Mutated Pheromones

Editor: DarkSapphire, Sahloknir

The first thing Jiang Xiao did was to find Qin Xiujie. 

Qin Xiujie just logged onto his side account, Wailing Wall. Because Tempest was streaming tonight, Pure White Sun joined him for a ranked match. So Qin Xiujie also went to watch the stream, now Tempest shut off his stream. He knew that his teacher would be getting back to the new server, thus this was why he was on his alt account currently.

He was slightly surprised on receiving Jiang Xiao’s WeChat Message so he replied: [Alpha?]

[Jiang Xiao: Yes, do you know who he is?]

[Qin Xiujie: I only know that Ran Ran has two close omega friends.] 

[Jiang Xiao: Then is the alpha a classmate?]

[Qin Xiujie: Maybe, let me check for you.]

But he couldn’t ask bluntly.

If Qin Xiujie asked after this so-called friend from his cousin so soon after Jiang Xiao had learned about this friend, it would make their purpose too obvious. No matter how naive Yue Ran was in the ‘feelings’ department, he would definitely be able to tell something was wrong.

So Qin Xiujie planned to play for a while and then initiate a chat with his cousin privately. He chose a relevant topic as his opening remarks.

[(Private) Wailing Wall: Did you watch Tempest’s stream tonight?]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Yes, just finished.]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: By the way, I’ve something to tell you.] 

[(Private) Wailing Wall: Yes?]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Senior is Tempest.]

Qin Xiujie’s finger slipped, and his character slipped into the lake with a splash.

Pure White Sun next to him happened to witness this, and immediately explained the best way to walk through this type of rocky terrain like an old lady. Qin Xiujie climbed up to the shore, jumped over the rocks, and listened to his teacher. He would have to wait until the lecture was done before asking whether this place was beautiful or not. 

At the moment, they were on a large rock in the middle of the lake. The remote scenic spot that Jiang Xiao wracked his brain to find for Yue Ran, which Qin Xiujie exploited the second time. But that wasn’t the main point.

[(Private) Wailing Wall: ???]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: It’s true. Ask him if you don’t believe me.]

[(Private) Wailing Wall: …] 

Qin Xiujie’s mouth twitched, and he suddenly regained the sense of knowing that his cousin was Dying Star.

He was surrounded by great gods, especially the mysterious Tempest, which felt completely unreal. He took a deep, calming breath and continued his unfinished task with determination.

[(Private) Wailing Wall: I’m surprised.]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Same.] 

[(Private) Wailing Wall: What are you doing right now?]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Taking a friend to an instance dungeon to grind levels.]

[(Private) Wailing Wall: Don’t you hate grinding levels? Is this a friend in real life?]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Yes.] 

[(Private) Wailing Wall: Do I know this friend?]

Yue Ran stayed quiet for a moment, remembering his father’s request, and gave a vague answer. 

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: You met him before.]

Qin Xiujie knew the friend was probably Ran Ran’s classmate. After running through every possible candidate in his head, he didn’t find any noticeable alpha. Maybe the friend was just an ordinary classmate. So he quickly ended the topic and reported back to Jiang Xiao. 

[Qin Xiujie: Great Tempest God. I got the answer. He’s an ordinary classmate.]

[Jiang Xiao: Ok.]

[Qin Xiujie: Is there anything else you want to say to me?]

[Jiang Xiao: Neither of you asked.] 

[Qin Xiujie: …Would you have told the truth if we asked?]

[Jiang Xiao: Perhaps.]

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Jiang Xiao was waiting for Yue Ran to finish, wanting to spend some time with the younger man before sleeping. Sadly, things went against his wishes as Yue Ran went offline soon after the friend swordsman did. 

Lf kjr rlifca obg akb rfmbcvr, jcv mbeiv bcis ub booilcf jr kfii. Ktf cfza vjs, lc bgvfg ab xffq eq klat tlr ilf, tf vlvc’a ibu yjmx bc ecali clutaalwf. Kb tlr pbs, atf ilaaif rewwbcfg abbx atf lclaljalnf ab olcv tlw.

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Hello.]

[(Private) Formless Slash: Hi.]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: I have a question for you. Which equipment is better, sunset clouds or silver white sheen?] 

Jiang Xiao’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Those two sets of equipment were good for swordsmen at the early level.

The third time, he thought.

This was the third time the little summoner found him for that alpha swordsman. 

[(Private) Formless Slash: Silver white sheen is better.]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Thank you.]

[(Private) Formless Slash: Are you playing with your friend again? Can I help as well? I play the swordsman class.]

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: No need, myself is enough.] 

[(Private) Formless Slash: I can teach him along the way.]

Yue Ran quietly glanced at his father, who was attacking weak monsters not too far away, and later, fleeing frantically from said weak monsters. He was too embarrassed to let other players carry such a newbie player. It was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut…No, this description didn’t seem to fit the situation.

Anyway, it was better for him to carry his dad for the time being.

So he refused again, saying that maybe once his friend reached the max level. 

Jiang Xiao’s mood became gloomy. He kept thinking that the swordsman friend was not as simple as an ordinary classmate.

Also, Ran Ran was a little tsundere, making it harder for others to get close. Last night, he could barely tolerate the swordsman’s sudden hug and head pat. All the angles on this alpha screamed red flags.

He looked for Qin Xiujie again and asked him to double-check.

After reading Jiang Xiao’s analysis, Qin Xiujie replied: [Maybe the other person’s character is like that, so Ran Ran is used to them.] 

[Jiang Xiao: But that means their relationship isn’t bad.]

Qin Xiujie agreed with this after a moment of thought.

If the relationship was normal, then Ran Ran wouldn’t have the patience to help the other grind. Unless the alpha was pestering his younger cousin…If that was the case, it meant Jiang Xiao had a love rival.

[Qin Xiujie: Alright, I’ll keep you updated.] 

After a pause, he added one more: [Relax, Ran Ran just had his first estrus period, and he never had his pheromone covered in school before. I doubt there is any alpha that is interested in him.]

[Jiang Xiao: I’m interested in him.]

[Qin Xiujie reminded: That’s because you guys interacted before you fell for him. If you’d known him in real life and came in contact with his pheromone, the result might be different.]

[Jiang Xiao: It’s all the same, he is very likeable.] 

[Qin Xiujie was immediately happy: I’ll stand by your side with just your statement, wait for me to get to the bottom of this.]

Jiang Xiao trusted his friend, so he continued to wait for Yue Ran to finish.

Fortunately, the little summoner didn’t log off after they finished grinding. At ten in the evening, after Sunken Moon and Inked Sun ended their livestream, the five gods of TSSM finally gathered together in an arena room.

Jiang Xiao pretended to be shocked when he learned the truth, as he coldly greeted Yue Ran. 

The other party naturally acted the same and replied with a simple, “Hi”.

Since everyone was present, Sunken Moon explained everything regarding Star of Jupiter. “So this was the short version. It would be great if you have time to do practice matches with Little Star, just in case we can’t come up with a new solution and Little Star must fight that two-faced summoner.]

Jiang Xiao said, “Alright.”

Inked Sun interjected, “Where’s your wife? Why haven’t I seen you two together lately?” 

Jiang Xiao answered, “He is taking a break.”

“Is it because of the fallout from that incident?” Inked Sun clicked his tongue. “How can you call yourself a husband! Go coax your darling.”

A faint smile appeared on Jiang Xiao’s face as he lightly shared, “I did, but my darling doesn’t want to play for the time being. He said it’s satisfying enough just to sit next to me and watch me play every day.”

Yue Ran: “…” 

Inked Sun and Sunken Moon chanted “Oh~” together with a smile, while Pure White Sun was scolding the swordsman to stop dropping dog food on the group.

Followed closely by Inked Sun’s pestering, “C’mon, call him just once. At least introduce him to Little Star.”

Jiang Xiao said, “He’s here. Just talk, he can hear us.”

Yue Ran: “…” 

Inked Sun was not satisfied. “Then you move away and let him take the mic.”

Jiang Xiao declined, “No, my darling is shy.”

Yue Ran couldn’t take this anymore and clicked on his keyboard in rage.

[(Private) A- – – – Killer: Take this topic somewhere else!] 

Jiang Xiao once again smiled faintly again and happily replied, “Okay.”

Then the next moment, Yue Ran heard his senior’s chilling voice again from his earphone. It sounded very natural. “Is darling sleepy? You rest first, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Yue Ran: “…”

Sunken Moon and others immediately exploded. 

Inked Sun hooted, “Hey it’s late in the evening, could you at least consider the single dogs’ feelings?”

Pure White Sun huffed as well, “Could you please keep dog food to yourself?”

Sunken Moon complained, “See Little Star! I wasn’t making things up.” 

With a deadpan expression, Yue Ran uttered, “I see.” 

Jiang Xiao seized the opportunity to set things back on track. “PK?”

Yue Ran accepted, “Sure.”

Upon seeing this, the others put away their jokes and went into the spectator room.

The two on the field clicked on ‘Start’ and waited for the countdown to end. Once it hit zero, they rushed at each other. 

This was the first time Yue Ran fought Tempest in three years.

He knew his senior was much stronger than three years ago, and he was mentally prepared. But once he was really against the other, he found he was harshly shut down immediately. Without a single word, Tempest directly killed all of his spirit beasts which put them on cooldown. Without his aids, he was a sitting duck waiting for death.

After Jiang Xiao chopped up his summoned spirit beasts into pieces, he asked without ending the little summoner’s life, “Restart?”

Yue Ran agreed, “Okay.” 

So the two started the second round.

Then the third, the fourth…After five matches, Yue Ran won zero time, but his fighting spirit was stimulated. The itchy urge from years ago returned and he thought about how badly he wanted to beat his senior into the ground.

He demanded, “Again.”

Jiang Xiao paused the match. “I think I need to check on my darling to see if he is sleeping.” 

Yue Ran: “…”

Jiang Xiao asked, “What do you think?”

“…” Yue Ran was fuming inside. “Go.”

Resisting the urge to laugh, Jiang Xiao left the challenge stage and went up to the spectator room, giving the spot to the others. 

The others couldn’t hear the conversation in the challenge stage. When they saw Jiang Xiao wanted to check on his wife, they were instantly green with envy and none of them doubted him.

Jiang Xiao pretended to be afk and became a spectator.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to fight Yue Ran, rather, he wanted to leave bait for Yue Ran. So they could spend more time alone in the next few days.

They took turns to PK until it was midnight. 

Pure White Sun, playing as a summoner, suffered a lot of losses. He shouted, “Just you all wait! Tomorrow, I’ll create a monk class account to fight you guys.”

Inked Sun snickered. “Go on ahead! I’m not afraid of you. There will be a new update in a few days and it includes new complicated stages for the arena. I’m going to have so much fun killing you.”

Yue Ran was curious. “New maps?”

“That’s right. The game company is preparing for the doubles battle they are holding at the end of the year.” Sunken Moon explained. “Besides, the arena map hasn’t been updated for so long. It’s time for something new.” 

Yue Ran ‘ohed’ excitedly. 

Sunken Moon wanted to ask if Little Star wanted to form a team with him, but seeing the shameless Inked Sun present, he swallowed his question back. He planned to ask again in private later.

As each of them wished the other good night, they went offline to sleep.

The next day, Yue Ran continued to take his father to level up. Occasionally, he would run instance dungeons with the cuties in the guild, then had a few PK games with Jiang Xiao and others. His days passed like that. 

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. With the new update, there were indeed a lot of new arena stages added.

The five of them met in the evening, picked out a new map at random, and once they were inside, they found it was a forest map.

The stage took up a portion of the forest map in the daytime.

Sun shone from above their heads, there was a field of lively vitality as far as the eye could see. 

Pure White Sun immediately chirped, “Oh hey! I have been here before. Come, let me show you guys something cool.”

After that, he led the way with the others following him in confusion. They walked for about ten meters before arriving at a large tree in the centre. Then they saw their guide jump up along the vine.

“Follow me. You can jump to the top from here.” He said with pride as he took them to the top of the tree. “That diehard fan told me one of his friends who was sad and lonely, found a set of unknown places of interest and took me to some of them. This was one of them. What do you guys think? Isn’t it beautiful?”

Yue Ran and Jiang Xiao: “…” 

Inked Sun and Sunken Moon: “…”

Pure White Sun waited and asked, “Why aren’t any of you talking?”

Yue Ran and Jiang Xiao continued to be quiet for an unspeakable reason.

While Inked Sun and Sunken Moon opened their mouths at the same time. 

Inked Sun deadpan, “Buddy, he is courting you!”

Sunken Moon blurted, “He might be courting you.”

Pure White Sun murmured, “…What?”

“Oh, I’m really convinced,” Inked Sun exclaimed. “Look at this place. It’s beautiful and deserted. A perfect place for a young couple. Do you understand?” 

Pure White Sun tried to reason, “But his friend found this place.”

“And you believe that?” Inked Sun tsked. “That friend of his is most definitely imaginary. To say the least, even if he really has a friend, he is most likely someone who is not sad and lonely. He must have a sweetheart and is preparing for future dates!”

Jiang Xiao: “…”

Yue Ran: “???”