Travel · Magic City Arc (VI): Pillow Slumber Hunter (IV)

"The battle looks quite intense," Xiao Ling said, nodding as he watched the large black icons turn black one after another.

After the first safe zone refreshed, only half of the players remained alive on the field.

Hajiling felt that, judging from the current situation, the final winner should be decided very soon.

"Hello~" Dania's languid voice came from not far away.

"Hmm? Yaya, you're back?" Xiao Ling responded with a smile. "And Iuno and Augusta?"

"Waaaaah XX..." Iuno didn't seem to be in a good mood, as if she was still upset about her previous defeat.

Xiao Ling was a little confused, and gestured for Dania to explain the situation to him.

"Your third rule had a loophole, and I used that to outsmart them," Dania explained. "That genius young lady is still upset about it."

"Blank!" Iuno strode over angrily, demanding an explanation. "I trusted you so much, and you messed up the rules of the game for me!"

"I specifically set up this rule to prevent Little Ai from always participating in the game in her electronic ghost form. If I single her out, that girl will get angry," Xiao Ling apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it through."

"My feelings don't matter..." Iuno muttered, sounding a little aggrieved.

"Fine, forget about apologies, but you have to give me some real compensation, otherwise... hmph..."

"Compensation..." Xiao Ling looked at Dania with a helpless expression.

Dania, with a smile in her eyes, tacitly approved of his next move.

"Okay, Iuno, come closer."

"Okay, sure." Iuno did as instructed, and then--

With a soft "kiss," Iuno's lips were lightly kissed by Xiao Ling.

Um?

Um?!!!

"You you you you you you you you you--!" Iuno's cheeks turned completely red as she pointed at Xiao Ling and stammered incoherently.

"What, you don't like this compensation?" Xiao Ling teased with a smile.

"How can you compensate me like this! This is indecent assault! Indecent assault!" Iuno retorted defiantly, her face flushed.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Once you've given something away, there's no going back. Just bear with it."

What are you doing now! I didn't say I didn't like it...

Iuno's little tantrum has temporarily subsided, and next up are Cartethyia and her group.

"QAQ..." Cartethyia, with a mournful face, led a group of people from a distance.

"Hey? Who made our cute Little Carteth cry?" Xiao Ling walked over in a few steps and reached out to rub Little Cart's delicate face.

Cartethyia was initially quite dejected, had her little disappointment vanish without her realizing it after being comforted by Xiao Ling.

Well, even though he didn't win the game, Righteous One still cares about himself as always.

"Well... here's what happened..." Morning, the one who started it all, began.

After explaining the whole story to Xiao Ling...

"So, you ambushed Cartethyia in her transformed state just as they were about to start fighting," Xiao Ling concluded.

"That's right," Morning nodded.

"So you mean none of the dozen or so girls present noticed that someone had flanked them?"

"There was nothing I could do," Roccia casually. "I was so focused on the enemy in front of me that I couldn't pay any attention to anything else."

"So how were you eliminated?"

"It's a complete free-for-all," Lynae shrugged helplessly. "With Professor Morning messing things up like this, nobody's in the mood to come up with a strategy; they're just throwing pillows at everyone they see."

"In the end, only half of the dozen or so people present made it into the circle alive," Liang Yu added.

"Phew~ After working so hard for so long, I can finally rest a bit~" Suisui stretched. "This game is really physically demanding..."

Jinhsi didn't say anything, but judging from her flushed face covered in sweat, the chaotic battle must have been quite intense.

"Judging from your appearance, you must have used up a lot of energy. Why don't you all sit here and rest for a while? I'll go get some cold drinks," Xiao Ling said gently.

"Um..." Jinhsi said softly, "I'll just have it at room temperature."

"OK."

"Sigrika!"

Sigrika was just planning to play it safe until the final round, was suddenly stopped by a familiar voice.

"Little Ai?" Sigrika asked, looking at Aemeath group walking towards her. "You've already recruited Lupa and the others?"

"Yeah~ Little Ai is amazing, I've never beaten her, but I wanted to keep playing, so I teamed up with her." Lupa said, glancing around, "Eh? That's strange, where's Xiao Ya?"

"Xiao Ya was eliminated so I could get into the circle." Sigrika shook her head twice. "At the time, Sister Iuno and Sister Augusta were blocking the edge of the circle, and Yaya used her Resonance Ability to hold them back."

"So the Resonance Ability can be used?!" Lupa, like Iuno, began to feel regret. "If only I had used it back then, maybe we would have had a chance..."

"There's no point in saying all this now," Mia said helplessly. "A loss is a loss."

"Want to come with us, Xixi?" Little Ai extended an olive branch to the lone Sigrika. "You're probably going to have a hard time winning the final victory by yourself. Why don't you come with us? That way, you'll have a better chance against the others."

"Hmm..." Sigrika pondered for a moment before saying, "Indeed, this is the best solution for me right now."

"But I believe in myself more than I rely on others."

She bowed deeply to Aemeath for her help. "Thank you for inviting me, Little Ai, but next time we meet, we'll probably be rivals."

Sigrika was about to turn and leave when she suddenly slipped and fell, her pillow flying away into the distance.

She was annoyed at her own clumsiness when Aemeath arrived shortly after, immediately helped her up and personally returned her pillow.

"Be careful, Xixi!" Aemeath said with a bright smile. "Next time we meet, we'll settle this once and for all!"

"Okay, it's a deal..." Sigrika instinctively took the pillow, about to agree, when she suddenly realized something was wrong.

My own pillow... it seems like Aemeath personally returned it to me...?

!!!

"Huh? Xixi, how come you were eliminated so quickly?" Dania looked at Sigrika, who came to her dejectedly, her expression full of doubt.

"Waaaaaaah XX, it's all my fault... I'm so stupid..." Sigrika said, belittling herself.

She told Dania everything that had happened.

"Oh my god, how could Aemeath be so mean!" Dania exclaimed.

Sigrika: QAQ.

"Little Sister Xi has fallen into the trap too," Lynae teased, sipping her canned cola.

"Stop talking..." Sigrika was on the verge of tears.

"Speaking of which, it's rare to see Siglica being persistent in this kind of thing." Mo Ning tilted his head and asked in confusion, "Why is it?"

"Hmm... it's because I want to learn more about my senior..." Sigrika said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Uh, if you really want to talk to me alone, you're welcome anytime," Xiao Ling replied. "There's no need to specifically win this game."

"But I feel a little bad about taking up your personal time, senior..."

"Don't forget the gift I gave you," Xiao Ling reminded him with a light laugh.

A gift from a senior?

Sigrika stroked her chin and pondered for a long time before finally remembering that she seemed to have a senior's usage voucher in her hand.

She originally planned to use it when launching a decisive attack, but unexpectedly formed an extremely close relationship with her senior.

"Yes! I understand, senior!" Sigrika's previous dejection vanished, and a bright smile returned to her pretty face.

"Alright, stop dwelling on this. Come over and have some cold drinks and get some rest." Xiao Ling handed over a glass of ice-cold orange juice.

"Good!"

Sigrika took the chilled orange juice, took a satisfying sip, and felt the sweltering evening air suddenly become refreshing.