CHAPTER 36: CONVERGENCE — PART 1
Su Mucheng's intelligence arrived at 6 AM on December 28th.
[Cleansing Mist (Encrypted): Confirmed. Excellent Era approved Chen Yehui's request. Three Heavenly Domain transfers incoming: one Sharpshooter, one Assassin, one Cleric. All guild elites with pro-level mechanical skills. They're creating accounts this morning.]
I read the message three times, letting the implications settle.
Three elite players.
Starting at Level 1 but with execution capabilities that will crush normal 10th Server competition.
At standard leveling pace, they'll reach combat-relevant levels in about three days.
At rushed pace with guild support... maybe two.
[Lord Grim → Cleansing Mist: Do you have their player profiles? Combat footage? Anything I can analyze?]
[Cleansing Mist (Encrypted): Working on it. The Sharpshooter is "Cold Night"—he was in the 2nd team rotation two seasons ago. The Assassin is "Shadow Edge"—guild elite, never made 1st team. The Cleric is "Divine Light"—backup healer for tournament matches.]
Cold Night I recognize from the source material.
He was mentioned as one of Excellent Dynasty's more capable officers.
The other two... the names don't match anything I remember.
Either they weren't significant enough for the anime to include, or they're different people in this timeline.
Another gap in the meta-knowledge.
I pulled up the PRD and started building preliminary profiles based on class characteristics. A Sharpshooter meant ranged suppression and assassination potential. An Assassin meant stealth flanking and burst damage. A Cleric meant healing support that could extend engagement duration indefinitely.
Classic kill squad composition.
Designed to hunt and eliminate single targets.
Designed to hunt me.
The team meeting happened in the café's back room at 8 AM.
Tang Rou arrived first, her expression sharp with the focus she brought to every challenge. Steamed Bun stumbled in five minutes later, still typing something on his phone—probably responding to a guild chat message that would make no sense to anyone but him. Chen Guo sat at the small desk she'd claimed as her administrative station, her Team Happy notebook open to a page filled with timeline calculations.
Su Mucheng joined via encrypted voice channel—the first time she'd participated in a real-time discussion since the initial contact. Her voice was warm but guarded, the careful tone of someone who couldn't be seen associating with Lord Grim's operations.
"The situation," I said, pulling up the PRD's threat assessment on the back room's borrowed monitor. "Excellent Dynasty is transferring three elite players to the 10th Server. They'll be combat-relevant within two to three days. Once they arrive, the balance of power shifts significantly."
Tang Rou studied the display. "How significantly?"
"These are pro-team guild members. Their mechanical skill is far above anything we've faced on this server. Even underlevel, they'll be dangerous. At matching levels, they'll be devastating."
"So we fight them." Tang Rou's jaw set. "We've fought guild squads before."
"We've fought guild squads with normal player skills. These transfers are different. Cold Night was a 2nd team rotation player—that means he trained with professionals and competed at tournament level." I highlighted the Sharpshooter profile. "His aim and positioning will be better than anyone we've faced."
[Steamed Bun Invasion: BUT CAN HE PUNCH?!]
The text appeared on Steamed Bun's phone screen—he was participating via the game interface rather than voice, typing with his characteristic enthusiasm.
"He can shoot you before you get close enough to punch."
[Steamed Bun Invasion: ...oh. That's less fun.]
"The transfers aren't the only factor," I continued. "Tyrannical Ambition is still in the coalition, at least nominally. Their presence has shifted from hostile to observational, but that could change if they see an opportunity. And Han Wenqing..."
I paused.
Han Wenqing is watching.
Not through his guild officers anymore—directly, through the Tyrannical Ambition communication channels.
The greatest rival Ye Xiu ever had is assessing whether Lord Grim lives up to the legend.
"Han Wenqing is interested in Lord Grim," Su Mucheng said through the voice channel. Her tone carried weight I couldn't fully interpret. "He's been asking questions through unofficial channels. What Ye Xiu is planning. Why he came back. Whether the 10th Server is just a training ground or something more."
She's not comfortable talking about this.
Han Wenqing and Ye Xiu had history—rivalry that spanned a decade of professional competition.
And she knows I'm not really Ye Xiu.
She knows there's a gap between the person Han Wenqing is looking for and the person she's been helping.
"Let him watch," I said. "The performance will speak for itself."
The plan crystallized over the next hour.
"We have approximately three days before the Heavenly Domain transfers reach competitive level," I outlined. "That's our window. We use it for two objectives: break the next dungeon record with the full party, and formally establish Guild Happy as a server entity."
Chen Guo nodded. "I have the registration documents ready. We can file as soon as we meet the member threshold."
"How many members do we need?"
"Five minimum for official guild status. We have you, Tang Rou, Steamed Bun, and me as the nominal fourth." She glanced at the voice channel indicator. "If Su Mucheng can..."
"I can't officially join." Su Mucheng's voice was apologetic. "Not while I'm still under Excellent Era contract. Any formal association would give them grounds to claim interference."
She's right.
The contract that binds her to Excellent Era also binds her actions.
Even helping Lord Grim through intelligence is a risk—official guild membership would be a bridge too far.
"Then we need a fifth member." I pulled up the defender rotation roster. "Someone from the volunteer pool who's proven reliable."
Tang Rou shook her head. "The volunteers are good for PK defense, but none of them have the skill level for what you're planning. If we're breaking records with a party that's supposed to establish Guild Happy's reputation, we need players who can actually contribute at a high level."
She's right.
The volunteers are enthusiastic but limited.
We need someone with real capability.
The PRD's player database scrolled through my mind. Hundreds of profiles, most of them average. A handful with potential. And one name that kept surfacing every time I considered future roster composition.
Drifting Wind.
The ghost in the data.
Running dungeons faster than my records, alone, with skills that shouldn't exist yet.
If my hypothesis is correct—if Drifting Wind is really Qiao Yifan—then he's exactly the kind of player we need.
But approaching too early could scare him away.
His development in the source material required hitting rock bottom before finding his way to Team Happy.
Am I willing to risk changing that trajectory?
[Steamed Bun Invasion: WHAT ABOUT THAT GHOST GUY? THE ONE WHO RUNS DUNGEONS AT WEIRD HOURS?]
I stared at the message.
Steamed Bun noticed Drifting Wind.
Of course he did—chaos recognizes patterns that order ignores.
"Drifting Wind," I said slowly. "You've seen them?"
[Steamed Bun Invasion: YEAH! They were in the dungeon queue late at night! Very fast! Very quiet! Like a NINJA but less punchy!]
Tang Rou pulled up her own interface. "I've heard the name in guild chat. Some of the volunteers mentioned a Ghostblade who's been setting unofficial records solo. No one knows who they are."
No one except me.
And even I'm only guessing.
The decision point had arrived earlier than I'd planned.
Wait for Drifting Wind to approach on their own terms, following the source material's trajectory.
Or reach out now, during the crisis window, and risk changing something I don't fully understand.
The meta-knowledge says patience.
The tactical situation says urgency.
Which voice do I trust?
The notification arrived at midnight, as if the universe had been listening to my deliberations.
[Friend List Update: Drifting Wind — Online]
I watched the status indicator for a long moment. Drifting Wind had logged in at midnight three times in the past week, always running dungeons alone, always logging off before I could make contact. The pattern suggested someone who wanted to play but didn't want to be noticed.
Why would someone that skilled want to stay invisible?
Unless they're hiding from something.
Or someone.
The message appeared in my inbox before I could decide whether to reach out.
[Drifting Wind → Lord Grim: Can I join your next run?]
I read the words five times.
They reached out.
Not me approaching them—them approaching me.
The source material said Qiao Yifan found Lord Grim after hitting rock bottom.
Maybe rock bottom arrived early.
Or maybe something else is happening that the meta-knowledge didn't predict.
The cursor blinked in the reply field.
Three days until the Heavenly Domain transfers arrive.
A dungeon record to break.
A guild to establish.
And now a potential recruit who shouldn't exist yet, asking to join a run they shouldn't know about.
I typed:
[Lord Grim → Drifting Wind: Tomorrow night. Midnight. Be ready to prove yourself.]
The response came immediately:
[Drifting Wind → Lord Grim: I will.]
I closed the chat and stared at the screen.
The convergence is happening.
Excellent Dynasty's escalation. Tyrannical Ambition's observation. Drifting Wind's emergence.
Three threads weaving together into something I can't fully predict.
The meta-knowledge helped me survive the first month.
But this moment—this decision—feels like the beginning of something the source material never showed.
Chen Guo found me still staring at the screen an hour later.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she said.
I turned to face her. The café was empty except for us—the late-night crowd had gone home, and the morning shift was still hours away.
"Maybe I have."
She sat down in the chair beside my station, the same position she'd taken during every important conversation since she learned who I was. Her Team Happy notebook was tucked under her arm, pages filled with plans and preparations for a future that was arriving faster than either of us expected.
"The dungeon run," she said. "Tomorrow night. Are you ready?"
Ready?
I don't know.
The Desync is manageable but not gone.
The team chemistry is building but not complete.
The meta-knowledge is useful but increasingly unreliable.
And every decision I make changes the trajectory in ways I can't fully track.
"We'll find out tomorrow."
Chen Guo nodded and stood. "Then get some sleep. You can't break records if you're exhausted."
Sleep.
The thing I've been avoiding since the transmigration.
Every night spent at this station, watching data and planning moves.
Maybe she's right.
Maybe the most important thing I can do right now is rest.
I logged off and walked to the small room behind the café that had become my unofficial living space. The cot was uncomfortable, the lighting was bad, and the walls were thin enough that I could hear the servers humming in the main room.
But it was home.
The only home I had in this world.
Tomorrow, everything would change again.
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