Chapter 136 – Parchment Map

If Singles’ Day was a carnival for single youths, then Valentine’s Day was the tearful aftermath.

The sorrow of single otakus lay in their inability to find either a lover or friends to spend Valentine’s Day with, leaving them weeping alone in melancholy on this romantic day. The sorrow of single gaming otakus was that they wouldn’t even think of finding someone—whether lover or friend—to spend Valentine’s Day with, and when they saw the long-awaited in-game event finally start on their screens, they couldn’t help but feel a thrill no less intense than booking a hotel room with a partner.

Your Uncle: “Five more minutes…”

Crossplayer: “Don’t be like this, you’re making me nervous >_<"

2B: “All gods and buddhas, please bless us—don’t let it lag!”

438: “Huh? It won’t be that bad, right?”

Fifth Brother: “With so many people logging into one server at the same time, lag is guaranteed. At most, you can pray not to get stuck in a queue.”

Blood Bull: “Considering how much they’ve hyped this, maybe we can hope for the best.”

Fifth Brother: “Yeah right, I was just saying that. You really think the devs would invest that much in a two-week event? If there’s no queue later, I’ll eat my hat.”

Diamond: “Just focus on leveling your alt. You’re not even playing, why bother chiming in?”

Fifth Brother: “Damn it, my spirit is with my comrades!”

Four minutes until midnight on February 14th—this was the Ghost Server Legion’s YY channel. If you had access to Birdy’s generously provided monitoring tool, you’d see the same scene in every other legion’s YY. Anticipation, tension, excitement—it permeated all twelve servers of Huaxia Online, regardless of whether they were Netcom or Telecom.

Even those like Fifth Brother and Diamond, who were more invested in business than gaming, couldn’t help but spare some concern for their teammates’ event participation after deciding not to join themselves, opting instead to focus on leveling their new alt accounts.

At that moment, aside from the rare few who lived in their own bubble of casual gaming, 99.99% of Huaxia’s players had their game client open on the server selection screen. After the server mergers, Huaxia Online had only ten servers left—Wandering the Four Seas, Dragon Soars Tiger Roars, Flame of the Gods, Return of the King, Illusory Peach Garden, Silent Fortress, Frostbite Canyon, Fairy Dreamland, Huaxia Summit, and Holy Light Sanctuary. And now, an eleventh option had appeared—grayed out and unclickable—”Lover’s Constellation.”

[QQ Group [VIP]—Actually, We’re Not That Close]

[Group Description: Who are you?]

[Group Announcement: Please change your nickname voluntarily. Thanks.]

[Group Members (27/35)]

Kill All Who Block Me 23:56:39

Time is passing so slooooow! [Melancholy]

Kill Gods If They Block Me 23:56:45

+1

Nicknamed White Dragon Horse 23:57:02

Why are you chatting at such a critical moment?! Switching windows is annoying!

Big H 23:57:13

No one told you to switch. You’re just restless. ╮(╯_╰)╭

Nicknamed White Dragon Horse 23:57:30

It keeps beeping! How can I not check?! What if you’re talking behind my back?!

War-Snow Wolf 23:57:44

You’re overthinking it…

Drink Till You Drop 23:58:03

Even Snow Wolf, the eternal lurker, has surfaced. Seems like everyone’s a little excited today.

War-Snow Wolf 23:58:11

Mostly because I couldn’t stand your vice leader’s delusions anymore.

War-Bodhi Patriarch 23:58:29

+1. Not everyone has Milk is Mom’s ability to make people want to stab him in the back every second~

War-Bodhi Patriarch 23:58:46

Occasionally trolling is refreshing~ Suddenly, I understand that guy ( ⊙ o ⊙ )!

War-Sister Liuli 23:59:03

Milk is Mom’s ears must be burning right now [covering mouth in laughter]

War-Bodhi Patriarch 23:59:25

Relax, he’s permanently muted this group.

Nicknamed White Dragon Horse 23:59:50

@Milk is Mom

War-Bodhi Patriarch 23:59:54

Dammit…

If time hadn’t been of the essence, Fang Zheng would’ve loved to respond: “Grape Brother, stop stealing my lines!”

He’d been counting down from 11:30 PM to midnight, just a few seconds away—his index finger trembling, ready to click—when suddenly, the QQ group notification beeped! Did they not realize how hard he was fighting to stay focused and keep his mouse steady?! But the villain wouldn’t relent—sending a private chat window shake! A full-blown window shake! If it had just knocked him out of the game client, he could’ve shaken his way back, but no—the shake happened, the game client didn’t close, and the two windows froze on top of each other! His computer crashed!!!

The saddest thing in life isn’t that you don’t like me while I like you—it’s that you logged into the new server while I was silently restarting…

Without their commander, the Ghost Server comrades… remained completely oblivious. =_=

They logged in smoothly and immediately started exclaiming things like:

“Wow, so this is how it is!”

“Damn, this is really unique!”

“Ooooh, so hard to choose~~~”

Leaving their commander feeling like a million ants were crawling under his skin. Couldn’t they at least describe what they were seeing?! TAT

Finally, after the little antivirus notification popped up—”You defeated 57% of computers”—Fang Zheng frantically double-clicked the game client to log in. Expecting to be stuck in a queue since he’d missed the first wave, he was shocked when he got in instantly. Just as he was marveling at the devs going all out this time, Blood Bull’s gentle reminder rang out in YY—

“Fifth Brother, you owe me a head.”

While Fifth Brother despaired over life’s cruelty, his comrades were filled with fiery determination.

Lover’s Constellation wasn’t just a temporary server where everyone would grind dungeons and complete event tasks—though those would still exist. The game company had clearly crafted an entirely new setting and main storyline for this server. Thus, instead of the usual map, players logging in for the first time were greeted with a beautifully animated cutscene. It wasn’t long, but the visuals were stunning, depicting a love story spanning three lifetimes. The protagonists missed their chance to be together in the first two lives, but in the third—the modern era—the story players would participate in began.

That wasn’t all. Normally, even if there was an opening cutscene, players would spawn on some map afterward—whether the starter village, respawn point, open-world, or main city—reuniting in-game after a brief loading screen. But not this time. Once the cutscene ended, players were greeted with a retro-style parchment map divided into seven sections. Hovering over each section revealed a brief description, and choosing a different section meant embarking on a unique path within Lover’s Constellation.

For example, if Lover’s Constellation was an amusement park, there were seven paths to enter. Players had to pick one, and those who chose the same path would meet immediately, while those who chose differently would only reunite inside the park after completing their path.

This was also why there was no login queue. The so-called seven paths were essentially seven independent mini-servers set up before the main Lover’s Constellation. Upon logging in, players were split into seven separate groups until they met certain conditions to leave their mini-server and merge into the main Lover’s Constellation. These conditions revolved around points—the score a player had when they left their section would become their base score in Lover’s Constellation. All subsequent event and task rewards in Lover’s Constellation would be calculated based on this score.

So how did one leave their section and enter Lover’s Constellation?

Two methods:

1. Complete tasks in their chosen section to earn 500+ points, then apply for a teleport via NPC.

2. Wait three days—regardless of score, they’d be forcibly sent to Lover’s Constellation. And these three days weren’t counted from entering the section but from first logging into the server. Meaning the timer started during the opening cutscene, including the time spent studying the map—all of it ate into the 72-hour limit.

These two options catered to different players. Those aiming for a high base score might stay beyond 500 points until the three days were up, ensuring a stronger start despite entering Lover’s Constellation later. Meanwhile, impatient players or those eager to dive into Lover’s Constellation could leave at 500 points—that would be their base score. As for those who stayed three days without hitting 500 points… maybe they should consider a different game. =_=

Fang Zheng was the last to log in, but by the time he finished the cutscene and saw the map, his teammates were still agonizing over their choices in YY.

It wasn’t that they suffered from decision paralysis—it was that the descriptions for these seven sections…

No, let’s not insult the word “description.” TAT

[Hide-and-Seek Paradise]

Description: Come on~~ catch me if you can~~

[Sky Arena]

Description: Got the guts to fight me?!

[Las Vegas]

Description: Studying is glorious, gambling is shameful >_<

[Vanilla Forest]

Description: Flowers and grass don’t need your love!

[Ace Academy]

Description: Are you a straight-A student in IQ, IQ, and IQ?

[Flagship]

Description: Fight at the bow, make up at the stern~\(≧▽≦)/~

[Eden]

Description: Love boldly! Now, strip!

The entire parchment oozed with the game devs’ malicious trolling, making it impossible to choose. So even though the commander logged in three to five minutes late, he was still on equal footing with everyone else—he minimized the game and searched the forums.

Sure enough, some genius had already summarized the seven sections:

– Hide-and-Seek Paradise: Players’ IDs, legions, and server info would be hidden throughout. Specific tasks unknown.

– Sky Arena: For PK enthusiasts.

– Las Vegas: Luck-based point accumulation.

– Vanilla Forest: Resource-rich, with points earned while gathering materials.

– Ace Academy: Knowledge is power.

– Flagship: Only legion commanders and deputy commanders could enter. Specific tasks unknown.

– Eden: Required a male and female account duo—basically, for couples.

Though core details were still vague, with the new server only lasting two weeks, time was gold. So the Ghost Server comrades quickly made their choices—

438: “I’m going to the forest!”

Your Uncle: “I’m hitting the casino!”

Mad Lad: “Arena, no question.”

Fang Zheng: “I can only go to Flagship~~ Otherwise, Drink and the others will miss me too much~~~”

Birdy: “…”

Your Sister: “Drink and I are going to Eden, thanks.”

Fang Zheng: “Aw, what a shame >_<"

Your Sister: “Commander, enough…”

Fang Zheng: “Wait, you’re both male accounts.”

Your Sister: “Bought a gender-change coupon from the Item Mall.”

Fang Zheng: “You’re the one changing?”

Your Sister: “Obviously!”

Alright, the dignified, handsome commander of Five Peaks Pavilion suddenly transforming into a curvaceous beauty was indeed a bit brutal. =_=

2B: “Blood Bull?”

Blood Bull: “Relax, I have no interest in Eden or gender-swapping. Go ahead to the arena.”

2B: “Love you! I swear if I run into you, I’ll surrender without a fight!”

Blood Bull: “Oh, no need. I’m going to the academy.”

2B: “…”

Fang Zheng: “Since everyone’s decided, on my mark—charge!”

Crossplayer: “Brothers… there’s still me here… TAT”