? Prince CH 2 (2/2)

As she spoke, she directed a challenging gaze at all the felloo her Those whoto take up the gauntlet as their looks could not compare with hers

Adon really was an extremely rare ultra-beauty… Huh? You want me to describe her? It’s just the usual, with a face er than er than Rose’s), a waist slier than ain, e blow

Just as I was thinking all that nonsense, Lolidragon elbowed meOuch! I hurriedly replied, “Yes! Of course! You are my most beloved, most beautiful wife”

The lances were shot at Lolidragon She didn’t seem the least bit perturbed, however As a matter of fact, she seemed rather happy! Sweat

Although I had pretty on as my wife, this deception did have quite a few e to battle an ultra-beauty like Lolidragon over a man Thus, the dozens of wolves that barred our path slowly slunk away and ere able to saunter safely through the village at our leisure

After we reached the NPC that provided identification services, I reluctantly parted with five silvers so that we could finally see the shoes’ stats They turned out to be a pair of boots with defense +8 and agility +10, which were exactly what Lolidragon needed as an agility-oriented thief

We had to pay again at the pet shop, so I forked over another two silvers da the Wolf King

Although I really, really wanted to own a pet, no on – with her relatively low defense – needed a petin on, this pet’s all yours! I’ll wait for the next one”

“I don’t need it, I already have the boots”

How rare for Lolidragon to be so th, I still felt that she should have the pet “Your defense is low, so having a pet will greatly boost your combat potential”

“Don’t need it…”

“You don’t have to be so polite!”

“I told you I don’t need it!” Lolidragon suddenly bellowed at ht I stared at her, astonished and uncertain as to how to react Just then, Lolidragon suddenly seemed to cool off, and said weakly, “I can’t raise pets!”

Eh? I don’t get it!

“I’ve kept ”

And so she began to share withpets…

“I had a puppy before Two days after I bought it, it disappeared while I was taking it for a walk…and never came back After that, I had a turtle, but I carelessly knocked the tank over…and it fell froround floor Next, I kept a fighting fish…”

That should have been fine, right? I’ve had a fighting fish before; they’re very easy to take care of!

“Only after it died did I find out that you have to change the water in the tank…”

I was speechless

“And in the end, I kept a cactus…”

“You’re not serious… Even the cactus died?” It can’t be… right?

Lolidragon said naively, “Hoas I to know that the cactus needed watering? I thought it didn’t need water, so it shriveled up and died! After that, I vowed that, no ain…”

That truly is a disastrous history…

After three seconds of silence in memory of the innocent pets, I decided not to pursue the er – ouch! – and let a drop of blood drip onto the surface of the egg

<ding! egg successfully=”” hatched=””>

At that, the shell broke All the while, Lolidragon and I watched ide-eyed curiosity, wanting to see just ould hatch from it

Surprise! Surprise! And still , because it was simply unbelievable…

“Wha– What on earth…” I was at a loss for words, because this pet just defied iination Even if a sacred beast –such as a kirin, a phoenix or even a dragon –had hatched, I would have been a lot less shocked I grabbed Lolidragon tightly with one hand and looked at her beseechingly, wanting to confir I was

Lolidragon’s face was the picture of bewilderwhile, she finally shook off her stupor a little “Prince, could this be… No matter how I look at it, this seems to be…a bun?”

My expression beca’s shape and size all suggest a hidden goodness With that soft, sly round body, plus that aro… I don’t think it’s just a bun To be precise, it absolutely must be… A MEAT bun!”

“What?!” Lolidragon was shocked…and then cuffed ives a daetable bun! The i actually hatch into a meat bun?”

Sigh! I rubbed my head and protested, “If a hidden GM like you doesn’t know a thing about it, then how the hell would I know?”

“It could be a probleht, If that’s really the case, then I’ll have to hurry and report it to the higher-ups, in order to prevent other players’ pets fro into weird stuff

Growl! As I caught a whiff of the er I sed a mouthful of saliva as I stared at it All of a sudden, theof someone’s butt – if a meat bun even had a butt

“Lolidragon! The meat bun moved”

“What?!” She immediately crouched down next to ether

Thearound (So aas it turned Next, a pair of large, watery blue eyes, like those you ht see in a cartoon, was revealed to us

“A meat bun with eyes…” I was somewhat at a loss as to what to do

As befitting a hidden GM who had soon spoke calmly “Prince, check its stats”

I reached out and picked up that delicious-s back the impulse to eat it…

<ding! systeive=”” your=”” pet=”” a=”” name=””>

…We’ll call it Meatbun then! After all, is there aname?

(Unbelievable, the meat bun’s faster than me?)

<intelligence: 6=”” willpower:=”” 7=”” wisdom:=”” 10=””>

(A meat bun is smarter than me? Gaaah!)

“How is it? Is it really a pet?” Lolidragon asked, curious

“Yeah… Looks like it”

“…Whoever the gaon with an expressionless face, but her lips were drawn into a tight line

“It doesn’t matter; at least…it’s pretty cute!” At this, the ainst h it was a child seeking affection How cute! …Although it does feel a bit weird to have amy affection

“Does it have an offensive ability?”

“Yeah” Dog Beating Technique…

“In that case, let’s test it out on a fewslimes e leave”

Before we left the village, Lolidragon used her level 8 Tailoring ability – a profession-type ability – to craft a hat and a shi+rt She had refused to helpstyle is so wild With such exaggerateda cape would only hinder you!”

As alked up the grassy slope with all thesliia…

“Prince, give it a shot!” Lolidragon said, gazing at Meatbun

“Right!” I turned and looked at theTechnique”

It didn’t move

…Not specific enough? I tried again “Meatbun, use your Dog Beating Technique on theslime over there”

Still no movement… I’m pissed, I’m pissed – I’M SO pissED! Don’t tell me that this pet has no other use except to look cute? It’s my first pet, for heaven’s sake!

Grrr! Picking Meatbun up, I hurled it at the sli sli back if you lose!”

“What are you getting so angry with awith repressed laughter

Just then, the meat bun that I’d hurled struck the sli me a shock I quickly looked at Meatbun, deeply worried thatslime and disappear

<syste=”” technique=”” successfully=”” executed=”” by=”” =”” slime=”” hp=”” -10=””>

So, you will never see the ain…9 However, this rule did not see sli back into my hand It evena lot of fun

The still-living sli to attack ain on reflex – even as I shouted, “Meatbun… Dog, beat!”

<syste=”” technique=”” successfully=”” executed=”” by=”” =”” slime=”” has=”” died,=”” meatbun=”” has=”” reached=”” level=”” 2,=”” prince’s=”” experience=”” has=”” increased=”” to=”” xxx=”” xxxx=””>

Just like that, Meatbun – the pet that would later be known as the strongest pet in Second Life – and I defeated our first ether I stood there with a bewildered expression while Lolidragon hooted with laughter, pounding the ground with her fists

We then headed back to the Wolves’ Riverbank and resu wolves I continued to employ my kick-and-belly-slit method Occasionally, I also hurled Meatbun, so as to ensure that it wouldn’t be under-leveled due to a lack of experience

In addition, Lolidragon told me that I had motivated her (I motivated her? When? I find that very suspicious…) and that she had decided to learn frohters

We stayed in the vicinity of the Wolves’ Riverbank for so tons of wolves and leveling up quite a bit We used the sa five or six ti bears

At this point I must mention that, after a few uses, Meatbun’s Aroht was useless – leveled up The area of effect greatly increased to a radius of 150and bears out; ould never have been able to find them otherwise Also, with a wisdoreat ease… Although I suspected that the real reason was not its wisdoon and I did too s with it

Take, for instance, the other day Lolidragon wanted to try out her recently acquired, but already level ten, ability “Poisons” – which allowed her to make many types of poisons – so she coated Meatbun with a poison and fed it to a wolf The as duly poisoned to death and my Meatbun learned a new ability: Poisonous Meatbun After that, it continued to learn h! Meatbun, you really are a rare and precious pet

There ca a breather on a cliff, worn out froround while I stood in the face of a strong gust of wind, looking down on the landscape At thatin

“Lolidragon… I want to sing!”

“Go ahead then!” she replied lazily

“This ain’t a song for the broken-hearted / A silent prayer for the faith-departed / I ain’t gonna be just a face in the crowd / You’re gonna hear my voice when I shout it out aloud / It’s onna live forever / I just want to live while I’hway / Like Frankie said I did it my way / I just wanna live while I’m alive / It’s my life”

[Lyrics by Bon Jovi – “It’s My Life”]10

I ran h my wind-tousled hair

“Lolidragon!”

“Yeah?”

“Perhaps it’s not really for as inane a reason as proving uy”

“Then, what’s the real reason?”

“Maybe the real reason is that I just don’t want to hide behind anyone, not anymore

“I want to killall kinds of crazyme a violent woman

“I want to swear and cuss while killing and whenever I’ that it isn’t ladylike

“I want to be able to laugh after hearing an off-color joke, maybe even add et it, just to prove how pure and innocent I aar woman either”

I finishedas I lay down silently and joined her in staring up at the boundless sky

After a long while had passed…

“Prince” Lolidragon rolled over and propped herself up as she looked at me

“Yeah?”

“Let’s create our own legend!”

“What legend?”

“The Legend of Prince! Second Life’s greatest player, Prince!” Lolidragon said with a brilliant glea the wives of the best players; we’re going to take pride in being the best players”

Create a legend! I mused

After a on and we shared a smile

It’s my life

Legend, begin

[½ Prince Volume 1 Chapter 2 End]

Footnotes

1 Brightest future/“bright” future: This was originally on says is actually, “有前途” (yŏu qián tú), ht future”, while Prince replies with, “有钱途” (yŏu qián tú),“a lucrative future”, which sounds identical to the earlier phrase The first “qián” is the Chinese character for “front” or “forward”, while the latter “qián” is the character for “money”

2 Rising Dragon Fist: This is read as “shōryū-ken” in japanese (and written as “昇龍拳” in japanese kanji and “升龙拳” in si to Ryu frohter The move is a one-hit blow that can only be executed successfully if the enemy is airborne

3 Swaying Sword… Self-Defense: The techniques that Prince is using are a a Sword Style, “荡剑式” (prn dàng jiàn shì) and Nine Swords of Du Gu “独孤九剑” (prn dú gū jĭu jiàn) are both fro, Proud Wanderer, or “笑傲江湖” (prn xiào ào jiāng hú)Toast to the Eight is a hters “Ten” Strike, “十字斩” (prn shí zì zhăn) seeame as well (note that the character for “ten” in Chinese is written like a cross, hence the name) Quick Sword Technique, “拔刀术” (prn bò dāo sù) refers to the fairly cole stroke, destroying the enemy The rest are fairly self-explanatory

4 Jin Yong novel: Jin Yong is the author behind some of the most famousThe Legend of the Condor Heroes “射雕英雄传” (prn shè diāo yīng xióng zhuàn), The Return of the Condor Heroes “神雕侠侣” (prn shén diāo xiá lǚ) and The Laughing, Proud Wanderer “笑傲江湖” (prn xiào ào jiāng hú)

5 Iori Yagahters He seeame, with the power to manipulate fire and a sadistic personality

6 Wuxia: Written as “武侠” (wŭ xiá) in Chinese, the term literally means “martial arts hero” A wuxia novel, such as The Return of the Condor Heroes, often has a myriad of characters who are all ilistic world and each would usually have a specially name set (or sets) of skills (refer to footnote 3 for some examples)

7 To identify: Rare objects in Second Life, such as the shoes picked up by Prince and Lolidragon here, have their stats hidden and must be “identified” by the relevant NPC before players can see the itenarok Online and Guildwars, in which players have to use a lass and an identification kit respectively to check the stats for rare items

8 Meter: 1 meter = 100 centimeters = 328 feet

9 If you use a ain: The original saying in Chinese is “肉包子打狗，有去无回” (prn ròu bāo zĭ dă gŏu, yŏu qù wú huí) The underlyingis that such an action will definitely result in failure

10 It’s My Life: Song by Bon Jovi

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