“Hello, Wang Shu.” Gao Yang extended a hand politely. “A chocolate stick, a pack of dried clove fish, a dried plum, a cookie with blueberry filling, and a small pack of pistachios. I’ll make that 10 yuan for you.”
“Huh?” Wang Shu covered her mouth with a hand and gave Gao Yang a once-over with widened eyes, curling her lips upward like she was impressed. “Were you stalking me?”
“No, I just happened to spot you,” Gao Yang said. “Stealing isn’t right.”
“Ah, I didn’t want to either.” Wang Shu argued in a petulant tone. “But paying is such a hassle.”
“I paid for you. Just wire me the money.”
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“But I forgot my phone when I left home today.” She spread her hands. “Bringing my stuff is such a hassle.”
Breathing is a hassle too, Gao Yang grumbled. Why are you still alive?
“Here, take this.” Wang Shu produced a small cookie with filling and shoved it into Gao Yang’s hand. “Now we’re accomplices.”
She didn’t wait for Gao Yang to react before turning away and continuing forward, humming with her hands behind her waist.
So, get away
Another way to feel what you didn’t want yourself to know
And let yourself go
You know you didn’t lose your self-control
Let’s start at the rainbow
Turn away...
Gao Yang sighed and caught up with her, grabbing her hand.
“Ah.” Surprised, Wang Shu turned to look at Gao Yang, her grayish blue eyes widened. She looked at Gao Yang’s face for a few seconds before breaking into a mischievous smile. “Anything else, Freshman?”
“Why did you steal?” Gao Yang asked.
“I told you I forgot my phone. It’d be a hassle to go back and grab it.”
—Activate Lie Detection.
The target didn’t lie, and she was benevolent.
Gao Yang wasn’t nosy by nature. It was just that Wang Shu worked at Amon’s place, and running into her doing something strange, he wanted to make sure that she wasn’t an elite monster just to be safe.
He let go of her hand. “Alright. I believe you. Stealing is wrong, though. Don’t do it again.”
“Say.” Wang Shu leaned toward him and tilted her head, looking up at him with her face almost touching his chin. “Are you after something?”
“What do you mean?” Gao Yang paused before coming to a realization. “Do you think I was hitting on you?”
Wang Shu smirked. “Tsk, now you admit it. But I don’t do relationships. It’s too much of a hassle.”
You sure are full of yourself. Whatever, as long as you’re happy.
“Is there anything you don’t consider a hassle?” Gao Yang saw that Wang Shu was going back to the board game cafe too, so he struck up a conversation.
“Of course.” Wang Shu skipped ahead without glancing at Gao Yang.
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“Such as?”
“Going weightless.”
Gao Yang tensed, energy concentrating in his hands as he readied for a fight. He immediately thought of Goldthread’s Talent, serial number 31’s Gravity. He thought Wang Shu was going to use some sort of realm-type Talent on him.
Three seconds later, though, nothing happened, and his system didn’t sound an alert. Only then did Gao Yang quietly relax his guard.
“What do you mean?” Gao Yang stared at Wang Shu’s back.
“Weightlessness.” Wang Shu didn’t turn around as she responded. “It must feel good to become weightless. Everything will be light and floaty, not troublesome at all.”
What a strange girl, with a strange way of thinking.
Soon, they reached the building where the board game cafe was. Before walking through the door, Wang Shu turned around to smile imploringly and mischievously at Gao Yang. “Would you do me a favor, Freshman? Don’t tell Boss about what happened tonight, or she will surely fire me.”
“Isn’t it a good thing to not have to work?” Gao Yang half-joked. “Isn’t work a great hassle?”
“It is, but being jobless is even more troublesome.” Wang Shu glanced at Gao Yang. “A carefree college student like you won’t understand.”
Ha, carefree? I don’t even recognize the word anymore after my awakening.
“Sure.” Gao Yang nodded. “But you’re not stealing stuff again in the future.”
“Eh, I don’t go around stealing stuff, I swear. I just forgot my phone today and went the easy route.” Wang Shu smiled. “And you paid for me. Consider that you buying me snacks. I’ll repay you once I get my salary.”
Gao Yang responded, “That won’t be necessary.”
...
The Moon Room, Board Game Cafe Borderrunners, three o’clock in the morning.
Outside of Officer Huang, all members of Team Heavenbreaker had arrived.
As the team leader, Gao Yang explained what had happened during the trip to Island Nation—with some modifications and omissions, of course.
The members each reacted differently. Gray Bear, Nine Frost, and Lithe Snake, for example, were quite worked up, Gray Bear especially so. The fact that his long-time partner Lithe Snake had fought the reanimated corpse of a dead life monster in West Nation had made him so jealous that he couldn’t sleep for three days. What men could boast of were their achievements, and since he had never even caught a glimpse of a life monster, he had been unable to keep his chin up before Lithe Snake.
Now, Seven Shadow had gone to Island Nation with Green Snake, Yellow Ox, and Heavenly Dog and fought a living life monster, and they won.
Captain Seven Shadow was one thing. He should be awesome. Yellow Ox was about the same age as Gray Bear, so he could accept it. But Green Snake and Heavenly Dog? Their status on Team Heavenbreaker had skyrocketed. It was like a student going abroad and returning much more respected. As the vice-captain of the original fifth team, Gray Bear felt incredibly frustrated.
“Captain, won’t you take me on your next mission?” Gray Bear asked.
Gao Yang could tell what he was thinking. He swallowed a laugh and pulled a long face on purpose. “Why?”
“Because I’m...” Gray Bear swallowed the word “vice-captain” and continued, “I’m the first tank of the team. I can take attacks and be on the offense too. I believe I can be an asset when facing a life monster, and lackeys like Tails are no problem to me!”
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” Gao Yang nodded.
Meanwhile, Chen Ying and Can seemed worried.
Life monsters. What formidable enemies. Pride monsters already put them in great enough danger, and they barely survived the encounters. Now that they were facing life monsters, beings in a completely different league, their future seemed grim.
Chen Ying was conflicted. On one hand, she felt like she had been contributing too little to the organization and humanity at large without a Talent for combat. At the same time, she was relieved because of it. She had avoided the frontlines altogether, or the grass before her tombstone might have reached knee height already.
Meanwhile, Can was scared, but even more worried about Gao Yang. Their captain was always at the very frontline, risking his life for one thing or another.
After a pregnant pause, Gao Yang told them the main agenda for today’s meeting. “Now, we talk about the future plans of Team Heavenbreaker.”
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