Chapter 196 – Accidental Free-for-All

Fang Zheng saw the message Blood Bull had left in his YY private chat when 2B sent his second text. At that time, he was immersed in the game at the Flagship, barely ever tabbing out of the game interface. Since he hadn’t replied, Blood Bull didn’t say anything more, probably knowing her commander was busy in the event and didn’t want to disturb him.

Blood Bull’s message was simple and didn’t mention her ex at all. She only said her account had been hacked, she was in a bad mood, and with some school stuff going on recently, she was swamped, so she probably wouldn’t be gaming for a while. After mulling it over for a moment, Fang Zheng replied: [Come back when you’re free. If you’re feeling down, it’s simple—the gang will team up to bully whoever you want! Whoever you dislike, we’ll bully them, in the most shameless way possible! Don’t worry about the account—your commander has nothing else, but I’ve got plenty of spare max-level accounts. On behalf of the entire Ghost Server Legion, we’ll be waiting for you.]

“So,” Fang Zheng cleared his throat, interrupting the cheerful atmosphere in YY, “Sister Blood Bull has some real-life stuff going on and probably won’t be online for a while.”

“No wonder I haven’t seen her,” Mad Lad said, suddenly enlightened.

“Oh…” 438’s voice was thick with disappointment.

“Well, if it’s real-life stuff, there’s nothing we can do,” Your Uncle said, expressing understanding.

“Hope Sister Blood Bull comes back soon,” Your Sister said, full of hope.

“Same,” Crossplayer echoed.

“Where’s 2B?” Fang Zheng zeroed in on the key point.

“Probably contacting Blood Bull,” Birdy cracked the case.

After calling for a while with no sign of 2B in YY, Fang Zheng gave up and announced the trigger for Blood Bull quitting: “Oh, and Sister Blood Bull’s account got hacked, so even if she comes back online later, she won’t be using her old account.”

438: “So if we ever see ‘Blood Bulls Don’t Graze’ again, we can just ignore them since it’ll be a stranger, right?”

Fang Zheng, Birdy, Your Sister, Mad Lad, Crossplayer: “Ignore them?”

438: “Kill. Them. Dead.”

Fang Zheng, Birdy, Your Sister, Mad Lad, Crossplayer: “You’ve finally grown up. [Proud]”

The Ghost Server gang waited about ten minutes, but 2B still didn’t show up. The Blood Warrior character on the screen had been AFK for too long and was now idly looking around, bored out of its mind. During this time, Fang Zheng pieced together the details of the Lover’s Constellation event based on the earlier reports from teammates and his own observations.

Like all holiday events in games, the purpose of Lover’s Constellation was to enhance the game’s appeal, retain veteran players, and attract new ones. How? Through rich, original content as the main draw and generous rewards as the main incentive.

For Lover’s Constellation, the event was structured around seven earlier sections, each with its own unique features. Players had already earned base points from those. Now, after entering Lover’s Constellation itself, they faced two main tasks: completing main quests and collecting mascots.

The main quest was the “Find the Stone” task Fang Zheng had just received. This was only the beginning of a long chain. In Fang Zheng’s quest log, “Find the Stone” came with a 2000-point reward and showed “Quest Completion: 1%.” Meanwhile, in Your Sister’s screenshot, her third quest—”Kill Ten Water Demons (0/10)”—offered 770 points and showed “Quest Completion: 3%.”

Unless the game designers had learned math from a language teacher, it was safe to assume the entire main quest chain consisted of 100 tasks. That said, if their ethics class had been taught by a gym teacher, there might still be some malicious surprises along the way.

The second major task was collecting mascots. These mascots, called “Lover’s Knots,” were system-spawned mobs that appeared at random locations every hour. They resembled the China Unicom logo—possibly a paid product placement, though no one could say for sure.

There were two known types of Lover’s Knots. The ordinary red ones gave 50 points and 15 Huaxia Coins when killed. The elite rainbow ones gave 100 points and 50 Huaxia Coins. While the points earned were much lower than those from quests, the rewards were still generous—roughly 0.16 yuan per ordinary mob kill. Plus, the number of Lover’s Knots a player killed could also be exchanged for additional rewards.

The rewards in Lover’s Constellation fell into two main categories: items and XP. All players were grinding points like mad to exchange for them.

Items included gear, potions, miscellaneous goods, and cosmetic gear—many of which were exclusive to Lover’s Constellation, making them especially valuable. XP could be exchanged directly to level up. For example, if a player needed 1000 XP to reach the next level, they could redeem exactly that and level up instantly.

Even level 70 players could keep collecting XP—it would be stored on their account and used once the level cap increased to 75 or 80. Naturally, all exchanges deducted the corresponding amount of points from the player’s total.

After entering Lover’s Constellation, all players would see three options in the top-left corner of their screen: Quest Progress Leaderboard, Lover’s Knot Leaderboard, and Point Redemption Center.

Fang Zheng opened the Quest Progress Leaderboard. The first page showed the top 50 players, and aside from Drink Till You Drop in eighth place, there were no other familiar names. Clearly, most of the well-known experts had waited until the full three days were up before entering and hadn’t had time to do many quests. Even the player in first place had only completed 12% of the quests. The Lover’s Knot Leaderboard didn’t even show Drink Till You Drop, and the top player had only killed seven in total.

“Some people must’ve entered before spending a full day in the seven sections, but after two days, the most anyone’s done is twelve quests. Seems like the quests are tough,” the Ghost Server Commander mused, uncharacteristically serious.

Crossplayer: “Yeah, I spent forever just looking for that stone.”

Your Sister: “So after discussing it with Crossplayer, we decided to hold off and wait for you guys to enter so we can team up and do them together.”

Your Uncle: “I agree with doing them together, but the three of us could’ve at least scouted ahead. Why did you two refuse to… TAT”

“Because if they agreed, they’d die =_=” Fang Zheng sighed and shared the news he’d just received. “2B isn’t playing either. Says he’s going to deal with Sister Blood Bull’s problem.”

438: “How’s he planning to deal with it?”

Your Sister: “The important question is where he’s planning to deal with it.”

438: “Uh… what do you mean?”

Your Sister: “Dummy, upper body or lower body—one’s the brain, the other’s…”

“Your Sister! If you keep filling our teammates’ heads with filthy thoughts, I’ll call you in the middle of the night and sing to you, got it? =_=” The Ghost Server Commander felt an urgent need to improve the team’s moral standards.

With Blood Bull and 2B gone, the Ghost Server squad was down to seven members. It was late, and everyone was a bit tired. Since the next day was the weekend, Your Uncle, the working adult, could rest, and 438, the student, was unusually allowed by his mother to set aside his winter break homework and enjoy a leisurely two-day break. So the gang decided to complete a few simple quests first, then log off to rest and recharge, aiming to return the next day at full strength for an all-out battle.

Lover’s Constellation allowed teams of up to ten players, so they easily formed a party. Since Your Sister had already completed the first two quests, “Find the Stone” and “Remove the Seaweed” were a breeze.

It wasn’t until after finishing the quests that Fang Zheng realized the overly dramatic, twist-filled backstory wasn’t a simple 1v1 romance—it was a love triangle. A stone spirit at the bottom of the sea had fallen in love with the mermaid princess but, plagued by insecurity, never confessed his feelings. When the princess went ashore to seek love, she had the bad luck of running into a scumbag who locked her in a dungeon and accused her of being a witch.

Somehow, news of this reached the stone spirit. Don’t ask how the underwater and human worlds communicated—maybe the stone spirit had the princess added on WeChat. Either way, he finally found the courage to rise up, defeat the scumbag, rescue the beauty, and claim his spot as the male lead.

But before any of that could happen, players had to lend him a hand: first by removing the seaweed tangled around him, then by taking out the water demons eyeing him greedily—Your Sister’s third quest, which she’d left undone.

Once these three quests were complete, the stone automatically appeared in the players’ inventory. From there, they embarked on the long journey titled: “Helping the Stone Transform into a Human and Battle the Scumbag.”

At 00:44 Beijing time, the stone spirit entered the Ghost Server gang’s inventory, and Fang Zheng’s points jumped from 2000 to 8000. However, these points could only be exchanged for a bouquet of roses with no function other than showing off, so their commander decisively passed and even scoffed at the line below the roses: “Already redeemed by 77 players.” Right after scoffing, he received a bouquet from Birdy, so he joyfully reciprocated, becoming the 78th member of the very group he’d just mocked.

The Ghost Server gang agreed to regroup at 9:00 a.m. the next day, but Fang Zheng and Meng Chudong logged in at 8:50. To their surprise, 438’s ID was already in YY. Fang Zheng didn’t know if he’d logged in earlier or was just AFK, but 438, who’d already seen the leaders log in via the guild notification, immediately greeted them: “Commander, Deputy, morning!”

Full of energy, healthy, and upbeat—438’s standard vibe, instantly uplifting. Even the usually taciturn deputy replied, “Morning.”

Fang Zheng: “Why are you up so early?”

438: “It’s rare that I don’t have to sneak around to game, so I’m too excited, haha.”

[System] Refined Into a Demon 715 has joined the party.

Fang Zheng: “Where are you? We’ll come find you. It was too late yesterday, so we haven’t seen your purple-tier pet yet.”

438: “Let me check the coords… Oh! There’s a rainbow Lover’s Knot!!”

Luck always favors the pure-hearted. Fang Zheng wasn’t surprised: “Quick, kill it. A hundred points.”

“How can we kill it?! It’s my pet!”

“……”

Fang Zheng repented. He’d forgotten that in Huaxia Online, all mobs were potential pets for 438 =_=

[Party] Refined Into a Demon 715 has died.

Why was he instantly killed when facing an event mascot? =_=

Even Meng Chudong couldn’t take it: “What happened? Killed by your pet?”

438: “No, someone ambushed me!”

Fang Zheng: “Where’s the pet?”

438: “Commander, aren’t you going to ask if I’m hurt first… TAT”

Why did it feel like the Refiner who’d returned from the event was even more of a crybaby? =_=

Fang Zheng and Meng Chudong rushed to the coordinates 438 provided. By then, the fallen 438 had already identified the culprit. Purple Cabbage was still Purple Cabbage, and Today’s Demon King was still Today’s Demon King, but their positions were reversed—the former victor was now unceremoniously sprawled on the ground, while the one who’d lost last time was calmly attacking the rainbow Lover’s Knot in the distance.

When Fang Zheng and Meng Chudong arrived, a message popped up in the World Chat:

[Constellation] Today’s Demon King has killed a rainbow Lover’s Knot!

Whether killed or captured, any interaction with a rainbow Lover’s Knot triggered a world announcement. At first, players were surprised, but now, no one batted an eye. Those who’d just logged in and were still half-asleep remained drowsy; those who’d fought all night were still disoriented. Even Demon Refiners already knew that capturing a rainbow Lover’s Knot only yielded an ordinary orange-tier pet, so most chose to kill it instead, making such announcements completely unremarkable.

This announcement was like a drop of water in the ocean—not even a ripple.

…At least, that’s how it seemed on the surface.

The only ones with emotional fluctuations were the Ghost Server leaders who’d arrived on the scene. Bullying a teammate was unforgivable, especially when it was 438—had humanity gone extinct?! So one began chanting spells, while the other was already slashing with Netherworld Ghostly Claws.

“His pet is really strong!” 438, now revived, accepted healing from his commander while summoning Bell Maiden and warning the deputy.

By then, Today’s Demon King had already recalled Purple Cabbage and switched to an African Lion, briefly locking Polly in a fierce duel.

Fang Zheng quickly topped up 438’s HP, then hurled a Crimson Lotus Holy Fire at Today’s Demon King.

At almost the same time, Bell Maiden effortlessly lifted Today’s Demon King into the air.

Just as Today’s Demon King’s HP bar was about to empty, a healing light suddenly flashed across the screen, instantly restoring his HP to full!

Reinforcements had arrived!

Realizing this instantly, Meng Chudong cautiously retreated. The African Lion pet, now nearly dead, chased after him but was sent to the afterlife with a Specters and Ghouls. Today’s Demon King, now grounded after the airborne state ended, didn’t move, and neither did 438, seeing that neither leader was attacking. The three of them stood about 10 meters apart from Today’s Demon King’s reinforcements, all frozen in place.

Fang Zheng belatedly realized that these reinforcements looked familiar =_=

[Local] Silent Hill: Damn, I already told my whole guild to steer clear of you guys. Why are you still picking fights? Three against one is a bit much.

[Local] Milk is Mom: Hill Hill, we meet again~~~ But I can’t agree with you—it was Demon King who attacked our Refiner first~ We were just defending ourselves~~

[Local] Today’s Demon King: If you want to play it that way, how about your Refiner ganging up with others to steal my Golden Phoenix in Vanilla Forest?

Fang Zheng: “Wait, that happened?”

438: “Uh… yeah. We both found the purple-tier pet, then a bunch of my friends helped me kill him, and I captured it.”

Fang Zheng: “That’s… kind of shady…”

438: “Commander…”

Fang Zheng: “But totally in line with our guild’s style. Well done!”

[Local] Milk is Mom: The purple-tier pet wasn’t yours or mine—it belonged to the system. How is that stealing?~~

[Local] Silent Hill: Well, Demon King is mine, and I’m helping him now. That’s fair, right?

[Local] Milk is Mom: Are you serious? Let me count—one, two, three… nine, plus Demon King makes ten. You’re going to shamelessly fight three of us with ten people?

[Local] Silent Hill: You know, I learned something at the Flagship.

[Local] Milk is Mom: I don’t wanna hear it, don’t wanna hear it, don’t wanna hear it!

[Local] Silent Hill: Fine, I won’t say it then.

Dammit, I was just pretending! You should’ve said it anyway, or I’ll be thinking about it all night!!! TAT

The Silence members didn’t care about the Ghost Server Commander’s sleep quality. Since the commander had already unleashed a Wind-Splitting Slash, they followed suit. This group was full of familiar faces—Silent Hill, Insidious, Jigsaw, One Night Resurrection, Trick or Die, Deep Mountain Old Well, Blue Skeleton, Left Eye Sees Ghosts, and two new ones today: Alps and Today’s Demon King.

Though they claimed to be avenging a guildmate, Fang Zheng would bet his head that Silent Hill was just getting back at him for tormenting him in the Flagship. But there was no time to dwell on that now—three against ten? Even a god couldn’t turn that around. There was only one option—run!

“Commander, are you guys there?” Your Sister’s voice rang in his headphones as they fled.

Fang Zheng felt like he’d heard angels singing: “I’ll invite you to the party. Join quick. We’re at…”

Crossplayer & Your Uncle & Mad Lad: “We’re here too.”

At 9:00 a.m. Beijing time, the Ghost Server gang logged in right on schedule.

Fang Zheng quickly reported their approximate location, urging them to rush to their aid.

But before reinforcements arrived, a bunch of Lover’s Knots suddenly spawned along their escape route!

This distraction slowed the Ghost Server trio slightly, allowing Silence to catch up and attack without hesitation!

No one knew a battle was raging here, but everyone knew it was time for the hourly Lover’s Knot spawn ╮(╯_╰)╭ So within seconds, another team hunting Lover’s Knots accidentally wandered into the fray.

[Whisper] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: Help or not?

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: Let’s focus on the mascots for now.

[Whisper] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: But Drink Your Sister 3X’s side…

[Whisper] Drink Till You Drop: We’ve got a lot of brothers here. Can’t let my personal business delay everyone.

[Whisper] Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: Fine. Their guildmates are on the way anyway. Seven vs. ten—not too unfair.

[Local] Drink Your Sister 3X has died.

[Party] Drink Till You Drop: We’re all brothers from Huaxia Summit—how can we stand by and watch? Charge!

Nicknamed White Dragon Horse: “……”

I’ve heard of couples growing alike, but in-laws too?! Give me back the righteous Drink Till You Drop!! TAT

Silent Hill hadn’t expected to be interrupted mid-fight. Now it was ten against seventeen, and the tide had turned!

As luck would have it, two more teams hunting Lover’s Knots coincidentally arrived at the same spot—maybe because it was closest to the Main City. Fate worked in mysterious ways ╮(╯_╰)╭

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: Hey~~~ Iceberg~~~

[Local] ice Iceborn: What a coincidence.

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: Why are they brawling?

[Local] ice Iceborn: No idea. We just got here.

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: Which side do you want to help?

[Local] ice Iceborn: Neither.

[Local] Don’t Stop the Meds: Great minds think alike! Wanna hunt Lover’s Knots?

[Local] ice Iceborn: GO!

[Combat] Dutch Souvenir uses Wind-Splitting Slash.

[Local] Mad Lad: Dammit! Which bastard ambushed me?!

[Combat] Dutch Souvenir uses Lone Wolf Howl.

[Party] Don’t Stop the Meds: Dutch, what are you doing?

[Party] Dutch Souvenir: Couldn’t help it. My hand clicked automatically.

[Party] Don’t Stop the Meds: =_=

[Party] Don’t Stop the Meds: So when Thousand Mountains logs in tonight, you’re gonna fight him to the death too?

[Party] Dutch Souvenir: Depends on my mood.

Whether or not to settle the Sky Arena score with Thousand Mountains depended on his mood, but Mad Lad had already pinpointed the sniper and charged at him without hesitation!

Don’t Stop the Meds had planned to stay out of it, but seeing Five Peaks Pavilion tie up all of Silence while the entire Ghost Server Legion seemed ready to pounce, he had no choice but to fight.

In terms of overall strength, Fang Zheng’s side was no match for Don’t Stop the Meds. Not only was Don’t Stop the Meds leading his guild’s top elites, but his team also had nine members—Don’t Stop the Meds, X, Rain Ceases, Little Willow, Scholar Lu, Mocha, War of the Gods, Dutch Souvenir, and Rain Through the Woods. Soon, the Ghost Server Legion was at a disadvantage.

As the mascot of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, Rain Through the Woods wasn’t top-tier in combat, but his luck was exceptional, making him a permanent fixture in Boss Yao’s team. As a Blesscaller, he’d been assigned to the outskirts of the battle. Initially, he’d been curious about the Ghost Server Legion, which had riled up Dutch and even earned mentions from Boss Yao, but after a few exchanges, they were already losing, leaving him bored. Just as he was about to yawn, he spotted an unforgettable ID among the Ghost Server ranks—Little Lucky Charm.

Instinctively, he cast two protective buffs on himself, ensuring his survival before cautiously asking, “Boss, that Little Lucky Charm… is from the Ghost Server Legion?”

Don’t Stop the Meds not only recognized the ID but was deeply familiar with it—a nightmare he’d rather not discuss. To preserve his dignity as guild leader, he lied: “Probably, but I don’t know them.”

The core members who’d been “PK’d” with him in the Flagship’s Legion Zone all maintained a tactful silence.

Rain Through the Woods believed him, so he decided not to mention Little Lucky Charm’s stats or his legendary exploits in Las Vegas. Some burdens were better carried alone—this was his profound love for his guild leader: “Not knowing is good. Not knowing is good.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Yeah, not knowing is good…”

Rain Through the Woods must’ve imagined it, but he thought he detected a hint of tenderness and vulnerability in his usually domineering guild leader’s voice.

In guild battles, healers were always the first to die—basic common sense. So Fang Zheng was the first among his teammates to run out of HP.

Right now, all his healing skills were on cooldown, and Don’t Stop the Meds’s Papa Seahorse was already charging its ultimate!

If only I hadn’t been so flashy in the Flagship… TAT

The Ghost Server Commander felt a twinge of regret.

The charge ended, and Papa Seahorse unleashed a deadly water blast!

Fang Zheng sighed, waiting for his healer to collapse on-screen.

But strangely, after the water blast, his HP didn’t drop—it increased, going all the way from the bottom to 40%!

Fang Zheng was baffled, while ice Iceborn, who’d been hunting mascots nearby, was equally stunned: “Beckham, why did you heal the Ghost Server guys?”

His teammate, who’d already joined the battle, explained while fighting: “Leader, remember that merciful sister in Ace Academy who kept helping me and a few others grind to 500 points in YY even after her account got hacked?”

ice Iceborn: “Don’t tell me it’s the Ghost Server Commander. He tormented everyone in the Flagship for three whole days.”

Beckham: “Not him—a top student sister named Blood Bulls Don’t Graze, from the Ghost Server Legion.” Before she left, she even said she might quit Huaxia for good and didn’t need our thanks, but if we ever saw her guild in trouble, we could lend a hand as gratitude.”

Iceborn was speechless. He rarely was, but the idea of this shameless commander raising such a morally upright teammate left him with no reaction other than complete bewilderment. Beckham, are you sure you’re not lying to your leader?!

Beckham: “Leader, I’m serious! I’m not lying!”

One trip to Ace Academy, and now he’s a mind reader too? =_=

What could he do? Fight, of course. Even if he didn’t want to, Don’t Stop the Meds, who’d already noticed his teammates joining the fray, was heading their way.

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: IRL Hundred Guilds War happening now! Come watch!!! (12,578)

[Constellation] Duke Rum: Iceborn from Frostbite Canyon, Dutch Chamber of Commerce from Holy Light Sanctuary, Silence from Silent Fortress, Five Peaks Pavilion from Huaxia Summit—all major guilds, hahahaha!

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: You missed one—Ghost Server Legion!

[Constellation] Durian Sister: What the hell is that?

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: Anyone here from Las Vegas?

[Constellation] Six Immortals of Peach Valley: No! Don’t say that cursed ID, I beg you TAT

[Constellation] Inkblade: Ghost Server Legion made headlines in Las Vegas too?

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: What do you mean ‘too’?

[Constellation] Inkblade: They have a Refiner named 715 who captured a purple-tier Golden Phoenix in Vanilla Forest!

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: Seriously?!

[Constellation] Manicurist: Not just that—he refined it immediately! It showed as Fire Phoenix first, then Phoenix Seeking Phoenix!

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: What are its stats??

[Constellation] Manicurist: He didn’t show us, so it’s all speculation!!

[Constellation] Duke Rum: Now I remember—two from Ghost Server Legion were among the group that dragged First Legion through the mud in Sky Arena!

[Constellation] Soldiers in Snowfield: You guys only met Ghost Server members? Count yourselves lucky.

[Constellation] Dead Demon Refiner: What do you mean?

[Constellation] Soldiers in Snowfield: As much as I’d love to share the Flagship experience, those who weren’t there just wouldn’t get it. Right now, I just wanna know why these guilds are brawling. Anyone on the scene?

[Constellation] Ice Porcelain: Here, here! But I just arrived! Heard it was over a rainbow Lover’s Knot.

[Constellation] Duke Rum: That thing’s only worth 100 points, right?

[Constellation] Sugar-Free Cola: The world of major guilds is so hard to understand ╮(╯_╰)╭

[System] : With love in your heart, every day is Valentine’s Day! Congratulations to Mad Lad for obtaining the Goddess of Fortune Set!

[Constellation] Don’t Stop the Meds: “……”

[Constellation] ice Iceborn: “……”

[Constellation] Drink Till You Drop: “……”

[Constellation] Silent Hill: “……Milk is Mom!!!!!!!!”

[Constellation] Milk is Mom: Here, here! >_<

[Constellation] Silent Hill: While we’re fighting an honorable guild war with our pride and dignity on the line, your teammate is at the Item Mall rolling for loot?!

[Constellation] Milk is Mom: Well, maybe he was lying dead for too long with no one to revive him, so he got bored and…

[Constellation] ice Iceborn: The point is, he won.

[Constellation] Milk is Mom: Mad Lad had it rough—spent over 30,000 before finally winning. Cut him some slack~

[Constellation] Don’t Stop the Meds: Not only won, but also flaunted it.