"What's going on?" Piaoling was puzzled when Xiao Hua canceled the trade.
If they were close friends, she could understand him wanting her to stay and play, refusing to accept her items. But they had no real relationship; he had simply happened to be there and had the ability to help her out of a bind.
Now that she didn't intend to continue playing, most people would ask with a clear conscience, accept the items without hesitation, or even more extremely, ask for all her gear since she wasn't playing anymore. Piaoling had considered giving Xiao Hua all her gear, but this outfit was a set of Constitution-focused gear she had gathered in her thirties. She had worn it since then, and despite dying and losing five levels, it hadn’t dropped. She had grown attached to it, and besides, ordinary players wouldn’t get much use out of it, so she hadn’t traded it.
Xiao Hua pondered how to convince Piaoling to stay. However, he realized he wasn’t a persuasive person, and any attempt at acting would surely be seen through by Piaoling. He decided to be straightforward, which suited him best.
"If I told you I don’t want your stuff and hope you’ll stay and keep playing, what would you do?" Xiao Hua asked.
"I’d ask what your intentions are," Piaoling replied.
"I’d say, ‘Come on, what intentions could I possibly have?’" Xiao Hua continued in a role-playing scenario, choosing option B – "I don’t have any intentions" – out of the three options available.
"Do you think I look ugly and unattractive?" Piaoling broke out of the simulated conversation, clearly upset.
"Are you saying you look great?" Xiao Hua rubbed his foot against the ice-covered ground. The snow-covered ice plains had frozen solid under the cold climate, and after scraping off the snow with his shoe, the ice could serve as a mirror. Admitting that Piaoling looked beautiful would be self-deception and a denial of his twenty-plus years of aesthetic judgment!
Piaoling looked down at her reflection on the ice. At first glance, she was ordinary; at the second, mediocre; and at the third, unremarkable. Of course, these were polite descriptions! After a few more looks, she herself acknowledged that the woman in the ice didn’t have the appeal to convince anyone she wasn’t unattractive, even if she tried to persuade herself otherwise.
"So, you must have some reason, right? Saying you don’t, I absolutely won’t believe you," Piaoling said, deciding to forgive Xiao Hua and instead asked.
"In truth, I just think you’re a decent person with abilities. If you stayed and played, you could help when I form a guild in the future. Plus, it’s more fun to have someone to interact with while gaming," Xiao Hua blurted out his thoughts.
"Just because of that?" Piaoling asked skeptically.
"Yeah! Just because of that!" Xiao Hua nodded affirmatively.
"..."
Piaoling fell silent and began to scrutinize Xiao Hua from head to toe, seemingly trying to gauge how sincere his words were.
Feeling like he was being appraised like a slave at a market, Xiao Hua felt uneasy. "Hey, hey, you don’t have to look at me like that!"
"Ha ha, alright, I understand what you mean. I’ll think about it seriously," Piaoling said, sensing that Xiao Hua had no ulterior motives.
"Don’t think about it, just keep playing. That’s settled!" Xiao Hua knew the saying "strike while the iron is hot." While Piaoling was still indecisive, he didn’t want to give her time to reconsider. He wanted her to make a firm decision.
Piaoling rolled her eyes. "What’s your rush? I said I’d think about it, so I will. I have something to take care of, so I’m logging off. You can play by yourself."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
With that, Piaoling logged off, leaving Xiao Hua alone in the desolate icy wilderness.
Seeing that it was already past six in the morning, Xiao Hua thought about the whole night spent evading pursuers with Piaoling, which had been more exhausting than killing monsters. He decided to log off and rest in reality for a bit. Playing games for long periods could also tire one out mentally.
He lay down on his bed for a while. Zhou Xiaorou went out for her morning run, and Xiao Hua joined her, purely as a bodyguard. Since Zhou Xiaorou had appeared in the neighborhood, the number of young men running in the mornings had noticeably increased. Many resented Xiao Hua, who was tall and imposing, for standing in their way. They saw him as a hindrance to their happiness, occupying a position without moving forward.
Zhou Xiaorou no longer seemed awkward around Xiao Hua, seemingly putting the previous incident behind her. Xiao Hua felt relieved yet somewhat disappointed. When he had pursued Fang Ning, he hadn’t made any grand gestures, and they had gotten along naturally. This had been a source of pride for him. Now, after pestering Zhou Xiaorou for days, even with the advantage of sharing a bed, there seemed to be no progress, which made him feel down.
Why did he feel this way? Was it vanity?
After some thought, Xiao Hua had to admit that he did have some vanity in this regard.
After breakfast, Xiao Hua entered the game pod and checked the game forum to see how much his precious guild upgrade token had appreciated. However, he found that the forum was even more lively than before. The reason was a new event that had captured the attention of players who loved excitement, and it was closely related to the Ice Seal Guild!
"Bug? Or GM?"
Such a post undoubtedly attracted a lot of attention. As far as Xiao Hua knew, no bugs had been discovered during the two-month beta. The game system of Second World was quite mature, and according to the official statements, even systems that hadn’t been implemented yet had a very low chance of containing bugs. As for Game Masters, there were indeed some, but they were the two main AI minds, Capella and Averio. The officials had proudly stated that even if ten thousand human GMs were online simultaneously, they wouldn’t be as efficient as these two AIs. They could provide satisfactory answers to players regarding game-related issues within the rules of the game.
Curious, Xiao Hua clicked on the post and was speechless when he discovered that the final moments of his and Piaoling’s coordinated item transfer trick had been recorded. From Piaoling’s death and the treasure chest dropping to the illusion swooping in to snatch the chest, being revealed by spells, and then killed, it had all been captured using a Temporal Illusion Scroll and posted on the forum, sparking a new wave of forum discussions.
The Ice Seal Guild member who posted the video raised two clear questions:
1. We killed the masked player during the valid period of the Level 1 Guild Wanted Notice. The treasure chest, which should have dropped with a 100% chance, did not drop. Isn’t this a bug?
2. The masked player was killed and emitted the white light of death. The Ice Seal Guild members who attacked them turned gray due to malicious attacks. However, after the masked player died, none of the players present had any records of malicious killings when we tried to find out the name of the killed player. Why is that? Is it a bug or is the person a GM?
The poster was Ice Seal Sprite, the representative of the Ice Seal Guild on the game forum. This post was clearly made under the instructions of Ice Seal World. The incident with Piaoling escaping couldn’t be hidden, but the player responsible for helping her escape had to be identified!
After reading the post, Xiao Hua was not worried at all. All his actions had been within the rules of the game. If the game company dared to leak his information, he wouldn’t have to wait until he was thirty. A single lawsuit would easily bring him millions. He paid five hundred RMB monthly for the game subscription, and the law provided sufficient protection for his interests. However, a major game company wouldn’t make such a foolish move.
Sure enough, after reading the post, Xiao Hua saw an announcement thread from the official side regarding this incident.
"1. No bugs have been discovered in Second World thus far. The reasons for the treasure chest not dropping and the lack of kill records are left for players to explore. 2. There are no human GMs in Second World. Only offline customer service exists, and this announcement is made by Customer Service 168 on behalf of the official side. Additionally, this incident demonstrates once again that Second World is a game full of infinite possibilities, with no absolute unbreakable rules. The true excitement of the game is just beginning, with more unknown maps, items, equipment, and skills waiting for players to discover!"
It was a very official statement, essentially flawless. However, hehe, Ice Seal World must have seen this statement. Xiao Hua wondered what his reaction would be. Would he fly into a rage or be infuriated and embarrassed?
Just imagining Ice Seal World’s possible reactions gave Xiao Hua a secret satisfaction, erasing his earlier disappointment!
Satisfied, he checked on the status of his precious token and found it still at 160 million. It seemed better to wait until the last hour on the third day. Those interested in bidding were probably busy raising funds.