Chapter 4: This Tone… Why Does It Sound Familiar?

Yu Mi was subconsciously trying to recall, but the people around him burst into laughter, “Puhahaha!”

Someone from the back row patted the hooded guy on the shoulder and jokingly called out, “Senior, hello, Senior Qi.”

Yu Mi was utterly embarrassed, his face turning beet red, and he quickly corrected himself, “Sorry! Senior… Senior!”

The club president’s voice rang out, “Everyone, please sit down. We’re about to start.”

Yu Mi hurriedly sat down, staring straight ahead, not daring to look around.

He didn’t pay attention to anything the president said afterward, completely immersed in his own embarrassment, with only one thought in his mind—

I want to go home.

Xi Xiang Qing sent him a message: “I told you he was handsome, right?”

Yu Mi didn’t even look at his phone.

He could feel the person on his right looking at him, or rather, constantly looking at him.

Qi You’an was observing the boy next to him.

With short platinum blonde hair and dressed in green, he looked like a whole corn-themed character.

He was adorably cute, with fair skin, double eyelids, and long, thick eyelashes, constantly blinking as he stared straight ahead, sitting still like a well-behaved elementary school student.

So cute.

So cute that he seemed to be from a different dimension than everyone else in the room.

Yu Mi was sweating under the gaze, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles, just wanting the meeting to end soon!

“The membership fees collected by the previous president will be refunded to everyone later,” the new president said, “and from now on, we won’t be charging any membership or activity fees. We have a member who wishes to remain anonymous who has sponsored a sum of money for future activities.”

After she said this, a small wave of discussion arose below.

Yu Mi noticed that the president seemed to be looking at the person next to him when she said this.

Could this generous anonymous person be him?

He instinctively glanced at the other person, meeting a pair of emotionless eyes, and quickly looked away, continuing to stare straight ahead.

The president said, “We just hope everyone will participate in more activities in the future, and we’ll do our best to maintain the order and atmosphere of the events.”

Yu Mi thought: I’m not coming back, never coming back!!!

After the long meeting ended, Yu Mi just wanted to leave quickly.

He stood up in a flash, then immediately sat back down, waiting for the person on his right to leave first.

As a result, he didn’t notice what he had stepped on.

Qi You’an was also unaware, so when he stood up with his hands in his pockets and took a step forward, he suddenly stumbled and fell solidly to the ground.

At that moment, everyone in the activity room looked over.

Yu Mi then realized he had stepped on the other person’s shoelace and felt like the sky was falling!

He hurriedly moved his foot away.

“Are you okay, Senior?! Are you alright?” He was at a loss, “I’ll take you to the infirmary!”

A few people helped Qi You’an up.

Qi You’an, seeing stars from the fall, barely managed to stand, then looked at the culprit, enduring the pain in his knee and palm, and asked, “What’s your name?”

Yu Mi was flustered, “I… I’m Yu Mi.”

Qi You’an frowned, “I meant your real name, not your alias.”

Yu Mi pursed his lips, “That’s my real name, not an alias.”

Qi You’an: “???”

Who has a real name like Corn??

Yu Mi knew he must have misunderstood, so he explained, “Yu as in ‘tulip’…”

His mom never let him use “depressed” or “melancholy” in sentences, always making him use “tulip” to explain his surname since he was a child.

The other person asked again, “Your birthday?”

“Huh??” Yu Mi was stunned, why the sudden change of topic?

“Date of birth,” the other person asked again.

Yu Mi quickly answered, “June 1st, 2004, Children’s Day…”

“Got it.” The other person said and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Yu Mi quickly took two steps forward, looking the other person up and down, “I… I’ll take you to the infirmary to have a look? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“No need.” The guy took long strides and left with someone he knew.

Xi Xiang Qing came over with her bag to Yu Mi’s side, and the two of them left the activity room together.

Yu Mi looked at the tall figure and asked dumbfoundedly, “Why did he ask for my birthday?”

Xi Xiang Qing said, “He thinks you’re cute, maybe he’ll celebrate your birthday next year.”

Yu Mi: “No way!”

Qi You’an returned to the dorm with his injuries and borrowed iodine from his roommate.

He Wenrui was busy playing a match in the arena, glanced at him hurriedly, and widened his eyes, “Whoa, what happened to you? Got ambushed while escorting a mission?”

He opened the drawer, “Help yourself.”

Qi You’an picked up the medicine bottle and said helplessly, “I forgot to check the almanac before going out.”

Saying this, he glanced at the almanac on his desk, which indeed said to avoid traveling.

He shouldn’t have gone to the event today.

He treated the scrapes on his hands and then sent Yu Mi’s date of birth to an elder.

“Grandpa, could you help me see if this person and I are destined to clash?”

If they were, he’d have to avoid him in the future.

Qi You’an was 22 this year. After he was born, his grandfather had someone tell his fortune, saying that their Qi family would end with him. So the family was worried he might die young and was very cautious about his affairs. He also cherished his life, often consulting experts when encountering unexpected situations, avoiding them if possible.

He had learned a bit himself, but he couldn’t tell his own fortune.

After a while, his phone screen lit up.

The old man replied.

At the same time, there was a friend request.

Qi You’an instinctively clicked on the friend request first.

It was a chibi Sword Roar in the Jianghu avatar, depicting a Daoist.

Verification message: Hello, Senior, I’m Yu Mi from the art club.

Qi You’an hesitated for a moment and clicked accept.

Then he opened the old man’s reply.

The other person said: I don’t even need to calculate, a kid with a name like that must be a sunny and cheerful child, just play with him. It’s fine.

Qi You’an: …

I almost passed out.

*

Yu Mi sent Senior Qi a sincere apology, once again expressing concern for his injuries.

The other person quickly replied, simply saying, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Yu Mi felt really guilty, “Should I buy some fruit and bring it to him?”

“No need,” Xi Xiang Qing comforted, “You didn’t do it on purpose, and he said it’s fine, so don’t feel too guilty. Showing up unannounced might backfire.”

Yu Mi sighed helplessly and had to give up.

Senior Qi’s contact information was obtained by Xi Xiang Qing, who found out that Senior Qi’s real name was Qi You’an, and his alias was Right Bank, a cosplayer.

“Let’s take a look at his works.”

Xi Xiang Qing directly searched Qi You’an’s alias on the Douyin app and found an account with 200,000 followers.

Yu Mi looked at her phone screen.

So many works.

What came into view was Senior Qi’s broad chest, strong arms, sexy Adam’s apple… broad chest, broad…

Wait a minute.

Yu Mi saw a familiar photo—a super realistic big-chested Daoist from the Sword Roar in the Jianghu game. Wasn’t this the picture that captivated him at first sight, no… the one that got him hooked?

It turned out to be a senior from his own school??

What a coincidence?

He looked at this divine picture, instinctively recalling Qi You’an’s appearance… how could he look even more handsome without makeup than with it?!

Xi Xiang Qing: “I told you he’s your type, right? This hairstyle, I remember you love it.”

Yu Mi indeed liked that long wolf-tail mullet hairstyle, often drawing it when doodling. He never thought someone in real life could pull off this hairstyle.

Xi Xiang Qing suddenly changed her tune, “If you want to develop something with him, buying fruit is fine too.”

Yu Mi immediately denied, “I don’t want to!”

The first meeting, and he ended up sitting in the other person’s lap, twice, he didn’t dare think about anything else.

“I just want him to forget me, forget everything that happened today.”

He clasped his hands together, bowing in all directions.

Because he was so immersed in embarrassment, Yu Mi didn’t even have the mood to appreciate the handsome guy, not daring to take another look, unwilling to recall what happened today.

When he returned to the dorm, Chen Ziming asked, “How was the anime club?”

Yu Mi was dejected, “Not great.”

“What happened?” Chen Ziming was in the middle of a game, “Escort mission? You said yesterday you’d do the faction dailies with me today. Come on, log in.”

“Log in!” Yu Mi needed to distract himself, so he quickly logged in.

As soon as he got online, his master sent a team invite, saying he’d help him with the escort mission.

Yu Mi told his master: My roommate and his partner also said they’d help me.

[Private Chat] Jinjiang Zai Tao Shizun: Sure, let’s do it together. I’ll make you the team leader, you can invite them.

Yu Mi invited Chen Ziming, and soon Chen Ziming’s partner joined the team too.

[Team] Jinjiang Zai Tao Shizun: #Surprised

[Team] Haitang Si Ai Nüdi: #Surprised

Seeing these two IDs, Yu Mi also laughed, sending a bunch of smiley faces in the team chat.

Chen Ziming was left, sending a string of embarrassed faces.

Yu Mi’s master and Haitang Si Ai Nüdi added each other as friends.

Both sides were Yu Mi’s acquaintances, so they indirectly got to know each other, and everyone started chatting with open mics.

Yu Mi said to Chen Ziming, “Why don’t you and your partner have matching IDs?”

“We do,” Haitang Si Ai Nüdi said, “He has an account called Qidian Dragon King Son-in-law, I’ve been playing on that account recently.”

“Dragon King Son-in-law…” Yu Mi couldn’t help but laugh, “Interesting, interesting.”

The four of them accepted the mission, then mounted their horses, carrying the escort silver, and left the base together.

Not long after leaving the base, Yu Mi saw two familiar people.

Yi Chuan Yan Cao and Man Cheng Feng Xu, the kind players who protected him last time.

The two were standing by the roadside, not sure what they were doing.

He casually clicked on Man Cheng Feng Xu’s character model and then mentioned the incident from last time.

Jinjiang Zai Tao Shizun said, “Oh, those two are famous escort protectors on our server, standing guard on the road every day to protect players of the same faction.”

“Wow,” Yu Mi was filled with admiration, “That’s so cool!”

At this moment, a private chat popped up.

[Private Chat] Man Cheng Feng Xu: Little newbie, run quickly. If you get attacked, call me. #Cheer

Yu Mi quickly replied: Okay, okay! Thank you, escort protector. #Rose

The four of them followed the trade route across the map, and as soon as they entered the next map, there was a sudden ding-ding sound in their headphones.

A red alert popped up on the screen.

[Enemy Faction Player Detected: What Are You! Distance: 22 feet.]

“He’s here, he’s here!” Yu Mi reflexively panicked, immediately retreating, “He’s here to kill me!”

“Don’t be afraid,” Jinjiang Zai Tao Shizun said, “Good, let’s take him down!”

With that, he dismounted first and charged forward.

Chen Ziming and Haitang Si Ai Nüdi also charged forward.

What Are You saw the situation was unfavorable and immediately tried to escape, but couldn’t fight off six hands, and his health bar quickly dropped.

Seeing that he was about to die, Yu Mi suddenly said, “Can I have the kill? I’ve never killed anyone before…”

Although he had fought in battlegrounds, his equipment was lacking, and his damage was too low, so he hadn’t managed to get a single kill.

“Sure,” his master immediately stopped attacking, “Come on. I’ve got him controlled.”

Chen Ziming and Haitang Si Ai Nüdi also stopped attacking, the three of them surrounding What Are You, taking turns applying control skills on him.

What Are You sent a speechless ellipsis in the nearby chat.

Yu Mi quickly rushed over, finishing off the shaman with a basic attack, getting his first kill in the game!

[System: You injured What Are You.]

“Yay! I’m happy!”

Yu Mi was celebrating when Chen Ziming suddenly shouted.

“Whoa, he triggered a fate! You triggered a fate for him!!”

Yu Mi was stunned, “What?!”

He widened his eyes, then saw a bright system announcement appear at the top of the screen.

[Jianghu Express: Qingyun Alliance’s ‘What Are You’ was injured in a fierce battle by Chiyan Valley’s ‘Sweet Nuo Nuo’, unexpectedly triggering the rare fate ‘Between Life and Death’!]

[Map] What Are You: [Sweet Nuo Nuo] Thank you, little cutie, for the rare fate, love you. #BlowKiss #BlowKiss

“Oh my god!” Yu Mi was completely at a loss.

Chen Ziming had explained before that this game had a fate system, which would trigger special events, giving rare special rewards.

Although he was a newbie, he had heard from Chen Ziming that this fate was extremely rare and the rewards were generous, something countless players desperately wanted. The trigger condition was being killed by an enemy faction player.

He actually triggered it for his enemy!

He didn’t want to play anymore!

The world channel was in an uproar.

[World] Yan Lin: Are you happy you killed him??

[World] Tu Yun Na: Are you happy you killed him??

[World] Shi Chu Ya: Are you happy you killed him??

[World] What Are You: I’ve played for three years without triggering this fate, finally got it, thank you baby [Sweet Nuo Nuo]. Are you happy you killed me? #Proud #Proud

Yu Mi: “I! Am! Not! Happy!”