Chapter 15 The Unlucky Xie Tingsheng

Chapter 15: Xie Tingsheng, the Unlucky Bastard

A flicker of surprise broke through Xie Tingsheng’s handsome yet gloomy face.

His slender fingers moved, opening the interface of the player marketplace.

The four items Zhu Bin mentioned were not unfamiliar to him—they were etched in "Xie Tingsheng’s" memories. These were exclusive items available in the game’s official trade zone for standard members, and he had originally planned to gather ten gold coins to purchase them after activating his membership.

However, in "Xie Tingsheng’s" memories, the Elf Flower Robe cost ten gold coins. Why was the Koi Little Fairy selling it for less?

Even if she were reselling to capitalize on others who hadn’t yet activated their memberships, the price should have been higher than the official one.

Suspicious, Xie Tingsheng scrolled through the free trade zone interface but found none of the four items Zhu Bin had mentioned.

Seeing his frown, Zhu Bin chuckled.

"Brother Sheng, quit checking. They’re all sold out. Each of those four items was rare. Luckily, I had a hunch—when I saw the product description for the ordinary antidote, I knew it was good stuff. The seller was a true master, so I grabbed the other two cheaper items they listed first. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten anything."

"Dude, the game just launched, and there are already so many rich players. There were a whopping forty-five Elf Flower Robes, over nine hundred bottles of ordinary antidote, and plenty of protective suits and Poison Repellent. Yet, they were all gone in seconds. You’d need at least twenty years of single life to develop that kind of hand speed."

"But the real legend is that Koi Master selling the stuff. Did they really get all these amazing items from opening treasure chests? No wonder they’re called ‘Koi’—their luck is as ridiculously strong as their name suggests..."

Zhu Bin rambled on excitedly, his tone full of admiration and praise.

Even Xie Tingsheng’s dark, stormy eyes couldn’t help but flicker with envy.

Who was that lucky Koi?

His insomnia was severe—no matter how exhausted he was, he couldn’t sleep. He had stayed awake in bed until the game’s loading sound played, so he had gotten up and left within seconds of the game’s launch, dragging Zhu Bin out to farm mobs.

In just over an hour, he had killed twenty-five werewolves and thirteen goblins, looting thirty-three treasure chests. Only when he couldn’t find any more monsters nearby did he stop and return to Zhu Bin’s villa with the chests.

But the grind wasn’t paying off for him. After opening thirty chests, he hadn’t even gathered enough for one gold coin, let alone the ten needed for a standard membership—just ninety copper coins in total.

With "Xie Tingsheng’s" memories, he knew such consistently terrible luck wasn’t normal. Moreover, "Xie Tingsheng" hadn’t gotten such awful drops either. The problem had to lie with him.

He had always known his luck wasn’t great, but he never imagined he’d be this much of an unlucky bastard!

Xie Tingsheng fell silent.

His dark eyes narrowed as his gloved hand pressed against the armrest of the sofa. With a slight push, he stood up, then bent down to hand-pick the soil from several chests into one. Carrying the chest full of dirt, he headed for the door.

"Hey, Brother Sheng, there are still three chests left. Aren’t you opening them?"

Zhu Bin, who had just returned from fetching an unopened chest, instinctively called out.

Xie Tingsheng paused, his thin lips pressing together as his handsome face darkened. "Save them for later."

"Got it." Zhu Bin felt like hailstones were pelting his face. He quickly shrunk his neck, wishing he could slap himself.

Stupid! Brother Sheng must be upset about his bad chest openings, and here he was, *poking the bear*.

He hurriedly set the chest down and kicked it aside, then cautiously asked, "So, Brother Sheng, are you heading back? Why don’t you and Hua Diao move into my villa? It’s the apocalypse now. Jinxiu Huayuan is not only high up but also crowded and inconvenient. Plus, Hua Diao’s temper isn’t great, and she’s still hung up on that 'pretty boy' downstairs. I’m worried you’ll have a hard time later."

What if that woman lost it and gave away the food or items Brother Sheng worked so hard to get to that "pretty boy" downstairs? Wouldn’t Brother Sheng suffer for nothing? It’d be better to move here—at least there’d be distance. Even if she wanted to give stuff away, she’d have to be brave enough to leave the house first.

But Xie Tingsheng instinctively recalled the woman’s sharp tongue when she had cursed that "wild man." The corners of his eyes lifted slightly, and his heavy mood lightened a little.

Then, his lips curled into a faint smile as he replied in a tired, hoarse voice, "No need. She knows her limits."

Zhu Bin wasn’t surprised, wearing a knowing look.

Ah, Brother Sheng was perfect in every way—except for his terrible taste in women. He was so lovesick over Hua Diao, even going out of his way to cover for her.

The kind of person Hua Diao was had long been common knowledge in their Qingcheng trust fund kid scene. How could he not know what she was like? He just felt it wasn’t worth it for Brother Sheng.

Seeing that Brother Sheng couldn’t be persuaded, he switched gears. "Brother Sheng, actually, I’m the one who’s scared. My villa’s storing all the food you bought. I’m living alone here—what if someone targets me and breaks in to steal?"

Xie Tingsheng paused mid-step. Just as Zhu Bin excitedly thought he had succeeded, he heard a cold, ruthless response: "Come out. We’re laying landmines."

Damn—

Brother Sheng was truly Brother Sheng—brutally efficient!

Zhu Bin sucked in a sharp breath but, after some thought, decided to go through with it.

*Fortune favored the bold*. In the apocalypse, human morality wouldn’t hold up. His earlier words weren’t entirely false—he really was afraid he couldn’t protect the villa.

When he had bought the food, the commotion hadn’t been small. Though he had tried to keep it low-key, shipments of supplies coming in were bound to be noticed.

Still, to show he wasn’t completely heartless, he had even put up signs around the villa: "Landmines inside. We won’t pay your hospital bills."

If anyone still insisted on breaking in after that, then he wouldn’t feel guilty about blowing them to bits.

By the time the two finished burying landmines under the relentless assault of plague mosquitoes, the sky was beginning to lighten.

Zhu Bin handed half of the ordinary antidotes, Poison Repellent, and protective suits he had bought to Xie Tingsheng, then stood at the door like a devoted housewife seeing her husband off to work, watching Xie Tingsheng leave.

On the way back in his junker truck, Xie Tingsheng wasn’t idle either—he bagged three more werewolves he encountered, hauling the two dropped chests and the soil-filled one all the way back to the eighteenth floor.

Once inside, he took off his protective suit, then peeled off the T-shirt underneath and wrung it out. Water dripped steadily, enough to fill a small bowl.

Xie Tingsheng pressed his bloodless lips together and suddenly found Zhu Bin’s suggestion quite reasonable. Until the floods hit, staying at the villa would indeed be more convenient than living on the eighteenth floor.