☆ Chapter 12

A few minutes later, Ling Shaoze, who had just received an entire set of fashion outfits—both male and female versions: …?!

What the heck is wrong with this guy? They both knew they were just a “plastic couple” meant to break up in a week. So why was he buying him all this stuff? Did he have so much money that he didn’t know where else to throw it?

Ling Shaoze promptly rejected all the gifts.

Top-ranked assassin Wuying was completely self-righteous: “We’re a couple right now, isn’t it totally normal for me to buy you some clothes? You can buy me some too. If you don’t accept them, I’ll be really sad.”

Ling Shaoze didn’t see even a hint of sadness on the man’s face. What he did see was that if he refused, the guy would just keep coming up with new ways to convince him otherwise.

Sure enough, the man, tireless as ever, sent yet another barrage of gift notifications. Ling Shaoze, now with a headache, finally gave up and accepted them all.

Then he opened the system shop, recharged a fat stack of cash, and bought every assassin-exclusive and general outfits available for Wuying too—costing him a grand total of 120,000 star coins.

Being a scumbag wasn’t easy! If every time he flirted with a top-ranked player, and they pulled this kind of stunt every time… Well, good thing his dad gave him enough pocket money.

That said, he still got the better deal—Wuying had spent 380,000 on him for both his male and female avatars. After all, girls’ outfits had always been more flashier and fancier—and costlier too.

And so began Ling Shaoze’s in-game romance adventure: taking couple photos at all the famous scenic spots, getting carried through level-ups and gear grinds by his “boyfriend,” and occasionally doing dungeons with friends. But most of the time, it was just him and Wuying—and he’d even switch to his female avatar now and then.

Before long, a week had passed.

On that day, all the closed beta veterans were focused on the newly opened level-35 grinding zone.

Even among public beta players, there were plenty of hardcore grinders—the top players were already hitting level 29 or 30.

Ling Shaoze wasn’t particularly motivated to level, but with a rank-one powerhouse dragging him along, his main Priest avatar was level 26 and his alt Mage avatar was already level 24. His worst gear was still purple-quality.

His staff, the purple-tier Holy Light Prayer, was embedded with an orange-tier gem called Moonlight Tear—making it a top-grade purple equipment. Once he slotted in seven orange gems, it would evolve into a legendary orange-tier weapon.

His gaming experience? Smooth as butter and sweet as honey.

Pang Wenguang messaged him privately: “A’Ze, A’Shuai and A’Dou and I just ran into a level-30 world boss! You and Wuying wanna join?”

Ling Shaoze replied, “Nah, you guys go ahead. Or call someone from your guild.”

Two days earlier, Pang Wenguang and his two classmates had joined the top guild Temple, founded by his cousin—Tyrant Blade, the #2 warrior on the leaderboards.

Ling Shaoze figured that since he was destined to play the role of a heartless scumbag, hadn’t joined any guild.

Besides, it wasn’t exactly the right time to ask Wuying to go boss hunting with him—because today was their agreed one-week deadline. Their breakup day.

Wuying seemed to sense it too. The moment Ling Shaoze logged in that day, he asked if they could go to Lovers’ Cliff together.

Lovers’ Cliff was a gorgeous spot, known for its scenery and the legend of a tragic love story.

Since it was in the level-30 zone, they hadn’t gotten around to visiting it before.

Ling Shaoze hesitated but ultimately agreed.

The cliff was covered in blooming white and purple Lover’s Flowers, and the view was breathtaking. The sky was bathed in rosy clouds, dazzling enough to feel almost dreamlike.

Unlike other maps where time passed naturally and had normal day and night cycles, time here was eternally frozen—forever set at twilight.

But Ling Shaoze wasn’t in the mood to admire the scenery. He got straight to the point and said to Wuying, “Let’s break up.”

From how Wuying had been all clingy the past few days—kissing, hugging him at every chance, sometimes even lifting him up while he was on his female avatar, acting like a textbook model boyfriend 24/7…

Ling Shaoze had a bad feeling that this breakup wasn’t going to be smooth. He even mentally prepared himself for the possibility that Wuying might just shove him off Lovers’ Cliff.

Eh, whatever. Falling off the cliff would just mean losing one level. Since Wuying had carried him through most of those levels anyway, if taking the fall would help the guy accept the breakup better, he didn’t mind.

But to his surprise, Wuying—who just moments ago had been walking hand-in-hand with him all the way here—simply smiled softly and said, “Sure, we can break up. But I hope you can promise me one thing.”

Ling Shaoze narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What is it? You say it first.”

They were already about to break up. If Wuying was trying to dig some kind of pit for him, no way he was jumping in.

Wuying’s devilishly beautiful face curved into a soft, chilling smile. He said gently, “Don’t date anyone worse than me next. Or, I’ll make sure to make his life hell—until he deletes his account.”

Ling Shaoze: …?!

What the hell?! That line sounded exactly like one of those threats made by that Pervert Y in real life!

This wasn’t asking for Ling Shaoze’s consent! Even if he didn’t agree, if he went and found a “new boyfriend” who wasn’t as strong as Wuying, the guy would go after him without hesitation.

Having made his threat, Wuying pulled the soon-to-be-ex scummy boyfriend into a tight embrace and gave him a searing goodbye kiss.

That kiss was ferocious—more intense than anything before. He bit Ling Shaoze’s lip until the skin broke, the taste of blood and iron flooding their mouths. It felt like Wuying was about to devour him whole.

In the end, Ling Shaoze had to pull up the system menu with sheer willpower and manually terminate their couple status to finally bounce the guy off him.

Wuying didn’t seem mad at all. He just wiped the blood from his lips, gave Ling Shaoze another gentle smile, and then—turned around and jumped off Lovers’ Cliff himself.

Ling Shaoze’s legs gave out, and he collapsed on the ground.

Mom!!! Another damn pervert!!

Was there some hidden debuff on him that attracted perverts or what?!

Even though they’d technically broken up, Ling Shaoze couldn’t shake the feeling that Wuying still had some final boss-level move waiting in reserve.

As for the “next boyfriend,” Ling Shaoze had never planned on settling for someone weaker. He already had his eye on a few other top-ranked leaderboard male players.

Surely they’d be able to hold their own against Wuying, right? They had to. Right?

The only problem was—his relationship with Wuying hadn’t exactly been low-profile. There were already a handful of hot threads on the game forums about them. Everyone knew he was Rank One Assassin’s boyfriend. Trying to flirt with other top-ranked players now? Yeah, good luck with that.

It’s not like Ling Shaoze was dead set on only dating rank ones, but… if he couldn’t land rank one, maybe a rank two, three, or four would do. Unfortunately, after what Wuying just said, he didn’t dare lower his standards now.

Ling Shaoze snapped out of his thoughts and checked his friend list. Wuying’s name was still there—and his level hadn’t dropped. So, although he’d jumped, he clearly hadn’t died. His avatar was greyed out though, meaning he’d logged off.

Ling Shaoze let out a small sigh of relief. At least he hadn’t caused Wuying to lose a level.

Then again… kind of a shame, wasn’t it? If Wuying had dropped a level, he wouldn’t be Rank One anymore—and Ling Shaoze would have a wider pool of potential boyfriends!

Also, how the hell had Wuying managed to keep his top spot while spending every day glued to Ling Shaoze? Did the guy have a shadow clone or what?

But all that wasn’t Ling Shaoze’s concern right now. His current dilemma was: this was a level 30 grinding zone, and aside from the very tip of Lovers’ Cliff being a passive mob area (butterflies), the road back to the main city was crawling with aggressive mobs. How the hell was a level-26 priest supposed to make it back?

Seeing that there was no one else around, Ling Shaoze decisively swapped to his level 24 female alt, Ling Guoguo. The mage alt might’ve been slightly lower in level, but at least it had more offensive skills than the priest—and slightly better chances of survival.

If he could make it back alive, he obviously didn’t want to die here. Thanks to Wuying’s doting protection these past few days, Ling Shaoze had never “died” once in this game yet. He’d like to keep it that way.

Below Lovers’ Cliff was a massive flower field, and the entire grinding area here was filled with all kinds of aggressive butterflies and man-eating flower mobs. Dying to a butterfly bite or being chewed up by a flower? Too embarrassing to even think about.

So Ling Shaoze, wearing his loli avatar—red mini-dress, dainty strappy shoes, looking all pretty and adorable—tiptoed past the passive mobs and successfully made it down the cliff.

But the moment he reached the bottom, he saw a scene unfold beneath a giant phoenix tree: a dreamy, fairy-like beauty in a white dress was talking to a cold and aloof swordsman.

Looked like… a confession scene?

White-robed beauty: “Yijian, I really like you. I’m the top-ranked priest, and you’re the top-ranked swordsman. I’m probably the most worthy female player for you in all of Eternal Legend. You’re not seeing anyone—so why won’t you give us a chance?”

Ling Shaoze: …Oooh! Juicy gossip alert!

So he had just stumbled upon the actual real-time confession of Qing Ruo, number one on the priest leaderboard and goddess of countless male players’ dreams, as she poured her heart out to Yijian Fenghou, the undisputed male god and number one swordsman?! Spicy, spicy!

From the looks of it, Yijian Fenghou didn’t seem interested at all. Every time Qing Ruo took a step closer, he took two steps back—his rejection couldn’t have been more obvious.

Ling Shaoze couldn’t help but wonder: Did Yijian Fenghou even like women?

He didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he pretended to be foraging for herbs nearby.

He figured: once Qing Ruo left, he’d approach Yijian Fenghou using his female alt and try a little confession of his own. If Yijian Fenghou rejected him, he’d just switch back to his male main and give it another go.

Ling Shaoze’s little brain was working overtime, scheming away as he crouched in the bushes, plucking daisy petals while mentally counting down the minutes—wondering when Qing Ruo would give up and leave.

But right as he was spacing out, he suddenly heard Yijian Fenghou’s cool, godly voice say:

“I already have someone.”

Qingruo gasped in disbelief. “What? That’s impossible!”

Ling Shaoze, who had been secretly eavesdropping with full attention, also froze—he ripped all the petals off his daisy in shock.

Yijian Fenghou…actually has a partner?!

Well, that meant he couldn’t list him as a potential target anymore. What a shame—one less candidate for new boyfriend material.

Yijian Fenghou added, “It’s true. She’s here right now.”

The previously distant voice suddenly got much closer. Just as Ling Shaoze was crouched down on the ground, mercilessly plucking daisies, a force suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet.

Ling Shaoze was utterly confused, staring blankly at the No.1 swordsman who was now right in front of him. That cold, icy, ethereal, heartthrob face—still drop-dead gorgeous, classic for years and showing no signs of going out of style.

Wait a second—now wasn’t the time to be admiring someone’s looks. Why was Yijian Fenghou holding his hand?!

The next moment, Ling Shaoze heard Yijian Fenghou turn to the white-robed beauty Qing Ruo, who had just followed over, and calmly say:

“This lovely little lady here is my partner. So, I’m sorry—I can’t accept your feelings.”

Qing Ruo stared in shock at Yijian Fenghou, then gave Ling Shaoze’s loli-avatar a long, curious look. But instead of flying into a rage over being rejected, her expression turned intrigued:

“So this is your type? Bright, fiery, delicate little cuties? You should’ve said so earlier!”

As she spoke, she actually walked over and gave Ling Shaoze’s chubby-cheeked, slightly baby-faced avatar a playful pinch, exclaiming again:

“Wow! It even feels amazing!”

Ling Shaoze looked at his wrist still gripped by Yijian Fenghou, then touched the cheek Qing Ruo had just pinched, utterly confused.

Wait, wasn’t he just passing by?! How did he suddenly end up in a dramatic love triangle with these two?!

When exactly did he become the great god’s “partner”?! Why didn’t anyone tell him?! Because this was literally their first time meeting!

Yijian Fenghou’s face darkened, clearly annoyed. With one hand, he drew his sword, forcing Qing Ruo to back off.

The graceful and elegant beauty, Qing Ruo, was left speechless. But fortunately, she was the type who knew how to let go:

“Wow, this little sister is really your precious baby, huh? Won’t even let me touch her. Fine, I’m not the clingy type.Farewell, then—I wish you two a blissful love and lots of adorable children.”

She finished with a smile, offering the kind of blessing that was practically impossible for an online in-game couple, then gracefully turned and vanished using a light movement skill.

Ling Shaoze tugged at his wrist, which was still tightly held by Yijian Fenghou, and said:

“Master Yijian, can you let go now? I get it—you were just trying to reject Qing Ruo and needed a random scapegoat. I just happened to be the nearest living soul…”

However, Ling Shaoze found that he couldn’t pull his hand back. In fact, the man had now grabbed his other hand too.

The cold and otherworldly iceberg-beauty of a man looked at him intently.
“You really are my type. So technically, I wasn’t lying just now. May I ask—would you be my girlfriend?”

Wearing a loli avatar, Ling Shaoze suddenly felt the pressure of the universe crushing down on him…

Sure, he had considered trying his luck with a female avatar if the top-ranked male players weren’t into his male one. After all, he had zero intention of getting emotionally invested, wasn’t going to catch feelings, and definitely wasn’t going to sleep with anyone in a holographic game—let alone take things offline. Just disposable, week-long flings. Given all that, did it even matter if he was male or female in real life?

But now this Swordmaster Great God actually liked his female avatar, Ling Guoguo?! And it looked suspiciously like love at first sight!

Ling Shaoze tried pulling his hand back.
“Sorry, I—uh—I don’t actually look like this in real life…”

Or, well, even have the same gender.

Yijian Fenghou finally let go of the girl’s hands and said with a breezy calm:
“That’s fine. I don’t care what you look like in real life. I don’t even care if you’re a man or woman, old or young, beautiful or ugly. I just like the way you look in the game. I just want to try out what it’s like to date someone in-game. And I won’t keep you for long—maybe a month at most, a week at the shortest. Once we break up, I’ll compensate you handsomely. How about it?”

Ling Shaoze was stunned: …?!

He hadn’t expected this seemingly cold and aloof beauty to actually be… a total scumbag on the inside?!

Ling Shaoze’s eyes lit up: Absolutely perfect. This is exactly his type!

Two scumbags together—no harm, no foul!

He immediately grabbed the aloof iceberg beauty’s hands:
“Yes! Yes! Hello, Boyfriend! You better keep your word!”

The iceberg beauty gave a faint smile.
“I, Yijian Fenghou, always keep my word.”

Meanwhile, deep inside, He Yi (a.k.a. Yijian Fenghou) thought to himself:
“Unless I log in with a different account… then all bets are off.”

Ling Shaoze hesitated, then mumbled awkwardly:
“Uh, there’s something I should probably tell you in advance… I have this crazy pervert ex, goes by the name Wuying. He might come looking for trouble. Just ignore him—treat him like a rabid dog or something.”

And somewhere, the same He Yi, now rebranded as the new boyfriend and also the pervert ex known as Rabid Dog Wuying:
“…??!!”

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T/n: Well our ML has started fully showing his pervert side if you know what I mean😏 but yeah stay tuned for more chaos 🤣🤣😎. You can support the original author here. If you’re enjoying what I’m doing you can buy me a Ko-fi. Happy Reading 🎉😀.