Xiao Xiao skipped back to the waiting area and plopped down beside Lu Yuan.
"Lu Yuan, Qiu'er, did you notice how weirdly those spectators were looking at me?"
Gu Qiu'er asked curiously, "How were they looking at you?"
"Like... they'd seen a ghost for the first time."
Xiao Xiao tilted her head and thought for a moment.
"They looked like they'd never seen anyone as badass as me. They all stood up with their eyes bulging and their mouths open wide enough to fit an egg."
Lu Yuan leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, and drawled, "Now that you mention it, I think I heard something too. Someone shouted, 'Where the hell did the Abyss Cult come from?' Others were yelling things like, 'Don't tell me they're fake too.'"
"Yes, yes! Exactly!"
"They looked at me like I'd popped out of thin air. But didn't we win the championship last time? Most of these people are from Sun Moon. How could they not recognize us?"
Gu Qiu'er folded her arms and frowned.
"Now that you mention it, something did seem off. When we first entered, I heard people in the stands saying we'd ridden Sun Moon Academy's coattails to the championship last time, and now even hangers-on dared to put together a team."
"I thought I'd misheard them at the time, but thinking back, those spectators really seemed to have no idea who we were."
Xiao Xiao blinked.
"But we won the championship last time! That ought to make us celebrities, at least! Why are they treating us like nobodies?"
The three exchanged looks, all utterly baffled.
"Forget it. Let's stop thinking about it."
Lu Yuan stood and stretched.
"We've finished today's match anyway. Let's head back and talk about it later."
The three headed out