glancing at his wristwatch.

“Someone else?”

“Excuse me, excuse me, why are there TV people here?” Another group of people suddenly squeezed into the room.

“May I ask who you are…” The reporter wasn’t clear about who these new arrivals were.

“We’re representatives from Wu University. For certain special reasons, we’re here to find Li Cong to discuss his future aspirations. Comrade Reporter, we’re not quite sure what you’re recording for, but we hope you can be mindful of its impact,” one of the newcomers said, shaking hands with the reporter before speaking.

“Why would Wu University’s representatives come here? Aspirations…”

The reporter seemed to realize something as his gaze shifted to Mr. Yin who was preparing to leave.

“If you’re daring, you could report ‘Last in the Grade Student Gets Into Wu University by Playing Games,’ but that report could cost you your job, so I don’t recommend it. Finally, I have other matters to attend to, and my secretary will handle the rest. Yu Chong… call out on the guild channel when you log on next time,” Mr. Yin said with his usual smile.