LC: Extra 03

Extra 03. The Truth

“Let’s break up,” QiYao emotionlessly said. It was as if he had reverted back to the poker face king he used to be.

“…why?” XiaoYu was shocked to the core. He had never before seen such a cold and callous expression on the other.

“I’m just tired of it all.”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“You know I hate lying.”

“…” Yes. It’d be impossible for XiaoYu not to know just how much QiYao hated lying. He even had his cheeks pinched and tugged for lying before. However, the other had once said they would be together forever. Was that going to be a lie too?

“…I see. Yao, no, Mr Hei, please log off a little later tonight. I’ll pack up,” XiaoYu said after a solemn pause. If one described QiYao’s original demeanour before their meeting to be cold and callous, then formal and polite would be XiaoYu’s. Everyone had only reverted back to who they were.

QiYao didn’t answer. He merely turned around and left.

Staring at that familiar back fading away from his sight, XiaoYu let out a bitter smile in resignation. QiYao had once said he would never let go of his hand. He said that they would be together forever. Now, the other let go of him. What could XiaoYu do to hold on to the other? Cry, fast and threaten suicide? That’s not his personality.

He walked towards the nearest Portal. After flying around a few times in a daze to who-knows-where, XiaoYu finally arrived at a little town he’d never been to before. He then set this city as his Save Point. Prole wouldn’t be his home now. If possible, he might never ever go back there.

He headed to the Storage NPC and opened up his Storage. Looking down at the ring he’d worn for so long on his ring finger, XiaoYu couldn’t help softly caressing it before taking it off and storing it away. If the ring still existed the next time he logged online, that meant QiYao didn’t apply for a divorce. Then, he’ll head back to Prole one last time to apply for the divorce himself. May this ring and the white wedding suit lying in his Storage disappear forever.

He opened up his Friends tab. QiYao was the first on the list. It was still lit up. The other was still online. XiaoYu took one last glance at the ever-familiar face before he tapped on the button on the top right corner, the button he thought he would never click on.

“Ding. Delete this friend?”

“Confirm.” The next time he logged on, they wouldn’t be husbands anymore.

Then, at last, XiaoYu opened up the Guild tab. His level was high enough that he was part of the main guild now. He still remembered when he had just switched over to the main guild from the subsidiary guild. The friends he had in the main guild all teased him about how the missus has finally climbed up. He never thought there would be a day when he would leave.

He tapped on the “Quit Guild” button and a dialogue box popped up before him. This was another point where Asgard Online was different to other games. When quitting a guild, the player needed to write down their reason for doing so. XiaoYu filled in one simple word. Farewell.

May we never see each other again.

Any Heretic Demons member with the guild chat open would see a line of eye-catching yellow text, “Member LuckyCat has left the guild.”

Reason for leaving: Farewell.

That was about all XiaoYu had to handle in-game. From now on, XiaoYu would have nothing to do with the Heretic Demons and Hei QiYao ever again. All that was left was to log off, pack up his belongings and leave QiYao’s home.

“Mmrow…” the tiny cat meowed as it leaned up on XiaoYu’s pants in hopes of being carried and hugged.

“…Hehe. I might only log in after a few days. Sorry, little one.” XiaoYu lifted the kitten up to his face for a few cheek rubs. XiaoYu won’t quit the game over this. He’s only left QiYao’s social circle. He still has the tiny cat. It would never leave him and he would never leave it.

“Meow…” The small cat licked XiaoYu’s cheeks.

It was only then XiaoYu realise his tears were dripping down his cheeks.

Yes. How could he not be sad? How could he not be upset? QiYao was the first man he truly loved. He was the first man to be his family after his parents left this world and left him all alone in this world. Even though he settled his matters after the breakup in a very calm manner, that was only because he forced himself not to think about it. His tears had long since betrayed his actual feelings.

Who said men don’t cry? That’s only because they haven’t had their hearts hurt.

XiaoYu then logged off and was greeted by an empty room. This place held many of his memories with QiYao, but these memories would disappear with one of its owners gone. This room would then be waiting for more memories to be written into it.

It didn’t take long to pack up his belongings. XiaoYu didn’t bring much along with him during the initial move. QiYao said that since their houses weren’t too far apart, they could go back anytime XiaoYu needed something. Now that XiaoYu thought back to it, he couldn’t help but mock himself for his naivety. Perhaps QiYao said that so it wouldn’t be so troublesome when he had to leave?

XiaoYu left the keys and bank card in the house. He no longer had the right to manage QiYao’s financial assets.

Outside the door was a bright and sunny sky. XiaoYu’s eyes squinted under the glare of the sun as he pulled his small luggage bag step by step away from the home he shared with QiYao.

Their home was in a high-class area. Rarely would cars be seen on its streets. Thus, XiaoYu successfully left the area. With the help of time and QiYao, XiaoYu’s phobia of cars had gradually diminished. At least his legs wouldn’t instantly turn to goo at the sight of a vehicle. However, it would be rather hard for him to get into one alone. Anyway, he knew where his original home was. It’s fine. He could just walk home.

The further he was away from QiYao’s home, the more cars there were speeding along the streets. XiaoYu soon realised his feet were losing their energy. Could it be the trauma he finally somewhat overcame, through a lot of effort and time, be rising to the surface once more?

He pushed through and trudged into a deserted alleyway. He leaned against a wall and slid down to the floor. His pair of useless legs were limp. It seemed like he won’t be standing up anytime soon. All he  could was just sit and wait until it was dark and there weren’t as many vehicles on the streets before he continued on. He had never thought of himself as a weak man until now. It was the first time in his life he had hated how useless he was.

—

“Enough,” a stern voice said, breaking through the image described.

“…hm? Huh…?” It was like everyone had just woken up from a dream. Never could they have imagined they would all be so deeply taken by an imaginary situation.

That’s right. There were a lot of people in the room.

On this day, the higher-ups of Heretic Demons were bored. After their usual meeting in the Lord Mayor’s rooms, someone suggested they play a game. A very old game called truth or dare.

To make sure the game was fair and it wouldn’t be spoiled by their Chief’s oppressing aura, they would prepare a lot of paper slips with questions and dares written on them beforehand.

When it was XiaoYu’s turn, he chose truth. On the paper slip he drew, the question was if the one you loved broke up with you, what would you do?

When XiaoYu read it, he was slightly taken back. He had never imagined what would happen if QiYao broke up with him, or how. Thus, after a solemn few moments when he pondered the question, he began to describe the image above.

However, the more XiaoYu talked, the more vivid the scene became. Everyone was slowly drawn it. It was as if they were personally witnessing it with their own eyes.

Until QiYao finally couldn’t hold back anymore and spoke up to cut the fantasy short.

“Who wrote this question?” QiYao asked.

Everyone looked up at the ceiling. As if they would admit it. The one who made the missus so “sad” would be beaten to a pulp by Chief if they were known.

“Right. Everyone, back to your duties. Don’t forget we still have a battle to wage tomorrow,” Poor_Man said, dismissing everyone from the room while leaving himself. If they didn’t do so, Chief would start kicking everyone out. Sooner or later, they would be chased out.

And so the crowd left in a manner akin to prey scurrying away from a predator. The only ones left in the room were QiYao and XiaoYu.

“There’s no need to even imagine that kind of situation. It will never happen,” QiYao said, pulling XiaoYu into a domineering embrace.

“Hehe. It’s just a game,” XiaoYu replied.

“But your description was too realistic.”

“Mn…I didn’t think that would happen.” The more XiaoYu described, the more he seemed to be immersed into the scenario. When he snapped back from his imagination, his heart was still aching.

“So forget it. Don’t ever think of it again.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.” It’s not like he could forget about it just by saying it. The mind has no delete button.

“I’ll work hard with you,” QiYao said, leaning down and trapping XiaoYu beneath him. The best way to make someone forget about something was to make them so exhausted that they had no more strength to think about it.

“Huh? Mmh…” By the time the little white bunny sensed the big black wolf’s ploy, all he could do was moan and groan.

Translator’s Note:

Parents: In the text I found (as the original story has been removed from jjwxc due to censorship updates the author wasn’t around to rectify), it says stepparents. However, that might be a typo as it hadn’t and wouldn’t be mentioned again.

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