Online Dating, Fooled 800 Times - Chapter 12

Stay calm, Xiang Kui told herself. Must stay calm.

Although she didn’t understand why someone who accidentally stole her equipment, didn’t complain despite being killed by her eighteen times, and then quit collecting herbs to fight back (without ever actually putting up a bounty or cursing her out) could actually exist, she tried to put herself in [Rush]’s shoes. But given the current situation, she wondered what [Rush] would think.

If she didn’t confess, it could all be chalked up to him encountering a crazy person. A sweet treat would be enough to calm her nerves.

If she confessed, saying, “I’m sorry, I mistook you for the scumbag who had harmed my best friend, so I chased you and killed you eighty-eight times. Please forgive me…” She wouldn’t be forgiven. He’d be furious, probably even saying, “From now on, this server can only have you or me!” Then she’d have to apologize to everyone in the [Without a Pair] Guild, apologize to everyone in her own guild, kowtow to everyone in the server, and maybe even leave her account for sale on the forum for a hundred days.

Xiang Kui felt a headache and leg cramps at the thought of having to explain everything to everyone. But simply running away was too unreasonable. She couldn’t be irresponsible.

Lin Xi said bleakly, “I’d better buy an account and come over here to kowtow…”

“It’s better not to come here and cause trouble.” Xiang Kui let go of the mouse and rubbed her face. “I’ll try to think of a solution first.”

She said she’d try, but she couldn’t think of one.

Xiang Kui’s experience of asking for forgiveness was limited. She had originally considered waiting for the Qixi Festival fashion gift box to be released and then buying it and sending it anonymously, but then she remembered that the equipment on this account showed that the other party had the money.

What a headache! What a headache.

[[Guild] Wait, Scolded Again: [Man-eating Sunflower] Something’s happening! It seems [Rush] has teleported somewhere else!]

[[Guild] Kicked the cripple’s good leg: I’m ready! /Rubbing hands]

[[Guild] Wait, Scolded Again: ++++ [Team Recruitment·Counter [Rush]] Ten-man team, feel free to join+++++

Xiang Kui, “.”

Oh no! She quickly slammed on the brakes.

[[Guild] Man-eating Sunflower: No need! I’m going to run a dungeon tonight. In a bit… I’ll come play with the guild in a bit.]

[[Guild] 60th Anniversary of Playing Esports: Oh oh, everyone’s busy, busy is good.]

[[Guild] Wait, Scolded Again: ??? Xiaokui, why did you suddenly donate so much gold to the guild treasury? Did you come across some windfall?! /Shocked

To avoid feeling guilty and the subsequent questioning, Xiang Kui opened the world channel and randomly found a Demon Sect player who was calling for dungeon members. She clicked on the sign-in button to join the team. Of course, she deliberately didn’t apply to [Crossing Summer]’s team. After all, she really couldn’t face [Rush] right now—

[System prompt: [Man-eating Sunflower] has joined the team.]

[[Team] Crossing Summer: Welcome new member! /Rose/Rose]

Team list: [Rush], [Crossing Summer], [Warlord Li Li], [Precious Little Foam], [Punishment]

[[Team] Rush: …]

[[Team] Warlord Li Li: …]

Xiang Kui slammed her mouse down: “I JUST thought ‘…’ ok!!”

Why too lazy to type a ‘gg’!

————

Stay calm, Xiang Kui told herself… No, she couldn’t calm down this time.

In the game settings, the character’s gaze direction changes with the mouse’s position. Xiang Kui stood at the dungeon entrance, watching the white-haired swordsman in front of her slowly turn his head and set his gaze on her.

…Come to think of it, one of the reasons she’d been so certain [Rush] was a scumbag was because he’d stolen her equipment in the dungeon to give to [Crossing Summer]. Now it seemed like there was something fishy going on.

The team leader’s microphone was on, and a vibrant female voice rang through the headset, “Has Man-Eating Sunflower ever played this dungeon before?”

This elite team leader, focused on efficiency, definitely wouldn’t have the patience to teach. She would seize this opportunity to leave the team naturally and gracefully.

[[Team] Man-Eating Sunflower: I haven’t.]

“Never fought before?” Yueguo Xiatian said without hesitation: “Then you and Team 4’s Jiange Sect player should stand at Point 8. Just follow my instructions. It’s hard to make mistakes at that point.”

Forget Jiange Sect. Currently, there’s only one person in Team 4: [Rush].

More than a dozen heads from the entire team turned towards Xiang Kui and then slowly shifted to [Rush]. Xiang Kui, with a guilty conscience, positioned herself with enough space between them for three more horses.

“Man-eating Sunflower, stand closer,” the team leader quickly corrected her. “The boss’s third skill needs players to share the damage.”

Xiang Kui heard this and moved her character about five pixels to the side.

The private chat channel buzzed.

[[Private Chat] Rush: Is my model too fat that there’s no space for you?]

Xiang Kui, with mixed feelings, deleted “Ask again, I’ll sit on your head” and humbly selected a neutral emoji.

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: (˙-˙)]

[[Private Chat] Rush:?]

[[Private Chat] Man-Eating Sunflower: o(˙-˙)o]

[[Private Chat] Rush: What does the sudden appearance of two o’s mean?]

[[Private Chat] Man-Eating Sunflower: Hitting you with my little fists.]

[[Private Chat] Rush: …]

Isn’t it boring? Isn’t it cold? Okay. Go ahead and scold me. Everyone should own up to their actions. Xiang Kui takes responsibility for what she did! Block me now, and the next time you see me, you can come back and kill me eighty times!

But the white-haired swordsman simply drew his sword, glanced at her, and then slowly withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

Xiang Kui felt like he was being scolded through the screen.

As expected of an elite group, their dungeon clearance efficiency was very high. A dungeon that normally wiped out parties four or five times in an hour was cleared in forty minutes with this group.

Xiang Kui collected her portion of loot and left the dungeon. From a distance, she saw [Warlord Li Li] and [Precious Little Foam]. Both of their IDs were green.

Have they removed her from their Enemy List?

Xiang Kui, reminded, quickly and respectfully removed [Rush] from her Enemy List.

In those forty minutes of dungeon-clearing, she had finally figured it out. [Rush] wasn’t short of money, so his sole purpose in playing Qiankun was to relax and relieve stress… Although, because of her, the game had temporarily become a blood pressure raising simulator, Xiang Kui had every confidence in her deduction.

If she could so successfully ruin someone’s gaming experience, why not the other way around?

With eight years of playing Qiankun, she’d seen every gameplay mechanic, and helping raise someone’s rank was a piece of cake.

[[Private Message] Turtle Jelly is delicious: Hi, hello! I just saw that you’re playing well. Any thoughts on joining our regular group?]

The person who sent the private message was the Demon Sect female team leader who had just yelled “gg” on the public channel. She was probably a regular member of the group.

Tianwu weapons are useful in both PvP and PvE, and they even have team stat bonuses in dungeons. It’s natural for a regular dungeon running group to want her.

Seeing Xiang Kui didn’t directly refuse, the other party sent a WeChat ID.

[[Private Chat] Turtle Jelly is delicious: This is our team leader’s WeChat. If you’re interested, you can chat with her~]

To be fair, when Xiang Kui added [Crossing Summer] on WeChat, she was still mentally planning how to make amends without leaving a trace. When she saw the other person’s home city matched her own, she was only momentarily stunned.

New servers are recommended by region, and coincidentally, being in the same city was quite common.

Xiang Kui swore to heaven that she hadn’t deliberately looked at it. It’s just that the other person’s Moments had no permissions set, not even three days’ of friendship before becoming visible. It was completely “my door is always open.” Xiang Kui immediately spotted the top video, and the familiar champagne tower in it.

…Isn’t this the bar she just visited?

The video was dimly lit, with music blaring in the background, and it was bustling. It was a large private room, with few empty booths. A month ago, this bar must have been having some kind of mask-themed event, with everyone wearing different masks. Xiang Kui put down her mouse, curled her legs up in the chair, and clutched her phone in both hands. On full alert, she began matching the men on screen with the promotional signs outside.

This time, Lin Xi hadn’t lied to her. The real people looked quite fine, but how could the promotional photos look like that? Did they outsource the photoshoot to the Higher Education Student Information and Career Center?

A bar, dim lights, and men and women—it all evokes associations of something less than innocent, but this video had absolutely no such aura. Several girls were wearing Peppa Pig masks, there were plates of edamame and crayfish, and there were UNO and playing cards on the table… Who would play go-fish with playing cards in a bar?

As Xiang Kui was muttering to herself, the camera panned over to a man in a black shirt.

He sat alone in a dim corner, frowning as he wiped off some spilled drink. Perhaps because he was in a private place, two buttons on his collar were undone, revealing his Adam’s apple and relaxed shoulders. The fabric clung to his waist and abdomen, its texture vaguely revealed, firm and tight. Perhaps because the touch wasn’t particularly pleasant, he clenched his teeth beneath his mask, his neck straining slightly.

But the most captivating thing about him were his hands. Under the light, the shadows of the raised knuckles became even more pronounced. A decorative ring adorned his little finger, making his fingers slender.

Xiang Kui: “…………”

Σ(° △°|||)︴||! !!!

She sat up straight, rewinding the progress bar and rereading it with the sharp gaze of a high school senior studying a physics problem.

Didn’t see clearly, another look.

Didn’t see clearly, one more look.

Clearly lascivious, let’s look one more time… No, she admitted she’d spoken too loudly. This must be the final mystery guest of the club, so perhaps the goods weren’t out of the question…

After watching the video ten times, Xiang Kui came to the conclusion that God loves to close a door and then open a window.

Look, they’re all wearing masks, but some are Prince Youle, while others are Lanling King.

A message notification appeared from above:

[Crossing Summer: Hello! /Silly Dog Smile]

Xiang Kui saved the video with a serious expression and replied:

[Xiang Kui: Hello, my ID is Man-Eating Sunflower. /Cat Smile]

[Crossing Summer: Oh, it’s you!]

A contact card was thrown over, with a pale green cactus as the avatar and a blank nickname.

[Xiang Kui: This is?]

[Crossing Summer: Aren’t you here looking to go SOLO [Rush]? /Confused]

Xiang Kui: “.” Feeling guilty…

Besides, even if she added him, he wouldn’t accept.

Xiang Kui sent a friend request without much hope, thinking, well, if he actually accepted, she might as well just come clean. If she was disliked, she’d be disliked. She was definitely in the wrong.

While waiting for the request to go through, Xiang Kui went to wash her face. Returning, she continued to browse [Crossing Summer]’s Moments, only to discover a new reply from a mutual friend beneath the video.

[Rush: The clothing bill has arrived. You have a week to pay me back.]

[Crossing Summer replied to Rush: I just spilled some cold tea. Just wash it off!]

Xiang Kui: “…………”

Suddenly, a thunderbolt shattered her chaotic mind.

What does that mean?

The man whose clothes got a drink spilled on = the mysterious guest, the celebrity male model = [Crossing Summer]’s brother = [Rush]? ?

No, are you siblings so open-minded now that you brought a large group to support your brother’s business? ?

But I’ve heard that in places like this, regular customers and employees would call each other brother and sister to show their affection. There’s no such thing as a monogamous situation, so both scenarios are possible.

So, everything connected. While this line of work pays well, it also comes with significant mental pressure. So, [Rush] decided to play games to escape reality and relieve stress—no wonder he spent his days collecting herbs. He bought a top-tier account without blinking, just for the gaming experience. Who knew a blind elementary school student would descend from the sky, screaming “Ahhh!”…

Xiang Kui looked at the reply and painstakingly came to another conclusion: God truly loves to close a door and then open a window.

It’s like a dream lover and an enemy; most people only offend one, but she offended both.

“…”

Yue Qing finished washing the dishes, shook the water off her fingertips, and glanced at the notification on her phone. She said speechlessly, “Why did you tell her to add me? Want to watch the drama?”

Yue Xia snuggled on the sofa, eating chips. “Then why didn’t you just reject her?”

The profile picture of [Man-eating Sunflower] was a cluttered wooden tabletop. Yue Qing spotted a familiar band logo in the corner and raised an eyebrow. He approved the request and sent a question mark.

Not satisfied with just arguing in-game, she’s adding his WeChat to continue? He’s already thought of what to say to her next.

School’s about to start, isn’t it? Have you finished writing your “Happy Summer Vacation” homework? Do you need your big bro to teach you?

With a ding, the annoying elementary school student sent her first message.

[Man-eating Sunflower: Rush, hello, I’m Man-eating Sunflower. (*^▽^*) Wuwuwu I’m really sorry about what happened before, but I didn’t mean to. Actually… I just… wanted to get your attention, wuwuwu But it really went a bit too far L(T~T)亅I’ll never do that again. No matter how many times you try to kill me, I’ll lie flat on my face. So… um… from now on… can we play together? /pointing fingers /pointing fingers /shy]

Yue Qing’s “School’s about to start” message suddenly stopped amidst a screen full of pointing fingers and cute emojis.

He blinked slowly: “…?”

Is this little girl okay?