Chapter 2: A Slashing Sword and a Smile

  Everything started from a game. 555?

  Who called out the name of Soul Reaper King? It really makes sense.

  After the Nth time bringing back the autumn leaves from the Ghost Gate, I started to have doubts about the consequences of this hunting action. If it weren't for the fact that I had brought enough instant recovery potions, I think the prey on the ground now wouldn't be the powerful enemy in front of me.

  "It seems like we can't make it... Let's run away and save some big medicine." I cautiously suggested.

  "Oh, just die already!" Akira's response was forever concise and swift.

  What else can I say? I sighed, wanting to die together. Soul-destroying Ghost King? - Let's destroy our souls together.

  ……?

  Akane's massive greatsword, Tenkei, bit deep into the ground as she swung it in wide arcs, her "Hee-yah!" cries punctuating the air as she clashed with the bellowing Oni King. They were so tightly entwined that they seemed to be performing a live duet of human and demon, their unfinished melody hanging in the balance. I cowered behind Akane, my brow furrowed in concern as I layered healing magic onto her, occasionally darting left and right to avoid the elemental attacks whizzing through the air.

  This battle has been going on for half an hour. If it weren't for the Dark Walker's witches, I think we would have continued this concert.

  The Dark Wizards have arrived!

  The battle is over!

  The Soul Reaper King has been surrounded and annihilated!

  We've been had!

  I lay on the ground with Akane, gloomily watching these trash clean up the battlefield and gather spoils of war. "Despicable!"?

  "Baseness is the condom of the base, nobility is the aphrodisiac of the noble."

  What does it mean?

  "It doesn't mean anything, I just want to mess with you guys." The other party's boss looked at Akira with a very lewd smile.

  Damn it! I was furious and slammed my palm heavily on the keyboard, even knocking over the desk lamp.

  Everything went black and I fainted.

  ……?

  Restart the machine, but can't get into the system no matter what. I've turned it on and off N times, but it's still a black screen. I have an urge to kick this piece of junk flying - if only I had the strength, if only I had the money.

  Actually, I have no confidence in my own strength, just like I lack confidence in my wallet. So I can only lie down, light a cigarette, and stare blankly at the lights of the small courtyard outside the window.

  It's already autumn, the maple tree in the yard has turned completely red, and after a frost, it looks like a whole tree of bright flowers. It won't be long before these leaves fall too? I let out a long sigh - yes, I miss her.

  Akane is my wife, we got married half a year ago. 555[.XＳ５５５. Providing the latest and fastest hand-to-hand chapter] Over the past six months, we have been together, traveling through countless mountains and rivers, famous cities and scenic spots, experiencing many hardships and enjoying unparalleled glory - she is very strong-willed, with a taste of "a woman can be as good as a man" - in fact, throughout this process, Akane has always played the role of my guardian angel. Due to her explosive personality and impressive achievements, many people say that she cannot be a woman, but a tomboy. I don't know about this either, because like everyone else, I have never seen her in person - this is the internet, this is the game.

  So what? I don't think that would stop me from missing the autumn leaves. As long as we can feel each other's care when we're together, even if it's just a dog, I don't mind.

  The warmth given by the real world is really too little.

  ……?

  Someone is knocking at the door.

  I know who it is. "No idle chit-chat at work..."

  Then Irene came in.

  "Ugh, the smell of smoke is so strong." She walked to the desk and turned on the table lamp, wrinkling her brow and sniffing like a cute little hunting dog. Then she opened the window too. "I've told you how many times not to smoke in bed, but you never listen..."

  "Why don't you stop teasing me all the time?" This is something only a wife would say to her husband. I like to joke around with Linzi in a silly way.

  "You're so beautiful... I'm afraid you'll set yourself on fire and burn our house down with you." Irina said with a smile, "Why didn't you go online today?"

  "I've thought about cutting myself off, but I never thought of burning myself to death." I said lazily, "Forget it, I quit."

  "Got it, the computer is broken again?" She was indeed prescient.

  ……?

  Irene is the landlord's daughter. Yes, the landlord's daughter - I suppose friends who read H-books should know that this relationship is one of the eternal themes loved by YY fans. In fact, when I saw these plots, I always got into the habit of putting myself and Irene's image into them, indulging in sound and color, and imagining to my heart's content.

  But to be honest, Irin is not the best object of my lustful fantasies. She doesn't belong to that type of hot and seductive girl. Is she elegant? Charming? Refined? I don't know how to describe it, but she just has that "girl next door" vibe. So in our repeated encounters, I could only see her as the passive recipient, because I really couldn't imagine Irin being lewd, which made me feel quite disappointed.

  Since I moved out of that cramped dormitory and into this house, I've been living under their roof for three years now - two years in university, followed by a year of unemployment. In this not-so-short period of time, I would run into Irina every day, sometimes at the entrance of the alley, sometimes in the corridor, and we'd exchange greetings before going about our own business. She graduated from high school the same year as me, but she didn't attend university; instead, she went to work in marketing for a chain supermarket.

  ……?

  It was often after dinner at dusk, I and Yilin's old father, Mr. Yi - also my landlord, each with a reclining chair, cooling off under the maple tree in the yard. Old Master Yi had probably just drunk some wine, then stretched his red face in front of me, his small eyes blinking, enthusiastically discussing his family history: "Our ancestors from the old Yi family were really something, a mighty iron-hatted prince! Our Linzi was born too late, if she were born during that... Qianlong era, she would be a real princess! No doubt about it, authentic royal bloodline!"

  When I heard Old Master Yi mention bloodline, I couldn't help but want to laugh. With his appearance, if his daughter could grow up to be like Sister Furong, it would already be a blessing from their ancestors. With such difficult innate conditions, it's really not easy for Yilin to become the beautiful and elegant person she is today, who knows how much hard work and sweat she has put in? This just goes to show that bloodline and heredity can sometimes have some discrepancies when it comes to a person's appearance. Of course, I wouldn't dare mention this, that would be like asking for trouble! Usually at times like these, one would find something minor and harmless in the old master's words and help him fill in the gaps of his family history.

  "Hundreds of years ago, it wasn't popular to call them Lao Yijia. It was after liberation that the Manchu people changed their surnames. Before that, they had longer surnames like Aixinjueluo or Yehe Nara..."

  "Exactly!" Wang Zongyi, a descendant of the royal family, excitedly patted the armrest of his recliner, as if he had found someone who understood him. "It's still the culture of university students that is high, it's this, Yehe Nara..."

  Yilin listened to the side and was unhappy, "Dad, you know? Empress Dowager Cixi had this surname......" At this time, she always sat on a small stool beside her, helping her old father hold a purple sand teapot, smiling at us with a cute expression that made people's hearts ache.

  "What does this little girl know, our family's history is long......" The old man usually talks to himself and doesn't bother with her.

  "It's all right, it's all right... But that can't be blamed on our Linzi, she wasn't even born yet." I naturally helped her get out of trouble, while winking and making eyes at her, the little girl was always smiling sweetly. Meanwhile, Old Master Yi was indulging in the luxurious life of the Wang Manor, unable to extricate himself, and would likely wave his hand grandly, striking a heroic pose, ending the conversation. Thus, both host and guest were delighted, all were extremely pleased."

  For more than three years, this scene has been repeated over and over again. Mr. Yi - this laid-off urban commoner - gained immense spiritual pleasure from such chats, feeling extremely delighted; while I, thanks to the material enjoyment brought by another free dinner, was self-satisfied.

  "Alright, Yixiu Ge, I'm done." (I forgot to mention that my name is Shen Yixiu. When I first met Linzi, she gave me this monk's name and at first, I was nauseous, but later on, I got used to it.) Yilin walked over to the sofa opposite me, dusting off her hands as she said casually, "The graphics card came loose."

  I feel a bit ashamed, a big man like me, having to get a young girl to do the physical labor of fixing computers. It's a bit unreasonable. Who made me study Chinese? What is a Chinese major? Geez, don't you know that? If someone can talk endlessly and make sense but when it comes to doing things they're clumsy and awkward, chances are this person studied Chinese.

  And this broken computer is also heart-wrenching, from the dormitory those guys eliminated to my hands, it has never stopped. Thanks to Linzi, whatever problems she had, she would solve them for me.

  "Thank you, Linzi," I said, and it was a heartfelt truth.

  "It's okay." She looked a bit distracted. "Yī Xiū Gē (brother), I'm a bit annoyed, can you help me?"

  ……?

  "Huh?" I looked at her, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. Irina sat on the couch with her knees tucked under her chin, her eyes clear and melancholic, her long hair cascading down from her shoulders like a waterfall, as black as in those commercials, making the skin of her neck look even more delicate and white. She must have just taken a bath, the small room was filled with her fresh scent. I swallowed hard and stuttered: "W-what's up?" But my mind was thinking, this girl comes to me at midnight, could it be that she wants me...?

  "Today, I was scolded by the manager again," Irina said with a pout. "Among our team of four, my performance is the worst. The manager said that this month's salary will be deducted from me. Lixiao Ge, you're good at talking, can you teach me how to do sales?"

  "Oh... I gave myself a big slap on the face - of course, it was just mental. Beast! What am I thinking? Looks like I've been watching too many H-books and A-movies lately."

  I composed myself, "Hmm, this is not easy to handle." How do salespeople put it? It's like chasing and pursuing to sell things to others, using all sorts of tactics to deceive when necessary. I understand Irina's personality, she's thin-skinned, her face turns red after talking to strangers for a few sentences, actually this job doesn't suit her.

  But you can't just bluntly tell someone they're not good enough, that's too hurtful. So I beat around the bush and said: "You guys have other positions available, like...". I thought for a moment, but really couldn't think of any other jobs in a supermarket besides manager and salesperson. "Accounting, logistics, scheduling..." Irina whispered. "Right right right, accounting logistics and all that..." "No way, those are management positions, they require a university degree in a related field."

  "I'm speechless. This is just how the world works, no diploma is not okay, having a diploma but majoring in something unrelated is also not okay, even if your major matches, they say you have no work experience, still not okay. Saying it's not okay means it's really not okay - this is truly classic!"

  "Take it easy." I said, actually there's nothing to say. I started hating myself for being useless and not being able to help at all. "You can change jobs when you have the chance," was like saying nothing at all.

  "Oh, I see." Irene had always been quite obedient. "I'm going back to my room, you go to sleep early, don't stay up too late." She got up, closed the door and left.

  What a good girl. Looking at her slender figure, I said in my heart.

  ……?

  "Sorry, the user (Hengdao Meng Yixiao) you are applying for has logged in elsewhere. Please try again later or contact game customer service."

  I am Horizontal Blade Slashing Smile. This name has a very king-like aura, the world is vast, but who else can compare to me, it's this kind of flavor. I'm called this online too. But those four dots I couldn't type out, Irin taught me. As for whether I live up to my name in this game, or if I really have a bit of that "king" aura, only heaven knows.

  Autumn leaves are on top of my number.

  She sent over an angry emoticon as soon as I logged back in. "Disconnected for so long? Hurry up, let's PK with SB bug!"

  Of course, no one would be named SB. She was referring to Kuang Long, the leader of the Dark Guild, our arch-nemesis. "Teleport!" I said - in this game, husband and wife accounts could teleport each other. Then everything went black, and I found myself in a dungeon.

  "Wait, why are you in such a hurry?" I immediately turned back to the city, "Didn't bring medicine..."?

  "Pig!" Akane's anger flared up. "I've never seen anyone as stupid as you!"

  "Haha, your husband is a pig..." I said with a smile, "You don't have much to be proud of either."

  "...it seems like he's furious."

  "Alright, go ahead."

  We lurked in a corner of the underground city, gazing far away at the castle across from us. That SB bug was leading two minions to besiege the Corpse King.

  "Can we go up now?" I whispered.

  "Wait, BOSS hasn't reached Red Blood yet."

  Autumn leaves are like that. Arrogant, crazy, calm and tolerant, several extreme personalities can be reflected in her at the same time, and they coexist harmoniously. I admire her, really. The annoying thing is - everyone knows this point, but it doesn't represent productivity.

  We have our own gang, called One Smile Autumn Wind. Hehe, I came up with this name myself, and at the time, I was quite pleased with it, thinking that both of our names were embedded in it, which was pretty artistic. Autumn Leaf didn't say anything about it, so I took it as her default agreement... Then there were some gang members who ridiculed this name, saying it was a symbol of decline and would definitely lead to defeat. We brought people to beat them up, stuffed their mouths into their bellies, and no one dared to say anything again. Yeah, if you're not satisfied with something new, just spit it out. If you can't get used to spitting, then fight. If you win, everything is fine. If you lose, even vomiting, you have to endure it for me. Of course, this requires strong power to prove... and we were once the strongest gang in this area. I say "once" because now we're not, almost finished... and that crow's mouth actually got lucky and spoke the truth.

  It's not that Akane doesn't have organizational skills, on the contrary, she is recognized to be very capable in this aspect. The guild wars and city wars they fought under her leadership are mostly classic examples of winning with fewer numbers.

  Why did it decline to this point? I think it's because Autumn Leaf was too proud, so proud that she basically didn't bother talking to others. Another important reason is that when she was online, it was really rare, averaging at most two hours a day - and even in that time, she was always busy with BOSS battles and equipment crafting, where did she have the time to deal with guild matters? A team without leadership, or one with leadership but never present, decline is inevitable. Although the internet is virtual, when it comes to each person's related interests, it's also very real. When we gradually lost the protection of our country and city for guild members, people slowly left - morale was low, and the team was hard to manage. Yes, it's true, even if Autumn Leaf was the strongest, what does that matter? Following her would mean losing even the basic guarantee of life, walking on the road could get you killed at any moment, and there's no one to report to because you can't find the leader - even if you're lucky enough to find her, she might not even care! My heart was towards the bright moon, but alas, the bright moon shines on the ditch, it's enough to make you sad several times over.