Genius Chapter 179: Dual Accounts

Chapter 179: Dual Accounts

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

ClearWind said, “… Wait, what did you just say, bro?”

If it was odd, it was odd, but it was also not odd.

“What’s wrong?” Su Mo glanced at ClearWind and continued talking to Yu Zhen, “I’m at the teleport stone in Glacial Ravenlands.”

Yu Zhen replied, “I’ll be there soon.”

The chat room exploded with question marks when Momo’s surprising statement was heard. A few days earlier, there had been gossip on the forums about the unclear relationship between Momo and ReturnToSimplicity. Most netizens, while eating melon, had jokingly noted that Momo and ReturnToSimplicity’s relationship seemed to be a bit too close.

[Not bringing the array master!?]

[Fuck, is this a scumbag statement? Does he know this is in front of the livestream fans?]

[Hahahahaha, I’m dying of laughter, how did it suddenly become like this!?] 

[Big shot, do you check the forums? Know that someone was posting about your love triangle a few days ago?] 

[Are you trying to cement your scumbag reputation? Hahahahaha]

The players in the chat room were stunned by the sudden news. Attention quickly shifted from watching the quest to observing the situation, with curiosity focused on why Momo suddenly brought a marksman and not the array master. A few people did notice that the conversation details between Momo and others were a bit strange, but that was quickly drowned out by other question marks and doubts.

[Wait… why did momo say ‘this account’? He asked ‘Are you going with this account?’, right? Why does it sound weird to me?] 

[What’s strange? Sometimes I say ‘my account’ or ‘his account’ when talking with friends. Probably Momo thought ReturnToSimplicity wasn’t going.] 

[He even said he wasn’t bringing the array master. What’s the problem? Didn’t ClearWind say he was waiting for Momo and UnchainedWondere to do the quest tonight? Changing people just like that is a bit subtle.] 

Momo and UnchainedWanderer were in-game spouses, and while the big shot wasn’t rushing, some forum users had been stirring the pot, eating melon. Now that this situation appeared, those who were specifically looking to criticize emerged, quickly drowning out the fans who had been joking in the livestream chat.

[The wedding was very lively? So it’s like this?]

[Bringing a marksman but not the array master, how could he say that?] 

[Feels like UnchainedWonderer is just a tool.] 

[Hadn’t noticed before… suddenly think Momo is quite a scumbag.] 

Previously, people only used screenshots to dig into the situation, but now Momo’s actions were practically handing over the stone to the screenshot as evidence.

Once the news spread, within a few minutes, everyone knew.

[I’m going, quickly head to ClearWindIsHere’s livestream. Momo and ReturnToSimplicity are duo queueing.] 

[Wow, seems like it’s the first time I’ve seen them play together.] 

[Wait? Remember the gossip from a few days ago? About Momo and ReturnToSimplicity?] 

[I’m here for the drama, top-level chaos, count me in.]

Within a few minutes, several new posts popped up on the forum, and the Global Channel also saw people sharing the link to ClearWindIsHere’s StarNettv livestream. The news that ReturnToSimplicity was going to do a quest with Momo spread quickly, and the subtle changes during the spread even shocked some new players who had recently joined the game.

Su Zhixing had downloaded many guides to learn more about Celestial Horizon before diving into the game. While studying the guides, he suddenly noticed that many young people in his research institute were playing the game. Even the institute’s leaders were aware of it and mentioned that they had collaborated with Celestial Horizon’s official team recently. They had encountered several promising archaeological candidates in the game, and after the collaboration ended, they sent out invitations to those individuals.

He realized that Celestial Horizon was a holographic game and was now a collaboration partner for many enterprises and research institutes. The game was core to the mainframe system and included many virtual network testing functions. For example, data that used to require the institute’s machines for analysis could now be quickly processed using the built-in virtual processors of Celestial Horizon. The game also offered a comprehensive evaluation of talent.

Chen Shanxue had asked, “Should I tell my son that you are playing the game?”

“No, I should think about it more first.” Su Zhixing thought that to share a common interest with his child, he needed to understand the basics of the game. He didn’t want his child to think that his father was useless.

When he heard that he was going to play the game, a helpful junior in his institute had sent him a lot of guides. As for the scenery, many of the architectural styles were related to his professional studies. He spent two days exploring just the Newbie Village. At that moment, he had just teleported to the main city and unlocked the buildings in that area.

He intended to learn more when he was distracted by the commotion in the Global Channel. Out of curiosity, he asked a player who was also in the main city vicinity.

“What’s all the fuss about?” Su Zhixing asked. “What’s this about a scumbag? Is it part of the game’s storyline?”

“Ah, are you a newbie? In simple terms, it’s about the love-hate relationships between the three big shots in our game. Currently, the summoner master brother is having complicated issues with an old veteran despite already being in a relationship. It’s a long story. If you’re interested, you can check out the livestream.” The helpful player complained a bit and sent Su Zhixing a link.

Su Zhixing didn’t click on the link. He glanced at the flashing IDs like ‘Momo’ and ‘UnchainedWanderer’ before turning his attention back to the buildings in the main city. He thought to himself that the game was really complex for young people these days and concluded that they were just too impetuous.

***

In a short period, the news spread to the forums, and more and more people came to see the commotion.

When Yu Zhen was retrieving items from the warehouse, he received a message from CloudTraveller, who had sent him screenshots of the livestream and forum discussions, along with a few messages.

• CloudTraveller: “Regarding what you mentioned the other day, I contacted the official team and checked the stir on the forum. There are indeed people who are stirring up trouble.”
• CloudTraveller: “I’ll organize the evidence and send it to you in a few minutes. By the way, do you know about the situation in the livestream?”
• ReturnToSimplicity: “Yes, I know. Thanks for your help. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

Yu Zhen glanced down slightly and closed the chat with CloudTraveller. He was waiting for CloudTraveller to send over the evidence. He had already seen the forum discussions in the group before; the level of discussion was normal, but the fact that it hadn’t died down and that new posts were appearing daily was unusual. With the busy New Year period, he had asked CloudTraveller to keep an eye on the situation.

He noticed the subtlety of the situation—the prolonged heat around this issue was due to someone repeatedly using screenshots to stir up trouble, magnifying a simple matter, and fixating on his relationship with Su Mo to use it as a pretext to push other issues.

“Oh, just now we were talking about how difficult it is to get the Half-Life Costume, and now suddenly two sets have come out,” ScarletFruit suddenly remarked.

Yu Zhen asked, “Half-Life Costume? Did it come from a quest?”

“No, no, it’s from the store’s box costumes. I just saw it when Big Brother asked me about the costumes,” ScarletFruit explained. “The quest probably needs to be unlocked, and I’ve already farmed some gold items, so I’m going to grab them first!”

“Gold items… wait!” ClearWind, who had been about to rush for the items, suddenly noticed a message from the moderators reminding him to check the livestream.

In a short time, his livestream had already secured the top spot on the current trending list, and it seemed to be climbing even further. Similarly, the discussions in the chat had become increasingly heated and off-topic. ClearWind, who had previously assured his fans that Momo and ReturnToSimplicity were just good friends, now found the situation a bit concerning. He had to privately message ScarletFruit, “What should I do now? Should I end the stream?”

ScarletFruit replied, “Ending the stream would only make things worse and make it seem like my brother really has an affair.”

ClearWind responded, “…You might have a point.”

ClearWind then asked ReturnToSimplicity for advice, and the response was to not worry about it and to continue streaming.

He solemnly told ScarletFruit, “Bro, I might end up topping the popularity charts.”

ScarletFruit immediately replied, “That’s impressive. Don’t forget to promote my shop while you’re at it.”

“Hang it up, hang it up.” ClearWind said, “I suddenly feel like I’m the only one sober while everyone else is drunk… I just realized my fans lack an eye for seeing the bright and beautiful.”

The livestream chat was chaotic, and the livestreamer chose to stay silent about the game while privately messaging his teammates. Before long, [apple] and [CloudTraveller] joined the livestream, their flashy entry notifications drawing attention as their IDs prominently mixed among the front-row viewers.

Apple, who frequently livestreamed, even changed his name to a front-row vendor selling snacks and drinks. He often visited ClearWind’s stream, making his ID highly noticeable.

[Wow, they’re eating melon so openly, hahahaha.] 

[Interesting, it turns out the big shots are also curious.]

[Has UnchainedWanderer logged in? Is he in the group? Is the battle royale starting?]

ClearWind said, “…I’m going to get famous.”

ScarletFruit replied, “These people don’t even switch to alt accounts for their melon-eating.”

In the team, Momo and ReturnToSimplicity had teleported to Glacial Ravenlands and were trading items face-to-face, their conversation continuing normally as they completed their transaction.

ReturnToSimplicity said, “Do you have enough Floating Cloud Pearls? You need them to enhance your gear. I have high-grade Floating Cloud Pearls in my warehouse; I’ll get them to you later.”

Momo asked, “Have you enhanced your jade pendant?”

ReturnToSimplicity replied, “I have, but to enhance it further, I’d need some high-grade materials. I’ve used up my points recently.”

Momo said, “I still have some points. After we finish this quest, I’ll exchange them for you.”

The viewers in the livestream reacted with awe.

[Where is UnchainedWanderer? Shouldn’t he be joining to watch this occasion?] 

[Brother Wanderer isn’t online! I was looking forward to the drama! How thrilling, the love and hate among these three!]

[Isn’t this more interesting than the quest?]

Were high-grade Floating Cloud Pearls free? Weren’t demon points so hard to earn? And they were so casually exchanging items? Even siblings would keep track of such things!

Viewers were curious about the true nature of the relationships and the trio’s dynamics. Meanwhile, the mood in the chat shifted to a new trend—

[Suddenly remembering the earlier commotion about their wedding, I used to think their relationship was sweet, but now it feels quite awkward.]

[You guys don’t understand the big shots’ Global matters. Does their close relationship bother you?] 

[Not really, I’m just a bystander. I thought the exclusive engravings were sweet, but now it seems like the image is falling apart. Zenith Expanse wasn’t cleared up, and neither was ReturnToSimplicity… Now this situation just makes me laugh.] 

[It’s not about being a bad guy, just a plastic contract. There was no need for exclusive engravings, it’s all a mess now.] 

[I also think so. The forum said Momo was a good person and posted guides. Posting guides is nice, but his character seems just average.] 

[Wow, why is there suddenly a wave of melon-eaters? Why does it matter if Momo is a good or bad person?]

“Fuck.” ClearWind swore, immediately contacting the moderators to ban the offending accounts.

However, the rhythm of the situation suddenly escalated. The playful jab about Momo being a bad guy turned into serious accusations about his character. Several seemingly well-intentioned individuals began to make vague claims about Momo, such as his temper when leading a group, the facade of a fallout with Zenith Expanse while actually managing things well, and his double standards when mishandling weapon formulas…

These unfounded issues overshadowed the original “bad guy” joke and rapidly morphed into a bizarre situation.

ClearWind quickly realized something was wrong. “Hold on, Fruit.”

He immediately cut off the team voice chat and went live with his microphone, “Just to clarify, I’m doing quests with my friends and using team voice chat for convenience. It’s not for you to make baseless accusations. If you continue with this nonsense, I’ll ban you.”

[Wait? Why is the livestreamer so worked up? Is he upset about Momo being called a bad guy?]

[We didn’t say anything wrong. The replay is still available. Isn’t it obvious that Momo groups with ReturnToSimplicity but not with UnchainedWanderer?] 

[Wait, can that dialogue be taken seriously??] 

[Is it really necessary to be so serious about a game? I thought everyone was just here for the drama.] 

[Wow, what’s with the weirdos in the livestream? Does playing quests with friends cause such conflicts? I thought bringing friends to a quest wasn’t a big deal.]

Noticing ClearWind’s silence, Su Mo remembered that ClearWind had mentioned something about the livestream. He asked ScarletFruit, “What’s going on?”

ScarletFruit opened ClearWind’s livestream, “Windy is arguing with the chat.”

Su Mo couldn’t view the livestream himself and was unsure of the current situation.

But intuitively, he felt the situation was related to him. “Do you have screenshots? Show me.”

ScarletFruit didn’t consider why Momo wasn’t visiting the livestream but quickly sent the screenshots when Momo asked. “The chat was stirring up trouble, making baseless claims about how the big guy’s character was questionable. They were fabricating things, accusing him of manipulating formulas and fishing for trouble without providing evidence, just making vague accusations. Who does that even benefit?”

Su Mo opened the screenshots ScarletFruit sent and, after reviewing them for a while, asked, “ClearWind?”

ScarletFruit replied, “He probably has his mic off and didn’t hear. He turned off the team chat too, and hasn’t responded to my private messages.”

Yu Zhen, having just received an email with the compiled evidence from CloudTraveller, frowned and said, “Send me the link.”

“What’s going on? I said this earlier today. It’s really frustrating to be dealing with this during the New Year. My brother hasn’t even been online for New Year’s, and now that we finally had a chance to do a quest together, we have to deal with this mess.” ClearWind was done with the situation, “I clarified this in the livestream a few days ago. I said that Momo and ReturnToSimplicity are just friends, people who know each other in real life, so what’s the problem if they play well together? Just because I get along with momo doesn’t mean I’m interfering in their relationship.”

[No, Wind. We understand; you still haven’t entered his inner circle.] 

[Long-time fans know you can’t interfere.] 

“I’m just one step away from understanding my brother. Don’t get sidetracked.”

ClearWind pointed out one user, “User 45789141KJH, yes, I’m talking about you. It’s fine to joke about being a bad guy while eating melons; everyone has eaten a melon or two. But that doesn’t mean you can stir up trouble and talk about someone’s character. This has been going on since earlier—leading with claims about character and fabricating formulas. Did my brother give you weapons? Report your ID. Did you post screenshots in System?”

[Momo didn’t even name names, and there were many who used his formulas.]

[To be honest, the program he posted on the forum might not be accurate. I’d advise everyone to be cautious and thorough when dealing with weapons.] 

[I’m confused now.] 

[Wait, weren’t we here to watch the excitement? Why is it suddenly getting noisy??] 

[Did you understand? Post screenshots, are there chat logs? Are there System screenshots?]

“Doing quests? Have you done a quest with my brother? Where did he show anger during quests?” ClearWind said, “I’ve been streaming for so long; when has my brother ever shown anger during a quest?”

[As a bystander, I saw them in the wild team during the previous live stream. They could have kicked out the warrior and healer, but Momo still finished the quest with the team.] 

[Yes… it’s really absurd to say he showed anger during quests. Momo can be harsh as a commander, but harshness is not the same as showing anger, right?] 

[Seriously, if a commander is effective but still gets accused of showing anger, then our guild’s commanders would be getting cursed out.]

[FireworksAndLanterns sent livestreamer ClearWindIsHere a [Deep Water Torpedo x1]]

[WhatAHugeWatermelon sent livestreamer ClearWindIsHere a [Deep Water Torpedo x1]] …

“Thank you, Little Firework, for the melons…” ClearWind seized the opportunity to thank the sponsor and added, “And about Zenith Expanse, sorry, our team has a grudge against Zenith Expanse. To put it simply, we have a grudge against their entire Alliance. Feel free to watch the Wild Five-Kill replay in my live stream. I’m not trying to deceive you into more views; I just want to point out that we have a big grudge. We still attack them whenever we see them in the wild.”

“And about the clarification, I’ve said this many times. My brother has a very good relationship with Brother Wanderer; you don’t need to worry about it. He’s friends with ReturnToSimplicity, so there’s no need for concern.” ClearWind wondered aloud, “I’m speechless. I’ve said it in the live stream, and you still didn’t believe it. You keep bringing up their relationship, and now it’s escalating into rumors. User 45789141KJH, was that post on the forum from you? If you’re not happy, don’t come here…”

[ReturnToSimplicity sent livestreamer ClearWindIsHere a [Deep Water Torpedo x100]] The live stream sparkled with dazzling effects, and ClearWind’s speech was momentarily interrupted.

[ReturnToSimplicity?! Is this really him?] 

[It’s the same account on StarNettv and the forum, so it’s definitely him.]

[Real name v! How long has it been since ReturnToSimplicity last logged in?!] 

[The last time was a long time ago on a battlefield, and he was in the live stream friend’s team…]

ClearWind’s speech was stuck, and he shifted to a pained tone, “Brother, you know the platform takes half of this as a service fee.”

[ReturnToSimplicity sent livestreamer ClearWindIsHere a [Deep Water Torpedo x100], with a note: For you.]

ClearWind quickly realized and put ReturnToSimplicity on the mic. After doing so, he suddenly remembered that there’s a mic in the game! Why did he bring him up here? He should have just opened the game team mic.

The live stream’s attention was drawn to ReturnToSimplicity, who had just joined the mic. Soon after, a steady, deep male voice appeared in the audio. The voice was similar to what everyone had heard from ReturnToSimplicity but had a slight difference.

ReturnToSimplicity said, “ClearWind, grant me permission.”

[The voice seems a bit different from the game!]

[It seems the game was slightly adjusted. To be honest, ReturnToSimplicity’s voice sounds… nice.] 

ScarletFruit exclaimed, “Wow, Brother Wanderer went to ClearWind’s live stream.”

Su Mo paused for a moment and glanced at the unmoving marksman next to him, suddenly realizing something. He removed the block, and the images of other players around him appeared in his view. He then noticed another person had appeared behind him.

After ClearWind granted the permissions, ReturnToSimplicity immediately began screen sharing. The live stream scene split into two: one was the in-game view, and the other showed ReturnToSimplicity’s operation screen, which was broadcasting his gameplay.

[Is it really ReturnToSimplicity?] 

[What’s going on? Is he here to speak on behalf of Momo?] 

ClearWind quickly banned the people spamming the chat. He then noticed ReturnToSimplicity’s game view and said, “Wait, brother, you…”

Everyone saw ReturnToSimplicity’s game view, but what appeared in the visual was an array master in red clothing. At this moment, the array master was not in the team, and there were still some unblocked random players in the view. However, the array master was quietly standing beside Momo, with UnchainedWanderer’s ID and the title [Momo’s Husband] displayed above him.

During the time when no one was paying attention, UnchainedWanderer came online.

[Fuck!? UnchainedWanderer!]

[Wait, this view—ReturnToSimplicity’s character is logged in?!] 

[……Dual accounts???]

[No, guys, didn’t you notice their previous conversation?!] 

[I think I understand something now] 

[Fuck, could it be!!]

Besides the internal links of the live stream, ReturnToSimplicity also opened the trading platform. The search box was entering “Half-Life Gift Box,” and two product listings popped up, showing two gift boxes.

ReturnToSimplicity seemed completely indifferent. In front of everyone, he purchased the newly listed Half-Life Gift Box for 230,000 gold coins on UnchainedWanderer’s account. With a calm tone, he then said, “Sorry to keep you all waiting. Let’s talk about something.”