The original host had been insecure since childhood, focusing solely on academics and barely making any close friends.
Yet, her grades were god-tier—absolutely exceptional.
Because of this, she had never seriously played any proper games. Swordsman’s Romance was a highly skill-intensive game, and while the original host had decent gaming talent, she wasn’t as good as An Xun.
So when An Xun showed up in the original host’s guild, decked out in top-tier gear and with skills second only to the top player, Gao Fu Shuai (Tall, Rich, and Handsome), she easily won over most of the guild members.
Skilled female players were indeed rare in the game.
But Ye Shaohua was different. Though she had never seriously played an MMORPG before, her hand speed was no joke. In Swordsman’s Romance, the number of players who could surpass her APM could be counted on one hand.
Right now, the story had progressed to the point where An Xun had already joined the guild, and Ye Shaohua’s presence was gradually being sidelined.
Ye Shaohua smoothed down her bangs—she didn’t want to change too much too quickly. The original host’s personality was vastly different from hers, and she didn’t want her father to think she’d been possessed. Better take it slow.
She walked to the wardrobe, eyeing the rows of long sleeves and pants, and randomly picked an outfit before changing.
Then, she sat down at the computer and started familiarizing herself with the game controls.
The housekeeper saw her gaming again but didn’t say anything—just silently brought her a glass of milk.
On her friends list, the name Lonely Boat in the Sea of Love (Qinghai Guzhou)—Gao Fu Shuai’s in-game ID—was lit up at the top.
The original host’s QQ was already open, minimized with an unanswered message to Lonely Boat in the Sea of Love from an hour ago:
[Sunrise on Leaves]: Guzhou, is your account being played by a friend right now?
Lonely Boat in the Sea of Love still hadn’t replied.
Ye Shaohua ignored it and opened the leaderboards instead. Whether it was the Equipment Ranking, Spirit Pet Ranking, PvP Ranking, or Level Ranking—the number one spot was held by the same person: One Sword Brews Wine (Yi Jian Zhu Jiu).
He was also the leader of Windchaser, the top guild in the game.
Swordsman’s Romance was an insanely popular MMORPG with over ten million players. Becoming the best in the entire server was no easy feat.
Though Lonely Boat in the Sea of Love was considered a top player, he was only in the top ten. The players ranked above him were mostly from Windchaser.
Ye Shaohua took on a dungeon quest. Just then, a female guildmate, Long Hair Reaching Waist, sent her a private message:
[Whisper] Long Hair Reaching Waist: Xiao Ye, what’s going on between you and the guild leader? Why is someone named Xian Hua Nong Ying playing on his account? The guild leader’s never let anyone else use his account before. I heard from the vice leader that this Nong Ying is a beauty—some guildmates have seen her photos. Be careful.
As Ye Shaohua read the message, she was already inside the guild’s highest-difficulty dungeon.
The moment Long Hair Reaching Waist sent her warning, a server-wide announcement flashed across the screen:
[System Notification] Congratulations to player Sunrise on Leaves for defeating the Unicorn and obtaining: Orange Refining Stone x5, Purple Mythical Mist Jade x1!
[Whisper] Long Hair Reaching Waist: …Soloing the Unicorn? Xiao Ye, you’re not the same Xiao Ye I used to know.
Ye Shaohua didn’t reply. Instead, she mailed the Mist Jade to Long Hair Reaching Waist. Her own gear was already complete, and Long Hair was also a mage.
More importantly, in the original storyline, Long Hair Reaching Waist was the only one who stood by her side from beginning to end.
After receiving the item, Long Hair spammed a bunch of exclamation marks in response.
Ye Shaohua closed the chat window and used a Teleportation Scroll to send her mage to the Great Desert.
World Bosses spawned randomly here. Her orange-tier weapon was still missing one crystal—an item only dropped by World Bosses.
Usually, only large guilds tackled World Bosses in coordinated teams due to their insane damage output.
But Ye Shaohua relied on ridiculously smooth movement to dodge wave after wave of attacks.
One hand on the keyboard, the other on the mouse—she unleashed an ultimate skill and took down the boss in one go!
Meanwhile, in Windchaser’s guild chat…
“Holy shit! Did you see those moves?!” A bright male voice yelled excitedly. “Guild Leader, did you see that? This player’s mechanics are even crazier than yours!”
There were other chattering voices in the background. The guy figured the guild leader wouldn’t respond—after all, their leader was notoriously aloof. He barely spoke even during guild wars, let alone now.
But to his surprise, the guild leader actually replied.
A lazy, indifferent “Mm.”
The guild erupted. New members, especially the female ones, lost their minds.
“I thought the guild leader was some bearded dude!”
“Same!”
“+ID number!”
“…”
The man being discussed, Chu Yun, leaned back in his chair. His long, pale fingers rested on the mouse, but his character, One Sword Brews Wine, remained in stealth mode.
Originally, he had brought the guild to ambush the World Boss tonight. But someone had found it first.
Just as he was about to leave, he noticed the lone mage attempting to solo it.
Even now, as the mage sat cross-legged in the desert refining gear, he didn’t move his character away.
The office door swung open.
Lin Ye’s annoying face popped in. “So, Fourth Brother, what do you think? If we recruit this player, we might actually clear the Heavenly Demon Dungeon.”
He leaned in, only to see Chu Yun still staring at Sunrise on Leaves.
“Wait—” Lin Ye’s eyes widened. “Fourth Brother, don’t tell me you’re interested in this player! This Sunrise on Leaves is infamous for being a ‘fake girl’!”
Lin Ye had collaborated with Lonely Boat in the Sea of Love’s guild before and had heard the rumors.
For starters, the name Sunrise on Leaves sounded undeniably masculine.
“Fourth Brother, Sunrise on Leaves has never joined guild voice chats or posted photos. Everyone in Nian Zhou’s guild suspects ‘she’ is actually a guy. I didn’t believe it at first, but look—with skills like that, ‘she’ has to be a bearded dude!” Lin Ye shook his head, trying to snap Chu Yun back to reality.
Chu Yun ignored him and instead clicked to send Sunrise on Leaves a friend request.
Several minutes passed—no response.
How interesting. Chu Yun smirked, stroking his chin.
Meanwhile, Ye Shaohua didn’t even notice Chu Yun’s request—because Lonely Boat in the Sea of Love suddenly sent her a video call.
