Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating

Jing Huan was stunned. He wanted to continue asking, but Long Road Ahead wasn't willing to divulge any more details.

His cagey attitude of wanting to talk but also not had piqued Jing Huan's curiosity to the fullest — what on earth had happened that could cause someone to not want to even make friends in the game anymore?

While he responded with "un un after all it's Gege's privacy ma", his hands opened up the famous sacred land for gossip with ease — NCH's forum.

NCH's forum was a mystical place. The traffic it handled every day was terrifying, and there were quite a few people who didn't play the game who would still hang around there too.

For no other reason than that there was truly too much gossip there. A 818 post would appear once every two to three days — aside from unimaginable affairs, there was nothing that couldn't be gossiped about. The contents were always exciting and sensational, and it could even be more interesting than a lot of the news in the entertainment circle.

Jing Huan seldom went there when he was playing NCH, but because of what had happened to his older sister, he was so angry that he had to browse through the forum several times a day. Within just a few days, he had gotten familiar with all the functions of the forum.

He had made some inquiries in secret; Yearning For had been playing the game ever since the Illusion server was launched and had always been very famous. If something happened to the character Yearning For, there certainly would be traces left behind in the forum.

Jing Huan logged into the forum with his account, found the search function, then input in the words "Yearning For".

A few seconds later, the search results were out.

28 whole pages, and there were several hot posts. Jing Huan was shocked at the number of posts. He knew that Yearning For was famous, but he didn't think that the number of posts would be this horrifically high.

He ignored all the posts about Yearning For and Immortal Mengmeng and clicked on the last page, intending to browse through by starting from the earliest posts onward.

【Illusion server's number one on the ranking list, fresh from the oven: Yearning For, Mt. Qiya.】

【Why is Yearning For so good at playing his Mt. Qiya? When playing in the SPK, he practically dominated the number one Fairy Fox Cave in the game.】

【Report — Yearning For has gotten a divine artifact! Attributes unknown, could it be the first physical equipment in NCH?!】

【It's just a normal set of attire, but why does it look so cool on Yearning For?】

…………

After reading through a few pages of flattery from brainless fans, Jing Huan was slightly baffled.

To be able to get a few pages of posts filled only with praise and flattery from brainless fans in this kind of catfight forum, the only person he had seen capable of this feat was Yearning For.

He had just searched for several other server's Great Gods' IDs, and it was all troll posts and sensational news about their relationships, and there were a few 818 protagonists mixed in as well.

But before that Immortal Mengmeng incident, Yearning For didn't have a single stain at all. Pure and clean, admired by all.

He snapped out of his daze and continued clicking on the previous page button.

Still full of praises.

He skimmed through in a hurry and was ready to flip the page in low spirits when he saw a post right at the bottom.

【I heard Yearning For disbanded his guild?】

Jing Huan's eyes lit up — found something.

There were more than 300 posts in this topic, and the posts had all been uploaded 6 years ago. More than 300 posts would have made the topic reach the 'hot' level at the time.

Jing Huan slid the wheel on his mouse.

&#k3010;Original poster: Can someone clarify what’s going on? I’m super curious!&#k3011;

1L: From the same server, expressing that I'm not in the know. I've applied to the guild N times before and never managed to join successfully, but it was clearly never full… maybe Great God's requirements are more stringent ba. [wipes tears]

13L: No no, I’ve seen several of the members in their guild. They weren’t all that strong, and most were just questing characters, so maybe that guild only adds people they’re acquainted with?

45: Someone from the guild has come out to say, I'm but a small rookie who doesn't know the Great Gods in the guild. I just casually applied and got through. I did indeed receive news that the guild was disbanded this morning, but I'm not sure about what exactly happened.

57L :Yeah… I only realised that the guild was gone when I woke up T^T, I can't look at Great God up close in the future anymore!

99L: Why do the guild members who are popping up not know anything about the guild getting disbanded? Isn't that Yearning For a bit too irresponsible? What about others' guild contribution points?

111L: Replying 99L, you're wrong, Great God was very responsible. Although he didn't notify us in advance, he compensated everyone in gold according to the number of guild contribution points they had, and apparently he only gave out more, not less.

172L: So after so many posts, what's the reason for the disbandment of the guild?!

Jing Huan expressed the same doubt.

Why is it that even this kind of topic was filled with brainless flattery?!

He clicked to the last page and finally at 377L, which was also the last post, did he manage to find some clues.

377L: Actually it wasn't anything serious. It seems that Great God's good friend cheated him and had cheated him out of quite a bit of money, plus Great God's busy with school and can't manage the guild, so he disbanded it.

There was no reply after that post, because the forum administrator had locked the topic.

After reading that post, Jing Huan instantly lost interest and propped his chin on his hand as he closed the web page.

'Good friend' was equivalent to a sworn brother or sister in NCH.

Plus, he only wanted to see stories about Yearning For's previous relationships, he wasn't interested in his quarrels with his bros.

——

In the second week, NCH would be updated, and the guild instance would be released at 12 noon on Tuesday.

People came and went in the university canteen, and the fragrance of their food wafted everywhere.

"Huanhuan." Gao Zixiang draped an arm around Jing Huan's shoulder. "Are you free this afternoon? Jianghu needs urgent help!"

Jing Huan saw the extra pork meatballs in his lunch box and bowed to thank the canteen auntie. "Thank you auntie."

Then he straightened his back and said, "Nope."

"Don't ah, at least ask what I need help with."

Does he even need to?

Jing Huan chose a seat and sat down, then opened up his lunch box. "Say it."

"Guild instances will be released at noon tomorrow, and my party lacks a player…" Gao Zixiang asked, "Come help us with the instance ba?"

Jing Huan laughed. "I don't even have an account, how can I help you with the instance?"

"You can use my wife's character ah! My wife's getting a manicure tomorrow, so she isn't free, and her plays aren't very stable either." Gao Zixiang paused. "No, use my character ba, you're good at playing DPS. My wife's character is a healer, and you probably don't know how to use those."

Jing Huan raised an eyebrow. "Who said I can't heal?"

"Ah? It's fine if you want to play a healer."

"Don't want to, not going." Jing Huan swallowed a mouthful of rice, "I really have something on tomorrow, so I can't go."

Gao Zixiang wilted. "What do you have? Could you delay it?"

"Nope, it's as urgent as yours." Jing Huan took out a piece of tissue to wipe his mouth and looked at the milk tea shop in the canteen. "Want some milk tea? I'll go buy it."

Gao Zixiang, "I do, buy a cup for Hao'er too. In order to play the instances tomorrow, he's still training diligently in our dorm with his Fairy Fox Cave. Don't you think he's gone nuts? I asked him to play his previous sect, but he refused and insisted on playing that Fairy Fox Cave well… what are you doing?"

Jing Huan had held out his hand in front of him. "I'm queuing up for you, and Hao'er is training hard in order to do the instances with you, so it's not much for you to buy a cup of milk tea for us ba?"

"…" Gao Zixiang silently handed his own canteen card over.

There were a lot of people queuing up at the milk tea shop. If Jing Huan didn't have a craving, he wouldn't have bothered to queue for it. He stood at the end of the line and looked up at the menu, considering if he should buy milk tea or coffee.

There was a girl queuing in front of him, wearing suspenders and a pair of long pants. One couldn't tell what she was dressing up for, but after a glance, that combination did look pretty good.

The girl's hair was so long that it reached her waist, and her round and fair shoulders were revealed. A faint fragrance wafted from her body.

Jing Huan, embarrassed to be too close, always kept a one-man distance away from her. He took out his phone, intending to ask Lu Wenhao what he wanted to drink.

The girl was talking to her friend, and after they started talking about some topic, the two girls began poking each other's bellies.

The girl couldn't stand the tickle and laughed as she took several steps back.

Jing Huan first felt like the fragrance had become stronger. He looked up to see the long black hair, and only then did he realise that it was the smell of shampoo.

Afraid of touching what he wasn't supposed to, he reflexively retreated, but he had just taken a second step back when he knocked into the person behind him. His left foot had harshly stepped onto that person's shoe as well.

"Sss…" The person behind him sucked in a breath of cold air.

Jing Huan was stunned. He quickly retracted his foot and turned around to say, "I'm sorry… senior?"

"Un." Xiang Huaizhi looked down at his shoe. Because Jing Huan had stepped on it quite hard, the tip of his shoe had changed shape.

Since he had knocked into the same person twice, Jing Huan really did feel a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know there was someone behind me."

Jing Huan looked down along Xiang Huaizhi and saw that his white shoe had some dust on it, and he immediately felt even more guilty. "I'll go get some tissues…"

He was about to leave the queue as he spoke when Xiang Huaizhi reached out to grab his arm. "No need to wipe it, it's fine."

"That won't do, your shoes are so expensive."

"There's really no need." In order to divert his attention, Xiang Huaizhi glanced up front. "If you don't move up, someone will cut your queue."

Jing Huan subconsciously uttered an "oh" and took two steps forward.

He had ascertained it the last time he was on the basketball court — it wasn't a misperception from the scare he got from the cockroach, Xiang Huaizhi's voice was particularly similar to Yearning For's.

… speaking of which, even their names were quite similar.

"Senior." Jing Huan turned around and uttered nonsense, "You're here to buy milk tea too?"

Xiang Huaizhi looked down. "Coffee."

Only then did Jing Huan realise that Xiang Huaizhi was much taller than him — he was at least 185, and he was clearly bigger than him as well. With him standing right in front of his eyes, he could hardly see the people behind Xiang Huaizhi.

"What coffee do you drink? I'll treat you." Jing Huan said, "As an apology."

Xiang Huaizhi didn't have the habit of letting others treat him. He shook his head. "No need, I'll buy it myself ba."

"Americano?" Jing Huan asked, "Or mocha?"

"… americano."

"Okay." Jing Huan turned sideways to make some space for him. Stand here ba senior, it'll be more convenient to take your drink later."

Xiang Huaizhi hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward.

After taking the coffee that Jing Huan had paid for, Xiang Huaizhi said, "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, I'm the one who should be thanking you for saving my life in the stairwell last time." Jing Huan said with a smile.

His eyes would bend slightly when he smiled, turning them into crescents. He had neat rows of pure white teeth that people found pleasant to look at.

Xiang Huaizhi has never seen any other guy who looked as good as him when he smiled.

Jing Huan suddenly recalled something and took out his phone. "Oh right, senior, let's add each other on WeChat? Then we can play basketball together in the future… and other stuff."

Xiang Huaizhi snapped out of his daze and nodded. "Sure."

Jing Huan opened his QR code and was about to show it to Xiang Huaizhi when he saw Xiang Huaizhi, with his phone in hand, press on the key for unlocking his phone, and then his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"I'm sorry." Xiang Huaizhi kept his phone, "My phone's out of battery."

Jing Huan didn't mind. Guys didn't usually have the habit of remembering WeChat numbers, so he closed his QR code page and said, "Next time then. We can add each other when we meet again."

—

Zryuu: ALMOST… HE ALMOST SLIPPED UP HAHAHA

Juurensha: SO CLOSE. Awwww but XHZ seems to be smitten with Huanhuan in real life.