Did the Top-Ranked Girl Get Exposed Today? [HoloVerse] - Chapter 2

On the other side, Feng Xiaoxiao sat up from the game pod and sneezed inexplicably. She rubbed her nose and turned up the room temperature a few degrees.

The game pod Feng Xiaoxiao was in was a fully immersive holographic pod developed by Wangyi Game Company.

Its overall design resembled an oval, silver-white pill, with futuristic technological patterns flowing across its surface.

The interior space was just enough for Feng Xiaoxiao to lie down in. The fully enclosed design provided a sense of security, allowing one to sleep peacefully inside while entering another holographic world.

The pod automatically adjusted to a comfortable temperature, with fresh air circulating continuously.

When the owner connected to the game, the pod would thoughtfully infuse nutrient fluids to replenish energy for those who played for extended periods.

Of course, the price of such a high-intelligence game pod was also quite “beautiful.” Most people opted for another, more affordable model, which was less aesthetically pleasing and convenient compared to the custom-made versions.

Feng Xiaoxiao’s game pod was customized according to her personal preferences, simple and cold in design.

At the moment, Feng Xiaoxiao was lazily stepping out of the game pod to replenish her energy. The room she was in had an overall cool color palette, with heavy south-facing curtains tightly drawn, blocking out the sky and making it impossible to tell whether it was day or night.

She shuffled lazily in her slippers as she headed downstairs.

The place she lived in now was a two-story villa, situated in a quiet environment at a moderate distance from the city, complete with a small garden.

The garden was filled with flowers called “Moonlight”, which only bloomed at night and were incredibly resilient.

Dark green vines coiled around the house, making it look like a secret workshop where a young witch brewed potions.

Feng Xiaoxiao had fallen in love with this little house at first sight and, after promptly paying for it, moved in with just her luggage.

This tranquil space was hers alone, with only scheduled housekeeping services visiting to tidy up.

As she opened the fridge and took out a plain-flavored nutrient drink, she also turned on her phone, which she hadn’t checked in days.

Unsurprisingly, the message bar only contained some useless notifications, and the chat apps were equally quiet.

After a moment’s thought, Feng Xiaoxiao opened her social media feed. The latest post was a family photo shared by her mother, showing several people happily smiling at the camera.

At the center of the photo, surrounded by everyone, was a young girl with a radiant, joyful smile. In front of her was a cream cake with a “18” birthday candle, and in the corner of the photo, a pile of meticulously wrapped gifts of various sizes.

Feng Xiaoxiao scrolled down a bit more, but the content was all similar, with captions like “Happy 18th birthday to our daughter/baby Feng Wanyi!”

She let out a soft “tsk” and scrolled back to the top, giving her mother’s post a like.

Closing her phone, she drank the nutrient drink and returned to her bedroom.

She didn’t turn on the light but walked to the window and pulled open the curtains that had been closed for days. A sliver of bright moonlight squeezed into the room through the gap.

So, it was already nighttime, Feng Xiaoxiao thought idly as she tossed the empty nutrient drink bottle into the trash.

Suddenly, a ringtone shattered the room’s tranquility. Feng Xiaoxiao looked down at her phone, the caller ID showed “Mother.”

She answered the call, and the lively noises from the other side instantly flooded into her quiet space through the thin screen.

“Hello?” Feng Xiaoxiao’s voice was drowned out by the celebratory sounds from the other end.

“Xiaoxiao, wait a moment…” The woman’s voice on the phone was faint, likely because they had already reached the birthday song segment. “Happy birthday to you…”

“Happy birthday to you~”

“Happy 18th birthday to Wanyi!”

A gift box popped open, streamers sprayed everywhere, and laughter echoed from both ends of the line.

The sounds abruptly ceased as Feng Xiaoxiao decisively hung up the phone.

Not long after, the phone rang again, the caller ID still showed “Mother.”

Feng Xiaoxiao let it ring, waiting until she confirmed the woman wouldn’t hang up on her own before reluctantly answering again.

“What is it?” This time, the background noise was much quieter, suggesting her mother had stepped outside to make the call.

“Xiaoxiao…” Her mother, Feng Hua, sounded hesitant and ingratiating.

“Just say what you need to. I’m going to bed.” Feng Xiaoxiao replied coldly.

“Resting so early? Well, it’s good for you to sleep more since your health isn’t great, but don’t oversleep. Remember to take the medicine the doctor prescribed on time, and cut back on gaming.”

Feng Hua rambled on with mundane chatter. To an outsider unaware of the context, it might have seemed like a warm scene of a mother caring for her daughter living away from home.

“Enough. It’s tiresome when you do this every time. I told you last time, I don’t care about any of this. You don’t need to worry about me, and I won’t bother any of you.”

Feng Xiaoxiao grew increasingly impatient, already regretting her impulsive decision to like that post earlier.

“Xiaoxiao… you…” Feng Hua wanted to say more, but years of neglect had left her at a loss for how to communicate with this daughter who had always been solitary in her memories.

After a pause, she finally spoke softly,

“Xiaoxiao, happy birthday.”

Feng Xiaoxiao’s hand tightened around the phone instantly, her knuckles turning white with tension. Struggling to control her emotions, she managed only a calm:

“Thank you.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

The call ended, but Feng Xiaoxiao remained frozen in the same position for a long time.

“Hah…” A soft, bitter laugh escaped her throat, whether mocking herself or her hypocritical mother, she didn’t know.

“Pointless.” Her body felt as if sinking into the ocean depths. With all enthusiasm gone, she pulled the covers over herself and let her thoughts drift into the dreamless void.

On the other end, at the birthday party, Feng Hua stared blankly at the call record on her phone.

“What’s wrong?” Qi Su, still smiling, brought over a slice of cake and handed it to Feng Hua.

“Wanyi is already cutting the cake. If you don’t hurry, there might not be enough for everyone with so many people here.”

Feng Hua looked at the cake in his hand, fresh strawberries adorned the smooth cream, its sweetness almost palpable even before tasting.

“I was thinking about Xiaoxiao,” she murmured, her confused voice acting like a mute button. Upon hearing the name, the expressions of those around froze mid-laughter, their words halting abruptly.

“Xiaoxiao turned 19 today too.” Feng Hua knew bringing up her neglected eldest daughter would ruin the mood, yet she couldn’t stop herself from dwelling on it.

Two children sharing the same birthday, one alone and struggling far from home, the other freely basking in all the family’s affection.

Was this truly fair?

Feng Hua had long known the answer in her heart. But as a mother, she couldn’t bring herself to be so heartless as to completely abandon that child.

“At this point, there’s no use dwelling on these matters,” Qi Su said, as if reading her thoughts, patting her shoulder reassuringly. “We and that child Xiaoxiao were simply not fated to be family in this lifetime.”

“Alright, Wanyi has come of age today. Cheer up, she’s still waiting for you to open gifts with her.”

Seeing her other daughter watching her expectantly from nearby, Feng Hua suppressed the thoughts that had just surfaced.

Xiaoxiao was already like this, but she still had Wanyi.

The cheerful melody started up again, and the young girl surrounded by love and gifts slowly began unwrapping each present filled with affection.

…

The morning sunlight streamed into the room. Feng Xiaoxiao covered her eyes and struggled to sit up in bed, staring at the arc of sunlight beside her.

Rubbing her sleep-deprived head, she felt a throbbing headache, she had forgotten to close the curtains last night.

With sleepiness completely gone, she got up grumpily to wash up. The sunlight reminded her of someone she disliked. Neither had actually done anything wrong, but Feng Xiaoxiao couldn’t help directing her irritation toward both.

After freshening up, a revitalized Feng Xiaoxiao lazily flopped back onto the bed, this time making sure to draw the curtains.

Having just lost a battle and quit the game last night, Feng Xiaoxiao wasn’t eager to start a new account immediately. But with few entertainment options and limited social interactions outside gaming, she found herself at a loss for what to do.

She pondered with her clever brain: Maybe I should just go back to sleep.

Bed: You just got up and now you want to use me again?

No, I can’t be this lazy.

Summoning her energy, Feng Xiaoxiao opened the game forum and browsed through posts. The hottest topics were, unsurprisingly, her duel with Di Xiang and her account deletion.

Most players were just spectating and marveling at how the top-ranked player had deleted her account without hesitation.

Feng Xiaoxiao casually clicked on a newly posted thread about her account deletion, where discussions were in full swing.

[Anonymous: She actually deleted it! Top players really are something else, willing to delete the number one ranked account.]

[Anonymous: Seriously deleted. I can’t even imagine how valuable that account must be. Who do you think had the more valuable account, Shang Xianyue or the previous number one, Fifty Strings from String Song?]

[Anonymous: Definitely Shang Xianyue. Fifty Strings was only first in String Song, but Shang Xianyue defeated everyone except the top player from Celestial Feather. Plenty of rich young masters and misses would pay a fortune just for those titles.]

[Anonymous: Must be nice to be rich. If you want to be number one, you can just buy an account. Meanwhile, us common players have to grind our way up.]

[Anonymous: Being rich really is great… Anyway, I need to go earn money by running dungeons for clients.]

[Anonymous: Off-topic, but since Shang Xianyue deleted her account, doesn’t that mean all her gear and items are scattered across the game map and dungeons now?]

[Anonymous: Wait, you’ve spotted the key point. No wonder there are so few people online despite such a big event, they’re all out looting gear.]

[Anonymous: Hey, wait for me! Damn you all, looting gear without me!!!]

In the game Tianxia, when top-ranked players choose to delete their accounts, all their equipment and inventory items are randomly distributed across the game map or dungeons by the system, or become rewards for new dungeons and challenges.

It’s essentially self-sustaining recycling.

That’s why Feng Xiaoxiao had carefully selected a few items to give away before deleting her account, leaving the rest to fall into the hands of fortunate players.

Having been the top-ranked player on the Sword Dream leaderboard for so long, not to mention the countless rare treasures she had accumulated, even just her top-tier equipment alone was enough to make others envious. Being fortunate enough to obtain one or two of her items could easily boost someone’s ranking by several places.

Thus, her decision to delete her account was nothing short of a public celebration. As one moon sets, all things flourish.

Feng Xiaoxiao, however, felt little attachment to the gear and items she had painstakingly earned over time. After all, she had written the challenge herself, and losing was simply a matter of insufficient skill, there was no one else to blame.

She accepted defeat with grace, understanding that victory and defeat are common occurrences in any competition. Back when she was still an unknown player struggling to make her way, she had been thoroughly crushed by more skilled players countless times.

Of course, every beating she endured on her path to fame was eventually repaid in kind.

This time, too, she would rise again and reclaim her peak position.

Filled with renewed determination, Feng Xiaoxiao chose to re-enter the game. With soaring ambition, she connected the cables, closed her eyes inside the gaming pod, and let her consciousness fade into darkness.

Slowly, a line of text emerged in her mind:

[New player detected. Log in now?]

Feng Xiaoxiao mentally confirmed.

[You are now logging into world of ‘Tianxia.’ Enjoy your game!]