Chapter Text
Shang Qinghua and Ice King settled into a comfortable schedule where they almost daily embarked on the latest campaign together or Shang Qinghua took a break from gaming to work and write more of a new campaign’s plot. Shang Qinghua’s inventory became increasingly stacked to the point that he had to spend B-Coins to obtain a larger inventory space. Ice King kept gifting him rare items, new armor and DLC-exclusive skins from the latest updates. Shang Qinghua, fully aware of how much real life money Ice King had to drop to get them, insisted on not accepting any of them.
Ice King always retorts, “It’s fine. It doesn’t cost much.’ Ok, well thanks for rubbing in how rich you are!! But Shang Qinghua (not so) reluctantly held on to the gifts anyway, equipping some of the high level armor for battle.
Proud Demon Immortal Way became such a major component of Shang Qinghua’s life over the next three years. Many of the An Ding beta testers came and left over the years he invested in the game, leaving him with the most seniority and eventually he got promoted to the moderator. With the high turn-over rate of the beta testers, he didn’t get to really form many deep online friendships with them. He watched as the names in his friends list slowly dwindled or became permanently silent as many left the job and ended up quitting the game entirely.
Shang Qinghua generally didn’t really like to correspond with other players outside of An Ding in-game, besides Shen Yuan, but they rarely played together since Shen Yuan was more focused on completing all the Luo Binghe quests and map-exploration. What a smitten fanboy he was. On the other hand, Shang Qinghua preferred the strategy and planning aspect of another NPC, Mobei-Jun’s quests, such as infiltrating the Immortal Alliance event. Before Shang Qinghua met Ice King, he found himself just exploring the map on his own and while he enjoyed it, he felt like he just couldn’t fully connect with other players. But that changed after he started meeting up with Ice King in-game. He found that Ice King was always there waiting for Shang Qinghua to log on, like a warm room welcoming his return.
At some point after three years, they had exchanged LINE information and if they weren’t chatting in-game, they were sending each other good morning texts or life updates. Shang Qinghua learned that Ice King nicknames himself as Mobei after his favorite NPC in his LINE contacts, to which he found cute! He really was that big of a nerd, huh! Shang Qinghua’s username was, well, his own name because he thought it would facilitate work as a beta-tester (contracts, messaging, whatever), but he learned too late that it wasn’t necessary but he couldn’t change it this far into his gaming career so he just stuck with it and prayed no one would find his real-life socials.
With time, they learned about each other’s living habits outside of the game, their jobs, basically their whole lives, just barring how they look (for safety! Shang Qinghua affirmed). Their work and gaming schedules slotted perfectly into each other. He learned that Mobei works in advertising and marketing, which was also predominantly work from home and allowed Mobei time to spend with Shang Qinghua in-game. On the days that demanded their full attention at work or required a visit to their respective offices where they had to pop off game, they’d stay connected via LINE, texting each other throughout the work day.
Shang Qinghua can’t remember how it was like to game without looking forward to seeing the green active circle next to Ice King’s name. Now that he’s been invited to Ice King’s base in the Northern Desert region, Ice King reminded him that he is welcome to pop in anytime he wants. He spent less and less time in the An Ding base, as there really was no reason to be there besides occasionally helping the new junior testers, but most of the communications could be done via emails or the occasional in-person office meeting. The An Ding base was really just customary anyway for the team to have a place in-game to meet up and to do campaigns together for ‘team-bonding’, which clearly didn’t work out over time. If he wasn’t off on a new campaign, he found himself often quick-travelling to the North Desert base to meet Ice King instead.
Shang Qinghua always anticipated finding him idle in the base and then shooting him a LINE message to let Ice King know he’s arrived. Sometimes, Ice King would be in the middle of a work project to which Shang Qinghua would beg for him to prioritize. But each time, Ice King shrugs it off and says, ‘I can finish it later. I’m almost done anyway.’ Most other times, Ice King was free almost like. If Shang Qinghua had to guess, Ice King scheduled his work around Shang Qinghua’s.
They completed more campaigns and events than they could count now. Their gameplay and fighting strategies have fallen so in sync that Shang Qinghua can activate a defense shield for Ice King or swiftly use a health potion on the demon user like it’s second nature. Ice King became the main reason Shang Qinghua always looked forward to logging on. He even dared to consider Ice King a close friend; the only thing stopping him from considering the demon user his best friend was that they have yet to meet in-person.
One day, Shang Qinghua slid into his chair to boot up the game. Following the same old schedule he’s gotten used to, he quick-travelled to Ice King’s base and expected to see him there. However, upon finding the room empty, Shang Qinghua was puzzled since he didn’t receive a dm from Ice King about his absence. He pouted a little. Right of course, we don’t have to meet up each day. Ice King probably just had other things to do. Fine, I guess!
Shang Qinghua clicked on the map absentmindedly and he watched his avatar scuttle around the empty room. Left to his own thoughts, he refused to admit that he’s feeling annoyed at being left behind.
Shang Qinghua shot Mobei a text on LINE, ‘hey, i don’t see u in the desert. U busy?’
‘Yes. I am completing a campaign’
‘oh ok, I didn’t know. Which one?’
‘The Tale of Two Lovers’
Shang Qinghua racked his brain for details on that campaign. He didn’t work on this one personally, mainly because it was only a short two-day event that was probably exclusive for DLC or whatever and it was also a fairly simple, plot-heavy one so he left it to the junior beta-testers and writers to handle. All he could recall was it provided some cool exclusive items and activated a quick-time event after.
Shang Qinghua replied curtly, ‘oh ok, have fun.’
He let out a dejected sigh and leaned back in his gamer chair, staring blankly at his settings screen. There was no reason why Ice King wouldn’t bring him on this campaign, out of all the many countless ones!! He had accompanied Ice King on so many, basically every single campaign these past few years. Shang Qinghua didn’t even need to ask to come along as Ice King’s (self-appointed) healer and Ice King never asked; he always assumed the other player would come naturally.
Did Ice King not want him to come, because he thought Shang Qinghua was too low-level? Did Ice King not trust the other player suddenly to not be able to heal him properly? Did he finally decide that Shang Qinghua was being a nuisance following him around all the time? They had always sent dms to each other or LINE messages to chat about which campaigns they wanted to tackle next together. What happened? There was this unspoken rule it was to be completed with the two of them, until now.
Shang Qinghua suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do now. Sure, there was a new region released recently that he could go explore but that didn’t seem enticing at all without Ice King. There were a few minor quests that he could complete but the items don’t seem interesting considering how Ice King spoiled him with all the latest builds almost the next day after they dropped. He could go to the Bai Zhan base and find the battle NPC, Liu Qingge to work on his fighting skills but it seemed lacking to plan out a battle strategy without including the Ice King.
Shang Qinghua stared at his avatar which rubbed his chin, activating the idle status and he sank into his chair preoccupied with these thoughts. For the first time in three years, he felt… bored? No, there’s plenty of things to do in-game. He felt… alone. A weird emptiness welled up, as he suddenly found an abyss had formed in his heart. His eyes unfocused on his avatar tapping his feet, unsure what to do in-game anymore.
After a moment, he switched windows to open up his work’s incomplete checklist. He decided he’ll just stave off this emptiness and work on some dialogue for a minor patch involving Ning Yingying, the tutorial NPC who greets you when you first begin playing. Writing for Proud Immortal Demon Way never felt so tedious before as he struggled to figure out how to update her dialogue.
He often worked on his writing in between campaigns, especially if there was one that they both didn’t feel like participating in. He would often text Mobei on LINE, not only to share some fun hot info about whatever he’s writing or testing but also to get input from the demon player on what to improve on in the dialogue. Sure, this deal started out at first as a sole way for him to reap the benefits (and the extra XP) and Ice King could get the insider scoop of whatever was coming up. However, now Shang Qinghua slowly trusted Ice King’s advice more as the demon player also listened to Shang Qinghua’s suggestions for battle strategy. It became mutual over time (granted Shang Qinghua still wonders about the legality behind the NDA. Hm, no problems yet he guesses!) and he had gotten so accustomed to having Mobei at his fingertips to message. But now, he hesitated with his finger hovering over Mobei’s name in the app.
The bubbling sense of unease and anxiety started to fester again, paired with the weird pit in his stomach. Part of him just wanted to message Mobei directly and ask him how he’s doing on this solo event. Another part of him dreaded Mobei’s answer, and scared to learn a potential truth that Mobei perhaps just no longer enjoyed his assistance. Shang Qinghua would prefer to stay in this limbo rather than confront the possibility of losing his friend. He took a deep sigh and locked his phone screen. His slow fingers typed out more lines in a lackluster rhythm, finishing off whatever minor dialogue patches he could.
--
The two days trudged by excruciatingly slowly, leaving Shang Qinghua listless and bored. He finished a couple of minor patches for Ning Yingying and Liu Qingge, and sent them off to the writing lead for approval. But outside of his writing, he didn’t feel like doing anything in-game. It didn’t feel right or whole without Ice King around. The endless open map of the game suddenly felt so limited and aimless.
Shang Qinghua climbed out of bed with soreness weighing on his eyelids and quickly fixed up a cup of instant coffee in hopes of killing any shred of anxiety floating in his head. Today was the day Ice King was supposed to complete the campaign and return to the Northern Desert base.
Shang Qinghua opened LINE to text Mobei, ‘are u done with the campaign?’
Mobei texted back almost immediately, “Yes. I’ll see you in our base”
Shang Qinghua started up the game with his avatar still waiting patiently in the Northern Desert base. You and me bud, Shang Qinghua thought. The same old animation of black shadow curled on the room floor, indicating Ice King was teleporting back.
He typed ‘ur back!!’ with way more enthusiasm then he had wanted. The rogue player mentally kicked himself. He wanted to be more nonchalant about it, like waaaay more cool. Like he totally didn’t miss Ice King during the two days. Like he definitely didn’t feel this unusual sense of longing eating at his heart.
“I’m back”
“how was the campaign? it went smoothly?’
“It was good”
Ding! Another system notification.
[Ice King has gifted you: A Heavenly Ring of Loyalty. Congrats!]
Shang Qinghua’s eyes popped wide open. Ice King had gifted him many rare S items before, like Demonic Armor Pauldron or Cultivator’s Wish but nothing of this caliber before! A triple SSS rare item. He had no idea this quest granted such an exclusive item upon completion.
“whoa!!! wait, my King did you mean to gift this????’
“Yes. There should be a system command popping up for you”
“oh shit”
Ding! A System message. Right on time.
[Quick-time Event: Love is warmest in the cold. Accept? Y/N?]
Ah!!! Shang Qinghua, immediately after reading the event title, buried his face in his hands. Wait! What is going on!! He picked his head up to hastily read over the summary of the event absorbing each word. A knot in chest tightened more and more as his eyes raked over the text.
[Gifting or receiving this item would bind two players in an union, allowing the couple to access new events, and exclusive items! Pressing yes would activate the married status between the two players. Do you accept? Y/N]
A slow burning sensation started to burn in his gut as he felt his cheeks heat up slightly. Ice King was asking Shang Qinghua to marry him!! In-game!! Husbands!! Calm down, Shang Qinghua thought to himself. It’s just an in-game function. It’s not a big deal. Lots of people who don’t like each other like That Way do this to get couples-only items. He laughed nervously to himself and patted his cheeks, hoping to dissipate the warm feeling. Right… yes of course, it doesn’t mean anything..!
But.. what if it did? Shang Qinghua definitely at this point considered Ice King, no Mobei, as a friend if not a close one. However...there was this extra layer beyond just friendship however. Shang Qinghua compared his stupid rants with Shen Yuan and his texts with Mobei. The way Mobei made time for him when Shang Qinghua said he wanted to complete a campaign, or the way Mobei would immediately gift him any item he mentioned, or the good morning texts Mobei would send him regardless if it was a gaming day or a work day. No, it definitely felt different. The way their lives were so in-sync with each other, both offline and online. This was more intimate, like no one else was able to understand or to make time for Shang Qinghua this much before. MORE
Shang Qinghua typed one more time to confirm with Ice King: ‘are u sure u want to marry me in-game?’
‘Yes. I enjoy our time together and we work well as a team. If we marry, we can do more events this way, just the two of us as a couple’
The rogue player squeaked after reading Ice King’s chat with every sliver of anxiety immediately flushed away. His eyes focused on Ice King’s chat, re-reading ‘enjoy our time together’ over and over again. All of his fear that Ice King no longer wanted him as a friend effectively erased on the spot. Shang Qinghua never thought how simple it was for him to feel happiness with just a few words. The deep pit in his chest was filled with a warm bubbling excitement and the dark haze clouding his mind for the past two days lifted.
Before the timer for the quick time event ran out, Shang Qinghua clicked [Yes] and the screen flashed a short animation of wedding bells and confetti. A bit lackluster for an in-game wedding but it was cute nonetheless. Ice King’s name switched to pink, indicating their in-game married status.
Ice King typed: “You accepted”
‘haha ye, we are now married in-game! i think itll be fun to do the couple only events!!’
‘Yes, we are now husbands”
Shang Qinghua’s finger halted over the keyboard as he tried to formulate a reply. He ruffled his head out of confused happiness. Stop being so hung up over the word husband, goddamit! It’s just an in-game thing. It’s just for the XP! That’s it! Sure you just realized that Ice King gives you indescribable happiness but that’s one thing and this is another. Totally not related! Take it easy, my poor maiden heart!
He finally typed out, feeling almost shy now, “haha, I guess we are in-game husbands! If u don’t mind that is”
‘I don’t mind at all. I would love to.’
The speech bubble (….) over Ice King’s avatar pops up, then goes away, then pops up again. Shang Qinghua stared in anticipation, suddenly nervous around his new in-game spouse.
Finally, Ice King wrote, ‘I would love for us to be husbands outside the game as well’
Ice King!!!!!!!! You can’t just say that!!!!!!!!