Lu Mingfei, become the king of gambling in dungeons!

"A single room, a table for one,"

"It's a lonesome town all right,"

"But soon I'll kiss you hello at our front door."

The turntable of the old-fashioned record player rotates at a steady speed, and the stylus slides smoothly along the groove, occasionally emitting a faint popping sound.

"Achoo!"

Lu Mingfei, who was resting and warming himself by the fire in an old-fashioned record store, sneezed. His executive trench coat was a little wet from the rain, and the sneezing made him wonder if someone was talking about him or if he was under some kind of curse.

He felt inexplicably weak, as if something had been drained from his body. Otherwise, how could he have caught a cold given his constitution?

Even if this executive trench coat is purely about style over warmth, it's still too unbelievable that a super hybrid would catch a cold from being caught in the rain. It's no less absurd than a Tiger tank being pierced by a Hummingbird miniature pistol bullet.

He draped his relatively warmer clothes over Erii, who was also warming herself by the fire. Erii rubbed her small hands together, mimicking his gesture, and the flames made her fair and delicate face glow red.

After leaving Senso-ji Temple, he and Erii went to Ebisu Station first, and then shook off their pursuers who were much slower than them in the crowded throng. Their destination for the day was actually the University of Tokyo, located in Bunkyo Ward.

Erii has been imprisoned and has never attended university. It will be a month or so before he has a university experience. When traveling, one should go to places that are not familiar but safe.

According to Caesar's suggested date, they should be enjoying a romantic dinner together at Chateau Joel Robuchon. But no one wants to be led around like that. The surveillance agents were able to wait for them at a point on their itinerary… clearly, they knew their plan inside and out. Lu Mingfei might turn a blind eye to manipulation in other matters, but if even his trip and "blind date" were being controlled… that would be truly pathetic.

To avoid being followed, they did not choose the well-known route through Nakameguro or Akihabara from Ebisu Ward to the University of Tokyo. Instead, they took a detour along the pedestrian greenway of the former prefectural ruins, then along a dark path under the Metropolitan Expressway to reach the University of Tokyo.

The area we passed through along the way is the old town district, with narrow alleys, few tourists, and a variety of shops, making it perfect for two people to stroll around at their own pace.

Not far from here is one of Tokyo's busiest arteries, yet this place feels like a world away from the bustling city.

Aside from the sound of rain, the only other sound you can hear is the sound of shopkeepers at a small shop halfway up the mountain cooking beef in a large pot under a awning. This kind of weather is perfect for a big meal and a hearty meat feast.

The only unexpected thing was that the rain in Tokyo was too intense, and umbrellas were useless. Huge columns of wind and rain could be seen in the sky, as if dragons were reaching down to the ground to suck up water. Naturally, they got soaked with just one umbrella.

The record store was playing Henry Mancini's album "Dear Heart," which was released on January 1, 1965.

The shop owner is a nearly 70-year-old Japanese man, but he is energetic and full of vigor. He said his dream is to turn his record store into the famous "Tower Records" record store in Shibuya.

The store offers free Hualin Tang, a type of biscuit snack with a texture similar to twisted dough sticks coated in black caramel. Legend has it that it was introduced to Japan from the Tang Dynasty in China during the Nara period. Lu Mingfei likes to chew it slowly while holding it in his mouth.

The two people didn't know whether the vinyl records were good or bad, and the shop owner didn't seem to be trying to sell them. They were people seeking shelter from the rain and people wanting to confide in each other. In the downpour, people could find ways to keep each other warm.

He and Erii sat obediently, listening with a mixture of understanding and confusion as the gray-haired record company owner talked at length about Henry Mancini. Every now and then, they would nod in unison, meaning they were listening. When they realized they were in sync, they would exchange a smile, Erii's smile a little shy.

The record store owner would occasionally ask the "young couple" sheltering from the rain about their relationship. Lu Mingfei realized that the other party wasn't asking with an ulterior motive, but was genuinely curious and offering his blessings, so he earnestly chatted about this and that.

He started to drift off into daydreams after talking for a while.

He recalled reading his first book, which said that there are 20,000 people in the world who will fall in love with you at first sight, but unfortunately you may never meet any of them in your entire life.

Erii should be considered one of those 20,000 people.

When he was rescued in Genji Heavy Industries, his heart was really pounding.

The arrival of a girl in a dangerous situation can make your heart race more than the half-dead body of Deadpool next to you... This should undoubtedly be considered lust at first sight.

But after getting up close, I found that she wasn't cool or sassy at all; she wasn't the killing machine Valkyrie from Genji Heavy Industries that I had imagined.

Disillusionment?

Give me a break.

Sympathy… perhaps empathy is a better word; sympathy always carries a sense of pity from a superior to an inferior. Lu Mingfei believes that lonely and disillusioned people in the world can be divided into two main categories.

The first type hopes that people in the world who are as lonely and disappointed as themselves will become even more lonely than themselves. The second type hopes that people in the world who are as lonely and disappointed as themselves can find their own happiness.

Chu Zihang is the latter, and Lu Mingfei now feels that he is also the latter.

So we should be considered good friends now... Lu Mingfei thought, lowering his head.

It is now, but it won't be once we return to reality.

Erii won't remember the two of them running along the path to avoid the rain. She will still be in the cold, medicine-smelling hospital room, where she can't see even a ray of comforting sunlight. She won't remember having such a close friend with such a high degree of synchronization.

In matters of the heart, one always hopes to provide enough comfort to the other person and expects the other person to reciprocate accordingly.

Thinking of this, he chewed the candy in his mouth with frustration.

Is this just a game?

The point of playing any game is, of course, to experience the thrill of winning.

But how do we define winning and losing?

Some computer screens display the word "victory" and a broadcast announcement directly, making the win clearly visible. This is similar to the cultivation novels that have become popular in recent years, where the realms are clearly defined: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, Void Return… all these realms are transparently visible.

Reality is not so clear. The meaning of life requires repeated reflection. We must find a way to pull a thread out of the fog and then beat fate hard to achieve a perfect ending.

He felt like a headless fly... Lu Mingfei thought. He disliked being led around like a donkey with a carrot dangling from its head, but suddenly when others stopped leading him, he didn't know how to walk.

Where are the enemies he needs to defeat? Where are the people he needs to protect? They might be right beside him. He looked up at Erii.

Erii's fighting strength doesn't require his protection, and there are plenty of people in the Snake-Headed Eight Family who would want to protect Erii, so it seems unlikely that he would be the one to do so.

But many in the Snake Clan probably only saw her as a secret weapon. He had seen the girl's hospital room; it's hard to say she could receive love in such an environment. In a sense, he was a secret weapon who grew up under surveillance, and that wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Why are you in a bad mood? Cheer up, Lelouch!" Erii carefully held up the notebook. If she held it to her chest, it would be a reminder for Lu Mingfei to read the conversation. If she held it higher than her head, it would be an encouragement for Lu Mingfei.

"Received, received! Your Highness Cornelia!" Lu Mingfei sat up straight in compliance.

The two had just finished watching the anime "Code Geass". Erii really liked the two princesses in it: the strong and cold Cornelia Li Britannia and the gentle and kind Euphemia Li Britannia. Euphemia is the protagonist Lelouch's half-sister and first love.

After the encouragement took effect, Erii stared intently at Lu Mingfei with her "cat-like gaze" and corrected his mistake: "I am Euphemia now. Cornelia is like her brother. She is a good person who stands on the opposite side of the protagonist."

"Yuan Zhisheng, is this the image of a tall, mature woman in your sister's eyes?" Lu Mingfei couldn't help but cover half his face and laugh out loud, but after a few laughs, he also felt a little emotional.

Judging from the current situation in Tokyo, Genjiro is indeed on the opposite side, and even Erii has noticed this trend.

This giant tortoise seems too fixated on a one-sided view of justice.

Lu Mingfei wondered if he should have a serious fight with Genjiro to vent his anger, since the trio had all been forced into prostitution by the Hebikihachi family... Damn, forcing innocent people into prostitution is just too villainous.

If the young ladies of Shilan Middle School knew that Chu Zihang was doing this kind of work in Tokyo, they would probably cross the Tsushima Strait on foot in the Sea of ​​Japan in a heartbeat, and empty their wallets and smash them on the table of the boss in Takamagahara with tears streaming down their faces.

Oh, and there's Jormungandr, the disgrace of the dragon race. Ever since reading her diary, Lu Mingfei has looked down on the entire dragon race more and more. The race's prestige has plummeted.

They're like a group of love-starved and conflicted children.

If all pure-blooded dragons resemble Fenrir and Jormungandr, he would truly doubt the Secret Society and the Kassel College's real motives for slaying dragons.

Speaking of which, Lu Mingze seems to have said that there are dragons behind hybrids, and those intelligent and cunning dragons are the truly terrifying ones.

"How much longer until we go to the University of Tokyo?" Erii asked curiously.

"To the University of Tokyo... it'll only take about ten minutes if you walk fast, the rest of the journey is quite short anyway." Lu Mingfei, who wasn't very familiar with the map, gave an uncertain answer.

They rested for twenty minutes at the record store, and it was indeed time to set off; the warmth within them had returned.

The record store owner observed the bizarre conversation between the young couple with great interest, a slightly puzzled smile on his face. He seemed unsure of what stage their relationship was in and wondered if he should give them a push.

The squinting record store owner gave them two bottles of instant coffee that could catch fireflies: "There's not much to see around the University of Tokyo in this torrential rain, but there's a scenic spot to linger on the firefly trail from my shop to the university. It's under this overpass I'm pointing to. You've seen 'Norwegian Wood,' right? Haruki Murakami definitely filmed scenes there!"