What She Wanted to Say Was, "I Like You"

After treating "Paper Kite"Paper Kite and ensuring her life was saved, Lin Yu got dressed, then used Dagger to remove the bullet from his body and used "Soul Cleansing" to remove the Paper Kite's effect that had put him into a "sleep" state.

Honestly...

Facing "Paper Kite" head-on as an "enemy," Lin Yu could indeed sense that this was a rather formidable opponent.

He makes decisions cautiously and acts decisively, and once he pulls the trigger, unless he uses particularly sophisticated evasive tactics, he is almost guaranteed to hit.

At the same time, his physical attributes and close-combat abilities are absolutely top-notch by the standards of "Tier 3".

Although his main means of attack is shooting, in Lin Yu's opinion, his strength, speed, and physique are almost on par with some masters who excel in close combat!

For example, "Prisoner" from the "Freedom Alliance" and "White Sand" from the "Marauders"!

The only difference might be that he lacked the mature fighting skills and techniques of those guys, and relied almost entirely on instinct to launch attacks.

So...

This is indeed a very difficult opponent for Lin Yu to deal with.

Especially since Lin Yu set a "limitation" for himself this time—he acted as "Yayu" and defeated "Paper Kite," which was indeed extremely risky.

After all, the identity of "Yayu" makes it impossible to use the [Water Prayer Necklace] and [Wind Riding Bracelet], nor can it freely utilize Mental Power, and it is also impossible to use many Supernatural Power in the Ten Realms.

Furthermore, the fighting style of "Yayu" is designed to fit her character, and should be a rather fierce and dangerous close-quarters combat style, which further restricts Lin Yu.

If he hadn't taken out the [Night Remnant, Cold Moon] weapon, which was almost Divine Artifact, and coated it with bee venom, Lin Yu felt he might not have been able to defeat the Paper Kite.

But...

"Fortunately, the result was good."

Lin Yu his Life Force to promote the healing of the gunshot wound in his body, shook off the rain and blood on [Crescent Moon Cold Night], and slowly walked from the Rooftop into the International Convention Center.

Although the water on the knife had been completely shaken off, the water on the hair and clothes wouldn't dry for a while, making them feel heavy.

Although the jacket and softshell pants were made of waterproof material, they couldn't withstand Lin Yu throwing them on the ground and letting them soak directly into the water.

Wearing soaking wet clothes, Lin Yu pondered his next move.

"Well... overall, by the standards of the 'Yayu,' the infiltration was more than satisfactory. Although 'Paper Kite' collapsed on the Rooftop, I was safe until 'Zhiyuan' was repositioned, because I acted quickly, and because 'Paper Kite' underestimated me and didn't report the encounter immediately, plus the signal was bad during the Typhoon, I was safe until 'Paper Kite's' location was confirmed again."

"The 'Order' system checks locations every 15 minutes, so I have a full fifteen minutes to move around here."

"For the plans that the 'Yayu' needs to execute... that's enough."

Lin Yu pondered for a moment, then descended the stairs from the Rooftop and arrived at the third floor.

Just as Lin Yu was preparing to continue descending, all the way down to the underground exit...

The fire door on the third floor suddenly opened.

Lin Yu looked up and met someone's gaze.

That is...

"Mikan".

Mikan, one of the candidates for President of the "Player Mutual Aid Society," walked into the stairwell.

She had a cigarette dangling from her lips, looked up at Lin Yu, who was soaking wet, and her eyes revealed a hint of surprise.

Just as Lin Yu was contemplating whether to directly attack "Mikan" and knock her unconscious in his "Yayu" identity, Mikan took the cigarette out of her mouth first and put her hands together in prayer.

"Please keep this a secret, okay?"

Lin Yu looked at Mikan's pleading gesture and realized after a moment that Mikan was referring to the thin cigarette she was holding.

Before Lin Yu could answer, Mikan took out a cigarette case from her pocket, pushed out a cigarette, and handed it to Lin Yu.

"Do you smoke? Want one?"

Lin Yu shook his head.

"I don't smoke. Smoking reduces my sensitivity to smells, impairs my cardiovascular function, and lowers my athletic performance..."

Mikan carefully closed the fire door and sighed, "Oh... okay, do you mind if I smoke here?"

Lin Yu shook his head. "It's okay, smoking is allowed here, so I have no objection."

Mikan bit the cigarette again, pulled out a pretty lighter from her pocket, lit it with a snap, took a light drag, and then turned her head to exhale the smoke to the side.

"Okay, thank you for keeping this a secret... Well, other voters don't need to worry about their image like I do, so it's not a big deal if they smoke and drink."

"But my only advantage is my 'personal image,' my somewhat 'unrealistically perfect' friendly and approachable image, so even something as simple as smoking can't be enjoyed freely."

Mikan sighed, then smiled and spoke.

"However, I actually quit smoking a long time ago... but the pressure is just too much, all sorts of messy news... The election was already putting a lot of pressure on me, and with people dying these past few days, it's just gotten to the point where I can't stop worrying... Now 'Order' has notified us that there seem to be all sorts of unexpected things going to happen, it's so stressful that I have to sneak out a cigarette."

Mikan, having been talking to herself, finally spoke up.

"Oh right... I haven't asked yet, which organization are you from? You're probably not from the 'Player Mutual Aid Society,' because I don't know you."

"And you're so soaking wet, you must have just come back from outside... You're from one of those two organizations 'Field Team, right?"

Lin Yu nodded, not denying it. "Yes, what's wrong?"

"Is there any inside information you can reveal to us? After all, I'm a candidate, so I should have the right to know, right?" Mikan asked, blinking as she held a cigarette between her fingers. "The only thing we were told was that the 'Marauders' would be taking action... But with a 'Grandmaster' in charge, what's there to be afraid of if the 'Marauders' take action? Surely the 'Diviner' isn't going to show up!"

"Is it really necessary to be so serious...? They even said today's 'election event' might have to be canceled at the last minute, and that we should give the 'Player Mutual Aid Society' the same story as 'weather issues'... Honestly, why are they doing this?"

"I understand that 'Order' doesn't trust us either. After all, I don't believe there aren't any 'Marauders' spies in the 'Player Mutual Aid Society'... But at least, shouldn't they trust us candidates?"

Mikan kept talking, and Lin Yu nodded, giving only a very brief response.

"Really."

He didn't quite understand why Mikan would say so much.

Seeing Lin Yu's indifferent response, Mikan seemed to sense his somewhat aloof intentions and smiled as well.

"Okay, it seems I've said a bit too much... Um, sorry, I've been rambling on and on."

Mikan spoke, then fell silent.

Lin Yu nodded, intending to slip past Mikan and continue walking down.

But just as Lin Yu was about to leave...

Mikan suddenly called out to her again.

"Hey, wait a minute... um, I don't know your 'codename' or anything like that yet."

"Look... it's actually fate that we met here, and there might be various notifications coming up. I have someone from the 'Order' or 'Night Watcher' who can handle things, which would be more convenient... Should we add a [Socializing] or other way of contact?"

Lin Yu looked at Mikan, and seeing her friendly smile and hearing her slightly strange words, he finally understood why Mikan had been acting a little odd since earlier.

Even...

If Lin Yu hadn't had a previous conversation with Mikan and learned about a secret this candidate was hiding that was even more secretive than "smoking," he probably wouldn't be able to deduce Mikan's reasons for doing this.

But now, Lin Yu understands very well...

What Mikan really wanted to say after all that was "I like you".

At least...

She developed some interest in the "Yayu".

So in a sense, this could be considered a flirtation.

"So this guy likes this kind..."

Lin Yu brushed his hair back and then shook the water droplets off his hands.

"Can."

She spoke briefly, then asked, "What's your 'codename'? I'll add you later."

Mikan looked somewhat lost in thought, "Huh? Don't you recognize me?"

"I'm a candidate for President of the 'Player Mutual Aid Society'... Mikan."

At this point, Mikan's tone was a mixture of surprise and disappointment.

Lin Yu nodded.

"It's okay, I understand now... I didn't pay much attention to these things when I was on fieldwork."

"Furthermore... I'm not very good at Memory people's 'code names,' especially not good at matching people's appearances with their 'code names.'"

As Lin Yu spoke, Mikan seemed even more devastated.

"Okay, okay... oh dear..."

Clearly, for "Mikan," who has always been very confident in her appearance, it was quite frustrating that the unknown girl in front of her didn't remember her face or code name.

Especially the handsome girl in front of her, completely soaked, who seemed to suit her taste and had a great "atmosphere," made "Mikan" feel...

The fact that the other party doesn't know you or doesn't remember you can be a bigger blow than losing an election.

So, what is your "code name"?

Mikan stubbed out her cigarette and asked again.

"Yayu"

Lin Yu answered, then walked down the stairs without looking back.

"Ya Yu? Ya Yu? Never heard of those... Hey, which two characters are you referring to!"

Mikan pressed on, but the only response she received was the echo of her own words reverberating in the stairwell.