My Online Date is My Roommate - Chapter 8

Fei Wenxu finished his lunch in silence, his expression cold. After tidying up, he washed up, changed, and headed straight out the door.

He drove to the gym and threw himself into a heavy lifting session. It was only after pushing himself to the point of exhaustion that those inexplicable thoughts finally vanished. By the time he’d showered and checked the time, it was already dinner. He glanced casually at the numerous unread messages in his WeChat.

Since it was Saturday, the game was bustling with limited-time events, and students and office workers alike were flooding the servers.

Ding-Ding-Dong: [Running the Flying Cloud dungeon tonight. Who’s in?] My Sword is Sharp: [Me me me! I’m in!] Piggy Needs a Diet: [Count me in too!] Guanshan is Hard to Cross: [Perfect, I’ll join the fun too.] RR: [+1]

Tan Rui was very active in the guild. Because they were roommates, Fei Wenxu had simply made him an administrator. Fei wasn’t particularly interested in the day-to-day management; the game was just a pastime to him, something where a bit of money could easily buy success.

Ding-Ding-Dong: [OK, the car is full. See you all at 8:00 PM. Oh, by the way, R, is the Guild Leader coming for the Guild War tonight?]

Tan Rui was such a loudmouth that everyone in the guild knew he and the Guild Leader were roommates.

RR: [Don’t know. He’s not in the dorm right now.]

Fei Wenxu thought about his evening plans and replied: [I’ll be there.]

Piggy Needs a Diet: [The Leader is coming! It’s a guaranteed win!] Ding-Ding-Dong: [If I’d known the Leader was coming, I wouldn’t have bothered…] Piggy Needs a Diet: [Ding-Dong, you’re such a drama queen.]

After letting them chatter for a bit, Fei Wenxu typed:

Fish: [Does anyone have any Golden Phoebe wood?]

Golden Phoebe wood was the highest-grade timber in the game. It couldn’t be bought from the trade union; it only dropped during rare limited-time events if you were lucky. Most players who found it listed it for astronomical prices, and many high-tier players needed it for rare equipment.

Guanshan is Hard to Cross: [Nope. Haven’t seen any news about Phoebe wood lately. It’s a pain to farm.] Piggy Needs a Diet: [It’s always been hard. You can’t even buy it with money. It’s only been listed a few times since launch. I suspect the devs do it on purpose to make us spend more.] Little Bubble: [I remember the Leader bought it a few times before. Still not finished?] Fish: [Still short by one.] RR: [The main issue is the event itself. The timing is tight and the mechanics are a nightmare. You all know how hard the Zhangjiajie map is.]

The game had set the harvest point for Golden Phoebe wood in the Zhangjiajie scenic area. To keep the “authentic ancient style,” the developers had removed all modern paths in the model. Players had to manually control their characters to climb the mountain slowly. One slip-up and you’d fall, having to restart. The climb took nearly two hours, and once you reached the spot, chopping the tree drained massive amounts of stamina. The stamina cap was usually exhausted just from the climb; to actually chop the tree, you had to chug expensive potions. Very few people had the patience to carry a mountain of pills and climb for two hours during a limited event.

Why waste time there when you could run other maps? Plus, the wood wasn’t even a guaranteed drop.

Fish: [Thanks anyway.]

Fei Wenxu wasn’t exactly a patient man. He hated repetitive grinding; it was a waste of time and energy. He’d rather pay to skip the cost. However, he had underestimated the scarcity of this item it had been a month, and he still couldn’t find the fifth piece of wood. He only needed this last piece to max out his gear, but he wasn’t about to give up. He’d just keep an eye on the trade union.

Meanwhile, Jiang Mingbo finally woke up to find the game had finished downloading. He put on his headphones and spent thirty minutes trying to customize his character’s face. He wasn’t bad at it, yet no matter what he did, the character looked weird. He gave up and chose the easiest route: photo input.

Two seconds later, he had a face. Then came the class selection.

DPS? He wanted to, but as a “girl” trying to woo Fei Wenxu, it wasn’t the most strategic choice. Healer? Too many girls played healers. He wouldn’t stand out. Taoist? Jack of all trades, master of none. Deleted. Tank? Jiang Mingbo’s eyes narrowed. This was unique. A team always needs a tank to soak up damage, the mechanics weren’t too complex, and it would give him plenty of time to flirt with Fei Wenxu.

He chose the Guardian class and the “Mountain Pillar” sect, which focused entirely on defense and HP. He figured if he kept getting beat up by enemies in front of the team, Fei Wenxu might take more notice of him.

He skipped the long tutorials, confident in the “cloud experience” he’d gained from watching videos, and started running the main quest. By the time he’d familiarized himself with the gear, he was Level 15.

He’d been huddled behind his curtains so long he forgot about dinner. Tan Rui, getting ready to head out for food, noticed Jiang’s bed was silent.

“Bo-er, you awake?” he whispered.

Jiang Mingbo pulled back the curtain. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Want me to bring you anything?”

“Anything’s fine. I’m not picky,” Jiang said, realizing how much time had passed.

Tan Rui returned quickly with food, hurried by the upcoming Saturday limited-time events. He ate while running daily dungeons with a random party. Jiang Mingbo, pretending to watch a movie, asked casually, “Aren’t you guys doing a Guild War tonight?”

“Yeah,” Tan Rui replied. “Just clearing dailies first. We’ve got it in the bag tonight; Fish-ge is joining the fight.”

“Does he not play every day?” Jiang asked.

Tan Rui laughed. “Not every day. Fish-ge has way more interesting things to do with his time than rot in a game like us.”

Jiang Mingbo’s smile was strained. “Makes sense. I thought as the Guild Leader, he’d have to be on every day to keep order.”

“No need,” Tan Rui said. “People come and go. Only a few of us are the ‘regulars.’ It’s a shame you don’t play, otherwise, we could run maps together.”

Jiang Mingbo joked, “Maybe I’ll change my mind someday. Tell me the guild name, I’ll ‘mark’ it for later.”

“You always say that,” Tan Rui teased. “Fish-ge’s guild is the #1 guild on the server. If you ever join, I’ll protect you.”

“Screw off,” Jiang rolled his eyes.

He finished his dinner quickly and scrambled back onto his bed. He opened the game to apply for the guild, hoping to “accidentally” run into Fei Wenxu.

System Notification: [Young Hero, you have not yet unlocked Guild features. Please reach Level 50 before trying again~]

Jiang Mingbo almost laughed from rage. Level 23? He needed 50? What a garbage game!

But he ground through the levels anyway, admiring the scenery. The “Vision of the East” modeling was truly stunning. By Level 40, he unlocked a “Life Skill.” Unlike other games, these were class-specific. Swordsmen could be thieves or assassins; Healers could be chefs or pharmacists. His Guardian class?

Carpenter or Blacksmith.

Jiang Mingbo found this useless. Everyone could chop wood and mine for gear materials. Who would come to him for “trinkets”? He noticed, however, that his character chopped wood and mined much faster with less stamina drain. He figured it was a class trait and ignored it, pushing back to the main quest.

Fei Wenxu returned to the dorm just before the 8:00 PM Guild War. They won easily. Tan Rui managed to loot a rare chest. “Holy crap! Fish-ge, look! I got it!!”

“I saw,” Fei said. “The world channel announced it three times…”

Tan Rui was beaming. Meanwhile, Jiang Mingbo saw the announcement and rushed his character toward the dungeon entrance, hoping to intercept Fei.

The area was a sea of player names. On a phone screen, it was impossible to navigate. He scanned the crowd for the name Fish. He’d heard them say Fei used “Fish” for everything. Suddenly, he heard Tan Rui in the room: “Hey, Fish-ge, why are you logging off already? It’s Saturday, why not run a few dungeons with us?”

“I have things to do,” Fei replied. “Off for now.”

Jiang Mingbo slammed his phone down. “CRAP!”

All that effort for a “chance encounter,” wasted!

The guys in the room jumped. Tan Rui asked, “Bo-er, what the hell?”

Fei Wenxu also looked toward the curtains, frowning. Jiang Mingbo poked his head out awkwardly. “Horror movie. Jump scare…”

A horror message, more like!

He sat in frustration. How else could he manufacture an encounter? He logged into his “Little Fishy” account and posted a screenshot of the game: The modeling is beautiful. Officially starting my journey.

He felt listless as he ground through the levels. Finally, he sent a message.

Little Fishy: [The main quest wants me to find this NPC, but I’ve been looking forever and can’t find him…]

Fei Wenxu checked the message and saw her Moments post. She was already nearly Level 50.

Fish: [Link: Vision of the East Main Quest Guide]

Jiang Mingbo wanted to scream. This guy is such a poser! Can’t even give a polite reply? He typed back sweetly:

Little Fishy: [Got it! Thanks, Big Boss!]

Fei Wenxu paused, then typed: [Is it fun?]

Jiang Mingbo perked up.

Little Fishy: [Very! Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve successfully forgotten that jerk.]

Fish: [Good. Keep playing. I have things to do, talk later.]

Go to hell! Jiang thought, but sent a silly emoji instead.

He ground out the rest of the levels until he hit 50. He let out a huge yawn, clicked “Apply” on Fei Wenxu’s guild, and tossed his phone aside to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up to a notification:

[We regret to inform you that your Guild Application was cruelly rejected by an administrator. Don’t be discouraged! Improve your strength and try again!]

Jiang Mingbo cursed Fei Wenxu again. Keep acting tough. I don’t believe I can’t get in!