Online Dating, Fooled 800 Times - Chapter 9

Xiang Kui, skulking by the riverbank with an invisibility charm activated, took a look at her damage statistics.

The first two skills hadn’t actually done much, but the subsequent attacks stacked all the initial sustained damage. Along with the critical damage bonus, if the other party didn’t dispel it immediately, not to mention [Warlord Li Li], but even if it were the GM, they would be dead on the spot.

However, the price she had to pay was that she absolutely couldn’t get caught.

Just now, a single basic attack from [Punishment] was able to wipe out 30% of her health bar. If she had dodged any slower, it would be her turn to be pinned to the ground and hammered.

[[Map] Man-eating Sunflower: Now do you believe the account owner has changed? ^-^ If you still don’t believe me, I can help engrave it in your memory.]

The other three members of the team fell silent. Xiang Kui took two steps forward and deactivated the invisibility buff from a safe distance.

Had [Sandalwood Scissors] been watching her? Who’s that? Don’t know.

[Warlord Li Li] directly logged out.

The captain already left, leaving three people. One was there to help intimidate, one was there to accompany their girlfriend, and the other was there to add numbers. There was no point in them hanging around. Only [Precious Little Foam] stood in place, motionless.

[Precious Little Foam] and [Warlord Li Li] often wore matching outfits, like inseparable twins. They were obviously close. Xiang Kui had been on the receiving end of their scolding quite a bit recently, but the other party’s cursing skills were lacking, with only some rude remarks to offer. Xiang Kui felt that [Precious Little Foam] was actually a Mei Yangyang behind the screen. (TL note: Mei Yangyang is from the Chinese kids TV show Xi Yangyang. She’s a very girly character)

[[Map] Man-eating Sunflower: Hey wait a sec.]

[[Map] Precious Little Foam: What are you waiting for? Kill me if you want. I won’t fight back.]

[[Map] Precious Little Foam: I don’t know if you’re actually a different person, but I’m telling you, Li Li and I will never forgive you! /Slams the table]

Xiang Kui: “…”

She sent a private message to [Punishment].

[[Private message] Man-eating Sunflower: What’s going on?]

[[Private Chat] Zuifa: You’re asking me?]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Should I be asking a wild boar?]

[[Private Chat] Zuifa: …]

This person actually still held grudges about how he’d mocked her for being as weak as a wild boar monster.

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Hurry up and speak / kitchen knife / kitchen knife]

Five minutes later, Xiang Kui realized things weren’t as simple as she’d imagined.

When the account was sold to her, the original owner cleared not only their Enemy List but also their Friends List. Otherwise, Xiang Kui would have seen that this account had a maxed out friendship bar with [Warlord Li Li], and their titles were sworn sisters. [Warlord Li Li] had only been playing Qiankun for a short time and was clearly a naive rich woman. [Taro Bobo] had tricked her into thinking they were the best friends in the world, and she thought of her first in everything. If considering money alone, over the course of a few months, [Warlord Li Li] had spent at least tens of thousands of yuan on [Taro Bobo].

So you can imagine how devastated the girl was when she discovered that the outfit she’d gifted her in-game boyfriend was instead worn by [Taro Bobo] instead. It upset her so much she almost deleted her account and quit the game.

While the scumbag, feeling guilty, sold his account in disgrace after being killed a few times, it was clear that [Warlord Li Li]’s hatred wasn’t just about him. Put it this way, six of the eight pounds she lost in a week of crying were attributed to [Taro Bobo].

Just for such a scumbag, you actually betrayed our sisterhood?

[[Private Message] Punishment: Actually, there were signs of this last month. He accidentally sent Li Li a photo of Bobo, but he was able to play it off at the time.]

[[Private Message] Man-eating Sunflower: He could even get away with that?]

[[Private Message] Punishment: He was clever. He said Bobo’s earlobes looked a lot like Li Li’s.]

[[Private Message] Man-eating Sunflower: …]

How was that clever?

From this angle, [Warlord Li Li]’s actions seemed quite tame. If she’d personally encountered something like this, she’d probably have tracked the other party down offline and beat them up.

But none of this was her fault, after all. Xiang Kui clicked on [Punishment] and sent a party entry request.

When she entered the chat, [Precious Little Foam] was still furiously cursing, “This person is clearly using a voice changer.Who knows if they are a man or a woman, and they still has the nerve to…”

Her voice was very delicate, her resemblance to Mei Yangyang was getting stronger. Seeing the notification that [Man-eating Sunflower] had joined the team, she abruptly stopped talking.

“Excuse me,” Xiang Kui said, speaking directly into the microphone. “Which costume did she give this account? I’ll buy one to send it back if it’s already bound.”

[[Map] Punishment: I added her. If there’s something, just ]

It seemed like they had hit enter mid-typing.

The voice in their headphones wasn’t deliberately lowered or raised, and the tone was casual, not even particularly enthusiastic. The timbre was as pure as pebbles in a summer stream, a coolness that flowed through your fingertips into your heart.

…Now they had to acknowledge it was her real voice. If this kind of sound could be easily produced, all those Taobao vendors would be fired. But the most shocking thing is—isn’t her voice leagues apart from her typing style?

The microphone icon behind [Sandalwood Scissor’s] ID flashed.

“The Canglan Jinxiu set.” [Precious Little Foam], a keyboard warrior, spoke up a little timidly. “But it’s a limited-time piece, and scalpers are already selling it for over a thousand… And didn’t you say the account changed hands? If it really did, why would you buy it? What, what’s it got to do with you?”

“I remember that set looked good on loli characters.” Xiang Kui searched the item on Weibo and recalled that [Rush] had bought the same set for his apprentice, [Crossing Summer].

Why did they come across so forcefully at first before acting courteous now? [Precious Little Foam] was confused and said, “No, what’s your purpose?”

“Purpose?” Xiang Kui asked. “Does wanting you to tell her to stop chasing me count? It’s getting in the way.”

[Precious Little Foam], “Getting in the way of what?”

Xiang Kui replied confidently, “It’s getting in the way of me hunting down others.”

Team Channel: “………………”

This unexpected response generated an extended silence. Eventually [Punishment] spoke up, “Who are you trying to kill?”

Xiang Kui typed a series of coordinates into the channel, and the four people present spontaneously looked at them. The cursor moved and landed on [Rush], who had been spectating the entire process. Another long silence followed.

“Huh?” Xiang Kui asked warily, “Why are you all silent?”

[Punishment] hesitated, “You…just try your best.”

[[Map] Precious Little Foam’s Accessory: Admirable courage/Hug/Hug/Hug]

[[Map] Oyster Dipping Sauce:? What’s going on? How did it progress to heartwarming encouragement again? How many episodes of the TV series did I miss?]

[[Map] Precious Little Foam: Admirable courage/Hug/Hug/Hug]

[[Map] Precious Little Foam: No, I accidentally copy-pasted the wrong thing!]

“Anyway, don’t send it back!” [Precious Little Foam] hurriedly kicked her out of the team. “If you dare send it to me, I’ll… I’ll send it back to you!”

“…”

The group arrived and left like a whirlwind.

A white-haired swordsman was still standing by the stone bridge, dressed in a black and gray robe with the cuffs tied at his wrists.

In the game of Qiankun, those dressed flamboyantly are usually noobs while the simple and unpretentious were the veterans. Xiang Kui wondered, who, seeing such a low-key and luxurious swordsman wielding a Tianwu, would have guessed he was a one-of-a-kind rookie who could manage to kill his own character by teleporting into a wall and exploding?

Xiang Kui had noticed him gathering herbs nearby from the start and was secretly wary of him interfering. After all, she’d chased him down and killed him eighteen times before. If the game had enemy hatred bars, it would probably indicate a deep-seated feud.

He couldn’t have not noticed them right?

Xiang Kui clicked on [Rush], and the red line of hatred appeared between them. [Rush] was also looking at her: “…”

Every time she clicked on [Rush], he clicked on her simultaneously. How could this not be considered tacit understanding?

[[Private Chat] Man-Eating Kui:?]

[[Private Chat] Rush:?]

Confirmed, not a power leveler, the real user.

Then what did he mean by standing still? Was he looking down on her?

Xiang Kui walked up to him and struck a weapon display pose. Her fan was gently tossed and caught a few times, then held across her chest. The golden light from their Tianwu weapons blended softly together.

[[Private Chat] Man-Eating Kui: Did you see that?]

[[Private Chat] Rush: I see.]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: You saw it, and you’re still not running? /Sunglasses]

As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand and unleashed a crowd control skill. Simultaneously, the swordsman’s right hand slid back into the scabbard, and five streams of sword energy erupted from behind him—another crowd control skill.

Huh?

He actually predicted her move?

But it was useless. Xiang Kui raised an eyebrow in surprise, used Light Kungfu to move to the right, dodging his flying sword, then threw out another slowing skill before quickly retreating.

The ink-colored robe fluttered in the air, and two minutes later, [Rush]’s character groaned and fell to the ground.

[[World] Rush: [Rush] was brutally murdered by [Man-Eating Sunflower] in [The Far North]! ]

[[Team] Everyday is Sweet: No way, again? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?]

[[World] Broccoli: Hurry up and eat the melon in the front row! !]

[[World] Not Approaching the Cliff: That’s not right. Didn’t people from the Prairie Fire Guild say they were forming a five-man team to block Man-eating Sunflower? How did she even have time to kill someone else?]

[[World] Oyster Dipping Sauce: That’s awesome! I just passed by and saw Man-eating Sunflower 1v5 solo-kill Warlord Li Li. Going back to sleep now.]

[[World] Spectators: ???????????????]

The public channel was flooded with question marks.

Xiang Kui stood beside [Rush]’s corpse, jumping up and down a few times, thinking, Pressure is motivation, indeed! Look how fast this kid is improving. He can even hold on until he uses up his flash and invincibility before dying.

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: It’s okay. Two minutes is impressive. /Hugs/Hugs]

Next, will he directly revive, or go to the respawn point?

She remembered that the nearest respawn point was on the riverbank at six o’clock, near the stone bridge, marked by a Berserk Goose monster…

But [Rush] didn’t take medicine to revive, nor did he go to the respawn point. Instead, he slowly replied to her private message for the first time.

[[Private Chat] Rush: Nineteenth time.]

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: Want me to make it an even number? /Confused]

[[Private Chat] Rush: Are you still angry?]

Xiang Kui had been asked this the first time she killed him. She gave the same reply:

[[Private Chat] Man-eating Sunflower: I’m not angry ^-^]

The conversation paused for nearly three minutes.

Just as Xiang Kui was about to head to the respawn point to ambush him, the private chat channel pinged again.

[[Private Chat] Rush: Then I’m angry ^-^]

Xiang Kui, “?”

Why did she get a bad feeling? Wait, something seems to be suddenly different.

She looked closely and finally noticed something was amiss.

[Rush]’s previously empty ID now had a new guild name—

[Without a Pair].

Xiang Kui, “…?”

[[Private Chat] Rush: Did you see that?]

[[Private Chat] Man-Eating Sunflower: I see.]

The next second, [Rush]’s revived character stood back up, and with his eight seconds of invincibility, he slowly pulled a large golden tasseled flag from his waist and hurled it heavily into the ground. Dust immediately flew up, and a flash of golden light appeared!

Anyone who plays PvP knows what this item is. It’s called the [Brotherhood Flag]. Only guild managers have the authority to use it. Upon use, all online guild members will receive a summons notification. It’s used exclusively for summoning players, and typically only appears in large melees of twenty or more.

It’s well known that [Without a Pair] is the largest guild in the Demonic Falls Faction, having just defeated [Prairie Fire] with a perfect record.

It’s also well known that [Without a Pair] has members online 24/7, ready to engage in passionate PvP. There’s no chance of no one showing up if summoned.

As expected.

Xiang Kui watched helplessly as a cartload of bread-men swarmed out from under the banner like locusts, indiscriminately pinning her to the ground and stomping on her. There were too many of them. She lay miserably on the ground, feeling as if her face was being crushed.

The swordsman stood quietly in the center of the crowd, striking a provocative sword gesture and looking down at her.

[[Private Chat] Rush: You saw it, and you’re still not running?]

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

Hey! You brat!!

If I can’t beat you, fine. No need to be so unsportsmanlike!!!