Marriage, legally known as the establishment of matrimony, refers to the civil legal act by which two partners establish a spousal relationship in accordance with the conditions and procedures stipulated by law, thereby assuming the resulting rights, obligations, and other responsibilities.
To put it plainly, it’s about ‘you marry me, I marry you.’ In modern times, the emphasis often shifts from a sense of responsibility to the ceremonial aspect, akin to forging a lifelong covenant, though true lifelong partnerships are, regrettably, rare.
While Bai Xia had never experienced marriage firsthand, she was far from unfamiliar with the concept. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that for any ‘over-aged’ adult, marriage was hardly a foreign notion, for once their children grew up, parents’ foremost concern invariably turned to their marital status.
Bai Xia herself had once been a prime example. Whenever she returned to her hometown during holidays to visit her parents and spend time with family, they would inevitably launch into hundreds of incessant remarks, even going so far as to arrange various blind dates.
Consequently, for some modern individuals, marriage was far from a beautiful prospect; instead, it often evoked a sense of weariness. Yet, in Bai Xia’s estimation, such concerns felt distant from her current reality. Given her unique circumstances, she had long resigned herself to a lifetime of solitude.
She had never anticipated, however, that the word ‘marriage’ would resurface so soon.
“Marriage? With whom… Oh, it seems only Qian Zhong and you two are getting married now?”
If she recalled correctly, she had vaguely heard during previous conversations that Qian Qiao and Qian Zhong’s agreed-upon time was after her university graduation. Surely, there was still some time until that point?
Though it was none of her business, Bai Xia couldn’t help but feel a flicker of interest.
Simultaneously, she noticed that Dream Butterfly, upon hearing the news, also wore an expression of surprise. From the look of it, she too was hearing this for the first time.
This made it somewhat difficult to comprehend. How could Qian Zhong, as an older brother, be getting married without informing his sister, Dream Butterfly? They weren’t estranged; quite the opposite, their sibling relationship was exceptionally close.
So, was this a sudden whim of Qian Qiao’s, or was it meant to be a surprise for Dream Butterfly?
Facing Bai Xia’s bewilderment, the excited red-haired girl, puffing out her chest, nodded vigorously. “That’s right, we’re getting married very soon!”
“Wait a moment.”
Dream Butterfly, standing nearby, furrowed her brow, her face etched with confusion. “My brother’s getting married? Why don’t I know about this? Surely, there’s no need to hide something like this from me, is there? Or is it because of our parents?”
“Of course, it’s because—”
Deliberately prolonging the pause to capture their attention, the red-haired girl savored the moment as Bai Xia and Dream Butterfly watched expectantly. After a long while, she finally chuckled and said, “Of course, it’s because we’re actually getting married in the game!”
“…”
Silence. A prolonged, heavy silence.
Then, with a sharp ‘smack,’ Dream Butterfly slapped her on the head.
The sudden blow left Qian Qiao utterly bewildered, her face a mask of confusion. “Why did you hit me? That’s so rude! And obviously, when I announced we were getting married, I meant in the game. What were you two thinking?”
‘No, no, no. If someone suddenly announced they were getting married right in front of you, most people would immediately assume it was a real-life marriage, not something confined to a game.’
‘And—’ Bai Xia thought, then voiced aloud, “This game actually allows marriage now?”
Even though it was merely an in-game marriage, Bai Xia’s interest, far from waning, only intensified.
As a virtual online game boasting extremely high freedom, ‘Otherworld’ naturally permitted couples to marry. Rumor had it that after marriage, players would gain benefits like enhanced team play and exclusive attributes.
Bai Xia didn’t know much about this particular aspect, but given the frequent discussions on the forums, she wasn’t entirely ignorant either.
However, while the game currently featured a couple system, actual married players… she genuinely hadn’t encountered any.
‘Otherworld’ was indeed a game, but precisely because it was a game, some rules were rigidly fixed.
Anyone could become a couple, with no gender requirements whatsoever. Yet, the path to marriage was far from simple!
“Have your affection points really accumulated that high?”
Affection points existed between couples, though they weren’t numerical values derived from personal attributes. Instead, they were accumulated through actions such as sending gifts, teaming up, and playing couple mini-games.
The higher the score, the greater the benefits received by partnered players when teaming up. There were even rumors of combo skills becoming available later on, a testament to the ingenious design of this system.
However, simply showering someone with gifts and teaming up wasn’t enough to boost affection points.
Not only did affection become harder to increase the higher it got, but it also wasn’t static.
Prolonged lack of contact, accidental friendly fire during team play, or being wiped out by a mob—all these situations could lead to a decline in affection. To raise it again would require several times the effort previously expended.
As for marriage, if Bai Xia remembered correctly, both parties needed to exceed 520 affection points. Currently, it was estimated that very few in-game couples had affection levels over 150, and 200 was likely already considered top-tier.
Marriage under such circumstances? Bai Xia harbored some doubt, wondering if Qian Qiao was merely indulging in wishful thinking, until she saw the panel and numbers the other girl deliberately displayed.
Affection:
“Over three hundred affection points?!”
Seeing that number, Bai Xia was genuinely surprised. In her understanding, Qian Qiao and Qian Zhong hadn’t really done anything significant, so where had such a high affection score come from?
“Hehe, pretty impressive, right?” Bai Xia’s slightly astonished expression greatly pleased Qian Qiao. Patting her chest, she leaned in conspiratorially toward Bai Xia’s ear. “Actually, the reason the score is so high is because I discovered a secret.”
“What secret?” It was Dream Butterfly who asked, clearly having developed a strong interest in this unusually high affection score herself.
In response to their bewilderment, the red-haired girl made a gesture. Despite being in an enclosed room, she waited until everyone leaned in close before whispering softly, “I discovered that doing *that kind of thing* in the game can actually increase affection points!”
“…”
‘Although I suspected it wouldn’t be a proper answer, Bai Xia was stunned for a moment. Of course, she quickly recovered. Wait, wait, wait. Putting everything else aside, if she remembered correctly, wasn’t the [Love Hotel] in this game only accessible to adults aged twenty and above?’
Indeed, Bai Xia quickly spotted the flaw.
Qian Qiao, whom Bai Xia had expected to reveal the truth after being ‘seen through,’ instead developed an even more peculiar smile. “What if it wasn’t a hotel?”
“If it’s not a hotel, that should be impossible, right?”
‘After all, this wasn’t a game centered around *that*. Even opening those couple rooms in the game came with heavy restrictions, let alone other scenarios.’
Out in the wilderness, even if you stripped off all your equipment, the system would still provide you with a modest system-issued cloth outfit, which was generally impossible to remove.
The only places where it could be removed were specific love hotels, or in another, rarer situation—if it was *destroyed*!
For instance, Bai Xia’s own system-issued cloth outfit had once been destroyed by Shura’s Blade, and she wasn’t even sure if it was permanently gone, leaving her with a phantom ache whenever she thought about it.
However, items, equipment, or skills with a ‘destroy’ attribute were uncommon in the game. Moreover, if a player were to use such a capability, it likely wouldn’t just destroy clothes; it would probably obliterate the person along with them!
Bai Xia didn’t believe Qian Zhong and Qian Qiao possessed such high-end abilities. After all, it was still early in the game. And even if they did, why would they use such a power for something so frivolous as ‘wild activities,’ when it could be used for so much more?
No matter how she looked at it, this was utterly—’unreliable.’ Well, she was just kidding.
“Just because the hotels in town won’t do, doesn’t mean there aren’t black market shops!”
The term: black market shop.
“What’s a black market shop?”
“It’s a mysterious shop.”
Qian Qiao wagged a finger, looking utterly mysterious, making Bai Xia want to hit her, but she ultimately held back.
Fortunately, the girl didn’t prolong her smugness and patiently explained, “Earlier, when you two logged off and my darling and I were grinding affection points together, we stumbled into a mysterious shop. We couldn’t afford anything inside, and maybe because of that, even the boss didn’t show up. Out of boredom, we stayed there for a while and then discovered that the mysterious shop’s area actually allowed for… hehehe.”
‘Though she really wanted to quip, ‘Why on earth would you two get up to *that* in someone else’s shop?’ Bai Xia couldn’t help but say aloud—”This is clearly a bug, right?!”
“Probably,” Qian Qiao, thick-skinned as she was, couldn’t very well boast about the detailed process to others. Hearing Bai Xia’s words, she nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. “It’s most likely a loophole. I mean, not only could we do *that*, but it also boosted our affection by a whole hundred points afterward!”
‘No wonder it was so high. Those hundred points, from two hundred to three hundred affection, were far harder to gain than the first two hundred combined.’
“Of course, whether it’s truly a loophole or not, we can just test it out next time we encounter a mysterious shop. If it really is a loophole, it should have been patched a long time ago!”
“You’re actually planning to experiment again? You little rascal!”
Hearing Qian Qiao say this, even Dream Butterfly, standing nearby, couldn’t help but show a speechless expression. She reached out to pinch Qian Qiao’s ear, but the latter deftly dodged her.
Qian Qiao skipped to the side, sticking out her tongue, then stated matter-of-factly, “When playing a game, having fun is the most important thing! I’m merely seeking enjoyment and… titillation!”
‘So, you almost found it *in bed*, did you?’
Bai Xia sighed softly. Reluctant to delve deeper into this particular topic, she decisively interjected, “Even so, you’re still far short on affection points, aren’t you?”
“That’s why it’s next month!”
“Alright then, Luo’er, how are you planning the wedding? If I’m not mistaken, there should be quite a few options for ceremonies in this game, right?” Dream Butterfly glanced at the thoughtful girl. “You’re not just going to have a simple marriage contract witnessed by the system, are you?”
“Of course not! But I actually haven’t properly thought about that yet. Hmm… I’ll need to ponder and discuss it carefully.”