Chapter 109: Moonshade Necklace
The third and last item we had gotten from the Thunder General was a dazzling necklace with a crystalline, purple crescent for a pendant. It looked extremely beautiful, and both Lin Yixin and I were certain that its extraordinary design would be matched with similarly amazing properties!
Moonshade Necklace (Gold-grade)
Strength: +28
Stamina: +25
Passive: Increases user’s holy attacks by 9%
Level Requirement: 60
……
“Fuck!”
I couldn’t stop myself from swearing. This Gold-grade necklace is insane! It boosts the user’s holy attacks by a whopping 9%!
Moreover, the Fruit Knife Goddess right next to me deals exactly that type of damage! All she needed to do was inject her weapon with the Holy Energy skill!
It looked like chaos was about to descend on Floating Ice City. Oh no. If Lin Yixin got this necklace, how could noobs of Floating Ice City possibly escape her wrath?
Lin Yixin stared at the Moonshade Necklace for a long time before looking down at her own necklace. It was a simple and ordinary Iron-grade necklace. I was watching her as well, or more specifically the shapely mounds that were covered by her chest armor and the pale ravine that could suck a person’s soul right out of their body.
“What are your plans for this necklace, Lu Chen?” Lin Yixin asked.
I touched my own neck before smiling. “The poor need it more than the rich, don’t you agree? You at least have a necklace to wear, but look at me. My slot is still empty even though I’m over Level 50.”
“Uuuu…”
Lin Yixin clearly wasn’t planning to give up on the necklace though, so she puffed up her chest and said, “Fine, you win. I’ll foot the bill for our supper later…”
I smiled. She could treat me to a whole month of meals at Happy House and it still wouldn’t be enough to make up for the true value of this Moonshade Necklace. But Lin Yixin did die twice to the last boss, and the only reason she stayed behind was to help me obtain a Hero’s Token. All things considered, she had done right by me the best she could.
So, I held up the Moonshade Necklace to Lin Yixin and said, “Yiyi, you can have the necklace. However, the Dark Moon Ring, Hero’s Token, and the magic stones are all mine!”
“Ah?!”
Lin Yixin gaped at me for a moment before smiling. “You bastard, this is daylight robbery. Your offer is utterly unreasonable, there’s absolutely no reason I should accept this…”
“Heh…” I chuckled knowingly and waited.
Cheeks rosy, Lin Yixin finally gave up and said, “I guess I have no choice but to accept this unfair offer. Come on, give me my Moonshade Necklace already…”
And just like that, the trade was complete!
Lin Yixin couldn’t equip the necklace yet, but the game didn’t stop her from holding it in front of her chest and admiring herself in the mirror. The crescent-shaped pendant looked like it was going to fall between her breasts as the dazzling necklace clung to Lin Yixin’s beautiful, pale neck.
I sneaked a glance at her assets before packing the equipment and singing in a soft voice, “Moon boat, oh moon boat, you fetched a girl into my cradle…”
Lin Yixin’s face flushed red immediately as she turned to face me. She asked murderously, “What the hell are you singing?”
I spread my arms and answered innocently, “What are you talking about? It’s a children’s song. It looks like you’re more corrupted than you look…”
“Grr…”
Lin Yixin stomped her foot furiously but couldn’t do anything to me. My beloved Fruit Knife Goddess had turned as red as an apple by this point, and I was so happy at my successful attempt at teasing her that I almost fainted on the spot.
“Alright, it’s time we log out and get ready for supper. I’ll see you at the first floor of Happy House in half an hour!” I changed the topic in time. Had I continued teasing Lin Yixin, there was a high chance she would go berserk and challenge me to a battle to the death.
“Mn.” Lin Yixin nodded and logged out at an inn.
I didn’t log out yet. First, I brought up the friend list and sent Beiming Xue a message: “Lil Beiming, you busy?”
“No, I’m repairing my equipment. What’s the matter, boss?”
“Come meet me at the warehouse, will you?”
“Okay…”
Half a minute later, the beautiful dark archer walked up to me with a smile and asked, “So? What is it? It’s almost midnight…”
I took out the Dark Moon Ring from my bag and tossed it to her, smiling. “I got an item you can use. Here, it’s yours…”
“Ah?!”
Beiming Xue was stunned when she saw the ring. As her expression changed from surprise to joy, she lost her usual composure and dove into my arms suddenly, laughing. “Boss, I love you!”
Embarrassed, I pushed her away gently before giving her a smile. “I love you all too. Now go work your heart out and keep up the grind…”
“...”
Before she left, I passed the Stonecrush Spear to Beiming Xue so she could give it to Gui Guzi. After that was done, I checked Murong Mingyue’s ID in the friend list and noticed that she hadn’t logged out yet. It was surprising considering how late it was. I sent her a message that read: “Sis, come meet me alone!”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the warehouse right now!”
“Okay!”
A few minutes later, Murong Mingyue showed up at the distance. She was as attractive and curvaceous as ever.
“What’s the matter, Lu Chen?”
I turned away and took out the Hero’s Token. Then, I said, “Give me your hand!”
“Okay?”
Murong Mingyue looked a bit confused, but she extended her hand to me as I asked. Making sure to cover up the Hero’s Token completely with my hand, I passed the item to her and whispered, “Stay calm, okay? Tell boss to create our guild as soon as she can!”
“Ah?!”
Murong Mingyue trembled when she finally saw what I put in her palm. Her eyes immediately shone with pleasant surprise. “Lu Chen, you… you got a Hero’s Token?”
“Mn!” I nodded with a smile. “Don’t tell boss that I’m the one who gave it to you, obviously. Just say that a noob accidentally fumbled the price tag while you were at the auction house and you bought it immediately.”
“Got it,” Murong Mingyue replied excitedly. “Eve is in India and should have just gone to sleep. I’ll call her right now and get this done! Hehe, we can finally establish our guild!”
“Yeah. Do your best, I’m logging out now. I haven’t eaten supper yet!”
“You…” Murong Mingyue stared at me like she had something to say. “Lu Chen, take good care of yourself, you hear me?”
“I know. See you later, sis!”
“Bye~”
I ran back to the hotel and checked my level. I had dropped to Level 55 after dying twice to the last boss, but it gave so much experience that I was back at Level 58, and Lin Yixin, Level 59. It looked like both of us were going to reach Level 60 very soon.
Anyway, it was time to log out!
……
“Phew…”
I took off my gaming helmet and sucked in a deep breath. As I thought, prolonged submersion was incredibly tiring. I felt like my body was about to fall apart!
But there was no time. Lin Yixin promised that she would treat me tonight, so I hurriedly got to my feet and put on the nearest clothes I could find. Finally, it was my turn to slaughter her wallet!
Before I headed out, I checked the time. 10:50 pm was just the time to have supper!
I ran all the way to Happy House. Lin Yixin was already standing at the entrance and waiting for me by the time I reached the restaurant. Her acquaintances would know that she was the campus belle of Suzhou University of Science and Technology. The strangers though, they might actually think that she was a new waitress at Happy House!
“You’re late…”
Lin Yixin looked at me.
“I know,” I replied honestly.
“Go take our order already, I’m so hungry I could die…”
Lin Yixin grabbed my sleeves and dragged me into the restaurant, drawing smiles on the faces of the beautiful waitresses around us. Thank goodness this was a restaurant and not a hotel, or they might actually draw the wrong conclusion.
We sat down at a corner and ordered a ridiculous amount of food. Then, we ate until sweat trickled down our faces.
We asked for the bill after we were done eating, and the meal cost over 300 RMB. This time, Lin Yixin footed the bill without any fuss. I supposed that the Moonshade Necklace was just that amazing; it was to the point where even an iron cock was willing to pay with its feathers.
It was past midnight at this point. Suddenly, Lin Yixin let out a cry. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong?”
“The campus dorms close at midnight. I can’t return to campus anymore…” She looked at me worriedly.
I gave her a reassuring smile and said, “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I’ll keep you company.”
“That is exactly what I’m afraid of…”
“Fuck, am I that scary?”
“Hehe!”
When we walked out of the restaurant, Lin Yixin shot me a smile and said, “This is the first time I’ve broken the rules and stayed out at night. Sigh, I guess my perfect record is finally blemished…”
Unsure what to say, I changed the topic and asked, “Where should we go next?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you have two choices. One, you can stay at a hotel. Two, you can come home with me.”
Lin Yixin stared at me meaningfully before smiling. “Can I choose neither? Neither of those choices makes me feel safe at all…”
Given no other choice, I relented. “How about a cyber cafe then? That’s a public area.”
“Yeah, you’re right!” Lin Yixin’s features brightened immediately. “Let’s go to Xue Feng Road, shall we?”
“Okay.”
The entertainment facilities close to the university were located at the crossroad of Xue Feng Road and Xue Yue Road. Both of these streets had a tale behind them.
Xue Yue Road was known to students as Xue Yue (Studious Moon) Road, but its actual name was Xue Yue (Romance) Road. As its name might suggest, it was a pleasure district where prostitutes lined up the whole street in search for customers and cheap spas were abundant. Since the prices were cheap and the services were professional, Du Thirteen invited me multiple times to join him and have a “good” time there. I never accepted his invitations though.
Xue Feng Road used to be a street that dealt in computer hardware, but it was eventually taken over by countless cyber cafes and bars. Not only was it a gaming heaven for students, it was said that three Counter Strike teams, five professional Warcraft 4 teams and seven professional Starcraft 2 teams had taken up permanent residence at this street. As a result, Xue Feng Street became a cradle for future kings of e-sports, and it wasn’t uncommon for new stars to show their skills at this place!
Back in the days I was called “Protoss Genius”. Naturally, I had spent quite a lot of time making a name at this street.
I asked Lin Yixin, “Yiyi, what do you say we go play some Starcraft and own some noobs?”
Lin Yixin glanced at me from the side and smiled. “You haven’t touched Starcraft in years. You sure you still have it in you?”
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“In that case, let’s go!”
We opened the door to a cyber cafe called “Night Shift” and were immediately greeted by the clacks of keyboards and the swearings of people who were playing Starcraft.
“WTF! He threw back my assault again! Who the hell is this Zerg anyway, he just keeps ambushing me and attacking my backline! It’s disgusting!”
“Fuck yeah, I finally reached 250 APM!”
“I’m looking for a pro to challenge! The reward for beating me is one girlfriend!”
……
Eyes shining and rubbing my palms together suspiciously, I chuckled. “Did you hear that, Yiyi? If I win, I get to own a girlfriend!”
Lin Yixin rolled her eyes at me and didn’t say anything. After we turned on two PCs, I got up to my feet and called out, “Who was the guy who wanted a pro challenge just now? I accept your bet!”
A student with dyed red hair immediately rose to his feet with a smile. “Yo! So, how do you want to do this?”
I asked, “Before that, where’s your girl?”
A beautiful girl answered my call and stepped beside him. She punched him embarrassedly in the arm and whispered something I couldn’t hear with a smile on her face. It was probably just a joke between boyfriend and girlfriend.
“A bet works both ways, brother. Where’s your girl?” the red-haired student asked.
I immediately grabbed Lin Yixin and pulled her over. “Here, here she is…”
“Ah?!”
The red-haired student rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “Why… why do I feel like I’ve seen her before? Fuck! She is our campus belle, Lin Yixin! Bro, you serious about this? If you are then the bet is on!”