Ch19 - At the scene of a proposal?

Edited by xiin, Kat, and Noks

This line in the barrage appeared only for a moment before it was drowned out by other messages, it was as if it had never appeared.

Ai Zhe stared at his computer screen, unable to return to his senses for a long time.

He had, with great effort, managed to convince himself that Momo wasn’t Mac, but after seeing that line in the barrage, he couldn’t help thinking— so it turns out that I’m not the only one who feels this way ah… then I didn’t imagine it.

But he didn’t plan to continue testing Momo.

After all, he was Mac’s fan, so he didn’t want to cause any trouble for Mac. If it spread out that a professional player had run over to cause a bloodbath in the rookie concentration camp, he could get flamed for a whole year over it.

However, it was impossible for fans to remain completely calm when they finally met their idols.

“Momo, do you need bandages? I have more than 80 here, do you want some?”

Ever since he had teamed up with Momo, Ai Zhe hadn’t been able to obtain any kills and had instead shifted into a crazy looting mode.

From the start of the game to now, it had basically been Momo crippling the enemy, Wen Xi taking every single opportunity to steal kills, Ai Zhe looting people, and Ruby dancing.

After looting N number of boxes, Ai Zhe may not have gathered anything else, but he had accumulated an enormous number of bandages. Thinking to share some with his teammates, he asked Mo Chen.

Mo Chen responded indifferently, “No need.”

Ai Zhe’s lips twitched, and he once again experienced the familiar sensation of sticking his cold face against someone’s warm butt. The barrage began to ridicule him again.

[Lololol, Love Pig, what’s with you!]

[Don’t tell me you’ve really fallen in love with Momo!]

Even his partner Ruby couldn’t hold back from complaining, “What are you doing ma? That guy doesn’t want to talk to you at all!”

Ai Zhe replied, “Wtf, I was just casually asking!”

Ruby said, “You could have asked anyone else, but you just had to go ask Momo? Can’t you see that that guy only has eyes for Xixi ma? The tone he uses when speaking to Xixi is completely different from the tone he uses to reply to you ah!”

Ai Zhe replied, “It really is so!”

As long as someone wasn’t deaf, they would be able to clearly hear the difference in treatment. When Mo Chen spoke to Wen Xi, he sounded gentle and doting, and his voice could even be described to be carrying a trace of a smile.

However, as soon as Ai Zhe asked him a question, his warm attitude would suddenly cool, and he would use as few words as possible in return, obviously wishing that he could reply with just a single word.

——Such glaringly obvious double standards!

About 10 minutes later, the first circle began to shrink, and the four people got on a pair of motorcycles and drove towards the safe zone.

At this time, Ai Zhe and Ruby both had 0 kills, Mo Chen had 6, and Wen Xi had 9!

When Wen Xi reported these numbers, Ai Zhe was so surprised that his motorcycle flipped. Fortunately, he was good at driving, so with a flick of his mouse, he successfully saved the vehicle and its passengers. “…Holy shit bro, how did you do that?!”

Wen Xi was proud of himself, but he still spoke in a very modest tone, “Nothing la, Momo knocked them down, and I just stole his kills.”

Mo Chen immediately intervened, “It was all due to your skill that you were able to steal them.”

Ai Zhe felt goosebumps break out all over his body as he listened to them, caught completely off-guard by their sudden display of mutual admiration. “You two, enough! Will you let people play games peacefully or not?!”

Mo Chen naturally ignored him, and following his own desires, told Wen Xi, “I realized you were very skilled the first time I saw you. You should really consider…”

Wen Xi interrupted him, “Thank you, but I’m not considering it.”

Mo Chen didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. Just like that, the words “playing professionally” ended up stuck in his throat.

They were already people who had already met in real life, so how could Wen Xi not know what Mo Chen was about to say?! He never stopped talking about playing professionally ah!

But even if Wen Xi knew what Mo Chen wanted to say, Ai Zhe and Ruby didn’t.

Ruby asked, “Consider what?”

Ai Zhe added, “Don’t just say half of it ah! It makes people very curious, okay!”

Mo Chen didn’t respond to this, and Wen Xi pretended to have not heard anything.

The barrage began to fill in the blank by themselves.

[Consider marrying me?]

[Momo: My skills are also not bad; we’re perfect for each other. Will you consider me?]

[When I first met you, I immediately knew that you were my fated person.]

Upon reading these lines in the barrage, Wen Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. “Ugh, enough you guys… No matter what we do, will you always see us as flirting with each other?”

Not waiting for the barrage to reply, Ai Zhe took the lead in complaining, “Wow, you actually have the nerve to blame the stream followers? Shouldn’t you guys reflect on yourselves?”

[Lololololol well said! He didn’t lie!]

[Lolololol, this complaint! I’m really about to die laughing!]

Wen Xi gave up. He was unable to defend himself properly, so he just decided to lay low for a while.

*

Soon, the four of them ditched their motorcycles and entered Area F.

After entering his domain, Ai Zhe could finally show off his skills, and with great difficulty managed to grab two kills.

Wen Xi had already become addicted to robbing Mo Chen of his kills by now and was unable to stop doing it. Every time Mo Chen shot, his arrows would soon follow after.

Since Mo Chen pretty much achieved a headshot every time he shot, Wen Xi would end up firing his arrow at an already downed enemy, who would then immediately be killed by it.

By the time the third circle began to shrink, Wen Xi had gathered 16 kills in his hand, while Mo Chen only had half that number.

Mo Chen really couldn’t help but want to say—based on this record, if we played together professionally, then our kill count would definitely not lose out to any other team!

But since he knew that Wen Xi just thought it was fun to steal his kills, he hesitated for a moment. In the end, he decided to stay silent so as to not shatter Wen Xi’s enthusiasm.

Instead, Wen Xi played until he was in a really good mood and tentatively proposed, “Do you want to make a bet ah? If I take more kills than you in this match, then you have to fulfill one wish for me.”

Mo Chen laughed and asked somewhat helplessly, “You’re making a bet with me right now, when your kills are currently double that of mine?”

Wen Xi was stunned and said, “Er, that does seem to be going a bit too far…”

Mo Chen replied, “I’ll take it.”

Wen Xi: ???

Mo Chen said, “If I have more kills than you by the end of this match, can you satisfy one wish of mine ba?”

Hearing this, the barrage once again began to scream, but Wen Xi started to panic—how could he not know what Mo Chen’s wish would be?! Besides egging him on to play professionally, what else was there?!

So of course, he refused, “Forget it, not gambling anymore.”

Mo Chen teased, “Admitting defeat? When your kills are twice mine? Can’t you be a little bolder?”

Wen Xi: “…”

Although he knew that Mo Chen was just trying to get him worked up, he felt confident that he could maintain his lead in kills until the end of the match.

However, he didn’t know why, but he was still wussing out.

After having played so many matches with Mo Chen, having been both an enemy and a teammate, and having even successfully beaten Mo Chen to win first place, Wen Xi still had a strange feeling—this man could do anything in SGH, and make all impossibilities possible.

In other words, Wen Xi felt that Mo Chen’s strength was unfathomable.

So, even if he was 8 kills ahead of Mo Chen, Wen Xi still couldn’t guarantee 100% that he could win the bet.

Just as Wen Xi was hesitating over whether or not to agree to the bet, Mo Chen added lightly, “Don’t worry, I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Wen Xi was stunned, and in that moment, his heart rate suddenly became a little erratic—as though his heart had been poked.

Ever since he was little, too many people had forced him to do things he didn’t want to do. He had originally thought he would be free from that after graduating from college, but he hadn’t expected that he would end up simply trading one cage for another.

And now, someone told him specifically—I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.

This sentence was like a bullet that shot straight into Wen Xi’s heart.

He had started to admire Mo Chen from the very first day he met him.

This person often flirted with him, acted in surprising ways, and challenged his rationality.

But at this moment, Wen Xi couldn’t even express how moved he was.

He clearly understood that the subtext in Mo Chen’s words was actually this: Whether I win or lose this bet, I will not force you to play professionally.

In fact, Mo Chen was really just trying to convey his sincerity to Wen Xi for a simple reason— nothing achieved through force will have a good end. What he wanted was a comrade-in-arms who truly enjoyed playing, who could fight with him side-by-side, and who could win the championship together with him, rather than a puppet at his disposal.

Still, Wen Xi’s heart had been pierced by this declaration of his.

Even he, who knew “the inside story” had been affected, so forget about mentioning its effect on the stream followers who didn’t know about his circumstances.

[My God! Momo is so warm ah!]

[In front of Love Pig he’s an iceberg, but in front of Wen Xi he becomes a warm man!]

[Wuwuwuwu is it too late for me to start playing SGH now? Can someone also send me such a boyfriend QAQ]

Wen Xi returned to his senses, and after glancing at the barrage’s overactive and excessive imagination, he didn’t realize that his lips had curled up a bit.

“Okay ah,” he finally replied, “If it’s like that, I’m willing.”

[I’m willing AHHHHHHHH wsl!]

[Fuck me! Am I at the scene of a proposal right now?!]

[I declare that Xixi and Momo are now officially married right now!]

In this way, a casual bet was inexplicably interpreted to be a proposal by the stream followers.

Ai Zhe jumped in with a well-timed joke, “Congratulations to the new couple on tying the knot. They can now be sent to the bridal chamber.”

Ruby added, “Congratulations, congratulations.”

Wen Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had just been about to respond when suddenly, Mo Chen switched to his assault rifle and accelerated his running speed to wind around the area.

After a burst of gunfire—

[Momo killed Lilith with a headshot with an assault rifle. The remaining number of survivors is 26.]

[Momo killed Addiam with a headshot with an assault rifle. The remaining number of survivors is 25 people.]

After taking two kills in one breath, Mo Chen’s total number of kills had reached 10.

Wen Xi suddenly grew alert— sure enough, it was exactly what he had been worried about. Mo Chen’s strength was like a bottomless hole, as if he could grow stronger at any given time.

Of course, Wen Xi was unwilling to admit that he might be outdone. Using his binoculars, he caught sight of a shadow by the base of a tree. He resolutely selected a nearby tree and climbed up to reach a suitable position before switching to first-person perspective. He calmly concentrated and shot an arrow towards the sky.

With the sound of “shhppt”—

[Wency killed Shadow with a headshot with a bow. The remaining number of survivors is 24.]

In the subsequent period of time, the upper right corner of the screen was almost dominated solely by Momo and Wency’s IDs.

Ai Zhe fired off a few shots to fish in troubled waters, but after noticing the kills prompts in the upper right corner, he momentarily fell into a daze for a bit.

This scene was inexplicably familiar.

——When he and Wen Xi had been playing duo and had bumped into Momo, the two of them had also begun to crazily stack up kills just like this, as if they were the only players in the entire game and all the others were simply their targets.

Ai Zhe simultaneously recalled that it was then that he had first suspected Momo to be a professional player.

While he was still dazed, Ruby suddenly screamed, “Ahhhhh! Help me up, help me up! Help me up now!”

Ai Zhe immediately snapped out of it upon hearing her voice, but it was too late to go save her—the knocked down Ruby was shot and killed, thus prompting her exit from the battlefield.

Ruby was speechless for a while, before asking, “…What kind of daze were you just in?”

“I wasn’t!” Ai Zhe argued, “What were you doing ma? How could you get killed?”

As soon as he said that, he heard Wen Xi exclaim, “Love Pig, behind you!”

Ai Zhe switched to his shotgun, turned around, and let out a round of tututu — successfully killing the enemy and obtaining another kill!

However, before he could celebrate, a frag grenade, which was thrown from somewhere, rolled to his feet.

Then— bang!

[Mosquito killed Azure with a frag grenade. The remaining number of survivors is 19.]

Ai Zhe: “…”

After being killed, Ai Zhe didn’t say anything immediately, which caused people to think that he was either in a daze or nursing a grievance.

In fact, he was relieved.

From the beginning of the livestream until now, he had acted very relaxed, making jokes and complaining from time to time. However, he had actually been under a lot of pressure and had felt tormented while streaming.

Although all of his stream followers made fun of him by calling him an entertainment anchor, Ai Zhe was very clear that what most of his fans appreciated were his skills.

But when teaming up with Momo, his skills were completely pressed down by Momo’s, and he couldn’t give free reign to even one-tenth of his original ability. Furthermore, he needed to work under this pressure to keep the conversation lively… Ai Zhe really felt that if it continued on like this, he would collapse.

So, the moment he saw his avatar fall in battle, his first reaction wasn’t to fall into a daze, and it definitely wasn’t to nurse a grievance, but instead to feel relieved.

“What the fuck, what happened? Who killed me?” He pretended to be heartbroken and clicked to spectate the battle, selecting Momo’s POV.

Wen Xi didn’t notice anything unusual in his tone and replied seriously, “Our position has been exposed, and we were sneak attacked by someone.” He paused before adding, “Don’t worry, I’ll avenge you.”

He did what he said he would do, he avenged him. He threw a frag grenade towards the target’s position, and after about three seconds— Bang!

[System] You knocked down Mosquito with a frag grenade.

Not dead yet?

Wen Xi hurriedly drew his bow and shot an arrow in that direction, but then…

[System] Momo killed Mosquito with a headshot with a sniper rifle.

Wen Xi: !!!

Ah, his kill had been stolen by Momo!

He thought that everyone in the barrage would denounce Momo at this time, but when Wen Xi quickly glanced at it, he saw them all laugh at his misfortune!

[Lololololol, God Xi, so a day like this also comes for you!]

[Kills are flowing all around. If you steal mine, then I can also steal yours~]

Wen Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Okay ba, he had really been the one to brazenly steal a kill first—at least half of the 18 kills he had now had been stolen from Momo.

And so far, Momo had only stolen one of his kills.

He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and could only continue to look for other enemies.

At this time, Ai Zhe was watching Momo’s POV of the game with bated breath.

He had also watched him in the last match, but because he had just died in the hands of a botter before switching to watching in that game, his mood had been a little unstable, so he hadn’t watched the rest of that match carefully. He had eventually been completely drawn in by Mo Chen’s excessively sharp operation, which had allowed him to discover a clue in the midst of his surprise.

Thus, after dying in this match, he immediately picked Momo’s POV to spectate—he just wanted to ascertain his own speculation by watching Momo’s POV.

He didn’t know if it was because his subconscious already firmly believed it, but to his eyes, Momo’s every move in the game seemed to carry Mac’s shadow behind it, even in operations where he was just normally using some medicine.

Let alone some of his extreme maneuvers—

Swinging his gun for a headshot, leaping between trees, killing two people with one grenade… he was basically like a fucking game bug who kept throwing his enemy into a pit.

He wasn’t a bot, but was somehow even better than a bot.

Ai Zhe unconsciously fell into a daze again. For a moment, he even thought that he wasn’t watching Momo’s POV of the game, but rather a brilliant personal clip of Mac’s gameplay.

He was so focused on spectating the game that he didn’t realize that more and more lines about Mac were spreading in his stream’s barrage.

[This style is really like Mac’s…]

[It can’t be Mac himself ba?]

[Mac?!]

—

Juurensha: Again, can’t help but feel a bit bad for Love Pig, but on the other hand that moment where Wen Xi was moved was sweet.

Noks: +1. That moment when the bullet shot through Wen Xi’s heart was utterly sweet… and then his stream followers and Love Pig married him off!! xD

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