You Boys Play Games Very Well

09-12: Do we boys play games very well?

A quick primer on the names and IDs to help out with this chapter:

Ling Meng (凌檬) has the ID Lemon, written in English in the raws. Ning Meng (檸檬) is lemon in Chinese. His roommate calls him 檬檬, MengMeng aka LemonLemon, playfully a lot.

Mang God is written as 芒神 (could also be translated as God Mang, but MangGod is more fun because mango + god), with the Mang (芒) being the same as in mango. Mang God’s ID is written as Mangosteen in English in the raws. A Mangosteen is a fruit called Shan Zhu (山竹)in Chinese. Mang God’s name turns out to be Shan Zhu (单竺)!

So both of them created their IDs based on their names and both of their names have to do with fruit! I’ll put words in English in italics so you can see when they’re used in this section.

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Chapter 9

Ling Meng wouldn’t take this defeat lying down; it was clear victory had been only a step away, how could the other side win by luck? He suddenly came up with the idea of luring out the real person behind Mang God – even if he couldn’t win in the game, then in-real-life PK…

He then remembered bumping into the man’s chest that day and looked down at his own otaku body… Well, he wouldn’t be able to win.

But this couldn’t stop his ambition towards defeating the other person. Since he could wager on that PK idea not working, he turned his mind back to other offline methods.

“What? You’re going to organize a Legend of the Galaxy Campus PK tournament?” his roommate asked in surprise when he heard about the plan.

“Yes, as long as Mang God participates, I will definitely recognize him.”

“Are you alright?” His roommate knew his attitude towards Mang God was in a delicate state. He glanced at him sideways, “What will serve as the arena?”

“The big dormitory rooms, online PK.”

“What about the prize sponsor?”

Ling Meng fumbled around in his pocket and then slammed the item on the table fiercely. If you didn’t know better, you would think it was a Swiss Bank black card.

“Is this enough?”

His roommate saw the meal card on the table and sucked in his cheeks. “You sure you have a 3 digit meal card balance?”

Ling Meng said: “It has always been enough to swipe for steamed buns in the canteen for two whole months.”

“Taking your meal card as a prize isn’t as appealing as getting your naked photo.”

Ling Meng seriously thought about this suggestion. “Not bad either.”

Roommate: “…”

In the end, the prizes for the competition were settled. The first prize was Ling Meng’s meal card, the second prize was Ling Meng’s naked photo, and the third prize, not to be looked down on, was a 100-point game card sponsored by his roommate. In addition, Ling Meng also opened the previously-purchased Durex box and divided it into 12 small packages as participation prizes.

Chapter 10

When the invitation of Yanshan’s first Galaxy PK tournament was issued under the name of Lemon, it attracted many of their fellow students to sign up. Ling Meng set up a QQ Group and pulled all the contestants in together. It was very lively.

“We just wanted to see how good Lemon Dad is at playing games!”

“Ha ha, our MengMeng plays games very well.”

“Fuck, don’t call me MengMeng!”

Set in motion by his roommate, the arrogant nickname of “Lemon Dad” was quickly forgotten. Every day, the scenery of the group chat was like this:

“MengMeng, our first match, you have to let me win.”

“MengMeng, what a pity we were split on the bracket, I’ll see you in the top eight!”

“MengMeng, for you: Jiayou, jiayou, MengMeng!”

“All of you fuck offfffff!”

The chief culprit and ringleader of all of this was threatened by Ling Meng to sell his soul to make amends.

“MengMeng…” Ling Meng threw him a dagger-like glare. “…MengMeng Daddy, I’ve sorted and bracketed all the participants, please have a look.”

Ling Meng came over and browsed it quickly, but unexpectedly didn’t catch sight of a particular ID.

“See, Mang God didn’t sign up for the competition as you said he would. You thought too much about it.”

Ling Meng disagreed: “Who is he – if he uses his large account, wouldn’t there be onlookers all around school? If he participates, he must use a small account. When he uses a small account, I’ll definitely be able to recognize him!”

Brimming with confidence, Ling Meng made a strong breakthrough in the tournament. After sharpening his skills with Mang God as his goal, few in Yanshan were his rival. First, he got out of the group match stage easily, then the top eight, then the top four, and finally entered the finals with no need for concern. If there was any regret, it was that he didn’t encounter any opponents he suspected were Mang God during the matches.

The final was between Ling Meng and a classmate named Shan Zhu. According to the record, Shan Zhu was a senior, living in the dormitory building next to Ling Meng’s.

TeamLingMeng7: @TeamShanZhu For tomorrow’s finals, are you ready, classmate? If you can’t come, say it in advance.

TeamShanZhu: Ready for MengMeng, definitely coming ^ _ ^

TeamLingMeng7: Don’t call me MengMeng (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

TeamShanZhu: Clever MengMeng ^ _ ^

ImMengMengsRoommate: Resign yourself to fate, MengMeng. Outside, society still knows you as Lemon Dad, but here you will always be our MengMeng [Bi Xin]

TeamLingMeng7: Do you want to die? → _ →

TeamShanZhu: [you boys play games very well. gif]

TeamLingMeng7: I won’t allow you to fucking brush this away!

ImMengMengsRoommate: [you boys play games very well. gif] + 1

TeamSmallArmor5: [you boys play games very well. gif] +1

TeamSmallBeta3: [you boys play games very well. gif] +1

……

[The administrator has set up a group ban.]

Chapter 11

The final began at the scheduled time. Ling Meng randomly drew the Empire as his faction. The opposite side was obviously a recently created small account. The only few games in its records were from the PK tournament.

[Empire] Lemon: What’s your big account called?

[Federation] Apple: You guess ^ _ ^

Ling Meng was intimately familiar with that response.

[Empire] Lemon: You’ll tell me when you lose.

[Federation] Apple: No problem. When that time comes, I’ll become a good friend. ^_^

At the beginning of the match, Ling Meng closely monitored the other’s every move and felt a buzz of excitement within ten minutes of the start.

So much alike! These skills and tricks were too similar to Mang God’s, identical to his intrinsic practices like they were cast from the same mold!

Realizing that this was the linchpin to catching the true body of Mang God, Ling Meng made his whole body alert and combat ready, for fear of making a little mistake.

In the center, they scouted around for sneak attacks, taking turns to grab control of the asteroid ore belt. The two of them came together and fought for seven or eight rounds, dragging it out into a 1V1 protracted war.

Ling Meng was sure that this Shan Zhu was the person he had been looking for, and the wretched appearance of his opponent’s loathsome development was exactly the same his impression of Mang God.

In the blink of an eye, the other side cut off his power. Tit for tat, he bombarded Shan Zhu’s arsenal.

[Federation] Apple: It’s pretty tough to lay hands on you. ^_^

[Empire] Lemon: Right back at you.

[Federation] Apple: The lights are about to go out, don’t you think we should settle this quickly?

[Empire] Lemon: That’s my intention.

Ling Meng led the Imperial Eagle in a final duel with Shan Zhu’s Alpha mothership. All kinds of laser beams flashed on the screen and the numbers representing damage kept popping up.

“Alert! Air raid siren!” When the system alarm sounded, Ling Meng discovered that an enemy assassination ship had passed the line of fire without him knowing and had suddenly attacked the rear side. The high-lethality missile it carried could alone scrap out the last remainders of his base’s health in one shot.

“Not good!” Ling Meng assigned the mobile fleet to emergency defense, but it was too late, the assassination ship aimed at the target and launched a death strike.

Ling Meng was ready to face the black-and-white screen, but he saw the missile scraping the edge of the base, flying by dangerously and instead hitting the barracks behind. Such a key shot, one that would have settled the battle, was misfired because of a launch angle error.

Acting before his brain could catch up, Ling Meng moved his hand. Before the other side could react, he made a fatal blow to the enemy base that had only had a little health remaining. Shan Zhu was hopeless in that moment, watching the space station being bombarded to pieces under the violent fire of Ling Meng’s fierce artillery fire.

[System] After a fierce battle, the empire achieved the ultimate victory!

[Federation] Apple: Eh, congratulations ^_^

[Empire] Lemon: What are you doing? Was that intentional?

[Federation] Apple: Not calculating the angle properly, what a pity.

At the end of the timer, the game system exited from the match interface and returned to the main menu. Ling Meng, who had fought bravely for nearly an hour, fell tiredly on the keyboard.

He won the championship, but he was not happy at all.

It turned out the speculation that Shan Zhu was Mang God was the illusion. Mang God never miscalculated the launching force and angle of the shot. His precise calculation ability had earned him the title of walking calculator by some people.

Chapter 12

ImTheReferee: The game is over! Congratulations @TeamLingMeng7 on winning the championship! @TeamShanZhu won runner-up!

The contestants came forward to offer congratulations one after another. Under the leadership of the referee, red envelopes rained down in turns. No matter whether they themselves had lost or won, they all participated in the red envelope war. Only the champion, Ling Meng, was motionless.

“@TeamLingMeng7, can I get the prize?” asked Shan Zhu in the group.

Ling Meng typed with no enthusiasm: “I am in the second building, 315, you can come and take it yourself.”

After a moment, there was a knock on the door. Ling Meng lazily said: “Come in.”

The door opened and sunny, handsome guy full of vitality walked in on a pair of long legs. Even the slippers he was wearing couldn’t negatively impact his overall image.

“Come to get the prize?” Ling Meng pointed listlessly at his desk. “It’s on the table, you can take it.”

Shan Zhu picked up Ling Meng’s so-called naked photo, which was taken when he was about three years old in the bath. A bare-skinned child squatted on the ground playing with water, and Shan Zhu couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you laughing at?” Ling Meng asked unhappily. “Isn’t that a naked photo?”

“Yes, of course, it counts,” Shan Zhu opened his mouth and laughed.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, Ling Meng opened his eyes wide. The voice was so familiar he could recognize it even if the tone changed.

“You are Mang God?!”

Shan Zhu raised his eyebrows: “I didn’t imagine MengMeng’s ears were so clever. Can I become your good friend now?”

Ling Meng was stunned then and there. His purpose of organizing the tournament was to catch Mang God. But when Mang God stood in front of him, why did he feel that it was just a fantasy?

“…Impossible, if it’s you, how can you make that low-level mistake?”

Shan Zhu thought about it, “Probably because the second prize was more attractive?”

Ling Meng choked up. He opened his mouth several times but kept hesitating, then he finally failed to resist the burning frenzy of his rage, shouting, “If you want to win, you should win! If you want to lose, you should lose! Don’t you know that you’re going too far, ah?”

Shan Zhu hummed and spread out his hands. With an expression of regret, he said, “Can’t do anything about it, we boys play games very well.”

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Footnotes:

1. PK: player kill in an mmo, now a slang term in China for 1v1 fights in real life as well

2. …plays games very well: yes, this is an exact reference to the infamous Lemon meme

3. large account (大号): tuba or main account of a famous gamer

4. small account (小号): trumpet or small account, typically used to play a game casually without anyone knowing it’s you (for famous players especially)

5. Bi Xin (比心): to make a heart shape with your hand(s) to show love and support

6. Brush (刷): as before, this means to refresh or swipe. In a chat barrage, this is to spam messages rapidly

7.good friend (好友): close friends, internet slang for mutual friends on social media so it’s said here as if it’s a rank that he’ll earn

8. 快熄灯了: In Chinese universities, power is shut off at a certain time each night so students don’t stay up all night (gaming lol).

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