My Online Friend Can't Be This Cute

But since he was playing Shaco, he didn't dare give the other side too much time to develop. He urged his teammates to destroy the enemy base.

Flaked Out: Not playing anymore?

Human-Dragon Unity: Yeah, I'm done.

Flaked Out: Alright, then I'm logging off too.

Seeing him frown as if lost in thought, his roommates gave up on asking him for another round.

Meanwhile, he was staring at Yan Nuoya's Weixin profile picture, seriously considering a possibility he'd instinctively avoided before.

Though he felt it wasn't very likely, there were simply too many coincidences.

Back during military training, he'd wondered why Yan Nuoya seemed so familiar with him, but he'd temporarily abandoned the thought due to insufficient information and clues.

But now, he seemed to have discovered a new possibility.

Was it possible that Yan Nuoya and Pigeon had some kind of connection?

Although the idea that his online friend was a beautiful girl was absurd, Su Mengli and Su Mengyao had already set a precedent. It wasn't that hard to accept anymore.

If he took that assumption as a premise, then a lot of things made sense.

For example, the admission letter he'd thought about before.

Since he'd already concluded last time that Yan Nuoya most likely knew him long ago, he might as well apply that premise here too.

From Yan Nuoya calmly pointing out that his admission letter was showing, to her pulling out her own admission letter without hesitation for him to see.

He couldn't quite explain it, but there had always been a faint sense of incongruity there.

But what if Yan Nuoya already knew which school he attended? Wouldn't that make everything make sense?

She knew him, understood something about him, and even knew which university he was attending.

That meant either relatives or friends. His parents had already ruled out relatives, while friends could be divided into online and offline friends—though he'd never considered the possibility of an online friend before.

But now he realized that he truly had very few offline friends, especially ones who both knew him well and knew which university he attended.

Did it fit? It fit perfectly.

It was like not remembering how to solve a math problem, but guessing an answer, plugging it in, and finding that it worked.

He was having a hard time holding it together.

No wonder he'd always felt that Yan Nuoya was somehow familiar. It wasn't until he'd played a game with Pigeon again after so long, then seen Yan Nuoya carrying a laptop delivery box that morning, that he'd connected the two.

No wonder Yan Nuoya knew him so well and said she was merely more familiar with him than most.

They'd been group friends for so many years, and their coordination in games was so good. How could she not be familiar with him?

But, as everyone knew.

It wasn't enough to just plug an answer into a problem and get a solution.

It still needed proof.

After all, if you plugged in answers and got a solution, was it possible that it was all just coincidence if you really wanted to insist?

It was possible. Of course it was.

At least it was more likely than his group friend being a cute girl, let alone reincarnation.

He didn't have any conclusive evidence in hand right now. Everything he'd said was merely speculation.

Like a castle in the air, like a mirage.

It looked convincing, but it couldn't withstand verification—because he couldn't beat Yan Nuoya in a direct confrontation.

If he went and asked her with only this much, she'd most likely find some way to brush him off.

Even if Yan Nuoya admitted it outright, he'd still be the one at a disadvantage.

At the thought of being teased by Baibai for half a month, he felt his blood pressure rising.

So what if she was a cute girl? Did that mean she could tease her group friends whenever she wanted?

Still, if he couldn't win a direct confrontation, he could always jungle.

Could he think of another way?

Mo Xiangwen opened Yan Nuoya's Weixin profile and Moments, but found nothing useful. It was completely blank.

QQ had a little more, but he had no idea whether it was real, and there was no way to compare it with Weixin. It was meaningless.

He hoped Yan Nuoya really wasn't Pigeon, that he'd guessed wrong.

Otherwise...

Mo Xiangwen shook his head and sighed silently.

Otherwise, even figuring out how to properly "repay" her would be troublesome.

A Chance Encounter at the Library

If it were him, if he wasn't used to a new roommate and didn't need to stay in the dorm to game with online friends, what would he do?

Mo Xiangwen glanced at the sky beyond the balcony. It had begun to darken, and the lights in the dorm building opposite were especially bright against the night.

But it was already eight o'clock. Going by his personality, he might not even leave the dorm at this hour.

Besides, he'd never experienced the kind of situation Pigeon described, where someone just couldn't get used to a new roommate.

Roommate relationships were necessary social relationships to him.

After all, university lasted four or five years. If you got along poorly with your college roommates, it would be pretty painful.

So he put at least a little effort into managing his relationships with his roommates.

Still, the atmosphere in men's dorms was generally pretty good. Everyone understood the importance of maintaining harmony.

Even if they had things they disliked about each other, they would either understand and tolerate them, or discuss whether the other person could make adjustments.

It sounded a little strange, but that was how roommate relationships worked. If dissatisfaction wasn't voiced and just kept piling up, an argument would break out sooner or later.

...So he and Pigeon actually weren't alike?

The same went for Yan Nuoya. Today, he'd even had a small disagreement with her over helping the counselor.

Could there be a problem with his guess?

Forget it. Whatever. He'd first take a look around the places she might go.

Mo Xiangwen stood up, put on his socks and sneakers, stretched, and casually asked, "I'm heading out for a bit. Want me to bring anything back?"

"Old Mo, where are you going?" Xi Shaojie asked casually.

"Taking a walk, getting a little exercise."

"Oh, then I want mango juice. From First-Grade Tea."

Qin Yongfeng said, "Then I'll have watermelon juice."

Zhong Taihong also called out, "I want a latte."

"Coffee my ass. Can you order from the same place as them?"

"Fine, then passion fruit mango."

Keeping the three of their orders in mind, he left the dorm.

He rarely left the dorm at night. Although the school had a commercial street with plenty of things, it was still nothing compared to the ones outside campus.

Even when he was home, he couldn't be bothered to browse the commercial streets downtown, much less now that he was at school.

His habit was to go out with a purpose.

Either he'd go to an internet cafe and game with his friends.

Or he'd go to the cinema and watch a movie by himself.

Or he'd simply buy a milk tea or fruit juice to take home and drink slowly.

But if not the commercial street, where could he go at this hour? Downtown to see a movie? After all, there wasn't a cinema on the commercial street.

University might be fairly relaxed, but the dorm had a curfew. If it got too late, the dorm manager wouldn't easily let students back in.

So taking a ride downtown at this time was absolutely impossible.

He opened a ticketing app and checked the latest movies, but none were the kind he was interested in.

...The library was his only option, right? It wouldn't be strange to stay at the library at this hour, but going there only now would be pretty strange.

Still, he thought Yan Nuoya suited the library quite well. If this were a galgame, Yan Nuoya would be the kind of heroine who spawned in the library.

Although he couldn't win in a direct confrontation, he could choose not to click the speech bubble and trigger the dialogue. As long as he confirmed she was there, that was enough.

Having made up his mind, he left the dorm building and headed straight for the library.

The men's dorms were much farther from the library than the women's dorms, so he wasn't too worried about arriving before Yan Nuoya.

Besides, he deliberately controlled his pace to avoid walking too fast.

The campus just after nightfall wasn't as sweltering as he'd imagined. Instead, a faint coolness could be felt in the breeze. Quite a few students were chatting happily in groups along the walkways.

This was his first time coming to the school's library at night since enrolling, and only then did he realize its lights were even brighter and more dazzling than those in the teaching buildings.

He'd heard that the library often kept its lights on until after eleven thirty, though he didn't know whether that was true.

After swiping his card to enter, he found the lights inside illuminated every corner, as bright as day.

He climbed the stairs and slowly walked through every floor, his gaze sweeping across row after row of bookshelves and study areas as he carefully checked every corner.

There were plenty of students in the study areas. Some silently flipped through books, while others bent over their desks and wrote furiously. Everyone observed the library's rule of silence.

He couldn't help lightening his footsteps. He wandered around several times, but never saw the figure he'd been looking for.

Had he guessed wrong? Forget it. He'd check somewhere else.

Just as he turned to leave, the corner of his eye caught sight of two unexpected people at seats by the window.

Su Mengyao and Su Mengli were sitting shoulder to shoulder, with a laptop on the table and several books and notebooks spread open beside it.

Su Mengyao had her head down, writing something, while Su Mengli was focused on the laptop screen.

From time to time, Su Mengli turned to look at her younger sister and used the tip of her pen to point at something in the book.

What a surprise. He hadn't expected to run into the two of them here.

Since Su Mengyao and Su Mengli were both his upperclassmen, in different majors and years, and the school was so large, they rarely ran into each other during classes.

He hesitated briefly, then decided to go over and greet them.

The moment Mo Xiangwen approached, Su Mengyao and Su Mengli almost simultaneously lifted their heads and looked his way.

Perhaps still mindful of the library rules, though both clearly looked delighted, neither called out his name.

Su Mengyao carefully stood and waved at him.

He nodded in response and quickened his pace toward their table.

A look of relief and excitement appeared on Su Mengyao's face as she lightly walked a few steps over to him.

Su Mengyao rose slightly onto her tiptoes, leaning as close to his ear as she could, and whispered, "Xiao Yi, why are you here?"

His nose twitched faintly, as if he caught a light fragrance.

"I came looking for someone, but I didn't find them," he said, keeping his voice as low as possible.

Though he'd tried to speak quietly, in a place like the library where even the sounds of turning pages and typing on a keyboard stood out, he still drew some attention.

But since they hadn't made much noise, the people nearby only looked up at them once before ignoring them again.

Su Mengli gave the two of them a small shushing gesture. Embarrassed, he and Su Mengyao immediately fell silent.

Su Mengyao picked up her phone, her slender fingers dancing across the screen.

Mo Xiangwen looked over and saw it was a private message.

Xiaohuo: Still looking? Want help?

Human-Dragon Unity: No. If I can't find them, forget it. It isn't that important.

Xiaohuo: Then do you want to go chat at a milk tea shop?