My Online Date is My Roommate - Chapter 10

Lazy Boss was generous, sending ten stamina pills in one go enough to fully restore Jiang Mingbo’s stamina.

Little Fishy: [Actions speak louder than words! I’ve officially reserved this first coffin for you!] Lazy Boss: […Do I even want to say thank you for that?] Little Fishy: [No need to be polite!]

Jiang Mingbo didn’t have the energy to keep chatting. He buried his head back into the grind. He had no idea how much time he’d wasted on this cliffside, but he refused to leave empty-handed. He swung his axe with renewed vigor.

Another thirty minutes passed. Even the patient Jiang Mingbo was starting to feel discouraged. Damn game developers! He decided that if this round of stamina didn’t yield results, he’d cut his losses. It wasn’t like he needed to build a coffin.

As he clicked the screen rhythmically, he cursed the game under his breath. Who came up with this mechanic? It was pure torture.

Perhaps it was the class bonus, or perhaps it was just raw persistence, but as his second stamina bar neared its end, the screen flashed with a golden light.

System: [Congratulations to Young Hero Little Fishy for their unyielding efforts in successfully obtaining Golden Phoebe Wood x1]

World: Spring Breeze: [Holy crap, Golden Phoebe! Someone’s getting rich!] World: I Eat Pomelo: [How long has it been since a Phoebe broadcast? I can’t believe a player actually stuck it out!!] World: Forwarding Koi: [Our ‘Fishy’ family is truly capable.] World: Spring Breeze: [Could you have some shame, please?] World: Latte: [Quick, Little Fishy, list it in the Trade Union! I want to see how high the bidding goes!!]

In this game, the Trade Union allowed bidding. A seller sets a price, and buyers can outbid each other for thirty minutes. The seller can then choose the highest bidder.

Fei Wenxu wasn’t in the game yet, but his guild’s WeChat group was blowing up. Tan Rui was too busy copying homework to notice his phone.

Guanshan is Hard to Cross: [@Fish, your Golden Phoebe has appeared.] Piggy Needs a Diet: [Holy!!! Leader!!! Golden Phoebe!!! Get online now while it’s fresh!]

Fei Wenxu raised an eyebrow. Finally. He immediately logged in on his computer.

Jiang Mingbo, meanwhile, didn’t think much of the fuss. He was currently using the teleport at the bottom of the mountain, this “garbage game” made you climb up manually but let you teleport down instantly.

As soon as he landed, he saw Lazy Boss waiting in the crowd, looking heroic in his black swordsman gear.

Lazy Boss: [Good luck you’ve got there.] Little Fishy: [Naturally! So, how do I make your coffin?] Lazy Boss: […Can you stop saying ‘make your coffin’ every other sentence?]

Jiang Mingbo found the guy hilarious. He spammed laughing emojis: [Didn’t you say it? Promotion and fortune! I’m starting the build now, okay?]

Lazy Boss: [Golden Phoebe is rare. No one has found any lately. Do you want to list it in the Trade Union to make some real money?]

Jiang Mingbo didn’t care about the money. He had made a promise.

Little Fishy: [Forget the money. I promised you. Do you want the Golden Phoebe Coffin or just the wood?] Lazy Boss: [The coffin…]

He could use the wood for gear later, but his alt was ages away from needing it. A coffin for the secret quest seemed more fun.

Little Fishy: [You got it! Watch and learn!]

He opened his sub-profession menu, ready to build the coffin in the middle of the street.

System Notification: [Insufficient Stamina. Please rest, Young Hero~]

Little Fishy: [Whoops, out of juice. Let me go buy some meds at the market.]

Lazy Boss was in no hurry; he had a feeling this person wouldn’t flake on him.

As Jiang Mingbo headed for the market teleport, a private message popped up.

Fish: [You farmed Golden Phoebe?]

Jiang Mingbo’s brow twitched. Look who decided to show up. Now that he saw something rare, he was suddenly interested?

Little Fishy: [?]

Fei Wenxu paused. Was she angry?

Fish: [I’ll buy it.] Little Fishy: [Sorry, someone already claimed it.] Fish: [Whatever they offered, I’ll add a million gold.]

Jiang Mingbo was stunned. Is it that serious? A million gold was about a thousand yuan. What a sucker!

Little Fishy: [No can do. I promised him. He took the time to teach me the game and gave me pills when I was stuck. I told him he could have it if I found it.]

Fei Wenxu frowned, feeling like he was being blamed.

Fish: [Could you reconsider selling it to me?] Little Fishy: [Nope~]

Fei Wenxu looked at her profile, she still didn’t have a guild tag. He typed carefully:

Fish: [Do you still want to join a guild?] Little Fishy: [What, you want to trade? Let me in if I give you the wood?]

Fei Wenxu chuckled. He wanted the wood, but he wouldn’t stoop to that.

Fish: [Not a trade. An apology.] Little Fishy: [You’re being this kind?] Fish: [I don’t want your wood. Do you want to join my guild or not?]

Jiang Mingbo rolled his eyes. You ask and I just come? Where’s my dignity?

Little Fishy: [No. You lied to me before.]

He then sent a custom “sarcastic” emoji.

Little Fishy: [Oh, so now it’s ‘your’ guild? I bet you were the one who rejected my application!]

Fish: [Did you apply before? I didn’t know. Administrators have permission to reject people. I really didn’t see it…] Little Fishy: [It’s fine. After all, you’re the Leader with ‘no permissions’~]

Fei Wenxu sighed. Will I ever hear the end of this?

Fish: [I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied.]

It was rare for Fei Wenxu to soften his tone. Usually, if someone was this difficult, he’d just block them and move on.

Little Fishy: [Oooooh look at you…]

Fei Wenxu laughed at the sarcastic “Oooooh.”

In the top bunk, Jiang Mingbo sat up straight. What’s he laughing at? Is he mocking me?

Fish: [So, are you coming?] Little Fishy: [Yes!]

Jiang Mingbo knew when to stop. This was a huge step forward; he wasn’t about to miss it! He sent his application immediately.

System: [Young Hero, you have successfully joined the guild 【Pond】. Grow together with your guildmates!]

Jiang Mingbo stared at the name.

Little Fishy: [Is it too late to quit?] Fish: [What’s wrong?] Little Fishy: [The name… ‘Pond’? Could you be any more lazy?] Fish: [It’s fitting, isn’t it? Fish’s guild belongs in a pond. You’re ‘Little Fishy,’ so don’t you belong here?]

Jiang Mingbo rolled his eyes, but before he could reply, Lazy Boss messaged him.

Lazy Boss: [Done with the pills yet?] Little Fishy: [I’ll talk to you later, let me grab some meds first.]

System Notification: [Your friend Fish has gifted you Stamina Pills x10. May your friendship last forever~]

Little Fishy: [What are you doing?] Fish: [Didn’t you need pills?] Little Fishy: [Just so we’re clear, I didn’t ask for these. I have no money to pay you back!] Fish: [Did I ask you to?]

The smile never left Fei Wenxu’s face. Tan Rui, having finished his homework, turned around and saw his roommate looking uncharacteristically cheerful. “Fish-ge, what happened? Share the joy.”

“Just met a funny game friend,” Fei said.

Jiang Mingbo pursed his lips. Just ‘funny’? Not ‘heart-fluttering’? Fine, funny is a start. Funny leads to liking, and liking leads to heartbreak! Jiang’s eyes narrowed with determination.

He accepted the gift. No reason to refuse a rich sucker’s money. He quickly crafted the Golden Phoebe Coffin right in front of Fei Wenxu.

Fei stood frozen as the Guardian character swung her axe, turning the glowing wood into a shiny, bright coffin.

System: [Young Hero Little Fishy’s skills are exquisite! They have crafted a Golden Phoebe Coffin! Truly a cause for celebration!]

World: Spring Breeze: [What’s to celebrate about a coffin? Have the devs lost their minds?] World: Forwarding Koi: [Little Fishy again? They farmed Golden Phoebe just to make a coffin? What kind of dark humor is this?]

Jiang Mingbo ignored the world chat. He was admiring his handiwork. Ever since Lazy Boss mentioned “promotion and fortune,” he found the golden coffin quite lucky-looking.

Fei Wenxu frowned. Is she so mad she made a coffin just to curse me?

Fish: [Are you still that angry?] Little Fishy: [What are you talking about?] Fish: [Are you going to use that coffin to curse me?]

Jiang Mingbo let out a snort of laughter, making Tan Rui look up. “Bo-er, what’s up? What did you see that made you look so smug?”

“I saw a delusional idiot,” Jiang replied.

Tan Rui felt like nobody in the room was being normal today. He shut down his computer.

Little Fishy: [Dream on. Someone ordered this. They’re paying a high price!]

Just then, Lazy Boss arrived.

Nearby: Lazy Boss: [Wow, that was fast!] Nearby: Little Fishy: [Of course! Customer satisfaction guaranteed!] Nearby: Lazy Boss: [Wait, my eyes aren’t deceiving me… the #1 Swordsman? Big Boss! You two know each other?] Nearby: Little Fishy: [Stop talking. Do you want the coffin or should I give it to someone else? People are offering more!]

The casual familiarity between them, and the way Little Fishy treated him as an afterthought, made Fei Wenxu feel strangely annoyed. But the feeling passed quickly, and he returned to his usual calm.

Nearby: Lazy Boss: [Hey hey, don’t be like that!] Nearby: Little Fishy: [Fine, fine. Just kidding.]

They completed the trade right in front of Fei. The piece of wood he had waited a month for was now someone else’s property. He was disappointed, but he wasn’t going to go back on his word.

Nearby: Lazy Boss: [You still haven’t said, how do you know each other?] Nearby: Little Fishy: [Look at my guild tag.]

Nearby: Lazy Boss: [Oh! You went from a solo player to having a home instantly?] Nearby: Little Fishy: [I have to draw the line with solo players like you. Times have changed.]

They chatted until the screen was full, leaving Fei Wenxu standing on the sidelines. He wasn’t angry; it just felt fresh to be the “background character” for once.

After Lazy Boss left to find his NPC, only Jiang and Fei remained. Jiang Mingbo was thrilled, he had just made a few hundred gold profit. He looked at Fei Wenxu still standing there and pretended not to notice.

Little Fishy: [Why haven’t you left yet?] Fish: [I was waiting to see when you’d remember there’s a living person standing right next to you.]

Jiang Mingbo smirked. Poser!

Little Fishy: [Oh my… it’s just that your ego is so big, it was blocking my view of you!!]

Fei Wenxu laughed. Yep, definitely still angry.