Mutated Pheromones

Seeing the two messages pop up in the guild chat Qin Xiujie spewed the water he’d been gulping all over his keyboard. 

He coughed a few times, put down his cup, opened his friend list, and clicked on his cousin’s name.

[(Private) Attired Guqin: What are you doing?]

Yue Ran didn’t reply immediately. He was trying to mend the issue because a guild member was already typing.

[(Guild) Fruity: Er…I couldn’t tell that he is afraid of strangers.] 

[(Guild) BB Love: Maybe only in real life?]

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Yes, I don’t like strangers in real life, and only fear them occasionally online (covers face), but everyone here isn’t a stranger, because you all are his friends. His friends are my friends, and I don’t act introverted with friends! Oh…plus he is here with me, so I feel safe, I am not afraid (shy).]

[(Guild) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: That’s right.]

[(Guild) Blank: I am actually eating the leader’s dog food on the guild chat in this lifetime…]

[(Guild) Strongest O in Universe: I am actually eating the leader’s dog food on the guild chat in this lifetime…]

……

A crowd of people copied and pasted the same lines for what felt like an eternity before a new message appeared on the guild chat.

[(Guild) BB Love: What’s your match?] 

After Yue Ran tapped a pile of words to the chat, he decided to switch to the private chat.]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: I really need to change my sockpuppet after this. I do not want to be reminded of this, so embarrassing.]

[(Private) Attired Guqin: So you’re acting with a different persona and behaviour?]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Yep, the more dissimilar the better.] 

[(Private) Attired Guqin: (rofl): What if you guys really got together? Are you going to continue to act in this manner in the guild all the time?]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: You are overthinking it.]

[(Private) Attired Guqin: What if, though (raised eyebrow)?]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: There is no ‘what if’, this is already pushing it! If I ended up having to continue to use this character ID, and continue acting like this, I would quit first. Just you wait, I will get that name change from you!] 

Qin Xiujie smiled, and just as he was about to reply, his friend beside him suddenly looked over.

Jiang Xiao asked, “What is his type?”

Qin Xiujie replied, “Omega, why?”

Jiang Xiao said, “Someone was asking.” 

At the same time, Yue Ran quickly glanced through the chat and saw the same question. So he sent a casual reply, which accidentally crashed with a certain someone’s message again.

[(Guild) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: AO.]

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Secret (sweet).]

Fuck, you got to kidding me! 

Yue Ran ground his teeth as he clicked aggressively on his keyboard, but the message he typed was completely contradicting how he was acting.

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Hubby is so mean (cry).]

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Why couldn’t you let me be a little mysterious (sob)!]

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: So mean, so mean (roll on ground crying)!!] 

Hlc Wleplf’r rtbeivfgr agfwyifv klat ijeutafg.

Ciatbeut tlr mberlc jmafv j yla qjwqfgfv jcv ilxfv ab atgbk ajcagewr, tf kbeiv jirb oeiolii qgbwlrfr—rlwlijg ab Aljcu Wljb. Lf kbeiv vb ktja tf qgbwlrfv, fnfc lo tf vlvc’a ilxf la. Llr jvjqajylilas jcv atf fcfgus tf qea lc jikjsr wjvf Hlc Wleplf’r vjs.

He peeked at his friend to see his reaction.

Jiang Xiao sat quietly by the window, and from Qin Xiujie’s point of view, the lines of his side view were extremely smooth. 

His facial features were very sharp, and there was a trace of detachment in his beauty. It seems that he would be cold and aloof, but not difficult to get along with once one gets to know him. Occasionally, people in the guild would joke with him, and he wouldn’t get angry.

At that moment, he watched a certain someone acting coquettishly. He didn’t make a single disapproving expression as he replied calmly.

[(Guild) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: (head pat)]

Head pat your sister! 

Couldn’t you contribute even a little bit?

Yue Ran continued to grind his teeth and felt even more unhappy.

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: (blush) (innocent)]

This was the first time the guildmates saw their guild leader interacting with people. The single dogs immediately cried out from the unbearable dog food. Others were more curious about the leader’s partner, and messages were coming at a rapid fire speed. 

However, after two rounds of sudden death, Jiang Xiao ignored the endless questions and redirected the chat’s attention to the main agenda.

The game released a few new instance dungeons from the latest update. They gathered in the main city today to restock inventory before entering the dungeon.

Yue Ran already learned their agenda from his cousin. He quietly waited for them to finish the discussion and informed them he planned to play solo.

But the guild members wouldn’t accept it. 

[(Guild) BB Love: Why play by yourself? Let’s play together.]

[(Guild) Strongest O in Universe: That’s right, we’ll protect you.]

[(Guild) Ashen Inner Thoughts: Every time we enter a new instance dungeon, we always die countless times, so we don’t mind you joining us.]

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: No no (wave hands), I am too much of a newbie. Best if I go explore and enjoy the scenery instead of bothering everyone. Take me along once you guys have beaten it. Plus, with me around hubby will get distracted. Without me, hubby would definitely display his full strength (puffs up with pride).] 

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Oh! Also, I don’t accept friend requests, sorry for ignoring those friend requests (bow). I’m playing this game for hubby, so I only want him on my friend list (make cute fists).]

Qin Xiujie knew Yue Ran didn’t want to expose himself later, so it’s best to not add friends. Jiang Xiao naturally also understood and used the {head pat} gesture.

While other guild members didn’t know the truth and believed him.

The single dogs in the chat were dying with jealousy, having such a soft, adorable, clingy, loveable, coquettish…it was impossible to list them all! But the key point was the omega was very sensible, and they were all envious of their leader! 

[(Guild) Ashen Inner Thoughts: Sister-in-law.]

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Yes?]

[(Guild) Ashen Inner Thoughts: Do you have any omega siblings or good friends? You should recommend this game to them!]

[(Guild) The Assassin: That’s right, the more the merrier!] 

The rest of the alphas found a foothold and started sending text bubbles.

An omega with a good relationship with the sister-in-law must have a similar nature!

The corner of Yue Ran’s mouth twitched as he silently watched them putting on an innocent act.

Jiang Xiao didn’t want them to embarrass themselves any further, so he ordered them to set out. A few guild members sent some recommendations of locations with gorgeous scenery. Looking at the lonely summoner, Jiang Xiao thought for a second and took the initiative. 

[(Guild) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: Everyone, wait for me at the entrance.]

[(Guild) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: Come, I will take you to the Firefly River to start.]

After that, he summoned a white horse and sent a mount request.

Yue Ran accepted the request and saw his character climb onto the horse and into the swordsman’s arms. 

Because they were a couple’s accounts, their character designs and outfits were matching.

A cute-petite summoner and a tall-handsome swordsman nestled against each other. Their light-blue outfits slid over the white horse under them, creating a very eye-catching image.

Their leader was always cold, straight down to business, so they never expected for him to have a thoughtful moment. Love really changes a person.

The channel was flooded again, this time with the same emotes. 

[(Guild) Blank: (lemon)]

[(Guild) BB Love: (lemon)]

[(Guild) Attired Guqin: (lemon)]

[(Guild) Ashen Inner Thoughts: (lemon)] 

……

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: (lemon)]

[(Guild) The Assassin: (lemon)]

[(Guild) Blank: Hold on a minute, sister-in-law, why did you post (lemon)?] 

Yue Ran looked at his little summoner character and he couldn’t help sending the message. Coming to his senses, he pulled an explanation out of thin air.

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Everyone was sending it, and I wanted to join in on the fun (sweet).]

Bah! Because I feel sour! SOUR!

As a single dog, playing this game and eating his character’s dog food, couldn’t he complain as well? 

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Let’s go, we’ll chat more once you guys finish the instant dungeon (waves small handkerchief).]

Jiang Xiao took the little summoner out of everyone’s sight. He knew Yue Ran wanted to find a place to get familiar with his skills, so Jiang Xiao went ahead and picked the Firefly River. The river was deep in a forest, and as the name suggested, fireflies danced above the river. A very popular dating spot among the community.

He let Yue Ran dismount and sent a friend request.

[(Private) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: Ping if you need me.] 

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: ‘Kay.]

[(Private) >Smashing Vault of Heaven: Have you played before?]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Yep.]

Jiang Xiao left relieved, knowing Yue Ran could take care of himself. 

Finally, having a moment of peace, Yue Ran opened his skills window, removed all the keybinding, and set them according to his preferences. After finishing the arrangement, he carefully went through all the keys so he could be familiar with them. The last thing was opening the summons refinement window.

After three years, the window looked nothing like the one from his memory, so he had to do research again.

As he was reading through the newly added content, he saw a message showing up on his screen.

[(Horn) Dying Star: My friend list is filled again. Same rule, I will remove you after answering one question, to make room for new requests and questions.] 

Yue Ran was shocked as he switched to the world chat.

[(World) I am Support: Ahhhh! Great Dying Star please look at me, you must ask me first!]

[(World) Daylily: Great Dying Star I love you (heart) (heart) (heart).]

[(World) Amusing Feast: Marry me!] 

[(World) Swift Life: When will the great Dying Star queue for an instance? This one is kneeling for an invite!]

Returning to reality, Yue Ran right clicked on Dying Star to open the character menu. He clicked on ‘view status’ to see this player’s job class and also sent a message to his cousin.

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: Who is this Dying Star and why is he so popular?]

[(Private) Attired Guqin: I’m pretty sure I told you about him before. There was a summoner support who refined a White Phoenix, one of the ten rare summons. He was fierce, easy to anger, and known for verbal abuse. Unfortunately, he stopped playing and deleted his account.] 

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: I see.]

[(Private) Attired Guqin: That summoner was called Dying Star.]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: …]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: He had disappeared for so long. How could people be sure that’s him? Did he refine another White Phoenix?] 

[(Private) Attired Guqin: Rumor is that he is still collecting the materials, but should be back soon. He returned and acted in a high-profile, but good tempered way. Many support players added him as a friend to ask questions, and he accepted every friend request. He is very down-to-earth. Even if he went MIA for years, he is still popular because there are still people who searched for his old gameplay videos.]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: (flip table) (flip table) (flip table)]

[(Private) Attired Guqin: What’s wrong?]

[(Private) Vault of Heavens Essence<: I am Dying Star! Not only did he steal my ID, but he also stole my fans! How shameless!!] 

Inside the instance dungeon, Qin Xiujie’s fingers slipped, and his character immediately fell from the wall and into a group of small monsters.

Thinking his cousin was busy from the lack of reply. Yue Ran switched back to world chat and saw a flash message pop up.

[(Horn) Dying Star: Ready to go run some new instance dungeons, any party have room for me?]

New instance dungeon entrance? 

He narrowed his eyes and rushed over there quickly, and waited inside the dungeon lobby, ready to meet this ‘great figure’.

A moment later, in a flash of light, a group of players entered through the gate. Among them was Dying Star.

As he was about to confront the imposter, he spotted a familiar character ID on his scene. It was his husband.

He blinked slowly and switched to guild chat. 

[(Guild) BB Love: Eh, why is the sister-in-law here? Weren’t you checking out the scenery?]

[(Guild) Ashen Inner Thoughts: Sister-in-law, over here!]

[(Guild) BB Love: Is he reading the guild chat?]

Yue Ran silently watched his guildmates surrounding him and saw Dying Star’s shadow disappear. His target had entered the dungeon. 

He swallowed a mouthful of blood and quickly scrolled up the guild chat. Scanning through all the new messages, he saw they were discussing their annihilation.

[(Guild) Vault of Heavens Essence<: I was so worried when I saw hubby die (Cry).]

Then he clicked on the {hug} gesture after he ran beside his husband, making the little summoner hug the tall swordsman.

Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly. 

Acceptably, his wife was quite a professional.

Translator has something to add:

My apologies on posting the chapter early (I was distracted, I was watching Invincible and it was the last episode too ;_;).