Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

Yu Man came over with a very delicate and delicious dessert with a smile on her face, but it turned out that she had ulterior motives.

"If this is all I have, I'm in a tough spot, Uncle Eel." 70 laughed. "Just participating can earn me hundreds of thousands of dollars. While I'll have nowhere to spend it, saving it can protect me from future risks. Of course I want to participate."

"No, no, no, I already have enough opponents to deal with. If you need anything else, just ask. I can do whatever I want. I just hope I can avoid having another strong opponent... You're on my side, right? 70."

Yu Man already has a comprehensive plan.

First of all, we must prevent the enemy from continuing to increase.

The dessert boat that happened to arrive became a great welcome gift.

70 thought for a moment and said, "Then...please promise me that if I need help, Uncle Eel will help me. If you promise this, I won't participate in the competition."

"no problem."

"That's good." She dropped her scheming expression and smiled like a girl her age. "I'm sure Uncle Eel doesn't want to be tortured by a top healer—she's in her room brewing potions and meditating."

"Thank you!"

Yu Man picked up another exquisitely packaged dessert and headed straight for Liu Tong Qi Hua's residence at the foot of the mountain.

Rather—the intelligence was wrong.

Liu Tong Qi Hua was not busy with the alchemist's affairs, but was fighting with the small account book.

"Ah, Captain." She heard Yu Man's arrival. "What are your instructions? I thought we didn't need to prepare for battle right now... I'll go to the dungeon now."

"No, no, no, I brought a treat for my day off."

Liu Tong Qi Hua recognized the logo on the box; after all, the Summer Dessert Boat was quite famous.

The dessert inside the package was clearly fresh, and Liu Tong Qi Hua was pleasantly surprised: "Can I eat it now?"

"Of course, but—"

"What...is the price?" Liu Tong Qi Hua became nervous.

Yu Man handed her a silver spoon. "I hope you won't participate in the playoffs and torture me. I don't want to fight a healer as difficult to kill as you, but... I can win. In return, I'll give you the participation fee and share it with you from my prize money."

"Ah... I didn't plan on participating either."

Liu Tong Qi Hua had no grudges about this because her body and mind were focused on other things.

She held up the notebook as if to show off, and the chubby handwriting described a lot.

"I've now advanced to the knockout rounds, and the guaranteed bonus I can get is huge, enough to secure my family's future."

"……That's good."

Her tone became erratic, as if speaking to herself, yet also to the distance: "This time, reckless investment is absolutely not allowed... I should be able to summon the courage to persuade them in this way."

"So you're listing future expenses?"

"Hmm—so, thank you for recruiting me, and thank you for this cake." Liu Tong Qi Hua said this sincerely, and then whispered in Yu Man's ear, "I wish you can defeat Boss Lu, and... Old Bird... Old Blackbird."

Looking at her like this, Yu Man couldn't help but think.

If she were typing, she would probably be able to use "鸟老五" and all kinds of swear words at will.

……

Carrying another piece of cake, Yu Man came to the beach.

A small boat was swaying with the waves, and a fishing rod was tilted dejectedly.

Travelers are more comfortable than ever.

"Are you here? Demon." The deer waved his hand without turning back.

"……Ugh."

Yu Man froze a path for herself to walk towards Xiaolu's boat.

Her light figure did not make the boat draft deeper: "Boss, we need to talk."

"Don't look so gloomy, Demon God. It's a good thing that I'm participating in the competition. I am actually the last hope of mankind. Otherwise, all the others combined would be wiped out by you. Maybe I can still fight with you for a few moves to add some fun to the competition."

"How many moves? You're so humble... Here, cake."

"Don't eat it - a chicken thigh will make your teeth soft. This is called being grateful for what you have done and being soft-mouthed when you have eaten." She was very vigilant.

But the strange thing was that she picked a fish and handed it to Yu Man.

The shiny scales exude a strong vitality, and the fishy smell of the sea is pervasive.

"Take it and bake it, then answer my questions."

"...Aren't you a soft-hearted person?"

"Of course you have to soften your mouth."

After saying that, Xiaolu didn't even hand the fish to Yu Man, but immediately asked a question.

"Look, Old World expert, I'm about to challenge a terrifying boss-level player. He's an ice mage, his skills are all like cheat codes, and he even has a weird hidden class. How can I win?"

"...You want me to tell you how I can defeat myself?"

"Yeah." The deer was very serious.

"Well, if you don't participate in the competition, I can still be beaten up by you in private..."

Yu Man's concession didn't work. Xiaolu shook her finger and said, "That won't work. It doesn't have that sense of ceremony. Don't worry, even if I win, I will share the prize money with everyone, including you. So... how can I beat you?"

After being asked this question and being stared at by those expectant eyes, Yu Man actually gave in.

"It depends on whether I need to 'save time'..."

"So do you want to use it?"

Yu Man was calm: "If you don't want to eat the cake, I will do my best and won't let you down."

Leaving these words behind, Yu Man walked away.

Only the deer trembled, and at the same time, its fighting spirit was high - this was exactly what she wanted.

She wanted to win the secret in Yu Man's heart.

She didn't want to ask questions in the Old World language after being defeated.

……

The rain stopped.

The rain is still falling.

……

Yu Man handed the last piece of cake to "Shi Guang" who was sitting under the tree.

To be precise, it was a frozen packaging box - pressed against her overly focused face.

"...Little sister Yu Man, you are humiliating a "Third Secretary." She was startled and immediately glared at Yu Man.

"You also know that you are the "Three Secrets"? "

"I'm just a poet." "Time" touched his face, and the cold touch was still there.

She closed the nameless book in her hand, moved a few inches to the left, and patted the lawn where the light between the leaves was reflected.

That's an invitation.

It's a bit like a child inviting his classmates to his house to show off his new collection.

It's a bit like an animal sharing its territory with its own kind, and maybe the next step is to lick her fur?

"I'm not here to make friends with you, 'Sanmi'." Yu Man said.

"Me neither." Time continued to pat the grass gently. "But you have to get closer to me to hear what I'm saying... right?"

"So—what do you want to say?"

Time smiled and said, "For example—I might accept your cake."

Yu Man finally sat next to her.

Even if you just change your posture, the scenery you can see and everything you can feel will suddenly change.

Light, wind, warmth, sea.

Yu Man handed the cake to her and she ate it without hesitation.

Then, with her butter-covered lips, she whispered, "Yu Man, I will remember this scent. Even after two thousand years, smelling it again will bring me back to this moment."

"...Have we walked that long and that far?"

"It's much farther and longer than that." The poet had no intention of saying more.

She changed the subject—

"I don't mind forfeiting, although I think it's still okay to beat you up right now. Basically, you owe me $200 million in play-in bonuses."

"Come and practice!" Yu Man was not convinced.

"You see, 'Going Against All Things' has finally infected you. Anyway, you owe me so much money, you should find a way to repay it." Time added, "But there's a price to pay for me to give up... a heavy price."

"...You tell me."

"You should know that there are so many good works in the world that no one cares about, and I have eaten up all of them."

"Ah."

"There are many good works that deserve discussion... Could you use your two days of rest to accept some of my recommendations, read them carefully, and then discuss them with me all night to satisfy my desire to express myself?"

It’s really heavy——Yu Man wiped the sweat off his forehead.

256 Disenchantment

The day before the knockout round.

In other words, the last day of rest.

Their boat was still far away from the dock, drifting on the silent and rainy sea.

On a day like this, Xiaolu would not think of fishing on the deck, not to mention that she currently has an important goal. Naturally, she is pondering in her room with a pile of data, networks, brochures and notes.

She is preparing for battle.

Just to win over that person.

But she was not alone, there was also the specially hired coach of "Snake Restaurant" who was being held in Xiaolu's arms.

Although the coach couldn't speak and just kept meowing softly, and couldn't provide any real help to Xiaolu, Xiaolu had a feeling that "the cat you raised is very close to me", and seemed to be relying on this to maintain her connection with Yu Man.

Strange thought – but it’s true.

"...Triple Crown, sometimes I really think your master is a dog, not an eel."

"Meow……"

Senior Cat also thinks Yu Man is a dog.

For example, the name "Triple Crown", which sounds very funny, was a lie Yu Man made up at the time.

As a result, they called it more and more easily, and before they knew it, it became like a real name, and everyone was calling it that.

For example, Yu Man has been constantly showcasing her individual style throughout the Spring Split, and while that's fine, she's also been frantically trying to snag the gear that other players have painstakingly accumulated. Senior Cat always thinks back to her past; if she'd had an opponent as weak as Yu Man, she probably wouldn't have reached her peak.

and also--

She seemed to have no clues about how to return to the old world.

At least, Senior Cat didn't hear anything about this.

"Triple Crown Champion, when your master takes the prize money and leaves... can you come back to my house occasionally?" The voice was only slightly louder than the sound of rain.

Senior Cat stared at her and couldn't help sighing.

The female owner's remarks became increasingly intense.

From the beginning, I would occasionally look through the crack of the door or wander outside the door.

Then she would often break into Yu Man's house late at night, pretending that Yu Man was playing in the old world, and watch quietly like a female ghost.

Until recently, I would actually poke Yu Man's face with my fingers and hold the ends of her hair in my palms.

Senior Cat never dared to tell Yu Man about these things, for fear of losing his job.