TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 66

Being heartless and unbothered might be the unspoken corporate culture of Team Polaris. Xia Tong hadn’t been here long enough to grasp its essence, and right now, he just genuinely felt bad for their fans.

“Do you have plans later?” Bo Yu asked, just before closing his pod hatch.

“Not at the moment,” Xia Tong said.

“Wanna join me for a run through Soss’s Dream Garden?” Bo Yu asked. “It might drop some enchantments. Good for boosting weapon and armor stats.”

Xia Tong’s eyes sparkled: “Yes, please!”

As they spoke, the two of them logged into the game together.

Back at the game interface, the flood of new messages was still surging in like a tide, showing no signs of slowing. Xia Tong had no idea why this was happening, but he followed Bo Yu’s advice and turned off the “add friend” permissions.

The forum threads were keeping up with current events and were buzzing with noise.

[Frontline update!! My baby goose turned off friend requests! I can’t add him anymore!!]

[Hahaha I’m Blink’s final added friend before the lock!]

[I’m seriously suspecting he’s about to start deleting friends one by one like Zhou Yanjun did.]

[He’s been corrupted!! My baby goose has been corrupted!! Learned it from those heartless old beasts on Team P!]

[Clearly someone got to sweet little Nai Tong offline just now.]

[Whoa! Island’s online! Can confirm it!]

[Sigh, back when Island first joined Team P, he was such a sweet and cuddly baby.]

[Totally corrupted by the P team corporate culture. Cold-face emoji.]

[So who started this terrible trend anyway?]

[Blame @polaris_zero for being a bad influence!]

[Blame @polaris_zero for bein g a bad influence!]

[Blame @polaris_zero for being a bad influence!]

…

Xia Tong didn’t check the private messages again. Instead, he followed Bo Yu into the world channel to look for a party. His gear was still way too basic, far from the ideal setup listed in guides.

“Back when our team still had a lot of trainees and subs, these kinds of groups were always organized by our own people,” Bo Yu said while browsing the dungeon party listings. “Didn’t take much time to run through them.”

Xia Tong could sense a trace of nostalgia in his tone.

“Don’t worry, Bo! We’ll grow strong again soon!” he said confidently. “Hey, here’s a new group called ‘Sauce Fantasy Garden’! I joined! I’ll invite you!”

Bo Yu: “Okay.”

After they joined the party, the party leader immediately spammed exclamation marks in the team channel.

CurryFishCave:

[!!!!!! Holy crap holy crap holy crap!]

[Is that the real P Team or a really good impersonator???]

[OMG there’s a dash in the name! It’s really him!!! I hit the jackpot today!!!]

[Island, can I take a picture with you?! I’ve always dreamed of going pro!! You pros are all my idols!!]

Xia Tong was dazzled by the barrage of messages flying across the team chat. Bo Yu, on the other hand, was completely unmoved.

CurryFishCave kept rambling like a stand-up comedian, and after a while the awkwardness really started to creep in.

Xia Tong was too empathetic and started worrying—should he say something back?

Otherwise, it might leave a bad impression, like “Members of Team P—especially this new one—are arrogant and rude.”

But just as he was about to open his mouth, CurryFishCave fired off again like a machine gun:

[Blink, are you that omega mage who beat Russia’s Mao A???]

[How did you use your skills like that? So many in just one second! Super fast and powerful!]

[Are you really an omega? You don’t seem like one at all. Maybe you’re just short and faked your secondary gender to make a splash? To boost your club’s commercial value?]

[Hey, are you using scripts? I don’t think anyone could pull that off without cheats… I heard pros have hidden privileges. Is that true?]

[Come on, tell me!]

[Why aren’t you talking? Not saying anything means you’re admitting it, right?]

Xia Tong had wanted to respond, but now he hesitated.

First of all, he didn’t even know how to reply.

And second… replying didn’t feel right, but not replying didn’t either.

Why was it that just winning a single match could stir up so many bizarre and baseless suspicions?

He didn’t even know where to begin.

Just then, Bo Yu suddenly turned on his mic in the party channel.

“He’s not responsible for answering questions. Stop asking him.”

CurryFishCave:

“Whoa!! Then Island, can I ask you instead—”

“No.”

CurryFishCave:

“…”

“One more question and you’re out.”

CurryFishCave:

“Whoa, okay okay! I won’t ask anymore. My bad, big mouth. Please don’t take it personally.”

Xia Tong: “!”

Maybe Bo Yu’s tone had been too sharp, but CurryFishCave really didn’t say another word after that, quietly getting to work recruiting the rest of the party.

Xia Tong slowly began to understand something:

Once you reach a certain level of fame, you’re bound to face more speculation.

He didn’t have the time or energy to explain everything to everyone.

And expecting everyone to fully understand his situation was simply impossible.

So, he had to learn to stay calm.

Learn to take things in stride.

Learn to keep walking his own path, straight and steady, amid all the noise and chaos.

CurryFishCave soon found a hunter and a healer elf.

Xia Tong followed Bo Yu and teleported to the dungeon entrance.

There, he instantly “Bo Yu-ified” — unfazed and eyes straight ahead.

Because of that, neither of them noticed the elf player named “Not-a-Flower.”

At first, Not-a-Flower only recognized Bo Yu’s ID.

After all, back when she did that 3v3 match with Zhou Yanjun and Bo Yu, she was in a dazed state for quite some time.

Every other 3v3 match she played after that felt especially uncomfortable, and she got cursed out plenty for dragging the team down in high-ranked matches.

But she had to admit, that “carried-to-victory” experience left a deep impression on her.

And that strong, handsome axe warrior stayed in her mind for a long time.

Not-a-Flower had been sending stickers in the team chat for a while without getting any response from polaris_island.

Only when she finally arrived—dragging her feet—to the dungeon entrance did she realize, shocked, that she actually knew both of them.

That pale, pink-cheeked little boy standing next to polaris_island!

He was exactly that Summer Xiaotong who had humiliated her!

The one who forced himself into her 3v3 team, took away her two teammates, and left her all alone, shivering like a leaf in the wind—

That mage player!

He had changed his name now, into a long string of English letters that Flower-Not-Flower didn’t quite recognize—but that delicate, beautiful little face was all too familiar!

Flower-Not-Flower was a PvE and sentimental player. She never followed pro leagues or cared about professional matches. She played the game just to admire beautiful appearances, collect beautiful appearances, explore outfit combinations, and hope for romantic encounters. So she knew absolutely nothing about the Polaris team or their scrimmages.

CurryFishCave had just been subtly threatened by Bo Yu and was now quiet as a mouse, acting incredibly obedient. The other hunter in the party must’ve sensed the strange atmosphere too, because they hadn’t dared to say a word since joining. As a result, no one informed Flower-Not-Flower about the meaning of the “polaris” prefix.

Bo Yu tapped Xia Tong on the shoulder, and the two of them entered the dungeon first—completely unaware of Flower-Not-Flower quietly charging up behind them. A moment later, all five party members were inside. CurryFishCave didn’t say anything, simply sent out a ready check and started pulling monsters.

“Sauce’s Dream Garden” was a small five-man dungeon known for its vast fields of lavender. It was scenic and not very difficult. Casual parties could usually finish it in under 20 minutes. Most people just ran it daily for small drops or gold—it was part of their routine. So Xia Tong hadn’t felt any pressure going in.

But he never expected that the moment they pulled the first boss, he would immediately die.

It happened very fast, almost abruptly. Bo Yu, as the main tank, was the first to engage, but the aggro hadn’t fully stabilized. Xia Tong’s burst damage was too high and caused a brief OT (over-threat). The giant hornet flapped its wings and darted straight toward the little mage. At that point, all Xia Tong had to do was stop attacking for a second to let Bo Yu regain aggro, and the healer could toss two quick spells to top him off—then the boss fight could continue smoothly.

But… the healer didn’t heal him at all.

Not even a single point.

And just like that, Xia Tong died.

Fortunately, this was a pretty easy dungeon, and being down one DPS only made things a bit slower. At first, Xia Tong didn’t think too much of it—just assumed the healer was caught off guard. But by the second boss, when a black bear summoned a horde of its kin and launched a massive AOE attack, everyone else was healed and survived… except Xia Tong.

Again, he dropped dead.

Even someone as slow on the uptake as Xia Tong could tell something was wrong by now.

He was a ranged DPS and not standing far from the elf healer. This wasn’t a surprise attack; there had been plenty of time to prepare.

And yet—he still died.

Baffled, he opened the healing logs—and found that “Flower-Not-Flower” hadn’t looked at him even once.

Not even a single HoT (heal-over-time) spell had been cast on him.

Flower-Not-Flower… why does that sound familiar…

Lying dead on the ground, Xia Tong stared at the pink-and-white elf girl for a while. The more he looked, the more familiar she seemed—until he suddenly smacked his forehead in realization.

That’s right! She was the same healer who played in the 3v3 match with Bo Yu and Zhou Yanjun!

Back then, after Bo Yu and Zhou Yanjun pulled Xia Tong into the team, he had left not long after, never actually meeting this “Flower-Not-Flower.” At most, he had seen the ID once on the team list. It was only thanks to his sharp little brain that he managed to recall it now.

But why was she targeting him?

Why had she deliberately let him die?

Xia Tong couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he tried.

After clearing the second boss, he had to return to the dungeon’s starting point and run back, panting as he arrived.

He considered asking her in party chat why she was doing this—but his growing social intuition told him…

It probably wasn’t worth it.

For the third boss, Xia Tong gave up on relying on Flower-Not-Flower. He proactively activated a few of his own defensive and healing abilities, dodged carefully, and thanks to his cautious movement, he just barely survived with a sliver of health when the boss went down.

By now, it was basically confirmed that Flower-Not-Flower had a personal grudge against him.

Fortunately, the boss dropped two enchants usable by mages, which gave Xia Tong a tiny bit of consolation—enough that he stopped dwelling on the fact he’d been left to die twice.

After clearing their cooldown, Bo Yu was getting ready to log off for a nap and said goodbye to Xia Tong.

“You should take a nap too, Xia. It’s good for your health,” Bo Yu said.

“I’ll apply the enchants first, then go practice a bit in the arena,” Xia Tong replied. “You go ahead, Bo. See you later!”

Bo Yu agreed and logged off.

Xia Tong, feeling excited and not tired at all, carefully followed the tutorial to apply the two enchants to his gear—then turned and headed straight to the PvP arena.

He no longer felt the fear he used to toward the arena.

At this point, he’d taken enough beatings to grow some thick skin.

There were plenty of players queuing for arena matches at this hour, and many of them noticed him, casting curious glances his way.

Xia Tong, after all his mental preparation, now acted like he didn’t see any of it. He was about to queue solo for a few 2v2 matches, when suddenly—

He saw a pale pink elf girl teleport out of the arena map.

The moment she landed, she let out a loud “Waaah!” and started sobbing uncontrollably.

She cried her heart out, then crouched down right there on the spot, hugging her knees and wailing even harder.

The surrounding players all turned to look.

Then slowly began to back away.

The scene was impossible for Xia Tong to ignore.

He squinted at her and blurted out:

“Flower-Not-Flower?”

Just over an hour ago, this same healer had let him die twice in a dungeon.

He’d had to run back from the boss room multiple times—it had been exhausting.

Now here she was, bawling like a 200-pound baby right in front of him.

If he said he didn’t feel the least bit satisfied…

Well, that would’ve been a lie.

So Xia Tong didn’t queue for the arena right away.

Instead, he stood to the side and watched for a while.

Flower-Not-Flower really did seem devastated.

She kept crying and crying, without the slightest sign of stopping.

Even as a bystander, Xia Tong felt sorry for her throat and eyes.

He’d cried a lot in the past too—he knew it took a toll on the body, even in a fully immersive holographic game.

“Hey…” Xia Tong shuffled over slowly, arms crossed like he wasn’t trying to get involved, eyes looking off to the side.

“Why are you crying so hard?”

“They were yelling at me!” Flower-Not-Flower cried messily, not even looking up to see who she was talking to. She poured out her complaints like beans spilling from a bamboo tube:

“They said I suck! That I was dragging them down! They called me trash!!! They were so mean, waaahhh!”

Xia Tong: “They… who are ‘they’?”

Flower-Not-Flower sniffled hard, sounding like a broken bellows:

“Waaahhh, my teammates in the arena matches!”

Xia Tong: “Did you… abandon them too?”

Flower-Not-Flower whined in protest:

**“No, I didn’t!! Except for that one time in the dungeon when I abandoned a little brat!!! I’ve never abandoned anyone else!!”

The little brat in question: “……”

Xia Tong didn’t know how to feel—half annoyed, half amused.

For a moment, he really did feel the urge to just walk away.

But looking at Flower-Not-Flower crying so pitifully…

He suddenly thought of himself, not so long ago, when he’d burst into tears at the drop of a hat.

Back then, people probably thought he looked ridiculous too…

But there had been that one person, always quietly watching over his moods, stepping in right on time to help him, and guiding him from cluelessness toward normal human interaction.

Xia Tong hesitated, then turned back.

“What kind of match was it? Why were they saying all that?”

“2v2…” Flower-Not-Flower sobbed.

“2v2… why would they say those things?” Xia Tong was genuinely confused.

Generally in 2v2 matches, the setup was one DPS and one healer. The healer only had to monitor a single teammate’s HP. With evenly matched gear, it was hard for one side to kill the other outright. Most games would go the full fifteen minutes, and then the system would determine the winner based on total damage and healing done.

In those situations, it was the DPS’s skill that usually made the difference.

Sometimes you’d see double-DPS “melee cleave” comps in 2v2, but those were hit-or-miss.

If they were top-tier players—like Bo Yu and Zhou Yanjun—who coordinated perfectly, they could burst down the healer at the start and win easily.

But for regular players, the lack of sustain usually meant guaranteed loss.

Xia Tong asked cautiously:

“Did you run into a cleave comp?”

“No…” Flower-Not-Flower sniffled.

“We just kept fighting for over ten minutes… I got so tired I didn’t know how to heal anymore. Then the enemy DPS killed me, and my teammates didn’t help or save me—they just yelled at me for being trash…”

“That’s way too much!” Xia Tong stomped his foot angrily.

“If he couldn’t kill the enemy healer, he should’ve focused on their DPS to take the pressure off you! That’s clearly his fault—his poor strategy! Why’s he blaming you?”

Flower-Not-Flower: “Waaahhh…”

Xia Tong tried to comfort her:

“Then don’t play anymore! Don’t let yourself be treated like that. Go do dungeons instead—they’re fun too!”

Flower-Not-Flower, still crying:

“But I want the arena point gear… that skirt is so pretty! Waaaahh I’m only 40 points away! But I keep losing and losing—I’m so tired… why is this game so hard!!”

Xia Tong: “Uh…”

He scratched his head in confusion, hair standing up in frustration, and cautiously suggested:

“Well… how about this—I’ll queue with you for a couple matches?”

Flower-Not-Flower froze.

She looked up with teary eyes—and when she saw Xia Tong’s face, she was stunned.

“Wait… it’s you?!”

“Yup, it’s me.” Xia Tong shrugged and gave her a dazzling, flawless smile, then sent her a party invite.

Flower-Not-Flower eyed him warily, but faced with Xia Tong’s big, sparkly eyes, her suspicion turned to confusion, then hesitation.

In the end, she clicked “accept.”

“Can you really help me earn 40 points?” she asked in a muffled voice.

“I’ll try my best—as long as you don’t abandon me again,” Xia Tong said with a sweet smile.

Flower-Not-Flower: “……”

Why… did that sound a little like a threat?

Xia Tong skipped over to the arena queue NPC, turned his head, and smiled:

“Ready? Here we go!”

Earlier during lunch, Xia Tong had carefully re-studied all his skills and realized that different chaining sequences could produce vastly different effects. He’d recently invented his own crowd-control-focused playstyle, but hadn’t had the chance to test it.

Back when he’d queued with Shi Ya, Shi Ya had protected him too well, giving him few chances to handle danger himself.

So teaming up with this noob healer for some 2v2s actually seemed like a perfect training opportunity.

The two of them queued and got a match instantly.

The enemy team was a paladin and an elf.

Flower-Not-Flower turned pale at the sight.

“I hate paladins!! They always stomp all over me!!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let him stomp you.” Xia Tong narrowed his eyes.

“Just keep me healed, okay?”

As soon as the countdown hit zero, he charged out and collided with the paladin.

Xia Tong didn’t back off—he fired off a greenish-blue curse light, taking the initiative!

The paladin and mount were frozen in place. Xia Tong unleashed a brutal combo, the health bar on the enemy’s screen plunging.

When the freeze wore off, the paladin rushed forward—but found himself slowed again by a debuff…

Ten minutes in, the paladin was still being kited in circles by Xia Tong.

Xia Tong’s adjusted combo meant he couldn’t burst him down instantly, but the paladin couldn’t even touch him either.

It was maddening.

Before the full fifteen minutes were up, the frustrated enemy rage-quit the match.

The next few games played out similarly.

Flower-Not-Flower felt like she had gone from hell to heaven. She was ecstatic.

Her 40 missing points were quickly earned, and she rushed off to the gear vendor to exchange them for the adorable skirt she’d been eyeing.

Then, full of excitement, she ran back to Xia Tong.

“Thank you!! Thank you so much!!”

She put on the black lacy poofy skirt and twirled in place, beaming with joy.

She looked at Xia Tong expectantly.

“Look! Isn’t it cute?”

Xia Tong was counting on his fingers to calculate the duration of his skill cooldown. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and nodded. “You’re good-looking.” Then he went back to counting his fingers.

Hua Feihua came back to her senses from a burst of joy and began to seriously size Xia Tong up. The little wizard was only slightly taller than her, and his delicate profile was as fair and smooth as jade—prettier than many girls. Suddenly, Hua Feihua felt like her heart had skipped a beat. She recalled how, from the very first time she met Xia Tong, he had been the one to say goodbye to her; today, he had come to check on her on his own initiative… In the past, she was always the one chasing after other male players, who all treated her coldly. She had never met someone this gentle before…

Xia Tong was completely unaware of the subtle shift in Hua Feihua’s gaze toward him, until he heard her say, “Um… little brother… would you be willing to…”

“Hm? Willing to what?” Xia Tong asked.

“Well… I’m an omega, you see…” Hua Feihua blushed bright red and hesitated several times, unable to finish her sentence. “So… I was wondering…”

“Huh?” Xia Tong turned to her in surprise. “You’re an omega too?”

Hua Feihua froze, her shy expression stiffening. “Huh?”

Xia Tong cheerfully patted her shoulder and said happily, “What a coincidence! So am I!”

Hua Feihua: “……”

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