Online Dating, Fooled 800 Times - Chapter 10

If the previous skirmishes were minor, the tit-for-tat exchanges over the next two weeks escalated the feud between Xiang Kui and the mysterious scumbag rapper.

While it was unknown how [Rush] had secured an admin position of the server’s largest gang, would Xiang Kui, after years of playing lone wolf assassins, be afraid of large numbers? …Actually, she was. After all, even Tyson couldn’t defeat ten old men. So, she slightly altered her tactics.

She cleverly shifted the trash talk from before the fight to after.

The plan of attack was to appear and disappear like a shadow. She would cast her skills, aiming to cause a sudden death. Then, after the opponent collapsed, she’d flee thirty miles away, breathlessly waiting for [Rush]’s response.

[[Private Chat] Rush: ?]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: ?]

The two exchanged virtually no words beyond the question mark. Needless to say, everything else was contained within the question mark.

Xiang Kui kept her word and went to the secondhand market to find a scalper, bought the outfit, and sent it to [Warlord Li Li]. It’s unclear whether it was [Precious Little Foam] passed along the message or if she figured it out on her own, but the other party hadn’t been online for several days. Since no one had checked the costume, it was automatically returned.

Xiang Kui was not used to the fact that there were so many fewer people causing trouble all of a sudden.

As soon as she thought this, she realized that she seemed to have offended more people.

[Without a Pair] was originally a guild from an opposing faction. Over the years, the power structure had become complex, and most of the management had their own sub-groups. After being summoned ten times in a row, someone finally got discontent.

Nonsense! Putting aside the baffling feeling of rushing in with such high spirits only to find a helpless Xiao Kongshan on the scene, the most perplexing thing was that the  [Brotherhood Flag] was a flag reserved for large-scale group battles, and it cost nearly 100 RMB each—what kind of grudge was there? Was it worth burning so much money? This was like killing a chicken with a butcher’s knife!

As Xiang Kui was doing her daily tasks, wearing the invisibility charm as usual, an unsolicited friend request came from someone.

It’s that person again, [Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you], from [Without a Pair]. They had tried to buy the gemstone for making Tianwu from her before, but was rejected. They seemed to have a bit of a low-EQ and didn’t speak very well.

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: You there?]

See.

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Not there.]

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Let me get straight to the point. Can you tell me exactly what your relationship is with Rush?]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Can you first tell me what the relationship is between Rush and Without a Pair?]

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: ? I’m asking you, and you’re still trying to get information from me? This is a trade secret.]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Okay, then let me ask something else. Is Rush a nepotism hire by your guild leader?]

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Yeah, yeah! Let me tell you, I really don’t get it. I knew them before and had assumed the account owner switched. But then [Knowing Autumn] seems to know him in real life and even claimed he was a founding member…] (TL note: [Knowing Autumn] = ‘Lu Zhiqiu’ = Lu Zhe, Yue Qing’s irl friend)

Xiang Kui watched this doofus, who seemed ready to reveal the color of the guild’s leader’s underwear with just a few words, and suddenly realized that their emotional intelligence was quite high. At least higher than their IQ.

But this description clearly contradicted her image of [Rush].

Sometimes, she couldn’t help but marvel at [Rush]’s emotional stability, comparable to the capybara she’d seen at the zoo. Even when chased and bitten, he didn’t lash out, lose his composure, complain, or utter a single curse word. He simply stood up, silently took out his banner, and slowly typed a question mark.

No other reaction.

Is this the mental fortitude required to be a central air conditioner type player? If being introspective, Xiang Kui would have cursed the other party’s entire family tree with a trembling voice by the third death.

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Still don’t want to admit it?]

Her thoughts were getting off topic. Xiang Kui came back to her senses, feeling somewhat bewildered. What was she supposed to admit?

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: You are actually his mysterious ex!]

Xiang Kui, “…………?”

She had vaguely heard that [Rush] did have a past flame.

[Wild Female Baboon] had told her that [Rush] was so heartbroken by his most recent breakup that he even considered selling his account and quitting the game.

But what did that have to do with her?

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Don’t rush to deny it, we have reason to speculate.]

You? Who else is so smart besides you?

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: First of all, although kill notifications are posted on the public channel by default, everyone except clueless newbies and idiots would change this setting. But Rush didn’t. What does this mean?]

Can’t he just be a complete noob?

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Secondly, every time he sends someone to kill you, he just stands there never acting himself. What does this mean?]

It means he’s afraid his cheating and paying for power-leveling would be exposed.

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Okay, I just wanted to gather some information. After all, relationships are about fighting at the beginning and making up at the end. If you really want to go after your former relationship, the guild won’t interfere.]

Baffled, Xiang Kui typed:

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Wouldn’t it be faster to ask him than to ask me?

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Do you think we haven’t asked? He didn’t even reply with a single punctuation mark.]

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: No, wait, you mean… he only replies to your PMs? What does that mean?!]

Xiang Kui, “…”

She didn’t reply immediately, but fell into deep thought.

To be honest, while this whole ordeal didn’t have much of an impact on her, someone else was truly affected.

The first time, Guild Leader Xiao Ma was full of energy, exclaiming, “My guild members were beaten. How could I, as the leader, just turn a blind eye? Why didn’t you tell me in advance?”

Then their entire guild was pinned to the ground and rubbed into the dirt.

The third time, Guild Leader Xiao Ma declared spiritedly, “No matter how strong we are, at least our intent must be there! We can’t break our promise. We’re not fake passionate PVP players!”

Then their entire guild was pinned to the riverbank and rubbed into the mud.

The fifth time… there was no fifth time. Xiang Kui went to YY, and she heard Guild Leader Xiao Ma speaking, sounding as if he’d aged ten years, “Are we really that bad?”

Even though the senior F4 members always did their best to dodge but always took full damage, like crazed wild boars monsters, Xiang Kui still comforted, “Not that bad, it’s the game that’s terrible. I can face them alone, no need to help me.”

The gang leader’s tone was extremely passionate: “You want me to watch you get beaten up by a group? Sorry! I can’t do it!”

Xiang Kui, “Just close your eyes.”

Guild leader: “…………”

But no matter what, they all meant well. She couldn’t stop the guild from helping, but she could find other ways to attack.

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Where are you? AFK again?]

Xiang Kui smiled wickedly.

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: I can’t explain this in detail. Those who understand will understand.]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: I can only tell you that he and I did have a grudge. But everything is over now. You don’t have to worry about me, or worry about him causing trouble later. Really, really /eyes eagerly/eyes eagerly]

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: As expected… No wonder you’ve killed him so many times, and he never fights back… What does this mean…]

It means he’s hugely incompetent at the game.

Xiang Kui thought this, typing with a smile in the chat box:

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: This proves that love can overcome pain! ^-^]

————

After finally spending a few days collecting herbs in peace, Yue Qing noticed something unusual.

He had no intention of forming cliques or bullying others in the game; that was childish and not his style. But Man-eating Sunflower’s actions had severely impacted his gaming experience, prolonging his quests endlessly. This was the only way to get some peace. And honestly, he didn’t think he was that bad at the game.

In his twenty-plus years, he’d only ever been publicly described as “excellent,” never as “incompetent”—clearly, he was just new to the game, not hugely incompetent. 

“You’ve always been incompetent at gaming. You can’t even tell if you’re on the left or right side when playing King of Fighters,” Yue Xia said sarcastically, “Being a rookie doesn’t mean you don’t have poor game sense.”

Yue Qing, with his curly hair, coldly kicked the person out of his room.

He glanced at the minimized video window in the taskbar. Its full title was “Qiankun Sword Pavilion PVP Beginner’s Tutorial.” The progress bar had reached the end.

A white-haired swordsman stood quietly on the arch bridge in the main city. The wind rustled his deep, sharp features, and a heavy air of experience washed over him. He had only been there for a moment when the private chat channel began to buzz like a telegraph.

[[Private Chat] Black Logic Cat: Boss, are you going to play ranked? Are you short of a healer? I’m a tier 12 player. With the right equipment and skills, I’m definitely not a bad player! Help me! /crying]

[[Private Chat] Yuanyang Milk Cap: Boss, haven’t you formed a team yet? Are you looking for Music Cultivator support? I’ll pick 5 support attributes, guaranteed to give you a good workout. Add a Miaoshou, and with this setup, won’t you easily get a killing spree?]

[[Private Chat] Buddha is Kind: Amitabha, benefactor, ranked? I’ll always open my golden bell for you /knock the wooden fish]

[[Private Chat] I’m not Aquaman: CPdd owo /cute/cute]

Yue Qing, “………”

Hey, d my ass. Study hard instead kid.

He opened [Buddha is Kind]’s profile again and saw that this demon monk had bright red hair, a plunging V-neck top that reached down to his navel, and slit pants, exposing a staggering half of his body.

Didn’t the Buddha tell you to put on your pants? Huh?

Before, he’d never entertained the idea of ​​delving deeper into this game. He’d logged off immediately after collecting herbs. But lately, because of the [Man-Eating Sunflower], despite his initial reluctance, he’d been spending a little more time in the game.

There wasn’t a real need.

Having strayed off topic, Yue Qing rested his fingertips on the frame of his glasses, focusing his gaze.

He’d noticed that fewer and fewer people were coming when he used the Summoning Flag lately. Not only were there less, but the ones that came were also very perfunctory. Last time, when [Man-Eating Sunflower] narrowly escaped with its health bar at 5%, people even sent him senseless PMs:

[[Private Chat] Play Kongshan again and I’ll slap you: Boss, why don’t you just forget it?]

[[Private Chat] Death Blade Manual: Sigh… obviously… why bother…]

[[Private Chat] Shaking Red Wine Glass: Hitting her, what pain…]

Yue Qing, “?”

What’s going on?

The private chat channel fell silent, and a line of yellow text floated faintly.

[[System Notice: Your Master [Crossing Summer] is online.]]

[[System Notice: [Crossing Summer] requests to team up with you.]]

Yue Qing declined.

[[Private Chat] Crossing Summer: Gathering herbs every day is so boring, want to help escort the convoy?]

Qian Kun offers a variety of faction-based gameplay, and robbing and escorting is one of them. A newly maxed-out alts with poor equipment are easily targeted and killed while questing outdoors. Some players will spontaneously escort green-named alts from the same faction and guild in outdoor maps to build good relationships… though the intense PVP can sometimes be too intense, easily devolving into a chaotic melee where no one can distinguish friend from foe.

[[Private Message] Rush: Not interested.]

[[Private Message] Crossing Summer: You can just act like a statue. With your equipment, no one would dare touch you unless they’re clueless or have a grudge against you.]

[[Private Message] Rush: No way.]

[[Private Message] Crossing Summer: Your little cactus is about to be in trouble. /Cute]

Yue Qing, “…………”

Three minutes later, the white-haired swordsman stood impassively in Lingjiang Harbor, sending a red-named enemy flying with a single strike.

The equipment disparity was so great that beating them was like peeling potatoes, requiring him to stand still the entire time without moving. Lu Ze had drawn him into [Without a Pair]. The guild would regularly organize small teams to come to their faction to protect the escort. So, [Rush]’s team now had ten healers, and his health never dropped below 80%.

On a weekday evening, many people were trying to hijack the escort, but they were quickly beaten back. The few newcomers who had been rescued were sending “sprinkle flowers” and “cheer” emojis in the map channel. Friend requests kept popping up. His cursor paused for a moment over a variety of nicknames, then opened his enemies list.

[Man-eating Sunflower]’s ID was at the top, its avatar a long-haired tabby cat. The other party was online, their location was [Unknown].

Yue Qing frowned.

[[Private Chat] Rush: My enemy always knows my location, so why can’t I see hers?

[[Private Chat] Crossing Summer: Enemies can’t see each other’s locations. She must have used a smurf account to see your location.

[[Private Chat] Crossing Summer: Which enemy? Who did you offend again? /Runny Nose

[[Private Chat] Crossing Summer: Why aren’t you replying? How can I help if you don’t tell me? /Banging the Table/Angry

[[Private Chat] Rush:…What “again”’? It’s the one from before.

He didn’t want to continue the conversation, manipulating the taciturn looking Jiange Sect character forward along the riverbank.

Qiankun’s maps are meticulously crafted, even the most inaccessible corners are beautifully modeled. This has spawned a unique genre of casual landscape enthusiasts, who spend their days researching which maps look good in screenshots and which bugs are most likely to cause them to exploit, offering a bird’s-eye view.

Approaching the end of Lingjiang Harbor, a dilapidated fishing boat sat atop the calm undercurrent. Located at the edge of the map, it was difficult to reach. No one noticed it, except for a familiar warning chime in Yueqing’s headphones.

“Ding Ding!”

[[System Alert: Your enemy [Man-Eating Sunflower] is nearby!]

The moment the notification sounded, the white-haired swordsman waved his hand, raising his banner. He finally and calmly located a skill he should activate [Xingyi Five Elements]—the Sword Pavilion’s strongest damage reduction, with a 90-second cooldown. Widely recognized by the Jiange Sect as a second companion besides the sword, standing within its range effectively renders one invincible.

But the buff that appeared above his head wasn’t the familiar cloud-shattering raindrops, but a soft, inky plum blossom.

At the stern, the inky plum blossom wrapped around the swordsman, pulling him like lightning to the [Man-Eating Sunflower] lying-n-wait.

The situation was so sudden that the team’s ten healers paused, attempting to heal [Rush]. But even though [Rush] was clearly nearby, they couldn’t click on him, as if an invisible, intangible wall of air separated them.

[[Private Chat] Rush: ?]

[[Private Chat] Man-Eating Sunflower: That’s right. This place is a bug. It took a lot of effort getting in. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. There’s no way out except by committing suicide and returning to a respawn point. OvO]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: You like to call people! Go ahead and call them! /fiercely]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Haha, even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to your rescue! /panting]

Yue Qing took a deep breath.

…This was truly the first time he felt that maintaining emotional composure was something he needed to work on.

He typed with a little more force than usual:

[[Private Chat] Rush: I think there really is a misunderstanding between us.]

[[Private Chat] Rush: You and I didn’t know each other before. I’ve explained the dungeon situation many times. No matter how young you are, you still need to be reasonable.]

The other party responded quickly:

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Okay, if you insist, then I have one last question for you.]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: [Crossing Summer], who is she? /kitchen knife]

She knows Yue Xia? In real life or in the game?

Yue Qing frowned and spoke frankly:

[[Private Chat] Rush: My sister.]

This time, it took a full half minute for anyone to make a move. Man-eating Sunflower, without warning, circled behind him and attacked. Five minutes later, the white-haired swordsman pitifully collapsed to the ground.

Man-eating Sunflower’s health was only 10% left. She sat down unceremoniously on [Rush]’s stomach, cross-legged to rest.

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: She’s just your sister. She said purple is very charming, right? /smile]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Wrong answer! Aiyah!]

Yue Qing, “…………”

His Adam’s apple rolled as he swallowed, and he pursed his lips slightly.

After a moment, he released an angry laugh.

(TL note: In Asia, calling someone your “sister” doesn’t necessarily mean they are blood related. Can be a term for closeness, intimacy, or flirtation…)