Chapter Text
"Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation? That sounds vaguely familiar," Wei Ying commented, stealing a chip from Jiang Cheng's bowl whilst humming thoughtfully.
It was one of those days he was free from the stresses of work and he wanted nothing more than to do something, anything at all, but unfortunately for him the only person at home was Jiang Cheng, who would much rather die than hang out and entertain a petulant Wei Ying. A part of him almost wanted his university life to start soon, just so he had something to do, but seeing how snappy Jiang Cheng became after starting classes- and considering his already unpleasant demeanor, this was saying something- Wei Ying would rather be bored at home than stressed in class. Maybe.
Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue in annoyance, and moved his bowl away, ignoring Wei Ying's (fake) cry of protest. That wouldn't do anything to stop him, though. "You used to play that game a lot, remember?" Jiang Cheng said, almost hissing when Wei Ying tried to reach for another chip.
Wei Ying relented, face scrunching up as he tried to draw out memories of a game played a year ago. Vague memories formed in his mind, of fighting monsters, grinding levels, perfecting his characters' equipment.
"I think I sort of remember," he said slowly, his interest growing with nostalgia. "Maybe I should check it out again." Jiang Cheng shrugged, indifference plain to see.
To be honest, he was in a way better mood that Wei Ying would have expected when he had interrupted his show to talk about- as Jiang Cheng would call it- stupid, useless video games.
"Why'd you suddenly mention it again, anyways?" Jiang Cheng asked, eyes briefly meeting his before returning to the television. He was paying attention to his show- some drama about familial ties and filial piety that Wei Ying always felt was a little bit on the nose- but Wei Ying knew him well enough to know he was waiting for a reply.
"Huh? Oh, Wen Ning brought it up today." He answered.
Jiang Cheng raised a brow. "Wen Ning plays games like that?"
Wei Ying laughed, recalling moments Wen Ning seemingly snapped when games never turned out the way he wanted. Beneath his kind demeanor belied a ruthless gamer. "Right? It really surprised me too. He said it had a massive update a few months ago." The more he thought about the game, the stronger his urge to play. And Wei Ying was nothing if not single-minded.
Throwing out some kind of goodbye to Jiang Cheng, and receiving a dismissal wave in return, he immediately went to his room. Not without a hint of impatience, he turned his dreadfully slow computer on, tapping his fingers on the table restlessly. As soon as it came to life, Wei Ying entered the game's site.
A large logo flashed to life before him, before disappearing into a loading screen packed with numerous characters dressed in regal, traditional Chinese costumes. The background was of misty mountains, painted in a Chinese style. It was a game about cultivation, Wei Ying remembered, but the colorful, flashy loading screen was definitely something he did not remember. The logo remained the same, and the sight of the familiar title 'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation' made the memories rush through his head, vivid memories of partnering with another player, exchanging banter, bonding and exploring worlds together. The thoughts made him smile, wistful and longingly.
He really had missed the game. He forgot how truly important it was to him at the time- when he had felt the most alone and Jiang Cheng had spent more time ignoring him than even scowling at him. What was in the past was in the past, as bittersweet as the thought was. The game had been a form of escape for him, but once he had completed all there was to do in the game, he stopped playing. There wasn't really anything else to do once you've reached the very top. Around the same time, his partner and best friend in the game had also mysteriously stopped playing for days, diminishing his already falling interest in the game he once loved.
Shaking his head, Wei Ying focused on what was right in front of him, forgetting his previous thoughts. He was back where he started, his interest piqued, typing his past username into the bar with the sort of fondness he hadn't felt for a very long time. Despite everything else, his nickname was the one thing he remembered the most significantly because it was a nickname his sister had given him.
Username : ☆ WiFi ☆
Let it be known that Wei Ying had thought the nickname cute, if a bit silly. But he loved anything his sister did for him, no matter how much Jiang Cheng (that hypocrite) teased him.
Password :
As he moved to enter his password, he froze. Entering his username had been based on muscle memory alone. But once he tried to recall his password nothing came to mind at all. What password had he used? It was over a year ago, and he hadn't written down his password or used it again ever since. He racked his brain, frowning as he tried to remember anything about the past relating to the game, but all he could recall was the bad 3D models (and god, were they awful) and his and his partner's characters, one dressed in black and the other in white.
"Jiang Cheng, do you know my password?" Wei Ying called from within his room.
Jiang Cheng hollered back, "No! Why the hell would I?"
Letting out a cry of disappointment, Wei Ying sadly decided upon creating a new account instead. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, he rationalized, he had stopped playing precisely because he was bored of being the top, and now what better way to relive the love he had for the game than to restart?
It felt wasted, though, as a window for recent development notes popped up on his screen, colorful letters celebrating the many updates put into the game since Wei Ying stopped. One of which being the raised level cap. He had also, just a little, wanted to meet his past partner again. A mysterious player he had paired up and grown immensely powerful with. Instead, all he could do was bemoan the loss of his once great account.
As soon as the game loaded properly, Wei Ying finally let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, re-immersing himself once again. Wei Ying never had the best memory- a year was enough to make him forget the bulk of the game's content, but it didn't take long for him to familiarize himself with every key mechanic in the game. Another window popped up on his screen, offering a tutorial. Wei Ying dismissed it, deciding to operate on his memories alone. How hard could it be?
As the game's first cutscene played, it loaded up a map of the entire world, giving brief descriptions of every region of note. Upon reaching one such region, Wei Ying vaguely remembered how he had conquered that particular location, reaching the highest all-time ranking for an area that was notoriously difficult and often skipped by players unless they had help. And he did have such help, of course, but it was still his name on the rankings. The location was called Yiling, and when Wei Ying had conquered the area with his prowess, one player in the world chat had even affectionately called him the patriarch of that area.
A grin at his lips, he typed '☆yilingpatriarch☆' as his new username. The name lit up in green, unclaimed, and so his account was created. With creating his account out of the way, Wei Ying started the game, selecting a server with as few people as possible, much like he did before. His computer could only take so many players, thank you very much.
In the character creation area, he let out a laugh when he remembered how, in the past, he had created a character so much like himself, from the hair to the eyes to even the body type, that he figured that, since he had the opportunity now, he might as well go wild this time.
Some of the options were completely inane, like ghost makeup on male character's face? Wei Ying giggled as he selected that for his character. His character on the screen stuck out his tongue at home, as if delighted by the choice.
At that moment, Jiang Cheng walked by, and choked. "What the hell?" He spluttered, pointing at his computer in aghast horror.
Wei Ying grinned at him. "This game is great, look at all the options I can pick! Hey, do you think I should make my hair purple?" He didn't wait for an answer, as he immediately picked the most garish color he could find. It was a bit much though, he realized. If he was going to play a game for hours, he should at least not burn his retinas looking at the god-awful colour scheme he picked.
Jiang Cheng looked horrified. "Are you playing as a monster?" Wei Ying almost said "No, it doesn't look like you" but he was not looking forward to a beating today, as funny as it would have been.
As it was, Wei Ying changed his character's hair color back to a normal black. "I guess not," he said, pouting, " But I'll leave the makeup on because I like it." He ignored Jiang Cheng's despair cry of "Like it?" and continued selecting cosmetic options, then started the game. He had fashioned his character the same way as before, the only difference being the horrendous makeup.
As the world of the game loaded into view, Wei Ying marveled at the new scenery, so distinctly different from the jarring, painfully terrible backgrounds from the past. Even his character's models were stunningly rendered, seeming to come alive. Wei Ying whistled, impressed.
His character was randomly dropped off in one of several designated newbie areas. It seems he was put near a small village called Mo Village, with more dilapidated huts than anything else. Empty fields.
Monsters randomly spawned, but Wei Ying's character had been given a basic sword, and could easily fend the low level beasts off.
There were small side quests he could take if he talked to any of the non-playable characters, NPCs, but Wei Ying would rather raise his level first, by killing off more monsters, then start any of the side quests.
He had been mindlessly killing monsters for about ten minutes before he heard the thrum of a guqin from within the game. Another player passed by him, except this character had a light blue aura around him, and the character was playing a guqin, a quiet melody following. His level was 150, the max in the game. He looked extremely rich and powerful, and was probably a top player, Wei Ying thought, judging by the clothes that seemed to be valuable, and the golden username.
'Bluetooth' was the player’s username, and Wei Ying froze.
Bluetooth… was his partner! He had remembered, a few days after he had started, that he met a player and thought that it was funny that their usernames seemed so perfect, and had pestered the other into becoming his partner.
The other player had seemed quiet and closed off, even through text, but yet had agreed easily. They formed a team, and pretty much played together everyday, becoming two of the top players in the game. Clicking on the other's profile, Wei Ying was immensely surprised at how powerful Bluetooth was- they had been decent before, but now it seemed Bluetooth had completely ascended to the top. All of his items were highly prized, and his clothes even more so.
The only thing that seemed out of place was Bluetooth's description, which merely stated: Disconnected.
Wei Ying had fondly recalled how the two of them seemed to always be disagreeing on which path was better chosen, the path of demonic cultivation (as in the name of the game), or normal cultivation, which Wei Ying thought was the boring way. The game had started off inspired by a novel about demonic cultivation, after all, but eventually expanded into different types when the fan base grew, yet the name remained, fondly, the same.
They had realized that if they both went for different routes, they could harvest the benefits of both sides and share them.
☆ Wifi ☆ and Bluetooth , truly the perfect duo.
Hurrying to type in the chat before Bluetooth disappeared, Wei Ying typed:
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: BLUETOOTH!! IT'S ME!! WIFI!!
Bluetooth stopped walking then, and stopped playing the guqin, and Wei Ying could practically see the other typing. What did Bluetooth look like? He had to be someone quiet and maybe stern, judging by the way he typed.
Bluetooth : proof.
Wei Ying's fingers hovered above his keyboard, how could he prove he was who he said he was? He could type about the things they've done before, but all of it was known to the public, so anyone could easily lie about it.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: well...i dunno how to prove it, but come on! don't you remember me?
He knew characters could perform certain actions, so he quickly clicked on one that would make his character drape himself all over Bluetooth's character. His character practically slithered up to Bluetooth's, and wrapped him in a loving hug, with Bluetooth's character hugging his back.
Bluetooth : shameless.
Wei Ying smiled. He remembered Bluetooth had always been like that, gently criticizing little things in game, as if it mattered in real life. Wei Ying always took a kick out of doing the most flirtatious thing in game, and Bluetooth would almost always cancel the action in a second.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: so what are you up to now?? how'd you even get so powerful???
Bluetooth ignored him, and continued moving somewhere else. Wei Ying's character pitifully chased after the other, and he hastened to send a friend request to Bluetooth before the other decided to teleport away.
Bluetooth rejected his friend request.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: bluetoothhhhh
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: hey dont ignore meeee
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: so mean
Wei Ying was about to type again, when he realized he had been blocked from typing for two minutes, in order to prevent spam in the world chat. As it was only him and Bluetooth in that location, the chat box was empty save for their own chats.
He spent the two minutes following Bluetooth, who he was surprised to see hadn't decided to teleport to some location banned for lower levels, instead, it seemed as if both of their characters were taking a stroll through one of the regions of the game. Bluetooth hadn't blocked him yet, so Wei Ying considered that a win.
Eventually, his block was lifted, and as he quickly went to type out another message, he paused, and realized it might be best to think before he typed.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: bluetooth, if you don't believe im your previous partner, what about just letting me become your current one now?
Bluetooth didn't say anything, and Wei Ying belatedly realized that it wasn't really a partnership if one character was the highest level achievable and the other had only just started.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: okay no, what about making me your disciple??
He remembered it was a thing in the game- though he had never utilized that as they were about the same levels anyways, and it didn't matter. Until now, when it seemed like the perfect way to stay connected to Bluetooth.
He had been so busy musing that he almost lost sight of Bluetooth's message, which nearly disappeared.
Bluetooth : no.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: whyyyyy???
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: ill be a good disciple
Bluetooth ignored him then, and started heading to another location, so Wei Ying hurried after him too.
Suddenly, he saw his health bar rapidly decreasing, and saw his character being relentlessly attacked by hordes of zombies far above his level.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: BLUETOOTH
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: SAVE ME
Bluetooth only stood at the side, watching Wei Ying's character be completely destroyed. Only then did he remember that higher level players who appeared in low level locations would automatically attract an immense number of monsters, but since Wei Ying's character was a far easier target, all Bluetooth did was essentially made him to a lure within a trap.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: pls...give me some face, help me fight these monsters...I'm gonna die
Bluetooth : no.
"You have died." The screen said, and Wei Ying threw his hands up in frustration. His character was currently in purgatory, and respawning his character required him to wait a minute, which he did so impatiently.
When he had spawned again, he was back at the first location and Bluetooth was, surprisingly, still at the same spot.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: I hate you
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: I almost don't want to be your disciple anymore
Bluetooth : goodnight.
A glance at the clock told him it was only 9pm.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: ITS ONLY 9
Bluetooth : goodnight.
Wei Ying knew that the other was also in China, as they've briefly talked about it before, but he had forgotten how much of a stick in the mud Bluetooth was, who religiously slept at 9 every single day as if he was a monk on a schedule, and almost always left Wei Ying alone to play until the wee hours of the morning.
He sighed. This wasn't something he could change.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: fineee
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: gn!!! have a nice sleep!!! don't let the thoughts of me keep you up at night ;)
He couldn't help but smile when Bluetooth didn't dignify that with an answer, and his name turned gray as he went offline.
~
Wei Ying didn't play anymore after Bluetooth had left. He logged off and shut his computer down, leaving his room to sit on the couch with Jiang Cheng.
"How was it?" Jiang Cheng asked.
"The game changed so much I barely recognized it, but guess what," Wei Ying said, "I found my old partner!"
"Partner?" Jiang Cheng looked surprised. "Was it...uh, Bluetooth? That's the name right?"
Wei Ying nodded. "Yeah! And he became even more powerful, you should've seen how flashy his character was, everything was so white I had to turn down my brightness so my eyes didn't burn." He smiled when Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
"Who knows, maybe he's rich and spent some money on the game," Jiang Cheng added.
Wei Ying tilted his head, considering. From what little he remembered, Bluetooth seemed to be someone who was extremely strict, and he highly doubted that he would actually spend money in a game for something cosmetic.
"I don't think he's the kind to do so,” Wei Ying said, humming thoughtfully, “but it also has been over a year, so I wouldn't know."
"So, what are you gonna do now? Obsess over that game like before?" Jiang Cheng gave him a judgemental look that was entirely uncalled for.
Wei Ying waved him off. "Hey, I wasn't that obsessed," he said, and neither of them believed him.
Thoroughly unimpressed, Jiang Cheng replied, "You played that game so much Jie Jie had to physically rip you away and feed you lotus pork ribs soup before you would stop," he said.
Wei Ying turned red. "That never happened. Lies!" He pounced onto Jiang Cheng then, and attempted to wrestle him. Jiang Cheng was smiling as he tried to pull the other off, and they grappled for a few minutes, trying to pin the other down. No matter how old they grew, Wei Ying would always take the opportunity to fight with him- he had his honor to protect, after all.
~
Jiang Cheng was yelling. At least, Wei Ying thought so, it could also have been a dream version of him currently hollering in his ear. He snuggled deeper into his pillow, trying to drown out Jiang Cheng's shouting.
"Go away..." he mumbled.
"Your classes start in twenty minutes, dumbass," Jiang Cheng said, making Wei Ying shoot up.
"What?!" He jumped out of bed quickly, frantically trying to get ready while Jiang Cheng crossed his arms and watched him.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" He cried, tying his hair quickly and smoothing his clothes. He barely had time to throw on a new pair of pants, and his shirt would have to stay rumpled.
Jiang Cheng's eye twitched, and he raised a fist, "I-"
Wei Ying darted past him to the door, "Bye, Jiang Cheng!"
He ran away too quickly to hear Jiang Cheng's loud sigh.
He was five minutes late to class, and his professor looked very disappointed in him. It did wonders for his first expression, being late to his first class. Scanning the classroom, he saw almost all the seats were taken up, people sitting in pairs, with the only empty space available near the front of the class, much to his chagrin.
Wei Ying slid into his seat, smiling at the teacher apologetically, and rushed to pull out his materials. As soon as the class began, he sighed in relief, and turned to see Lan Wangji looking at him.
Lan Wangji… was as frozen as ever. His expression was perpetually held in neutrality, and his eyes were a beautiful clear gold. As someone who knew the other years before, since high school, Wei Ying still couldn't really tell if they were friends. In high school, they had been forced together when Wei Ying had been punished for misbehaving, then, in the last year of high school, Lan Wangji mysteriously moved away. Now, a year later, Wei Ying was seeing Lan Wangji's stone cold beauty in front of him again, on the first day of university.
"Lan Wangji," he said, purposely not using Lan Wangji's birth name to test the waters, "long time no see!" He beamed at the other, only to drop it when Lan Wangji turned away from him, focusing straight ahead on the lecture.
"Lan Wangji… don't be so quiet, we were friends before, right?" Wei Ying prodded, yet the other man only continued to stare ahead, giving zero indication that he even heard him.
"You really haven't changed," Wei Ying sighed, relenting for a moment of clarity- perhaps he should pay attention to the lecture then, since Lan Wangji wouldn't even talk to him.
"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji said then, and Wei Ying jerked in surprise.
Wei Ying, huh?
"Lan Zhan! So you can talk! I thought you forgot me, or something," Wei Ying grinned at the other.
"Pay attention." Was all Lan Zhan said, before ignoring him again.
"Lan Zhan, don't ignore me," Wei Ying whined.
He gave up when Lan Zhan didn't reply the next five times he tried to call the other man, and turned back to focus on the lecture, when he suddenly heard something interesting.
"There will be pair work for the first two weeks," his professor said, "and you are already assigned partners."
There were some groans from the rest of the class, but Wei Ying didn't mind.
"Your partner will be the one sitting beside you," his professor then said, and Wei Ying silently cheered.
He and Lan Zhan, partners again for a group project- maybe he could become even closer to Lan Zhan. He smiled at the other man, and said, "Just like before, huh?"
Lan Zhan gave only a one word reply, "Mn."
The professor then gave some time for the class to discuss in their pairs, and Wei Ying quickly slid even closer to Lan Zhan.
"So, when should we start?" He asked.
"Today," Lan Zhan said immediately.
Wei Ying blinked. "Um, you don't want to think about it first? Why do you want to start it so early? We have two weeks," he said.
The look in Lan Zhan's eyes didn't waver as he looked into Wei Ying's eyes deeply. "Today," he repeated.
Any thoughts Wei Ying had faltered under Lan Zhan's intense gaze, and he hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, today then. Whose dorm should we go to, mine or yours?" He was, admittedly, very curious about what Lan Zhan's dorm might look like. Was it neat and tidy as expected? Or would it actually be messy?
"Yours." Lan Zhan said simply, and Wei Ying suppressed his disappointment. "Okay, mine then. Come over at..." he paused to think about his classes, then said, "3! Come over at 3, and we can start the project!"
Lan Zhan nodded.
Then...it was silent. Lan Zhan was always quiet, and now it was left to Wei Ying to fill in the silence with something, they still had free time to discuss.
"Uh...So how have you been this last year?" He inquired politely.
"Fine."
"Great! Me too!" Wei Ying said, then mentally slapped himself. How on earth had he even managed to somewhat befriend Lan Zhan in high school? He scrambled to think of something to say, but couldn't come up with anything, and Lan Zhan wasn't saying anything either.
"So, Lan Zhan, are you single?" Wei Ying asked.
Lan Zhan's eyes widened, then he asked, "Why?"
Wei Ying shrugged. He didn't know why either. "I don't know, I'm just curious? Maybe you managed to talk to a girl without scaring her away?"
He faltered when Lan Zhan narrowed his eyes at him, seemingly glaring at him.
"Okay, okay, I'm joking," he said weakly. Lan Zhan's expression then smoothed out, and he turned to face the professor again, without saying anything else.
Wei Ying sighed.
~
"Ah. You're here," Jiang Cheng said, hanging by the doorway while Lan Zhan stood at the entrance.
"Is Wei Ying here?" Lan Zhan asked.
Jiang Cheng hummed in reply. "Yeah, he's in his room, to the left," he pointed a finger in the direction, and turned away. Lan Zhan nodded, and headed in the direction of where Jiang Cheng pointed.
The door was open, so he let himself in, and saw Wei Ying's back turned to him, the other intently staring at his monitor. As Lan Zhan approached, his eyes widened at what he saw.
"That game."
"AAAAA!" Wei Ying shrieked, and whipped his head around, clutching his chest.
"Lan Zhan, you scared me," he wailed, breathing quickly as he tried to gather his stomach from where it had dropped on the floor in shock.
"Sorry." Lan Zhan said, not sounding very sorry, or that might be because he was monotone.
"I was playing a game," Wei Ying explained when he had determined he wasn't at risk of a heart attack, " 'GDC', have you heard of it?"
Lan Zhan surprised him when he replied, "Mn."
Eyes wide, Wei Ying said cheerily, "Really? Do you play? You should add me! My username is ☆ yilingpatriarch ☆! With two stars, one in front and one behind!"
Lan Zhan had seemingly frozen in place, and Wei Ying waved a hand in front of his face, and only then did the other snap back to attention.
"You don't have to be so mad, you don't have to add me if you don't want to." Wei Ying pouted.
"I-"
"Then again," Wei Ying continued, "You don't seem like the kind to play games like this. Whatever, let's just start our project!" He said, and shut off his computer to pull out the project work.
Lan Zhan hadn't moved for a minute now, so Wei Ying pulled the other by his wrist into a chair, and tried not to be too visibly hurt when the other jerked his hand away.
"C'mon, let's start work," he repeated, and only then did Lan Zhan say "Mn."
They spent the next few hours going through their plans, discussing the project, and Wei Ying really liked that Lan Zhan seemed to always be paying attention to him, even if all he said was "Mn." There was something about Lan Zhan that made Wei Ying feel like he was at the center of the world, even if he didn't say anything. It was most likely because Lan Zhan was the sort to pay rapt attention to whatever Wei Ying was saying, his eyes always on his face.
When they had decided to stop for the day, Wei Ying immediately collapsed onto his bed. "Ah, I'm so tired,” he groaned loudly.
Lan Zhan looked extremely stiff, sitting by the side of his bed, so Wei Ying smiled invitingly as he patted the empty space beside him, and said, "Wanna lie here too?"
He hid a laugh when Lan Zhan immediately stood up and looked ready to leave. "Okay, okay, I'm joking, don't get mad." He said, trying to placate the other.
Lan Zhan didn't say anything, but Wei Ying didn't mind the silence this time.
"I will leave now." Lan Zhan said eventually, so Wei Ying quickly got up to see him off. "Okay! Have a nice night!" He smiled when Lan Zhan nodded and left his room. His smile still didn't fade even when Lan Zhan had long left, feeling oddly delighted with the turn of events
He laid back on his bed, scrolling through his feed on Instagram. His sister had posted some cute pictures of herself and her- and he restrained himself from scowling- boyfriend , who looked pained to be in the picture. He wished he had taken a picture of Lan Zhan working- it would be perfect, the other man was gorgeous enough anyways, and maybe he could get more likes.
It didn't take long for him to be bored again, so he went back to his computer, and figured that he might as well play a bit of GDC now that he had finished his work for the day. Maybe he would come across Bluetooth again?
When he logged in, he saw he had a notification, and when he clicked it, he smiled.
Bluetooth had sent him a friend request! It seemed his pestering got to him- that or the other was lonely- in any case, Wei Ying wasn't about to let the opportunity go to waste, so he quickly accepted. A green dot indicated the other was online, and since they were friends, they could locate each other anywhere.
Bluetooth was in a cave, so Wei Ying hurried to meet him. His character really looked quite pathetic, decked in the basic robes given to all beginners, and he wished he had more money to afford more fancy clothing, but- nevermind, there were more important things to do than mourn his character’s
When his character arrived in the cave, his screen turned dark, illuminated only by a glowing figure, with the words Bluetooth above. Now that they were friends, Wei Ying could finally privately chat with Bluetooth.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: yooo!!! bluetooth!!! I can't believe you actually added me!!
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: what are you doing now?
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: hey we're friends now, at least say something :(
Bluetooth : be quiet.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: so rude!!
Bluetooth: this place is dangerous. leave.
Wei Ying only then noticed that he had been repeatedly receiving a notification, and saw that the game had warned him that where he was was dangerous for levels below 50, and Wei Ying's character was level 4.
Bluetooth was warning him, how great!
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: aw
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: so sweet, trying to protect me
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: you're right, I should leave lol, in case the same thing as yesterday happened again :(
Wei Ying was about to exit the cave, when he saw Bluetooth send another message.
Bluetooth : i will not let the same thing happen again.
Oddly charmed, Wei Ying replied.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: haha what? you were so ready to let me die yesterday :(
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: wat happened
Bluetooth : it was a mistake.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: ...um
What had made Bluetooth suddenly so warmed up to him? Just yesterday he let Wei Ying's character dissipate into smoke in seconds, and now he was willing to protect Wei Ying's pathetic character?
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: bluetooth, you're so weird!! it's just a game lmao i'll wait for you outside if you want!
He had no idea why he wasn't just leaving to raise his level, somehow he wanted to see what it would be like if he just followed after Bluetooth. Maybe the other player was more open to making him his disciple now? Wei Ying had never given it much thought, but now that it was entirely possible he was interested in seeing how far he could go.
~
a little over a year ago
☆ WiFi ☆: bluetooth!! did you hear
☆ WiFi ☆: they've implemented a disciple system!!
☆ WiFi ☆: I wonder if I could get someone high level to take me in...
Bluetooth : no.
☆ WiFi ☆: wat?
Bluetooth : no need to find someone. I am here.
☆ WiFi ☆: that's sweet and all but we're the same level
☆ WiFi ☆: If I get my level higher faster, I can help you better!
Bluetooth : no.
☆ WiFi ☆: you're such a killjoy :( but yeah I don't think anyone will take me anyways
Bluetooth : when I get stronger, I will take you as a disciple.
☆ WiFi ☆: is this a promise? you better keep it then!
Bluetooth : yes.
☆ WiFi ☆: wait, aren't we raising our levels at the same time anyways?
~
It's only been a minute since Wei Ying left the cave and Bluetooth had already reappeared.
Bluetooth: be my disciple.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: owo what's this?
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: what happened to what you said yesterday?
Bluetooth: I changed my mind.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: well, me too
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: I don't want to be your disciple anymore
Wei Ying must have really stunned Bluetooth, because the other didn't reply for a full minute, and his character wasn't moving whatsoever. Maybe he left?
Waiting for Bluetooth to return, he decided to go through some of his inventory, wondering if he could somehow improve his character with what little he had.
Bluetooth : why not.
Wei Ying quirked a brow at the answer, he had been joking when he said he didn't want to be Bluetooth's disciple anymore, yet Bluetooth had taken a painfully long time to answer. He hadn’t even phrased it as a question.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: i've found someone better
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: more powerful
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: and more handsome
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: sorry, bluetooth, but I won't forget you
Bluetooth once again did not reply for a minute, and Wei Ying was concerned he had actually pissed the other off, so he quickly sent:
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: JOKING
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: I'm joking, don't get mad
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: yes I will be your disciple!!
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: how do I become one
Bluetooth then instructed him on how to apply to be a disciple, and also accepted him.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: now what?
Bluetooth : raise levels.
Bluetooth took him to a lower level area, and promptly started destroying all the monsters that approached, and Wei Ying watched in amazement as his character leveled up twice in the span of a few seconds.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: you do the farming for me? nice
Bluetooth : mn.
After about half an hour, Wei Ying's character had already reached level 20. Then, Bluetooth helped him to improve his character, and even gave him better equipment and weaponry.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: YAYYY
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: I feel kinda bad tho, you're doing all the work
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: should I be doing something in return?
Bluetooth : no need.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: aw, but still
Wei Ying had nothing of worth to offer to Bluetooth, so he did the only thing he could, which was to virtually hug him through his character.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: just imagine I'm hugging you!!
Bluetooth didn't reply, but he didn't need to, since he did not cancel the hugging action either.
Bluetooth : goodnight.
It was 9 already? Wei Ying looked up at the clock in surprise, he had been playing for a few hours, yet the time had passed so quickly he hadn't noticed. Bluetooth was a truly great partner to play with, so much so that he mourned having to stop.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: okay!! here's a virtual goodnight kiss
He made his character blow a kiss towards Bluetooth's direction, and laughed when he looked terrifying with the ghost makeup on his face.
To his utter surprise, Bluetooth had made his character return the action, blowing a kiss of his own towards Wei Ying's character.
☆ yilingpatriarch ☆: SO CUTE <3