Chapter 64 – The Stubborn Girl

With just these simple words, the entire squad fell into a subtle silence.

Fang Zheng racked his limited brainpower to figure out the logic behind it and finally felt a flame of anger ignite in his heart.

[Party] Milk is Mom: YOU CAME TO BUY MY GEAR JUST TO GIVE IT TO MY TEAMMATE?!

Birdy, feeling his summary was incomplete and lacking depth, helpfully added—

[Party] Polly: And current girlfriend.

The squad finally understood the source of that subtle feeling—an ex-boyfriend came to the current boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend to buy gear, specifically to gift it to said ex-girlfriend, who was now the current girlfriend of the seller. It was like kicking a banana ball straight into Beckham’s face…

[Party] Drink Your Sister 3X: Yeah, wanted to give her something.

Damn, and he kicked it so shamelessly too!

[Legion] Milk is Mom: AHHHHH THIS GUY IS DEFINITELY HERE TO PROVOKE ME!!!!

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: What’s up, Commander?

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon 715: He got insulted.

Damn, did he have to describe it so accurately?!

Within an extremely short time, 438 gave Blood Bull and 2B a highly condensed yet comprehensive rundown of the situation.

The former listened quietly and summarized with two words: “Flexing. True love.” It was obvious which word applied to whom.

2B, however, was furious after hearing it: “What the hell, is this guy some kind of saint?! Buying gear for his ex after breaking up? Can’t he leave some dignity for the rest of us men in the world?!”

—Where there’s comparison, there’s pressure.

While the squad was still discussing internally, the instigator had already located them in the forest using teammate tracking. When he saw the Unicorn’s corpse, he was quite surprised.

[Party] Drink Your Sister 3X: So it dropped here? You guys are really lucky.

[Party] Milk is Mom: From the way you said that, it sounds like you think we just got lucky? Let me tell you, this was skill, skill, you understand?!

[Party] Drink Your Sister 3X: Level 55 gear can’t drop from a Level 50 boss. How’d you know it leveled up?

[Party] Milk is Mom: Who knew before we fought it?

[Party] Drink Your Sister 3X: See? You just stumbled into it.

[Party] Milk is Mom: ……

[Legion] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Commander, stop chatting, just take the money and hand over the goods already [sweatdrop]

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon 715: +1

[Legion] Mad Lad: Is there some kind of item that can hide the legion name above our heads?

[Legion] Milk is Mom: Screw you, I’m not selling anymore!

The Ghost Server Legion Leader felt insulted once again TAT

[Party] Milk is Mom: Not selling! Get the hell back where you came from!

[Party] Drink Your Sister 3X: 30,000.

[Party] Milk is Mom: Hurry up and come over, bending down to pick it up is tiring!

But the pitiful are often the ones who invite insults =_=

The entire squad wished they could selectively forget this moment, while Drink Till You Drop decisively sent another 10,000 to the healer. Then, he calmly controlled Your Sister to pick up the loot. Unexpectedly, the next second, a server-wide announcement popped up—

[System] Drink Your Sister 3X has obtained Etwell’s Staff of Light.

The server erupted in chaos, and the squad was dumbfounded. They knew the gear was good, but they hadn’t expected it to be the first of its kind on the entire server!

The server chat was already flooded with complaints, mostly about how Your Sister was also a Ghost Server member and how the Ghost Server was obviously cheating again. But the squad was more concerned about their own commander—

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon 715: Commander, you okay?

[Legion] Milk is Mom: My chest hurts.

[Legion] Polly: Just hurts?

[Legion] Milk is Mom: It’s bleeding nonstop [cry][cry][cry][cry][cry][cry]

After picking up the gear, Drink didn’t rub salt in the wound with sarcastic remarks. Instead, he quietly sent Fang Zheng a whisper—

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: You’re not really her boyfriend, are you?

Fang Zheng, still clutching his chest in pain, froze at the message, torn between admitting it or not…

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: You were already playing back on Mirage Server. For over two years, you’ve been serious about business in-game. Flirting with girls in-game isn’t your thing.

What was there to hesitate about? With insight like that, they had to unite!

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Actually, I’ve been playing Huaxia way longer than two years~~~ But yeah, I’ve never messed around with in-game relationships~~~ I’m a legit pro gamer~~\(≧▽≦)/~

Drink tried his best to ignore that utterly unconvincing emoji—

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Then how’d you two meet?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: She was looking for a legion and just happened to find us. We only found out about you two later.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: She told you everything?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Yeah. pats shoulder You’ve had it rough.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Heh, it’s fine. I’m used to it.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: ……

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: We grew up together.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Ohhh, childhood sweethearts~~ Then why did Drink say you only dated for three years? Friends turned lovers? Come on, spill it~~

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Further details require payment.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Half-told stories are the worst!

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Heh.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: So, are you two back together now?

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: No.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Her club’s been busy lately, so she was worried about falling behind in leveling. She asked me to help out when I have time.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Isn’t that kind of inappropriate, bossing around an ex like that…

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Heh, it’s fine.

Fang Zheng realized that “heh, it’s fine” was Drink Till You Drop’s catchphrase, equivalent to “amen” or “whatever.”

With the gossip out of the way, that was pretty much it. It was just a lovers’ spat. If it were just the three-year relationship Drink mentioned, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But growing up together? That was way beyond outsiders’ ability to meddle.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: So, do you want her to join your legion? It’d be easier for you to help her.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Our legion has too many rules. Let her stay with you—she’ll have more freedom.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: This isn’t a daycare…

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: She can be a bit willful sometimes, but she’s simple at heart and not malicious. Please bear with her.

Was this guy completely ignoring his opinion as the commander? =_=

After nearly five minutes of looting, Mad Lad, representing the clueless bystanders, asked, “What are you two whispering about? Regretting not meeting sooner? Can’t bear to part?”

Fang Zheng rolled his eyes and summarized for the team: “He figured out I’m not really Drink’s boyfriend.”

The YY channel fell silent for a moment before Birdy, as the representative, innocently asked, “Isn’t that… kind of obvious?”

Refined Into a Demon 715 timidly pointed out, “Commander, you really don’t have any acting skills…”

What kind of terrible people were these?!

Finally, Your Sister straightened up, instantly diverting Fang Zheng’s attention. The Staff of Light was now slung across her back. The weapon’s appearance was as dazzling as its stats, and paired with her burly male avatar, it gave off a real “flower monk” vibe.

With the transaction complete, Drink said nothing more and directly teleported back to town. Watching his slowly disappearing figure, Fang Zheng suddenly felt a pang of reluctance… Your Sister wielding the Staff of Light was practically a waste of a legendary weapon!

After that, Drink’s real-life counterpart still didn’t log in, and the squad didn’t go after Hitlerot either. It wasn’t a particularly important boss to begin with—they’d only planned to take it down for Your Sister’s sake. But since the emperor wasn’t anxious, the eunuchs were left frustrated and unwilling to serve.

The group later regrouped with Blood Bull and 2B to take down the North Sea Siren—she wasn’t as popular now that everyone’s levels had risen. After that, they teamed up to grind mobs for a while, and everyone’s mood gradually improved… except for the commander’s. 438 even tried to console him, saying, “Commander, don’t be mad. At worst, we’ll scold Your Sister hard tomorrow.”

Little did he know, Fang Zheng had already moved past Your Sister’s absence. What he couldn’t get over was the fact that the girl had taken the legendary weapon without even showing up.

A willing buyer and a willing seller—he wasn’t actually mad at Drink. Back when he was fully focused on in-game business, he hadn’t cared much about gear. It was either sellable or unsellable. But ever since forming this legion, he’d truly started playing the game for fun, genuinely experiencing the joy of it. Now, just thinking about the stats of that lost weapon made his heart ache—an ache that even 30,000 Huaxia Coins couldn’t soothe >_<

After midnight, everyone logged off one by one. Although Jiang Yang had free time lately, he adhered to the principle of not staying up too late for health reasons and never stayed past 1 AM. Only Fang Zheng and Meng Chudong remained in the YY channel—the former had just sold some in-game currency to Diamond Seller, while the latter wandered around exploring new maps.

Seeing Diamond Seller’s payment arrive instantly, Fang Zheng sighed unconsciously in melancholy.

Birdy heard and asked, “What’s wrong?”

With the others, Fang Zheng would never have admitted that he was still hung up on the gear despite getting paid. But with Birdy, it felt like there was no need to hide…

Birdy: “You miss that gear, don’t you?”

Because even if he didn’t say it, this guy could deduce the truth anyway =_=

“A little. But I got paid, so you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” The words were for Birdy, but also to console himself.

“How’s the leveling going?”

Birdy suddenly changed the subject, catching Fang Zheng off guard. He’d expected the guy to pile on with sarcasm.

“Level 36.” Fang Zheng had taken power-leveling orders for both City Toppling Beauty and Milk is Mom. Since Birdy asked, he naturally answered regarding the latter.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll take you leveling.”

“Where to?”

“Mount Emei.”

“Monkeys again?!”

That night, Fang Zheng dreamed of wreaking havoc in heaven like the Monkey King.

Your Sister finally logged in the next evening, though it was already 8:30 PM. By then, the entire legion had crossed into Level 60, leaving her as the only one still at 58.

The girl immediately logged into YY and naturally greeted everyone, but no one responded. The legion members weren’t actually that angry, but they were still uncomfortable, leaving the YY channel in an awkward silence. The Ghost Server Legion Leader had never scolded a girl before, but as the spiritual leader of the legion, he had no choice but to step up—

“Your Sister, why didn’t you come yesterday?”

His question sounded casual, and Your Sister didn’t think much of it: “Club dinner. By the time we finished eating and singing, it was already past midnight.”

Fang Zheng broke out in a cold sweat. Nothing could provoke more hatred than that—she could’ve at least said the power went out! “You should’ve told us. The whole team waited for you until midnight and didn’t even finish the dungeon.” A slight exaggeration, but mostly true.

“Waited for me?” Your Sister was puzzled. “Waited for me for what?”

Fang Zheng told himself to stay calm, to endure. Think of the hardships of the Red Army’s Long March, think of how exhausted Drink Till You Drop must be—but damn it, he still couldn’t help raising his voice: “Waited for you to run the dungeon! We had an agreement!”

Your Sister fell silent for a few seconds before mumbling, “I thought… you guys were just saying it casually…”

Fang Zheng nearly spat blood: “How old are you?! Who jokes about stuff like that?! A promise is a promise! Do you want to get fat from breaking promises?!”

The spectators really wanted to remind the commander that he’d steered the topic into weird territory…

Fortunately, the girl didn’t seem to notice and actually sounded a bit guilty after being yelled at: “If I didn’t show up, you could’ve just started without me…”

“What if you logged in later? By then, we’d have already finished. Who’d take you then?”

“So you guys… waited the whole time?”

“The whole. Damn. Time. If I hadn’t talked them out of it, they’d have waited till dawn!”

Commander…

“Every single one of them has work or school—who isn’t busier than you?! And they waited just because they were worried you’d log in and find no one!”

Wasn’t that a bit too dramatic…

“Sorry.” After a long silence, Your Sister didn’t dodge or make excuses. She apologized outright.

The result came too quickly, leaving Fang Zheng momentarily speechless.

“Actually, you didn’t have to wait for me.” After a few more seconds of silence, Your Sister suddenly spoke seriously. “You probably think it was awful of me to throw away Drink’s gear, but I think it was worse for him to ignore me over a game. He was my boyfriend—spoiling me and indulging me was part of the deal, and I treated him well too. But you guys don’t owe me anything, so you don’t need to treat me like that.”

Fang Zheng was at a loss for words. He racked his brain but couldn’t figure out how to respond. Tell the truth? That their treatment of her couldn’t hold a candle to Drink’s? Or explain from a philosophical angle that even couples need to understand and give each other space, not endlessly exploit each other’s love?

Why did women always pack endless layers of meaning into a single sentence? TAT

[Legion] Polly: Your Sister, do you know what’s even closer than lovers?

[Legion] Drink Your Sister 3X: What?

[Legion] Polly: Comrades-in-arms.

After the deputy commander’s words, Your Sister fell silent.

Fang Zheng stared at the words “comrades-in-arms” and, for some reason, felt his blood stir with excitement.

But soon, that excitement cooled as they teamed up to take down Hitlerot. Your Sister’s skills weren’t just bad—they were the worst of the worst! She was practically more dangerous than the mobs themselves! The team, already a bit unsettled by the unresolved conflict over her no-show, now fell completely silent, just hoping to finish the dungeon quickly and go their separate ways.

Though Your Sister’s skills were lacking, she was sharp enough to realize the problem lay with her. Without a word, she quietly left the party after the dungeon. But since she didn’t leave the YY channel, no one said anything. They split into smaller groups—some grinding mobs, others refining demons—leaving only the commander to oversee everything.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Where are you?

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Grinding mobs.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: I meant your location…

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Commander, just leave me be.

Huh, she called him “commander.” Was that progress?

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: I might think you’re trying to hit on me.

Progress, my ass!

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: You’re not my type, relax. Just helping you level. We’re both healers—I can teach you a thing or two.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: No need. I can manage on my own.

Fang Zheng swore Drink Till You Drop had left out one word when describing Your Sister’s personality—stubborn!

As it turned out, Fang Zheng wasn’t wrong. Your Sister was still brooding over the dungeon disaster, stubbornly battling Level 60 mobs in the area. She knew her skills were lacking but didn’t understand exactly where. She felt her speed wasn’t slower than others—if anything, it was faster than average—but her efficiency was abysmal. Even now, fighting just a few mobs nearly got her ganked.

Unconsciously, half an hour passed.

No one spoke in the channel, but the other Ghost Server comrades couldn’t help but lower their YY volume—that girl was definitely smashing her keyboard!

Every game has players who enjoy killing others—some do it out of boredom, some for the thrill of ambushes, and others for the excitement of one-on-one duels. Jiang Yang, for example, fell into the third category, while Birdy leaned toward the first. But what Your Sister encountered was even more bizarre than all three—Bad Omen.

This guy was somewhat infamous on Huaxia Summit, though not in a good way. Naming himself “Bad Omen” showed he had a clear understanding of his own nature. He loved ganking low-level players, even though his PvP skills were actually quite high—he could even be considered a pro gamer. Between massacres, he loved trash-talking, leaving his victims emotionally and psychologically scarred. His behavior was downright despicable.

Your Sister had been fighting mobs peacefully when a blade flashed behind her—then she was dead, without warning.

If the ambusher hadn’t smugly typed a message, she might’ve genuinely thought the mobs had killed her and obediently returned to town.

[Local] Bad Omen: Tsk, your level’s not even that low. How’d you die so easily~~

[Local] Bad Omen: If you’re this bad, don’t parade around with a high-level account~~ Level 50+ with Level 10 skills? That’s straight-up fraud!

[Local] Bad Omen: Hey, not respawning yet? Just gonna lie there? If you’re not convinced, revive and come find me~~ I’ll wait for you, sweetheart~~~

Your Sister couldn’t chat with strangers while dead, but even if she could, she wouldn’t have. Right now, she felt like the Monkey King burning in the furnace for 49 days—all she wanted was to reduce that bastard to ashes!

Click revive—town portal!

Fang Zheng was chatting with Diamond Seller near the respawn point when a beam of light appeared in front of him, and Your Sister slowly materialized in weakened status. He quickly whispered her to ask what happened, but she ignored him entirely. Without even waiting for the weakened state to wear off, she turned and headed straight for the Teleport Master.

True to his word, Bad Omen was still waiting—though he was mostly looking for other passersby to ambush. He hadn’t expected the noob to actually return. But a noob was still a noob. She immediately started casting Crimson Lotus Holy Fire, but by the time the cast finished, he’d already maneuvered his Assassin behind her for a Backstab!

Your Sister, wielding the weapon her ex-boyfriend had somehow obtained, quickly realized its attack power was worse than her old one. After mentally tearing Drink Till You Drop to shreds, she swapped back to her original weapon and engaged Bad Omen in close combat!

A healer going melee against an Assassin was suicide, especially when their skills were worlds apart. Within a minute, Your Sister was dead again.

[Local] Bad Omen: Did you buy this account?~ Your skills are downright painful to watch~~

[Local] Bad Omen: Come on, let’s go again~~ Don’t tell me you’re giving up already, big guy~~

Your Sister gritted her teeth, revived, town-portaled, and charged back!

In less than ten minutes, Fang Zheng saw Your Sister at the respawn point five times. Even he could tell something was wrong now—this was a straight-up XP-draining death streak. She was about to drop back to Level 57!

Since typing was being ignored, Fang Zheng asked directly in YY: “Your Sister, what’s going on? Why are you dying over and over again?”

“Nothing.” Her reply was short and rushed, her voice low and muffled.

Fang Zheng frowned, sensing something off. Then, a stranger’s voice came through Your Sister’s mic: “Ning Xiaoke! If you keep smashing your keyboard and disturbing the neighbors, I’ll— Huh? Why are you crying?”