Ryan Thompson was still nowhere to be found at the wedding. I called him dozens of times before he finally answered impatiently.

"Emily! Are you annoying? The enemy is pressing in, the city is about to fall, I have to fight!"

"Fight for what?" I paused.

In the background, I heard the crisp command of his childhood sweetheart, Megan:

"Ryan, mid lane! Mid lane!"

I suddenly realized. "Oh, you're busy."

He paused, then calmed down a bit. "Emily, ranked matches can't be paused, please understand."

"After this game, wait for me for an hour at most and I'll definitely pick you up."

Then he hung up.

I smiled, logged into the game and found the top player in the server.

[Alex Reed, you're coming to the wedding?]

Then he replied instantly: [Send me the address!]

——

Just as I shared my location with Alexander Reed, Megan Parker’s video call came.

In the wedding car, Ryan stared intently at his phone screen. Megan leaned on his shoulder and yelled, "Ryan! Kill the one with the remaining health! Quick!"

Ryan's moves were as ferocious as a tiger and Megan excitedly bumped his shoulder. "666, double kill!"

The two of them exchanged a tacit smile. Megan then looked at me apologetically.

"Emily, I just got killed instantly. I'm taking this opportunity to explain things to you while resurrecting."

"Understand Ryan. He's actually very anxious and wants to get you. He keeps urging us to finish quickly."

"But this Peak Showdown match is crucial. If we win, Ryan and my team will advance into the top ten in the city."

"The opponent is just too good. We can't take it. Oh, there's nothing we can do."

She sighed and suddenly turned to look at the screen.

"Ryan! Push the crystal! Push the crystal!"

"Ahhhhh! We missed it! The opponent's marksman reacted!"

Ryan looked up irritably and tutted when he saw me.

"Megan! You still have time to video chat with Emily? You're such a leisurely support! Why don't you come and protect me?"

"Emily, bye!"

Megan was about to hang up when Ryan grabbed her wrist. "Thirsty, give me some water."

Megan rolled her eyes. "Ryan, you're the only one who's so nosy. Am I your babysitter? Someone who brings you tea and water?"

"If Emily wasn't here, you wouldn't have gotten this good thing?" Ryan sneered, suddenly glancing at the camera. "Right, Emily?"

My fingers trembled as I gripped the phone and my throat tightened.

Megan casually sipped her milk tea and then smirked as she offered it to Ryan.

"I just spit in it. Do you dare drink it?"

Ryan scoffed, snatched it from her and drank.

"How many times did you spit in my drink when we were in school? I'm immune to it."

I looked away, a pang of bitterness welling up in my heart.

In my five years with Ryan, he and Megan had always been inseparable, acting as childhood sweethearts.

When they were together, they played games together; when they weren't, they played online games together every night. They've been playing the same game for five years and never seem to tire of it.

I used to be jealous, too, hoping they'd keep their distance.

But Ryan always called me overly sensitive.

"Emily, is all you think about? Who doesn't have a close friend?"

"Megan and I just have a rapport during the game. Outside of the game, I don't even glance at her."

"Besides, I love playing games. Can you play with me? Girls need talent for gaming, too, okay?"

I chose to believe him.

Even when he proposed to me on one knee and Megan called to play ranked games, I said nothing.

But today is our wedding, the most important day of our lives. Can't he put games and his childhood sweetheart aside?

Years of pent-up emotion burst out and my eyes welled up.

"Ryan, are games so important? You have to play them even on your wedding day? Will you die if you don't?"

Ryan didn't even raise his eyelids, his tone impatient:

"Why are you being so sarcastic? Who doesn't have a hobby?"

"What's wrong with playing games on your wedding day? Why do you have to make everyone unhappy?"

Megan pretended to smooth things over.

"Emily, games aren't important. What's important is who you play with. If I were to team up with you, Ryan wouldn't want to play a single match." After saying that, she covered her mouth again, pretending to be serious.

"Oh, I didn't mean to say you're bad. Damn! I just speak my mind, don't mind it!"

She shook her head and sighed, then poked Ryan's face with a finger.

"Childhood sweetheart, hurry up and comfort your fiancée. She seems really angry this time, almost crying."

Ryan lowered his head.

"Don't mind her. She's just imagining things. It'll be fine in a moment."

I blinked hard, suppressing the tightness in my chest. "Go on, I wish you'll play games forever!"

Anyway, I'm not getting married.

Ryan paused, looking up. "Emily, what's wrong with you?"

Megan replied innocently, "Yeah, we plan to play games forever. It'll be romantic when we're all old and gray, drinking milk tea while playing online games."

"Forget it."

I ended the video call.

It didn't make sense and I didn't bother to say anything more. I logged into the game again, hoping to see if Alex had replied.

The chat box was still empty.

I couldn't help but laugh. How could I have expected a game friend to come pick me up? Although he'd said he liked me a few years ago, I was already with Ryan then.

Looking back now, it was really impulsive.

Even if he was in San Fransisco, how could he have gotten here in such a short time?

This was a good thing; at least I wouldn't have gotten married rashly. Alex's message suddenly popped up:

[Sorry, I'm preparing the wedding car and notifying my family. I'll pick you up in ten minutes. Are you really going to marry me?]

I replied honestly, [Actually, I'm not sure.]

He gave me a confused emoji. [It's okay! We can get married first and then go on a date. We can cultivate feelings slowly, don't you think?]

I was shocked. [That's too hasty!]

Alex put a big question mark. [Emily, weren't you the one who was hasty first?! And, you really don't remember me?]

I was stunned when he sent another message:

[You'll know when we meet. Marry me, it's worth the investment!]

And then there was no more news.

The next second, the system automatically pushed Megan's game live stream.

Title: [The Wedding Pickup! Passionate Duo Queue with Childhood Sweetheart in the Peak Match. Who else!]

I instinctively clicked on it and heard Megan's excited shout.

"This wave is worth it—it's a huge win! Thanks for the rocket, Ryan. Everyone, stand up!"

"Sagittarius, offering sacrifices to the heavens, boundless mana!"

The barrage was even more lively:

"Show! Newlyweds playing games in the wedding car!"

"Pentakill achieved! Kiss!"

"I suggest we just push the crystal and head straight to the bridal chamber!"

Megan suddenly leaned over, quickly kissed Ryan and spread her hands.

"My family asked me to; there's nothing I can do!"

Ryan shook his head helplessly.

"Megan! Can you please stop distracting me right now? After the fight, I'll let you kiss me to your heart's content!"

The comments instantly exploded.

[I'm mad at this! I'll do it even if it bleeds!]

[Lock it! Lock it!]

Suddenly, someone swipes a Coins. A feature giving gifts to the host.

Megan, instantly excited, leans over and gently nibbles Ryan's earlobe.

"Think of the family gifts as our share of money!"

I shook my head and smiled bitterly.

I was left alone, with no one to pick me up. Both of them had already collected their share.

Okay, I'll pay.

I swiped a hundred Coins in a row using Ryan's gold card.

A series of golden special effects instantly exploded on the screen.

The White Dream Dance God is giving away 100 Coins!

Ryan, concentrating on the game, suddenly looked up.

"DreamDancer? The second person in the entire server to join our livestream?"

Megan excitedly danced. "Oh my god, it's done! It's done! Ryan, come on, show us some!"

But when Ryan saw the constant pop-up spending reminders on his phone, he uttered suspiciously. "DreamDancer, who the hell are you?"

I didn't reply and decisively exited the livestream.

To cater to Ryan's hobby, I downloaded the game a few years ago.

But every time I tried to join them, Ryan looked impatient. "Emily, can you give me some privacy? You even have to intrude on my game?"

"You're clinging to me like this, I'm really suffocating, okay?"

Then Megan would play peacemaker. "Hey, why are you so serious? Emily, don't listen to Ryan. He sounds righteous but thinks you're bad and doesn't want you to hold us back."

Over time, I figured it out. They just didn't want me to fit in with their little circle.

But he didn't know I'd fallen in love with the game, even climbing to second place in the server alone.

Not long after, Ryan's friend request popped up.

He sent me a ranked match invite when I accepted. "Hey, are you free to spar at 8 p.m.?"

I sneered and replied, "I'm getting married today, so I'm busy."

"What a coincidence! I'm getting married today, too!" He replied instantly, "I can always find time if I can squeeze it in, right?"

"Oh, you're quite calm. I'll be there tonight, then."

"Okay, DreamDancer, please show some mercy!"

I pulled Alex onto the team.

Show some mercy? What a joke!

I'm going to kill him hundreds of times tonight, so he won't be able to log in again!

As soon as I put my phone down, the makeup artist approached cautiously. "Bride, please be a little more gentle and urge the groom? There are so many relatives watching."

"If the groom really turns around and leaves, you'll be stabbed in the back!"

"Go home first. You don't need to help with makeup today."

I couldn't push him any further and I didn't want to.

Everyone could see that Ryan's wedding car was parked unobtrusively downstairs at the hotel, but it hadn't arrived yet.

The bridesmaids and photographers kept urging me to call.

But dozens of calls were either hung up immediately or met with a request to wait another hour.

It's already eleven o'clock. Who would delay the wedding until noon?

The makeup artist sighed and quietly stepped aside.

One of the bridesmaids, Ryan's sister, Chloe Thompson, suddenly retorted. "Hey sis, my brother asked you to wait. What do you mean by asking him to leave now? You don't want to get married anymore?"

"You're a dancer from a humble family. My brother fell in love with you. Marrying into our family is a blessing you've earned for eight lifetimes!"