After Joining the Game, She Came Out as Gay [Infinite] - Chapter 24

Although Qi Cheng’s kiss was sudden, it was sweet.

It made Xia Lin unable to resist deepening the embrace. Xia Lin’s gaze was tender and lingering. The quilt wasn’t completely sealed, allowing thin slivers of light to filter through the gaps. Moreover, Qi Cheng’s night vision had always been excellent. Being focused on by such an affectionate gaze from Xia Lin, even if Qi Cheng’s heart were harder than stone, it would have melted by now.

So, despite being embarrassed to death, Qi Cheng still permitted Xia Lin’s invasion and responded to the kiss. As long as it meant Xia Lin could successfully resurrect, she was willing to do anything. Anything, as long as Xia Lin could live again.

…

The kiss was warm and cozy.

Five minutes hadn’t passed yet, but Xia Lin understood that this was already Qi Cheng’s limit. She licked Qi Cheng’s lips and pulled away reluctantly.

“That’s foul play, Qi Cheng,” Xia Lin whispered softly into her ear. “I won’t be able to stop myself from making a move on you.”

Qi Cheng’s face grew even redder. She turned her head away but actively admitted her mistake. “I’m sorry. I went to the fourth floor yesterday. But… but don’t worry! I’m fine… it’s just been a long time since I’ve been that ‘serious,’ so my physical functions consumed a bit more energy than usual… but I didn’t push myself too hard, don’t worry…”

“Handling magic beasts while mining at the same time?”

“I… I just thought there might be more high-quality goods on the fourth floor… turns out it’s basically the same as the third, just that the beasts are much fiercer… Hey, don’t worry, those beasts are no different from slimes to me…”

“So you scoured the entire fourth floor yesterday?” Xia Lin’s eyes were burning bright.

Qi Cheng choked. Xia Lin was truly too shrewd; nothing could escape her eyes!

“…I just thought, when you come along next time, we could save a lot of trouble…” Qi Cheng continued her guilty explanation.

“…”

She was afraid I would become monster bait, so she went ahead to scout the path.

But Qi Cheng wasn’t looking down on her abilities; she was simply worried. Therefore, Xia Lin decided not to scold her further. What happened yesterday was in the past. Qi Cheng had already received her “punishment,” and Xia Lin didn’t plan to dwell on it. As long as she kept a close eye on her from now on and didn’t let her overexert herself like that again, it would be fine.

“Qi Cheng, I found an NPC yesterday who knows herbology.”

“So fast?” Qi Cheng looked incredulous.

…How on earth did she manage to screen him out of thousands of people in just one day?

“Don’t tell me you acted recklessly yesterday too?” Qi Cheng’s eyes widened.

Too.

Tsk tsk. Look at that, she accidentally exposed herself.

But I’m in a good mood, so I won’t expose you.

“Not as reckless as you,” Xia Lin said with a smile.

Qi Cheng choked again. One thing conquers another. Facing Xia Lin, Qi Cheng had no momentum at all and was completely dominated.

“It’s not clear yet if he knows about the Mimicry Potion; I haven’t maxed out his favorability yet. As for how to win him over quickly, I have an idea…”

Before the word “idea” could fully leave her mouth, the God of Love shouted loudly, “Five minutes are up! You two, come out now!”

The moment Xia Lin crawled out from under the covers, she heard the God of Love complaining incessantly: “How can you hide under the quilt! Xiao Lin, that’s too cunning—!!”

As if I’d let you watch.

…However, even though they were covered by the quilt, this panda likely had a way to determine they had completed the passionate kiss. Otherwise, it would have been picking a fight long ago.

…Sigh, how annoying. I want to spend sweet, private time with Qi Cheng, you idiot!!

“God, the [Mini-Game] is over,” Xia Lin said coldly.

“Eh? It’s over already? We could clearly go for a few more rounds!”

“No need. I just wanted to trick a kiss out of Qi Cheng.”

Qi Cheng: “…”

Even though I know she’s saying that to get rid of the panda, saying it so bluntly is just too…

Cough!

“Alright then, I announce that the [Mini-Game] is over,” the God of Love said, feeling quite disappointed.

Xia Lin untied Qi Cheng and returned the hidden clothes to her.

“The NPC I found is named Pepero, a lizardman. You should have some impression of him.”

“…Ah, him.” Qi Cheng recalled as she pulled on her pants.

That guy didn’t have much of a reputation among the miners and was always alone, so her impression of him was a bit deeper than those generic-faced miners.

“Pepero-san said he’s not very good at his job, so his performance has been poor. He’s now facing a major crisis of being fired by the company.”

“Pepero… ‘-san’?” Qi Cheng repeated after Xia Lin, unable to stop a shiver.

What kind of address was that? It felt a bit disgusting.

“Yes. He likes being called that. If you want to gain his favor, remember to call him that from today on.”

“Is he a girl at heart?” Qi Cheng rolled her eyes. She remembered it was a male lizard.

…Wait.

“‘From today on’…?”

“Yes. Since his performance is poor and he’s about to be fired, if we take him with us on a ‘business trip’ now, I think we can significantly increase his favorability toward us.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Cheng’s eyes lit up. This NPC named Pepero was very likely the key figure they were looking for. An NPC who knew herbology but was about to be fired—it was hard not to imagine this was a malicious setting by the God of Calamity.

If Xia Lin hadn’t quickly gathered this information, they might have missed this NPC and been forever alienated from clearing the mining game! Because in Qi Cheng’s plan to clear the game, the Mimicry Potion was indispensable.

Furthermore, with their current commission earnings, even if one more person shared the cut, it wouldn’t affect their overall gains much. Plus, lizardmen were agile; whether in mining or helping her fight monsters, he could be of great use.

There was also no need to worry about this guy bringing more miners to share the profits after tasting success. Pepero’s antisocial personality was a huge help. If it were someone else, they might suggest letting their good friends in on the deal. After all, working in the same mine for a long time would naturally create emotional bonds.

It seemed that Pepero’s existence itself was the hidden “fairness” within the mining game.

“Then after that long-winded morning meeting, we’ll ask the mine manager for a business trip with him. Since we’ll be acting together from now on, I need to build up some of his favorability as well.”

The higher the NPC’s favorability, the more obedient they would be. If Qi Cheng wanted Pepero to do something, she needed at least some initial favor.

Once everything was packed, the two of them headed out. Xia Lin stared at Qi Cheng’s back, a faint, imperceptible smile appearing on her face.

The purpose of bringing Pepero along, besides efficiently building favor, was also to restrict Qi Cheng’s actions. With Pepero following them, Qi Cheng wouldn’t be able to run off to the fourth or fifth floors of the dungeon alone.

◇

After a morning of mining high-quality magic crystals, Pepero had become very familiar with the two of them. They were already intimately acquainted with the mining spots on the third floor. With Pepero joined as a “laborer” to carry bags, they could equip more pickaxes.

…Anyway, the physical stamina of lizardmen was higher than that of humans and elves.

With the buff from potions, even someone like Xia Lin, an elf with no combat abilities, could use grappling techniques to kill slimes in one hit. Of course, this was also because the martial arts skills Xia Lin learned from her grandfather were excellent. Other elven NPCs might not necessarily reach this level.

Pepero watched in stunned silence.

“Xia Lin-san, Qi Cheng-san, you two are truly amazing. Especially Qi Cheng-san, is your physical ability really human? I heard human physical performance is very poor, even worse than elves… Ah! Sorry, Xia Lin-san, I didn’t mean to look down on you…” Pepero rubbed his head sheepishly.

No wonder he has no friends; he’s far too air-headed, Qi Cheng thought.

Xia Lin naturally didn’t mind and said with a smile, “Qi Cheng-san is no ordinary human! She is my most excellent partner.”

At the crucial moment, she restrained herself from saying “lover.” Moreover, while answering Pepero, Xia Lin took the opportunity to flatter Qi Cheng.

As expected, Qi Cheng felt a bit embarrassed by the praise. She coughed awkwardly and deliberately changed the subject, whispering to Xia Lin, “Stop adding ‘-san’ to my name!”

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” Xia Lin replied in a low voice.

Actually, she quite liked the title “Qi Cheng-san”; it felt like she and Qi Cheng had become closer.

“By the way, Pepero-san, can you tell what the ingredients of this are?” Xia Lin signaled with her eyes, and Qi Cheng nodded, taking out the Mimicry Potion and handing it to him.

Pepero sniffed it and said in surprise, “Where did you get this medicine?”

Qi Cheng and Xia Lin exchanged a glance, giving the prepared answer: “We found it while exploring the dungeon.”

“This is incredible! It contains Sky-Melting Blood Grass!”

Qi Cheng and Xia Lin exchanged another glance. With such a chuunibyou-sounding name, it seemed they had hit the jackpot.

“Pepero-san, can you brew this kind of medicine?” Qi Cheng’s eyes shone, no longer caring about how embarrassing the honorific felt.

Pepero looked regretful. “I only know how to identify herbs and understand their effects. I’m not an alchemist.”

There was a big difference between an alchemist and an herbalist.

Qi Cheng: “…”

Her face immediately slumped into an expression of “What use are you then?”

Xia Lin had a sudden flash of inspiration and asked, “Then, Pepero-san, can you analyze the proportions of the ingredients in this medicine?”

This reminded Qi Cheng. Right! If we know the ingredients, we can just have that dwarf uncle at the potion shop brew it for us! Xia Lin is so smart!

Excited, Qi Cheng slapped Xia Lin hard on the back. “Great job, partner!”

Xia Lin was momentarily stunned. This was the first time Qi Cheng had been so unconsciously intimate with her.

Hehe, that’s a good thing.

Even though that slap was a bit painful for Xia Lin, her heart was filled with overflowing joy.

…As expected, love truly lowers one’s IQ.

Pepero studied it for a while and gave them a positive answer: “I recognize all the herbs inside, and I can figure out the proportions. However, the most important ingredient—the Sky-Melting Blood Grass I mentioned—only grows on the Training Island.”