Unexpected (GL) - Chapter 6

“They just like to say flirty things. Don’t take it seriously,” Xie Jing said softly.

“It’s fine. It’s just game culture,” Qin Ning replied. When she was bored, she sometimes copied those kinds of messages too.

After the match started, Xie Jing turned off her mic. She listened to the chaotic voices in YY and felt her ears start to hurt.

Mie: “Damage reduction!! Give me damage reduction!!”

Ji: “Healer!! Heal me a bit!!”

Diao: “Baiyun’s been one-shotted!!!”

It sounded like an intense battle, but in reality, everyone was already lying on the ground.

Xie Jing only had a sliver of health left. She took her hands off the keyboard and looked unusually calm.

Shua — Xie Jing’s health bar was full again.

She saw the message from “Ting Feng” in the team chat and looked at Qin Ning with a touched expression.

“Why!! It’s been five minutes since the fight started and I haven’t gotten a single Spring Mud! Why did she give you Wind Listening and then also give you Spring Mud?!”

Ji Luo in the team was shouting.

Xie Jing stared at her screen, feeling a sense of familiarity she hadn’t felt in a long time.

It reminded her of a healer from her memory who used to protect her just like this.

When that person was around, Xie Jing was never afraid of getting ganged up on—because she knew that no matter what, she wouldn’t die.

They won that match. The battle report showed that Xie Jing had the fewest times critically injured.

On YY, the friends were all teasing that Xie Jing had “hooked up” with a bound healer—and that healer was super skilled. Her healing numbers were so high they’d need ten fingers to count them all.

Xie Jing thought to herself, Bound healer my foot. We only played one match—how could that count?

For all she knew, Qin Ning might think she sucked and not want to team up next time.

“Can you help me win my first battleground match each day from now on?” Qin Ning suddenly asked.

“Huh? Your first win? Of course!!”

Xie Jing was a bit excited. Qin Ning was so good—if she played with her, winning the first match each day would be easy!

Great, no more gaming hell!

Xie Jing was a lazy PvP player. After winning the daily first battleground match, she had no interest in doing more.

She said goodbye to her friends, left the team, and exited YY smoothly.

She had already finished her 20 arena wins for the week. Someone else was doing the ore-gathering quest for her.

All she had left now was PvE.

“Wanna do a ten-man raid?” Xie Jing turned to ask Qin Ning.

“Sure.”

Since it was just a simple ten-man raid, Xie Jing led the team herself.

She first invited Qin Ning, then started recruiting DPS and a tank.

It was evening, and a holiday evening at that, so the team filled up quickly.

In less than five minutes, Xie Jing was standing in front of the boss with her sword in hand.

Qin Ning was banging loudly on the keyboard at her feet.

Xie Jing winced and opened her mic to remind the team to eat quickly.

[Du:] Captain’s voice is so nice.

[Xiu:] Captain is so cute.

[Diao:] Such luxury.

[Miao:] I’m eating, I’m eating.

“Thanks… pfft… you’re a tank with high standards,” Xie Jing said, holding back laughter as she sent out the ready check.

“Check gear, strange bloodlines, countdown five seconds, tank pull.”

Since it was an old raid and there was no shared loot, Xie Jing muted her mic after the fight started.

After finishing the first boss, she rolled for off-pieces and minor gear, then kept focusing.

When they reached the fourth boss, Xie Jing turned her mic back on and started chatting with the team to pass the time.

This boss had a two-minute cutscene, and without anything to do, it felt like forever.

As she talked, someone lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

It was Qin Ning.

“I poured you a glass of water. Drink it while it’s hot.”

“Wow, thanks! I was just getting thirsty.”

Xie Jing held the cup, looking very touched.

She wasn’t the raid leader, but she always reminded her team when it was time to roll loot.

She’d just been chatting too, and now her throat was dry. She hadn’t expected Qin Ning to be so thoughtful—she didn’t even notice when Qin Ning got the water for her.

[Du:] Damn, why does the captain get a pretty girl to bring her water?!

[Xiu:] I want that too!

[Pao:] How do you know she’s pretty?

[Du:] I heard her voice!

[Diao:] One’s soft and cute, the other’s cool and mature. Perfect match. I ship them.

[Miao:] Captain is so lucky.

The captain coughed and quickly dragged the team window to cover the chat log.

She said calmly, “Pull, Tank.”

After finishing the fourth boss, a rare item dropped. Two rich girls in the team started fighting over it.

In the end, it sold for ten gold bricks.

Everyone in the team was in a cheerful mood again, and the teasing started back up.

Xie Jing peeked at the chat and in the next second, her face changed.

She quickly dragged the team panel to cover the chat box completely.

She turned her head and glanced nervously at Qin Ning, only to see that Qin Ning was also looking right at the bottom left corner of the screen.

Xie Jing: “!!!”

It’s over!

The others in the team were still talking about their CP. Qin Ning must have seen it too.

These people were really strange. Qin Ning had only poured her a cup of water, and that was enough for them to start shipping? They were really desperate.

Noticing Xie Jing looking at her, Qin Ning turned her head.

Xie Jing quickly looked away.

Two seconds later, Xie Jing realized—wait, why was she avoiding her gaze? There was nothing going on between her and Qin Ning, so what was she feeling guilty about?

She looked at Qin Ning again.

“Is there something on my face?” Qin Ning asked.

Xie Jing replied, “No… your face is very clean.”

【Poison: Hahaha I’m dying, is the team leader an AI?】

【Marten: Switch to human customer service.】

【Meow: Leader, you forgot to mute your mic.】

Xie Jing: (⊙_⊙;)

She quickly muted her mic and didn’t turn it back on for the rest of the run.

At exactly 11:00 PM, Xie Jing logged off the game.

Even though the weather had just turned colder today, her face felt a bit hot.

She took a sip of the half-full cup of water on her desk, and suddenly remembered—it was Qin Ning who had poured it for her.

Her face instantly felt even hotter.

She jumped up from her chair and quickly went into the bathroom to wash her face.

Qin Ning watched the bathroom door slam shut with a bang, a slight glint in her eyes.

After calming down for about ten minutes in the bathroom, Xie Jing came out.

She felt a little strange. It seemed like every time she faced Qin Ning, she couldn’t help but blush.

It was all Qin Ning’s fault—for being too good-looking, and also so good at gaming.

Xie Jing climbed into bed with her head down.

Since the next two days were holidays, she turned off all her alarms and planned to sleep in.

She didn’t have any trouble falling asleep tonight. She had no dreams and slept well.

But when she woke up, her nose was stuffed.

Xie Jing knew she couldn’t escape getting sick.

She lay in bed for a while. Her head felt heavy, and her body was hot—it seemed like she had a fever.

Hearing the rustling sounds, Qin Ning asked, “You’re awake?”

Xie Jing let out a nasal hum, “Mm…”

Out of Xie Jing’s sight, Qin Ning frowned.

“Your voice… are you sick?”

“Maybe… it’s a bit more serious than a cold,” Xie Jing replied as she slowly sat up.

“Can you get out of bed?” Qin Ning asked.

“I think… I can.”

Xie Jing hugged her blanket and paused a bit, waiting for the dizziness from low bl00d pressure to pass. Then she pulled open the bed curtain.

Qin Ning was standing at the stairway. When she saw Xie Jing’s pale face flushed red, her frown deepened.

Xie Jing didn’t know what expression she had at that moment. She only knew her ears and neck were burning hot, while her back felt cold.

When going down the stairs, she stumbled a little. The next second, Qin Ning caught her by the arm and supported her with a hand on her back.

“Be careful.”

“Thanks, I just slipped a little,” Xie Jing said.

Qin Ning helped her into the bathroom to wash up.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Xie Jing changed clothes and planned to go to the campus clinic.

“I’ll go with you,” Qin Ning said, looking worried.

“Mm… thank you. Just take me to the clinic. After I see the doctor, I can go back to the dorm by myself.”

Qin Ning didn’t say anything, but after arriving at the clinic, she didn’t leave right away.

Xie Jing took her temperature—38.7°C.

The doctor suggested she stay for an IV drip.

Since it was a holiday anyway and she wanted to get better quickly, Xie Jing nodded in agreement.

“Imperial doctor, give me the medicine~” she joked.

The doctor: “…”

Qin Ning: “…”

She must be delirious from the fever.

“Pfft… hahaha.” Xie Jing laughed until tears came out, her eyes red and watery.

Qin Ning looked at her strangely. How is she still laughing while she’s sick?

“Don’t worry, I always get sick when the seasons change. I’m used to it.”

Seeing Qin Ning’s serious face, Xie Jing couldn’t help but tease her a little.

Qin Ning’s mouth twitched slightly. She turned and left the clinic.

After she left, Xie Jing’s smile faded, and she finally looked sick.

Because it was a holiday, the clinic was quiet.

She sat on the bed getting her IV, absentmindedly scrolling on her phone with the other hand.

She had to get three bottles of medicine this morning.

Seeing how slow it was dripping—slower than a kitten peeing—Xie Jing felt hopeless.

About half an hour later, Qin Ning came back.

She brought a cup of soy milk and a bag of soup dumplings in one hand, and a thick down jacket in the other.

“I was afraid you’d be cold, so I brought you a jacket.”

Qin Ning put the food on the table first, then turned around and draped the jacket over Xie Jing’s shoulders.

The warm coat wrapped around her back, and Xie Jing immediately felt warmer all over.

Then Qin Ning handed her the soy milk, opened the dumpling bag, and used a toothpick to pick up one and held it near Xie Jing’s mouth.

The dumplings were small. Xie Jing could eat one in a bite.

The dumpling wrappers were thin and the filling fragrant, with warm soup inside—biting into it should have been satisfying…

But it had no taste.

Xie Jing realized she had lost her sense of taste.

Damn it, she hated colds. Now nothing tasted like anything anymore.

“Not to your liking?”

Qin Ning looked puzzled at how Xie Jing was chewing the dumpling like it had done her wrong.

She remembered Xie Jing used to love soup dumplings and sweet soy milk.

“My tongue’s broken. I can’t taste anything,” Xie Jing said, sounding a little wronged.

Qin Ning looked at the doctor.

Doctor: “???”

She was just a doctor, not a god. She really couldn’t fix that.

“Don’t worry, it won’t last too long,” the doctor said awkwardly, wiping sweat from her forehead under their intense stares.

“Mm… that’s good,” Xie Jing said, feeling relieved.

She puffed out her cheeks and chewed, quickly finishing the dumplings.

She drank the last sip of soy milk and let out a small burp.

So full.