The White Knight’s Identity

“Really? Are you actually falling for that girl?”

Su Xiao, wiping her mouth with a tissue, could scarcely believe her ears. After years of friendship with her bestie, it was the first time she’d discovered her friend had an interest in other women.

“I think she’s being sincere. If I don’t respond properly, I feel like she’ll be very sad.”

“Hmm, you truly are kind. But won’t she be even more disappointed when she finds out you’re a girl? Though, if I found out my male idol was actually a goddess, I’d probably be even more thrilled!”

“That’s why I’m so conflicted.”

Su Xiao didn’t play games, but as a devoted gossip enthusiast, her interest was immediately piqued.

“What’s that kid’s in-game name?”

“White Knight 09…”

“09, 09…”

Su Xiao suddenly remembered something and clapped her hands excitedly. “What a coincidence, too much of a coincidence! The world is just too small!”

Xiyue, hearing Su Xiao’s incessant chatter, asked, “What’s wrong?”

Su Xiao smiled, walked over to her bestie, and placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking conspiratorially.

“I already know who that girl is. If I tell you her true identity, what will you do?”

Xiyue was skeptical. “You haven’t even played the game; you don’t know anything about her. How could you possibly know her true identity?”

Su Xiao’s lips curved into a confident smile. “Want to bet?”

Xiyue replied calmly, “What are we betting?”

“Next exam, let me secretly peek at your answer sheet.”

“Alright. And if I win?”

“Next time, I’ll go with you to that anime convention you mentioned.”

“Fine.” Xiyue nodded. “Then tell me her true identity.”

“Ta-da! Look here!”

Su Xiao flashed a photo on her phone. It showed a beautiful blonde girl, looking slightly flustered as she checked if the golden-haired boy in front of her was alright. Though the angle clearly suggested a candid shot, the photo possessed a classical, golden-ratio composition. The girl’s profile, illuminated by the sun, had an angelic, pure quality.

“This girl is Ling Jiu, our junior. Isn’t she cute? Feeling a little flutter in your heart? Oh, and by the way, that golden-haired boy is my target, so don’t try to steal him from me!”

“Didn’t you say the footage you shot today was deleted by the police?”

Su Xiao grinned slyly. “A cunning rabbit has three burrows; I saved the photos to my cloud drive in advance.”

“Why do you think this girl is 09?”

“It’s simple. Ling Jiu, 09—her ID is a homophone, very easy to recognize. The decisive evidence is her voice! I remember now, even though you were wearing headphones, my hearing is excellent. The voice leaking from your headphones was Ling Jiu’s voice!”

Xiyue fell silent, staring blankly at the blonde beauty in the photo. Ling Jiu wore no makeup, had no styling, and hadn’t been enhanced by a camera filter; she was an unpolished, natural beauty.

Her somewhat simple attire brought a refreshing sensation, reminiscent of pure, untainted youth. That kind of radiant, sun-like girl was enough to make anyone’s heart skip a beat.

“This kid looks quite cute.”

Su Xiao gave a thumbs-up like a seasoned veteran. “Hehe, good eye. She’s a good kid. Although her personality is a bit introverted and shy, she’s a good older sister—meek but strong. Truly a rare beauty with high growth potential. I really want to collect both siblings for my harem, but if you like her, I’ll just have to reluctantly give her up.”

Xiyue rolled her eyes at Su Xiao, muttering to herself, “It feels like she’s a completely different person in reality compared to online.”

Su Xiao leaned closer to Xiyue with a mischievous grin. “Isn’t that perfectly normal? Thanks to online anonymity, even if you’re a loser in real life, you can pretend to be nobility online. Like you, my young lady Lin Xiyue, how does it feel to play the role of an ice-cold male idol online?”

“Where are you putting your hands?”

“Just checking if your development is normal, hehe. What a waste for men not to enjoy such ample assets. Ouch, that hurts…”

Embarrassed and blushing, Xiyue gave her a sharp knock on the head, leaving Su Xiao feeling particularly wronged.

“Why did you hit me? We used to play like this all the time.”

“Because now you make me feel very dangerous, and I distinctly sense your desire. Su Xiao, have you noticed you’ve become a bit too uninhibited since starting university? Weren’t you a good girl before?”

Su Xiao scoffed. “Hmph, back then, I was constrained by family and my homeroom teacher, so of course I had to be a good student. Now… besides the law, no one can restrict my happiness!”

Xiyue felt a pang of regret. She could have gone to another university she truly loved, but she worried her naive best friend would be easily deceived by men, get pregnant, be abandoned, and quickly fall into despair. So, she chose to accompany her best friend to S Province University.

Now, it seemed she had worried needlessly. Su Xiao was an expert at hiding her true self; outwardly innocent, she was already a “veteran driver” of mischief.

The old Su Xiao was a model student, a ‘three-good’ student who never did anything out of line except study. In her teachers’ eyes, she was the most obedient and well-behaved child, showered with affection.

But this new Su Xiao, fashionable and exuding a ‘hot girl’ vibe, was like two different people compared to her past self, who always wore an ugly school uniform, braided pigtails, and thick black-rimmed glasses.

However, Xiyue was in no position to criticize Su Xiao. While she was an academic ace on the surface, she was a gaming god in secret. Even her parents had no idea that their well-mannered daughter would enjoy games typically played by boys.

This made Xiyue somewhat understand why Ling Jiu would portray a foul-mouthed, annoying demon king online. Perhaps the girl, due to her introverted nature, had faced many difficulties in reality and could only vent her frustrations in the game.

Still, it wasn’t good for a girl to use foul language. As an older student, Xiyue felt she should properly correct her.

“How do you plan to handle this?”

“I should probably respond to her. After all, we’re playing the same game; we’ll definitely meet again. If I don’t handle it well, our next encounter will be very awkward.”

“Why don’t you just tell her you’re a girl, or pretend to be a couple in the game? Anyway, no one else knows your true identity, and everyone will still gossip about it.”

A thought suddenly struck Xiyue. Since Ling Jiu was her junior, couldn’t she just confirm it when they returned to their alma mater? A proper conversation with her should resolve the issue perfectly.

“Hey, wait, Su Xiao, I remember us having an event to give a presentation at our old high school, right?”

Su Xiao sprang up. “That’s right! I was wondering how to get that golden-haired boy’s contact information! Won’t I find out by asking at our old school? It’s been a while since I saw Old Zhang; I wonder if he’s gone completely bald yet.”

Xiyue smiled with delight; now she could achieve her goal.

“Xiyue, is there something on your face? It looks like a feathered snake biting its own tail?”

“Really? Did my makeup smudge?”

Xiyue quickly pulled out a mirror to check, while Su Xiao grinned foolishly at her secretly taken photos.

“Click!”

A flash of white light streaked across Su Xiao’s eyes. She looked up, her tone as menacing as a villain’s. “Hoho, so you were awake after all? Speak! How much did you hear?”

The girl who had taken the photo opened her feigned closed eyes and pulled out her phone from under the covers.

“Damn it, I forgot to turn off the flash. Your smile just now was so lewd, so funny; I really want to send it to my boyfriend.”

Su Xiao frowned with displeasure. “Heh, what do you mean ‘your boyfriend’? Isn’t that my husband? Oh, so you’re seducing my man and trying to smear this empress?”

“Pfft, Empress, you should take some medicine. If you’d had more Cefazolin, you wouldn’t be this drunk.”

“Oh, you wretched servant, trying to harm this empress! Take her away! Granny Rong, attend to her!”

The other girls, who had been pretending to sleep, burst into laughter. These two were both infatuated with the same celebrity, constantly bickering and turning their dorm into a palace drama.

Xiyue ignored the cheerful atmosphere in the dorm. She touched the pattern on her face in the mirror, feeling a slight warmth there. However, when she tried to examine the pattern closely, it completely vanished.

Xiyue suddenly felt a headache coming on. As if possessed, she uttered a phrase in a tone entirely unlike her usual self:

“I’ve finally found you, Apostle Ling Jiu.”