Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

It's also difficult for Cat Senior to do it.

More than that, it is the unsung hero.

Whenever the deer attacked, it would always frantically interfere with the deer's attack like a naughty cat, in order to protect Yu Man's face. Although it said so, it would occasionally let the deer off a little and give it a little sweet treat.

Of course - it didn't dare tell Yu Man about this.

Cat Senior was just confused——

Why doesn’t Yu Man know about this yet?

"Triple Crown, how can I kill her? She once made a small promise with me, saying that when I learned the Old World language, she would tell me her little secrets. But -"

"Meow?"

The deer scratched the cat's chin in his arms and said in a tough tone, "But I never want to follow the path paved for me by others. I just want to fight for it myself. So... the play-offs are a good opportunity."

She wants to win the eel subjugation war.

Then - exchange this victory for the secret, instead of getting the secret as Yu Man requested.

Although the result is the same, being active and being passive – that’s different.

Xiaolu never wants to betray her free self, especially since she has lived a free and casual life all her life.

“…Meow.” Unfortunately, Senior Cat couldn’t help.

It’s not because I want to play the role of a cat, but more importantly... in Senior Cat’s opinion, Xiaolu really can’t beat Yu Man.

There are ways to deal with everything else, but "saving time" is something that cannot be solved.

Speaking of this——

"Look, Yu Man, this poem is very pleasing, but Baba Tahir was truly a pioneer of his time to be able to write something so exquisite in that era."

"No, Bird Old Five, do you think I can understand this stuff?"

"No problem, I'll translate it for you—"I'm disappointed with my eyes and my heart, because my heart remembers everything my eyes see. I'll forge a dagger out of iron and pierce my eyes—to free my heart."

"……interesting."

Across the wall, outside the window of Xiaolu's room, one can see the figures of Yu Man and "Time".

They were standing under the eaves where they could touch the rain, playing the roles of both expresser and listener in a noisy manner.

Their voices reached the house, where the fawn was staring at them.

but--

"Triple Crown, it may be strange for me to say this, but I don't feel offended at all. Bird Old Five and your master must have known each other for a very long time. It's quite strange."

"..."

"Your mistress is the daughter of that world poet, a true daughter of a literary family. It's normal for her to know a weirdo like Bird Old Five, but that's not the case... I just feel... that they seem to be like that. It's very strange."

The little deer was still speaking in a low voice, so that only Senior Cat could hear it.

Senior Cat didn't quite understand.

But she did understand one thing—

After Yu Man revealed everything to Xiao Lu after she turned into a human...some things might explode.

……

"You know what? Yu Man, if you don't demystify the creator, you will never reach the true meaning of the work."

"……I do not know."

Yu Man sat on a rattan chair, enduring the torture of birdsong, thinking that it was a kind of environmental white noise that needed a response, similar to the sound of rain.

But this was her deal with "Time": she had to spend a day and a night to satisfy her desire to talk, to listen to her endless, incomprehensible words, in exchange for her not signing up for the competition, thus eliminating a formidable rival.

"Creators are just stupid souls, just like everyone else. They just happen to be good at making up stories, and they just happen to make good stories, but they can also be incredibly stupid people at heart."

"...I've deeply understood this from my father. What about you?"

"I certainly do."

"Time" pointed at itself and then at the air.

No, that is a distant time and a distant world.

"You have to demystify creators. They are not great people. Praising any creator is nothing but the ignorant people's self-inflicted worries and hype. They themselves have no understanding of the work or the creator, and this constitutes a huge lie."

Yu Man folded her arms and muttered to herself, "But, I'm not so obsessed with any creator that I'm blinded by it, am I?"

"That's good. I hope you really remember this time."

She added:

"Creators should also always be vigilant and not expose their own stupidity. This is where they need to be smart."

"..." Yu Man was silent, always feeling that the words of "time" had some meaning.

But what Shi Guang said next made Yu Man quickly realize that she might have been wrong.

She said calmly, "There's an old band called Camel, and they have an album called 'Nude', which quite interestingly reveals their stupidity as creators."

"...You go ahead."

"They heard Onoda's story, but interpreted it with the foolish and self-righteous eyes of Westerners, always thinking of him as a heroic figure who fought to the end. From this perspective, they narrowly adapted it and created a self-plagiaristic romantic album, completely unaware of the significance of those 10,000 days and nights of prolonged war."

Yu Man still didn't understand what she said.

But she still said—

"Sometimes, creators expose their own stupidity and ignorance like this, but only those who know the subject can understand their ignorance. I hope... you can understand... at least one day."

Yu Man stared at her, just staring at her.

Then he nodded silently.

After that, Shi Guang became her usual self: "Look, Yu Man, this is the list of books I recommend to you."

"...Isn't this a book?" Yu Man took over a booklet, which was densely covered with book titles from beginning to end.

Is this something a human could possibly finish?

Time, however, demands: "At least finish reading all of this today, so that I can reluctantly avoid participating in the competition and giving you a beating."

"…No, bro, how long the hell are we going to watch this? A whole day?"

"Don't worry, Yu Man. You see, there are two kinds of time—time that stops because of my will, and time that stops for you."

Yu Man's scalp tingled. "You mean, you want to pause time so I can finish reading all these books?"

"Well, it's wonderful, isn't it? Do you feel like you've stolen a lot of time to use for yourself?"

"No...you—"

"Me? Of course I'll stop for a long time and discuss these works with you. From beginning to end, from every paragraph to every line."

Yu Man couldn't imagine such a thing, and after thinking about it, she finally broke the news to her.

"I'll give you this list back." Yu Man said stubbornly, "Time, can I only read your poems and not the works of others?"

“…It’s not impossible.”

Unexpectedly, Yu Man was exempted.

The ten thousand difficult days and nights that belonged to her never came, and only an old book that "time" shyly brought to her.

An old book that is old and even a little bit decayed.

Her poems were written on it line by line in extremely beautiful handwriting.

"This is a collection of my poems. I published it at my own expense a long, long time ago," she recalled fondly. "I printed six copies. I treasure one for myself, one for you, one for 'Aurora Borealis Chords,' and the others, along with their owners... have turned to ashes."

"Me too?" Yu Man was stunned. "Which scrap of manuscript contains such a story?"

"Well—that was written by me myself. It's only natural that it will transcend time and the limitations of the work itself, and not be a waste draft. However, the form it exists in is a little different from what you imagined."

what?

Yu Man was very confused.

"Time" means that she had given herself a collection of poems long ago, and it was not restricted by the waste manuscript and erased together.

Does it still exist to this day?

In—different forms?

and many more……

Wait, wait, wait—

"...Fuck, is that my Lao Deng...?!" Yu Man really couldn't think of a second answer.

A bolt from the blue, more detonating than any previous one, resounded in Man's soul.

If she could have mastered this thunder last week, she would have broken through the limit and advanced to the next level.

She felt numb all over, stunned and dazed.

What’s even more terrifying is——

Shi Guang burst into laughter. "As expected of a PVE player, congratulations on completing this story. I'll personally give you a point."

"...Huh? Are you kidding?"

"Ah."

"Although I've always felt that there was something wrong with my old man, but... where was I born? What happened to my childhood... my upbringing...?"

No, no, no, compared to this——

"Didn't you say before that it was my Lao Deng who plagiarized your work? And then you came to me to collect the debt..."

"Look, Yu Man, there's only one kind of creator—the stupid creator who can never escape his own limitations. He'll plagiarize himself endlessly, writing the same old stuff, just by changing the name."

"...You mean - self-plagiarism." Yu Man understood what she meant.

Time laughed heartily: "That's what people call it, so I didn't lie, so it's fine for me to ask you for your royalties."

How many big bombs does this old man, who is full of lies, have in his hands?

Yu Man covered his head, feeling extremely depressed.

The "Three Secrets" are truly terrifying...

"Wait." Yu Man looked up. "Didn't I decipher it at the beginning? It said you were my old man... Wait, are we actually father and son?"

Time choked on its own saliva.

He coughed violently for a while, then laughed non-stop.

But even so, she didn't explain.

He just looked at Yu Man with his soft, sky-blue eyes, with great tenderness and nostalgia.

"Poetry is written to express loneliness, but it is also written to drive away loneliness," Yu Man said.

"...No, what on earth are you——"

"Time" shook his head and put his index finger on Yu Man's lips, sealing those questions.

She didn't want to hear those cruel words, but she also knew exactly what she was going to ask.

"It's not that I don't want to reveal it to you, I'm just tired. If you fail this time, you'll still forget my answer. So... ask me again when everything is over."

"……All right."

“I hope these poems that you grew up with can still move you.”

……

The next day was the opening day of the knockout round.

The crowds, more lively than ever, gathered around the venue early. Furthermore, a large number of news reports were covering the implications of Dubai being overwhelmed by the huge crowds.

Discussions and pictures of the contestants are everywhere. People waste their time just to indulge in the honor and money of others, and seem to be unaware of even the slightest bit of falsehood.

However, they hold the truth.

"Eel, why do you seem to have not slept well?" Xiaolu noticed that something was wrong with Yu Man.

"I really didn't sleep well..." Yu Man nodded honestly.