Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

"Wait a moment." After saying that, Yu Man stood up.

"--Um."

Yu Man tightened the socks rolled down her ankles, put on her indoor shoes, and walked towards the door while combing her hair and clothes.

enemy.

Yu Man opened the door and saw her.

She was right outside the door—the person he was most familiar with this week, and also the one he feared the most.

Last week, the girls related to her were almost all from the old world, and she still had the real world to hide in, but this week she met Xiaolu... She lives in the real world, an ordinary human being... but also a unique human being.

She paused just outside the door, confident, worried, dignified—and a little childishly casual.

Unlike her usual home sweaters, Xiaolu is wearing a long dress, as if she wants to embrace the approaching summer.

"Huh? Was Eel on the phone just now?" Little Deer's expression remained the same as always, and he even poked his head out to look into the house. "I felt a little noise in your room just now, but it wasn't Bird Old Five's voice... I thought you were on the phone."

"No, just talking."

Yu Man opened the door and welcomed Xiaolu in.

As she walked towards the house, a playful "Wow, the cat is so good" sounded on her lips, while Yu Man just looked out at the quiet night outside the boat.

Today marks the end of spring—and the beginning of summer.

at the same time……

Perhaps it was still the day to reveal secrets.

"What's the matter, eel, standing still..."

"coming."

Yu Man closed the door. In the room that once belonged to her and Senior Cat, there was the scent of another young girl.

But it was extremely natural, blending and dissolving easily with their atmosphere, and remained the same as always.

Who made them do that? They have been living together for several months now.

"Let me see, Yu Man—" Xiaolu switched to fluent Old World language, "A billionaire, the son of a great poet, a brave warrior of the Old World and a player who pioneered the future, and also, an incredibly beautiful and lovely girl."

It was enthusiastic praise, and Yu Man quite appreciated it.

"...You really learned the Old World language."

"Of course. When you left everything to me and went out to play on your own, I had to take care of Bird Old Five, complete level 70 dungeons, and learn the Old World language. But luckily, Xiaobing and your assistant are good teachers, and... I'm quite talented."

The little deer sang proudly, but Yu Man knew very well that mastering this language was not that easy.

She has a solid foundation and a deep understanding of magic, which is why she was able to master the language so quickly.

But Xiaolu... God knows how much effort she put in.

The deer brought a chair, gently opened the window, and sat in a position where the foreign moonlight just happened to slant down from the sea.

"So—Eel, is that deal still in place?" she asked.

"……Um."

Yu Man didn't intend to hide it from her—rather, Xiaolu and he were already involved in a lot of things, even since the server launch. Plus, she had given Yu Man and Senior Cat so much help... It was neither emotional nor logical for Yu Man to hide it from her.

Besides - it's not a secret that needs to be kept.

If all else fails, the secret becomes nothing more than a pile of scraps, to be eliminated and the cycle repeats.

This is also what Yu Man is worried about.

"Xiaolu, you've mastered Old World language now... That's great. You're the second player in the world to master it, so you're certainly qualified to understand it... But—I want to tell you that the story behind this isn't really that interesting."

"Only after you tell me can I know if it's interesting or not—or are you not going to tell me anymore?"

Yu Man shook her head, glanced at the cat that was naturally picked up by Xiaolu, and thought that it was time to have a chat.

Her eyes grew distant.

This story is similar to money after all, which is the factor that will make them separate.

Money would make Yu Man lose her reason to "ask for asylum," and this story... would make her a swindler who had been deceiving people from the very beginning, hiding the truth with lies... Xiaolu would never trust her again.

That is the story of the passer.

But - where to begin the story?

"Official website."

Yu Man mentioned this word abruptly, and then laughed jokingly.

That was in the early stages of the game, and Yu Man always used it as an excuse to fool others.

I don’t know how many times the content on the “official website” has covered up for Yu Man…

"There's actually not much content on the official website. Back then, everything I told you and taught you was not something I learned from the official website."

Yu Man finally spoke out, like the first brick laid in a vast project.

The deer's eyes were not looking at a liar, but as if it was a matter of course.

"I'm not stupid... At that time, of course I browsed the official website with an attitude of humbly learning, and then I found nothing." Her tone was also amused. She had already known the little lie Yu Man had told.

As expected... it was discovered.

But this is inevitable.

At that time - Yu Man still planned to travel alone and had no intention of establishing any relationship with the girl in front of him.

Not to mention - it has been established till now.

From the very beginning, it was not a tightly woven grand lie, but just the beginning of a child's joke.

But what next?

"For me, this is my second playthrough of the game. As far as I can remember, I played it for three years... That is to say, before you set foot in the old world - I played it for an additional three years."

Yu Man spoke slowly and clearly, trying to make it as clear as possible.

She was a little afraid to look into the deer's eyes, but after mustering up the courage to do so—

The deer wasn't surprised at all... or was it.

Xiaolu was still surprised: "I didn't expect this game to have been in beta for three years... I don't know if that's long or short, but it's actually been three years..."

She had already noticed Yu Man's proficiency and naturally knew that she was no novice.

So - she had long guessed that Yu Man was someone related to the game development, an old player of the internal test, and an illegal person who joined the game early.

Can--

Yu Man shook her head. "It's not the beta test—it's, last week's episode. At least that's what we, the players who completed the game, call it. It's the last week's episode in the old world, and... it's the last week's episode in the real world."

"...What...does it mean?" Even Xiaolu was speechless after hearing Yu Man say this.

Yeah, what does it mean?

This is also something Yu Man didn't know.

But in reality—she already knew almost everything.

"There are two true gods in this world. One is like the creator, creating everything in it... the old world or our real world, and many other worlds that have existed before."

"...Is this...some kind of worldview? Or..."

"Well, it's the worldview written by the Creator - cliché and boring, but unfortunately, this is what we experience."

Yu Man continued, not caring whether Xiaolu heard it clearly or not.

"The creator only wants to compose something perfect, or rather, something that satisfies him. The other god is a bit like a censor, examining those stories from a bystander's perspective. And everything we have is nothing more than what these two gods control."

"……Uh?"

Yu Man saw her confusion, and in fact, she was also confused.

"And those who have completed the level—those who have the opportunity to create something perfect... the protagonists of those stories. So far, there have been two who have completed the level... at least, these are the only two we know of."

"No, I don't understand a word you say."

"I was a completer of last week's episode, and then I was given a chance to start over. The world was reset to three years ago, and only I and another completer—plus those two gods, and one of the Three Secrets who were involved—hold these memories."

The little deer was confused at first, then he tasted something, and then he was surprised.

She just looked at Yu Man like that—intently.

But Yu Man didn't intend to keep anything and pointed at the cat in Xiaolu's hand.

"The only other person who cleared the game besides me is the one you hold in your hand, the Triple Crown Champion. That wasn't the Mouse Catching Champion, but the Rainbow Crystal League Champion. She was once called 'Rebellion Against All Things,' and she too traveled for three years during her playthrough, earning another chance."

After a long silence, the deer looked down.

His entire face was filled with horror, extreme fear, regret and shame.

"Triple Crown, come on, stop pretending to be a cat and tell a story to our owner." Yu Man urged.

She didn't understand a word Yu Man was saying, but if this was true...

Then everything I did before, everything I said before - in fact... were all... heard by this cat?

It—isn’t a cat?

The Triple Crown King was silent for a long time, staring at the deer, and then slowly spoke -

"Meow."

A perfectly standard cat meow, with a hint of confusion and flattery.

This made the atmosphere quite awkward.

Yu Man coughed a few times and said anxiously, "Senior Cat, stop making trouble and speak some human language."

“…Meow.” The senior cat rubbed the little deer cutely.

"Eel... it sounds like a normal cat meow to me, is that a problem?"

"Well... there is a problem."

If Senior Cat doesn't speak human language to prove it, then there will be no evidence for what Yu Man just said...it will be very embarrassing.

Damn it.

Yu Man stood up rather awkwardly, picked up the adorable white cat, and threw it onto his bed: "Talk, talk. You were so handsome just now, but now you're acting cute, huh? Talk to me."

"Eel...um...you were joking just now...right? Your cat really can't talk, so I kind of understand the joke."

The more caring Xiaolu's words were, the redder Yu Man's face became.

What a damn cat-senpai, selling her out at a time like this?

etc--

Yu Man remembered a magical weapon, so she rushed to the bedside table and picked up the bottle that looked empty at first glance, but was actually filled with a special liquid. Since Senior Cat refused to speak, she would fill it with water.

"Xiaolu, watch carefully. I will create a naked cat girl for you..."

"Do you... like that kind? Or after winning the championship and making money... have some brains?"

Damn it, damn it.

But before Yu Man completely exploded, Senior Cat finally sighed.

Reluctantly, stubbornly—

"Oh, I'll tell you, I'll tell you." He started.

Senior Cat had good intentions, because Xiaolu privately treated her as Yu Man's cat and told her many secrets.

Not only that, he also took it as common sense that cats knew nothing and did some not very decent things in front of cats.

If he didn't know all this, Senior Cat wouldn't want to play dumb.

At the same time, because he knew all this, Senior Cat had enlightened Yu Man before.

Senior Cat knew it very well - Xiaolu was just one of the poor people who was attracted to Yu Man.

"Sorry, sorry, Boss Deer... I am absolutely loyal to you, not to this damn eel's cat." Senior Cat said shameless words like a bent sword.

This still froze the fawn.

She stayed where she was, frozen for a long, long time.