“Waaaaaake up!” Xi Yang poked Xi Yun rapidly into the side. The boy screeched, falling off the sofa in an attempt to avoid the pokes. He looked up, dazed but annoyed, right into a grinning Xi Yang’s face. “Good morning, Yun.”
“Why would you wake me up”, Xi Yun whined, pulling himself off the floor.
“Mom and Dad said not to let you sleep longer just because you’re at my place. Besides, if you sleep here, I can’t move around.”
The young man shoved the blanket on the sofa to the side so he could sit down. He turned the TV on, immediately switching to a channel for e-sports.
“Sucks.”
Ultimately, Xi Yun didn’t dare go against his older brother. He settled in obediently next to him. It was 9AM, but neither of them was interested in having breakfast yet. Like true gaming addicts, they preferred watching streams and interviews as a morning ritual to wake up.
“Lots of people are annoyed because Haven is down. Everyone is going nuts”, Xi Yun commented as he scrolled through some posts on his phone. “Also everyone is speculating about who went through the unlimited death and got out alright.”
“People love gossip”, Xi Yang said, shrugging. “Oh, hey. Look at that. A whole new post about the Ice Emperor popped up.”
“Again?”
Xi Yun leaned over to glance at his brother’s phone.
Someone had written roughly two thousand words, accompanied by screenshots, about why the Ice Emperor wasn’t an actual player but just an AI. They had gotten through the trouble of gathering a lot of “proof” that, if put together, did look amusingly much like it was the truth.
“Aaaand here come the shippers”, Xi Yun snickered, pointing at some comments below the post that Bloody dating an AI and transcending the border of game and reality was such a cute concept.
“God. I hope Jian Lin doesn’t see that.” Xi Yang rubbed his forehead. “One of these days he’s gonna see these posts and stop playing with me.”
“What?! Why would he?”
Xi Yun almost jumped off the sofa. His older brother pulled him back, patting his head. “Because he’s a sensitive guy. If he realized people were shipping us, he’d probably be so frightened and uncomfortable that he’d go into hiding.”
“That bad?”
Seeing as his little brother clearly didn’t understand, Xi Yang took it onto himself to teach him. “Well, think of one of your best friends. One of the guys. Now imagine one of your classmates went, you two look cute together, and they asked if you aren’t dating.”
“Bleh.”
“Now – what if that wasn’t just one? What if half of the people around you assumed you were dating, or considered you a perfect pair? What if you just placed your hand on his shoulder and everyone went, look at them, throwing dog-food everywhere? If you showed him something on your phone and you could hear people say that it’s so adorable how you stick your heads together? If every single of your actions was judged as somehow subtly romantic or sexual?”
Xi Yun pulled his head between his shoulders. “I… I’d ignore them!”
“Maybe you would be able to, but again – Jian Lin is a softie. He might have naturally narrow eyes and downturned eyebrows, so he kind of looks like he’s being stoic all the time, but he’s a really gentle and sensitive guy. I’m pretty sure he’d freak out. And I could understand why. Honestly, I find these posts funny to read, but only because so far none of them have actually approached me and Jian Lin doesn’t know.”
He scrolled down to some fanart.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“…Although their shipping is pretty high quality. Damn, look at this!”
Zbra bo atflg ojckbgxr kfgf VMQ, ktlmt kjr rbwfatlcu. Ktfgf kjr jirb j ygbwjcmf rtlqqlcu ugbeq, ktlmt xfqa fnfgsatlcu qijabclm, atja Wl Tjcu jmaejiis obiibkfv yfmjerf atfs tjv j cewyfg bo mbwlm jgalrar wjxlcu eq jii xlcvr bo gfjiis oec rmfcjglbr. Lf’v tjnf rfca rbwf ab Aljc Olc lo tf kjrc’a kbgglfv atf batfg kbeiv rajga ab rfjgmt obg tlwrfio jcv gec lcab j RVMQ rtlqqlcu ugbeq.
“I’m kind of confused, though. Most of them draw you two pretty well, but why is it that sometimes, you or Jian Lin are like, buffed up several times while the other looks like a frail little flower?”
“…Tropes that I’m not going to teach you about.”
Xi Yang raised an eyebrow at one of the drawings on his phone. His character, Bloody, was in a very suggestive pose, kind of looking like he was on an aphrodisiac.
“Of course. What’s a better ABO base than having a beastman who supposedly goes into heat anyway”, he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.
“A-what?”
“Nothing. If you plan on googling it, I suggest you don’t, unless you’ve changed your view on very explicit homosexual concepts.”
“…No, thank you. I think I can live without those.”
“The internet is a scary place”, Xi Yang laughed. “Okay, enough of this. Breakfast?”
“Sure!”
“Let me ask if Jian Lin has eaten already…”
Xi Yun scoffed. He could almost see the character’s wolf tail wagging behind his older brother’s back. “I swear, if I didn’t know what you look like when you’ve got a crush on someone, I’d have said you like him.”
Xi Yang broke out into loud laughter. He dragged his sibling into a hug, messing up his hair. “Jian Lin is my best friend, idiot. Of course I’m going to be close to him.”
“Still…”
The boy hung dead in his arms, letting everything happen. Resistance was futile – he was too small and weak compared to Xi Yang.
While they were eating, Xi Yang ran through the forum posts with a sockpuppet account. He was amusing himself with the nonsense some people cooked up.
[Ah ah ah!!! Have you seen! Sisters, have you seen!!! Who is this guy touching our dear Ice Emperor!!!]
[His name is Knightrider! How dare he!]
[Big bro Bloody, someone is stealing your husband!]
[Big bro Bloody, someone is stealing your wife!]
[Big sis up there, the Ice Emperor is still a guy…]
[Big bro Bloody, someone is stealing your soulmate! Your spouse! Your BRO!]
[+1]
[Lololol has someone looked at White Light]
[khjsglkf I’m dying]
[Haha look at this]
Someone uploaded a short video that showed Knightrider approaching Ice, just to be caught by White Light, who got into the way.
[White Light: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.]
[Bloody: Let’s bury this hatchet and keep Ice safe together.]
[More like: No one steals our fucking mage]
[…Fucking?]
[……………….Go wash your dirty brain.]
[I want an Ice plushie…]
[Have you seen his reaction tho? He’s just standing there, watching. Quietly. Staring….]
[The Ice Emperor watches his eunuchs panic, while he himself is relaxed. Classic.]
[I’d love finding out myself whether Bloody is an eunuch…]
[Pervert. ….+1]
[How about a three-]
[No]
[No]
[YES]
[You all want chaos. I stick to my OTP! No one else should get involved!]
[….Ice x Staff?]
[I know what you meant to say but… That sounds so wrong]
[Does anyone know Bloody’s and Ice’s sexualities so I can decide on whether to actually ship this?]
[We could raid Big bro Bloody’s guild and find out]
[…We march at dawn, brothers and sisters.]
“They sure are having fun. I wonder if I could get that many fans?”
“Get to being a ranker first. Maaaaan, I really wanna get back into the game… Just scrolling through the forum and texting Jian Lin isn’t the same as actually playing.”
A little animation started in which Bloody and White Light fought against a demon Knightrider. In the background, Ice was peacefully looking at a flower growing on the ground, not noticing anything at all.
“This is kinda accurate.”
“Why do you hate that Knightrider guy so much?”
“Cause Jian Lin is tense around him but he doesn’t go on a distance. Any decent person wouldn’t pressure someone who is visibly uncomfortable.”
“Oh…”
“He’s got questionable motives too. After all, Jian Lin is an attractive guy – not only visually. He’s filthy rich, too. Who knows what he’s planning?”
“So you’re going to play guard?”
“I am.” Xi Yang puffed himself upright.
Truthfully, he wouldn’t have done this a few weeks ago. It had been hard work to get Jian Lin to not mind him being around. Really, he was quite happy with the current quest, not because it was a world quest, but because he had grown so much closer with the other.
Jian Lin was such an oddly soothing person. It was like he’d accept you exactly the way you are. It was like finding a loyal friend who’d never leave you unless you made a mistake first.
He was really, really happy that things were turning out the way they were.
Thanks to the quest, they were together every day, and Jian Lin was getting obviously used to Xi Yang.
Surely, that’d continue even after the quest was over?
Xi Yang sank deeper into the sofa, scrolling through the posts with a smile he himself wasn’t aware he had.
Author’s Note
Just a little extra. Regular chapter on Wednesday again~
Once I’m done writing the arc (and I’m getting close!!!) I’ll raise the updates to 3 times a week C:
“but why is it that sometimes, you or Jian Lin are like, buffed up several times while the other looks like a frail little flower?”
OMG HAHAHAHAHAH
threesome? prime fanfic material there ;P
Well go and write it. I’m waiting xD
»Who is this guy touching out dear Ice Emperor!!!« our
» Someone uploaded a short video that showed Knightrider approaching White Light, just to be caught by White Light, who got into the way.« Now I’m confused. Is it maybe Ice instead of (the first) White Light? Or is it just my English that sucks again? :’D
Lil bro, you sure your brother hasn’t a crush yet? xD And yeah… I guess one shouldn’t maybe google everything lolol But Bloody, what are you reading in your freetime? ( •̀ ᴗ •́ )
Thx for the extra (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Snrgh. Missed that. I’m gonna go correct it xD
Thank you for the extra! I love how Xi Yang just knows the tropes, shipping, and even follows the fanart lmaoo
He started following those groups after he realized that, in fact, they often take better snapshots and videos than even the professionals. It’s the dedication of fans. xD (He also thinks the comics are incredibly funny.)
Ngl I would too- where can I find them wkwk
thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for the chapter 💜
He’s such a surprisingly chill person. Seriously, I’m so introverted I barely leave my house except for work and I have exactly one (1) friend who’s not even in the same country, but I still feel like I’d liket o hang out with Bloody! Like, he’s up beat and got lots of energy but also seems pretty low maintenance and not like he’d take offence if I had to go hide in a corner for a while. Man, Ice sure is lucky huh