Chapter 6: The Truth, Revealed? – translated by Eilinel (1/2)

Online…

“Prince! Prince, are you online? Quick, come to our usual place. We’ve got a huge problem.”

The instant I got online, Lolidragon PMed me with such urgency in her voice that, before I even got a handle on the situation, I had already begun to run toward the meeting place.

“What happened?” I demanded, as I charged into the restaurant booth with an anxious expression.

“Right, now that everyone is here, I can start talking. The officials have announced that today’s match will be cancelled,” Lolidragon said calmly. Everyone in Odd Squad widened their eyes in surprise. “The competition is delayed until next week, when all teams will participate in the melee to decide the champion team.”

“What will the melee consist of? And why did they suddenly change the competition method?” Wolf inquired thoughtfully.

“The rumor is that they made the change because this competition had too many participating teams, which caused the competition to drag on for too long and has severely affected normal game play. So the officials decided to resolve everything in one go.

“A melee is where all teams are gathered on one arena at the same time to fight. The team the last person standing belongs to will be declared the winner. No pets will be allowed to help out in the fight.” Lolidragon paused, then drew in a deep breath and said, “In total, there will be one hundred teams, which means this will be a melee with six hundred participants.”

Everyone was left speechless for a while.

“Surviving amidst six hundred people?” I muttered to myself. “I think in all likelihood I’ll be the first one to be hacked to death.”

It can’t be helped, but…Is it my fate to be so handsome that every man who sees me will want to hack me to bits? Can’t I go into the competition wearing a mask?

“That’s right; seems like it’s impossible to hope for Prince’s survival,” Wolf sighed. “Since I’m such a huge target, it’s likely that I won’t be able to hold out for long. Our best hope will be Lolidragon, I guess. Her agility is so high and her build is quite slender and small.”

Lolidragon laughed dryly. “Don’t pin your hopes on me. I heard that there are already five teams saying that they would be willing to give up the chance for victory just to watch me die a horrible death.”

Man… Lolidragon, what exactly did you do that was so serious that even your beauty couldn’t prevent trouble? The rest of Odd Squad stared disbelievingly at Lolidragon, but the person in question merely shrugged casually. “I’m just too bored when you guys aren’t here, so I used the Steal ability… I only wanted to help earn some team money.”

I leveled a trembling finger at Lolidragon and asked, “How much exactly did you steal?”

“One million, six hundred and fifty-five thousand, seven hundred and twenty dollars1… Plus a Soul-Heaven Royal Sword and a Taoist robe that she hasn’t sold yet,” Yu Lian-dàsăo meticulously reported. After a pause she added, “That’s just the portion that Lolidragon gave us to be used on team expenses.”

“Lolidragon, how much did you steal for yourself?” Both my menacing gaze and the blade of my menacing Black Dao were drifting between Lolidragon’s neck and heart.

“Not much…” Lolidragon’s face was artless and innocent. Hearing her words, I relaxed a bit. If it isn’t much, maybe we can just return all the money to the people that she stole from…

“I only bought two suitcases from LV and three evening gowns from Chanel…”

“Two suitcases and three evening gowns? That’s not too bad. We can just pool the money from all six of us to cover the cost,” Wolf and Gui, neither of whom knew the difference between life and death, commented lightly.

“You guys don’t understand!” four terrifying women roared simultaneously… and then everyone gave me a weird look. (Except for Lolidragon, who seemed happy… Grrr!)

I coughed fiercely in an attempt to cover my mistake. “Ahem, I’m somewhat familiar with popular brands…”

“So just how much does all that cost then?” Gui asked uncomprehendingly.

Yu Lian-dàsăo’s eyebrows furrowed as she calculated. “Two suitcases…? One suitcase costs approximately two hundred thousand dollars, so that’s about four hundred thousand… and if the three gowns are the latest season’s…” She rested her palm against her forehead and looked as if she was going to faint. Wolf quickly placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder to support her.

“LOLIDRAGON…” I growled, resting my Black Dao against her neck again. “How much is it exactly?”

“I guess it’s roughly one and a half million for the suitcases and the latest season’s gowns,” Lolidragon said, blinking her eyes innocently.

Everyone’s expressions turned blank.

“Let’s give up on Lolidragon then. We should try to think of a way to ensure the survival of the rest of the team; there’s a much better chance of that happening,” I said in defeat after a moment. The others nodded weakly in agreement.

“That leaves only Yu Lian, Doll, and Gui?” Wolf asked as he scratched the fur on his head. “Yu Lian and Gui both belong to physically weak classes – mage and bard respectively – so it would be kind of hard for them to survive, too. Doll has the best chances; she’ll have a lot of skeletons to protect her.”

Therefore, our chances for victory rest on Doll? We looked as one at the innocently smiling Doll. Yes! Our chances do look pretty good after all. Doll is so adorable… Surely no one would have the heart to bully her, right?

“It’s decided then. Everyone protect Doll!” Wolf said decisively.

“There is still another way, you know,” Lolidragon said, waving her forefinger. “Wicked from Dark Emperor just PMed me and asked if we want to form an alliance with them.”

“Alliance?” I asked uncertainly.

With a mysterious expression, Lolidragon explained, “Actually, it’s an open secret that a lot of teams have formed various large and small alliances in order to win. Once the competition starts, the alliances will fight each other first, after which the alliances will break up into their teams and face off. Finally, the surviving remnants of the team will fight to the last man in order to determine the winner.

“Hence, if we form an alliance with Dark Emperor, then we will start the competition by fighting against other teams first. If both our teams can survive until the end, then the final confrontation will be between our teams.”

“But the allied teams may end up being a hindrance to their allies,” Wolf remarked in a worried voice.

“That’s why we all need to decide whether we can trust Dark Emperor Team or not,” Lolidragon said as though that was the obvious answer.

“If my memory serves me correctly, our teams are sworn enemies,” Gui replied coolly. 100% disapproval was written all over his face.

“One vote against, one vote in favor, so it’s a tie for now. What about other people?” Lolidragon had begun to keep count of the votes with considerable enthusiasm.

The furrow between Wolf-dàgē’s brows grew deeper, and deeper, and deeper, until at last he said in a troubled voice, “I also vote in favor. We don’t know any other teams and surviving alone is too hard.”

“I’m with Wolf.” Yu Lian-dàsăo looked at Wolf lovingly. She always followed her husband’s opinions.

“Wow, that’s already half of us in favor of it. Prince, Doll, how about you two?”

“Doll doesn’t mind either way,” said Doll, an especially pure and ethereal smile on her face.

“Prince.” Everyone stared at me. But I… I really don’t want to see Wicked now, and who knows if he’ll suddenly see the light and recognize me as Feng Lan? My stupid brother already told him I’m a tranny… However, more than that, I don’t want to be mashed into a meat paste during the melee.

“In favor.”

“Then it’s decided!” Lolidragon said happily. “We will undergo special training with Dark Emperor every day this week.”

“Lolidragon, what are you so happy about?” I asked Lolidragon with suspicion in my eyes.

Lolidragon winked at me, then PMed me her reply. “Feng Wu Qing will be there. When Wolf-gē and Gui see your brother, the misunderstanding will clear up. Haven’t you always wanted to resolve that misunderstanding? See how nice I am to you?”

The problem is, after solving the problem with my brother there’ll be a new problem, this time involving Zhuo-gēge… God, why are you so unwilling to go easy on me? Sigh, I don’t care anymore. After all, Wicked shouldn’t be able to recognize me…right? I tried to console myself uneasily.

“It’s been a while, Prince.” Zhuo-gēge… no, Wicked’s distant smile appeared before my eyes once again. At his back was a clearly annoyed Ming Huang, whom I used to call Zhuo-xiăodìdi, and at his side was the charming and suave Feng Wu Qing, who was fanning himself with a feather fan. My stupid brother…

No wonder they are my sworn enemies!

“Feng Yang Ming?” Gui looked at Feng Wu Qing, dumbfounded, before turning back to look at me.

“Hello, professor,” Feng Wu Qing said, grinning. “It didn’t cross your mind that I might be a member of Dark Emperor, did it?”

Judging by Gui’s disbelieving expression, I think the thing that he didn’t expect was you being a member of Dark Emperor instead of Prince in Odd Squad.

“You— Are you really Feng Yang Ming?” Gui still looked flabbergasted, as though he could not bring himself to believe that he had actually gotten the wrong person.

“Yes?” Feng Wu Qing queried, looking oddly at the professor who seemed to be a tad too shocked.

As for me, I realized I had thwarted my own plans, since I’d wanted to entertain myself with the scene of Gui and Wicked fighting over my brother and getting all jealous. What a pity! Still, looking at Gui’s astonished expression and my brother’s apparent confusion, I found a different entertainment…

With a considerable effort, I suppressed my laughter and said seriously, “We are very happy to be able to work with Dark Emperor. I hope that both teams can support each other till the end.”

“Let’s hope that is the case.” Wicked smiled faintly.

“When the time comes, don’t blame us for defeating you lot and winning the competition,” Ming Huang said with a face filled with malice. It was obvious that he hadn’t desired an alliance with Odd Squad in the least.

On the surface, I merely looked silently at Ming Huang, but in my heart I sighed, feeling infinitely regretful. Why has the cute Ming Bin from before become so bratty now? Should I help Zhuo-gēge teach his wayward brother some manners?

Wolf-dàgē suddenly clapped his hands. “Okay, that’s it for everything that is unrelated to the competition! The thing that is most important for us now is the battle next week.”

Hearing that, Gui, Feng Wu Qing, Ming Huang, and I – who were all either staring or glaring daggers at each other – reluctantly withdrew our gazes and paid attention to Wolf-dàgē as he spoke.

“It is my opinion that we should try to practice surviving in a situation where we are surrounded by enemies on all sides. Hence, I suggest that we find a training place that is filled with mobs,” Wolf-dàgē said.

“Dàgē, it’ll be very easy to become pillars of white light if we do that,” I said apprehensively, breaking out into cold sweat. The others also swallowed nervously, looking somewhat petrified by the thought.

“To win, one must always make sacrifices,” Wolf-dàgē said ruthlessly. “Of course, it’s also best not to lower our team’s level whenever possible.”

Sigh! Ever since I first met Wolf-dàgē, I had come to understand the phrase “To resign oneself to one’s fate”. Since Wolf-dàgē had determined that I had the lowest chances of survival in the team, he ordered me (Yes, that’s right! It was definitely an order!) to use my final moments to kill as many mobs as possible, so as to buy time for my other team mates to escape. This way, our team’s level wouldn’t be lowered by unnecessary deaths.

And that’s how I’ve ended up running for my life with a huge bunch of mobs hot on my heels right now…

Time really seemed to drag on forever, with every second feeling like a year… After a few thousand years, I finally accomplished my impossible mission and pulled2 dozens of monsters away from my team without lighting any fireworks (that is to say, turning into a pillar of white light).

I was so tired that I crawled back to my team on all fours like a dog. But just when I was about to sit down comfortably on the sidelines to watch Wicked’s Flawless Frenzied Sword-Dance and Feng Wu Qing’s Flexible Sword Technique…

“Prince, there are too many monsters again. Hurry up and pull them away,” Wolf-dàgē shouted at me from the other side of the Great Wall of Monsters.

My eyes glazed over like those of a dead fish and I was left speechless…

“Hurry up and pull them away! I’ve already cast Wrath of the Nine Heavens twice and we still can’t clear them!” Ming Huang shouted, his face clearly showing his annoyance.

I shot Ming Huang a savage glare, but took out Meatbun resignedly. “Meatbun, use Machine Gun Meat Attack.”

“Are we roasting meat again Mama? But I don’t see Fire Bird.” Meatbun said, eagerly hopping here and there, looking for Fire Phoenix.

“HURRY UP AND FIRE!” both teams — twelve people in total — roared together.

I boarded the “number 11 bus”3 once again and started running, and running, and running… Bloody hell! A devastated expression crossed my face and I mentally wailed in a tragic voice: There. Is. A. Cliff. Ahead!

For the first time in my life, I truly felt that my abysmal sense of direction was criminal.

What am I supposed to do about the horde of mobs that were eyeing my back with a predatory gaze? I stared at the cliff — it looks high enough that a fall would lead to certain death… — then turned back and stared at the huge number of mobs behind me.

They could probably just trample me dead… Plummet to my death? Or be trampled to death? This…seems like a difficult choice?

Hanging onto my final shred of hope, I switched to the team channel and asked, “Wolf-dàgē, how many monsters are there left at your side?” Do you have the time to come and save me?

“The monsters’ numbers are just fine; I think we can clear them in half an hour.” After Wolf finished replying to me, there was no further news from his end.

Half an hour? There might not even be ashes left of me by then…

I clutched my beloved Black Dao tightly and muttered under my breath, “Come and get me! You stupid monsters, even if I die I will drag some of you to the grave with me.” The first ones to rush at me were a Bosilimi,4 a spider monster with a human head, a huge slime monster, the very aggressive leader of a tribe of pygmies, and—

There’s just too many of them! I gulped and retreated a few steps, but I hadn’t noticed that I was already next to the cliff’s ledge, and in a moment of inattention…

“Done at last!” Lolidragon groaned as she sprawled beside the road. She was panting heavily; the distance she’d covered wasn’t any less than Prince! Due to her higher agility but lower attack power when compared to the idiotic Playboy Lord, Lolidragon ended up having to be the bait that lured the mobs to run in circles.

On the other side of the road, however, Wicked and Feng Wu Qing were even worse off. Not only had they had to chase the mobs, they’d had to fight mobs too until their arms had turned to jelly. Both of them were panting heavily and their faces were pale.

“Ok, is anyone dead or injured?” Wolf asked as he stood up and looked over everyone. “Report!”

“1,” said Human warrior Feng Wu Qing.

“2,” said Dark elf warrior Wicked.

“3,” said Human mage Ming Huang.

“4,” said Human thief Playboy Lord.

“5,” said Elf archer Ambusher.

“6,” said Angel priest Black Lily.

“Mm…all members of Dark Emperor Team are here.” Wolf turned to look at his own teammates. “Five people? Isn’t Prince back yet?”

“Prince, where are you? We’re done fighting!! Stop lazing around and come back quickly,” Lolidragon shouted through the team channel, but there was no response even after a long time.

“What happened? Don’t tell me Prince is dead?” Gui’s face became anxious.

“It’s possible,” Lolidragon said, recalling the huge amount of mobs that Prince had pulled away the last time… He might really have died.

“I’ll PM him to see whether he is online or not.”

“Well?” Wolf asked, concerned.

“Weird, he is online but he isn’t replying.” Lolidragon furrowed her brows.

“Perhaps he’s angry?” Wicked opined impassively. “We did force him to lure a ton of mobs away… Perhaps that was a bit too mean?”

Everyone in Odd Squad gave Wicked an odd look and said in unison, “That fellow has already resigned himself to fate!”

“Plus he won’t get angry at us; he’ll just vent all his anger on Gui,” Lolidragon added.

“Then what had happened to Prince-gēge?” Doll worriedly asked.

“Who knows? But he probably isn’t in any big trouble,” Lolidragon replied. It’s an online game, the worst thing that can happen is dying, right? Lolidragon tried to reassure herself, but at the same time she was slightly uneasy.

Ouch…Did I faint? I tried to raise my right hand to touch my head, which was hurting from a splitting headache, only to find… Why can’t I move my right arm?

Of course I can’t, I thought as I glanced at my right hand. It was covered in so much blood that it could pass for a hot dog covered in ketchup.

As for my left hand… I tried to move it, but the pain nearly drove the tears from my eyes. I glanced at my left hand and thought, Oh, fantastic! My white bones are already outdoors, shopping.

Next, I weakly opened my mouth to shout, but blood gushed out from my mouth like water from a tap. I no longer dared to verify whether my legs were capable of walking … God! Lying here half-dead is more painful than simply dying…

It hurts, it really hurts! I looked at the cliff that I had fallen off, trying hard to imprint on my memory the knowledge that a fall from this height isn’t enough to kill, and that I should remember not to fall off random cliffs anymore…

No! What am I thinking! I should be hurrying to PM other people to come and rescue me, before I faint again.

“Guys… save… save me…” The blood in my mouth…how salty…

“Prince?” Everyone in Odd Squad blanched. “Where are you?! Did you die?”

“Urgh… It hurts… Come and save me soon, or you can just come to kill me off!” The pain had made me delirious and I was starting to spout nonsense.

Gui was so worried that he shouted, “Prince, where are you?!”

“Cliff… Don’t jump off one for fun… It hurts…!” My head spun and I saw stars.

“Hang in there, Prince! Don’t go offline yet; we’ll come find you right away.” Is that Wolf-dàgē’s voice? It sounds like it’s so far away.

Pain… P… My consciousness no longer registered any word but “pain”.

All the members of Odd Squad looked as white as a sheet.

“I think Prince has probably fallen off some cliff. Everyone split up to find him, quick! Inform me once you’ve found him so that I can heal him,” Wolf-dàgē bellowed urgently. As soon as he’d finished speaking, everyone dashed off in separate directions.

“We’ll help you with your search,” Wicked offered, concerned.

“Prince, where are you?” Gui was in such a state that he seemed almost like a man possessed. Yelling frantically, he ran helter-skelter as he searched.

After instructing his team members to help with the search, Wicked surveyed his surroundings carefully. Given Prince’s speed and the direction in which he was headed last, where could he have fallen off?

In the meantime, I was mentally lamenting my situation.

Why can’t I just die? Could this be considered a miscalculation by the game developers? I have to keep lying here, in such pain and agony, just so that everyone can find me? I’m absolutely going to complain to Lolidragon – the hidden GM – when I see her later…

To divert my attention from the pain, I came up with all sorts of nonsensical thoughts and ideas, but… Why hasn’t anyone come to save me yet? Wuuuh, it really hurts! Someone save me! Please! Gui, where are you? Let me punch you to vent my feelings, waaah! …

Wait, who? Who is that? As the sound of footsteps reached me, I felt so touched that I wanted to see for myself who was approaching…

“I finally found you,” the person said as he kneeled down beside me. He took out a health potion and tried to feed it to me, but I barely managed to swallow two mouthfuls.

“Is it Gui?” My vision was so blurry that I couldn’t make out the person in front of me… Who is it?

“No, it’s Wicked. I’ve run out of health potions, so I’ll have to bring you back to the priests for healing,” Wicked said as he scooped me up from the ground.

“Oh… So it’s… It’s Zhuo-gēge!” I muttered to myself in relief.

Zhuo. Gē. Ge?! Wicked thought, stunned. He lowered his head to look at me closely, but I didn’t notice because I’d been rendered delirious from the pain.

After peering carefully at my features, he whispered, “The exact same pair of eyes… and last time Yang Ming had told me that she was playing a male character in Second Life. Plus he called me Zhuo-gēge… Don’t tell me you’re… Xiao Lan?!”

Wicked stared at my pain-riddled countenance with mounting alarm.

“Xiao Lan, is that you?” Wicked asked loudly, his voice filled with distress.

“Prince! We’ve found Prince!” Gui called as he sprinted towards us. “Thanks, Wicked.”

Gui reached out, thinking to take me from Wicked’s hold, but Wicked just gripped me closer to him. He ignored Gui and instead walked over to meet Ugly Wolf, who was running over.

“…” Gui could only stare in bewilderment as Wicked stoically strode past him, carefully cradling me in his arms.

Once Wolf-dàgē had finished casting a number of powerful healing spells on me, I finally revived and returned to my usual self – and boy was I pissed!

“Why did it take you guys so long to find me? I was in a lot of pain!” I snapped, remembering my earlier miserable situation with a shudder.