“Don’t be scared, bro. After we finish the dungeon, I’ll go explain it to them. Even though using a voice changer really is kind of wrong…”

“My voice sounds awful. I’m a bit insecure,” Tang Shaoqing said, lying through his teeth without even blushing.

Now was the perfect chance to clear his name. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to play games properly with his brother anymore.

Step one of clearing his name: selling misery.

That he was extremely good at.

“Sigh…” Porridge let out a breath.

How bad could it be? Judging by that girl’s reaction, it was obvious. Still… if it was just a game CP, was there really a need to make such a huge scene?

That elbow sure bent fast.

“Mind if I ask, how old are you this year?” Porridge asked again.

“19,” Tang Shaoqing thought for a moment, then answered honestly.

“…Seriously?” Weren’t you supposed to be forty or fifty??

“I still remember the college entrance exam papers from 2 years ago.”

“Okay, okay, I believe you.”

Second year, 19 years old.

Yu He, a junior about to turn 20, shed the tears of the elderly.

“Then… Jiao.. He-jiang…”

“It’s fine. He knows everything. He doesn’t mind.”

Porridge: Wuwu, what an absolutely beautiful love story

Yu He, who had never found a chance to cut in: “?”

Doesn’t mind my ass. He wished he could divorce on the spot.

Guoguo: QAQ what beautiful love, damn it

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: …That person has to be the real Jiao Jiao. Otherwise, there’s no way even the bag called “Spare” wouldn’t have been renamed, and the outfits inside include newly released ones, definitely after they got married

Guoguo: ???

Yu He briefly explained the situation with the bag.

Guoguo: So that means Jiao Jiao lied to Voice Changer??

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Yeah. I already explained to him that I’m not the original owner. He didn’t believe me.

Guoguo: …

She was probably after the fact that Voice Changer was dumb and rich.

Back then, Jiao Jiao was already beyond redemption. It was time to wash her hands of it and disappear. But along with her bad reputation, there was still a Voice Changer getting dragged down with her. So she lied to him, coaxed him along, hooked a dumb-and-rich Voice Changer, squeezed out one last haul, and left happily.

At the time, Voice Changer was getting attacked by everyone and was mentally fragile as hell. Under Jiao Jiao’s offensive, how could he possibly hold the line? And just like that, he fell.

Guoguo: ?? This too???

Guoguo: What do we do? Keep lying to him… like a white lie or something?

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Better to explain it clearly. Long pain is worse than short pain

Guoguo: But if you keep going like this, it’s not a big deal either. He already said it’s just a game CP. He’s not expecting it to develop into anything real

Guoguo: On the other hand, if he finds out that person was actually Jiao Jiao pretending… he’d probably be really, really hurt…

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Too many variables… let’s talk about it later

Guoguo: Mm, either way works.

The truth was actually pretty close to that. The only difference was that Tang Shaoqing later tossed the IP evidence at Voice Changer and exposed everything. Voice Changer sold the account to Tang Shaoqing and quit the game.

“We’re here.” Yu Guo put away her phone and shifted her focus back to the computer screen.

Tang Shaoqing carried the little loli to the front of a cave entrance. Yu He quickly hopped out of his arms and regained control of his character.

“Tile puzzle… piece the slabs together into a complete pattern. Once it’s done, the door should open. Who’s up?”

It was like a jigsaw puzzle, except… were these stone slabs for real??

All gray, 49 pieces in total, and not even a reference image.

“That’s kinda sudden… My brain’s not great; you guys do it.” Porridge voluntarily stepped back.

“It looks like everyone can try. Let’s all give it a shot. One person at a time. We can’t do it together, but as long as one attempt succeeds, it’s fine.”

“Mm.”

They said try… but Yu He gave up after moving just a few pieces. What the hell even was this?

“Do you still have that firefly?” Voice Changer suddenly asked.

Yu Guo immediately understood. Party quest items could be shared. After sharing it, Tang Shaoqing propped his chin on his hand and glanced over it; okay, it lined up. A bit of a pain in the ass, though.

“Might take some time,” Tang Shaoqing said.

“No rush, take it slow. You’ve got this, bro,” Porridge encouraged him.

Ever since hearing Voice Changer’s story, he’d felt oddly close to him. Fellow sufferers trapped by love, after all QVQ.

Porridge was feeling pretty artsy today, too.

“Wife.”

“…” Yu He had been staring blankly at the computer screen when that suddenly came through his headphones.

You’ve gotten addicted to calling me that, haven’t you? Fine. I’ll ignore you.

“He He?”

Yu He: “…”

Even his entire name felt tainted now.

“Hey, there are outsiders here. Tone it down.”

For the first time, Yu He felt that Porridge’s chatterbox nature was endearing.

“When it’s just the two of you alone, call each other whatever you want, hehehehe…”

Never mind. He shouldn’t have said anything.

A low laugh followed from the other end of the headset, vibrating softly and leaving his ears tingling and numb. Truly worthy of being a hardcore voice changer…

Guoguo: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻ fvck, I’m gonna ask him later where he bought that voice changer. It’s way too good. I want to record a wake-up alarm for myself

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: You’ve got your brother right here. Why waste on that when you’ve got your own human voice changer right here?

Guoguo: ! Almost forgot. Record me a wake-up alarm another day, imitating a fake Li Zeyan’s voice

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Sure

Guoguo: hhh but honestly, you two are kinda fated. One hardcore voice changer, one natural voice changer. My CP radar has activated

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: …Wake up

They really were kind of fated.

A cursed kind of fate.