Chapter 38

◎You are mine.◎

The moment Chen Yi burst through her front door, she fired up her computer and restarted the game, plugging in her phone to charge as well. Today’s fiasco had been a harsh wake-up call: she couldn’t just assume her phone dying at home was no big deal, that she could always top it up later. Look what happened—she hadn’t gotten a single chance to charge it.

No more of that from now on.

Chen Yi reflected that she was now a woman with one foot teetering on the edge of an online romance. Anyone else could let their phone die, but not her. A dead battery was a minor inconvenience; delaying love was catastrophic.

“Master~~, I’m back!!”

The game had barely finished loading when Chen Yi fired off the message to her master.

Fade was still online, lingering in a dungeon. Chen Yi, however, had been forcibly booted due to her extended disconnect from the mishap. She couldn’t rejoin the instance now, so she stationed herself on the bustling main street of the game’s central city, keeping watch.

Fade didn’t reply right away.

Undeterred, Chen Yi simply loitered there on the street.

At level 70, she wore the standard medic’s uniform, with the newbie grass icon still sprouting from her head and the “Fade’s Disciple” tag floating above it. Her player profile boasted flawless combat stats that left viewers stunned. Players passing by who happened to check her out were invariably shocked.

How could such an unremarkable character have performance metrics this elite?

The curious ones struck up a chat.

Most were friendly enough.

But the internet was a mixed bag of saints and scoundrels, and sure enough, an idiot soon popped up, planting himself in front of Chen Yi and refusing to budge. He flaunted his pay-to-win gear, his seemingly impressive achievement titles, and boldly tried to poach her.

“Newbie? Ditch your master and come apprentice under me? Big bro here will carry you.”

He’d started with a private message, which Chen Yi ignored. She had no time for his type. She’d hoped that would shut him down, but he doubled down, resorting to spamming the public channel when she didn’t respond.

Chen Yi was floored.

It had been years since she’d run into a moron like this in the game. If she weren’t on an alt account, she’d never have dealt with such nonsense.

If she’d been on her main, this clown wouldn’t have dared make a peep.

[Public] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Thanks, no need. I have a master.

[Public] So What: Aww, think it over~

[Public] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Didn’t you see the title over my head?

[Public] So What: Newbie got some attitude? What’s wrong with asking?

[Public] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Ignoring your PM means I’m not interested. Can’t you take a hint?

[Public] So What: Who do you think you are? Asking nicely and you act all high and mighty.

[Public] So What: Whatever, I’m a max-level main. Not worth my time squabbling with a noob like you. Where’s your master? Get them over here. Do they even know how to mentor? I’ll show ’em.

Chen Yi exploded at that.

[Public] Sister Don’t Hit Me: You got a problem? Wanna fight?

Onlookers tried to calm things: Hey, hey, let’s all cool it. No need to argue.

Chen Yi wouldn’t back down.

[Public] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Apologize to my master.

[Public] So What: Hilarious! Who the hell is your master to deserve an apology from me?!

Right in the thick of the spat, a red-clad female character hurried over. Compared to So What’s gear, stats, and achievements, she looked downright ordinary. So What dismissed her at first glance and immediately went aggressive, charging right up.

[Public] So What: Loser! Can you even play?! If you suck this bad, don’t mentor newbies! How are you even teaching this one?

He hammered out a barrage of insults.

Fade stayed silent, so So What assumed she was intimidated.

In reality, Fade was busy reading Chen Yi’s tattle-tale in private chat.

[Private] Sister Don’t Hit Me: So this jerk just came out of nowhere acting crazy, insisting I apprentice under him. As if! I’ve got the best master in the world already!

[Private] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Master, ignore him. Let’s go.

Chen Yi figured she’d pull Fade away from the drama for now and handle a little payback later on her main.

But Fade didn’t budge.

Then Chen Yi saw her post in public chat.

[Public] Fade: You trying to steal my disciple?

[Public] So What: Just asking. What’s it to you? Can’t handle a question?

[Public] Fade: Guess your parents didn’t teach you manners. If you can’t raise a kid right, don’t have one. All you’ll do is embarrass yourself.

[Public] So What: !!

He lost it on the spot.

[Public] So What: Fine, you two bitches—wait and see!

[World] So What: Bounty time! 100k gold per kill! Targets: Sister Don’t Hit Me and Fade. Effective immediately!!

[World] So What: Damn it, someone take them out for me.

It had been ages since the server saw a bounty this fat. The peanut gallery went wild.

Then someone noticed a detail.

[World] Wind Moon No Pursuit: Hold up, aren’t these bounty targets kinda familiar?

[World] SjiojoiAK: Familiar +1.

[World] 88123: Wait, isn’t that the Absolute Shadow chick?!

[World] Wind Moon No Pursuit: Absolute Shadow?! No way!! The one who made gear for her disciple?!

[World] SjiojoiAK: Holy crap!! Anyone around?! Drop coords! I wanna spectate!!

So What, smug just moments ago, stared at the flood of messages in stunned silence.

Absolute Shadow? That was the player their guild had been plotting to poach lately! Fade… no wonder the name rang a bell. He’d thought it was some random word he’d half-remembered. But now—

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

His guild leader PM’d him: Revoke the bounty NOW!

No way was he backing down. Retracting it would cost him face, not just the bounty.

Guild Leader, frantic: You really know nothing!

So What: Just kill ’em till they drop gear, easy.

Guild Leader: Idiot! You think Absolute Shadow drops like loot?!

Guild Leader: She crafts Absolute Shadow—think she can’t wreck you?! Go apologize and retract it!

So What got the gist, but with his words out there, eating crow and apologizing? Fat chance!

The usual PK-for-hire crowd hung back. Absolute Shadow’s rep was legendary. Why risk offending a legit whale for pocket change tomorrow?

Furious, So What decided to handle it himself.

He planned to camp them for days. Soon as they left the city for the wilds, he’d turn PK and drop them. Fade’s skills looked meh, and the newbie was even worse—sub-80 levels, what could she do?

But they struck first.

[World] Sister Don’t Hit Me: @So What, save your gold. How about a duel? You lose, you apologize. I lose, whatever you want.

So What perked up.

This newbie really had no clue!

[World] So What: Your words? Deal. If I lose, I’ll streak naked in main city for three days and spam apologies. But if I win… hand over Absolute Shadow.

Chen Yi nearly spat at her screen.

What a tool!

All her manners out the window—she itched to swap to her main and stomp him.

But Fade replied in world chat: Fine.

[World] Fade: But Absolute Shadow for that bet? Weak stakes. You win, you get it. I lose, account deleted—I’m out.

Chen Yi frantically PM’d Fade: Master! Why agree?!

Fade: I believe in you.

Chen Yi trusted herself too, but Fade knew zilch about her main. How this faith?

Sister Don’t Hit Me: But what if I lose?

Seventy to ninety—a twenty-level gap.

Fade: You gonna lose?

Sister Don’t Hit Me: …No.

Fade: There we go 🙂

The world channel erupted with the crowd.

So What double-checked: With your disciple?

[World] Fade: Yeah.

[World] So What: Alright then.

Just a newbie—what did he have to fear?

[World] So What: Now? 1v1 arena?

[World] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Sure. What map?

[World] So What: Being nice to a newbie—you pick.

[World] Sister Don’t Hit Me: You sure?

[World] So What: Big bro’s got that much grace.

Chen Yi grinned.

Without hesitation, she picked Jungle Swamp.

The onlookers reeled: Whoa! That’s a nightmare map! Why that one?

[World] 88123: Newbie sis, wanna switch? This one’s brutal.

They figured she’d goofed.

Little did they know, Chen Yi picked it on purpose.

Jungle Swamp.

The place where Vegetable Sister had risen to fame in a single legendary battle years ago.

She had clutched victory with a beat-up old gun, camping till the end and sniping every last player on the field.

[World] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Oh no, what do I do? I picked the wrong one ;_;

So What had been hesitating a little himself, worried this map would be a nightmare. But the moment he saw her message, he figured this round was in the bag. He quickly typed in the channel: No take-backs—can’t change it now!

[World] Sister Don’t Hit Me: Boo hoo, fine…

Xu Yan could tell Chen Yi was just putting on an act, and she chuckled to herself. She maneuvered her game character right in front of Chen Yi’s avatar and handed over an item face-to-face.

It was Absolute Shadow.

Chen Yi hadn’t accepted the gun before. Even now, she was still hesitating a bit.

Xu Yan typed on her screen.

“From today onward, this will be your most eye-catching mark,” she said.

Chen Yi blinked, not quite catching on yet. “What mark?”

“You’re mine.”