Online Dating, Fooled 800 Times - Chapter 8
[Warlord Li Li] and four members of the [Prairie Fire] Guild were camping the familiar Far North map crossing point, their voices ringing.
“Punishment, are you sure she’s in the main city?” [Warlord Li Li]’s voice was sweet to the ear. “It’s finally over. The gang war was exhausting.”
When the rare quest first launched, many people came to watch the excitement, but after confirming that [Man-Eating Sunflower] had no intention of selling the gemstones, the enthusiasm waned.
“Yeah,” [Punishment] said seriously. “It’s okay. I’ll keep an eye on her. She won’t escape.”
Besides [Precious Little Foam] and [Precious Little Foam’s Accessory], the team also had a newly added Demon Cult Nurse to even out numbers. Their ID was [Sandalwood Scissors].
“Hmm.” [Warlord Li Li] jumped twice in place, then, as if a thought suddenly struck her, asked curiously, “What was that Rush kill report from earlier? He and Bobo… do they have any previous grudges? I haven’t heard any news of that before.”
[Punishment] didn’t say anything, and [Warlord Li Li] pondered it. “I guess she just took advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack. With her behavior, she probably thought it would be easier to get support from a big boss, and she’s using this method to attract attention. This isn’t some romantic plot from ten years ago… Never mind. Sandalwood Scissors, just stand back and heal for a while. Focus on Punishment, okay?”
[[Team] Sandalwood Scissors: 1]
…This new guy is so indifferent and won’t even turn on the mic. If it weren’t for his good equipment, Li Liyuanshang wouldn’t have even put him on the team.
There’s only one day left for the pre-quests for the Man-Eating Sunflower’s Ice Mortar adventure, so she’ll definitely come to the Far North.
The five-man team’s current location was a must-pass route. [Warlord Li Li] had ample PVP experience, and she even had the coordinates of the nearest respawn point memorized in advance, ensuring the opponent wouldn’t be able to escape later.
“Punishment, where is she?” After waiting for five minutes, [Warlord Li Li] grew impatient. “Why hasn’t she come yet? Is she trying to delay until three or four in the morning again?”
But that would be a complete miscalculation. When it comes to staying up late, who can compare to college students? College students can outlast eagles.
“…No,” [Punishment] said, perplexed. “She’s heading to the trading house right in front of me. I don’t know what she’s buying.”
“What else can she buy? Probably red potions, blue potions, and Following Wind Flags.” [Warlord Li Li] sneered. “With your skills, what good would that do?”
The most expensive red potion only keeps you at 30% health after resurrecting. With four DPS members against her, how many health bars will [Taro Bobo] need to deal with them? Even if she tied her belt to the trading house before heading over, she wouldn’t be able to change anything.
After waiting a little longer, the five people still didn’t see their target, but instead spotted the person they’d just been discussing appear on the map.
They rushed to the teleport point, where they were standing silently, bypassed them, and began collecting herbs.
Repairing equipment costs money, and the higher the level, the more expensive it is. [Warlord Li Li] stared at the glowing weapon in his hand with a shudder of fear, thinking, This is the first time I’ve seen someone using a Tianwu weapon to collect herbs. The durability lost is all money…
[Precious Little Foam], who had been AFK, finally moved and opened the team chat: “Li Li, why hasn’t she come yet?”
“She’s buying herbs at the trading house,” [Warlord Li Li] asked puzzledly. “Did you see Rush? His last kill report was also in the Far North. There aren’t any special quests on that map lately.”
“I know about this,” [Precious Little Foam] explained. “You can dig up a Glazed Heart from the ice and snow in the Far North. It’s used for bond building. My husband wanted to dig one, but the drop rate is so low, I didn’t think it was necessary, so we gave up.”
[[Team] Precious Little Foam’s Accessory: Instead of collecting herbs, I’d rather spend time with my wife.]
[[Team] Precious Little Foam: Husband, kiss me -3-]
[[Team] Precious Little Foam’s Accessory: Wife, kiss me -3-]
[Warlord Li Li]: “…”
[Punishment]: “…”
Is it a crime to use private chat channels in your area?
There are several types of bonds in Qiankun. There’s a [Fleeting Romance], a [Deep Love], and a [Love Stronger Than Gold]. Each type has a different cost. The most grand one is called [Life and Death Separation]—of course, it’s also possible to divorce. However, not only will you be unable to reconnect with the divorced party for 365 days, but your inventory and belongings will also be divided equally. Players often take to the forums to discuss the distribution, some even petitioning the GM to create a “stealing dog” feature so they can retrieve their pets from their former lover’s home.
The [Life and Death Separation] bond will be announced server-wide. It features a special map called [30 Miles of Red Makeup], and is quite grand. However, the required props and materials are also extremely demanding, requiring a large number of unsold items, such as the Glazed Heart that Xiao Mobao mentioned earlier.
“…I heard someone say Rush’s recently broke up?” Li Liyuanshang pondered. She hadn’t seen [Rush] on the official channel recently, and she had no idea what he was up to by collecting [Glazed Hearts]. “Wait, I’ll try messaging him.”
[Rush] hasn’t rejoined a guild or faction yet. Maybe by getting close to him, she can swipe him into her own guild.
[[Team] Precious Little Foam’s Accessory: Don’t bother. Apparently, this big boss has blocked private chats lately.]
[Warlord Li Li] clicked send with the mentality of just trying it out. With a ding, it went through.
Who knows when the other party reopened private messages.
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Boss, are you here to collect herbs yourself too? /Delighted/Delighted]
The white-haired swordsman stopped bending over to collect herbs and slung his sword behind his back indifferently.
[[Private Chat] Rush: ?]
He replied!
What’s next? This question mark didn’t seem like he was interested in chatting at all…
[Warlord Li Li] pondered a topic for a long time before suddenly having an idea:
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Boss, are you here to kill Taro Bobo too? /Delighted]
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: That’s the current Man-Eating Sunflower. She didn’t change her account, she’s just lying.]
[Punishment] suddenly said, “She just teleported away! She’ll probably be there soon.”
Yo, finally coming. Li Liyuanshang halfheartedly applied a buff to everyone in the team and quickly continued typing in the chat box:
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Not only is she a bad person, but she’s also a complete idiot. As soon as she’s attacked, she takes her hands off the keyboard and just trash talks.]
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Since we’ve met, why don’t we beat her down to the bone and you take the kill? I’ve put a bounty on her, so we can kill her til she drops at least 5 levels this time.]
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Sounds good?]
————
Does not sound good.
Xiang Kui didn’t teleport directly to the Far North, but instead chose the nearby Frozen Island. The ecology of this map was harsh, with barely any grass growing. Apart from newbies leveling up, there were few people.
She hurried all the way to the northernmost carriage station, found a driver who was out of business, paid ten gold, and entered the carriage.
[The driver rubbed his hands, his smile somewhat fawning: “Oh, my goodness, sir, it’s so cold, where are you going?”]
Three options.
[1. The Far North]
[2. The Mystery of Xiaoshi Town]
[3. “Shut up and drive forward!”]
Xiang Kui chose the third one without hesitation. The Kongshan swiftly jumped onto the carriage, and the carriage began its arduous journey through the blizzard.
… Sounds not very good at all. Xiang Kui rummaged through her bag and began to ponder the feasibility of her new tactic.
Her bag contained only a few red and blue potions left by the original owner. Besides the strengthening materials for the gemstone, the bulk of the remaining items were surprisingly the Invisibility Talisman and the Raven Transformation Potion.
Neither of these items were valuable; Xiang Kui had purchased a large quantity at the trading house without spending much gold.
The Invisibility Talisman, as its name suggests, temporarily renders one invisible in the wild. The Raven Transformation Potion allows the player to disguise themselves as a nearby tree or pottery jar. Neither item had many uses.
Because, in most situations, these items wouldn’t be necessary. The Tianren Sect, the only one keen on sneak attacks from behind, already had the ability to become invisible. The Raven Transformation Potion might seem powerful, but in reality, a single area-of-effect damage skill could easily knock anyone out. In a real melee situation like that, not only would a hidden player be impacted, but even a passing dog would be kicked.
As for the carriage, Xiang Kui remembered there was a quest there. Choosing the third option would result in the carriage overturning on the road, and the player waking up in Xiaoshi Town, east of the Far North.
That way, she wouldn’t pass through the necessary path.
But this workaround can only be used once.
After waking up, Xiang Kui dedicated all five of her major attributes to movement speed and critical strike bonuses, and flitted to the pre-quest location amidst the question marks of [Punishment].
She paused and slyly switched the private chat channel to the map channel.
“What’s going on?” [Warlord Li Li] couldn’t hide her annoyance. “Didn’t you say she was coming?”
“Yes,” [Punishment] said briefly. “I saw her teleport. Her location is also in the Far North…”
Before he finished speaking, a line of green text flashed across the public channel.
[[Map] [Man-eating Sunflower] has successfully crafted the Heaven-level weapon [Black Iron Fan: Landscape and Human World]!]
“Huh?!” [Warlord Li Li]’s voice paused for a second, then lost its composure. “When did she get to the quest point?”
[Punishment]: “…”
As if purposely provoking them, the map channel began to continuously broadcast announcements of [Man-eating Sunflower]’s weapon enhancements.
[[Map] [Man-eating Sunflower] has enhanced [Black Iron Fan·Landscape and Human World] to level one!]
[[Map] [Man-eating Sunflower] has enhanced [Black Iron Fan·Landscape and Human World] to level two!]]
…
[[Map] [[Man-eating Sunflower] has enhanced [Black Iron Fan·Landscape and Human World] to level sixteen!]]
There was no other player in sight besides [Rush]. The five of them watched helplessly as she upgraded her Heavenly-grade weapon to the maximum level. [Precious Little Foam] couldn’t help but ask, “What’s she trying to do?”
“Whatever trick she played, she’s probably going to run away again.” After wasting several hours camping in one place, [Warlord Li Li] was in a bad mood. “Even if the monk can run, can the temple run? I don’t believe she’ll stop doing daily quests and dungeons from now on.” (TL note: the monk/temple saying is a Chinese idiom)
“Maybe she’ll come looking for us,” [Precious Little Foam] said, a little uneasy. “It’s a Tianwu weapon after all, with pretty high damage.”
“How could she possibly dare to come?” [Warlord Li Li] glanced at the chat window between himself and [Rush]. The other party didn’t reply, so she absentmindedly typed while talking. “Even if she does, then come. It saves me from having to look for her. Have you ever seen a Kongshan dare to fight in the wild?”
That’s true. These days, Kongshan basically plays a sustained attack, usually teamed up with a sect with similarly low defense and low health. A skilled Kongshan who can survive the first three minutes in a ranked match will then deal terrifyingly high dps, almost like torture—but that’s in a fair 3v3 competition.
The only two advantages of a melee in the wild are flexibility and self-protection. In three minutes, even a novice would die five times.
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Sorry, sir, I don’t know how she got there. She must be back in the safe zone now, playing like a coward.]
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Next time we try to kill her, I’ll let you know.]
She had just sent the message when she saw a rock by the river.
It’s normal to have rocks by the river; the map is full of them, but why did she feel like this rock wasn’t there before…?
The next moment she was puzzled, a small, inconspicuous symbol had suddenly popped up on the Miaoshou Sect loli. The symbol flickered, and her health bar dropped to 5%.
Before she could react, [Punishment]’s voice urgently called out, “Appeared! Quick, dispel it!”
“What appeared?!” Miaoshou Sect’s dispel requires a pre-conditioning skill. [Warlord Li Li] frantically applied a buff to herself. The rock in her field of vision vanished, replaced by the robed [Man-eating Sunflower], her new fan glowing faintly with gold.
A passing player stopped in their tracks, a look of shock on their face.
No way, are my eyes suddenly failing? Since when did Kongshan Sect players dare to engage in a 1v5 battle in the wild? ? Do you think this is League of Legends?
[Punishment]’s group of three quickly surrounded them. But 35 feet was the limit for ranged sects, and all three were melee fighters. [Warlord Li Li] watched coldly as the other party cast three full sustained attacks on her, her own health bar only dropping in 5% to 8% increments. She responded, “It’s okay, no need to dispel it. She can’t sustain it anyway…”
Before she finished speaking, the Kongshan swung her flying fan, instantly wiping out 75% of [Warlord Li Li]’s health bar. She died instantly, without even being able to activate a single skill.
“…………”
It happened so suddenly that [Punishment]’s invisible steps froze as he approached. At the same time, [Man-eating Sunflower] quickly retreated, incredibly fast—but still not fast enough for a professional assassin. He flew forward, and with a single skill, he instantly destroyed 30% of the opponent’s health. Just as his brows relaxed, he realized that this was the only skill he could use.
It’s true that Kongshan characters don’t have any active movement skills, but the river behind [Man-eating Sunflower] is home to a constant stream of crocodile minions. One of her sect skills closes the distance while attacking them. She exploited these constantly spawning minions to swiftly escape, and with the added speed bonus from the Following Wind Flag, her movements were skillful, lightning-fast, and painfully skilled. [Punishment] watched helplessly as she gracefully slipped away, not even a fart catching his breath.
He was truly stunned.
He’d never seen a Kongshan slip away so quickly in his life.
The team chat went silent for a moment, and [Warlord Li Li] muted her mic.
[[Team] Warlord Li Li: Why didn’t you heal me just now? /crying]
[[Team] Sandalwood Scissors: You still had your invincibility skill available when you died, right?]
[[Team] Warlord Li Li: …]
Only someone unfamiliar with the situation would dare say that. [Punishment] and [Precious Little Foam] silently pulled [Warlord Li Li]’s body up and pretended to be AFK.
Five minutes later, [Man-Eating Sunflower] returned, this time targeting [Punishment]. The team members were on edge, immediately dispelling the negative buffs from the Tianren. Unfortunately, [Warlord Li Li] was so nervous that she used up her dispels on her teammates, forgetting she had none left herself—she was once again defeated.
This time, she even lost a level after being killed.
[System Notice: [Warlord Li Li] has dropped from Lv. 100 to Lv. 99!]
Yue Qing returned with water and sat back at his computer desk. The swordsman, who had been AFK collecting herbs, paused his actions and saw a PM from someone ten minutes earlier.
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Since we’ve met, why don’t we beat her down to the bone and you take the kill? I’ve put a bounty on her, so we can kill her til she drops at least 5 levels this time.]
[[Private Chat] Warlord Li Li: Sounds good?]
He frowned and typed “Does not sound good.” in the message box. Just as he was about to send it, he saw [Warlord Li Li] lying quietly in the open space fifteen feet in front of him: “…?”
Lu Ze’s laughter filled his earpiece. “What kinds of questions are you even asking? How many kills will it take to appease someone whose equipment was stolen? Why play so honestly? Who’s been killing you anyways?”
Yue Qing deleted the text in the dialog box to avoid rubbing salt into the wound, and finally typed a silent period.
And, her? Where is the Man-eating Sunflower?
“But you said it was a female Kongshan?” Lu Ze pondered. “Logically, if she’d been compensated, she wouldn’t have pursued her so relentlessly, and you didn’t do it purposely. Could it be that she is taking a different approach to attract your attention? What kind of person is she?”
Yue Qing commented, “Stop reading so many webnovels.”
His fingertips lightly touched the E key, the damage reduction skill of Jiange. The map channel finally refreshed at this moment.
[[Map] Man-eating Sunflower: What’s going on? You guys are such noobs. /Pighead]
[[Map] Oyster Dip: Did I just walk into a murder scene…]
[[Map] Man-eating Sunflower: What! You actually caught me! Please don’t tell anyone that I solo-killed Li-something twice in a 1v5 against all offs! I really didn’t mean to solo-kill Li-something twice in a 1v5! Even though solo-killing Li-Something twice in a 1v5 is pretty easy, please don’t tell anyone! /Panic/Panic/Pleading]
[[Map] Precious Little Foam: Don’t go too far!!]
“…” Yueqing was increasingly confused about why he’d even bothered to argue with her. He tapped his headphones to unmute, and said calmly, “It’s probably just some simple elementary school kid.”