01 | EL


[ ENDLESS LOVE ]

CHAPTER 01 ♦ QU WEI EN — QWE

last edited: 11.06.18

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Translator’s Note

There’s quite a bit of internet slangs and in-game jargons (related to World of Warcraft), if they are translated incorrectly/inaccurately, please help me out by commenting below~~

Also the chapters are dead long (TxT) and I’m kinda slow at translating (cries) so please be nice to me and wait patiently ><

“I Am A Killer” is the main project I’m working on right now so “Endless Love” chapters are gonna come out real slow.

With this, I present to you: “Endless Love”, enjoy~!

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It was another year, summer had ended; the local server finally witnessed the World of Warcraft: Wraft of the Lich King expansion. Countless old players who had abandoned the game during the wait returned one after another; quite a number of new players were also attracted over. Many other online games happened to, unanimously, fabricate reasons to launch a variety of activities. Online games that had originally intended to hit the market during this period of time, on the other hand, quietly bounced their checks so as to lie low till the fuss about the Wrath of the Lich King died down.

World of Warcraft was not one of, but the most NB* game right now.

* NB = 牛逼; internet slang for epic/amazing/awesome

An Si Dong was also amongst the returning forces. She had long installed the upgrade. When the new server launched in the evening, she entered the game immediately.

A female human Priest she hadn’t seen in a long time appeared on the screen, level 60, outfitted in T3 Vestments of Faith, the best gear at the time. The three years seemed like only a day. There was no change, as though time had stopped. In that moment, she felt like time had flown backwards, as though… those depressing youthful years had never been all that far away, and that they could be retrieved again.

The human female was the most beautiful race in the Alliance faction, but when compared to all the other types of online games in the market, she seemed to appear not too special of a sight to look at. In fact, she was a little muscular and ugly. An Si Dong still remembered the time when she had first started playing WOW and was creating her hero. Even though she had already been mentally prepared, she still got a huge shock from the graphics. In the end, she spent an entire half an hour picking the heroes before mixing out a passable look that was okay to her eyes.

But now, she would no longer judge a game by how beautiful its character graphics or how magnificent its in-game sceneries were.

Three years was a long time—it was long enough to change one’s beauty perception, long enough for once close acquaintances to become strangers, long enough for feelings to dissipate.

After staying still for a long while, the female Priest on the screen looked up at the sky vacantly, before sighing, her shoulders drooping. That action was an exact portrayal of her feelings. An Si Dong moved her mouse in despair and clicked to create a new hero.

Death Knight was the newly released hero class and was level 55 upon creation. The requirement was that you needed an account with a hero at level 55 or above, and this was the pull factor for the old players returning. Her Priest was already level 60 anyway, and had a familiar ID, so why not create a new account.

Almost instinctively, she selected a female Gnome. They were only up to the height of a human’s thighs, had exaggeratedly large ears, and a tuft of pointy hair with length almost equivalent to half its height. It was comedic no matter how she looked. However, it still did look a little different from her memory, the Death Knight had glowing blue eyes in place of its original slickly bizarre eyes.

When she was entering the name, she hesitated before keying in three alphabets: QWE. System notice: Character successfully created.

QWE, the once all-powerful ID was gone.

Her head lowered, and she looked at the keyboard. Due to the lengthened use, the six alphabets, QWE, ASD nestling quietly together, lay worn out on the far left of the keyboard.

They were the initials of their names.

Wrath of the Lich King highlights included the increase of level cap to 80, the introduction of Death Knight hero class, and the expansion of the third continent—Northrend.

Northrend is the north of Azeroth, also commonly referred to as the north pole. It is situated in the most northern part of the map, in between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor continent. They are separated by The Great Sea, and players can only go to the continent upon reaching level 68.

Someone had once told her: “My secret is buried within the snowy lands of Azeroth’s third continent. When you dig it out, I’ll tell you.”

Yet, when she really stood at the snowy lands of Northrend, where was that person? She ran in the snow stubbornly, zipping through the high levelled monsters, dodging their attacks pathetically in an attempt to search for the so-called secret.

Actually, she knew that secret since long ago, and it’s already overdue. Perhaps, it was really forgotten in the vast snowy lands, and the person who had buried it had, too, forgotten about it.

In the end, the bears attacked her till she had to dismount her ride, and she was caught up in an encasement. She was still not very familiar with Death Knight’s skills, so being ganged up by several monsters was indeed a bit strenuous to deal with. Her health bar was running low, and she was going to be killed by this gang of bears, but misfortune just loved pouring down rather than drizzling, a red-named player from the enemy faction just happened to pass by. That player stopped to look, probably wondering if he should come up and add a blow.

She laid there in despair. That red-named player from the enemy faction suddenly dismounted. He ran up, whipped out few blows, finished off the Bears besieging her cleanly, and stood beside her, unmoving. She clicked on the player. He was a Troll from the Horde faction. His class was also Death Knight, and he was one level below her. The crux was, however, the name that sat atop his head in blood-red words: QQWWEE.

Her tears immediately gushed out. That forgotten secret, she finally still found it.

Her hands and legs trembled for a full minute before she typed into the nearby chatbox: Qu Wei En?

The Troll bent, squatting down on the ground, not reacting. It was then, did she remember that she was from Alliance, and he was from Horde. Their language did not match, so he won’t be able to understand what she was saying. In a moment of desperation, she clicked the “hug” action on him.

Except that her hand trembled, she had forgotten to activate the chat window and hit a hotkey for attack.

And hence—the Troll immediately jumped up, raising its weapon. A magnified number for critical hit flashed across her screen before it turned grey.

[QQWWEE’s Heartbreaker skill gave QWE 2006 physical damage (critical strike) (160 over-damage)]

“You have died, would you like to release spirit to spawn at the nearest graveyard?”

.

The story began in 2006.

An Si Dong, by nature, seemed to find summer disagreeable. Every summer, she would run out of luck. It was probably because her name had a “Dong*” word. It wouldn’t be too big of a deal if it was just her being down with cough and flu every summer, but, ever since university started, every time it was summer, her romantic relationship would end.

* 冬 = Dong; winter

She received a call from her boyfriend at the beginning of summer holidays, and after half a day of being stammered and mumbled at, the entire episode could be summarised up with two words: break up.

After not going back home a few days into the summer holidays, her mother called to urge: “Dong Dong, have your examinations finished? When are you coming back? Have you bought your train ticket? How’s Xiao Zhou? Want to invite him over to our place? …”

Xiao Zhou was Zhou Yuan Hang, An Si Dong’s first boyfriend in university. He was also her classmate. That had been her first time dating, and she could not keep it to herself, hence the both of them happily confessed their relationship to her mother. She daren’t even tell her mother, two other guys had dumped her after Zhou Yuan Hang.

“I have an internship during the holidays so I won’t be going home this year…” She didn’t know how to face her mother if she were to go home, so she twirled up a lie clumsily.

“Dong Dong, you found an internship during the holidays?” Her dorm-mate, Wang Jie, on one side turned around to ask.

“No, I just don’t want to go home.” She wailed as though as at a funeral, “I’m broken up with again.”

Wang Jie froze for a moment, and sighed: “Seems like you have no fate with pale-skinned, mono-lidded, thin-lipped and slim guys in this lifetime, cheer up.”

“What? You got dumped again?!” The Mao Yin opposite her jumped up, a hand on her hips, the other poking An Si Dong’s head vigorously, jabbing her around till she rolled about like a roly-poly. “Serve you right! Once on shore, one prays no more, even a pig that’s been bitten three times by dogs know how to run, only you wouldn’t know! What pale-skinned, mono-lidded, thin-lipped and slim guys, you could tell you that guy’s got a heartless douche appearance just by one look! This is your fourth time falling prey to this kind of guys, do you understand? I swear you’re dorm 502’s disgrace! You’re still nodding your head, gosh I just want to jab jab jab, and jab open your brain and dry your brain of water*!”

* Chinese saying: “脑子进水” = your brains’ soaked, means you’re a basket case/ you’re out of your mind. The phrase used in the raws was with reference to that saying, hence the phrase used by Mao Yin was “把里面的水放放干净” = dry your brains for you/let the water out for you, which means let her help to put An Si Dong’s brain back/retrieve An Si Dong’s brains, etc.

There was a pattern to the type of guys An Si Dong liked. They were all, without exceptions, around 1.75 metres in height, had a slim figure, looked refined and cultured, pale-skinned, had mono-lids, wore thin-framed spectacles, and had thin lips. All her three boyfriends looked like that.

Wang Jie sighed: “Nowadays, infatuated kids like Dong Dong sure are rare.”

“Fudge your infatuation! I find these people carrying such an infatuated portraits of themselves going around looking for people who resembled their own drama to serve as stand-ins for their love life terrifying, gag!”

She was right, An Si Dong liked this kind of guys because they resembled her high school crush. How did that song go? “The sad thing was that, when I meet other guys, I only care, about semblances of you I find on them.” She knew that this was bad, but she couldn’t help it but make this mistake again and again.

Wang Jie said: “Dong Dong’s already sad enough with her break up, don’t scold her so much.”

Wang Jie’s the best, gentle and considerate. She thought, sniffing.

“—Dong Dong, it’s not that we’re pitying you, but a miserable person must have his detestable attribute that caused his misery. You’ve already committed that mistake three times. Any more than this, my pity’s gonna run dry. Listen to sis, learn your lesson, change your taste and preferences, and don’t go provoking this kind of guys next time, got it?”

Geh… she took back what she just said.

Wang Jie continued, beamingly: “Say, it’s so late already, are you guys hungry? Dong Dong RP* definitely crashed, so why don’t we give her a chance to accumulate some RP in our dorm?”

* RP = 人品; internet slang for one’s luck

What kind of dorm mates did she have, where were their consciences? An Si Dong ignored them, turned around and lunged towards her computer to go online to BBS* and entered the Joke page for laughs so as to console her injured spirit.

* BBS = Bulletin Board System; it’s basically a forum of sorts

Once she got online, she saw her classmate Qu Wei En online too. His ID, which was just the initials of his name, was easy to recognise. She thought for a while, and sent him a message: “Recommend me a game to play, holidays started, I’m bored.”

Qu Wei En was the epic gamer in their class. According to sources, he had played from Starcraft* to Super Mario Moto*, there wasn’t any game he couldn’t play or couldn’t play well. He was also their school’s most authoritative person in the Counter-Strike* battle team, but he had already abandoned his previous gaming life to focus on his studies. In conclusion, if anyone wanted to play any game, looking for him definitely would not go wrong.

* Starcraft, Super Mario Moto and Counter Strike (CS) are all games

Qu Wei En only replied after a while: “What games have you played before? What types do you like?”

“I’ve played Minesweeper, Solitaire, Beauty Mahjong, Luxor, Picture Matching, Paladin, Xuan-Yuan Sword. I prefer games with backstories like Paladin and Xuan-Yuan Sword, they gotta be the attractive and engaging kind, and the game must last for a very long time.” That way, she need not think about sad things like her breakup.

Qu Wei En, however, did not reply, rather, he asked: “Not going home during the holidays?”

“Mmh, not going back.”

“It’s not good to get addicted to gaming, your boyfriend’s gonna be angry.”

Why did he have to tender the tender spot. She replied, feeling wronged: “Doesn’t matter, we broke up.”

Only after a long pause did he reply a word: “Oh.”

Why was everyone’s reaction towards her breakup so cold and indifferent, at least say sorry or something? Unless she really had incited mass discontentment and had only reaped the repercussions she had sown?

The good thing was that he replied pretty quickly: “Come play World of Warcraft, it’s an RPG online game, suits your genre pretty well, and it lasts long.”

“I’m never played online games before, is it hard?”

“It’s not hard at all, it’s somewhat similar to Paladin. A lot of our schoolmates are on the same server, we’ll bring you.”

The only game An Si Dong knew that rubbed corners with the term online games were the games on QQ*. Online RPG, she thought, probably were games where you role-play as Lee Xiao Yao**, I role-play as Lin Yue Ru**, she role-play as Zhao Ling’er**, and everyone comes together to push a boss. She had fared pretty well in Paladin walking through the mazes without needing to look at guides and pushing the boss as easily as cutting melons and vegetables. In that case, it should be no problem.

* Tencent QQ, aka QQ, is a Chinese messaging & socialising app; think Telegram and Instagram and Twitter and more stuff combined into one

** Lee Xiao Yao, Lin Yue Ru and Zhao Ling’er are characters from the game Paladin, 《仙剑奇侠传》

After many years, someone who learnt that the first online RPG she started with was World of Warcraft praised her: “No wonder MM* plays so well, your starting point’s sky high man.”

* MM = Mei Mei; could be either 妹妹 as in little sister/little girl or 美眉 as in pretty girl/babe; basically referring to females in general

However, at that time, she did not know that World of Warcraft was not the type of game for noobs in online gaming. Neither did she know that Qu Wei En’s little “it’s not hard at all” and other people’s not hard standard were on different levels.

“Okay.” She did not think much about it and agreed candidly.

And hence, the online gaming journey of a noob in World of Warcraft began just like that.

The Qu Wei En, on the other side, continued: “Download the client from my side, after you’ve created your account, log in and select the server Onyxia, create your character then you can start playing.”

The servers had names, how interesting. “What is Onyxia? Is it someone’s name? Sounds nice.”

The other side delved into a beat of silence before replying: “She’s a princess.”

The client still needed a dozen or so minutes to download, so she tried to make conversation: “Is she pretty?”

The other side paused even longer, before forcing out: “Celestially shockingly so.”

Princess Onyxia was An Si Qi’s first encounter with a character (?), hence she had a deep impression so she automatically head-cannon-ed a charming and elegant beauty. Of course, when she did see Princess Onyxia… that was another story for another time.

She wanted to ask more, but he said first: “Why don’t you go create an account on the official page first, there are quite a few steps to the procedure.”

She replied “okay”, the other side had already left an automated offline notice. She scratched her head, did she say something wrong?

After she had finished creating her account, the client had finished downloading. Qu Wei En private messaged her on BBS: “Oh and, I forgot to tell you, the characters in WOW are not the prettiest, you okay with that?”

She opened the client, saying: “It’s okay, as long as they’re not ox-headed or horse-faced.”

The next moment, her gulp of water spurted on her keyboard. A strong and muscular woman (?) with an ox head carrying a broad axe appeared on the screen.

She scrolled down the different races’ appearance, not resigned, but saw a bald Orc with a nose ring, an eerie-looking Undead, a Troll baring its fangs, and a Tauren she had seen at the beginning. This, how was this “not the prettiest”, it was so obviously ugly, ugly enough to make her cry! No wonder this game was named World of Warcraft, it sure was macabre.

Her BBS window blinked: “I’m in the Alliance faction, don’t go to the Horde faction, players from different factions can’t play together.”

Bro, thank goodness you’re not in Horde, if not I would probably just drop this game altogether. She exhaled in relief, and, once again, went to look through the Alliance races. There was Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and Gnome. Even though they were a still pretty ugly, but at least they didn’t look too inhuman. In the end, no matter how she looked, the female Human was the only one that didn’t topple her aesthetic standards too much.

Her BBS window continued to blink: “Why don’t you play a healing class, it’s more suitable for MMs playing, and it’s easier to join teams. Paladins, Priests and Druids can all heal.”

“I’ll pick a human Priest then. What name should I use?”

“ASD.”

She scoffed: “Using your initials as ID is so lame.”

“QWE isn’t just my initials,” he said, with cool elegance and grandeur, They’re the first three letters at the top of the keyboard.”

Of course, the cool elegance and grandeur was what she had head-cannon-ed. “What’s so terrific about being the alphabets on the far left of the keyboard? My initials are the first three ones on middle left.”

“Mmh, you’re below me, looks like we’re fated.”

What did he mean “you’re below me”? That was so not CJ*. She head-cannon-ed a scene where her small figure was squashed underneath the big block of a Qu Wei En, and shivered from the chills.

* CJ = 纯洁; internet slang for pure and innocent

She named her Priest “Summer’s Wintermelon*” and entered the game. She glanced at the time, half an hour had actually gone by.

* Xia Tian de Dong Gua = 夏天的冬瓜; directly translated means Summer’s Wintermelon

No wonder everyone said it was extremely time-consuming for girls to dress and groom. ╮(╯_╰)╭

She was born in a monastery. She still wasn’t very familiar with the game interface, so she didn’t dare touch the information bars clouding the interface, and instead went all-out in learning. There was a small figure jumping and hopping about beside her.

[Say][QWE]: The name suits you quite well.

She zoomed in the camera view and saw the three purple words atop the small figure: QWE. His character, however… was not even half her Priest’s height, and had the three-headed-body* “golden ratio”. What was more important was that, that, that gnome looked like a female?

* 三头身 refers to one’s entire body only the height/length of three heads of that person; think chibi-sized

The actual appearance of Qu Wei En flashed across her mind, and she almost spat another mouthful of water on her keyboard.

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Actually, this name would suit you more.

[Say][QWE]: ……

[Say][QWE]: Short wintermelons are cute.

This was definitely a very blatant personal attack! She inhaled deeply, and laughed dryly.

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Heh heh, why did you choose a female character? Could it be that this is the legendary ladyboy?

[Say][QWE]: What about ladyboy, the female character is cute.

[Say] [Summer’s Wintermelon]: Huh, doesn’t it feel strange to look at yourself as a female character in the game? I heard that ladyboy players are subconsciously wishing they were female, I smell a very probable gay tendency hmm.

These were the stuff she heard from the Mao Yin who had feasted her eyes upon countless web novels, that girl was a purebred slash* wolf. But even if Qu Wei En was gay, he’d probably be the one on top… pause that train of thought right there, that was too not CJ.

* 耽美 = slash; basically Mao Yin was a hands-down yaoi/guy-on-guy/boys-love fan, aka a fujoshi

[Say][QWE]: it’s those who stare at guys’ butts every day that has gay tendencies.

…… You win.

[Say] [QWE]: What’re you stoning for? Do you see the NPC in front of you, the one with an exclamation mark above his head, talk with him and obtain the quest.

She wasn’t an idiot, of course, she knew the big yellow exclamation mark was an important hint, it was just that she wasn’t very familiar with the operation. She was reading the description, reading the description only!

She ran over to receive the quest, and got the first creature killing quest: go to the north of the forest and kill 10 Kobolds.

Walk out the monastery and head northwards a little, she would be able to see large numbers of Kobolds. She targeted a stray one, and rushed up—

Huh, nothing happened. The Kobold ignored her, swished its tail and left.

Let’s change to another one, dashed up again—

Again, nothing happened.

[Say][QWE]: What are you doing?

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Why can’t I enter attack mode?

[Say][QWE]: ……

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Didn’t I just need to touch the monster and I’ll enter attack more? It was like that in Paladin and Xuan-Yuan Sword.

[Say][QWE]: ……

[Say][QWE]: That’s turn-based strategy, this is a real-time strategy game, you need to attack right now. Monsters with yellow names won’t attack you spontaneously, you need to attack them first.

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: That… how do you attack it?

A beat of speechless silence from the other side.

[Say][QWE]: Right click the monster to select it and release Smite.

She did seem to have learnt a skill called “Smite”, but…

[Say][QWE]: Can’t find where Smite is?

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Hehe…

[Say][QWE]: Your computer’s a laptop right?

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Enh.

[Say][QWE]: It’s getting late today, let’s end here. Bring you laptop over to my dorm tomorrow, I’ll help you with the basic controls and some top you up with some general knowledge.

An Si Dong tensed, and could not be bothered with being ashamed: “That… it’s not too good for a girl to go to a guy’s dorm though?”

Qu Wei En kind of grasped what she was trying to say. “Don’t worry, Lao Bi’s going to the library every day to study his GRE*, the other two went home, it’s only me.”

* GRE = Graduate Record Examinations; similar to SAT and ACT

She exhaled: “Okay then, I’ll go look for you tomorrow.”

It’s just that her ex-ex-ex-boyfriend Zhou Yuan Hang, the first mono-lidded, pale-skinned, skinny and thin-lipped boyfriend that had dumped her, was in the same dorm as Qu Wei En.

Talking about An Si Dong and Qu Wei En’s dorm-mates’ relationships, it sure was a long story.

At that time when Zhou Yuan Hang had been chasing her, the entire dorm was mobilised. One would help get the water today, another would help take up a seat tomorrow, and it had made Wang Jie, for that time, thought that there were four guys chasing her simultaneously. On Girls’ Day, the four of them laid out a huge heart made of roses and candles in front of the girls’ dormitory building on the grass, and proceeded to carol love songs. The whole commotion had other girls that dormed popping their windows to look on and watch what all the excitement was about. A large crowd of guys spectating also kicked up a row. Seeing how it was impossible to stop things, she agreed pushingly after a show of resistance.

She’d admit she had thoughts about her feelings shifting away from Zhou Yuan Hang, but since they were now in a relationship, she had to stay loyal and committed. During that period of time, she went over to their dorm practically every day, often bringing with her fruits and snacks, and helped them tidy the place and stuff. The entire dorm was moved to tears by her, so her relationship with his dorm-mates was pretty solid as well.

In the beginning, Lao Bi had followed Zhou Yuan Hang in calling her Dong Dong. Qu Wei En heard him one time, and rebuked him: “Dong Dong Dong Dong, how affectionate, think she’s your wife?” From then on, Lao Bi corrected himself and followed Qu Wei En in calling her Dong Gua*.

* 冬瓜 = Dong Gua; wintermelon; the “Dong” in “Dong Gua” is the same word as the last word in An Si Dong’s name

Even though her nickname had been Dong Gua since she had been a child till now, her feminine sixth sense told her that classmate Qu giving her this nickname had another profound meaning to it.

So you’re tall, hope you hit the doorframe when you walk. At least if the sky fell, it’d smash you first. She cursed inwardly.

Lao Bi had once told Zhou Yuan Hang: Dong Gua is our 613’s family, if you bully her, you’re 613’s traitor, anyone will have the right to punish you!

But you really can’t force it when it comes to feelings. Even when Zhou Yuan Hang had really dumped her, Lao Bi couldn’t really do anything about it. He had still been a little awkward around her when she had just been broken up with: “Dong Gua, that… even though you and Zhou Zi’s relationship didn’t come to fruition, but we 613 still have your back, you’re welcome to come over anytime! I’m still waiting to win back that Samurai Shodown game!”

Samurai Shodown was a fighting game that allowed multi-players to play on the same computer, so every time she went over to Zhou Yuan Hang’s dorm, she would battle him. There was this once she got extremely lucky. She took on all three of them continuously and actually won 16 rounds consecutively. She was so happy she kept calling for a loss to counterpoise her tiredness of winning. Lao Bi said “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, we haven’t even shown our 613 trump card yet. Later we’ll definitely laser you till you cry.” He grabbed his phone to call Qu Wei En, asking him to come back to 613 to win some glory back and avenge them.

Every time she went, Qu Wei En seemed to always not be there, so the times where she’d ran into him were so little she could count them with her fingers. That day, it took Lao Bi several phone calls before he was able to summon Qu Wei En back. But who knew her RP exploded big time, and she actually got a draw.

Lao Bi was not resigned: “Did you purposely let her?”

Qu Wei En sitting beside her appeared absent-minded: “Not really in a good condition today.”

Zhou Yuan Hang patted his shoulder: “Giving my waifu* face means giving me face. I’ll remember this favour. Now let me pass, I’ll continue.” He pushed away Qu Wei En and sat down beside her, pinching her cheeks intimately, “I don’t believe I can’t win this little sprite of a small film.”

* 老婆 = waifu (wife); a term of sickly sweet endearment by a guy to his girlfriend in a relationship, similar to Darling/Baby, but of a higher level where the endearment terms upgrade to “husband & wife” level

And then… and then what happened? She could not remember very well. She had not played against Qu Wei En after that anymore, so she was not able to verify if it had really been him in a poor condition or if he had purposely let her.

She thought about her talent in gaming, wasn’t it pretty decent, how was it that she downgraded to such a noob in WOW now?

She held her laptop, waiting below the boys’ dormitory, and Qu Wei En came down within a minute. He pushed open the locked entrance with one hand, his other hand stretching over to take her laptop bag. “I’ll take it.”

“No need no need, it’s not heavy, I can hold it myself.”

He swept her an overlooking glance full of disdain. Her hand loosened and her laptop bag was taken away by him.

Okay then, since there was a strong and sturdy able-bodied man anyway. She trailed after him, looking up at his tall figure, and suddenly felt pretty analogous to the little Gnome in the game.

If you asked what type of guys An Si Dong liked, the correct answer would be: please look at Qu Wei En—and take the opposite of that. She liked guys with figures on the slim side, his physique was burly like an athlete; she liked guys that are pale-skinned, he would play basketball every summer till he was roasted charcoal; she liked guys with long eyelashes and mono-lid, he had thick brows and large eyes, sometimes if he overslept, he’d even get a triple-lid on one side; she liked thin lips, he didn’t fit this criterion; she liked guys with soft hair that half-covered their eyes, his hair stood straight up like the hair on a scrubbing brush; she liked guys who wore thin-framed spectacles, it made them look refined, his pair of gleamingly bright eyes with a 5.2 vision on both sides didn’t even need spectacles; she was about 160cm in height, it is said that the optimum girl-guy height difference was 12 to 15cm, so guys around 175 was just right, he exceeded that limit by a fold; she thought that guys looked better in white shirt and long pants, but what he was currently wearing was a very comical Joke tank on top, a pair of beach shorts below, and shuffled about in a pair of slippers, his muscly arms and legs exposed.

The only thing that need not be flipped was probably his personality… o(╯□╰)o

Lao Bi was very envious of Qu Wei En’s build and appearance, and had told her more than once: “You girls are intoxicated by those Japanese mangas, to actually like those unmanly and effeminate pretty guys. Qu Wei En, he’s the man of the man, manly of the manly. Just look at that, sharp brows and starry eyes, long limbs and thin waist, broad shoulders and long legs. His body’s the textbook-definition of the inverted-triangle ratio, his authentic six-pack abs are the real deal, how is he not handsome? How is he not dashing?”

This… this can only be attributed to the fact that the disparity between the beauty perception of a guy and a girl was too large. Why did she not find it dashing and handsome? Other than being a bit too large of a block, he didn’t seem to stand out that much from the masses, he was unkempt, uncaring about his appearance like the majority of the guys.

See, even his dorm was messy, the exact replica of Lao Bi. His blankets were unfolded; his desk littered with all sorts of books, snacks and cup noodle boxes. She could tell he had already deliberately tidied it up, and vacated out a box of space just enough to fit her laptop on the empty tabletop, but that did not change the disorderly nature of the place.

Only Zhou Yuan Hang’s place was slightly clean. He had already gone home. His neatly tidied table and anti-dust sleeve covered computer contrasted sharply amid the three other desks.

Qu Wei En placed the laptop on the table, and pulled over Lao Bi’s chair: “Sit.”

The back of the chair had an unknown stain, and some suspicious grey fragments littered in the cracks… fortunately, they had all eaten the school canteen’s food for three years and had cultivated the tenacious quality of picking out flies from your food then continue eating, so she treated as though she saw nothing, and sat down.

“I’ll demo for you first.” After logging in, he operated for her on her computer, “All the operation keys are alterable, you can key in your own shortcut keys according to your habits, in here…” he switched to the interface while explaining, “… the Priest is a ranged attacker, the range for Smite is 20 yards. You can stand at the furthest distance to load the bar, you can load another one when the monster is running over, like that…”

He slanted his body while demonstrating. The two of them were very close to each other. Her elbow accidentally knocked against his chest muscles… before it quickly retracted, and she peeped at him stealthily. He didn’t seem to have noticed, thank goodness thank goodness.

That… it didn’t seem to be as hard as she thought she would be, it’s pretty elastic, a little like a volley ball…

Gosh! What was she thinking! 囧*!

* 囧 = jiong; internet slang for orz/embarrassed/awkward/speechless/frustrated/depressed

After being taught, An Si Dong was finally able to grasp the knack a little, and knew how to attack, how to create a party and add friends, and also understood what was CD*, what instant dungeons were, and what the different add-ons did. She was considered the hands-on type that required practice to learn something, so after personally clearing some quests, she was able to operate relatively more smoothly and easily.

* CD = cooldown

Qu Wei En’s hero’s class was a Mage. The little Gnome’s attack was very violent and explosive, a billowing blizzard and an entire bunch of monsters died, hence completing the quests was very relaxing, and she rose to level 10 in a little over an hour.

There were usually not many players in the novice village in the old servers, but after playing for a while, An Si Dong realised that there was someone who kept jumping about around her. She selected the player and found out the player’s target was herself. Atop the player’s head sat the guild name FREE. It was the same one as Qu Wei En.

“You recognise that Fourth Master?”

He didn’t even look: “You don’t need to mind him, hurry pick up the quest items.”

“Oh.” She followed after him obediently, picking up the dropped items, but who knew the message box was very quickly filled with several notifications.

[General][Fourth Master]: Big time scoop! QWE is at the novice village bringing a newbie! Hurry come and see!

[Local][Fourth Master]: Big time scoop! QWE is at the novice village bringing a newbie! Hurry come and see!

He probably was still yelling around in the other channels, and before long, a variety of players appeared in the quiet novice village. There were players who rode horses, goats, and even tigers, lions and leopards, and they followed them, watching the commotion while discussing.

[Say][Papa Ali]: I didn’t see wrongly right? QWE’s actually bringing a newbie? @_@

[Say][Fourth Master]: You didn’t see wrongly, it’s real, I got a scare as well.

[Say][Silence]: Unless it’s Sao Zi*?

(T/N: “嫂子” = “Sao Zi”; sister-in-law/older brother’s wife)

[Say][Phone Dropped In The Toilet]: Looks like a real MM, that’s very probable hmm.

[Say][Nai He Qing Shen]: Other than his waifu, probably no one would be able to get QWE to bring them personally…

[Say][You’re A Lass I You’ve Got Milk]: Jesus, when did QWE become so patient, to actually bring a newbie?

[Say][Silence]: What nonsense are you sprouting? QWE was always very patient, very patient and considerate towards MM!

[Say][You’re A Lass I You’ve Got Milk]: … …

[Say][You’re A Lass I You’ve Got Milk]: I typed wrongly just now… QWE is indeed… very patient… towards MM… very considerate too

[Say][Brows Like Willow]: Fudge, even QWE has a waifu already, why am I still unmarried!

[Say][You Can’t See Me]: Niang Niang, it’ll be right if you marry a bunch of gigolos back…

They chattered continuously, even a few Hordes joined the conversation.

[Say][Scarlet Rabbit Amidst]: (Horde language) Maotqhta haeluoren whelhe

[Scarlet Rabbit Amidst’s head drooped in dismay.]

An Si Dong surveyed around and realised that the majority of them were from the guild FREE. She was a little awkward: “They’re all your friends?”

He focused on the screen earnestly: “Don’t bother with that bunch of perverted guys, let’s continue our quests.”

She got a shock: “They’re all guys?” Other than Papa Ah Li and Fourth Master, all the characters were female.

“All guys.”

“Even that Brows Like Willow?” Liu Ru Mei was a female Human Priest like her. Her hair coiled up with a staff in one hand, she looked charming and feminine. Even the name sounded graceful and subdued.

“Does he sound like a girl?”

The way she talked was very similar to Mao Yin… she thought secretly in her head and continued obediently following him around to pick up items.

[Say][Brows Like Willow]: How come the person involved didn’t even P* any much of a sound, do we look like air.

* P = 屁; fart

[Say][You’re A Lass If You’ve Got Milk]: You’re not even worth a P.

[Say][Brows Like Willoe]: You and your lack of milk* only know to envy that my boobs are bigger than yours. But since I’m a magnanimous person, I won’t lower myself to your level.

* internet gaming slang: “healers” are commonly known as “Nai Ma” (奶妈), which is “milk mother” directly translated; gamers often equate “milk” with “healing”, and of course they also associate “milk” with “boobs” since the Chinese word “奶” can mean that too. So basically they’re comparing their “milking ability” aka their “healing ability” and hence also referencing to their non-existent “boobs size”

[Say][Silence]: Don’t fight don’t fight, P is also a type of air…

[Say][Nai He Qing Shen]: This, you guys don’t know. That little couple there is enjoying their sweet and romantic couple world. With you guys sticking your noses in, if I were QWE, I won’t be happy either.

[Say][Brows Like Willow]: How boring, recruiting people for shivaree.

[Say][You Can’t See Me]: Raise hand to participate, I vow to follow Niang Niang till death. How you gonna do the shivaree?

[Say][Brows Like Willow]: What about we snatch monsters from QWE? And leave him unable to complete his quests, and then no shivaree. QWE can go home and scrub the washboard*.

* 跪搓板 = scrub the washboard; a form of punishment of sorts for guys in relationships/boyfriends/husbands

[Say][You’re A Lass If You’ve Got Milk]: Slut! How did I let you think of such a slutty idea before me!

With that said, the group of them rushed into action and wiped the novice village clean of monsters in a blink of an eye. Qu Wei En, even if he were to have three heads and six arms, would not be comparable to them in snatching the monsters, and could only helplessly watch the masses wipe out quest beasts the minute they respawn.

An Si Dong looked at him helplessly: “They’re actually our arch enemies right?”

He remained staring at the screen, not moving, except the tip of his ears was dyed a suspicious tint of red: “Ignore them, the more you concern yourself with them, the more pumped up they get. They’ll disperse in a while.”

Looking at his red ears, she, too, felt a little ill at ease. What waifu, scrub the washboard, shivaree, it would be bad to cause misunderstandings. She thought for a bit and still decided to send a line.

[Say][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Hi everyone, I’m QWE’s classmate, I just started playing WOW. Please treat me kindly, thank you!

After she sent the sentence, the noisy bunch suddenly quietened down, and no one spoke for a long time.

[Say][You Can’t See Me]: Did anyone feel like QWE just received a friend card*?

* 被发好人卡 = receive a friend card; slang for friend-zoned

[Say][Silence]: SP*……

* SP = support

[Say][Nai He Qing Shen]: SP……

[Say][Shou Ji Diao Ce Suo]: SP……

[Say][Si Ye]: SP……

[Say][Liu Ru Mei]: SP…… People behind take note to maintain the formation.

[Say][You Nai Jiu Shi Niang]: Agree

[Say] [Ah Li Ba Ba]: What does it mean to receive a friend card?

[Say][Liu Ru Mei]: It means “you’re a nice person, but I only see you as a friend”.

[Say][Ah Li Ba Ba]: ……

[Say][Ah Li Ba Ba]: Pity…… SP……

……

Amidst the noise, a flag dropped from the sky, sticking itself in front of everyone.

[QWE has challenged Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo to a duel]

Thereupon, the noisy bunch of people quietened down.

[Say][Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo]: I made a mistake…

[Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo cried on Xia Tian de Dong Gua’s shoulder]

[Say][Nai He Qing Shen]: ……

[Say][Liu Ru Mei]: Damn, you dare to eat even QWE’s girl’s tofu*, NB.

* 吃豆腐 = eat tofu; take advantage of someone, usually to flirt or touch that person

[In quiet contemplation, Liu Ru Mei mourned the death of Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo]

[Say][Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo]: Forgot I clicked Dong Gua MM just now, it really wasn’t on purpose……

Then with a whoosh, Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo made himself invisible and fled.

[Say][Liu Ru Mei]: Even though my milk’s big, it’s a pity I don’t know how to become invisible. For the sake of avoiding being killed and silenced, I better run first.

Ah Li Ba Ba was a Dwarf. He told Qu Wei En: “I’m pitying you, really, don’t kill me…… all the best!” and he jumped on his goat and disappeared instantly. The bunch of them immediately dispersed on their animal mounts.

An Si Dong cast a sideway glance at Qu Wei En secretly. His lips were tightly pursed, his expression not a very friendly one. She scratched her head at loss: “I didn’t mean it that way… I mean, I didn’t mean to give you a friend card…….” Why did that sound strange, if she did not give the friend card, did that not mean she accepted it? “No no, it’s… aye, anyway, it’s not like what they said, I just greeted them, they’re overthinking it.”

His expression calmed: “Don’t worry, they’re a bunch of lame people bored senseless, you can ignore them. Let’s continue the quests then.”

Still continuing the quest, could it be that he did not feel the slightest bit awkward? She looked around, the door was locked, and the two of them, a girl and a guy, were in the same room, the surroundings quiet. The table was very small, so the two of them were sitting so close together she could practically smell his smoking masculinity, seriously…. The more she thought about it the more ill at ease she felt. Why did she run over to the boys’ dormitory on such a sweltering hot summer day?

“That… looks like it’s time for lunch. I think I got the hang of this, I’ll play this on my own. If I have anything I don’t know I’ll ask you again in the future.” She exited the game and started switching off her computer.

“Oh.” He replied dully, and exited his game as well, “Let’s go to the canteen together.”

“I need to bring my computer back to my dorm, Wang Jie they all are waiting for me for lunch. Thank you so much for today, and for teaching me so much, I’ll treat you a meal next time.”

“We’re all classmates anyway, don’t mention it.” He lifted her computer bag, and when they reached downstairs, he threw her laptop at her, “I’ll send you till here, bye.” With that, he turned and headed towards the canteen quickly.

She massaged her smashed chest angrily but did not deliver her anger verbally. Classmate Qu’s behaviour… he looked a little unhappy? Could it be that it was really as what those people had said, that classmate Qu harboured some feelings for her, that’s why he stooped down to her level to bring her around and complete quests with her?

——She couldn’t tell at all! They had been classmates for three years, and she had never seen classmate Qu display any favour towards her. She had also been the one to look for him first this time to get a game recommendation. It was unlikely to go as far as suddenly falling in love with her after half a day of gaming together, right?

Moreover, her ex-ex-ex-boyfriend was Qu Wei En’s dorm-mate, everyone was in the same class, and everyone saw everyone frequently. Also, didn’t he help Zhou Yuan Hang chase her last time? If she were to end up together with Qu Wei En, wouldn’t that be very shocking and melodramatic?

Just thinking about it gave her shivers.

.

The biggest advantage of the Internet was that you can’t see me and I can’t see you. Your gaze, expression, tone, all of that was unknown save for a block of words, so you could pretend whatever dirty or awkward matters that had occurred didn’t exist.

In the evening when she logged on to the game, the two of them were once again the pair of harmonious and amicable classmates. Immediately after she logged in, she received Qu Wei En’s Whisper.

[W from][QWE]: It’s pretty tough for Priests to start levelling up in the beginning. I’ll bring you around farming experience in the instant dungeons, we can farm some gear for you on the way. After you learn Siphon Mana when you reach level 20, killing monsters would be easy, you can do you quests on your own then.

His explanation was reasonable and fair, brimming with pure and clean friendship, such that it made her rejecting him appeared unreasonable.

[W To][QWE]: Okay.

[W From][QWE]: Go to the Deadmines, it’s at Westfall.

After accepting the request to join the party, the two of them ran towards Westfall. Her level at the moment was too low, so she still could not learn the Mount skill yet. Qu Wei En sat on his mount ahead, turning in rounds while she followed pantingyly behind by leg, feeling very gloomy.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: I’m very jealous very jealous very jealous of your mount, so can you not hang around in front of me to show off.

[Party][QWE]: I’m helping you pull aggro so to avoid them attacking you.

Sweat… she blamed a good guy wrongly. She really couldn’t tell, that the tall and burly classmate Qu had such a meticulous and considerate side to him. o(╯□╰)o

At that moment, there was someone who Whispered her.

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: Sorry MM, I didn’t mean to tease you purposely, don’t take it to heart.

The emote Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo had used was Cry. If there was no target selected, it would show as “you cry”, if there was a target selected, it would show as “you cry on XXX’s shoulder”.

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: I didn’t take it to heart, it’s not anything serious.

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: Then that’s good, MM’s really broad-minded and magnanimous. Then can you help me tell QWE not to mind it or take it too much to heart?

She swept a glance at the little Gnome running around pulling monsters and farming. Lao Bi had said Qu Wen En was very manly and very loyal to his friends. Manly guys wouldn’t be so narrow-minded and petty, right.

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: You’ve misunderstood. We’re not in that kind of relationship.

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: Heh heh, heh heh.

Why did the four “heh” words seem so much like it had some profound significance, as though he was “well aware of something but remained silent”?

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: MM I’ll add you, add me too. Call me if you need any help, but of course, with QWE bringing you around, you definitely won’t need me, haha.

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: I just started playing so I’m still not quite familiar. He’d already taught me a while in the morning. I’m doing a quest on my own now, he’s not bringing me.

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: Hehe, the two of you are at the Westfall, unless he’s not bringing you running around such low-levelled areas, but he’s there to check out the sceneries? Let me guess, you guys are going to the Deadmines next to farm right?

[W To] [You Can’t See Me]: How do you know I’m at Westfall?

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: …… try pressing O.

She pressed as he said, and the friend list interface appeared on the screen, displaying grandly: QWE—Westfall, level 60; Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo—Ironforge, level 60.

Geh, he saw through her lie on the spot, and it seemed as though she was deepening the misunderstanding… Next time she would make sure to figure out the technical skills before lying.

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: Is QWE very awesome? You’re so scared of him.

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: He is not very awesome…

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: He is so OP and formidable he violates heaven and rules!

That… she kept her reservations. She felt that Qu Wei En was very normal.

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: So MM, you gotta hold on tight to such a NB guy, he looks pretty handsome in real life right?

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: ……

Other than being speechless, she did not know what to say, because she was unable to agree with all the stuff he had said. o(╯□╰)o

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: You gotta know that OP people will always have a little temper. If it were someone else, QWE wouldn’t even bother with such low-skilled stuff like bringing newbies around. He’ll definitely say: you good-for-nothing, to actually need a person to bring you levelling, you should just stop playing altogether.

That was what he probably thought in his head, he was only helping her because she was his classmate, and a girl at that, so he was embarrassed to voice that out.

You Can’t See Me continued putting much energy into attempting to match-make them, so she could only continue their half-hearted chatter.

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: Oh right, have you seen QWE in real life? You guys know each other?

[W From][Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo]: MM I’m also your schoolmate. I’m a year two from the school of Arts. Do you use BBS? The majority of the people in our guild is on the WOW page.

[W To][You Can’t See Me]: Oh, okay, I’ll check it out later

[W From][You Can’t See Me]: Hehe, then I won’t disturb your couple world. Remember to call me if there’s any situation.

Thank goodness, the world had finally quietened down. The little Gnome running ahead stopped and twirled in circles around her. Around her laid all the dead monsters.

[Party][QWE]: What’s wrong? Why did you stop?

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Someone Whispered me

Actually, Qu Wei En had also received You Can’t See Me’s Whisper: “Lao Da*, I praised you lots in front of Dong Gua MM, promise her amorous feelings are stirring, I’ve made up enough for my slip right?”

* 老大 = Lao Da; bro/boss/captain/the oldest one

He only replied with a single sentence: “Don’t be a busybody.”

Still donned in an ash grey low-levelled gown, the female Priest, holding a nail in one drooping hand, stood in front, her head tilting innocently to look at him.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: From your friend’s tone, and it seems like you’re pretty powerful. Did I just personally witness a legendary player?

[Party][QWE]: There’s very strong balance in WOW, so there’s no legendary player.

[Party][QWE]: It’s just a matter of difference between high and low skilled players.

Phuu… bro, so you mean you’re considered a high-skilled player?

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Then how many can you take on in one go?

[Party][QWE]: If it’s players are of the same level and gear, the most I’ve taken on is 1V3, but the opponents were very novice.

That did not seem extremely powerful. Looking at Qu Wei En’s physique, it would not be a problem even if he took up three Lao Bi.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Only three, I thought you’ll be about to knock down a bunch with a wave of your sleeve.

[Party][QWE]: That’s a Boss you’re talking about.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: ……

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Then why did Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo say you’re powerful beyond reason?

[Party][QWE]: Lao Bi also said I’m super duper ultra handsome, would you believe him?

All right, regardless of males or females, they were always kinder in judging their own genders.

The two of them completed a round of quests in Westfall. She rose to level 15, and they proceeded to enter the Deadmines. The entrance to this instant dungeon was deep into the mines. There was no map available, so it was hard to find.

The monsters inside the instant dungeon were all elite, so Qu Wei En pulled the aggro in front. However, he left out some, and they ran towards the An Si Dong running behind picking up items dropped gloomily. They surrounded her, and she was killed within a matter of a split second.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: ……

[Party][QWE]: Sorry, that was my negligence. I don’t know how to resurrect you, so you’ll need to spawn and run back.

Releasing the spirit after death will allow the spirit to spawn at the nearest graveyard, the player had to return to their corpse in order to resurrect.

[Party][QWE]: The place’s a little hard to locate, I’ll pick you up outside.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: No need no need, these mazes are no big deal, a lot easier than the ones in Paladin 3, a piece of cake.

Even when the mazes in Paladin 3 were crazy hard, she did not need to refer to the guides to walk out of them. When Mao Yin had been playing and was stuck in the mazes, she would always get her to help, and hence she was nicknamed “way-directing bee*” jokingly ever since. Based on her memory of the location just now, she quickly found her way back to the instant dungeon entrance.

* 引路蜂 = way-directing bee; an item in the game Paladin

[Party][QWE]: I always thought girls’ sense of direction weren’t very good.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Hmph, male chauvinist.

[Party][QWE]: ……

The monsters in the instant dungeons were pretty densely packed, but Qu Wei En’s monster clearing speed was very fast, even with only caring about picking up the items left behind, she found herself unable to catch up. Very quickly, she realised she could no longer see him on the mini-map.

[Party][QWE]: Don’t stray too far from me, you won’t get the experience.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: My inventory’s full.

[Party][QWE]: Trash all the grey rubbish.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: That’s quite a few silvers per group, what about I run back to clear the bag first.

Qu Wei En did not make any sound. He ran back a while later and started up a trade.

She looked at the numbers in the trade window and widened her eyes. 500 gold, that was probably a lot of money right? She did not even have as much as 1 gold in her inventory. Accepting help was one thing, but taking others’ things was different. She quickly clicked reject.

[Party][QWE]: Accept it, and trash the stuff and other gear you don’t need in your inventory.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: It’s okay, really, I’ll earn the money on my own, I don’t need so much now.

[Party][QWE]: Do you know what is time-cost optimisation? You don’t have a horse, there’s a lot of monsters at the entrance of the instant dungeon, running back would at least take several dozens of minutes, would it even be worth it to sell these rubbish that didn’t even worth several silvers?

That tone… oh right, him extracting time from his busy schedule and lowering down to her level to bring her farming was already giving her enough face, how could she afford to have him, who could whip out 500 gold so easily, accompany her to sell for those little silver?

And hence, she elapsed into silence, and quietly trashed the things in her inventory she did not need. Qu Wei En sent her another trade, but she still rejected it.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: I won’t take others’ money easily. I’ve cleared my inventory already, let’s go.

He probably realised that his tone came down a little too forcefully, and softened it.

[Party][QWE]: 500 gold isn’t actually a lot. It’ll get very fast to earn money later on. When you hit level 40, you’ll need 100 gold to buy a horse. Hold on to it first, you can return me when you have the money.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: I’m still far from level 40. I’ll borrow from you again when I need it.

[Party][QWE]: With a high-level player bringing you around, maxing the levels will only take about three to five days.

What was the meaning of the game if it was just farming so mechanically? She, however, did not rebuke this time. His way of seeing things was different from hers. What he was concerned about was efficiency, while she thought that running around the map and discovering new places was a pleasure.

Frankly, partying with Qu Wei En was very pressurising. His pace to doing things was too fast, and that had her tired of constantly running around. It was the same when they were completing the quests previously as well; she was always being hurried to submit the quest, so much so that she did not even have the time to read through the quest requirements and backstories.

After that, the two of them spoke very little. Having continuously farmed for an entire evening, other than having to return to base to submit a quest once, they were holed up in the dark and gloomy mines. She didn’t even remember how many times they cleared it. In the end, just the amount of gear and materials dropped was able to fill her inventory, and she finally reached level 20.

Goodness, she’s never going back to the Deadmines, she had farmed so much she wanted to vomit.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: I’m level 20 already, and my bag’s full, they’re all useful materials, let’s head back.

[Party][QWE]: The monsters here are already green, let’s go to the Stockade, it’s in Stormwind City, the place’s convenient to clear your bag too.

Still going to continue farming? She was already extremely exhausted from hitting level 20.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: It’s time for dinner.

[Party][QWE]: Eating with Wang Jie they all again?

[Party][Xia Tian de Dong Gua]: Hehe, yeah, I eat with them every day. Sorry for troubling you all this while, and bringing me around. I’ll definitely treat you to a meal next time.

[Party][QWE]: Why not tonight then.

[Party][Summer’s Wintermelon]: Ah… sorry, Wang Jie’s already waiting for me, I’ll go first. I definitely won’t renege the meal, don’t worry. 88*.

* 88 = 拜拜 = bye bye

She used a Hearthstone to return to the city and immediately logged out. Actually, Wang Jie was not back yet. She stared at the empty dorm, and sighed deeply.

Why did that feel as though she was running for her life?

She didn’t go online at night. In her boredom, she thought of what Ni Kan Bu Jian Wo had said, and ran to the school’s BBS page to see, posting to mark her attendance.

“Hi everyone, I’m Wintermelon. The server I’m in is Onyxia. My main character is Xia Tian de Dong Gua. I’m a Priest, currently not in any guild. Let me introduce myself a little below: I’m a newbie, just started playing yesterday, currently at level 20. Please treat me kindly!”

It was a normal post with the standard format. It was pretty unnoticeable in the beginning, only the page host commented “welcome”. After someone she knew replied her post “Dong Gua MM’s also playing WOW now? This is a PPMM*, Alliance bros in Onyxia, treat her kindly”, the numbers of replies suddenly increased.

* PPMM = pretty pretty MM

“Woah, there’s a MM!”

“And a PPMM at that, but I’m already dragged down with a family to feed, go single bros.”

“I don’t have any family to feed, but I’m from Horde, 555…”

* 555 = 呜呜呜; onomatopoeia for crying/sobbing

“You can give yourself up to be sacrificed to help her increase her glory.”

“MM come to our guild, we cover levelling, cover gear, and cover settling your relationship.”

“How do you know MM is still single?”

“Goddamn, you wouldn’t come play WOW if you’re not single.”

“Don’t even think about it, 20 levels in a day, she’s definitely got a family member bringing her.”

“We still have single PPMM in our school? Should they not have gone extinct before the Jurassic period?”

“Don’t even talk about PPMM, there’s not even a dinosaur that’s single available.”

…..

An Si Dong was speechless, so she remained quiet. Even though the guy-to-girl ratio in her school was 5:1, didn’t the single guys here seem a little too desperate.

Following all that was another reply: “This MM, FREE has already reserved a spot for her, perverted guys shoo shoo.”

The page exploded, and the otakus’ blood for gossip started boiling.

“Oh mai gah! There’s some unspoken rules!”

“FREE has such benefits? Who’s she subscribed to?”

“If it’s Nai He Qing Shen then give up, anyone else… hehe”

Nai He Qing Shen jumped out to refute the rumour: “Definitely not me! Even though Dong Gua MM’s really cute, I already have someone for me…” And it was coupled with an embarrassed emoji.

“55555, Dong Gua MM, looks like the two of us are not fated, waves cryingly, ToT”

“You can go look for the person who reserved the spot for her to duel.”

“Can’t help it, can’t win be it in real life or in game……”

“Nai He, Lil Four, Phone* all one by one, and now even QWE’s love life’s blooming, why is it that even though I’m so handsome, I’m still on my own, dammit.”

* Shortforms of: (Nai He) Nai He Qing Shen, (Lil Four) Si Ye and (Phone) Shou Ji Diao Ce Suo)

“Hi sao zi.”

“You didn’t even say a word about having a MM, where’s your sincerity, you owe us a meal owe us a meal! And bring MM along to familiarise her with everyone.”

“Agreed, demands meal for the entire guild.”

“No can do, demands meal for the entire page.”

“Re*.”

* Re = reference; repeat that

“Registers for eavesdropping.”

“Meal’s earliest is tomorrow, MM post a pic today.”

“Re, post pp*.”

* pp = picture; referencing to posting a selfie here

……

Of course, there were some not very harmonious voices: “This is a WOW page, not a social page, so don’t pull your personal matters in here to chat, is it not face losing enough. Can the T University guys get any more desperate than this?”

This quickly attracted a bunch of people below bombarding away: “Waifu! Hurry come see Father Teresa!”

“That IP’s from P University.”

“If you guys contribute the MM from P University, of course, we won’t be so desperate.”

“Where’s your entertainment spirit? Are P Univerisity guys all so artificially prim and proper?”

“There’s that dunno-who who posted their waifu’s picture here on this page last time. So you attached yourself to a hog, thinking you’re all immortal already, you have the nerve again to point fingers at others not to bring in their personal matters now huh.”

“Fvck, P Uni’s people’s here to mess with us again?”

……

The arguments poured in in torrents. She sent a post to refute the rumour, but no one paid it any attention, and it was immediately buried beneath the vast sea of comments. As expected, the bunch of people did not concern themselves with the problem at all, they had just wanted to find a chance to gossip and argue. o(╯□╰)o

The power of single guys from WOW was scary. Before long, her post was bumped up to the top ten. Even An Si Dong’s class monitor saw it and private messaged her: “You’re together with Qu Wei En?”

She replied speechlessly: “We just played a game together, rumours sure can kill.”

The class monitor kept quiet for a while, saying: “Actually Qu Wei En’s pretty good, yielding to him isn’t too bad.”

Why was it that everyone nowadays liked to match-make so much? And what was with the yielding to him… “The honoured class monitor, I remember you weren’t so gossipy last time.”

“Hehe, there’s only a total of six girls in our class, keep the goodies within the family. As the class monitor, I, of course, need to help our own classmates attain some merits.”

She silently replied him with six dots*.

* six dots = “……”; speechless

In the end, the arguing escalated to the point where people started throwing personal attacks, so the page host deleted the post before the page quietened down.

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Another Translator’s Note:

Next chapter’s an exciting one hehehe, gonna be updated late this year (it’s twice as long as chapter one *facepalms), you guys can chomp on this looooong chapter during the wait ^ ^

Update on the 11th Jun 2018: came back to edit some terms; please forgive my inconsistency in the in-game usernames, I’m still in the process of editing EL chapters~

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TRANSLATOR & EDITOR: WYNNE

:) | CONTENTS | 02

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