“Wei Wei, come to (Emotionally) Unmoved Island, and let’s get a divorce.”

The moment Bei Wei Wei goes online, she sees this message from her online “husband” RealWaterIsScentless.  Wei Wei is a bit dumbstruck.  No way, the dorm’s broadband took half a month to repair, which is only ten days or so, but he already has a change of heart?

Wei Wei replies after a while: “Why?”

RealWaterIsScentless: “Wei Wei, I’m sorry.  Please don’t ask why.  I’ll send you a divine gear item as compensation.”

There’s even alimony?  Wei Wei feels a bit helpless: “It’s okay.”

Marriage in games is never for real.  She married RealWaterIsScentless so that they could complete quests since some of them can only be completed by married couples.  It is also the reason why many single guys and girls in the guild got married.  RealWaterIsScentless sent her a message asking if she wanted to marry him, and she agreed without thinking much of it.

They’ve been married for half a year now.  Although Wei Wei has never been loving and affectionately calling him “hubby” and has always called him by his full name, they’ve been highly compatible.  After battling alongside each other for so long, they’ve rather grown a strong sense of comradery.

After all, it’s a game……

Wei Wei replies: “I’ll go there immediately.”

Wei Wei’s avatar, “ReedWeiWei (HumbleReed),” hops onto a horse and gallops towards Unmoved Island.

ReedWeiWei is a powerfully adorned heroine in red.

This online game, “Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes,” that Wei Wei is playing, is the hottest WuXia (martial arts) online game on the market.  There actually isn’t anything special about the game other than its beautifully crafted sceneries and its large collection of avatars available; there are eighteen different avatars for guys and girls each.  Wei Wei’s heroine in red is less commonly chosen; not that it isn’t pretty, it’s because her weapon is a large saber.

In comparison to the elegant flute made of jade, the snow white colored dancing ribbons, the lightweight soft sword, or the Emeici (daggers), the large saber truly lacks beauty and feminism, so not many girls pick it, but Wei Wei likes it.  Wei Wei feels that it’s tough and matches her image.

After arriving at Unmoved Island, they drink a cup of Unmoved Water, and the system bot announces: “ReedWeiWei and RealWaterIsScentless’s love has broken and are now divorced.  They no longer have any ties together.”

RealWaterIsScentless wants to give Wei Wei a divine equipment item, but Wei Wei clicks on cancel and doesn’t accept it.  She sends him a smiley face and the red clothed heroine walks away fearlessly.

In the afternoon of the next day, Wei Wei goes online again after eating lunch.  StormGoddessNiNi (StormGoddessGirl), a girl in the guild who is rather close with Wei Wei, sends her a message: “Wei Wei, what happened?  You and RealWater are divorced?  I heard that he is getting married with LittleRainYaoYao (LittleRainEnchantress) at eight o’clock tonight!”

Wei Wei: “……”

StormGoddessNiNi: “You guys are really divorced?”

Wei Wei: “Yeah.”

StormGoddessNiNi: “How unfortunate.  RealWater is a pretty good guy.  I never thought that he would be spellbound by beauty, but that LittleRainYaoYao is indeed quite pretty.”

Ni Ni obviously isn’t saying how pretty her avatar is, but in real life.  Three months ago, the gaming company held a real life voting contest with the gamers; top three gamers got top level gears.  LittleRainYaoYao uploaded a few photos and a video clip and won by huge popularity; the results immediately shook the local server that Wei Wei was playing on; LittleRainYaoYao became the target for drooling over on by many lecherous guys playing on the same server.

Her ex-husband is now marrying another girl in a blink of an eye.  Although she and RealWater were more like teammates, Wei Wei still couldn’t help but feel depressed.  She bangs her head on the table (this is what she does when she is depressed…) and yells, “How can you be like this!?  How can you choose beauty by appearance and not from within!!!!”

Wei Wei didn’t shout like that in the game, she shouted in her dorm room, so the bunker above immediately threw pillows at her.

“Bei Wei Wei!  How can a true beauty like you say that out loud!  What are the rest of us going to do?”

That’s right.  Bei Wei Wei is a beauty; a super pretty girl.  But there are many types of pretty girls; some are elegant, some are intelligent, some are sweet, some are gentle, some are virtuous……

And there are some like Wei Wei, who are——only good for looks……

Even though Wei Wei has been studying hard to become the smart kind, but……

With enchanting eyebrows, captivating eyes, lips that are always red, and a hot body, even if Bei Wei Wei wears the humiliating university of science and engineering school uniform, no one would really believe that she is a student from this brand-name university.

Wei Wei suddenly remembers other hateful things in life, so she continues to bang her head on the table.

Meanwhile on the computer, StormGoddessNiNi continues to gossip: “Before, I heard that LittleRainYaoYao wanted to marry someone on the leaderboard, but I didn’t know that she would be with RealWater.  Then again, I saw RealWater and her going on quests together a lot recently.”

Just as she thought, they had an affair while she was away.  Wei Wei sends a gloomy burnt face over.

“You can’t really blame RealWater, Wei Wei.  Actually…”

“What actually?” Wei Wei stops banging her head, grabs a cup of water, and types with one hand.

“Actually……you’re so good at playing and you’re ranked sixth on the PK (battle) leaderboard.  Furthermore, you never ask guys for new gears, so a lot of gamers suspect that you’re a crossplayer (cross-dressing in games)!”

“Pfft!” Wei Wei spurts water all over the screen.

8:30 PM on the dot.

The heroine in red, with a sword on her back, stands majestically on Vermillion Bird(one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations) Bridge in Chang' in Chang’an City.

This is the spot that the marriage sedan must pass through during weddings.

Getting married in “Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes” can either be very luxurious or very plain and simple. At the time, when Wei Wei and RealWater got married, it was very plain and simple because they were poor. They just went to Yue Lao (God of marriage and love) and got notarized.  Plus, they got married in order to do a quest, so they didn’t really care about holding a celebration.

But today, RealWater and LittleRainYaoYao’s wedding scene is, undoubtedly, crazy luxurious.

There are hundreds of fireworks, gongs and drums to clear the way, eight person supported marriage sedan to parade through the streets, and an entire top notch restaurant booked for the wedding reception. It is said that everyone at the wedding reception will be sent a red envelope gift of 888 Gold.

In the game, there has already been continuous discussion about this wedding already. After all, LittleRainYaoYao has a reputation and RealWaterIsScentless isn’t a nameless character either. It is said even players from other servers were alerted about it. Some even created a new smurf (alternate, low-level) account to come and see the wedding.

On Vermillion Bird Bridge, the heroine in red continues to stand there without moving, her slim figure emitting an austere expression.

At this very moment, the World (chat) channel is already exploding.

[World][BlowingFlowersRainingFlowers]: Does everyone see that? I see RealWaterIsScentless’ ex-wife standing on Vermillion Bird Bridge!

[World][MeLoveYou]: I see it, Me sees it.

[World][SpringGreenUnderBrokenHeartedBridge]: I see it. *sigh*, I think her figure looks very sad. *sigh* In this world, one always sees the newlyweds smile, and never sees the former person cry.

[World][OhHaHa]: WTF! I see martian language again. Old fellow, here, hates martian language the most (internet slang)

[World][◎olo◎]: I saw it already earlier. I’m standing right next to her. Wow! There’s going to be some excitement to see today! I think she’s going to kidnap the groom.

[World][CheapskateChillsNineProvinces]: Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom!!! Give LittleRainYaoYao back to me!!!

Following that, those who want to fight for justice appears.

[World][anny]: Even though LittleRainYaoYao is a beauty, I still have to say that she is in the wrong for this, stealing someone else’s husband and showing off like this. Isn’t she afraid of heaven’s punishment?

[World][ThunderboltCallsWow]: That’s right, ReedWeiWei is a really good person, and righteous.

[World][SpringGreenUnderBrokenHeartedBridge]: Look at Reed, so broken hearted to the point of speechlessness.

[World][RiceStraw520]: The other woman (of an affair)…over a beautiful woman…there is no need

[World][LittleRainYaoYaoIsShameless 108]: Hey hey, why is she showing off so much? Of course, she needs to present herself after stealing someone else’s husband. LittleRainYaoYao is shameless shameless shameless shameless shameless shameless shameless shameless, ￥％％￥※×…(Profanity has been blocked by the system bot)

This “LittleRainYaoYaoIsShameless 108” is LittleRainYaoYao’s arch-enemy. Don’t know what huge grudge there is, but he (gender neutral) will come out and scold her normally when there’s nothing going on. It is said that he’s been killed many times, but the more times he’s killed, the braver he is. When he gets banned, he just registers again. It is said that the number behind his ID represents how many times he’s been banned.

Whenever that person comes out, LittleRainYaoYao’s friends and family group also cannot keep it in anymore.

[World][LittleRainFeiFei (LittleRainSnowfall)]: Who is shameless! Shut up! Also, who says YaoYao is the other woman. Don’t think so highly of yourself! Are you even qualified enough for our YaoYao to be your other woman!!!

[World][LittleRainQingQing]: Who wants to steal the groom? Just come and try. Don’t think just because you’re on the PK leaderboard that you’re so awesome. Our entire LittleRain clan is here. We’re only afraid that no one will come and try!

[World][wsn]: Women who get on the PK leaderboard must be beached whales, RealWater’s made the right choice.

As the World channel continues to explode, the players all run to Vermillion Bird Bridge.

Bei Wei Wei comes out of the bathroom, walks to her own computer, and this is the scene she sees: Surrounding the heroine in red the people are jam-packed, layer upon layer. But they had a very tact understanding, leaving a circle around the heroine in red, allowing the heroine in red to stand there alone. A desolate figure standing in the middle.

And then there are continuous words emitting from above the heads of those surrounding the area. The most frequent is “Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom! Support ReedWeiWei in kidnapping the groom!”

Wei Wei is dumbstruck.

She only just went into the game, stood on Vermillion Bird Bridge, and then went to the bathroom. It didn’t even take more than five minutes. What happened?

That’s right, one can steal the groom or bride in the game. But, first of all, you need to pay a huge cost to the system bot. Second of all, you have to win three straight PK battles. And then the person being kidnapped needs to consent…If the other person doesn’t consent, stealing the groom or bride is still deemed as a loss. So, besides those who have completely fallen into the abyss of love, only a brain-dead person would try to steal the groom or bride.

What did she do to allow others to misunderstand that she is going to kidnap the groom?

Wei Wei looks around speechlessly pondering to herself, if she madly rushes off right now, will this crowd of people believe that she rushed off because she is heartbroken?

While Wei Wei is struggling over whether to rush off or not, she clicks on her friend boxes that keep popping up. They are all from her friends inquiring what is going on. Wei Wei does not reply to a single one. Closing all of them. Inside her Guild channel is also continuous discussion. Most of the men support RealWater, the women support Wei Wei. There are even some people trying to convince Wei Wei not to take it too hard. They are of the same guild and should not cut the ties so completely.

At this time, a friend box pops up again. Wei Wei opens it, it is from RealWaterIsScentless. From his rude tone, he is also probably a little angry. “What’s happening, weren’t you very straightforward yesterday? Plus, I also gave you compensation. You’re the one who didn’t want it.”

Wei Wei wants to cry, yet has no tears. She powerlessly types back, “Classmate, I am…only…here…to…check out…the excitement……”

...****************...

...Note...

There are a few different chat channels/groups of people in the game:

World : The world means anyone playing in that “world” or server. In the chat context, all players in the game on that server at the time will be able to see the messages written to the world.

Guild : A guild is a generally a group of people, whether they are online or offline, who regularly play together. Similar to a club. There are officers and different positions players can take. In most games, only when guild members are online can they see messages written to the entire guild.

Clan : A clan and guild are frequently used interchangeably. In this novel’s context, a guild is like your friends and extended relatives, while a clan is your immediate family, the ones you hang around with commonly, and are generally part of the same guild. The chat visibility for this type of group depends on the game. An example is the LittleRain clan. As you might have noticed, they all have their clan name in their username (handle/id) at the beginning.

Party : A party or team is a small group of people that can change depending on quests, such as a group of four people going off to fight a monster or two people going to search for an item.

Local : The people in your avatar’s (character’s) vicinity on screen. Only those then and there are allowed to see the messages typed to local.

In addition to these groups, players can also receive direct messages from their friends and other players.

Wei Wei has no way out of this dilemma. To run away and escape isn’t very heroine like. Standing there seems very much like a bandit. Thus, Wei Wei makes a quick-witted decision. She pulls up her clothes and sits down.

When characters sit down in “Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes,” they can rest, they can meditate to built up their inner powers, and another kind is like what Wei Wei is doing right now — sit down to set up a vendor stall for selling items.

When Wei Wei types out the stall name, “Medicine Convenience Store”, all the players around her cannot help but be speechless. Wei Wei quickly types out a ‘yell’: “Come and see, take a look, fresh out of the oven medicine made by a max level healer, selling it cheap at 20% off!”

Once this sentence comes out, all the players originally waiting to see the excitement, suddenly become fervent.

It must be a joke, there are no system bot run medicine stores that sell medicine made by max level healers, and only once in awhile can you get a drop from a monster. They are priceless valuables. Even though there are quite a few max level healers, they only serve their own guild. Very few ever bring out their own medicine to sell. Unexpectedly, there is cheap max level medicine being sold right now! The players on Vermillion Bird Bridge become excited and, immediately, rush up. In a blink of an eye, they drown out the heroine in red’s small figure.

The marriage sedan comes and the marriage sedan quickly leaves. For some reason, the marriage sedan that has been slowly proceeding the entire time, suddenly speeds up as it reaches Vermillion Bird Bridge. In a flash, it disappears at the other end of the bridge.

In the scramble for them, Wei Wei’s medicine is also sold out in a flash. Seeing there is no more excitement to see, the players scattered one after another. The lively Vermillion Bird Bridge that few people normally come to unless there is a wedding regains its loneliness.

Wei Wei closes her shop and stands up. She is just about to leave when she sees someone at the end of the bridge calling her.

“ReedWeiWei (HumbleReed).”

Wei Wei looks over at that player.

That person is standing under the willow tree planted on the side of the end of the bridge. The gentle wind lightly brushes the willow branches. The man underneath the tree is wearing a spotless white robe and holding a guqin. The sleeve of his robe floats in the wind, like he’s free and unrestrained.

Wei Wei’s eyes are already hypnotized.

Of course, she isn’t hypnotized because the man in white is very handsome. Even though he is very handsome, this figure in white with a guqin(a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument) isn’t uncommon in the game. After seeing a lot of them, one becomes insensitive to it.

Rather, it is because of the man’s name.

ASmileNaiHe (WhyNotJustSmile.)

The server’s top master, ASmileNaiHe.

In this game, to be called a top master, not only does one’s level need to be high, he must have powerful equipment, be fierce at PK, must have accurate APM (actions per minute), and, the most critical point is, must have lots of (real) money.

That’s why, when ReedWeiWei first sees ASmileNaiHe, she can’t help but emit hearts from her eyes and continuously emit gold coins.

Great Master!

Idol!

Bankroller!

Wei Wei runs down the bridge, types a smiley face: “It’s an honor to meet you at last, Brother NaiHe. Were you calling me?”

ASmileNaiHe makes an “mmm” sound, and then the system bot prompts Wei Wei: “ASmileNaiHe added you as a friend.”

Wei Wei quickly clicks accept and, conveniently, adds ASmileNaiHe. It isn’t this easy to add ASmileNaiHe. The friend list of top-notch masters is usually closed all year round. Sometimes, when Wei Wei adds too many people, she also closes it.

After a moment, ASmileNaiHe sends a message over: “What did you think about the wedding ceremony?”

Wei Wei feels a little embarrassed. Can it be that Great Master is also here to gossip? Wei Wei replies diplomatically, “It was very grand.”

ASmileNaiHe: “Then do you want an even grander wedding ceremony?”

Wei Wei is stupified.

ASmileNaiHe: “Get married to me.”

Wei Wei feels that it is great she isn’t drinking water today. Otherwise, the monitor will probably have been sprayed with water again. With lingering fear in her, Wei Wei moves the cup of tea next to her hand a little farther and looks at the screen.

On the screen, ASmileNaiHe’s avatar is still quietly standing under the willow tree, quite elegantly and at ease. Wei Wei looks for quite a while before sending over: “Great Master…did your account get stolen? ＝ ＝”

It is clear, ASmileNaiHe does not really appreciate Wei Wei’s humor and sends a rare “silent” emoticon: “Did you see the newest announcement, on the official site, about the (Married) Couple PK Competition?”

Wei Wei: “Wait, I’ll go take a look.”

Wei Wei opens the official site, and sees the large words “Couple PK Competition” right away. She quickly skims it over and, more or less, understands it. Couple PK Competition, as the name implies, consists of a married couple entering the PK competition together. The couples who enter will first PK in their own server and then the top three of each server will be guaranteed a reward. Then, the winning couple from each server will PK with those from other servers. The top three of that will receive ultimate rewards. Furthermore, the grand prize is so abundant it makes Wei Wei drool fall a meter.

Wei Wei: “You looked for me for this PK competition?”

ASmileNaiHe: “Mmm.”

Wei Wei: “*speechless*, why look for me?”

ASmileNaiHe doesn’t waste words either: “You are the only female player in the top ten of the PK leaderboard.”

Wei Wei is a bit touched. This Mr. NaiHe is actually a very strong person. He is number one on the PK leaderboard, number one on the wealth leaderboard, and his weapons and pets are all on the deity level. If she joins hands with him, the server’s number one, there is at least half a guarantee of winning. But, the first time she got married was for a quest. Can she really get married the second time for PK?

Wei Wei can’t help but be speechless.

But, then again, if it isn’t for quests or PK, then why does she get married to strangers? Plus, the reward is so generous…

Wei Wei clenches her teeth: “Let’s get married!”

Since she has made the decision, Wei Wei is very straightforward: “Come on, let’s join up as a party to go visit Yue Lao.”

“Wait.”

“What is is?” Is it that she agreed too straightforwardly and Mr. Nai He is scared off instead －－

But, it is evidently not like what Wei Wei thinks, ASmileNaiHe says: “I need to make some preparations. In three days. At eight o’clock.”

Wei Wei stares blankly, then quickly types: “Prepare what?”

“Wedding ceremony.”

Wei Wei: “Just a notarization is good enough. It’s just a wedding for a competition. It doesn’t need to be too grand, does it?”

ASmileNaiHe: “No, how can my, ASmileNaiHe’s, wedding be casual?”

Wei Wei: “…”