Chapter 174 – Love in Eden (Part 5)

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—such drama is always a crowd-pleaser.

Ray-Ban’s initial idea had been simple and crude—dump Your Sister and swap her for anyone else. Later, his thoughts shifted, but the crudeness remained—keep Your Sister, by any means necessary. Trading three Golden Apples for a marriage proposal with an uncertain outcome was, in Ray-Ban’s eyes, the ultimate show of sincerity. What did 521 points mean? Once obtained, he could hit 1000 in no time and waltz straight into Lover’s Constellation. But this last apple had been given to him by Your Sister—it wouldn’t be right to ditch her now. So he chose to propose, both as recognition of her skills and as a gesture of goodwill. More importantly, the title after marriage would be shared, with mutual benefits.

But Comrade Ray-Ban, who had interacted with fewer women than he had cleared dungeons, overlooked one thing—the female psyche.

Thus, Your Sister refused. Thus, Ray-Ban was embarrassed. But that embarrassment lasted only a split second before melting into relief, because Ray-Ban finally realized his actions could be classified as “poaching,” and those who engaged in such acts usually bore the title of “homewrecker.” Ray-Ban’s experience with women was limited, and so was his historical knowledge, but even within his limited mental database, he dredged up a historical truth—homewreckers never ended well. Take Ximen Qing, for example.

So, Ray-Ban was prepared to accept this failure—had it not been for Half-Idle’s fourth-wheel intervention…

“Demon Refiner, what the hell are you doing?!” Being rejected by a woman was bearable, but being outplayed by a man was absolutely unacceptable. “I’ve seen people steal bosses, steal mobs, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone steal a partner!”

“A female partner,” Half-Idle leisurely clarified Your Sister’s attributes, then continued unhurriedly, “From Drink Till You Drop’s perspective, you also stole his partner. And you stole the original spouse—your infamy points are higher than mine.”

Ray-Ban was left speechless.

A rogue with brains was truly terrifying. TAT

While the rivals fought like cats and dogs, the person at the center of it all remained silent. Because Your Sister had no idea what to say. Fate’s sharp turns had come too suddenly, too densely—she couldn’t keep up. She was just an ordinary human, not Iron Man! Right now, all she felt was utter despair.

“Your Sister, you still alive?” Lamb, who had been observing all along, finally broke his silence, though his words remained as poisonous as ever.

Your Sister, now resigned to her fate: “Alive. You wanna swap too?”

Lamb: “A Blesscaller teaming up with a Wandering Physician—are we going to heal monsters together?”

At this point, even his venomous tongue felt adorable. TAT

While Your Sister wallowed in despair, the masses in Eden were filled with joy. Through collective effort, they had finally doxxed the legendary “original spouse,” and when they looked into it more, discovered he was a fairly well-known Legion Commander. Nothing brought more joy than seeing a high-ranking officer suffer, so the crowd reveled in the spectacle. Who cared if their CPUs couldn’t keep up? Even a single-core processor could pack a punch—

[Eden] Dryland King of Hell: [Drink Till You Drop] Show us a pic, show us a pic!!

[Eden] Queen Mother of the West: Are you asking for his pic or his wife’s?

[Eden] Dryland King of Hell: Obviously his wife’s! Look at this frenzy—she’s clearly a femme fatale, hahahaha

[Eden] Kneel on Keyboard: Helping you summon [Drink Till You Drop][Drink Till You Drop][Drink Till You Drop][Drink Till You Drop]

[Eden] Sunny Rain: He’s hiding, isn’t he?

[Eden] Blood Swallow: Seriously? That’s so lame.

[Eden] Kitchen God: Put yourself in his shoes. If your wife were being snatched left and right while you could do nothing, wouldn’t you feel humiliated too? ╮(╯_╰)╭

[Eden] Old Five: Why does your tone sound more malicious than sympathetic…

[Eden] Waves of Sorrow: Fuck, can you shut the hell up already?!

[Eden] Kneel on Keyboard: …

[Eden] Kneel on Keyboard: May I ask, sir above, are you a friend or relative of the involved party?

[Eden] Cry Me a River: His teammate. He’s busy typing.

[Eden] Kneel on Keyboard: So that was voice input just now? =_=

[Eden] Cry Me a River: He had time then but not now!

[Eden] Kitchen God: And who are you? The press secretary?

[Eden] Cry Me a River: Also his teammate.

[Eden] Dryland King of Hell: Is the involved party playing cards or something? =_=

[Eden] Madam Dog, Waves of Sorrow, Drink Till You Drop, Cry Me a River have successfully slain Crystal Orb!

The involved party wasn’t playing cards. Instead, fueled by the taunts of onlookers, his fighting spirit burned brighter than ever. He led (coerced) his teammates through death after death, rising again and again like rabid dogs to charge at the SSS-Rank monster—until they finally emerged victorious.

As for this saga of dying, reviving, dying again, and reviving once more, the teammates had the most to say—

[Eden] Madam Dog: Someone save us, this guy’s lost his mind TAT

Your Sister, who had been inexplicably proposed to and then hijacked, went through four emotional stages: shock and bewilderment, followed by exasperation, then speechlessness, and finally, exhausted resignation.

Playing games was like living life—no matter how hard it got, you had to keep moving forward. Moving forward at least held hope. Staying put meant being trapped in misery forever.

“Thought your hubby was just a figurehead. Turns out he’s not just a pretty face.” The four-man YY squad had also seen the system announcement. With three-fourths of the group tangled in their own partner-swapping messes, only Lamb spared a moment to comment.

By now, Your Sister had reached the fourth stage. Hearing Lamb actually praise Drink for once, she naturally chimed in: “You’re the pretty face. My hubby’s plenty capable.”

This declaration of wifely devotion was entirely sincere, so Your Sister said it without guilt. But… something still felt off. =_=

Lamb fell silent for a moment before enunciating slowly, “I believe you. After all, you’d know best about these things.”

She didn’t quite get it, but the certainty that she’d just been teased was undeniable. =_=

Ray-Ban: “You two done chatting? If so, let’s figure out what to do next!”

Lamb: “Split up.”

Ray-Ban: “Huh?”

Lamb: “Everyone’s over 400 points now. The only way forward is PvP.”

Ray-Ban: “Can’t we do four versus four?”

Lamb: “…”

Half-Idle: “Did you even read the rules? PvP is strictly one team versus another—two versus two.”

Ray-Ban: “Right now, just hearing your voice makes me want to punch you. What’s the solution?”

Half-Idle: “There’s always tomorrow. See you in Lover’s Constellation.”

With that, Half-Idle quietly exited the YY channel. Simultaneously, his avatar on-screen left the Crystal Orb area, speeding toward the PvP zone. Caught off guard, Ray-Ban barely got two drops of his rage out before his target vanished, leaving him to vent the rest at the remaining teammates. Luckily, said teammate was the type to let things go in one ear and out the other, patiently listening before offering a friendly suggestion—

Lamb: “We could go to the PvP zone and find them. Since it’s two versus two, we can just fight it out—let you blow off steam.”

Ray-Ban seriously considered the idea but ultimately declined with difficulty: “I’ve got no issue fighting Half-Idle, but against Your Sister… Getting rejected sucks, but there’s no need to burn bridges—”

Lamb: “Go die.”

Half-Idle left YY mere seconds before Your Sister followed suit. At this point, all she could do was team up with Half-Idle, win a few matches, grab some apples, and hurry back to Drink. As for Half-Idle’s actions, she neither wanted to comment nor dwell on them. Whether Half-Idle understood her thoughts or not, he didn’t bring it up either, making it seem as if they’d always been the original pair.

PvP went smoothly. Half-Idle casually created a YY channel, and the two coordinated via voice chat, effortlessly winning three matches in a row—though their opponents might’ve just been weak. Aside from necessary combat commands, Your Sister didn’t exchange a single unnecessary word with him. She wasn’t like Ray-Ban, who wanted to punch him just for his laid-back tone, but due to certain unresolved issues, she wasn’t keen on chatting.

But now, she had no choice—

Drink Your Sister: “Hey, do you notice something?”

Half-Idle: “Hmm?”

Drink Your Sister: “…Could you show some urgency?”

Half-Idle: “Sure~~~~”

Drink Your Sister: “Haven’t you noticed we’re only getting points, no apple drops?!”

Half-Idle: “Oh. So?”

Drink Your Sister: “So I’ll never get to swap back—I’m stuck with you forever!!”

Half-Idle: “You’re skilled. I don’t mind.”

Someone strike this bastard down with lightning!!! TAT

[Eden] Searching a thousand times in the crowd, player [Diana] has chosen Random Partner Swap from the three blessings with seven Red Apples!

[Eden] There he stands in the dimming lights, player [Half-Idle] embarks on a new journey!

Drink Your Sister: “…”

Half-Idle: “Fuck!”

What goes around comes around. Those who steal shall be stolen from.

Freed from Half-Idle, Your Sister immediately received a consolation from her original spouse—

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: Wait for me.

Alas, Your Sister’s heart was already ash. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Drink—she just didn’t trust this godforsaken game. TAT

As for who her new partner was, she couldn’t muster an ounce of curiosity. In Eden, partnerships lasted shorter than one-night stands.

Time proved her right. As more players obtained apples, the partner-swapping craze swept through Eden. Of course, some couples remained steadfast, but this lottery-like game held an irresistible allure. And even if you stayed loyal, you couldn’t stop third wheels from barging in randomly. =_=

Drink Till You Drop collected his Golden Apples amidst this chaos. The hardships needed no elaboration—all he wanted was to share his success with Your Sister—

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: Got them all. I’m swapping you back now.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: I’ve waited so long my hair’s turning white [crying][crying] But don’t do it yet!

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: =_=

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: What’s your current score?

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: 440.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: What score do you want before entering Lover’s Constellation?

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: Around 800 should do.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Then keep doing PvP. Swap me back once you hit 800.

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: ?

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: You don’t want to team up for PvP?

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: I’d rather not risk getting hauled away the moment we team up.

Drink quickly understood. Your Sister was right. At this rate, unless the Item Mall released a Partner Binding Talisman, no one could guarantee they’d make it three blocks without losing their spouse.

Drink Till You Drop broke the 800-point mark at 2 PM the next day. By then, Your Sister had also reached 770. After so long apart, the two could barely contain their excitement, waiting nervously for that moment—

[Eden] Searching a thousand times in the crowd, player [Drink Till You Drop] has chosen Designated Partner Swap from the three blessings with three Golden Apples!

[Eden] There she stands in the dimming lights, player [Drink Your Sister 3X] embarks on a new journey!

[Eden] Players [Drink Till You Drop] and [Drink Your Sister 3X] have entered Lover’s Constellation hand in hand!