Chapter 39: I Thought I Was the Girlfriend Now

Before the 1v1 PvP began, So What didn’t see anything wrong with the bet at all. His opponent was just a noob, and a girl player at that. What tricks could she possibly pull off in a game?

Even after the system voice announced the start of the 1v1 PvP, So What didn’t change his mind.

[Nothing to it,] So What typed into the public chat, taunting her. [Where are you? Hiding because you’re scared to face me?]

The five lucky spectators who had the chance to watch the match overheard him and assumed the newbie girl on the other side had gone into hiding.

But when the camera switched to Sister Don’t Hit Me’s perspective, the onlookers saw her sneaking through the swampy woods with her gun slung over her back.

A few comments scrolled across the spectator-only chat interface.

【This girl’s movement is solid.】

【Snaking like a pro!】

【What is she up to?】

In the midst of their confusion, Sister Don’t Hit Me fired a shot. Her aim went wide, missing her opponent entirely and just drawing his attention instead. So What immediately rushed toward the sound of gunfire.

【What a shame!】

【Newbie’s aim still needs work—】

【If it were me, that shot would’ve taken half his health bar at least, if not a headshot.】

【It’s over now. That Absolute Shadow is as good as gone.】

The online onlookers who couldn’t spectate grew anxious and started begging their in-game contacts for live text updates from those five lucky viewers.

It wasn’t long before the world channel of this Miracle server was flooded with discussions about the bet.

“I heard that newbie girl missed her shot! She had the advantage, and then she blew it—”

“Damn, that’s awkward.”

“Is Absolute Shadow really getting handed over?”

Fade stood amid the crowd of discussions, every word from those around her ringing clear in her ears.

Someone even came up to her specifically. “Big sis, what now? You really gonna hand it over if you lose?”

Fade shifted her stance, leaning against the wall at the street corner, and replied curtly with two words: “She won’t.”

The others just figured she was still bluffing, putting on a brave face right up until the end.

Little did they know, Xu Yan fully trusted Chen Yi’s skills.

From binge-watching Chen Yi’s stream videos lately, Xu Yan was convinced Chen Yi could land a headshot with ease. But the shot had gone astray, losing its precision… Xu Yan suspected it was all part of Chen Yi’s plan.

And she was right.

Less than three minutes later, the tide turned completely.

“Whoa! My friend inside says things have flipped!”

“Aaah, apparently the newbie girl set a trap. The guy didn’t see it, stepped right in, and triggered the swamp debuff. It’s like he’s crowd-controlled. She’s picking him off with arrows one by one.”

“Holy crap… isn’t that just torturing him to death?”

“You bet! It’s not even a clean kill—more like bleeding out a pig!”

“This guy’s face is utterly trashed now.”

“Um… Big Sis?” A player approached Fade cautiously, waving a hand in front of her. “Is your disciple really this good?”

Xu Yan was in high spirits and sent back a smiling emoticon.

^^

By the time Chen Yi popped out of the 1v1 swamp dungeon, Xu Yan was waiting right at the teleport point.

Before Chen Yi could say a word, So What blew up in the world channel first.

[World] So What: Damn it, you cheated!

No need for Chen Yi or Xu Yan to step in—the peanut gallery of onlookers who’d followed the whole thing spat venom at him one after another.

[World] 88123: Hey buddy, can you have some shame? Who was it that tried to bully a newbie and ended up outplayed?

[World] I’m a Newbie: Hurry up and strip your gear, run naked, and apologize.

[World] Flower Flower Butterfly Can’t Fly: You stripping or not? If not, us bros’ll help you out.

How could So What stomach this humiliation? When he’d agreed to the bet, he’d been dead certain he’d win. He never imagined he could lose. Gritting his teeth at the situation, he simply logged off and ran.

That escape propelled him straight to the top of the forums’ gossip threads.

He got doxxed across Tieba, QQ spaces, and all sorts of game callout platforms on social media. After less than three days of nonstop flaming, he couldn’t take it anymore. He deleted his account and vanished.

Of course, that all came later.

After he fled, some persistent players were still asking: Did So What apologize today?

Truth be told, Chen Yi didn’t care if he apologized or not. An insincere apology was no different from a lie. She’d only agreed to the bet with So What to vent her anger. Chen Yi rarely tormented regular players with such cheap tactics. But So What’s thick skin and poor sportsmanship had crossed way beyond the line for ordinary players.

After dealing with him, the first thing Chen Yi did was report her victory to Fade.

“Master, I won!” she said in their private team voice chat, where only the two of them could hear.

“I know.” Fade replied. “What reward do you want?”

Chen Yi cleared her throat lightly. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Am I that kind of person? Besides, you already gave me Absolute Shadow.”

“You sure you don’t want one?”

“Well… let me think about it…”

She couldn’t come up with anything she really wanted right then. Oh, except for Fade. But did that count as a reward? Nah. Chen Yi couldn’t bring herself to say it. She wasn’t smooth enough for that yet.

As she pondered, a player stepped right up to the two of them.

[Current] Msdadr: Aaah!

[Current] Msdadr: Big god! Are you still taking disciples?!

Chen Yi spotted it, her face full of question marks.

An alarm blared in her head.

What the hell?!

Someone was poaching her master right in front of her?!

Fade was her master!

She quickly clicked on the guy’s profile to check it out.

[Current] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Aren’t you already max level??? [question marks]

[Current] Msdadr: Level doesn’t matter /shy

Heh.

Chen Yi wasn’t happy. In the voice chat, she asked, “Master, are you gonna respond to him?”

Fade went quiet for a moment.

Chen Yi figured she was thinking it over.

What?!

She actually had to think about this?!

“Master, aren’t I your favorite little disciple?” Hadn’t she even warmed up the spot yet, and now she was taking another disciple? No way, no way!

After a brief silence, Fade finally spoke.

“You’re sure he wants me as his master?”

Of course, right? Chen Yi thought instinctively. But then she glanced at the chat window in the bottom left, and the guy had sent a new string of messages.

[Current] Msdadr: Sis! Will you take me as your disciple?!

[Current] Msdadr: Please, sis!

[Current] Msdadr: Oh! I mean Sister Don’t Hit Me! Not some other sis!

If Chen Yi still didn’t get what he meant, she’d have to be an idiot.

“He wants me as his master?” Chen Yi said, stunned.

She never imagined running into this while messing around on her alt.

Fade: “Mm-hmm.”

Chen Yi couldn’t wrap her head around it.

[Current] Sister Don’t Hit Me: You sure you got the right person, bro? What’s going through your head?

[Current] Msdadr: I was totally captivated by your shameless brilliance! I wanna apprentice under you and learn how to outplay people!

[Current] Msdadr: Outplaying is a skill!

[Current] Sister Don’t Hit Me: …

“How about it?” Fade’s voice suddenly came through Chen Yi’s earpiece. “You gonna respond to him?”

“Aren’t I your favorite master?”

Chen Yi’s ears buzzed.

Once the blushing faded, she suddenly realized something.

“Master… are you jealous?”

Fade fell silent.

“Don’t worry, I won’t take him as a disciple.”

True to her word, Chen Yi shot him down on the spot. Undeterred, he whined: How about friending me then, sis? Bring me along when you play! Maybe it’ll rub off on me and I’ll get better!

[Current] Sister Don’t Hit Me: No.

After that blunt reply, Chen Yi turned to coaxing her own master.

“Master, Master, don’t go quiet on me! I already turned him down!”

“It’s not really necessary,” Fade said calmly. “If you want to play with others, you can.”

“Really?” Chen Yi asked on purpose.

Fade paused, then murmured an “Mm.”

Chen Yi: “But I don’t want to.”

“I just wanna play with you, Master.”

“Alright,” Fade replied. “Oh, right—let’s go do a quest.”

Chen Yi was baffled. What quest? They’d already cleared their dailies today, hadn’t they? But when it came to Fade, Chen Yi always went along with whatever she wanted.

When they arrived at the church with Fade, Chen Yi was dumbfounded.

“Master—you don’t mean the quest is—”

【Fade requests to form Doomsday Partners with you, to journey together from here on out, for the rest of our lives.】

【Accept】 OR 【Decline】

???

“Master?!”

The shock hit Chen Yi too suddenly; she couldn’t process it.

Fade’s response even carried a hint of confusion. “You don’t want to?”

Chen Yi spoke incoherently. “No, no… but why us…?”

How on earth had the plot developed like this? It was all too sudden!

“I think if we change your title, fewer people will harass you.”

Chen Yi blinked, a flicker of natural disappointment crossing her heart.

Oh—

So that was the reason.

Fade wanted to enter a marriage of convenience with her in the game?

Chen Yi pressed her lips together.

“All right.” She pretended to be magnanimous. “Thanks for thinking ahead, Master. If you ever meet someone you really want to marry, be sure to tell me. I’ll dissolve the marriage of convenience then.”

“…”

“What do you mean by that?” Fade’s voice carried a hint of disappointment. “Why a marriage of convenience?”

“Huh?” What else could it be!

“You already accepted my token of affection.”

“—Huh?” How had she not known about any of this!

Wait. Chen Yi suddenly remembered what Fade had said when she handed over Absolute Shadow.

“You are mine.”

Chen Yi had instinctively added an object to those four words in her mind: disciple.

So to her ears, it had come out as: You are my disciple.

What? How! Had Fade not meant it the way she’d thought at all?!

“Master~~… do you mean…” Chen Yi’s voice trembled with hesitation and probing caution. She was afraid she’d misunderstood again. She could never quite bring herself to be certain.

“Don’t you want to?” Fade asked.

Chen Yi told herself she had to play it cool, stay composed, channel the resolve of a modern college girl.

Even as those thoughts raced through her mind, her mouth had already blurted it out.

“Of course I do! A hundred times yes!”

By the time she clicked agree and started running the marriage quest with Fade, Chen Yi was still floating on air.

OMG—

OMG—

Was she dating now? She and Fade hadn’t even confessed to each other. Didn’t dating require a confession? Chen Yi felt like she was dreaming, a constant sense of unreality lingering with every moment.

The most surreal part came after she logged off, when Fade messaged her on WeChat.

XYZ: There’s something I forgot to ask.

Chen Yi: What is it?

XYZ: Do you still want that reward I promised you?

Chen Yi thought for a moment. You mean the singing?

XYZ: Yeah.

Chen Yi: Yes, yes, yes!

XYZ: [XYZ sang a song just for you. Come listen! PS: This link is private, just for you~]

Chen Yi tapped it open.

The song title read:

About Loving You

A message from XYZ popped up on her phone.

She said: Good night.

And added: Thanks for still being willing to listen to this song.

Chen Yi didn’t know why a sour, bittersweet feeling welled up inside her, sweetness intertwined within it, making her feel as if she were nestled inside a cream puff.

Fade’s singing lingered in her ears.

Her voice was truly beautiful, rich with a sense of story. Chen Yi felt enveloped by some long, delicate emotion. It was complex, encompassing everything she had never seen before. At the end of the song, Fade hummed those lyrics over and over.

Chen Yi took a shallow breath and replied.

Chen Yi: Good night, Master.

Fade hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

She said: Good night.

XYZ: But are you still going to call me Master?

XYZ: I thought I was your girlfriend now ^^