Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

After chatting with "Time" yesterday, she really couldn't calm down. A large number of questions were like balls of wool in her mind and heart. She even became extremely resistant to logging into the old world.

Nowadays, when sleep patterns are all the rage around the world, she finally experienced the pain of insomnia.

"I'm in very bad shape. I'm relying on you guys for today's knockout match." Yu Man said uncomfortably.

The little deer stared at her, as if he had found a trick.

……

ps

(Alas, if I keep holding back on writing like this, I’ll be facing an even more serious death problem in the second half of the month than last month…)

257 About Friendship

"Although you have finished reading my poems, you should still carefully read the books I recommended to you. Yu Man, the true meaning of life does not lie in the end or the starting point, but in how you fill the emptiness of life."

Yu Man always felt like she was standing like a tree.

The words of "time" are like woodpeckers, poking themselves under the pretext of exterminating insects and curing diseases, and feeling satisfied after poking themselves full of holes.

The difference is that woodpeckers eat bugs.

"Time" probably wants to eat Yu Man's heart.

"For example, this book—Yu Man. Look, this story begins in ruins eroded by nature. It's the beginning of a vast tale, but it's a treasured collection that the author wrote with all his might in his youth and has only ever been shown to one reader."

Yu Man's eyes were unfocused, and she couldn't even see the title of the book.

Even the book doesn't seem to have a name.

But she still had some sense: "So... where the hell am I supposed to read this shit? Isn't it only for one reader?"

"That's not the problem. Look, there's also this book... The whole story begins with the Electricity Ban and the NATO Tower. They and the author are both rushing towards an unreachable end, falling back into the reality you will eventually reach."

"No, then you won't read the previous one?"

"And this story." Time's finger slid to the next one. "The world moves forward, and higher beings beyond human vision begin to emerge. Only the protagonist can see them... and then one day it will come to an end. This is truly a perfect work that has come to a natural conclusion, but unfortunately there is no sequel - like most works."

"Oh... there's more, right?"

Unfortunately, they still have some time before they can play.

There is even enough "time" to tell another one.

"This one! The protagonist transforms from a mortal into a god through a wave of probability, all for the sake of that one-in-a-billion kiss—huh?"

Time raised her head because a voice interrupted her.

That was - a knock on the door.

Light, rhythmic and full of energy.

You can tell what kind of person someone is by the sound they make when knocking on the door.

There was probably a girl standing outside the Snake Restaurant's contestant lounge, Yu Man speculated. Whoever she was, she was the Bird Old Five killer who had put an end to Bird Old Five's endless stream of gossip. She was someone worthy of Yu Man's bouquet of flowers.

So, Yu Man desperately tried to open the door as if asking for help—

"Hello!"

Outside the door stood two girls.

Uh.

I don’t know him—but I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere.

Yu Man observed it carefully for a second.

The girl on the left is slightly shorter, wearing a leather jacket and ripped jeans, with a high ponytail that looks neat and dashing.

His eyes seemed cold at first glance, but they actually concealed a deep-seated eagerness.

Probably under 20, pretty... maybe British?

"Hello... eel, fish."

Noticing Yu Man's gaze, she tried to greet him in her unfluent Chinese. Her voice was cold, but sounded warm.

This is obviously a foreign language that has been practiced many times and with great effort, mixed with extreme seriousness.

"you're good too."

"And me, and me." The other one was slightly taller and about the same age.

Lip studs, exquisite makeup, fancy dyed long hair and painted T-shirts.

He looks like the kind of person who would appear at a rock concert, shouting louder than a metal band, calling everyone his brother, and loving to drink, but actually more reserved and shy than anyone else... I don't know where he is from, but he's definitely not East Asian.

"Hello, hello, eel." She also tried to greet.

Yu Man nodded in response, then glanced at the corridor, which was covered with endless promotional posters.

Oh.

They are today's opponents in the knockout round.

Yu Man didn't know their names, but the team's name was easy to remember.

Premiata Forneria Marconi, commonly known as PFM.

Before the competition started, PFM attracted much attention because of its strong strength and the presence of two young and beautiful female players.

But after the main competition started, "Snake Restaurant" stole all the limelight, so much so that people ignored all other female players and downplayed all gender issues. They all assumed that the professional arena in the old world would be all-encompassing and nothing was surprising.

Hearing the noise at the door, other people from the Snake Restaurant also came over.

Liu Tong Qi Hua was a little scared - because she felt that this might be some kind of act of ruining the event or declaring war before the game.

Not to mention that these two female contestants look like little gangsters. If I were in the same class with them, I can imagine that I would be bullied to the point of hanging myself.

But when I look back, I see that the people around me are even more difficult to deal with.

"What are you here for? Fighting?" The little deer put his hands on his hips, even though he was no match for his opponent in terms of size and age.

The two guests didn't understand Chinese very well, but they sensed hostility from their atmosphere.

Yu Man spoke in a language they could understand: "Is there anything wrong?"

"Ah, because we have a competition today, so we came to say hello!" said the taller one.

"I give you this precious point. Then we will slowly climb up from the loser group. See you in the finals." The shorter one's tone was still cold.

Yu Man had a good impression of them. After all, they were the ones who interrupted the noisy "time": "Want to have some cookies or something and chat? There's no poison."

"No, no, I'm going to go on stage soon."

"But...this one."

The shorter one pretended to be calm and nonchalant as he took out a piece of paper.

But anyone could see that she had mustered all her courage.

"Here you go, if you like..."

"Ok?"

Yu Man received the note, which was written in round handwriting with a ballpoint pen. It contained all her contact information.

The other party continued:

"I... I also want to add you as my friend in the old world, is that okay? Because... I'm your fan, and I just... want to get to know you."

"Row."

This simple response melted the winter snow on the other person's face and ushered in his own spring.

She cheerfully took out several more notes and handed them to everyone carefully, as if she wanted to make friends with everyone.

After finishing all this, the tall man put his hand on her shoulder and slowly pushed her away from the door like a cart closing up shop.

"See you on the field!"

"I hope you can teach us something. Please feel free to give us your guidance."

I watched them look back every three steps, wave every five steps, and then disappear around the corner.

Yu Man stared at the note in her hand, thinking that she had finally made a friend.

……

A few minutes later, their names were called by the leader.

"Come on" and many other natural instructions, plus the noise of the audience that can be heard even from deep inside.

With these sounds as the background, they stepped onto the field.

"Haha." Yu Man laughed.

The audience were all very experienced. They sat in good positions close to the battlefield and had two sets of equipment in their hands.

A cool fan and a thick coat to keep warm.

Sitting in that position and watching the game, you can feel the influence of the player's magic on nature.

Especially the "Snake Restaurant" competition, especially when Yu Man appears.

Her ice was more clearly discernible than anything else, its overwhelming difference far beyond common sense.

It's said that the referees, hosts, and commentators who were closest to the field were all frozen by Yu Man, and one substitution was due to someone falling ill from the cold. While it's unknown if this rumor is true, it's a fact that everyone was carrying something to keep warm.

"Eel, if you don't freeze yourself hard now, you'll be letting down the audience's enthusiasm." Xiaolu poked Yu Man with his elbow.

"...But I probably won't be able to play today. I'm counting on you guys."

The big general of his team is taking a break today, but Xiaolu has something he wants to play with.

The more times she competed, the more she felt the strangeness of the "Intersection Line" competition venue.

Her sword's edge can even transcend the field and spread into reality to a certain extent.

She wanted to swing her sword with all her might, maybe... she could interfere with reality.

If possible, she could use this to confirm many of her inner suspicions.

Soon, all the pre-match activities came to an end, and the main race began amidst the impatient shouting.

By flipping a coin, the initiative in BP was taken away by the opponent, that is, the PFM team.

"2v2."

The opponent chose this format without hesitation as the first round of the knockout stage.

The audience cheered because everyone loved watching this - second only to 1V1.

"Map, ridge."

Just by this move, the well-prepared "Snake Restaurant" had guessed PFM's tactics.

The two female players of PFM, who are also their star players, are both good at single combat and have a good coordination. Their tactics of swinging between 1v1 and 2v2 are very effective. Their strongest form is to play together in 2v2 situations.

The Ridge is a hilly and troublesome map with rock pillars and pinnacles all over the ground.

Professions that are good at pulling like this kind of map very much, while those who like big and bold moves hate it very much.

The fact that they chose this specifically means they are prepared for a fierce battle.

After deciding these things, Yu Man held Senior Cat in his arms and began to battle wits and courage with the opposing coach.

Disable some troublesome skills, but don't disable them too specifically, so as not to fall into the opponent's secondary choice trap.

Since you have guessed the opponent's tactical intentions, it is best to let them carry out their tactics, but there must be a limit.

Make the opponent feel that "even if they don't get these skills, they can still play them out."

Our principle is: "Don't ban all your skills, lest you take out another set of things."

What is controllable and predictable is always easier to deal with than the unpredictable.

Following this logic, the process of disabling and selecting skills quickly became clear. The opponent was extremely targeted at Yu Man and Xiao Lu, but this made Yu Man immediately choose another set of skills for the team.

The team's depth is good enough, and no matter how the BP is handled, the team can come up with a solution.

now--

"Bird Five, you and 70 come on stage."