Online Dating, Fooled 800 Times - Chapter 2

Getting out of a sticky situation was Xiang Kui’s forte. Using a movement skill to dispel combat mode, she quickly followed up with Light Kungfu and Teleportation, returning to the city’s safe zone smoothly. The escape sequence was a process rooted in muscle memory. Five seconds later, her Kongshan avatar had relocated to the main city entrance, fanning herself dazedly, still slightly shocked by the encounter.

 

The equipment disparity was simply too enormous. Even if [Rush] stood there and let her hack away at him, it would take five minutes of her continuously attacking to make him lose all his health. If he tried to counterattack, with his Heavenly-grade weapon’s 40% bonus, the damage from a single skill would likely do more damage than even her original account.

 

Immediately flee! If she were killed and dropped several levels, that would be too miserable.

 

[Lin Xi: Why aren’t you replying? Are you fighting him?]

 

Xiang Kui calmly deleted the half-typed message “No problem, just watch me operate” from the chat box.

 

[Xiang Kui: This needs to be slowly planned. /Dazed]

 

[Lin Xi: Don’t drop the ball. I’m not transferring to your server yet. I’m collecting evidence. This scumbag is a chronic cheater, and he has tons of friends and admirers in this game. Anyone who anonymously posts about him on the forums gets bashed in the comments. Ha. He’s sure lucky to have met me. Once I’ve fully charged up my Thor’s Hammer, I’ll absolutely turn him into dried bacon.]

 

[Lin Xi: Saving the hearts of countless girls in the future is a great deed!]

 

[Xiang Kui: Yep Yep]

 

[Lin Xi: Hm? Why do I feel like you seem a bit disinterested? 🙂]

 

[Xiang Kui: As long as I, Shark Xiao Kui, am on the new server, this scumbag better not even think about playing the game properly! Menu for today, tomorrow, and the next three days: Braised octopus! Steamed octopus! Sashimi octopus! /sunglasses/sunglasses/sunglasses]

 

[Lin Xi: Very good. Very energetic!]

 

Xiang Kui, always a person of action, immediately checked the server transfer process after closing the dialog box. Unfortunately, the new server won’t allow external transfers for the first three months, so this matter has to be abandoned.

 

On Sunday afternoon, the main city map was crowded, and inevitably a bit laggy. She clicked on the option to hide other players and prepared to clear the remaining items from the original account owner’s warehouse.

 

Just like the character bound backpack, the warehouse contained only a few scattered gray items. Xiang Kui took a look and felt that the “little surprise” the previous owner had mentioned was probably the two items that could be used to make candied haws and fried eggs, as well as 300 Calming Pills and 300 Following Wind Flags.

 

Feeding someone candied haws and throwing fried eggs at them were forms of player-player interactions, the former expressing friendliness while the latter was the opposite. Calming Pills were used to remove the resentment debuff after being killed while Following Wind Flags were utilized in Wilderness or during Guild fights, temporarily increasing movement speed by 30%.

 

Why were only these two types of items left? Did the original owner spend every day fighting in the wild? But this was a Kongshan Sect character, with so few movement and crowd control abilities, it was barely possible to even run. Using this kind of character to fight in group battles? Was it to treat low blood pressure or what?

 

Weird.

 

She stored the items in her backpack and then opened the updated Enemy List to carefully examine [Rush]’s profile card.

 

The profile card showed anonymous reviews and tags from other players. Xiang Kui had always kept these hidden, but this guy who talked like a rapper was clearly not the type to keep a low profile. Ten minutes ago, an anonymous person had sent him flowers, and his friend reviews were filled with pink tags:

 

[Top Player], [Mysterious Master], [Legend of the Jiange Sect], [Little Brother, Add a V], [Warm and Caring]… What about the last two?

 

However, these tags and reviews weren’t the key point. What Xiang Kui wanted to see was his ranking in the server-wide rankings.

 

[Peerless Masters List], first.

 

[Divine Weapons and Magical Weapons List], first.

 

[Rare Treasures List], first.

 

Xiang Kui, “…………”

 

Although this is a new server and rankings haven’t fully finalized, isn’t that result a little exaggerated?! Would anyone really be willing to sell an account like this? Could Lin Xi have mistaken him for someone else?

 

To avoid killing the wrong person, she meticulously went to the trading market and sifted through recently delisted accounts. She actually found a matching Jiange Sect male account. It had nearly four digits of followers, was priced at 158,000, and had been traded exactly two weeks ago.

 

This task was shaping up to be more difficult than she anticipated. If she’d used her main account, it might have been easier. But with this new account of hers, catching up to the other player’s equipment would require at least six months of grinding, and that’s without missing any daily quests…

 

Xiang Kui was glumly contemplating her options when her avatar was smashed with a fried egg out of nowhere.

 

Before she could react, several more eggs pelted her. Her first thought was, “How dare these peasants!” But as soon as she unhid other players on the map, a dozen red names surrounding her character appeared before her. She froze, “Huh?”

 

As everyone knows, Qiankun maps can be roughly divided into three categories: Wilderness, Safe Zones, and Secret Realms. Wilderness maps make up the majority, while Secret Realms consist of various dungeons and battlefields. The main city she was in was a Safe Zone. Anyone who dared to initiate an attack would be arrested and jailed by the guards. Aside from Tianren Sect Assassins, few players would choose to fight here… but where did she get so many enemies?

 

In front of her, a Miaoshou Sect loli made another rude throwing motion, chucking a fried egg into her character’s knee. Next to her stood a Jiange Sect loli, both dressed in the same outfit; they were probably friends and family.

 

[[Current] Warlord Li Li: You still dare to come online?]

 

[[Current] Taro Bobo: ?]

 

[[Current] Warlord Li Li: If I were you, I would have deleted my account and quit the game long ago. What a strong mentality. Your skin’s so thick don’t you think the chef at Haidilao could pull it into noodles?]

 

[[Current] Precious Little Foam: Your exes are already forming groups to ambush you in the wild. Good luck /Mocking Laughter]

 

Xiang Kui sat up straight, “Huh?!”

 

What exes? The seller didn’t mention any?

 

[[Current] Taro Bobo: The account owner has changed.]

 

[[Current] Warlord Li Li: This is the third time you’ve said that.]

 

[[Current] Yu Ni Bo Bo: Why would I lie to you? I’ll send you my transaction records privately.]

 

[[Current] Warlord Li Li: Weren’t there transaction records from the last three times you claimed this? You even messed up the decimal point last time you photoshopped it. Don’t your hands get tired?]

 

[[Current] Yu Ni Bo Bo: YY885181, come listen to voice chat.]

 

[[Current] Warlord Li Li: What voice changer are you using this time? An elegant older sister voice?]

 

[[Current] Precious Little Foam: You cried wolf three times, no one believes you anymore. Be smart and delete your account and quit the game, or I’ll kill you until you quit. :)]

 

[[Current] Yu Ni Bo Bo: ………]

 

It seems like this is a grudge passed down by the previous account owner. It’s easy to imagine what the issue was. Such a small conflict, and they’re making such a big fuss. Xiang Kui couldn’t help but sigh resignedly. Lines like these were something she would spouted three years ago. She guessed the two on the other side were probably quite young.

 

As a mature adult, she wouldn’t take it personally

 

[[Current] Taro Bobo: This account has been replaced. I can provide any evidence you want.]

 

[[Current] Taro Bobo: Besides, it’s just a game. The most important thing is to have fun. What can’t be discussed civilly? /Knock the Wooden Fish]

 

[[Current] Warlord Li Li: Hehe.]

 

[[Current] Precious Little Foam: Let’s discuss civilly over your dead body!]

 

Before she finished her words, her Kongshan Sect character suddenly lurched and her status panel showed “dizzy”. From behind, a Tianren Assassin shed its invisibility status, sealed her character’s meridians, and unleashed a burst of attacks.

 

This assassin was wearing top-tier purple gear and, with a sneak attack, they knocked off half her health bar in less than five seconds. Xiang Kui reacted with remarkable speed, using her Light Kungfu to retreat out of the other party’s attack range. The assassin paused, clearly not expecting her to be able to use a skill in that half-second buffer time, but they quickly unleashed an ultimate before the main city guards arrived, turning back invisible and disengaging.

 

This was Xiang Kui’s first time using a Konghsan Sect character, and she was unfamiliar with the skills. Her character instantly died on the spot, hitting the ground with a thud.

 

Sudden deaths in PvP are not uncommon. Taking advantage of the three minutes the screen went gray, Xiang Kui quickly searched the forum for the ID “Taro Bobo.”

 

Without searching she had no clue, looking it up she was slightly shook.

 

The original owner of this account seemed to be aiming for the role of a faction goddess, stringing along many players. Instead of levelling seriously and playing the actual game, she enjoyed bringing her band of sycophants to various dungeons and have them increase bids for kicks.

 

Xiang Kui wasn’t a PvE player, but she knew that inflating bidding prices was a jerk move. By inflating the bid, someone who could have bought the same item for 10,000 gold would instead have to pay 20,000 gold. That’s a loss of hundreds of dollars in reality, so it’s no wonder people were raging.

 

But the real downfall of this Taro Bobo account owner was her catfishing act being exposed. She was found to be stealing photos from a small-time influencer. Thus, her beauty and sweet voice were determined as a mirage while her gentleness and thoughtfulness were seen as ulterior motives. Angry followers pinned her to the respawn point by killing her repeatedly and prevented her from completing daily quests. Pretending her account had switched owners proved futile and within a week, Taro Bobo had listed her account on the forum for sale.

 

Xiang Kui finally understood what the original owner of the account meant when she said she left her a “little surprise.” The description was way too modest. Clearly this surprise was not small by any means. No wonder her request to join a team on Weak Water Island for ages had no responses for so long! She’d thought playing the unpopular Kongshan Sect character was the issue!

 

[[World] Little Gummy Bear: Goddess Taro Bobo is online? What are her coordinates?]

 

[[World] Got to bed early today: Damn, this kind of famous player has guts! The bounties on her head are almost piled up like a death book, and she still dares to come out and play…]

 

[[World] Warlord Li Li: Her avatar is still lying horizontal outside the main city at 12.11. Welcome all spectators. 🙂 ]

 

Xiang Kui has been playing Qiankun Online for eight years, but she’s never seen anything like this. That Tianren Assassin was probably still hiding nearby. She revived at the nearest respawn point, ready to explain on the world channel.

 

It’s just a misunderstanding. Playing games is for fun. There’s no need to take things so seriously.

 

Ding, the Tianren who just killed her, sent a private message.

 

[[Private Message] Punishment: Just this and you claim to have switched players?]

 

[[Private Message] Punishment: Seeing you’re still a noob, I’m relieved. /grin /grin]

 

Xiang Kui’s forehead vein twitched, “…………”

 

Maintaining the curve of her lips, she pulled out a name-change card from her package and changed [Taro Bobo] to [Man-eating Sunflower].

 

A yellow system notification suddenly appeared on the bustling and chaotic world channel.

 

[System Notice: [Man-eating Sunflower] has issued a bounty on [Punishment]! Bounty: 10,000 gold.]

 

[[World] Take some fever-reducing medicine: ???]

 

[[World] Wild Mother Orangutan: ???!]

 

[[World] Moss Scar Light: Front row, eat melons!!!]

 

[[World] Precious Little Foam: You think by changing your name people won’t be able to recognize your toxic character? :)]

 

[[World] Peach Escapee: Shocked, so aggressive? ???]

 

[[World] Man-eating Sunflower: What about it? Come over and unplug my network cable if you have the guts? :P]

 

[[World] Man-eating Sunflower: Also, [Punishment], you’re finished.]

 

———

 

The next day was a workday. Xiang Kui spent a whole day finishing drawing her draft and nearly fell asleep while waiting for the elevator.

 

The team leader came over, asking, “Did you pull an all-nighter? Your dark circles are pretty prominent.”

 

Xiang Kui stepped aside. “I took on a freelance project. Time was tight.”

 

Actually, she didn’t have any work. She’d spent the whole night cramming Kongshan Sect competition videos. As everyone knows, the essence of showing off is to act cool and then promptly disappear. She posted those messages last night on the world channel and then went offline straight away, the objective being fierce and memorable.

 

The air conditioning in the office building was on full blast, and it seemed like the project team next door was almost getting off work.

 

Xiang Kui currently works at a new art company, and her daily routine involves visiting various project teams in-house—or, to put it another way, outsourcing. When she applied for this job, she’d wondered if she’d even come into contact with the Qiankun Online production team. It turned out her hopes were a little idealistic. For a game of that magnitude, they’d only hire the best in the industry, not risk employing a new team.

 

The account she used to post pictures on social media had over a hundred thousand followers. Actually taking on commercial work alone was enough to cover her expenses, but Xiang Kui had this weird case of running out of inspiration when she wasn’t employed and working herself to death like a dog.

 

Her phone lit up with a WeChat message alert.

 

[Lin Xi: The scumbag said he had something to do tonight and would be offline around 7:30. When I asked, guess what? That little apprentice said she had tutoring tonight and would also be offline at 7:30. 🙂 They can’t even hide their desire to elope to a new server together.]

 

[Lin Xi: How’s it going over there?]

 

Xiang Kui paused.

 

That [Taro Bobo] account had been on sale for so long before Xiang Kui purchased it. It was already rare enough to find a sucker like herself who wasn’t interested in gossip and willing to buy such a hot potato. Since the account couldn’t transfer servers for the time being, who would even buy it if she sold it?

 

She’d better keep it a secret for now. It felt a bit embarrassing.

 

[Xiang Kui: This matter requires long-term consideration.]

 

The elevator door opened. She situated herself in the back corner. Just before the doors slid shut, another person stepped in.

 

Xiang Kui glanced at him casually, not seeing his face, just glimpsing his broad shoulders and left hand hanging at his side.

 

Face aside, she was quite sensitive to other people’s hands. This person’s hands were a prime example of photographic material. They were large with distinct knuckles and taut skin. His nails were shiny and clean with the edges neatly trimmed. A plain ring circled his left index finger, and he wore a dark gray stainless steel watchband.

 

What a perfect business outfit, and what a sexy hand.

 

[Lin Xi: If it’s too much trouble, don’t worry about it. Why don’t I buy an account and move servers? He won’t be around much longer anyway. 😀]

 

Huh?

 

What do you mean by trouble? Who are you looking down on?

 

No, don’t come over! Wouldn’t that expose the matter of her being solo-killed by a Tianren Assassin and then mocked by the server?

 

Xiang Kui quickly stopped her.

 

[Xiang Kui: How can this be called trouble? 7:30, right? I’m telling you, I can’t even wait until the next day to destroy him.]

 

She typed furiously, the clacking of the keyboard especially noticeable in the closed elevator. The stranger next to her turned at the sound, and Xiang Kui raised her eyes warily to meet his gaze—

 

A handsome yet somewhat cold face, with thin double eyelids tucked into the corners, pale lips, and dark, clear eyes. He politely smiled at her.

 

“…” Xiang Kui pulled back stiffly, timidly retreating into the corner, and continued typing furiously with her head down:

 

[Xiang Kui: Don’t worry about me.]

 

[Xiang Kui: In all my years of dominating the Jianghu, have I ever feared anyone? /sunglasses/sunglasses/sunglasses]