Chapter 14 – A Hint of Loneliness

Polly hadn’t logged into QQ for a long time—about as long as he’d stayed away from YY. Back when he used to play the game regularly, he’d always had both QQ and YY running simultaneously. QQ had the Legion group chat, while YY had the Legion channel. Even though he rarely joined the voice chat in the channel unless it was for a dungeon run, having the Vice Guild Leader’s avatar always online in the friends list was a morale boost for the guild members. Later, after being kicked out of the Legion and with no other random parties willing to team up with him—or rather, because he was constantly either hunting or being hunted—his communication tools naturally lost their purpose.

Yesterday, when he teamed up with the healer for the Heavenly Lake Dungeon, he logged into the long-unused YY and, out of habit, also opened QQ. Both were set to auto-login, and double-clicking the two icons side by side had become second nature. Today was no different, but he didn’t expect it to attract an old acquaintance.

2nd to No1 23: 39:32

Still pretending? Hurry up and release it!

2nd to No1 23: 39:37

Hurry up and release it!

2nd to No1 23: 39:39

Hurry up and release it!

The old acquaintance was impatient. When no response came, he started spamming.

Polly 23: 40:01

Afraid it’ll stink up your place.

2nd to No1 23: 40:04

……

2nd to No1 23: 40:12

Fuck! Since when did you become this disgusting?!

Polly exhaled a few smoke rings comfortably, suddenly feeling particularly at ease.

Polly 23: 40:24

Never been upright to begin with. Forgot how I used World Bosses to torment you?

2nd to No1 23: 41:00

Fuck, are you gonna bring that up for the rest of your life?

Polly 23: 41:11

No, there’ll be new versions of the same type in the future.

2nd to No1 23: 41:26

I swear, can’t you stop bragging for once?!

Polly 23: 41:32

I could, but I never brag.

2nd to No1 23: 41:36

……

2nd to No1 23: 41:49

You’ve got absolutely nothing going for you except your skills.

Polly 23: 41:53

Yep.

2nd to No1 23: 42:07

I kneel… Were you like this with Xuanyuan too? No wonder you two split—totally makes sense.

Polly 23: 42:24

My Blocklist is crowded, but there’s still room for more.

2nd to No1 23: 42:38

Oh come on, can’t even talk about it now? Everyone’s got some dark history, why so serious?!

Polly 23: 43:00

Fair point. You also ambushed me at a dungeon entrance once.

2nd to No1 23: 43:15

……

Polly 23: 44:01

Fine, attempted murder.

2nd to No1 23: 44:27

Fuck you!!! Who was the one who stabbed Laozi to death with a dagger in the end?!

Polly 23: 44:44

That was self-defense.

2nd to No1 23: 44:58

Fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off fuck off

Polly 23: 45:04

Alright, goodnight.

Polly was a man of his word. He hit Enter to send the message and immediately clicked the little ‘X’ in the top-right corner.

—A pro’s APM was reflected in every aspect.

After closing QQ, Polly returned to the game. The screen still showed Su Causeway, where the Little Zombie’s suit-clad figure looked oddly out of place against the elegant willow-lined bank.

Last year’s so-called Valentine’s Day event had been a scam. Male and female players could pair up and either take on quests or hunt down system-spawned Cupids. The quests were relatively simple, with mediocre rewards, while hunting Cupids was fiercely competitive due to high demand and low supply, offering richer rewards. If the paired accounts belonged to the same guild, the rewards would also include guild-related items. The system spawned a limited number of Cupids, but players were unlimited, so the hunting event quickly devolved into a free-for-all brawl. You killed me, I ambushed you—by the end, the Mirage Server was a field of wails. But Polly thrived in such chaos, killing to his heart’s content. In the end, he and a temporary level 10 female account Xuanyuan had created ranked third on the Cupid-hunting leaderboard. Xuanyuan had added the female account to Huaxia Dominion as soon as it was created, so when it came time to claim rewards, without hesitation, they chose all the guild-related options. Since it was a duo, Xuanyuan’s choices represented Polly’s as well. In the end, Huaxia Dominion reaped bountiful rewards, further cementing its position as the top guild on the Mirage Server, while Polly personally only received a class-transformation potion that was basically a souvenir.

But Polly still remembered that scene vividly. Right by Su Causeway, where Cupids spawned most frequently, the tiny account hid in a tree as a lookout while the big Zombie lay in ambush along the only route. If a group of players passed by, they’d let it slide, but if there were three or fewer, Xuanyuan would roar over YY with heroic bravado, “Meng Chudong, go!”

In a way, Polly, who participated in all guild events but never involved himself in guild management, wasn’t really a Vice Guild Leader. He was just a blade for Huaxia Dominion. But others weren’t blades, so they couldn’t understand a blade’s joy.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Knew you’d be AFK here too.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Tch, this server’s a ghost town.

Nothing on Earth could stop 2B’s excessive energy—let alone a grayed-out QQ icon.

Polly had expected this, so he remained unfazed.

[Whisper] Polly: Our server.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Nah, Laozi’s already seen the light and switched sides early.

[Whisper] Polly: Yesterday doesn’t count as “early.”

2B stayed silent for a long time before replying—

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Holy shit, that’s a lot to unpack… Lemme think…

Polly watched the shimmering river, graciously giving the other ample time to think it over.

But this time, the other side didn’t take long—

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: You know I left the guild?

[Whisper] Polly: Yep.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Who told you? Or did you secretly make an alt on Huaxia Summit?

[Whisper] Polly: Guess.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: You’ve not only gotten disgusting, you’ve also gotten sleazy =_=

Normally, Polly would ignore such trash talk, but for some reason, he thought of Milk is Mom, whom he’d been dungeon-running with these past couple of days—

[Whisper] Polly: That’s the idea ^_^

For the next few minutes, the whisper channel fell silent.

Polly suddenly felt inexplicably cheerful. Even his Little Zombie stopped sitting around pretending to brood, quickly following the Teleport Master back to Nanjing Road.

The deserted Marketplace had only a few NPCs wandering about. Polly walked straight past them into the Guild Hall, where, as expected, the Blood Warrior with the most self-deprecating ID on the server was rifling through the guild warehouse.

Once in the same screen, the Blood Warrior spotted him.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Only some materials and potions left. Want ’em?

[Whisper] Polly: What do you think?

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Got it.

Polly naturally couldn’t access Huaxia Dominion’s warehouse now, but 2B’s account on the Mirage Server was still part of the guild. So now, two spiritually defected troublemakers were shamelessly looting their former guild’s warehouse.

Though it was just some less valuable materials and potions, the guild’s stockpile was still substantial. They transferred what they could and sold the rest to NPCs. After about ten minutes of this, they finally cleared it out.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Satisfying.

[Whisper] Polly: Wanna feel even better?

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: You or me?

[Whisper] Polly: Wanna try?

2B didn’t answer with words but with action.

Polly clicked to accept the Friendly PvP request and immediately popped a Speed Scroll, charging forward!

The Blood Warrior didn’t dodge at all, swinging his Greatsword the moment the Zombie closed in!

The Zombie had anticipated this, leaping aside to evade the attack and flipping behind the Blood Warrior, then delivering the first real strike—a claw attack!

The Blood Warrior took the hit, but his whole shtick was being a meat shield, so it barely fazed him. He turned and continued swinging his sword with broad, heavy strokes.

For a moment, the Guild Hall was ablaze with flashes of light, making it impossible to tell who was attacking, who was defending, or who was using what skill. The only discernible things were the Zombie’s agility and the Blood Warrior’s steadfastness. In Huaxia, there was no single strongest class. Blood Warriors had high defense and HP, while Zombies had high DPS and speed. Both were melee classes, so in a direct clash, it was hard to say who’d come out on top. PvP was about maintaining your strengths while finding opportunities to exploit the other’s weaknesses. Thus, when experts fought, victory often hinged on who got flustered first—once you lost your cool, openings appeared.

Skill-wise, 2B and Polly were evenly matched. But when it came to patience, 2B was no match for Polly. Over years of acquaintance and countless duels, Polly’s win rate was always slightly higher.

As for ambushes—well, in terms of sheer sneakiness, Polly could sweep the entire Huaxia server.

Finally, the meat shield ran out of HP, and the system announced Polly’s victory.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Tch, knew it’d just be you having fun again!

[Whisper] Polly: It was just okay, really.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: My bad for the disappointment, then =_=

Though Polly had won, it wasn’t an easy fight. Now, he and the Blood Warrior sat on the ground together, recovering HP.

For a moment, it felt like the old days again.

Truthfully, Polly and 2B weren’t particularly close. If the number of times they’d dueled could circle the Earth three times, the number of heartfelt conversations they’d had wouldn’t even make a bracelet. So if their relationship had to be defined, “acquaintances” would be more accurate. Both were core guild members, both participated in guild events, and they saw each other online daily—it was hard not to get familiar.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Really not planning to switch servers? I’ve been online for over an hour and haven’t seen a single living soul.

[Whisper] Polly: It’s nice. Peaceful.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Bullshit. Since when do you care about peace and quiet?

[Whisper] Polly: ^_^

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Ugh, spare me! That’s fucking disgusting!

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: I’m serious. If you don’t wanna go to Huaxia Summit, pick another server!

[Whisper] Polly: Maybe later.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Wait… You’re not quitting, are you?

Meng Chudong naturally typed “Yep,” because he had been considering it—and not just recently. Games were fun when there were people to play with; otherwise, what was the point? Even during those brutal months of being hunted, he’d only found it annoying, not boring. But now, it was genuinely dull.

Still, as his finger hovered over Enter, Meng Chudong hesitated inexplicably.

From the Mirage Server’s launch to now—four and a half years. That wasn’t a short time for real life, let alone a game. Some said games were fake, and sure, they were just lines of code. If the servers crashed, the entire Huaxia could collapse in an instant. But the people in the game were real, and most players’ emotions—joy, bitterness, frustration—were real too. So real, sometimes, that they felt more genuine than interactions in the real world.

Whether you were a pro or a noob, noble or sleazy.

In the end, Meng Chudong deleted the “Yep” and replaced it with a warm invitation—

[Whisper] Polly: Come back to the Mirage Server. All the World Bosses are yours to solo.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Mom’s calling me for dinner.

The Blood Warrior logged off just as quickly as Polly had closed QQ.

Meng Chudong hadn’t actually wanted 2B to return—he was just messing around. For one, that guy couldn’t stand loneliness, and for another, he himself didn’t even know how much longer he’d keep playing. No point dragging others down.

He opened his in-game friends list. Every name was gray, even Milk is Mom, who usually AFK-vended, had logged off. Just showed how draining a night in Corpse King Necropolis could be.

But the internet café was lively.

Meng Chudong glanced around. People were playing MMOs, single-player games, watching plot-heavy movies, watching plotless movies… Even though it was late at night, every face illuminated by a screen was full of energy.

Why sit in the open area instead of a private booth? Lu Yue always asked him that.

For the noise. The answer was so simple he couldn’t be bothered to say it.