Mutated PheromonesCh43 - Liking You.

Editor: DarkSapphire, Sahloknir


Jiang Xiao waited for a few seconds. Seeing that the little summoner was staying quiet, he sent a message. z8QvaO

[(Private) Formless Slash: Arena together?]

[(Private) Dying Star: No.]

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[(Private) Formless Slash: Then you came to find me specifically?]

[(Private) Dying Star: No!] UusWBp

Jiang Xiao smiled, stopped his questions and watched the youth silently.

Yue Ran unconsciously pressed on a key repeatedly, one that rotated his character’s camera. Soon, he didn’t know how many rotations he had made.

Remove the receiver, how could the senior think of such a cruel idea. Was there a pit in his mind?

But frankly speaking, when his cousin told him, he was really touched. But you can’t be too selfish, others have to cut something to be with him, he feels heavy when he thinks about it.

jG3Qmz

But frankly, when his cousin revealed the truth to him, he was really touched. But he couldn’t be too selfish. The other would have to get something removed in order to be with him. Just the thought of it made his heart sink.

He finally removed his finger from the key, hardened his heart, and decided to make it clear.

[(Private) Dying Star: My cousin told me everything.]

Jiang Xiao’s heart trembled slightly. xqcL4F

The benefit of Qin Xiujie’s move today was to give him a push from behind, but the drawback was giving Yue Ran the opportunity to poke a hole through the paper screen.

He stopped Yue Ran’s words in time so that the little summoner wouldn’t give him the nice guy card.

[(Private) Formless Slash: Don’t think about those unnecessary things for now. Just think about one thing now.]

[(Private) Dying Star: What?] tfbd6G

[(Private) Formless Slash: Removing me as an alpha out of the equation for a moment, do you have feelings for me?]

Yue Ran was caught off guard.

As long as he thinks that Jiang Xiao is an Alpha, he automatically rejects the possibility between them, and he dare not think deeply about the others. But there is one thing he admits, this is the Alpha who treats him the best among people of the same age group in recent years except for his relatives.

As long as he thought of Jiang Xiao together with ‘alpha’, he automatically rejected the possibility between them. Other than that, he didn’t dare to ponder over it more deeply. But one thing he admitted was that this was the nicest alpha he had met among people in his same age group except for his relatives in recent years. uUcKe0

He was all twisted up for a moment as he slowly typed down the following words.

[(Private) Dying Star: I don’t know.]

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

[(Private) Formless Slash: Then do you dislike me?]

[(Private) Dying Star: No.] c6UiNE

Although he has recently gained a new understanding of Jiang Xiao’s character, and he is quite angry that Jiang Xiao is shameless, but this cautiousness did not touch his bottom line and did not affect his overall impression of Jiang Xiao.

Although he just recently had a new understanding of Jiang Xiao’s character and was quite angry that the senior was shameless, this cautious setup didn’t touch his bottom line and didn’t affect his overall impression of Jiang Xiao.

His impression of the other person was still a reliable senior who treated him well.

He glanced at the chat history, picked on his keyboard, and endured the discomfort and tension of talking about his feelings with others for the first time. He stressed in one sentence. b01xd4

[(Private) Dying Star: Don’t dislike is not like.]

Jiang Xiao thought about the little summoner behind the screen, who must maintain his straight face. Jiang Xiao smiled again and replied quickly.

[(Private) Formless Slash: I know, but at least you don’t dislike me.]

[(Private) Formless Slash: Ran Ran, then how about this, give me a chance to try. If you still don’t return my feelings by the end of this semester, I will stop bothering you. But if you do, let’s find a way to solve the pheromones issue together. If you don’t like me removing it, we will think of another way. Either way, I’ll listen to you.] dBVN9A

Yue Ran’s little heart was pounding hard. A cold sensation spread through his nervous fingers. It took him a long time to reply.

[(Private) Dying Star: What do you mean by ‘to try’?]

[(Private) Formless Slash: Just let me pursue you and don’t always avoid me when you see me in the future.]

[(Private) Dying Star: What if I don’t agree? Will you act like before?] yWk4cb

[(Private) Formless Slash: No, I’ll stay far away from you to get drunk late at night where you can’t see. Feeling depressed from not fulfilling my wish before I die.]

How did this quickly turn into ‘not fulfilling my wish before I die’! Yue Ran stared at the message. He only felt that the tense boundary around him cracked with a pop. The next moment, he saw two more messages.

[(Private) Formless Slash: I was just teasing you.]

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.

[(Private) Formless Slash: I’m a bit nervous.] ghHzXd

Tef Ejc kjr ajxfc jyjmx. Ktfgf kjr j ragjcuf offilcu bo olcvlcu jc jiis, frqfmljiis klat Aljcu Wljb’r rafjvs jcv mjiw rasif.

He moved his fingers, feeling that it was stiff as if wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap, but now that layer of plastic wrap was severely cut, air was poured in, and the blood began to flow again.

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Qtfc tf wbnfv tlr olcufgr, atf raloocfrr bc atfw kjr jr lo atfs kfgf kgjqqfv lc j ijsfg bo qijralm kgjq. Ktfc, jr lo atja qijralm ijsfg kjr mea jkjs wfgmlifrris ys j xclof. Ofaalcu atf rxlc ygfjatf jcv atf yibbv oibkr atgbeut jujlc.

[(Private) Formless Slash: You don’t have to answer right now. Tell me after you think about it.] 8hbmPn

[(Private) Dying Star: ‘Kay.]

Jiang Xiao only looked at the happy word “um”, and guessed that the little soul master’s mood had eased, and asked if he wanted to play the arena with him. Yue Ran agreed this time, and the two formed a team and entered the random competition mode.

Jiang Xiao could tell that the little summoner’s mood was relieved by only looking at this reply happily. He asked if the young man wanted to do arena with him. Yue Ran accepted this time as the two formed a party and entered the random competition mode.

With the duo’s strength being displayed, they won three matches in a row, as easy as a professional chef chopping vegetables. 7mLMO1

In the fourth match, they entered the map and found that it was an instant death map with a cliff. Yue Ran used his insane hand speed to switch his sixth to the little chubby chicken.

The enemy consisted of a group of three. When the opposite team saw who they were facing, a conversation started in the all chat one after another.

[(All) Disconnected: Oh my god! We are matched with Star God!]

[(All) I am Support: Star God, I’m your little fan. I’ve been your fan since your battle against Star of Jupiter, mua~] UJopVD

[(All) Daylily: Star God, can you please show us mercy?]

[(All) Dying Star: Sure, just jump off the cliff yourself.]

[(All) I am Support: 5555.]

[(All) Daylily: (tears)] 8Iv0wl

[(All) Disconnected: Not jumping. There are the three of us, Great God, just you wait, we will gang up on you!]

[(All) Dying Star: I have a teammate.]

[(All) Disconnected: Then we’ll deal with you first and clean your teammate up afterwards (smirk).]

[(All) Dying Star: I see.] b6MQGg

It turned out that the trio had wishful thinking.

Jiang Xiao met me as an assistant on the way, and immediately rushed over, quickly killing him. Yue Ran also encountered a disconnection over there, who also killed the person, and then the two joined up and blocked the Wangyoucao on the cliff.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Jiang Xiao met I am Support on his way to rendezvous with this team and rushed towards the other at once, killing the player quickly. Yue Ran also met one of the trio, Disconnected, on his way. Same as his senior, he defeated the enemy. Then, once the two met up, they cornered Daylity at the edge of a cliff.

[(All) Daylily: Star God, wait. Please listen to my dying words!] 91Fu2J

[(All) Dying Star: Speak.]

[(All) Daylily: Please take a picture with me~]

Yue Ran was not good at interacting with his fans, but this requirement was simple enough. He went to stand with Daylity to let him take a screenshot. Then he asked to take a picture with the little fat chicken and also made a request of being sent off by it. Yue Ran muttered about such a weird fan, then he summoned his sixth quietly. Waiting for the other to say done before killing the last enemy immediately.

Jiang Xiao glanced at the little fat chicken and asked, “You haven’t made further refinement on it?” T78ynC

Yue Ran uttered a “No”.

He had considered whether to feed the chicken some bird type spirit animals, but he was afraid of losing the crowd control from the refinement. This little chicken finally had some use. What would happen if it returned to being a bug?

Jiang Xiao guessed his concern and asked, “Its attack still isn’t high?”

Yue Ran replied, “It only rose a little. It can’t beat people with it. I don’t know whether the critical chance buff would work on it or not.” awDJEA

Jiang Xiao said, “Let’s try it in the next match.”

Yue Ran had no objection, as he clicked on ‘Ready’ to continue.

A moment later, he encountered an enemy on a narrow road. He summoned his chicken to fight and was surprised to find that he could buff it. Although its attack was not as good as the White Lion, at least it was not completely useless.

The two quickly won the game. u69Xh

After listening to his feedback, Jiang Xiao suggested, “You can try feeding some materials.”

Yue Ran hesitated. “What if it loses its skill?”

“Its attack can’t keep up, so you can only use its control,” Jiang Xiao analyzed, “but now players know that it has this knock-up skill, so they must be careful when facing it, you don’t take advantage of it.”

“Right now, it doesn’t have any growth. You can only use it for its skill.” Jiang Xiao analyzed. “But now other players know its knock-off ability. They will be more cautious when fighting you. You won’t gain any advantage over it.” ylUmH7

Yue Ran thought about how true the senior’s analysis was.

He usually used the White Lion and would only use the little chubby chicken under special circumstances. But if the chicken’s attack could be a little higher, he could use it for combat. In this way, if it had both the attack stats and crowd control, it would be a match made in heaven.

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Jiang Xiao commented, “If you really like its skill, even if it loses it, you can still refine it again. Whatever the case, you can’t try without trying. You never know, you might get a good result.”

Yue Ran glanced at the swordsman and agreed. 1yJ8nh

Although Jiang Xiao made an analysis with double meaning, it was still logical. In any case, he remembered how many of his things the little fat chicken swallowed. It was a pity that he was going to start to refine it again.

They left the arena, entered a private YY chat room and began their quest to tame bird type monsters.

There are many birds and spirit beasts in Ranger, from humble chickens, ducks and geese to adult-sized raptors, almost all of them can be killed. The more he wanted to strengthen the little fat chicken’s attack, he shot four or five raptors in a row, fed them to the little fat chicken one by one, and finally put some good materials cruelly, and clicked to synthesize.

There were many bird monster species in the game. From unremarkable chickens, ducks and geese to large size birds of prey, almost all of them were ideal as ingredients. Yue Ran wanted to strengthen the white chicken’s attack, so he beat four to five ferocious predatory birds and put them in the array one by one. Finally, he ruthlessly added more good materials and clicked ‘Refine’. qNyVwm

The white light dissipated, and a bird appeared in the centre of the array.

Yue Ran: “…”

Jiang Xiao asked, “Done?”

Instead of answering, Yue Ran released the bird. 1RMvwN

Jiang Xiao studied it and also stayed silent.

This bird was an enlarged version of the little fat chicken. The difference was that the wings and tail had grown, and it actually had a neck now. But…the three exaggerated cowlick feathers on its head remained unchanged.

The little fat bird was still happy as it flew around its master’s head, landed by his leg, and rubbed against it.

There was no emotion on Yue Ran’s face. d 2IVt

A bird with a snow-white body is still beautiful and elegant, but it has three hairs of different colors on its head. This is not the idiot face of a baby, it is simply killer!

A snow-white bird was very beautiful and elegant, unfortunately, it had to have the eyesore of three long feathers in different colours. This was not simply the cute, foolish face of a small cub, but had taken on the appearance of something bizarre! k1fV7A

Jiang Xiao brought up, “How about its skill?”

Yue Ran opened the chicken’s character menu and felt more at ease. “Its attack increased, and the knock-off skill is still there.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“That’s good,” Jiang Xiao said. “See, it was worth a try.”

Yue Ran didn’t answer. He unsummoned the bird without outrageous style and mumbled, “I’m going to bed.” u6AEW0

Jiang Xiao asked, “Is tomorrow’s training still running?”

Yue Ran replied, “No.”

In fact, they only listened to the chief instructor’s lecture today. After the first day, they will become more regular. The Omega team will always be at 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, and there will be no training for the rest of the time.

In fact, they only had to listen to the chief instructor’s lecture today. After the first day, they would go through a regular schedule. The omega’s team would always train from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with several breaks in the middle, and they don’t have training outside of that. UbeRrx

Jiang Xiao informed, “Then wake up around seven tomorrow, have breakfast before seven thirty and rest for half an hour, just in time for training.”

Yue Ran blurted, “I know.”

Jiang Xiao said, “Then sleep. I’ll have breakfast with you tomorrow. Good night.”

Yue Ran replied after a pause, “…Hold it, you are eating breakfast with me?” Q0iH5j

“You don’t like it?” Jiang Xiao asked. “Then I’ll get up early to buy breakfast and bring it to you. You can take it back to your room to eat?”

Yue Ran was tangled inside. Then he remembered the senior’s words of ‘to try’, he finally agreed, “No, I’ll eat out.”

A faint smile appeared on Jiang Xiao’s face. “Alright, I’ll wait for you downstairs tomorrow. Good night.”

Yue Ran returned the “Good Night” and went offline to do his nightly routine. FChMwg

At seven o’clock the next day, he got up right on time. After freshening up, he saw a new message from Jiang Xiao, before he greeted his roommates and went downstairs. As soon as he walked out of the dormitory gate, he saw Jiang Xiao on the opposite side.

He wore simple casual clothes and still had that indifferent look. The moment he saw the youth, a smile appeared on that handsome face. It was like ice and snow melting and creating an unreal image under the morning light.

Yue Ran was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly heard a short scream from somewhere in the dormitory above, which helped him regain his senses. He maintained his straight face and walked over.

Jiang Xiao greeted, “Morning.” MifydB

Yue Ran tried to remain calm and replied with a “Morning”. He followed the senior to the campus dining area and had a quiet breakfast.

He thought this was an awkward meal, but Jiang Xiao was really good at grasping that angle and didn’t give him any uncomfortable feeling. Before the stuffy feeling could appear, he was hooked off by the other party with a topic and chatted for a long time unconsciously. He didn’t realize it was almost eight o’clock until Jiang Xiao reminded him.

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Jiang Xiao added, “You still have ten minutes before eight. Go back and get your water bottle. Rest for a while before assembling.”

Yue Ran agreed with the other, so they walked back to his dormitory. When he saw that many people had gathered in the lobby, he suddenly remembered an important thing. “Don’t go look for me on the field today.” ar3sc4

Jiang Xiao requested, “In exchange, you must promise me one thing too.”

Yue Ran was staying vigilant. “What?”

Jiang Xiao looked at his cute appearance, endured the impulse to tease him, and rubbed his head. “If anyone asks you for my WeChat, you’re not allowed to give it.”

Yue Ran relaxed his tense breath and happily agreed. Inside, he was mocking how narcissistic the senior was. This was only the second day of military training, no one knew who Jiang Xiao was, why would anyone ask for his WeChat? kAc9u5

However, very quickly, he was face slapped by his own words.

Although they were still unfamiliar with each other, he was no match for the natural socializers. Because after his roommate was running his mouth, Yue Ran became more and more popular at each break. In the beginning, he was glad to be making more friends, until they opened their mouths and shifted the topic to his two older brothers. He had a flash of realization.

He patiently explained, “No partner, both are singles. You asked if they have someone they like? I…I think so. Yes, they are still pursuing…No, they forbid me from giving out their WeChat. You can ask for it yourself.”

The students skipped the topic while giggling and began to talk about something else. p6xwT8

Yue Ran immediately relaxed and quietly listened to their gossip. That was how he leisurely spent his morning, and then…He realized that two natural socializers were sticking to him and wanted to join him for lunch.

He glanced at his roommate out of the corner of his eye. But before he could speak, he heard a familiar voice from nearby, “Ran Ran.”

He turned around and looked at Jiang Xiao’s handsome face.

The two students around him were instantly excited and walked over with him. One of them smiled and said, “You must be Yue Ran’s gege right? Hello, senior. We are his classmates. My name is Zhou Jieying.” 4g5Xuj

Jiang Xiao only nodded towards them and turned his attention to Yue Ran. “Let’s go and eat.”

Zhou Jieying suggested, “Why don’t we join you two?”

Jiang Xiao said indifferently, “Not today. I have something to discuss with him.”

Zhou Jieying’s expression remained the same. He smiled and uttered “Alright”, but continued to walk beside Jiang Xiao and asked for delicious suggestions from the campus dining area. xt968A

Jiang Xiao surveyed around briefly and found an acquaintance in the crowd. He pulled the person over and asked him to be a tour guide for the younger students. Only then did he get rid of them completely.

He turned to Yue Ran. “Did you give them my WeChat?”

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Yue Ran confirmed with a wooden face, “No.”

He suddenly felt that Jiang Xiao didn’t have it easy and asked, “You’ve always encountered such things before?” MmBcbd

Jiang Xiao replied, “Yes, but I disregard them.”

Yue Ran asked, “Then earlier?”

Jiang Xiao explained, “They are still your classmates after all.”

Yue Ran was surprised. He understood. Jiang Xiao didn’t want to cause him any future difficulty. aq8YSh

But he disagreed with that logic as he followed the topic, “But if we are together in the future, they would still hate me.”

Jiang Xiao was very satisfied. “You already thought about the future?”

Yue Ran denied, “…Absolutely not!”

Seeing that he ruffled the little summoner’s feathers, Jiang Xiao thoughtfully agreed, “I know, you’re just curious.” w8BpeM

Yue Ran uttered, “That’s right.”

Jiang Xiao restrained himself from smiling, as he said, “If there is really an ‘if’, I’ll handle it, so don’t worry.”

Yue Ran didn’t want to continue on this topic, so once they arrived at the dining hall, he checked what was on the menu.

Jiang Xiao didn’t deliberately prolong his stay in the canteen to chat this time. After their meals, they walked back. Before the youth turned to leave, he stopped the other and said, “Ran Ran, wait. There is something I didn’t tell you yesterday.” exSKvl

Yue Ran turned his head. “Yes?”

As soon as he answered, his vision turned dark as Jiang Xiao lowered his head and leaned closer.

Yue Ran smelled the other’s pheromones. It was mixed with refreshing perfume, and it went straight from his nose to his heart. He could feel the other’s hot breath on the tip of his ear, followed by a low, gentle voice that formed three words.

“I like you.” OrShLu


The translator has something to add:

Teo: This translator noticed Jiang Xiao is getting a lot of complains in the last few chapters…let me tell ya, having translated a project with extreme yandere ML, Jiang Xiao is a Saint. At least he did not create an alt account to befriend Yue Ran in the back or something. From experience, game etiquette could be different from real life. The bottoming is typically lower because of anonymity players have. Trust me when I say a manipulative person could do more behind a digital mask. At least Jiang Xiao is staying above Yue Ran’s bottleline, plus he is also the reason the chicken is still alive xd

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Translator's Note

An insult of asking if someone is crazy. When a person has a pit in their mind, the person could fall into the pit himself. A problem from something missing in the brain.

Translator's Note

The direct translation. An internet slang for reasoning behind rejecting a confession. Such as ‘You’re a nice guy, but we are not compatible’ or ‘You’re a nice guy, I wish you will find someone better’ etc. Also known as ‘friend zone’.

Translator's Note

小心機 also means 小心思, or someone who is a careful thinker or their crafty/ devious ideas. Some similar descriptions: strategic, playing mind games, back-stabber, scheming, or calculating.

Translator's Note

Five (wǔ) in Chinese is almost homonyms (different tone) to 嗚 (wū) or sound of crying.

Translator's Note

It’s a Chinese subculture of young urban migrants (loanword from ‘smart’), usually of low education, who adopted the culture with exaggerated hairstyles, heavy makeup, flamboyant costumes, piercings etc (the word was formed during the height of scene subculture). From my research, it is usually the group with lower income used this appearance to show their dissatisfaction with society (how the society failed them). I’ll use words like bizarre, outrageous, etc.

(Used another translator’s uploaded image, let me know if no image is showing.)

Translator's Note

People you just met but it felt like they are an old friends of yours. Will also translate to ‘social butterfly’.

Leave a Comment

63 comments

  1. +1 Teo!!! and damn Jiang Xiao your last act is too smooth I’m swoon (๑♡⌓♡๑) why is that the simpler the confession, the more fatal it gets?? (~ ̄³ ̄)~ and eyyy I see you Yue Ran is getting swept a bit, a hint of the future HEH HEH (ʃƪ^3^)

    • To just state my thoughts, isn’t everyone (if not everyone, then just me) kinda the same as jx when pursuing or liking someone? They’d be saying it’s manipulative but there are even some little things when liking someone in real life that can count as manipulative. Planning encounters to look as a coincidence, for example. It’s something people do to be able to talk to the person they like, isn’t it? It’s manipulative at some point, right? Especially if the encounter that you would purposely create is kinda… i dunno. Maybe i could’ve stated a better example but this is what popped in my mind rn. What im saying is that we are all, at some point, manipulative too! Not just with our objects of affection but also to our family members, friends, anyone! Manipulative doesnt need to be a super big deal to be counted as manipulative. Even small actions count as one. You can not just judge based on the actions, too, but the purpose as well. We all read jx’s pov that he’s even willing to remove that gland. He’s sincere!

      These are all my thoughts, and i just want to share it. Haha. Thank you very much for translating ❤️❤️❤️

  2. as someone who have MTL-ed this story until finished, jiang xiao is very swooning XD

    and honestly he is your typical ML in danmei, see his kind of personality in most danmei i ever read so i think he’s still not crossing the line and nowhere near the line tbh lol

    i like his character and his teamwork with ran ran’s cousin. such a cunning friends

    • You can also look forward to an extra chapter (or two…or three…I might need to chop it into pieces for my sanity) from the physical copy o(°▽°)o I like Qin Xiujie as well. He is perfect and supportive (most of the time) cousin!

  3. Go Teo, you can do it! The raunchy parts are about to arrived so excited!

    Also, the ML is just fine, he’s an alpha so if you’re angry about that, you shouldn’t be reading ABOs.

  4. If the chapters are too long you can split it into two releases. It’s always funny to me when people place real life expectations on novels involving ABO elements. The story literally has different rules. There is a dynamic that changes their norm from our norm. The main thing is ran ran’s comfort level with his behavior. So far it seems fine. Confession is nice. Finally break the paper screen.

    • Most translator would spit at 5-6k+, not 4k. CG’s rule stated that each chapter need to be at least 3k Chinese word long (Plus the actual chapter having less word imo).

    • So instead of applying real life experiences to the books we consume, we’re supposed to blindly accept the rules of said world? A book is supposed to make you think and question it, even if it’s some fluffy ABO nonsense.

      Applying our real life experiences to books is completely normal. We do it when we read other fantasy books or play games.

      • The book setting is a variable, as well as the say culture from the original source. Sometime, you have to read it with open mind. I see a lot of ‘this is bad’ or ‘this is not how it works in real life’. Well, it might be possible in China, it might not be the same from where the reader is form, but culture wise, it is acceptable in China and very common (scarily) at times. I’m fine with reader discussing it about it but not everything is a one size fit all.

        • I agree with you that one size doesn’t fit all. That is why it is irksome to see comments dismissing other people’s viewpoints re: JX’s behavior.

    • You are welcome to ask for rec at CG discord server. Also, Transmigrated Senior Martial Brother is the novel that I’m talking about. Just a warning, because it is my first translation, it is VERY ROUGH. Plus it was a hot potato given to me, I was just finishing it for the sake of finishing it…

  5. You have worked hard. Four thousand is really not a little amount. Thanks a lot for not splitting the chapter. 😄

    Jiang Xiao is truly not really a bad person. I have read a lot worth before. He might come on a little strong but he doesn’t go overboard. Awww, and the chicken evolved. 🥰 The three cow likes probably make it look like a little punk.

    🐤

  6. This chapter was so sweet! This was just straightforward and the confession at the end!

    And on a different note, I wonder what the chick will become in the end… a phoenix? I think I’ve been influenced by all the Chinese novels and manga I’ve read, I can’t even think of another mythical bird anymore. 😅

    Thanks for the chapter!

  7. 😭😭😭 Thank you for the chapter and the translator’s notes.

    It’s just sad how many people thought that being crafty or scheming is the same as manipulating.

    • The meaning behind scheme is to have an underhanded plot. Manipulate and scheme go hand in hand when you’re talking about taking advantage of a situation, or system, for your own benefit.

      Your comment is a bit snotty.

      • They’re different. Gosh. Why are you offended?

        Manipulation is manipulating a person or others for his gain. Scheming is doing things step by step with a secret planning to achieve once’s goal. They can be associated but there’s a big difference.

      • Jiang Xiao did combined the group so he could be with Yue Ran, but did he used the people in it? No. He used the group but not the people. Even our MC’s cousing telling our MC about his gland removal plan isn’t within his scope. He didn’t used our MC’s cousin even when he can. There’s no particular goal our ML have except to ask our MC in the right time if he could call him. That’s scheming but never manipulating.

        • The group/guild consists of those people. They are the guild essentially; there is no guild to merge without the people in it. He knew they would join with his guild bc of their stats in the game, their boss kills in raids and dungeons, the arena wins. He is manipulating them because he knows they will say yes to the merger in order to get those particular boss kills themselves and to be a part of a high ranked guild.

          It is manipulation because he doesn’t care about those people at all. He wouldn’t glance at them twice if YR was in a different guild. He used them and their need for success in the guild to get closer to Yue Ran, both in-game and outside of it.

        • Also, he let this whole guild think they were just so awesome and amazing and that’s why their guilds would merge together. He gaslit them into that merge, even placing someone else as the guild leader so YR wouldn’t be suspicious. His entire goal is to get closer to YR. That is outright manipulation of the people around YR according to your own explanation.

          • Even if he was the leader, YR still wouldn’t say no after seeing that everyone agreed to combine the group and Jiang Xiao thought that too but he still made his friend the leader because it’s more align with his personality of being lowkey, he made his friend the leader for it was too troublesome to have his real account yet leader of the guild in his other account at the same time. It wasn’t directly said that he made the other party a leader because of YR if you go back to his chat with his other team members with YR’s cousin. It was only YR assuming that he changed leaders so he can approach him? That’s not in line with JX’s personality because he still could’ve been the leader while combining the two groups if he really wants to.

            As for telling those people he saw their potential so he wants to combine their group, he only told YR’s father about that. His group consists of just play for fun so it doesn’t make sense to play the higher banker seeing someone’s potential tho? I also don’t remember when he brainwashed YR’s team members like you said? It was his father he curried favor with because he wants to be his daughter-in-law?

          • pal, now you’re just using serious terms to refer to not-everyday but still normal behavior. do you not have ambitious or just generally smart people in your life. jx is simply using what he has to his advantage. the guild members’ way of thinking just happen to align with what he wants and he takes the opportunity to grasp them. gaslighting is a serious thing and not applicable to such a small scale and harmless thing as this. i feel like you need to read a lot more things and go outside more, idk. meet more people less similar to you. it’s good to be critical of what you read but to this extent is too much. you’re ruining it for yourself. look, jx and yr are finally communicating. that’s a good step forward and you didn’t even seem to acknowledge this. if you really cared about how jx is pursuing yr, you would genuinely seek out improvement from him but you’re obviously just here because you dislike jx or something. calm down and breathe.
      • You’ve not read much BL have you? I can see from your comments that you haven’t read much BL. This is the one of the gentlest MLs I’ve seen. If you think this is manipulation, then I advice you not to read much BL cos you will be shocked to see what most MLs are capable of to get with their significant other. If you’re bothered by something as little and wholesome as this, then I’m worried about how you can handle most ABO novels cause most of them are dub-con and with little to no consent. Thankfully this novel is safe from that but you still wanna nitpick about the ML!?! SMH

  8. Thanks for the chapter!

    I think there is a debate we need to have again as a society about courtship rules:

    How do you determine consent? How implicit can it be? How much of a grey zone is acceptable?

    Is only one refusal the threshold? Can someone pursue another? What are the rules & limites? What is manipulation & what is putting yourself in a good light to sell your dating potential? What about engineering meeting situations, or sending gifts? Having friends selling your merits? What gets into manipulation & stalking territory?

    The old rules tended to lead to abuse so time to brush up the old or create the new from scratch, but in the meantime, we’ll face a lot of awkwardness as society redefines some of it’s fundamentals. We also have to allow space for personal, cultural differences & subjectivity. & never assume that our opinion is universal.

    Now my personal opinion about this story: there was some crafty engineering, but it was blatant & it had for objectif to give ML the chance to present himself as a person before the relationship alarm is raised for someone very wary. There was no intention to harm or impose, so it didn’t raise my creep flag.

    ML is very straightforward about his intentions in this chapter, asks for consent, sets limits. It’s a good conversation to have. For the rest, we’ll see. I don’t expect perfect marks on some imaginary acceptable behavior board. It would be fake & inhuman. We humans are imperfect & I like it that way.

  9. Looks like the comments section is very… active. Not touching that.

    Anyway, aaaaaaah! Jiang Xiao’s slowly making progress! 🥰

    Thank you for the chapter.

  10. Yeah, Jiang Xiao is actually a Saint compared to other MLs. I didn’t really understand the hate about him. Maybe I read too much danmei with twisted MLs that he can’t even compared to them…

    • Especially with manhwa’s there’s tons of abusive Alpha which it reach to the point you can’t swallowed their actions… Jiang Xiao’s is comparably understanding and keeps his distance, of course he had pull some strings in order to pursue your crush .. and he isn’t actually going a shameless mode .. the way really do shameless characters do 😂 Since I’ve read too many novels from danmei’s to manhwa’s and to straight novels … Yeah Jiang Xiao still pass the likable ML.

  11. Ngl, I get where all the comments about the ML is coming from, but I think it’s a bit unfair to say that he’s a manipulative person. In the first place, I don’t get the feeling of him wanting to control our MC in any way and his actions don’t have any malicious intent on it. He is very scheming and he’s used the means he has to achieve his goals but he never truly crossed the lines. From what I can see, he has not used fear, guilt nor instilled a sense of obligation to have MC accept his feelings. He never imposed it on him, and while he seemed a bit pushy, he knew were to draw the line and even offered to talk about things with MC, which honestly goes a long way. Also, he was also pretty open to MC about his intentions and gave him a clear choice, not a ‘forced choice’ where he thinks he has a choice but actually none by cornering MC and even making him question his own self and worth. He never did all the good things he has been doing for MC because he expects something from MC, he did it because he simply wants to without asking nor expecting anything. He hasn’t even undermined him and lured MC towards him by being the person he can rely on while making things hard for MC behind the scenes. He also hasn’t guilt-tripped him into being with him, and even the fact that he wanted to have his ‘receiver’ removed was something he was even willing to compromise and talk over with the MC in the event he does fall for him and chooses to be with the ML. That’s a start in putting the both of them in the same level of standing in the current state of relationship. ML respects MC, imo. He is open to communication, and open to hearing out MC. While he was pushy about the courting, he still asked permission from MC to give him a chance. And I’m not sure about others but when we like someone, we have done some sneaky things ourselves to create an interaction or even stage a scene.

    He is sneaky, and he did scheme, but I believe he is not manipulative and most certainly not malicious. I do understand how others may feel uncomfortable about it but I’ve met people who’d done far worse to push someone to accept them and their courting. So I guess ML isn’t all that bad. He’s pretty real and flawed in the sense that he IS pretty sneaky but he knows his boundaries. And if I’m not mistaken, from his personality, if MC indeed rejected him after all his courting, more likely than not, he’d stick to his words.

    So far, he isn’t in the red for me.

    Thanks for the translation!

  12. If you logically thought it through Jiang Xiao actions is more acceptable cause if he didn’t move those hungry wolves would pry with Ran Ran… And if this is not acceptable to you then you haven’t read enough BL’S yet or any other novels with trashy characters or abusing their ML status…. There’s much worst and I actually found Jiang Xiao’s actions quite considerate he is actually not pushing the omega like other ML’s he still keeps his distance. If it were other ML’S and Alpha Ran Ran is already lying in bed ….

  13. I’m appalled at how some people can think of Jiang Xiao, of ALL ABO MLs, as toxic??? 😭😭 sure he do a little bit of behind the scene scheming but doesn’t literally everybody that has a crush do that? I speak from experience when I say I know irl girls who literally do a personal background check on boys they’re interested in 💀 Jiang Xiao is patient, he respect’s Yue Ran’s privacy, whatever scheming he does he always makes sure to not pass the line, and he’s willing to fucking permanently modify his body for him! Wtf! 💀💀

  14. i’m so surprised so many people hate the ML, I don’t get whats so manipulative and toxic about how hes going about this? I mean I think hes pretty considerate, he doesn’t push himself onto the mc and in my opinion is very gentle about his approach. I’ve read a LOT of abo novels and I can say this ML is maybe a little bad but is nowhere near toxic. I personally really like him, I just cant understand where you guys are getting all this manipulative, and evilness from.

  15. The people complaining about the ML sure af haven’t read a lot of BL. I’ve played a good number of bl games that have truly awful MLs and Jiang Xiao is nowhere close to being anything like them lol

  16. Re: translators’ notes, I agree. I’ve experienced dating my guildmates, and it’s a really different experience since there’s barely any chance to actually have real life contact. You have to make do with the virtual environment. So it takes sharp intuition to deal with the nuances. I’ve also dated actual manipulators in an MMO, and again, I agree: ML is a saint. (I’m also saying this as someone who’s in her 40s, and is happily married now. Actual manipulators don’t give you space, and respect your need for consent, like this ML does.)

  17. Bruh people hating ML should avoid reading this genre or else they’ll just always btch around every little detail about the ML lol

  18. I don’t understand why JX is getting all the complaints, but QXJ do not, when in fact, he’s the most “manipulative” among all of them.

  19. Is it possible for RanRan’s mutated pheromones to be due to psychological response? I know he isn’t bullied or had sexual harassment in high school, but he did get harassed like becoming a subject of bet (like that beta and alpha), and how other alphas always challenged him. This might have started when they still isn’t differentiate as his familial lineage is of Alphas line, maybe in middle or junior school Alpha’s candidate regarded him as challenger already. Is it possible for those things to accumulate over time and his Omega stress response to mutate and challenged the Alpha back with releasing pheromones that challenged them aka repulsive. I remembered reading something like this in Western lore where there is Alpha and Luna where Luna had power to render other Alpha unconscious if they triggered their stress point.
  20. I HAVENT BEEN CHECKING COMMENTS, WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT MY JIANG XIAO, ILL STEAM YOU LIKE A CHICKEN AND EAT IT WITH RICE

  21. i really appreciated the talk jiang xiao had with ran ran here — esp being vulnerable and asking for a chance without being pushy about it.