Twist of Fate (GL) - Chapter 15
Qin Ning stayed with Xie Jing all morning, only returning to the dorm together after her IV drip was finished.
After this allergic reaction, Xie Jing no longer dared to eat recklessly. She ordered a simple set meal, ate quickly, and then climbed into bed for a nap.
Two minutes later—
Xie Jing pulled the blanket off her expressionlessly.
“No way. I’m too itchy. I can’t sleep at all.” She jumped out of bed, plopped down in her chair, and looked utterly dejected.
“Wanna play a game?” Qin Ning suddenly asked.
Xie Jing raised her right hand and said helplessly, “My hand’s like this—I’ll just mess things up if we run a dungeon.”
“It’s fine, not Jian Wang 3,” Qin Ning replied. “Let’s play Honor of Kings.”
Xie Jing thought it was a great idea and promptly pulled out her phone to open the game.
With the familiar “TIMI” chime, Xie Jing entered the match.
“What’s your username? I’ll add you.” She scooted her chair next to Qin Ning’s and leaned over to see her ID.
After adding each other, Xie Jing created a room and quickly queued up as soon as she pulled Qin Ning in, afraid of being invited to a ranked team. She was practically playing one-handed and couldn’t carry anyone—only drag them down.
Neither of them played Honor of Kings regularly, so their ranks were still low—Platinum tier. There was no banning phase, and teammates were a chaotic mix: two marksmen, two mages, and one jungler.
Xie Jing locked in Diao Chan and headed top lane, while Qin Ning picked Luna for the jungle.
As soon as the match started, a fight broke out in the bottom lane. Two players were fighting over one minion wave. If a marksman doesn’t farm well early, they’ll be useless later. After some colorful exchanges about each other’s families, one of them rage quit and went AFK.
“Looks like I made the right call playing this. There are people playing even worse than me,” Xie Jing muttered as she danced Diao Chan back and forth on screen.
“It’s just Platinum. We can still win without him,” Qin Ning replied calmly.
Xie Jing glanced at her in surprise—she didn’t expect Qin Ning to be so confident.
Fueled by competitive spirit, Xie Jing opened team chat: “Four players? That’s fine. Just wait till I scale—I’ll carry us to victory.”
She had just opened the scoreboard to check the gold when the kill announcement came.
[First Bl00d]
Xie Jing looked at Qin Ning and reflexively praised her: “Wow, nice! That was fast.”
[Double Kill]
“Huh?”
Xie Jing stared at Luna, who had just taken down both bottom-lane enemies and was still at full health, in total disbelief. Seriously? How was Qin Ning good at every game? Was there no justice in the world?
“Just lucky,” Qin Ning said nonchalantly.
Yeah, right. Lucky, my ass, Xie Jing thought. Why didn’t she ever get that kind of “luck”?
“The enemy jungler’s heading top to gank you. Stay under tower. I’ll flank,” Qin Ning instructed as she maneuvered Luna’s Zixia Fairy skin toward the top lane.
“Uh… okay.” The words were barely out of Xie Jing’s mouth when the enemy jungler leapt at her. She quickly used her second ability to create distance, dropped her ultimate at her feet, then immediately cast her first skill.
Her first skill hit both enemies. With the cooldown reset from the ultimate, she swiftly unleashed her second ability again.
By timing everything perfectly, she avoided the lag from her first skill animation. Her HP was nearly gone, but her mana was full. She retreated under the tower while the two enemies, unwilling to let her go, attempted to dive.
Dodging skill shots with agile footwork, she cast another combo of skills. Just then, Qin Ning’s Luna arrived. Seeing the crescent moon icon above the enemies, Xie Jing smirked.
Now!
Her ultimate exploded, petals blooming above both enemies’ heads.
True damage—boom.
[You have slain the enemy]
[Double Kill]
“Nice,” Qin Ning praised without hesitation.
“Hehe, just lucky,” Xie Jing said, grinning as she beat up the river crab and bought a Holy Grail in the shop.
Their enemies weren’t tanky either—the teams were full of squishy mages, assassins, and marksmen. With both Xie Jing and Qin Ning farming smoothly and picking up early kills, they gained a significant gold lead and started snowballing.
Qin Ning’s Luna was so slick she could dive into the five-man enemy team and come out unscathed. Watching her play made Xie Jing’s scalp tingle.
Determined to live up to her promise of “carrying,” Xie Jing focused intently, following a 12-word strategy: Retreat when the enemy advances. Chase when they flee. Harass when they tire.
The match dragged on for around twenty minutes. While Xie Jing was still in the middle of a team fight, the enemy crystal suddenly shattered—Qin Ning had already pushed into their base alone.
[Victory]
They won. The results screen popped up, and unsurprisingly, Qin Ning earned MVP with a stellar 13.8 score.
“Let’s play another!” Xie Jing eagerly hit the queue button.
Qin Ning glanced at her, then stared at Xie Jing’s arm for a moment. Seeing no signs of irritation, she looked away.
Xie Jing had completely forgotten about her itching. So immersed in the game, she hadn’t felt a thing all afternoon.
“…Ah, no! I’m under anti-addiction restrictions.” She stared at the system’s notification with despair.
She couldn’t believe it—she was a college student and still couldn’t play freely. Wasn’t it the weekend? What was the point of weekends if she couldn’t game?
“Want to use my account?” Qin Ning offered.
“It’s fine. I turn 18 next Friday.” Xie Jing said solemnly, “I’ve decided—on my birthday, I’m gaming all day to celebrate breaking free from the anti-addiction system.”
Qin Ning tightened her grip on her phone and said quietly, “Okay. I’ll play with you.”
“You’re the best, Qin Ning.” Xie Jing leaned over affectionately. “Being your roommate is the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Flattered, Qin Ning composed herself and replied, “Then you better treasure it.”
“Of course I will.” Xie Jing hooked an arm around Qin Ning’s shoulder and solemnly said, “You’re my bestie!”
Qin Ning opened her mouth to speak.
Paused.
Closed it again.
Eighteen—such a significant age. Xie Jing had already decided: on her birthday, she would confess to Shen Xinghe. Whether or not she liked her, she didn’t want to leave any regrets.
She picked up her phone and started searching.
[Things to prepare for confessing to a classmate]
User 1: Write a love letter.
User 2: Give flowers.
User 3: Shout “I love you” in front of a crowd.
User 4: Don’t listen to #3. That’s embarrassing. Whisper it in a quiet place.
User 5: Take them out for good food.
User 6: Pin them against the wall, kiss them, and whisper “I love you.”
User 7: Carry them to a higher rank.
…
Xie Jing scrolled down. Most of the suggestions were good—but the problem was, she didn’t know how to write a love letter!
How do you write a love letter? In her life, she’d received plenty—but never written one. Never even read one.
She always returned them unopened.
Maybe she should just give flowers?
But even flowers came with a card… wasn’t that just another form of love letter?
Say it in person?
Just thinking about confessing face-to-face made her ears burn. She was a total coward. She could barely speak clearly around Shen Xinghe—how could she confess like that?
No. Better to write a letter. That way, even if she got rejected, it wouldn’t be too awkward.
Determined, she got up and dragged her chair back under her bed. She pulled out the colored paper leftover from an art class, planning to use it for her letter.
Qin Ning noticed her movements and asked, “Are you doing homework?”
“Nope. I’m writing a love letter to Shen Xinghe.” Xie Jing cut the paper and laid it flat on the table.
“Oh?” Qin Ning glanced over. “Didn’t expect that. You know how to write love letters?”
“I don’t, but I can learn.” She opened Baidu—but closed it a second later. “Wait, no. I shouldn’t copy someone else’s letter. I’ll write my own.”
Qin Ning said nothing.
Xie Jing focused, pen in hand.
________________________________________
Dear Shen Xinghe,
Hello. I’m Xie Jing. I like you.
That might seem abrupt, but please don’t be alarmed. I don’t intend to bother you. I just miss the time we spent together in junior high. Every day we spent gaming together is etched in my memory. I can still picture you, always shielding me from danger.
With you around, I never had to worry about cooldowns or escapes. You were amazing—better than anyone I’ve ever known. Over time, I found myself liking you, even from behind a screen.
You’re so careful, so composed. I don’t know if you remember those days as clearly as I do. I don’t even know if you remember me.
If this letter makes you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. I’m not expecting a response—I just wanted you to know. You deserve to know that someone once liked you, deeply. What you do with that is entirely your choice.
Whether you accept or reject my feelings, I’ll be okay. If you don’t like me, we can still be friends—play games together, like always. But if you do like me, meet me at the school track, December 9, 8 p.m. I want to say it to you in person.
________________________________________
After finishing, Xie Jing spent five minutes checking for typos. Once she was satisfied, she carefully folded the letter and placed it into a matching envelope, writing her name—Xie Jing—on the front.
“Hey, Qin Ning, why don’t you write a love letter too?” She waved the pink envelope playfully.
“No need.” Qin Ning’s gaze lingered on the envelope in her hand, not looking away for a long time.