The Captain Just Wants to Go Home and Play Games

"While your Kiana is already on her way delivering takeout, I'm still locked in a bitter struggle with my warm bed."

Because of Kiana's arrival, Mo Yi had been busy all night. By the time he finished showering, it was almost midnight, so he didn't log into Honor of Kings to duo with 'World's Number One Princess' that night.

After tidying up, he lay straight down on the bed, closed his eyes, and with the help of the Little World Game, entered the dream world.

For others, sleep was rest time. For Mo Yi, sleep was merely the beginning of entering another world.

Nothing different from usual. After falling asleep, Mo Yi arrived in a pitch-black room and skillfully opened the Little World Game's operation interface.

Games he had cleared before could also be selected here, allowing him to enter them again for a real-life version of the game.

Of course, Mo Yi didn't have that much time to replay finished games. He directly opened the Honor of Kings option and began tonight's strategy.

"Behold the magical cat, and... a spellbook! I'm just an independent cat—"

Accompanied by a very cute voice, a sapphire-blue cat appeared in Mo Yi's eyes. Its design was adorable—the kind of cat that, if taken for a walk, would make girls come up and ask to take photos with it.

What was special was that it wasn't squatting on the ground, but on a floating grimoire hovering in midair.

This was the new hero Mo Yi needed to conquer tonight: Magical Cat Yuumi!

Chapter 14: Laurent's Insightful Blade

Having played Honor of Kings for nine years, spending almost every night on a Date-A-Live with one or more heroes, Mo Yi was naturally well-versed in conquering new heroes.

Thinking back to when he first started, when he was conquering Garen, Might of Demacia, and Rune Mage Ryze, he had clung to the idea of avoiding conflict whenever possible. He spent every night chatting with them, acting as a close confidante, trying to move them with warmth.

Well, since Garen and Ryze were both Lawful Good heroes, after persistent pestering, he did manage to touch them.

So, he followed Ryze to study magic seriously. Once Ryze was satisfied, he was granted permission. Three years passed like that before he barely passed muster. In the Bald Great Demon King's words, he had just barely graduated elementary school and could start middle school courses.

Garen was even simpler. After a few sessions, Mo Yi earned his recognition. Garen admitted that Mo Yi was, like him, a man of justice. But—

Yes, there was always a 'but' after that.

In Garen's words, having ideals alone wasn't enough without the power to act on them. To earn his true recognition, Mo Yi needed to demonstrate corresponding strength in actual combat.

So, Mo Yi spent countless nights swinging a great sword with him, elevating a single leaping strike from the bushes into a near-rule-level ultimate technique before finally gaining approval.

The third hero he conquered was the last weekly free hero—Ashe, the Frost Archer.

Mo Yi's usual smooth-talking tactics were useless against a queen as emotionless as Ashe. No matter what he did, she simply ignored him.

Frustrated and angry, Mo Yi combined his own skills with what he had learned from Garen and Ryze to challenge her.

Then he got ground into the floor all night.

Even though the Little World Game limited her strength to slightly above Mo Yi's overall level, Ashe was a true battle-hardened warrior. The enemies she had shot dead outnumbered the strangers Mo Yi had ever met. With such a gap in combat experience, how could a normal person from a peaceful era like Mo Yi possibly beat her?

To this day, Mo Yi still didn't know how many different ways the Frost Archer had shot him dead in the game space.

With guidance and advice from Garen and Ryze, plus gradually increasing combat experience, Mo Yi hid in a bush one stormy night. When Ashe passed by, he used a leaping 'Might of Demacia' strike from the grass and successfully defeated a stunned Ashe once, finally earning her recognition.

Impressed by Mo Yi's Great Sword, Ashe took the initiative to teach him how to become a successful marksman.

Through his experiences conquering the three weekly free heroes, Mo Yi understood one principle.

When conquering a new hero, the first contact was to go all-out and fight them. If he succeeded in defeating them, he naturally earned their approval.

If he couldn't win, he would use a soft approach to move them.

If even that failed, he would study hard, improve his strength, observe the opponent more, and look for their weaknesses. Eventually, he would beat them down one night. This was the 'Three-Step Strategy' Mo Yi had summarized.

Having grasped this Three-Step Strategy, Mo Yi's conquest speed naturally increased. It took him over three years to conquer the three weekly free heroes at the start, but later he could conquer over ten in a single year. As of today, Mo Yi only needed to conquer two more heroes to pass this nine-year trial game.

Of course, Mo Yi hadn't wasted these nine years. After conquering a hero, besides being able to find them anytime to learn their knowledge and abilities, he also obtained their Character Card.

By equipping a Character Card, he could gain the corresponding abilities and power, but how much power he could unleash depended on his own strength level.

To unleash the true power of a Character Card, he needed to enter Limit Release Mode. The duration depended on his own endurance limit. Once used, the Character Card would enter a fragmented state and become unusable until repaired. Meanwhile, Mo Yi's initial skill 'Limit Release Mode' would enter a cooldown of up to 100 days.

Looking at the cute cat floating on the magic book in front of him, Mo Yi put on what he thought was a very friendly smile and asked, "Lord Yuumi, can I just get your recognition directly, meow?"

Though it was just a cat, this was a magical cat. The years it had lived definitely exceeded Mo Yi's two lifetimes combined many times over. Calling it 'Lord' was no loss.

If he could make it happy enough to recognize him directly, wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Hmm... that won't do—"

The heroes appearing here had long accepted the common sense given by the Little World Game and the reason they were here.

Mo Yi: "..."

Seeing Yuumi hesitate for a while, Mo Yi thought he had finally encountered a case of 'decisive, just White Give'. But it turned out he still had to fight.

Nothing couldn't be solved by a fight. If there was, it was definitely because he couldn't beat the opponent.

"Then let's have a good match—"

Since the other party refused to White Give, talking further was just a waste of saliva. Mo Yi pulled out a Rune Twinblade he had crafted himself from his inventory and thrust it straight at the floating Yuumi with a 'Sky-Piercing Slash' learned from 'Fiora, the Grand Duelist'.

"Meow—"

Facing Mo Yi's Sky-Piercing Slash, Yuumi wasn't flustered at all. She jumped off the Book of Thresholds and burst out with extraordinary speed, turning into a blue blur in an instant. She dodged Mo Yi's Sky-Piercing Slash first, then started hopping and circling around him.

Mo Yi wasn't surprised she had such speed. Given her small build and feline race, agility was a perfectly normal racial trait.

"Slacking Missile!"

Yuumi circled a few times before stopping behind Mo Yi—theoretically in his blind spot—then swiped a paw, sending a fish-shaped magic missile made of arcane energy shooting toward his back.

Watching Mo Yi, who seemed oblivious ahead, Yuumi flashed a smug grin, but covered her mouth tightly with both paws to keep from making a sound and giving away her attack.

"Behind you—"

In the past ten years, Mo Yi hadn't had a single night off; he'd basically spent them being chased or beaten up, honing an instinct that rivaled the heroes'. When Yuumi's not-so-fast Slacking Missile got within three meters of him, Mo Yi sensed something was off.

There was no way he'd be hit that easily.

"Laurent's Insightful Blade—"

Another signature swordsmanship technique learned from Fiora, the Grand Duelist. It let him briefly enter the highest realm a swordsman could reach—the Void Realm—where he could perceive the flaws in all things, strike those flaws, and cut through the opponent's attack on a conceptual level.

Of course, there were plenty of other sword techniques with similar effects, like Flash and Voidless.