"Sorry... please let me be alone for a while."
In the hallway outside the lounge.
Camille said helplessly:
"Sigh... Luka is so depressed. We should leave him alone for now."
"I'm planning to go out and look around, see if I can find some way to cheer Luka back up."
"What about you, Mr. Yan Huan?"
"...?"
Yan Huan had his hands in his pockets, staring at the contestants coming and going in the distance with an utterly unconcerned look.
Camille suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Um... Mr. Yan Huan."
Camille cautiously tugged at Yan Huan's sleeve.
"You aren't planning to brainwash Luka directly, are you?"
"Even if it works well, I still don't think it would be right."
"Brainwash him? I wasn't planning to."
Yan Huan stood where he was, his tone calm.
"Every competitor goes through this. Didn't Yan Qing go through the same thing back then?"
"He'd had it too easy all this way. It took this long for him to get matched against a strong opponent."
"How long until Luka's next match?"
"Um... if the normal matchmaking queue is followed, it'll be several days from now." Camille held her phone as she analyzed the situation.
"Since he hasn't lost a match, the organizers will prioritize matching him against opponents with similar records."
"Then there's no rush. I need to visit Penacony and check on my assets first."
Luka needed time to recover mentally anyway, and the dream tapir was still in his room.
Even if Yan Huan did nothing, the dream tapir alone could absorb all of Luka's negative emotions. There was no need to worry.
Still, he needed to contact Bronya first. He couldn't let the kid withdraw from the competition before he recovered...
Just as Yan Huan was about to head toward the