½ Prince

Chapter 3: A Gentle and Friendly Wolf – translated by Erialis

“Prince, I think it’s meaningless to continue like this,” Lolidragon said, both her tone and gaze pleading.

My eyebrows furrowed. Sigh! As I expected, here it comes.

“Fine, we’ll do what needs to be done!” Gripping her shoulders tightly, I looked at Lolidragon with a firm expression.

“You’ve finally agreed to it…” Seeing how ecstatic she looked, I thought, Sigh! Forget it, as long as she’s happy…

“Yaaay! We’re finally out of the newbie area, whew! I was getting bored to death, staying in that tiny area,” she said enthusiastically.

Sigh! Truth be told, I still felt that the nearby Skeletons’ Cave was a pretty good place to train. Even though the experience yielded was not much for the level thirty-three Lolidragon and the level thirty-five me (not to forget the level twenty-three Meatbun!), we could take the mobs down in seconds most of the time, so we actually weren’t leveling up too slowly. I had planned to continue like this all the way to level forty, but Lolidragon was starting to feel restless. She kept whining about wanting to go to the big cities…

Thus, after three days – during which my ears nearly went deaf from her non-stop whining – I reluctantly bade farewell to the skeletons…

Let’s go! After all, I was rather curious about the outside world. After paying for our travel fares, Lolidragon and I left the newbie village and began our journey into a new world.

“Prince, why did you pick Star City over Sun City and Moon City?” she asked just before we set out.

I shrugged. “My brother’s been hanging out in Star City, and he keeps telling me about the best places to train there. I figured that since I already have some familiarity with it, we might as well go there!”

Upon reaching Star City, I could only think of one word to describe it: Beautiful. It really was a beautiful city, with its quaint European-styled streets and buildings, and the star-studded sky overhead. Stepping out of the teleportation point and walking along the white, cobbled streets, I felt as though I had become more elegant and more refined.

Lolidragon clung to me as we walked. Don’t misunderstand; this was just a secret arrangement between the two of us. Whenever we had to appear in a place with other players, we would put up a show of affection, or else… Well, I’m sure everyone’s gotten the point. (Sigh! My Litheness ability even reached level three because of all those pretty girls chasing after me as though they were possessed…) Even so, no matter where we went, the girls nearby would turn to stone and stare at me dazedly, and then turn to glare venomously at Lolidragon.

“Prince, can we dine at a fancy restaurant? Please?” Lolidragon asked, looking at me beseechingly and I scratched my head.

That sounded like a pretty good idea. After all, in the newbie village, the best food you could get was meat buns… However, ever since I had accidentally mistaken Meatbun for a normal meat bun and tried to take a bite, I’d stuck to eating mantous.

“Alright. After all, we’ve got more than enough money, so let’s go get a taste of the local flavor!”

After carefully browsing through a catalogue, Lolidragon and I decided on a lakeside restaurant. The building was mostly constructed from clear glass and as the two of us entered, a pretty waitress came over.

“Table for two, please,” I said to the waitress with a faint smile (that Lolidragon had drilled into me), looking every inch a prince.

The pretty waitress turned to stone. Shit, I thought, breaking out in cold sweat, I didn’t expect the waiters here to be real people! Without thinking, I tightened my grip on Lolidragon’s right arm.

“A hottieee!” The pretty waitress cried out in wonder. It was a soft cry, so only the people on the ground floor heard. I panicked as all heads turned to look at me, thinking, What– what should I do now? Oh god, looks like it’s going to be hard to even grab a bite.

“Maintain your refined aura, and don’t worry! With first-class merchandise like you, plus a super-ultra-beauty like me, nobody will dare to approach us,” Lolidragon PMed me. She, the unmatched beauty, had taught me this trick. She had told me, The more you’re being stared at, the more you need to present yourself as superior merchandise. That way, you’ll make them feel inferior, and they won’t dare approach.

Fighting back the urge to flee, I adjusted the faint smile on my face a little and said gently, “Miss, a table for two – would you be so kind as to guide us to a seat?”

The pretty waitress reddened and, with some difficulty, finally led us to a seat. Still wearing that faint smile I sat down and turned to stare at the other diners. As expected, it was very effective and those whom I gazed upon didn’t dare to look at me again.

I flipped the menu open. Using it as a shield to conceal our faces from others, Lolidragon and I discarded our earlier expressions. Looking for all the world like two people who hadn’t eaten a proper meal for several months, the two of us began to discuss the menu in low voices…

“Prince, I want to eat this, and this.”

Looking at the pictures, I had to swallow a few mouthfuls of saliva. “I want those too, and this…”

“That looks pretty good too…”

“Lolidragon, you’re drooling!”

“You’re one to talk, look at your own pauper-like face…”

I retorted, “Haven’t you read The Prince and the Pauper before?”

“Don’t forget to order a few meat buns for Meatbun…”

The pets in Second Life required feeding. After lots of experimentation, I’d finally PMed a GM to ask, “Excuse me, GM, but could you tell me what a meat bun eats?”

The GM’s response was as follows: “Please do not attempt to make fun of a GM. If you try it again, you will be forced to log off and your account will be suspended for a month.”

Following that, the undefeatable hidden GM Lolidragon had brought the entire matter before their superiors. The other GM had been thoroughly lectured by the higher-ups…and I discovered that the normal meat buns in my bag had actually vanished without a trace. As Lolidragon had insisted that she hadn’t secretly eaten them, I – dubiously – decided to try feeding Meatbun some normal meat buns. Meatbun had then actually happily eaten three of its own kindred…!

Putting down the menu, Lolidragon once again adopted the appearance of a blissful young woman. I too, put on a princely demeanor and successfully gave our order to the blushing waitress.

Time passed excruciatingly slowly as we waited for our meal. For the sake of appearances, Lolidragon and I could only converse softly, plus we had to be careful not to be overheard.

What a pain… Huh? Why can’t we let others overhear?

The contents of our conversation were like this…

“Lolidragon, you should give up on Chun Li’s ultimate! That helicopter move definitely isn’t humanly possible.”

“I don’t want to! That move is su-uper cool; I will definitely master it. Plus, look who’s talking! You’re the one who keeps experimenting with Iori Yagami’s Rage of the Eight Maidens. Now that isn’t humanly possible.”

“No, I’m not. Right now I’m modifying Kenshin’s Nine-headed Dragon Strike.”

“Sigh! Why is Yang Guo’s Melancholic Palms so hard to execute?” Lolidragon complained.

“Nonsense. After all, the writer – Master Jin Yong – said that, to use Melancholic Palms, one must possess feelings of melancholy. When have you ever been melancholic?”

“I have,” Lolidragon replied innocently. “I even cried once when I was chopping onions…”

“…”

As Lolidragon and I were having that nonsensical conversation, a group of people were coming down the stairs from the second floor…

“Wu Qing, the Raging Dragon’s Valley may be a little dangerous, but with the six of us and you, going there to train, it should pose no problem,” a handsome and refined human warrior was saying to the guy next to him as they descended the stairs.

“That’s right, Wu Qing. Come with us!” Eh? I thought. That open and honest attitude and expression… Isn’t that Li’l Strong? And beside him are Legolas and For Healing Only…

“Since friend Broken Sword and friend Li’l Strong have offered such a warm invitation, Feng Wu Qing shall not further refuse, and will join you as a member of Rose Team. Let us work hard together from now on!” Feng Wu Qing was wearing a stylish robe and holding a jade flute. All that, in addition to that extremely handsome face, was enough to render Rose Team’s mage, Snow White Rose, and a pretty human thief, Fairsky, utterly mesmerized.

Sitting by the stairs, I heard every word that was being said. Hearing the name “Feng Wu Qing”, together with that irritating way of talking that was an obvious imitation of Chu Liu Xiang, I narrowed my eyes. Don’t tell me it’s… I thought as I turned around slowly…

That face! Though it’s been beautified, as his twin sister of nineteen years, I am definitely NOT mistaken. It’s that DAMN LITTLE BROTHER OF MINE, Feng Yang Ming! Eh, and that female elf…is Snow White Rose! My dear sister!

At this point, the pretty human girl with them seemed to have noticed me. As expected, she turned to stone.

“Fairsky? What’s the matter? Why have you stopped mid-step?”  Legolas asked, seeing that Fairsky had frozen.

“Fairsky?” The rest of Rose Team looked questioningly at Fairsky and then, following her line of sight, turned to look at me…

“What’s wrong, Prince?” Lolidragon PMed me, having seen my strange behavior.

“The most handsome guy over there, the human swordsman, Feng Wu Qing, is my little brother.”

“Does he know…?”

“He knows that I’m a tranny, but he doesn’t know who I am!” Then I added, “Don’t let him find out.”

“Oh. Okay, then behave more naturally; your face is stiff as a corpse’s.”

Hearing that, I adjusted my expression and smiled slightly at them.

“So handsome…” Fairsky said, dazedly.

Feng Wu Qing, however, looked rather annoyed. He was obviously wondering where “that fellow” had came from (From your house…) and how that fellow – who was only a little good-looking – had actually dared to snatch the spotlight away from himself. Wu Qing became even more pissed off when he turned around and saw that Rose – even Rose!  – was regarding that fellow with an expression of wonder.

At this, I got up and walked over. After all, Rose and the others had helped me before. The very least I could do was to go up and say hi to them.

“It’s been a while, Rose, Li’l Strong, Legolas, For Healing Only,” I said.

“You know us?” Li’l Strong asked, extremely surprised. His impression was that he’d never met this good-looking guy before. The others had similarly puzzled expressions.

I smiled faintly. “I’m Prince.”

“Prince…?”

My smile became wry. Looks like they’ve completely forgotten about me, I thought. “That mask-wearing Prince, remember?”

“Ah… It’s you.” Li’l Strong lightly rapped his temple, realizing why he couldn’t remember this face.

“The one who used taekwondo to fight mobs?” For Healing Only said, his eyes alight with laughter.

“Were you wearing a mask then because you were too good-looking?” Legolas asked with an odd expression.

“Yeah…” Just then, Lolidragon came over to stand beside me. “Ah, let me introduce everyone. This is my companion, Lolidragon. Lolidragon, this is Rose, Li’l Strong, Legolas, and For Healing Only. They’ve helped me out before.”

Lolidragon took me by the arm and gave them an incandescent smile. “Hello.”

“So it’s you, Prince…” my dear sister, Rose, said bashfully. I broke out in cold sweat at her tone.

Suddenly, my little brother interrupted. “Hello. I’m a new member of Rose Team, Feng Wu Qing.”

He gave a slight smile. I recognized that smile as his so-called coolest, most confident, Chu Liu Xiang-styled smile. My brother once told me that if he shows this expression to a girl, it means that he wants to make her fall for him; whereas if he shows this expression to a guy, it means that he wants to challenge him… What the heck! What are you challenging me for!?

“Hello!” I replied with a faint smile. In my heart, however, I was thinking, What the hell is up with that challenging expression?! It’s pissing me off! Grr, keep that up and I won’t be cooking dinner for you later…

As a strange tension developed between the two of us, the two girls – Snow White Rose and Fairsky – looked at Feng Wu Qing. They then turned to look at me, seeming as though they were torn between two choices…  I felt like collapsing onto the ground as realization hit me.Now I get it!

STUPID BROTHER! I’m NOT trying to snatch your GIRLS from you! I yelled silently in my head.

My brother only gave a twirl of his jade flute, still playing it cool. He smiled and said, “Friend Prince truly is blessed, to have a significant other as beautiful as Lolidragon; seeing such a yuan-yang couple leaves me truly envious, sigh!”

I forced a smile. “You flatter us…”

“Is your little brother this much of a skirt-chaser in private, too?” Lolidragon asked in a PM, even as she maintained the appearance of a demure young woman.

“As if. If I’m the only one around, he drops that Chu Liu Xiang attitude and becomes a total idiot.”

Upon hearing Feng Wu Qing’s words, Fairsky and Rose both turned pale and Fairsky hurriedly asked, “Prince, are you two really lovers?”

“Yeah, Lolidragon is…my wife.”

Fairsky’s face nearly fell off. To think that she finally met such an ideal hottie, only to find out that he was married – and that his wife was an incomparable beauty! Her mood completely soured. Fairsky looked at my perfect and handsome appearance with longing. A chill just ran up my spine!

No, I won’t give up! She thought. I still have a secret weapon…

Just then, Lolidragon noticed my awkwardness and instantly created an excuse for me to escape.

“Dear, our food’s been served!”

With that, I hurriedly bade farewell to members of Rose Team and returned to my seat to enjoy my meal.

I tucked into my food heartily, despite a nagging feeling that there was something odd about that exchange. Afterwards, Lolidragon and I went on a stroll through the city in order to digest the huge meal we had just eaten.

“Prince, have you thought about forming a party?” Lolidragon asked me.

“What’s so good about a party?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.

The knowledgeable Lolidragon began to explain it to me in detail. “Later on, the mobs will become much stronger, so it’ll probably become pretty tough for us to fight them on our own. But if we had a priest and a mage, it’ll be easier to take them down. We would probably level up even faster than we do now too. Also, with a party we could go to the Adventurers’ Guild and accept group quests. If we complete them successfully, they can yield good quest rewards, money, increase our reputation, etc.”

“Hmm…” That sounded pretty good to me. “Then let’s form a party!”

Hearing that, Lolidragon rolled her eyes. “It’s not that simple. A party must have a minimum of five members! Right now, there’s only the two of us.”

“That–”

“Hold up, the two of you in front,” a lovely voice called out imperiously, interrupting me.

Confused, I turned about to see the pretty human girl from Rose Team. I’d met her just a little while before… I think her name is Fairsky?“Is something the matter?”

Her hands were on her hips. She seemed to be striving for a fierce, unyielding demeanor…but the end result was neither here nor there, given her small, delicate face. However, at that moment, a row of eight hulking guys suddenly appeared behind her…

What is going on? A robbery? In Star City? Lolidragon and I were thoroughly puzzled. Nearby players stopped to watch, clearly curious about what was going on.

“If I may ask… What business do you have with us?” I said, still maintaining that gentlemanly smile.

So hot… Fairsky thought with a worshipful expression. Her resolve intensified – she would definitely get this gorgeous man to take her as his wife! Thus, the lines she had come up with after a long period of deliberation sprang to her lips.

“The way is mine to clear and the tree is mine to cut; for you to pass through here… With. The. Hottie. You. Must. Part.”

…All of us – Lolidragon, myself, and the surrounding players that is – were simply stunned.

Seeing no response from me, Fairsky stamped her foot. “Listen, Prince. I want you to dump your current wife, Lolidragon, and become myhusband. I’ll feed you, house you, equip you, clothe you, and I’ll even give you an allowance.” She proudly raised her chin in assurance. “Don’t worry, I definitely have money. If you don’t believe me, I can give you fifty thousand gold first.”

I was confounded. “You mean… You want to take care of me?”

“That’s right!”

In secret, Lolidragon had long since started to laugh till her sides split; however, for the sake of her image, she fought valiantly to control her laughter. The rising corners of her mouth were the only evidence of her mirth.

The spectators, on the other hand, had long since burst into laughter. Amidst the babble, I could hear a few remarks, like: “Whoa, what a manly babe”, “Take care of me too, babe”, and “Che, why don’t you take a look at yourself first!”.

“What to do, Lolidragon… And stop laughing, will you,” I PMed her plaintively.

“Ahahaha! …Just turn her down, obviously. After all, what can she do to you on the streets in broad daylight anyway?” Lolidragon replied, choking with laughter.

Ignoring the two-hundred-decibels-loud laughter around us, I had no choice but to force an apologetic expression onto my face. Waaah! I’m an innocent party… “I’m very sorry, but I have no intention of abandoning my wife, so please… Look for a husband elsewhere!”

Damn it! Fairsky thought, looking at Lolidragon with apparent fury. The latter, however, appeared to be totally unconcerned and was busy examining her fingernails. This only enraged Fairsky further. “Boys, kill that woman and send her back to the rebirth point.”

Her eight underlings looked at each other in hesitation – after all, to kill such an exquisitely beautiful woman was simply…unthinkable!

Furious, Fairsky shouted, “Hurry up and do it! If you kill her, I’ll give you fifty thousand!”

The two of us paled and Lolidragon seemed to be blazing with anger. “Don’t you dare to even think of doing something to us out here on the main street!”

Tempted by the promise of fifty thousand gold, the eight thugs slowly approached us. Hurriedly, I shielded Lolidragon with my body. The surrounding players began to mutter resentfully, but a single sentence from Fairsky made them hesitate to involve themselves. “If anyone dares to interfere, I’ll get these boys to kill you over and over again until you return to level one.”

“Prince…” Lolidragon’s face was now pale as a sheet as she hid behind me.

“Don’t be afraid. If you die, I’ll die with you. After all, it’s just a level, we can always retrain,” I comforted Lolidragon, who seemed to calm down a little upon hearing my words.

“I’ll ask you again, Prince. Will you be my husband? If you agree, I’ll let Lolidragon go.”

Fairsky’s self-centered speech nearly drove Lolidragon into an inarticulate rage. “You damn bitch! Even if you kill me until I hit level one, Prince will still be MY husband!”

Hearing that, Fairsky was incensed. “Kill her.”

One guy, dazzled by the promise of fifty thousand gold, decided to rush in ahead and claim the entire reward for his own. He came striding in, forcefully wielding a double-headed axe. In response, I reached into my pouch and grabbed my powerful assistant – Meatbun – and lobbed it savagely at Fairsky’s hirelings.

“Meatbun, use Poisonous Meatbun.” As Meatbun flew towards their heads, it released a stream of poison gas.

<Thugs A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H successfully poisoned, HP -20/s, will last for 20 minutes, can be cured with a major antidote>

Once Meatbun returned to my hand, I dashed towards Thug A at lightning speed, making full use of the temporary confusion and fright caused by Meatbun. “Nine-headed Dragon Strike!”

Nine-headed Dragon Strike was a move from the Rurouni Kenshin manga that I’d copied and modified. It combined normal hacking and slashing with moves such as the “Ten” Strike through the use of my Continuous Attack ability.

At present, it allows for ten continuous attacks, so perhaps I should rename ‘Nine-headed Dragon Strike’ as ‘Ten-headed Dragon Strike’…

When added to the attack power of my level fifteen Black Dao and the fire damage from Inferno Slash, the result was an insanely powerful move – one that could be considered my ultimate move for the time being. Even the strongest mob in the newbie area – the boss Skeleton King – had turned into a pile of broken bones before the move could be completely executed.

“Aaaaaaargh!” Thug A let out a blood-curdling scream before turning into a pillar of light and shooting into the sky.

I immediately grabbed a mana potion from my pouch and began gulping down the contents. The greatest problem with using the Nine-headed Dragon Strike lay in the amount of mana it drained. Luckily enough, the others were all too stunned by the sudden violence to grab the opportunity and attack me.

Remembering how Kenshin would always look at his enemies coldly and cause them to lose confidence, I too looked coldly at the remaining seven thugs and spoke in an icy tone. “If anyone thinks he can survive my Nine-headed Dragon Strike, I’d like to invite him to step up!”

The thugs had finished dosing themselves with major antidotes, but none of them dared to approach us first. After all, having watched me replenish my mana, all were well aware that the first to charge over would be offering the others a free meat-shield!

“Bloody hell! We’ll take him on together, boys, and see how he likes fighting seven-on-one!” Thug B finally roared. All seven thugs came charging over together.

What followed could only be described as a brawl. I relied on my agility – which was higher than theirs – to dart about in that sea of blades. However, I still wound up taking a number of hits and was completely unable to retaliate. Lolidragon’s situation was no better. She had sustained no damage for the time being due to her agility, which was even higher than mine, but without much attack power, she could hardly injure the enemy either.

“Hngh!”

In the instant I was distracted, one of the thugs had used an ability and chopped down on my back. Damn him, I thought, fury rising within me. As they say, if I’m going to die, I’m going to make sure that I go down in flames! I immediately executed another Nine-headed Dragon Strike. It caused a pillar of white light to shoot into the sky, but the cost to me was high; I took another five or six blows. I was on the verge of death…

“Prince…” The blood drained from Lolidragon’s face. She dived over, executing Chun Li’s ultimate move – we’ll call it Helicopter Kick for now!To my surprise, Lolidragon had managed to modify the move. I watched as she did a handstand, spinning non-stop with both hands still on the ground. She lacked the physical strength, so her legs couldn’t possibly deal much damage, but she had actually fitted hidden blades onto the tips of her boots. From what I knew of Lolidragon, the blades must have been coated with her most powerful poison, Seven Steps Soul Scatter.

Of course, you wouldn’t really die in seven steps, but with a HP degeneration rate of -50/s, a regular player would probably be dead within a minute if they didn’t cure the poison.

The poisoned thugs were horrified to see their health dropping at such a rapid rate, and hurried to search their inventories for antidotes. Making use of the confusion, Lolidragon dashed over and hauled me out of the combat zone, even as I began to guzzle down a health potion.

Before I could put a second potion to my lips, however, the thugs charged us again. God damn it!

Lolidragon and I both paled noticeably. Nearby players, seeing that no one else had stepped up all this while, decided to just continue watching from the sidelines. Some of the girls could not bear to watch any longer, however. They left, shielding their eyes from the sight.

Looks like Lolidragon and I will really have to die for the sake of our ‘love’, waaah! Can I choose not to die under such bizarre circumstances?

Just as I was about to exchange blows with the thugs, a thunderous, bestial roar filled the air. “STOP!”

All heads turned to look at the source of the voice. It wasn’t too hard to spot the target, since it was a beastman – in particular, a hideous wolfman – with matted gray fur and, as far as I could estimate, a height of nearly two meters. His gigantic fist seemed like it could send a man to hell with one blow and his arms were as thick as my thighs, so his legs were probably thicker than my waist.

Panic filled the eyes of the remaining thugs; nobody in their right mind would have wanted to fight the enormous, ugly creature in front of them.

The hideous wolfman looked at the thugs with a vicious glare. “SCRAM, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SHREDDED TO PIECES!”

They gulped nervously and retreated a few steps, but were still reluctant to run away.

Making use of the opportunity, I drank my last health potion. With my health replenished, I stood up and, as if to emphasize the wolfman’s words, I shifted into the starting stance for the Nine-headed Dragon Strike. That, compounded with the icy gaze in my eyes, led to the desired outcome: Terror.

Fairsky, standing to one side, was also pale with fright. She had only intended to kill Lolidragon, and not to hurt her Prince Charming. In an imploring tone, she asked, “Prince… Do you really love Lolidragon so much, to the point that no other woman would do?”

I heaved a troubled sigh. This face of mine is really a magnet for trouble! “That’s right. I’m sorry…”

Hearing that, Fairsky’s eyes filled with tears. With a low sob, she finally fled, crying. Taking stock of the situation, the thugs realized that the fifty thousand were forever out of their reach, so they left as well.

I watched as the thugs scattered and breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of my close shave with death a moment ago, I began to feel afraid again. Without realizing it, my legs folded beneath me and I sat down hard on the ground. Just then, however, a soft, comforting white light enveloped me…

“Are you all right?” the ugly wolfman asked me, concerned. I lifted my head to look at him and saw that he was grinning at me. I smiled back in reassurance, my heart filled with sudden warmth. Somehow, his ugly face seemed to be very friendly and trustworthy.

Lolidragon, however, looked at the gray, ugly wolfman with an extremely astonished expression.

“You… You’re a priest?” Lolidragon stuttered. What the ugly wolfman had just cast was actually a priest’s medium-level healing spell…

The wolfman answered with some embarrassment, “Yes, I am a beastman priest.”

I was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing. “Did…did we just use a priest, an injured warrior and a thief to scare off SIXwarriors? Ahahaha…” As I broke off into laughter, Lolidragon and the ugly wolfman both began to chuckle as well.

Lolidragon and I exchanged a glance. We saw in each other’s eyes a shared admiration for the wolfman. Both of us were clearly thinking,Nobody else in that crowd dared to come forward and help us, but he, a priest with no attack power, actually had the courage to step up. Doesn’t that call for admiration and gratitude?

“What’s your name?” I asked the wolfman. I obviously can’t keep calling him ‘ugly wolfman’. Besides, I don’t feel that he’s ugly at all anymore.

“I’m called…Ugly Wolf. It’s a very fitting name,” he said with a smile. However, I could see that the look in his eyes was one of painful humiliation. I felt a pang of sorrow and made up my mind…

“Then… Wolf, my legs seem to have given out on me. Could you help me back to the hotel?” I asked, lifting up my arms helplessly.

“Certainly, certainly,” he said quickly.

And so, with one arm over Wolf’s shoulders and another over Lolidragon’s, we slowly made our way back to the hotel.

As we walked, I said, “Wolf, we need a priest, and I was wondering if you might be interested…”

[½ Prince Volume 1 Chapter 3 End]

Footnotes

 Iori Yagami’s Rage of the Eight Maidens: As mentioned before, Iori Yagami is a character from King of Fighters who manipulates fire. Rage of the Eight Maidens is one of his signature moves, where Iori uses several normal attacks from the front before grabbing his enemy and blowing them up. (Doesn’t sound like it can be done even in Second Life, though.) The move is supposedly inspired by an encounter Iori had with eight nuns in a dressing room…

 Kenshin’s Nine-headed Dragon Strike: Kenshin is the main character from the manga Rurouni Kenshin, and the move Nine-headed Dragon Strike (“九頭龍閃” in Japanese kanji, prn. kuzu-ryūsen) is one of his moves. It is an unavoidable and deadly technique that requires a lot of speed to strike at the body’s nine vital points. Prince often uses this attack in later chapters.

 Yang Guo’s Melancholic Palms: Yang Guo is the protagonist of the novel The Return of the Condor Heroes, written by Jin Yong. Yang Guo was the son of Yang Kang, the villain in the prequel novels The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Even as a young boy, he was shunned by many, because they believed that he would grow up to be just like his father. He meets and falls in love with Xiao Long Nü, the female protagonist, a martial arts practitioner five years his senior who also becomes his teacher. (Note that Xiao Long Nü literally means “Little Dragon Girl”; this is Lolidragon’s name, but because most readers are more comfortable with “Lolidragon”, we’ve stuck to using that.)

Their supposedly “indecent” relationship, as well as their martial arts skill and Xiao Long Nü’s beauty led them into a lot of trouble and they were separated many times. Subsequently, Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nü were poisoned by their enemies, but they managed to obtain a single dose of antidote.  Xiao Long Nü later vanished, leaving behind an obscure message on a cliff about having found another cure, and telling Yang Guo that they would reunite in sixteen years. Everyone (excepting Yang Guo) understood the truth, which was that Xiao Long Nü had committed suicide in order to save Yang Guo, who would have no choice but to take the antidote.

Yang Guo waited faithfully, however, and the despair he felt from his separation from Xiao Long Nü was channeled into theMelancholic Palms (“黯然销魂掌”, prn. àn rán xiāo hún zhăng), a set of moves so powerful that they rivaled the most powerful martial arts skills. However, the power of the Melancholic Palms depended greatly on the user’s state of mind – the more despair and sorrow felt, the greater its power. In the end, it turned out that somehow Xiao Long Nü did survive, and the lovers were reunited.

 Stylish robe: Just think of the clothes guys wear in Chinese period dramas.

 Chu Liu Xiang: Written as “楚留香” in Chinese, this is the name of the protagonist of a Chinese novel (titled after the protagonist). Think of him as a Chinese version of Robin Hood (taking from the rich and giving to the poor), with a formal yet urbane way of speaking. He is also extremely popular with the ladies.

 Yuan-yang: This refers to mandarin ducks, and it is written as “鸳鸯” in simplified Chinese. Mandarin ducks are notable symbols of conjugal love and fidelity as they can often be found in pairs. The phrase used by Wu Qing to describe Prince and Lolidragon here is actually “鸳鸯侠侣” (prn. yuān yāng xiá lǚ), with the last two characters referring to a heroic couple or, more accurately, a pair of fighters who are also lovers, like Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nü. If you add in the symbolism of the yuan-yang, it implies that Prince and Lolidragon are fated lovers.

 The way…must part: In Chinese, this is “此路是我开，此树是我栽，要打此处过，留下帅哥来” (prn. cĭ lù shì wŏ kāi, cĭ shù shì wŏ zāi, yào dă cĭ chù guò, líu xià shuài gē lái), and a literal translation would be “I open this road, I plant this tree, if you want to go on your way, leave the hottie here”. The phrase originated from some wuxia novel or another (sans the hottie part) and it is basically a threat couched in flowery language.