Life is a GameCh45 - Extra – In between

When the delegation reached the castle, the Origin Guards were already waiting.

White Light was tense. He had gotten a message from Bloody to not worry at all, but the overpowered guards made everyone nervous. Even Woodcutter, who had joined the party again, was silent. OnS0HY

The foremost guard spoke up loudly and clearly, his voice echoing. 

“Our king greets you. Please follow us.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

It went much, much smoother than expected. Suspicion was written on the players’ faces, but the NPCs looked rather relieved.

Walking down the staircase was uncomfortable, but at the sight of the beautiful castle, everyone could only sigh in awe. nBUwIZ

A row of demonic maids stood at the entrance of the castle, bowing in unison. The formal greeting had the leader of the delegation exhale slowly in relief. She walked first, doing her best to show an amicable smile to the unknown species.

The demon butler who took over the delegation was in a good mood. He beamed with the expression of someone who couldn’t care less about what was happening, as he was too busy celebrating something else.

“Welcome”, he greeted loudly. “His Majesty is already waiting for you. Do come in!”

The people of the delegation stood up straight, showing their proudest and most confident selves, but all of them faltered when they had reached the throne room and looked up at the person sitting on the throne.

Elven features, cold and clear-cut. Blonde, long hair falling over his shoulders, the cold blue eyes shining. 

They all knew the person sitting on the throne.

“Welcome to my castle”, the true Ice Emperor spoke in a soft but kind tone. Although his expression didn’t move too much, his eyes were warm. “I hope the way wasn’t too bad…?”

There were many things that the players would need a long time to figure out. lzJQy0

For example, that the castle had a sort of phrase that was often engraved, like a sign – wan gu qian qiu, for all eternity. Or that the Ice Emperor’s name was Bing Xue. Or that there was said to be the last dragon living underneath the castle.

There were other things they figured out very quickly in return.

For example, that the Ice Emperor was very kind, but also a bit awkward. He did not like meeting people, but he wouldn’t turn players away when they wanted to take a rest.

There were some things they would never figure out at all… tiR6Yw

For example, that there was another leader in the castle, nicknamed Water, who also went by a lot of other names. That this figure could sometimes be spotted around the Ice Emperor, talking quietly, and they’d be smiling brightly and at peace.

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.

…For example, that the Ice Emperor was terribly biased towards a small group of players, but only in secret, when no one looked.

Bloody couldn’t help but visit often, alongside with Blackstone and Spiderlily. Spiderlily would literally vanish inside the library, but Blackstone and him would explore. Often enough, the exploration of the castle would result in Bloody sticking to the Ice Emperor, who very much treated him as just a friend.

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Chrysanthemum Garden.

Due to the prince and the Ice Emperor being friends, things went well enough. It would, many people considered, open up a lot of possibilities in the future. The mighty Ice Emperor was strong enough to open up the desert, if only he wished to.

Once the quest was over, players suddenly began throwing themselves into the lore of the game. TBQasv

Surely there must be a lot more to explore, now that an immortal mage and demons had appeared?!

…The player numbers rose abruptly, and along them, no one noticed the appearance of a certain, almost oddly familiar looking figure.

Xi Yang thought it was a very important conversation. S5AwsX

He had always been very open about everything with his family. He wasn’t going to stop doing that now, though for some reason he felt a bit jittery this time. Looking at his parents and little brother at the table in the little restaurant corner, he set his fork down.

Xi Yun knew already. That should lessen the impact.

When Mama Xi noticed her older son putting his fork down, she paused. Her eyes narrowed immediately into slits, squinting at the boy who had actually paused eating his favourite food.

“Soooo…” Xi Yang dragged the word and cleared his throat, calling for attention. His father and brother paused their moving cutlery as well. xlRgIy

“What is it?”, Papa Xi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I just wanted to inform you”, Xi Yang said very slowly, watching his parents’ faces, “that I’ve started dating-”

He didn’t get any further.

Papa Xi set his knife and fork down audibly, while Mama Xi sat up straight. She reached over to him, grasping his hand. “Little Yang, have you thought well about that? How long have you known him? What do you know about him personally?” pbEuF

Papa Xi likewise leaned forwards, scowling. “What about his past relationships? How does he interact with his friends? Do you know them?”

Well. Alright. He kind of knew why they were acting like that.

His last relationship hadn’t gone to a point where he needed someone’s help or anything, but his parents had noticed him having bruised wrists, for example, twice or thrice. Understandably, they had lost all faith in his choice of partner.

Knowing that, Xi Yang threw the ball to someone else. “YunYun knows him.” 9OPmBG

Two heads whipped around to Xi Yun, whose face was dark. Pouting and a bit angry, he glowered at his older brother. “He’s waaaaay! Way! Too good for you!”

Mama Xi’s face dared to relax the tiniest bit. “Are you sure?”

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Xi Yang pulled out his phone at the chance, opening up a selfie with himself and Jian Lin. In the photo, Jian Lin gave a soft smile, a bit shy and uncertain. He held it out for his parents to look. “There, that’s him.”

For a second, both of them were silent. Then his father spoke up skeptically. “Are you… sure you’re dating him?” HDRzYN

Mama Xi took the phone to stare for longer. “He looks too handsome for you. Don’t get me wrong, darling, it’s just… That’s a really high standard? Moreover, he looks like a sweetheart. There has to be a lot of competition.”

Xi Yang hit the table. “And you don’t think I can win against that?!”

“We’re not saying you can’t win the lottery. We’re just saying it’s unlikely”, Papa Xi quipped, rubbing his chin. 

“I don’t understand what he sees in my brother, either”, Xi Yun lamented loudly. “But they’re actually dating. Moreover, he’s our neighbor!” mEyKDt

Like carnivores spotting prey, the two adults’ eyes glinted. “Neighbor? That means we can personally talk to him?”

“No.” Xi Yang strongly shook his head, crossing his arms to form an X. “He’s gonna freak out. He’s shy.”

When he mentioned shy, Mama Xi squinted at the photo again. He did indeed look a bit timid, but also… “Hmm… Why does he look familiar?”

“He’s the son of Jian Su and Anthony.” OoMt4F

More skeptical looks. “You mean to tell me that this handsome, rich, coming from a good family, softly smiling person here, who has a timid personality, is interested in you?”

Xi Yang’s gaze dropped down at his plate. “…Okay, that does sound kinda unlikely. It’s still the truth!”

“Well.” Papa Xi leaned back in his chair, drawing a slow breath. “Is this payback for your bad luck so far?”

Mama Xi leaned her head into her hand. “If I had a son-in-law like that, I guess I could stop worrying. I’m just not sure about how his family will accept you.” o0pc2y

“That’s for later to worry.” Xi Yang smiled wryly. For now, he was overjoyed simply being able to stick to Jian Lin. He was still waiting for the other to finish the copying process so that they could play together again.

The situation as a whole was fantastical. It was unbelievable, even – Jian Lin had more or less declared that aliens had once landed on this planet, after all.

But doubting Jian Lin hadn’t crossed his mind, not even for a single second.

Whatever it was about Jian Lin, Xi Yang didn’t consider that the other might be lying. He didn’t consider that Jian Lin might have gone insane either, or that he had come to believe nonsense. With a single-minded conviction, Xi Yang had believed every word of the story. 4tVsYA

And even though he would never tell anyone, it had been kind of cool to have Abzu hack into his phone one evening to just casually leave a warning about not sharing the info he had gotten. Whatever the whole alien backstory was about, having a sentient AI creating their own world like a god was just… pretty damn amazing.

Mama Xi waved her son back into reality. “So he’s officially your boyfriend, is that correct? Is that going to cause any issues with your playing career?”

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“Aaaactually…”

Xi Yun made a whining complaint again while Xi Yang laughed. XMvds

He explained the whole situation, including the existence of their very own shipping group.

“You must have used up the luck of a lifetime.” Mama Xi shook her head thoughtfully.

Papa Xi joined in. “You better treat him well.”

“So biased when you haven’t even met him yet! Also, how can you think that I wouldn’t want the best for him?” Xi Yang lifted his nose up into the air. “He chose me, so of course I’m going to treat him well.” kuopd8

“Poor Ice Emperor…”

“I heard that!”

Author’s Notes

Okay guys, I’ll be back with updates once a week on the 11th next month 🙂 They’ll be on saturday~ d83iRm

Also I have to look up this name every time… Thanks Yue… Yue. xD Floofy Ice!