My Online Date is My Roommate - Chapter 12

That was Jiang Mingbo’s first thought. He quickly took a gulp of water and scrambled back onto his bed, preparing to unleash a torrent of abuse at the unknown hacker. He wasn’t about to let his superb flirting skills from earlier go to waste on some thief!

Xiao Yuer: [How come you’re online so early today?]

At that moment, Fei Wenxu was in a private dining room waiting for his food. He was a regular at this restaurant, often coming here with Ren Nan. However, since Ren Nan had been chased back overseas by his parents a few days ago, Fei Wenxu had come alone.

It wasn’t that he lacked friends; he just found most people exhausting. They were all pretension and insincerity there was no need to bring them here.

Fish: [Waiting for food. Bored.]

Xiao Yuer: [You’ve only been online at night these past few days. Being here now is suspicious. You haven’t hacked someone’s account, have you?]

Fei Wenxu frowned. he couldn’t quite follow Xiao Yuer’s logic. How did the conversation suddenly jump to hacking? How had he suddenly become an account thief?

Fish: […]

Xiao Yuer: [Then tell me, what’s your roommate’s name?]

Jiang Mingbo refused to believe it. Where could the guy have logged in from?

Fei Wenxu’s smile faded. Was Xiao Yuer only pestering him for dungeon runs just to fish for information about Jiang Mingbo again?

He couldn’t quite name the source of his irritation. Ultimately, he chalked it up to the natural displeasure of being ignored by an attractive member of the opposite sex and didn’t dwell on it.

Fish: [Why? Are you planning to go back to your old flame?]

Jiang Mingbo breathed a sigh of relief, confirming it was indeed Fei Wenxu. He curled his lip. Old flame? Please.

Then, his brain buzzed. Wait, this tone doesn’t seem right… Is Fei Wenxu taking the bait? Is he… jealous?

Xiao Yuer: [Hehehe, just a joke. You’re a big man, don’t be so petty with me!]

The other side didn’t reply. Jiang Mingbo couldn’t gauge Fei Wenxu’s attitude, but since the dungeon progress bar was moving, he didn’t want to keep harassing him.

Once the dungeon was cleared, there were still a few minor daily tasks left. Fei Wenxu hadn’t planned to keep playing; he’d only logged on on a whim, and being reminded of Jiang Mingbo had clearly killed his initial mood.

Fish: [I’m going to eat dinner.]

Jiang Mingbo wasn’t about to let the fish off the hook. He replied immediately: [You eat, I’ll carry you through the rest of the dailies.]

Without giving the other a chance to refuse, he initiated a daily quest party in the main hall. Since no one liked being the party leader for dailies, the slots filled up instantly.

Fei Wenxu didn’t decline. He set his phone aside; the dailies needed doing anyway, and having someone else “drive the bus” was a benefit he wasn’t going to turn down.

After Jiang Mingbo diligently finished the quests, the random players left, leaving just the two of them. The swordsman in the black-gold set stood motionless. He guessed Fei Wenxu was still busy eating.

Xiao Yuer: [Go ahead and eat then. I’m off to do the main quest.]

He carefully selected a cute emoji to send before leaving the party. Throughout the whole process, Fei Wenxu didn’t say another word. As he picked up a piece of exquisite food, he couldn’t help but feel the chef’s performance was lacking today…

By the time Fei Wenxu returned to the dorm, it was nearly 9:00 PM. Jiang Mingbo had already finished his goals for the day. Hearing the door open, he peered through the gap in his curtains, seeing only Fei Wenxu’s long legs and lean waist.

Jiang Mingbo rolled his eyes, feeling a surge of jealousy toward the man’s physique. He turned toward the wall. Out of sight, out of mind!

Tan Rui, who had been watching the drama in the guild earlier, saw the protagonist return and grinned. “Fish-ge, do you know that newcomer in the guild, Xiao Yuer?”

Fei Wenxu knit his brows, casting a cold glance at the clueless Tan Rui. The guy was a total blabbermouth. Remembering that Xiao Yuer used to pursue Jiang Mingbo, he quickly checked for movement in the neighboring bunk.

There wasn’t a sound from the bed.

On the other side of the curtain, Jiang Mingbo’s ears were perked. He was desperate to hear Fei Wenxu’s answer. What did this guy actually think?

Fei Wenxu’s voice was flat. “I don’t know her.”

Tan Rui: “The chat was so lively, I thought she was your ‘situationship’ or something. Turns out you don’t even know her…”

Fei Wenxu: “Everyone was having fun. There was no need for me to be a killjoy and get all serious.”

Jiang Mingbo’s teeth nearly shattered. He gripped his bedsheets tight. Fine, fine! “I don’t know her”!?

He viciously opened Fish’s game profile. Just you wait!

After Fei Wenxu finished his business, he saw many people in the guild chat saying the time-limited dungeon was about to refresh, calling for the Leader to “lead the bus.”

In Looking East, there are different limited missions at various times of the week. The Bosses are difficult and require experts to clear. Everyone admired Fei Wenxu because he was wealthy, skilled, and didn’t act arrogant, so they always called for him.

Fei Wenxu enjoyed the admiration and didn’t refuse. His WeChat was blowing up.

Guanshan Nanyue: [Fish, lead the bus today!]

He dried his hair with a towel and typed with one hand: [Sure.]

Zhumi Needs to Lose Weight: [Sweet! I’m definitely getting the Treasure Gourd from the loot chest today!]

Xiao Paomo: [I wouldn’t hold my breath on your luck.]

Watching the chat, Jiang Mingbo thought for two seconds and started typing.

Xiao Yuer: [Count me in! Let me see what it’s like!]

Guanshan Nanyue: [No problem. We usually open three teams for this. Just join whichever one you like when the time comes.]

My Sword is Very Sharp: [Come to my group. I’ll carry you and sweep the floor.]

Fish, who had been silent, suddenly sent a message.

Fish: [No.]

Guanshan Nanyue: [?]

Xiao Paomo: [?]

Jiang Mingbo almost bounced off his mattress. What’s his deal? Is he jealous?

He was secretly delighted. Look at you, didn’t you say you ‘don’t know me’? But now I can’t go to someone else’s team? Hypocrite!

Jiang Mingbo’s smirk was uncontrollable. He shook his shoulders, preparing a sarcastic, passive-aggressive response to make the man experience the pain of unrequited love, when Fei Wenxu’s next message popped up.

Fish: [Your level isn’t high enough.]

Wow.

Jiang Mingbo’s typing froze. His molars were grinding so hard he almost saw sparks flying off the screen. Fei Wenxu, you absolute idiot!

Xiao Paomo: [Oh right, Yuer, this dungeon requires Level 100 to enter.]

Guanshan Nanyue: [I see.]

Jiang Mingbo deleted his draft character by character. He took a deep breath to calm his rolling stomach and sent an innocent emoji.

Xiao Yuer: [Aw, I thought I’d get lucky today. I guess I’ll go grind some levels and try to catch up to you guys later.]

Xiao Yuer: [Work-Hard.jpg]

My Sword is Very Sharp: [No worries, I saw your profile, you’re almost there. Don’t rush, there’s a bus every week.]

Jiang Mingbo sighed. He really wanted to tell “My Sword” the truth: Brother, don’t fall for me, there’s no future, I’m packing more heat than you.

Fei Wenxu went quiet again after his two messages, but Jiang Mingbo heard his computer booting up in the room. He quickly checked his friends list.

Fish: Online

Friend: Xiao Yuer: [Beep-beep. When does your dungeon start?]

Fish: [10:00 PM.]

Jiang Mingbo checked the time, 20 minutes to go.

Xiao Yuer: [Then let’s run a quick dungeon now. I’ve tried a few times and can’t clear it. I need a hero!]

Fish: [Sure.]

Jiang Mingbo started recruiting in the hall. Since the guild was active, three other members joined the party.

Party: Guanshan Nanyue: [I haven’t cleared this one in a while. I’ll tag along.]

Party: My Sword is Very Sharp: [Ooh, good timing. I’m in.]

Party: Xiao Paomo: [Me too. It’s rare to see the Leader running this one.]

This dungeon was indeed difficult, especially for a low-level character like Jiang Mingbo. The difficulty was high, and the rewards weren’t even that rare. Fei Wenxu rarely bothered with it after his first clear.

The group entered the dungeon modeled after the Fengdu Ghost City. The textures were realistic and eerie, with sound effects of howling winds that felt genuinely creepy. Jiang Mingbo intentionally stayed close to Fei Wenxu, hovering right behind him.

The Boss was the Ghost King. You had to fight through waves until the King got angry and unleashed his minions. Jiang Mingbo had tried this twice solo; both times, he’d cleared the first wave of minions only to be obliterated by the Ghost King’s ultimate move. He was a tank, but even with full aggro, he couldn’t survive three big hits.

The minions were quickly cleared. The Ghost King’s first rage bar filled, and he launched an attack. Everyone scattered to dodge. Jiang Mingbo was thinking of how to gain “favorability points” when he saw Fei Wenxu use a dodge-into-ultimate move, charging straight at the Boss. His speed was incredible, his moves seamless and sharp.

The Ghost King was hit, delaying the second wave and giving the team time to reset their cooldowns.

Being a gaming veteran himself, Jiang Mingbo suppressed a begrudging spark of admiration for the display of skill.

Damn it, such a show-off!

He rolled his eyes but refused to be outdone. Even though his character’s class limited his agility, he used his experience from the last two runs to dodge the Boss’s telegraphs, even landing a solid slash before retreating.

The Boss began charging again, and the second wave of minions appeared. Wanting to make his presence felt, Jiang Mingbo intentionally soaked up all the damage meant for Fei Wenxu, even though everyone knew Fei Wenxu was too skilled to actually need a tank to body-block for him.

After two rounds, the teammates noticed. The atmosphere turned subtle. This was a game; joking in the chat was one thing, but if they were an actual couple, the vibes were different…

Fei Wenxu noticed too. He dodged a move and was about to type a message telling Xiao Yuer to focus on team synergy, but her character suddenly stuck to him again, using a “Taunt” skill to draw every bit of aggro in his direction.

Fish: [I can dodge. Go to the healer.]

Xiao Paomo, the healer, was the only other girl in the party. She nearly jumped. In this situation, a blind person could see Xiao Yuer had a thing for Fish. Why was Fish telling Yuer to come to her? That would make Yuer misunderstand her! Why are you dragging me into your drama?

Xiao Paomo: [No, no! I’m fine, I can dodge! I’ve got Guanshan Nanyue here, our Vice Leader isn’t just for show…]

Guanshan Nanyue played along: [I’ll do my best!]

My Sword is Very Sharp felt a bit dejected. He finally found a girl he clicked with, and she was just another one after the Leader…

Since Fish was the top-ranked swordsman and clearly wealthy, buying every limited-edition set and fire-burning effect the devs released plenty of people joined the guild specifically to flirt with him, men and women alike.

Jiang Mingbo was having a blast controlling his character. With this team, the Ghost King’s pressure was much lighter.

Xiao Yuer: [But I’m afraid the Ghost King will knock you down! You’re the main DPS after all!]

Xiao Paomo: … Guanshan Nanyue: … My Sword is Very Sharp: Pain.

Fei Wenxu didn’t know how to feel. Fine, if she wants to tank, let her tank. He didn’t expect much from her skill-wise anyway; surviving was good enough, and soaking damage was at least useful.

Jiang Mingbo continued dropping “sweet nothings” in the chat while playing intensely. He dodged another strike and countered while the Boss was charging. His movements were fluid no lag, great timing. The Ghost King’s ultimate was interrupted by his well-timed distraction.

Guanshan Nanyue: [Xiao Yuer’s skill is actually pretty good!]

She wasn’t just “eye candy” as they had assumed.

My Sword is Very Sharp felt even worse. My taste in women is actually great…

Fish: [Not bad.]

Jiang Mingbo snorted. To maintain the persona of an innocent, cute “noob” girl, he had actually hidden his true strength based on tips he’d read on forums. Otherwise, he’d have blinded them with his pro moves!

Xiao Yuer: [Thanks for the compliment!]

Xiao Yuer: [Mwah.jpg]

Fei Wenxu frowned. His sword stroke clipped the Ghost King’s shoulder and struck the wall instead. The enemy’s health bar didn’t budge.

Everyone was too busy to notice, but Fei Wenxu felt it. He glared at the cute “kiss” emoji with annoyance and jumped back.

Fish: [Watch the enemy’s attack.]

Everyone thought the Ghost King was about to use a big move and went on high alert. Xiao Yuer quickly rushed up from the back.

Xiao Yuer: [I’ll block for you!]

They weren’t wrong. After the third wave, the Ghost King went berserk. He summoned a swarm of minions wrapped in blue ghost-fire, followed by his final strike.

The attack range was massive, but the epicenter was right where Fish and Xiao Yuer were standing.

Because Xiao Yuer was practically glued to his side, Fei Wenxu subconsciously stopped paying attention to the incoming attacks from her direction. He readied his cooled-down skill to strike the Ghost King’s face, aiming for a finishing blow.

But in the next second, his health bar was emptied by two-thirds. As a DPS, he was squishy, and this final Boss strike was at maximum power. Because he hadn’t dodged, he took the full hit. He only survived because of his high level; anyone else would have been sent to the respawn point. The whole team was stunned even Fei Wenxu didn’t process it immediately…

Xiao Paomo reacted first, flying forward to burn her last two skills to heal him back to over half health.

Seeing his plan succeed, Jiang Mingbo grinned brilliantly and immediately feigned surprise.

Xiao Yuer: [Oh dear! I saw that side was about to break… but didn’t you say you could dodge?]

The tone was innocent, but there was a distinct hint of passive-aggressive sarcasm. The team chalked the awkwardness up to the limitations of text-chatting; after all, given how thirsty Xiao Yuer was for Fish, why would she mock him?

Does this capture the sarcastic/passive-aggressive tone you were looking for?