Chapter 7 : No Matter How Life Goes, Buy the Skin First

The setting sun cast the shadow of the dorm window frame onto the tiled floor.
Chengzi shot up from her chair and promptly slammed her head on the iron frame of the top bunk.

The resounding “thump” made Bai Ling can’t help but marvel that this was probably a once-in-a-century solid head.

“First 606 dorm dinner! Hot pot! Barbecue! Skewers!”

Chengzi clutched her reddened forehead and leaned over her desk, her finger nearly poking a hole in the restaurant review app on her phone screen.
“Four votes pass!”

“I didn’t even raise my hand…”

Bai Ling muttered. Before she could finish, she saw Lin Xiao Xia had already jumped up, her hands raised high above her head.

She had cast two votes by herself.

If it weren’t for the difficult posture, this petite girl would probably have raised her two feet as well.

Su Jiu Li gave Bai Ling a shrug, indicating that the minority would yield to the majority.

‘So, this counts as four votes passing?’

Bai Ling was silent.
She could only silently fiddle with her phone.

Her mood wasn’t great.
She wasn’t in the mood to mess around with her three goofy roommates.

The group chat messages on her phone were scrolling by like a roller coaster, especially the one named Ye Yuan.
Her cat-head emojis had flooded the chat dozens of times in just a short while.

As the group owner, Bai Ling really wanted to put her in the “little black room” right now as a warning to others.

Ye Yuan: “[@Qing Lin I’m back from my business trip! Crying cat head.jpg]”

Ye Yuan: “[Come play games! Have you created your character yet? @Qing Lin]”

Then came another barrage of @ mentions.

The incessant “ping” sounds were annoying Bai Ling.
Her hands tapped rapidly on the screen.

Qing Lin: “[Stop calling, I’m logging in.]”

‘Since I’m upset anyway, and dinner is still a while away, I might as well find something to do to distract myself.’

Perhaps the game could fill the emptiness in her heart.

So the girl set up her laptop on the desk.
Speaking of the game “Xuanhuang Ji,” she had only created her character.
Before she could even go through the tutorial, she was delayed by her sudden transformation into a girl.

This was only her second time opening the game.

She nimbly opened the game.
After the login screen loaded, the Snake Demon Swordswoman she had spent over an hour creating leaped into the mortal world.

The main city square was bustling with players.
The game had only been open for two days.
At this time, every player was busy with their own affairs: crafting equipment, trading materials, standing around in the square to make friends.
The world channel was continuously scrolling with messages from people looking for groups to run dungeons.

Suddenly, an amber figure flashed.
A half-demon assassin with the ID ‘Ye Yuan’ spun in place.
Her fox tail decoration brushed against Qing Lin’s snake tail model, scattering a few maple leaf special effects.

“Tsk tsk tsk… Look at that waistline! Look at that tear mole!”

The half-demon assassin named Ye Yuan circled the Snake Demon Swordswoman named Qing Lin.
“The snake demon you created is so… snake-demon-y… Are you selling the face data?”

Ye Yuan controlled her character to make a heart gesture, her fox ears twitching with the movement.

“Can you talk properly? If not, I suggest you look up a dictionary…”

The girl bit her lip, her fingertips tapping lightly on the keyboard.

On the screen, the Snake Demon Swordswoman followed her command and raised her long sword, lightly poking the assassin’s forehead.
“You just bought a skin with real money right away. That money could have bought three hot pot meals.”

“This is an investment in aesthetics!”

The half-demon assassin moved closer and spun around in front of Qing Lin.
This was the emote for showing off one’s outfit.

“How is it? Pretty, right? I’m telling you, the skin designs in this game are to die for!”

The girl had to admit it was indeed very pretty.
The sleeves of this outfit were embroidered with colorful cloud patterns like the rosy clouds at sunset, looking like a piece of evening glow floating by the sea.

“Hee hee, check your mailbox!”

Ye Yuan suddenly moved closer, her eyes under the fox mask curving into crescents.
“During the game’s promotion, I thought this outfit would suit you. It has a cool and aloof vibe. Hurry up and try it on!”

The noisy sounds from outside the five o’clock window were accompanied by the bouncing mailbox icon.
It was a gift from a friend, a complete set of white clothes.

The moment the girl clicked “change outfit,” the Snake Demon Swordswoman’s appearance changed from the novice outfit to a set of plain white, wide-sleeved robes.

Ye Yuan immediately used the clapping emote, her maple-red cloak billowing in the twilight.
“Look! You look just like Lady White Snake from an ancient painting!”

“Wow!”

This outfit not only won Ye Yuan’s applause but also elicited a cry of surprise from Chengzi.

She suddenly rested her chin on the girl’s shoulder.
“How is your game character even more cold and beautiful than you are?”

The girl poked the screen with her fingertip again.
“Can I strip this outfit off you and have you cosplay it for me?”

“No!”

The girl slapped Chengzi’s wrist away.
“If you want to see it, go buy one and wear it yourself!”

The girl casually popped an unwrapped lollipop into Bai Ling’s mouth and then turned to harass Lin Xiao Xia, who was organizing her clothes.

“You know I’m a guy, right?”

Seeing Chengzi walk away, the girl typed rapidly on the keyboard again.

“I know! But honestly, if you were a girl, I’d get down on one knee and propose right now, okay!”

Ye Yuan suddenly got excited.
The half-demon assassin’s image dropped to one knee, and a special effect of falling peach blossoms appeared around her.

This girl not only bought the skin but probably also bought out all the emotes in the shop.

“Big sis, you’re so gross!”

The girl curled up in her chair, tapping rapidly on the keyboard, controlling the Snake Demon Swordswoman to draw her long sword and try to poke away the overwhelming peach blossom special effects.

Of course, they couldn’t be poked away.

“The quest says I need to run the novice dungeon.”

The Snake Demon Swordswoman on the screen poked for a long time but couldn’t dispel the greasy and awkward special effects.
She finally sheathed her long sword.

“What dungeon?”

“I think it’s called the White Snake Cavern?”

“Perfect, I need to run this dungeon to farm some materials for crafting equipment. Come on, I’ll go with you!”

The half-demon assassin sent a party invitation.

The minimum requirement for the dungeon was three participants, so the girl could only wait for a match.

The setting sun reflected the silhouettes of tall buildings on the dorm balcony glass.

“Match successful!”

The female announcer’s voice sounded.
A human knight with the ID ‘Duan Yue’ entered, wielding a greatsword.
His coarse linen clothes were completely out of place with their two resplendent outfits.

‘He looked like a player who had just created his character and eagerly rushed to do the novice quests.’

“Someone actually chose a human knight? Isn’t this class universally recognized as a weak damage dealer?”

Ye Yuan suddenly typed in the private chat.

“It doesn’t matter since the game just launched. Maybe the developers will give him a true damage percentage buff tomorrow.”

The girl had no particular opinion of the player using the human knight.
She had a clear understanding of the game development team—they would just follow the principle of balancing by adding water to flour and flour to water.
If this class was really too weak, a patch would surely turn it from the weakest class into the strongest, dominating everything.

“Speedrun, speedrun! I’ll treat you to milk tea after we’re done!”

Ye Yuan controlled her character and rushed into the dungeon entrance.

The girl turned her head and glanced behind her.
Chengzi was harassing Su Jiu Li again.
The cool girl in the black dress was taking books out of her suitcase and putting them on the bookshelf.
Looking at the large box of books, it would probably take a while to organize them.

So the girl stepped into the dungeon entrance with a clear conscience.

On the screen, the human knight’s greatsword slashed out afterimages.
The Snake Demon Swordswoman dodged the boss’s venom spray.
The crisp sound of keyboard tapping intertwined with the rustling sound of Su Jiu Li organizing her books.

“His positioning is perfect!”

Ye Yuan dodged the boss’s AOE attack and even had time to type a private message, praising the randomly matched teammate.

“If the human class gets buffed, he’ll dominate the national rankings, right?”

“If they really change it, I’ll immediately create a knight character and become his disciple.”

The human knight’s greatsword split the boss’s throat.
As the special effect of blood splattered, the girl also typed her reply.

“No way! Baby, your character model is priceless!”

Ye Yuan quickly advised her as the Snake Demon Swordswoman was looting the treasure chest dropped by the boss.
The half-demon assassin was so anxious she spun in place.

Before long, the three of them had already reached the final boss of the dungeon.

But when the special effect for the final boss, the White Snake, awakening appeared, Ye Yuan left a message: “My boss is calling me in for overtime! Put the milk tea on my tab!”

Then her avatar instantly turned gray.

Almost simultaneously, Duan Yue also planted his greatsword in the ground and bowed.
A short message appeared in the party channel: “Family emergency, see you later.”

Only the White Snake boss and the Snake Demon Swordswoman were left staring at each other.

The synchronicity of it all made the girl suspect they were probably sharing a Wi-Fi connection and someone had unplugged the router.