Chapter 4: Multiplayer
Translator: Xena
Editor: Wint8
Cheng Yinian felt like his brain was about to explode. He opened the e-commerce platform, recalled the girls he had seen on Chen Xiangsui’s account, selected a short skirt in a similar style, and a wig that he thought would suit Chen Xiangsui’s taste.
Just confirming the order made Cheng Yinian’s ears turn red, let alone going to pick up the package, sneaking back to the dormitory, opening it, and then changing into a skirt on the bed while trying to suppress his embarrassment. He posed in several different positions for the photos, for fear of looking awkward. He felt his whole face burning, as if it was about to erupt like a volcano.
After sending the photo, he couldn’t bring himself to look at the chat window again until Chen Xiangsui replied, [You’re very cute.]
Cheng Yinian: [O///O Really? Thank you for your kind words Gege~]
Chen Xiangsui didn’t notice anything unusual, which made Cheng Yinian breathe a sigh of relief. He hurriedly took off the skirt and knee-high socks he was wearing and hid them under the mattress, then put on his usual clothes.
Chen Xiangsui: [Do you send photos to your other big fans too?]
Cheng Yinian hurriedly replied: [No way! QAQ Why would you say that, Gege? I’ve only sent photos to you]
Chen Xiangsui: [Why?]
Cheng Yinian: [QWQ Because I had a pleasant conversation with Gege, and playing games was also enjoyable~]
Chen Xiangsui: [I enjoyed it as well.]
[But won’t you be cold wearing that in this weather?]
Cheng Yinian read this and couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time: [No way, Gege~ I’m very warm in the dormitory]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, that’s good. Can we play together on the live stream this weekend?]
Cheng Yinian: [Sure~ It’s a promise Gege~]
……
Cheng Yinian unconsciously exhaled and climbed down the bed ladder. There was a physical education class this afternoon, and he had chosen basketball, just like Chen Xiangsui. However, he wasn’t particularly skilled, merely having a basic understanding of the game. Chen Xiangsui, on the other hand, was his complete opposite. He had once represented the college in competitions and was a key player on the team.
During class, it was mostly free practice. Cheng Yinian noticed Chen Xiangsui practicing shooting alone on the court, so he quietly walked over to the sidelines to observe his movements. Chen Xiangsui’s movements were standard and crisp. He stood in the warm light, sweat rolling down his forehead, seemingly having boundless energy.
“……Xiangsui.” Cheng Yinian was still a little uncomfortable with this form of address. “Are you alone?”
“Mn, wanna join?” Chen Xiangsui stopped what he was doing.
Cheng Yinian walked into the court. “Sure.”
Chen Xiangsui handed the basketball to Cheng Yinian, who imitated Chen Xiangsui and threw the ball. However, the basketball only spun around the rim before falling outside the hoop and bouncing further and further away.
“I’ll go get it back.” After Cheng Yinian finished speaking, he ran out in a hurry. He didn’t notice the steps under his feet and fell down accidentally. The pain from the fall was particularly prominent in the cold winter, causing Cheng Yinian to hiss.
Chen Xiangsui quickly rushed over and crouched down in front of Cheng Yinian. “How is it? Where did you fall on?”
“My knees hurt a little, and my hands too…”
“Can you stand up? I can carry you on my back.”
Cheng Yinian shook his head. “I’m okay, just help me up.”
……
Chen Xiangsui supported Cheng Yinian all the way to the infirmary. Cheng Yinian’s trousers were pulled up, revealing the bruises on his knees. The doctor treated the wound, including several scrapes on his hands.
“Thank you, doctor.” Cheng Yinian then turned his gaze to Chen Xiangsui. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Mn, it’s nothing.” Chen Xiangsui’s gaze involuntarily drifted down to Cheng Yinian’s legs, which were just as fair as the small section visible in the photo. There were no particularly prominent muscle lines, but the contours were perfectly defined.
Chen Xiangsui quickly averted his gaze. It was inappropriate to stare at an injured person like that. He took off his coat and covered Cheng Yinian’s legs, exposing only the wound. “It’s too cold.”
“It’s okay, I’m not that cold.” Cheng Yinian wanted to return the coat to Chen Xiangsui, but the latter stopped him. “It doesn’t matter. The doctor will put gauze on you later, so you don’t have to worry about the wound rubbing against the fabric of your pants.”
Cheng Yinian thanked Chen Xiangsui again, then was helped back to the dormitory by the other party. Lu Yan and Xu Zitang saw this scene and hurried over to ask questions. Cheng Yinian quickly waved his hands and said that he was fine and that his roommates didn’t need to worry.
“He needs help walking yet he says he’s fine.” Lu Yan sighed. “Anyway, if there’s anything you need help with, just let us know. Xu Zitang and I are both happy to help.”
Cheng Yinian replied his assent and then heard Lu Yan say that he was going home for the weekend. They had originally planned to play video games together, but now there would only be three of them left.
“It’s pointless to try to get everyone together. I’ll just review tomorrow,” Xu Zitang said.
“As expected of Tang-Ge, you’re devoted to studying the classics.” Lu Yan looked somewhat embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Let’s do it next time.”
……
Tomorrow was the weekend, and Cheng Yinian remembered that he promised Chen Xiangsui to play games live on stream. So, after returning to his rented room outside the school, he sent a message to the other party: [Gege, let’s do it tomorrow afternoon~ QWQ Do you want to continue with the last game or try a new one?]
Chen Xiangsui: [Anything is fine.]
[If you don’t mind, I’d like to continue from where we left off last time. It would be better to finish what we started.]
Cheng Yinian: [～(￣▽￣～)～Okay, I’ll listen to Gege]
On Saturday afternoon, Cheng Yinian went live on schedule. He and Chen Xiangsui entered their previous two-player archive, starting from the part where they entered the tunnel.
It was very dark inside the tunnel, so Cheng Yinian had no choice but to turn on his flashlight. The flashlight in Crisis Looming was not nuclear-powered, so it required batteries that had to be constantly collected, therefore, Cheng Yinian used it sparingly.
This was indeed a shortcut. Not long after walking forward, Cheng Yinian triggered a new quest point and at the same time, attracted monsters that nearly filled the entire screen. Cheng Yinian quickly cleared the first wave, but the second wave soon followed.
[Hahaha Nian Gao, show us your speed and clear them all]
[I feel like the car is about to crash. The flashlight is almost out of power.]
Cheng Yinian glanced at the battery level displayed in the lower left corner and saw that it was indeed about to run out. Chen Xiangsui’s character hadn’t picked up a flashlight yet. He hesitated for a moment and said, “You go find the batteries. I’ll be fine here.”
“Okay.” Cheng Yinian temporarily stopped shooting and used the flashlight to escort Chen Xiangsui to the exit while being pursued by the monsters. He then continued to clear out the monsters.
When two players appear on different screens, a small screen would appear on the upper left corner of the game, showing the location of the teammate. While fighting monsters, Cheng Yinian noticed out of the corner of his eye that Chen Xiangsui was walking the same path several times, and understood that he was lost. So he spoke, “Try turning left, go straight up the stairs, and you’ll see a room full of dolls. Go around to the back door and exit.”
Chen Xiangsui obeyed and began to take a detour as instructed by Cheng Yinian.
[The big boss is very obedient ah]
[If I play with Nian Gao, I’ll listen to him too]
“Does he play with you guys too?” Chen Xiangsui asked a question.
[Hahahaha how could anyone not know streamer Nian Gao’s interactivity level 0?]
[@N Nian Gao, I’m a student, I’ll pay you to multiplayer with me]
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but smile at Chen Xiangsui’s words. “Next time, I can pick other people to play with too.”
[Wife hit me, I love robots the most]
[? Is above the same guy who was talking about interacting with the alien before?]
“Mn, I’m back.” Chen Xiangsui finally returned to the entrance of the tunnel and suddenly let out a sound.
Once Cheng Yinian has recognized a path, he would never take a wrong turn the second time.
[The big boss is changing the subject.]
[666 How can he still see where it was on such a small screen?]
[Is this real? You didn’t check online maps, did you?]
[If you play this game and look up a walkthrough, you’re an idiot. Why don’t I just play by the walkthrough myself?]
“I didn’t check the walkthrough. If I had, I wouldn’t have had trouble finding the flashlight batteries.” Cheng Yinian calmly explained.
[You’re deliberately pretending, else you’d have been criticized long ago for being too amazing]
[Can you guys stop stirring things up? Just someone with a minor account saying something and you all agree with them]
“He’s not.” Chen Xiangsui suddenly spoke up, “The walkthrough couldn’t have told him where I was just now.”
As soon as Chen Xiangsui finished speaking, he muted several accounts that were particularly enthusiastic in stirring up trouble, then jumped back into the conversation. However, Cheng Yinian’s flashlight was now completely dead. He blindly scanned a wave of monsters and could hear the sound of several monsters falling to the ground, but he still couldn’t escape the fate of Game Over.
“Hiss.” Cheng Yinian looked at the game’s end screen and unconsciously shifted his posture to relax, but his knee accidentally bumped the edge of the table, causing him to hiss in pain.
[The big boss is wise, the big boss is powerful]
[You died at just the right moment, so everyone would believe you didn’t have a strategy]
[Hahaha, a rare car crash, I have the screen recording and will whip this corpse any time later]
Cheng Yinian temporarily went offline. Soon after, he received a private message from Chen Xiangsui: [What happened just now?]
Cheng Yinian: [It’s nothing, Gege. I just bumped into the table and hurt my old injury a little la~]
Chen Xiangsui: [Be careful and take care of yourself.]
[I got lost just now, otherwise the battery would have caught up.]
Cheng Yinian: [It’s okay, Gege~ QUQ It’s just a game, so just have fun]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm.]
[So, are you going to pick someone else next time?]
Cheng Yinian: [Since I said I would, I will do it!]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, don’t forget to play with me too. It’s a pleasure playing with you.]
[Why would someone call you “wife”?]
Cheng Yinian: [QUQ… Fans call their favorite celebrities this way. It’s actually very common and just a joke.]
Chen Xiangsui who had seen so many beautiful female streamers not knowing this made it somewhat unbelievable to Cheng Yinian.
Chen Xiangsui: [Is that so? Maybe because I don’t read other people’s comments very often, so I’m not really sure.]
[Does that mean I can call you wife too?]
Cheng Yinian: ?!
Why does he say whatever he wants?
Cheng Yinian: [QAQ This… Gege you can’t just call me like that]
Chen Xiangsui: [That’s how they call you in the comments.]
Cheng Yinian racked his brains and finally came up with a suitable reason for refusal: [Because the comments don’t know if I’m a boy or a girl~ But Gege saw my photo and knows I’m a girl, so you can’t just call me that QwQ.]
Chen Xiangsui: [I understand.]
[Then I’ll shout in the comments too.]
