"Snap!"
The pull tab on the soda can was opened, and a stream of fine bubbles rushed out through the gaps in the metal, like fish and shrimp scattering after a stone blocking the sunlight was suddenly lifted from a shallow pool.
The sound alone was crisp and refreshing.
Chong Ping placed the opened drink in front of Lin Yu and said happily,
"Hey, I never thought you'd actually agree to come over to my place—you're really enthusiastic! Looking at you, I thought Shaw Bernard would be the slow-to-warm-up type."
Lin Yu picked up the chilled canned drink and took a sip. The clear mint flavor slid across his taste buds, refreshing just as expected.
He looked at Chong Ping, wanting to say that he hadn't expected to come directly to Chong Ping's home either, much less that this fellow would invite him over as a guest.
But by the time the words reached his lips, they had become something else entirely.
"I'm not particularly good at socializing, but since we're both 'Apprentices' from the same area, communicating a little more isn't a bad thing."
As Lin Yu spoke, Chong Ping nodded. "That's true... Maybe we'll both become 'Heroes' in the future and shoulder great responsibilities together."
He spoke in a bright and optimistic tone.
After all, there were over a hundred thousand "Apprentices," but fewer than a hundred "Heroes." That nearly one-in-a-thousand admission ratio was an insurmountable chasm for ordinary "Apprentices."
No matter the world, getting ahead was never easy.
"Ahaha, that's hard to say. My progress exploring the Simulated World hasn't been going very smoothly, and my compatibility isn't particularly high either."
Lin Yu said it casually.
Chong Ping sat down beside Lin Yu. "But I actually have high hopes for you. I could tell at a glance