Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

Yu Man checked the schedule and was quite surprised.

70 took a sip of oolong tea and said, "Brother Teng and the others are having a great time. After all, there's no pressure in playing games, and they're getting better and better... This kind of thing happens occasionally."

"Well, the competition will be best when you are carefree, without pressure or anxiety." Xiaolu agreed, and no one knew where she got this advice from.

"Xiankan" belongs to our own people, and Yu Man is considered to be very knowledgeable about it.

In particular, they demonstrated strong strength. Not only Yu Man, but Senior Mao also conducted in-depth research on them.

But in contrast——

Yu Man had no impression of the BMS team.

However, they are all strong people who can break through the group stage and step into here.

Out of respect and careful study, Yu Man took advantage of the ample time before the match to study his opponent.

BMS - which means Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, is a team that was unknown before and after its formation.

Even in the most lively forums, they are like invisible people, and it seems that they cannot see any fans speaking or discussing.

They are ordinary, neither good nor bad. Unlike other glorious teams, they are not the team that has fallen to the bottom and is blamed by everyone.

They were just silent.

The silence was so quiet that Yu Man frowned, feeling something was wrong.

"……strangeness."

Yu Man immediately opened the competition manual given by Senior Mao and read it line by line.

But - even in this supreme spring season clearance cheat, there is almost no introduction to BMS.

Cat Senior's evaluation was "insignificant", and he briefly listed the personal information of their players, but that was all.

"...Bird Old Five."

"What's wrong? Do you want to discuss the story of instinct from 750,000 years ago, or delve into the question of who is a variant of whom, plants or human society?"

The woodpecker was ding-donging again, and Yu Man found that she had developed a strong conditioned reflex and would immediately ignore her words.

Not only her, but everyone else in Snake Restaurant was like this as well.

"Time" talks about her own things, while others talk about their own things. They don't interfere with each other, but it's all very good.

"…I mean, this BMS is a little weird."

"...Hmm? Let me take a look." Time pulled out his well-worn tablet and quickly flipped through the various contents. "It doesn't seem strange. Just an ordinary, nameless team. What's bothering you?"

Yu Man shook her head and stopped talking.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it? No.

As he had experienced along the way, Yu Man had great trust in his intuition.

Now it is humming discordantly.

This intuitive dry sound lasted for about fifteen minutes.

The second set of knockout matches today is about to begin - the contestants are on stage.

First, just "look around casually".

Boos and cheers.

They are intertwined, neither big nor small.

These players, once considered a disgrace, arrived one by one, brazen and cheerful. Their uniforms were embroidered with sponsors' money, along with promotions for the "Xiankan" guild and Yago's own company, giving them the airs of a top-tier team.

Brother Teng is an ordinary man in his thirties with a down-to-earth temperament.

Among them, the representative star contestant, Ni Xiaolu, has the same temperament as his online appearance, and is a man who can even be described as "charming".

But this is not forced, but innate.

Even though this young man dressed himself to look cool, he still had an unconcealable charm that flowed naturally from his appearance.

The strange thing is that she has surprisingly many female fans.

"So, Eel, have we sent you the thank-you gift from Ni Xiaolu..." Xiaolu mentioned casually.

“…No.”

The deer laughed. "This brings up the story of the great Unagi who angrily killed Ni Xiaolu at the start of the server and granted him the Rainbow Achievement... I don't know how many times I've mentioned it."

She knew that too? This was something I could never get tired of talking about.

70 didn't dare to say anything because she saw the camera float to the stage and captured his father Yago.

He was a middle-aged man as majestic as a lion, with broad shoulders and a thick body, a beard and a square face with a scar.

But the amazing thing is that he exudes a natural sense of reliability, and no one can even think of fooling or deceiving him.

A born leader.

"It's indeed your father." The deer muttered.

"...Don't, don't say that, I'm shy." It was rare for 70 to have such a difficult time.

Dad - father.

Yu Man was silent and sighed secretly.

Other people's fathers were living people, but his own Lao Deng was a prank by a god. When Yu Man thought of this, he felt as if the world was collapsing. He couldn't help but look at Bird Lao Wu beside him with complicated and resentful feelings.

It seemed that she knew Yu Man’s heart.

"A prank? No, Yu Man, you don't fully understand." A message was quietly transmitted to Yu Man's mobile phone.

It was sent by "Time".

Even though she was right next to Yu Man, her words were still powerful even when turned into words.

"Have you ever read... or seen a long story like that? Immersing yourself in the story, moving along with the plot and every arrangement?" asked "Time".

"Yes." Yu Man typed in response.

"Then you should understand. That's the unique sense of immersion that viewers can only experience when reading this work. The lovely, sassy, ​​and awe-inspiring female protagonist in the play is not only the object of your love, but also your companion on every journey, and at the same time... she is also the child you have watched grow up."

"--this……"

"You know her—no, I know your whole story."

"Time" was looking at the screen, but he was actually looking at Yu Man.

"From the time you unknowingly stepped into the old world, from the time you mastered some wonderful secrets that only you knew, from the time you grew into a reliable and powerful person, from the time you used cleverness and intrigue to play with others, and so on and so forth—to today."

Time said nothing, yet it said everything.

"I am a 'reader,' and as I said at the outset, you are my protagonist. I have been following your story... for a long time. You are not only my beloved girl, but also a good friend who knows me well, and even more so, the child I have watched grow up."

Yu Man felt his scalp tingling.

Is my relationship with the gods so complicated?

But Yu Man could understand and was even convinced by it.

If I had to describe it in the simplest way, it would be two words.

"'Reader' and - 'Protagonist'." Yu Man wrote.

"To be precise, it's 'reader' and - 'heroine'. These are the most attractive words in the world."

……

While Yu Man and "Time" were chatting about these things, Senior Cat was staring at the screen intently.

It can roughly estimate all the results of this spring season. In fact, judging from the group stage, it is pretty close.

If you give it a small amount of money, it can even rely on its amazing understanding and become a millionaire by betting little by little.

therefore--

In Senior Cat's eyes now, the strong team that will meet "Snake Restaurant" in the Spring Finals... is just "onlookers".

In terms of strength, Xiankan isn't particularly outstanding, but they are a very good five-man team. Having weathered many storms, their mentality was mature from the start.

They don't have any extra demands because they are content with what they have.

Even though the professional arena has not been open for long, they have earned enough money to last for the rest of their lives.

Moving forward, we'll take each win as it comes, and losing is no problem.

So - they can always win, always win.

After all, it is one of many correct paths to victory.

but--

In the first 1V1 match, amid the cheers of the audience.

The clay stove was defeated.

Cleanly and neatly, they were crushed by the opponent.

“……?!” Senior Cat was furious, and he didn’t even realize that he was furious.

It stared at the screen blankly, shocked to the extreme.

The duelist sent by BMS was a heavy swordsman.

The adventurer profession is grinder.

Relying on the grinder's understanding of the sword, soul weapon skills, and additional skills——

Even a heavy sword like a mountain became as light as a butterfly when used by the duelist.

It is different from all the heavy swords on the market, combining extremely high sensitivity and powerful attack power.

It was a miraculous and ingenious combat style, but Senior Cat understood its essence in an instant.

"Meow meow meow—meow!"

It even murmured, then roared and grabbed Yu Man's hand.

The latter realized that something was wrong, so he picked up the cat and went into the toilet.

After making sure to avoid being seen——

"That's fucking me, that's fucking me... Damn it, it's me, the failed form branded in the 'Land Branded with the Past'! No, no, no, no, no, no, the monster that controls sports and gambling has taken action... It's over... It's over!"

259 Stains

Senior Cat's countless cries of "Fuck" echoed around the toilet, and Yu Man was worried that his teammates outside would hear the sound.

But compared to that, Yu Man was more worried about the current situation.

"You mean...that person...is you?" Yu Man suppressed his desire to curse and asked rationally.

"...Xiao Man, to be exact, it is the image of my past failure."

Even without Senior Cat's introduction, Yu Man was well aware of the famous name of "The Land Branded by the Past".

This is a hidden copy of high-end content that became widely known in the later stages of the game.

According to the few plot details, the "Land of the Branded Past" was created by a very ancient and powerful god himself, entirely to satisfy the god's personal desires.

He wanted to watch the battles, He wanted to set up gambling games, He wanted to capture the beautiful battles and collect them all.

As a result, all these wishes were fulfilled.

If the Spring Season, Summer Season, and the Rainbow Crystal League at the end of the year are the glorious stages on the surface.

The underground competition in the dark will be held in the "Land of the Branded Past".

If we fail in this fight,

The shameful figure of failure will be forever branded and become the collection of that god.

"In other words - Senior Cat... you have failed too?" Yu Man asked.

Senior Cat didn't try to hide it, but rather uncomfortably confirmed, "So... my perfect clearance failed. I have more than one blemish, and the failure of 'The Branded Land of the Past' is one of them."

And now——

The mark of cat senior's failure——