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Chapter 61
Jing Huan realized that one truly can’t always live inside their comfort zone.
After losing two matches in a row, he stared at the points he had lost and ached with regret.
It wasn’t that Qiu Feng was useless; it was that having two sealers on the same team was indeed much harder to play against than a setup with one support and one DPS. First, the damage simply couldn’t keep up. Although Jing Huan’s gear was complete, his spirit beast quality was low, and the Nine-Tailed Fox hadn’t leveled up in rank\u2014two hits and it would be taken down by the opponent.
Just as Chun Xiao and Xiangsi escorted them out of the PK arena, Qiu Feng was about to comfort the team when a friend message popped up.
[Friend] Chun Xiao: You two came tonight just to hand over points? Philanthropists?
[Friend] Qiu Feng: Why didn’t you go easy on me a little!
[Friend] Chun Xiao: My wife is rushing to 4,000 points. Why are you with Xiao Tianjing again?
[Friend] Qiufeng: My teammate’s not on tonight. I wasn’t going to play, but I suddenly saw that Xinxingwangzhi wasn’t online either, so I invited her. [Mischievous grin]
[Friend] Chunxiao: I suggest you disband right where you are. She follows Xinxingwangzhi to climb ranks; following you she’ll tank ranks. The more matches you play together, the more she’ll think Xinxingwangzhi is better.
Qiufeng was so mad he sent a contempt emoji.
Jing Huan talked into the mic for a long time before realizing she hadn’t pressed the talk button, so Qiufeng couldn’t hear her.
He rarely used YY and wasn’t used to the software’s default talk key. He sluggishly pressed F2: “Qiufeng, why don’t you find other teammates?”
Qiufeng: “No, the first two rounds I played badly, I’ll definitely carry you to climb later.”
“No,” Jinghuan said, “I’m just too noob, and with your score so high, it’s not worth it for you to queue with me.”
After promoting multi-player team competition, the arena added a rule recently: when a high-score player carries a low-score player in ranked games, the points gained for a win are reduced by 20%, and the points lost for a defeat are increased by 20%.
“I won’t, I just want to queue with you.” Qiufeng paused, “Besides, haven’t you been following Xin Xiangwangzhi before? He’s the one with the highest ranking in the district.”
Jing Huan’s movements froze.
It really was like that.
But because they had lost so few matches, he had never thought about it, and Xin Xiangwangzhi hadn’t mentioned it to him either.
“Get ready.” Worried she’d leave, Qiufeng urged her.
“Oh… okay.”
Entering the matchmaking interface, Qiufeng cleared his throat: “By the way, Xiaojing, the ‘Lovers of the World’ event is about to start. Want to join? I’ll take you.”
Jinghuan repeated blankly, “Lovers of the World?”
Autumn Maple only then remembered that Little Sweet Jing was a newbie in Jiu Xia, though her actions had given him the impression of a veteran: “It’s Jiu Xia’s year-end event, somewhat like the Valentine’s Day or Qixi events, but the lovers’ event is specifically for farming intimacy. Complete a hundred loops and you can get a time-limited one-year Lovers’ Pouch outfit that looks very nice hung on your clothes.”
Hearing Autumn Maple put it that way, Jing Huan suddenly recalled.
The event is actually quite popular with players\u2014especially female players.
Who wouldn’t want a high intimacy score with their partner?
In the game, the higher the intimacy between husband and wife, the stronger their exclusive couple skills. Although no matter how strong they are they still can’t beat a sect’s exclusive skill, when it comes to showing off affection, they’re top-notch.
However, this event also has a clear drawback.
“This task takes time and gives little experience\u2014Shangshen probably wouldn’t do it, right?” Qiu Feng chuckled. “If I remember correctly, he didn’t do it in the past few years.”
Jing Huan also thought Shangshen wouldn’t do it.
After all, he himself had never done it before; the only one who might be looking forward to this kind of activity was probably Lu Wenhao.
He had just declined Qiufeng’s invitation when the phone in front of him suddenly buzzed.
It was the group chat Lu Tiaotiao had created earlier; there were already five people in it.
Xiaolu Xiaolu Never Gets Lost: @Xiaojing ya Xiaojingjing I love you so much! Come out so big brother can give you a kiss!!
Chichi: ?
Xiaojingya: ??? Brother’s still in the group, don’t lay a hand on me!
Xiaojingya: [Get away, go away, there’s a scene.jpg]
Xiaoluxiaolu Never Lose Your Way: I see the contributions you’ve made to the organization, I will remember you forever.
Xiaolu Xiaolu Never Get Lost: Xiaojing, from now on don’t play arena matches with Xiang Xiang\u2014stick with Qiufeng! Drain all his points for me!! With you around, he’ll never surpass me in his whole life!!
“……”
Damn.
Jing Huan felt humiliated.
He used to be a powerhouse in the old server; back then the whole guild had over a hundred people, and everyone called him “Brother” when they saw him.
Now, he had become a dead weight.
Still extra-large.
All because of yearning!!
If it weren’t for him, how could I have fallen so low!
Xiaojing: You just want to trick me away so your brother can carry you to rank up \ud83d\ude42
Xiaojing: [Shared song – “I Won’t Fall for You”]
He shared the song to the group. Seeing Xin Xiangwangzhi still hadn’t popped up, Jinghuan opened a private chat window and habitually tried to make his presence felt.
Xiaojing: I miss big brother [drawing circles]
After sending that, he deftly sent a few more cutesy sticker packs all at once.
Xiang: Hmm.
Jinghuan paused mid-lockscreen.
That quick to reply?
Little Jing: 0.0 Brother! I thought you weren’t around.
Xiang Huai’s long legs were casually draped over the arm of the sofa, his hand propping up his head, his eyes calm and unreadable\u2014no idea what he was thinking.
I thought he wasn’t here\u2014then why did she still message him?
Xiang: Just finished dinner.
Xiaojing: Me too, I’m playing in the arena right now. ~ (\u2267\u25bd\u2266)\/~
Xiang: I know.
Xiao Jing: Hmm? How do you know that?
To:..
Xiang: Just glanced at the guild chat.
“Xiao Jing, give my soul beast a sip of milk,” a teammate’s voice came through the headset, “what are you doing, why did you stop?”
Jing Huan looked up and realized they had already jumped into a fight. He instinctively locked his screen: “Ah, it’s on.”
Xiang Huaizhi held his phone, quietly waiting for a few minutes.
The other side fell silent; the person who normally replied in seconds didn’t even send an emoji this time.
Xiang’s father sat down on the sofa beside him with a newspaper: “Why the long face? Dinner not good?”
After speaking, Xiang lowered his voice to his father: “Your mom only has those two hobbies, cooking and mahjong. Even if it’s terrible, you have to put up with it\u2014don’t let her notice.”
Xiang Huaizhi lowered his eyes and tossed his phone aside: “No.”
At that moment, Xiang’s mother’s voice came from the mahjong room: “Honey!”
Xiang’s father immediately braced his thighs and stood up, running to the mahjong room door: “What’s wrong?”
“Go to the snack street and buy us some chicken feet.”
Xiang Ba frowned: “I’ll order delivery for you.”
Xiang Ma: “That shop doesn’t do delivery.”
Xiang Ba looked reluctant, about to nod, when a voice came from behind.
\u201cI\u2019ll go.\u201d Xiang Huaizhi stood up and casually grabbed the coat from the sofa.
He hesitated for a moment, then decided to take his phone as well, slipping it into his pocket. \u201cHow many orders?\u201d
After Xiang Huaizhi left, Mrs. Xiang looked at her husband. \u201cDid you nag him again?\u201d
Having raised him since childhood, she could tell at a glance that her son wasn\u2019t in a good mood.
Xiang said to Dad, “I didn’t say anything.”
Xiang Huaizhi carried two bags of chicken feet as he walked down the road.
His phone in his pocket had been buzzing the whole way, but he walked straight ahead with no intention of looking at it.
Passing by a supermarket, he thought for a moment and decided to go in and buy a loaf of bread to serve as tomorrow’s breakfast.
At the checkout, the girl in line ahead was on the phone. They weren’t very close, but Xiang Huaizhi could still hear the conversation.
\u201cHmph, he sent me more than twenty messages again, and called several times.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m not answering him.\u201d
\u201cHe\u2019s getting so close to other girls! He clearly promised to only play games with me, then turned around and carried some other support girl to rank up! No way, this time I’m going to keep him on the hook, make him realize his mistake!\u201d
Xiang Huaizhi: “……”
Just out of the supermarket, Xiang Huaizhi took out his phone and began scrolling through the messages he’d just received.
As if that would make him different from the girl from a moment ago.
Xiaojing ya: I just jumped into a battle [cat rolling]
Xiaojing ya: Wuwuwu, brother, I lost so many points tonight…
Xiaojing: Right now I’m the most pitiful person in the whole world.
Xiaojing: I couldn’t win the fight, and my brother’s gone T\u25bdT
Xiaojing: [screenshot]
In the screenshot, the little fox spirit is making a crying gesture.
The scene behind the little fox spirit was from some wilderness map. Xiang Huaizhi frowned, glanced at the time\u2014just past eight-thirty\u2014and the arena hadn\u2019t finished yet.
Jing Huan sat at the computer, propping his chin and bowing his head, idly scrolling through videos.
A WeChat notification popped up at the top of the screen; he immediately stopped scrolling and opened it.
Xiang: Aren\u2019t you in the arena?
Xiaojing: Just now Qiu Feng’s teammate logged on, so I made an excuse and left.
Xiaojing: Those points were hard-earned by my brother carrying me up\u2014I can’t bear to let them all drop QAQ
Said nicely, as if he wasn’t the one who just threw money away in the arena.
Xiang: How many points now?
Xiaojing ya: 2422…
Xiang: lost sixty.
If he hadn’t said it, Jinghuan would have been fine, but once he did she felt heartache.
Xiaojing ya: wuuuuuu~~(>_0<
Sure enough, the moment the message was sent, the top of the chat window immediately changed to “typing…”
Across the screen, Jing Huan could already picture the other person’s eager, flustered attempt to deny it, and for some reason found it a little amusing.
He stared at the screen, wanting to see what the object of his affections would say.
A minute passed.
“Typing…”
Five minutes passed.
“Typing…”
Ten minutes passed.
\u201cTyping\u2026\u2026\u201d
Jing Huan: “\u2026”
What the\u2014
No way, bro?
I was just teasing you. You’re not going to write an eight-hundred-word essay accusing me of being delusional, are you???
Twelve minutes passed. Jing Huan bit her lower lip and decided to break the deadlock.
He opened the keyboard and typed slowly.
“Brother, I was just saying\u2014”
Buzz.
To: None.
Xiang: Just don’t ask me to team up with you in the arena anymore. I don’t have the habit of cleaning up other people’s messes.
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