Chapter 236 The Truth (Part 1)

“My power core’s almost drained.” said Fleeting Time. An indicator on his tank was flashing red, a sign that it was close to running out of power.

Ye Ci stole a glance at the energy indicator of her tank, “I don’t have much energy left as well. I have enough for one more shot.”

“Launch your attacks on the largest concentration of enemies. We’ll take care of the rest of them with our weapons.”

“No problem.”

As time passed, the duo was able to cultivate their teamwork. They were able to communicate their meaning with simple sentences. As Hunters, they were able to work seamlessly in taking out the monsters as they knew each other’s skills and abilities very well.

The tanks finally sputtered to a final halt after the duo cleared away a large groups of monsters. Ye Ci and Fleeting Time then dismounted from their disabled tanks.

Fleeting Time eyed the remaining Undeads and Orcs left in the courtyard. A rough estimation placed their numbers to be nearly 300. “Why don’t we have a contest right now? Let’s see who gets the most kill in 10 seconds.”

Ye Ci raised her eyebrows, it’s a nice idea in this boring place, “Sure. Start the timer.”

“Alright. Our current position will be the starting point.” said Fleeting Time as he surveyed his surroundings. The duo’s position was the perfect spot as a starting point.

“Sure.” Ye Ci immediately summoned Ol’ Four. She was ready to spring into action at Fleeting Time’s signal. The man, however, was silent, “What? Is the timer not ready yet?”

“Of course not.” Fleeting Time was standing still with a smile on his face, “Little Gongzi, since we’re having a contest… There’s bound to be a winner and a loser right? So what do you think about the rewards and penalties?”

“Rewards and penalties?” Ye Ci stared at Fleeting Time. Is this asshole up to something again?

“What? Don’t you know what ‘rewards and penalties’ mean?” Fleeting Time inched closer to Ye Ci with a charming smile, “Do you need me to explain it to you?”

“If you win, I’ll allow you free entry to the Eastern Continent once. If I win…” Ye Ci appeared to be deep in thought. There’s really nothing that I want from him.

“And what if you win?” there was a glint in Fleeting Time’s eyes as he leaned closer to Ye Ci.

Ye Ci could feel an unknown feeling deep in her heart as she felt Fleeting Time’s warm breath on her face. She raised her hand, and pushed him away, “If I win, I want you to stay away from me.” she snorted.

Fleeting Time was not angry when he was pushed away by Ye Ci, “Little Gongzi, I don’t like your proposal. Do you want to hear mine?” he said with a smile.

“Get lost!” Ye Ci turned around to face another direction.

“Aiya, Little Gongzi, you’re such a killjoy.” the corners of Fleeting Time’s mouth rose as he stared at Ye Ci, “Why must you spoil the fun? You set up such a boring stake, but refused to my opinion.”

Ye Ci’s patience was at its limit, “I’ll sew your mouth shut if you don’t shut up right now!” said Ye Ci as she glared at Fleeting Time.

“Fine, fine. Since you insist, I’ll just go along with your suggestion.” Despite his defeated look, there was glee in Fleeting Time’s eyes.

“You…” Ye Ci glared at him. This asshole.. What the hell is he talking about?

“Begin!” before Ye Ci could explode into rage, Fleeting Time started the timer, and dashed out to his right. Little Five appeared with a loud whoosh! and dove at the enemies.

Ye Ci could not even react when the timer started. She was already slower than Fleeting Time when she finally sprung into action. She directed Ol’ Four against the closest concentration of Undeads and Orcs, and began firing arrows at the closest enemy.

Someday… Someday… I’ll severe all of his tendons and skin him alive!

As Ye Ci and Fleeting Time busied themselves with monster slaying in the dungeon, Absalom was not idling as well.

He received the coordinates of the Mithril ore vein from Gongzi You, and was told that the mountain containing the ore vein would remain as an ordinary mountain before he was able to trigger a certain quest. The nature of the quest, however, was kept a secret from him. His attempts to contact Fleeting Time to ask for a clue was thwarted by system messages notifying that he was busy, and was unreachable at the moment.

Absalom was depressed, and his imagination began running wild.

Busy? What is he up to? The system would not block any incoming private messages during a fight unless they’re in a dungeon… Or… Doing that thing…

So just what are they up to?

A single man and woman spending time together… And he has feelings towards her as well… What if he gave in to his desires and did that thing…

Of course, it was all an imagination of Absalom. As players from opposing continents, there was no Intimacy level between Gongzi You and Fleeting Time. The system would not allow intimate interactions between players who did not possess certain amount of Intimacy points. Besides, with the rapid development of VRMMORPGs, developers would of course take note of the safety of their female players. A male player who forced himself upon a female players would receive severe penalties from the system, and his name would be announced in the World Chat in the form of a system announcement.

Despite knowing such a fact, Absalom was still engrossed in his own imagination.

He sat by the table of the guild conference room with a hand supporting his chin as he drummed his other hand against the surface of the table. His mind, however, was running wild with fantasies. Gongzi You is a tough nut to crack, it’s definitely going to be hard for Fleeting Time. Then again, didn’t he just overpowered her in the Bloody Wilderness? It might not be as hard as I think… thought Absalom as he stared at the World Channel in anticipation. Fleeting Time’s name might just appear as a system announcement.

Aiya… Just what are those two up to right now? It’s a shame I did not insist to stay with them.

“ABSALOM!” the roar of a lioness pulled Absalom back into reality.

“Ah, honey!” Absalom immediately sat up straight when he noticed Sour Apple standing at the entrance of the guild conference room with her hands on her hips.

“Didn’t you say that you have something important to deal with? Is this the so-called ‘important stuff’ that you’re dealing with? Why are you daydreaming in the guild conference room?” Sour Apple rolled the lowest point for a ring dropped in a dungeon, and was in a very bad mood. As a result, Absalom became the victim of her wrath.

“I just got back!” Absalom could tell that his wife was frustrated by her inability to have a good roll with a single glance.

“So what was so important?” Sour Apple was curious.

Absalom sighed and shook his head, “This is not something that you should know at the moment.” he said with a serious expression.

Despite her occasional childish behavior, Sour Apple was very serious when it came to affairs of the guild. She could tell from Absalom’s expression that he was handling something that would benefit from the guild, and it was not settled yet. There was no way Absalom would let her and the other officers of the guild in on the secret under such circumstances. She blinked, and asked inquisitively, “Is it really that important?”

“If the information I received is real… It’s very important.” Absalom’s heart was beating fast when he thought of the Mithril ore vein.

Sour Apple nodded and hugged her husband with a smile, “Honey, you don’t have to worry. I know that nothing is too hard for you.”

Absalom could feel tears welling in his eyes. My wife is the best! She’s nothing like Gongzi You! She was only taking advantage of him and was even bullying him, “Oh honey…”

“By the way, where’s that bastard Fleeting Time?” Sour Apple’s expression immediately darkened when a sudden thought flashed across her mind, “Isn’t he supposed to help out with clearing the dungeon today? Why did he not show up?”

As Sour Apple was having her conversation with Absalom, White Fairytale was trying to seek her friend out. She noticed that Sour Apple was in the conference room just as she was about to send her a message, and decided to head to the conference room instead. She overheard the conversation between Sour Apple and Absalom just before entering the room, and decided to eavesdrop on the couple. She knew that her action was immoral, but when Fleeting Time was involved, moral was the last thing in her mind.”

“How the hell do I know? He’s a free man, and he’s free to do whatever he wants.” Absalom sighed. It was not the first time Sour Apple had asked such a question.

“White Fairytale was waiting for him all night long! I don’t even have the heart to tell him what’s in that bastard’s mind! Why would he ignore a nice girl like White Fairytale?” Sour Apple was infuriated, “Wait… Is he not interested in women….”

Absalom almost coughed up blood. He’s not interested in women? So are you telling me that Gongzi You is a man? I don’t think so! Even if Gongzi You is very thin, and a washboard as well… The looks that Fleeting Time was giving her… Is that the look of a guy who is not interested in women?

Absalom did not have the courage to voice out his thoughts to Fleeting Time. He could only speak his mind in a more indirect way, “Say, can you stop bugging into the matter between White Fairytale and Fleeting Time? She would’ve even have to wait for him for so many years if they’re really fated together. You don’t know Fleeting Time that well. If he’s really interested in a person, he would shamelessly get close to her no matter what it cost. If it’s someone that he has no interest in…” and he continued after a slight pause, “Just stop trying to play matchmaker between the two. You’re just placing yourself in a peculiar position.”

“What do you mean?” Sour Apple furrowed her eyebrows, “Isn’t Fleeting Time single at the moment? So there’s nothing wrong with me trying to play matchmaker! We’re all fellow classmate who’ve known each other for so many years! Don’t you think that it’s a wonderful thing for those two desk-mates to get together?”

“Well, aren’t you and I desk-mates? I think one desk-mate couple is enough! Do you really want the whole world to be filled with desk-mate couples?” Absalom creased his eyebrows as well. He was reminded to the interaction between Fleeting Time and Gongzi You. Fleeting Time would definitely make a mincemeat out of him if his wife continued to play matchmaker. For the sake of his life, Absalom tried his best to change the mind of his wife.

“Why are you like this? Why do I feel like you don’t wish to see White Fairytale becoming a couple with Fleeting Time?” Sour Apple was not an idiot. She could tell the meaning behind Absalom’s word.

“It’s not about me, alright?” Absalom grabbed at his hair, “I’m just an audience! It’s not up to me! It’s up to Fleeting Time himself!”

“And have he expressed his unwillingness?” Sour Apple snorted.

“Why not?” Absalom was sure of that, “I can still remember what he did when White Fairytale proposed to him during our highschool year! Have you forgotten about it? You even chewed Fleeting Time out for refusing her advances, and when that guy ignore you, you vented your frustration on me!” when it came to telling stories of the past, Absalom was as good as, if not better than his wife.

“That’s like ten years ago! He’s still a wimpy kid back then! What does he know about love? He’s still running around in the basketball court! What does he know about having a girlfriend? So what if he rejected her back then! It’s been ten years since then! Things have changed! He’s matured now, and is full of testosterone! I’m sure he knows a thing or two about romance by now! I have confidence in getting them together!” Sour Apple refused to listen to Absalom’s words, “Besides, he didn’t exactly say no back then!”

“That’s because he’s giving us face! But it’s very, very obvious!’ Absalom was almost driven mad by Sour Apple, “We’ve been playing Fate for almost a year now, and you’ve always been playing matchmaker. Have you ever succeeded? You always forget about past pains once you wounds have healed. Have you forgotten about what he said to you? Why must you make it hard for everyone?” Absalom finally raised his voice.

“Why are you raising your voice? I’m just worried about them! Do you think I’ll be doing something so strenuous and unrewarding if they’re not my friends?” shouted Sour Apple. She knew that Absalom was right, but she was not willing to accept the truth.

Fortunately for the couple, the members of the guild would stay away from the conference room whenever the couple was in the room. If that was not the case, videos of the couple’s fight would definitely have flooded the internet.

“If you really want to help out, then stop trying to play matchmaker! Stop being such a busybody!” Absalom was fed up with the topic.

“Then what do you want Fairytale to do? She has feelings for Fleeting Time since she was 12! She’s liked him for thirteen years! thirteen f*cking years!”

“That’s her problem.” Absalom creased his eyebrows, “It has nothing to do with you!”

“Don’t you think that Fleeting Time is too heartless?” perhaps due to the differences in the thought process of a man and a woman, Sour Apple could not understand the logic behind Absalom’s words.

Hiya minna-san! Here's another awesome chapter of the awesomesauce novel translated by an awesomtacular translator, Jimminx! Hope you people enjoyed this chapter!!

How's everybody doing? Sorry for not posting in the past few days, I've been busy preparing for my internship stuff. There was an interview today with a company today, and I'd say... It sort of went pretty well(I guess?) I hope I get accepted tho hahahaha... Would hate to look for another one and fill in all the forms all over again *dies*

If you wish to reward me for my hard work, hit that "Sponsor" button at the right side of the page if you're on PC, and the bottom of the page if you're on mobile! You can also support me on Patreon by click here! Thank you for your support!!

And don't forget that we have a teaser next page! First in the comments type: FIRST BLOOD! The rest of you who are not in the First Five, type DESU VULT!!!