Finally Able to Meet

"Lisi, who gave you the courage to challenge me?" "Mere grains of sand are not half my equal." "You are courting death!" Watching the text "Match Decided" appear on the light screen, Igola jotted a note on the writing pad beside him. "Five to two. I declare Lisi's—" "Wait!" Yaxiu grabbed the Swindler's trouser leg, his face full of pleading. "Best of eleven! Change it to first to six! Keep playing, I can still turn this around! I already figured out how to play—from here on out, it's my turn!" Harvey, who had retreated to the window to smoke cat grass, couldn't help chiming in, "Yaxiu, stop embarrassing yourself. You can't even beat a little girl..." Yaxiu stubbornly argued, "I'm just not used to this world's gamepad, and this cushion is way too soft, plus Igola keeps distracting me from the side. That's the only reason I—" Igola felt it was simply too humiliating. Covering his face with a hand, he said to Banjie beside him, "Even though I've said this several times already, I must reiterate—Yaxiu is an isolated case. Please do not extrapolate one person's behavior to an entire country." The young butler, who always wore a faint, ambiguous smile, could barely manage his expression at this moment, his eyes crinkling into slits with suppressed laughter. "Mr. Yaxiu, how about letting me play a round against Lisi? You can watch how I pilot this character..." "No!" Lisi suddenly shouted. "I'm playing him! I'm definitely going to beat him into submission!" "Hmph, you will soon pay for your arrogance!" Yaxiu shouted wildly, frantically starting the next round of Sorcerer Duel. *** During dinner, for reasons unknown, Lisi had abruptly demanded a battle against Yaxiu. Everyone found it a bit strange, but nobody stopped them. Banjie had even volunteered to arrange the format of the contest—namely, the classic masterpiece *Sorcerer Duel 14*. The Sorcerer Duel franchise was the classic fighting game series in Gospel Country over the past thirty years, allowing players to control various legendary sorcerers in combat. Not only did ordinary people love it, but even sorcerers were loyal players. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that almost every combat sorcerer under thirty in Gospel Country had grown up influenced by this game. Many dreamed of possessing power just like the characters inside, which had substantially shaped the demographic balance of sorcerer factions across Gospel Country. The two most popular characters in the Sorcerer Duel series were the Sovereign of Alchemy and the Earth Empress. The former could transmute mechanical effigies barehanded mid-combat, summon ten thousand swords, command water, fire, wind, and lightning, and comprehend every faction through the alchemy faction alone. The latter drastically reshaped the battlefield with every technique, unleashing dazzlingly extravagant moves. Coupled with the fact that the Earth Empress was the most beautiful character in the roster, she naturally became the darling of countless gamers. Consequently, the alchemy faction and earth sorcery faction boasted the largest numbers in Gospel Country. Naturally, those who chose them soon realized they had been duped. At the Silver realm, the alchemy faction consisted almost entirely of creation sorcerers who sorely lacked combat capabilities. Meanwhile, the career outlook for the earth sorcery faction essentially meant joining construction crews—forget about empresses, out in the desolate mountains doing earthworks, you wouldn't even spot a female cat. Yet precisely because the abundance of sorcerers in these two factions created a demographic dividend, Gospel Country's urbanization had advanced at breakneck speed over the last three decades, providing ample manpower to construct multi-layered cities... Wait, what? Getting sidetracked. Right now, Yaxiu and Lisi were battling in *Sorcerer Duel 14*, though neither had picked a popular character. Lisi played the Time Witch. Despite the name, for balance reasons the character relied heavily on throws and close-quarters brawling—boasting visceral impact, yet devoid of flashy visual effects. Yaxiu played the Wandering Sword Saint. Sword sorcerers were a minority in Gospel Country, so even though the Wandering Sword Saint's tier was decent, his combat effects were lackluster, and naturally few people played him. Igola had no real interest in fighting games; he had followed along mainly because of Banjie. Quietly observing Banjie, he noticed the young butler paying remarkably close attention to the match. Since Banjie had recommended the game in the first place, Igola leaned over and asked, "Do you like this game a lot?" "Not especially, I suppose..." A rare trace of boyish bashfulness surfaced on Banjie's face. "I'm just a little happy." "Why happy?" "Because I saved this game in my folder of 'things to play with my future child.'" *Then why don't you have a child...* Igola glanced at Banjie's seemingly underdeveloped, boyish frame and decided to archive this melancholic question. Whenever he and Banjie became enemies in the future, he would pull out that exact question to humiliate him. Still, compared to Banjie, Igola's attention was currently drawn more to Lisi. The white-haired little girl stared intently at the light screen, her small fingers deftly rolling the joystick and mashing the buttons. Throws, counter-attacks, and guard-breaking techniques flowed with increasing fluidity as she used the Time Witch to ruthlessly pummel the Wandering Sword Saint. Igola could tell she was genuinely playing this game for the very first time. In the first round, her execution had been clumsy, allowing Yaxiu, who possessed a modicum of competitive gaming instinct, to pressure and overpower her. Yet by the second round, her improvement had been astonishing. Yaxiu had only managed to cheese her to death by spamming the Wandering Sword Saint's guard-break attack. Then, in the third round, she figured out how to counter every move, after which she embarked on a relentless steamroll over Yaxiu. Igola had assumed she would stop after winning a round and then act cute, throwing a match to Yaxiu. Instead, she offered not a shred of face. Whenever Yaxiu asked for a beating, she delivered it with full force. Granted, someone like Yaxiu certainly deserved a thrashing, but this did not match Lisi's usual modus operandi. She and Igola were cut from the same cloth: self-interest was their sole operating principle. Beyond the petty satisfaction of victory, beating Yaxiu brought zero practical benefit. Previously, she had adhered strictly to a scheming, manipulative playbook, intentionally playing dumb and acting cute to ingratiate herself with everyone. Even though everyone could tell it was an act, she was simply too adorable. If nothing else, her success in tricking Yaxiu into becoming her taunt minion was ninety-nine percent due to being a white-haired little girl, with only one percent owing to Yaxiu's stupidity. Just as men fell for manipulative vixens, women obsessed over scoundrels, and fools adored Igola. To say victims never knew what kind of creature they were dealing with deep down was a lie; it was simply that the other party provided an emotional high nobody else could match, leaving the victim unwilling to look too closely, begging only for the dream to last a little longer. Yet Lisi's current behavior broke character. Not only did she refuse to spare Yaxiu's dignity, fighting with dead seriousness, but earlier she had even addressed Yaxiu by his bare name... Did she no longer wish to use Yaxiu as her human shield? Even a wet sheet of toilet paper had its uses; surely she wouldn't discard her taunt minion so prematurely? Whether it was because Lisi had thoroughly humbled Yaxiu or because she was showing an unvarnished side of herself, Igola found her rather endearing at this moment. "Match Decided!" "Six to two. Yaxiu, are you aiming for a ten-game losing streak?" "I threw six rounds to be polite. Now it's time to bring out my real skills..." "Whatever makes you happy." *** At 10:00 p.m., having finished her bath, Diya flopped straight onto the bed in her pajamas, exhausted. Unfortunately, her hair was quite long, meaning she had to wait a good while for it to dry before she could actually go to sleep. Sleeping, however, was not her job. It was Lisi's. Had Lisi not accidentally bumped her head and passed out the previous night, Diya would have already attempted Void Realm Exploration here. Annan granted them ample freedom, and with Lisi acting as a decoy in reality by sleeping, Diya had no fear of anyone discovering she was a Two-Winged Sorcerer. Even within the royal palace's high tower, Diya had regularly explored the Void Realm right under the noses of Sanctuary and Legendary experts. Sitting before the mirror and combing her hair, Diya said, "Make sure you sleep properly in a bit, okay? Don't read books, and don't go wandering off to find anyone. If anything happens, find a chance to enter the Void Realm and contact me." Inside the mirror, Lisi pouted. "*I want to play Sorcerer Duel with Daddy too...*" "He's so terrible at it. You might as well play with Banjie." "*I like playing against the weak! Isn't bullying the weak fun? Anyone can tell Banjie is super strong; playing against him means losing for sure, which is no fun at all.*" "Ugh, you're so mean... Oh, right, Yaxiu still has a few points left. Why don't you challenge him to a wager tomorrow and con all his points out of him?" Suddenly, a familiar and terrifying voice came from behind her: "Witch, you shouldn't encourage little children to gamble. If you lack a decent opponent, how about playing games with me next time?" Diya whipped her head around. Behind her, the room was empty. Yet when she turned back to the mirror, there on the bed behind Lisi sat that man who inspired both hatred and dread! The Watcher! "Good evening, Witches." Inside the mirror, the Watcher crossed his arms over his chest and said lazily, "Did you have fun today?" "*(*^▽^*) No, I didn't!*" Lisi declared with exaggerated ferocity. "*Don't you dare do that again tomorrow! Otherwise, I'll hate you!*" The Watcher feigned anger. "Little Witch, how dare you speak so insolently! Tomorrow, I'll make sure you have no study time at all and can only play to your heart's content—" "Alright, that's enough from both of you." Diya looked at the Watcher, speechless. "I already completed your mission: I engaged Yaxiu in combat and defeated him. Surely you aren't going to deny me even a shred of private time?" "The combat I had in mind wasn't quite like that... but as long as you learned something, I don't mind." The Watcher spread his hands. "See? I'm actually quite easy to talk to." *Easy to talk to? You mean giving me zero choice, barging uninvited into a young woman's bedroom late at night, and forcing a child to stop studying to play video games? If that counts as easy to talk to, then Yaxiu—who merely refuses to obey her orders—could qualify as a father who genuinely adores her.* Diya grumbled internally, then abruptly remembered the Watcher could hear her inner complaints. She quickly changed the subject. "What could I possibly have learned from playing video games with Yaxiu?" "Having experienced the Time Witch's style of combat, don't you feel it can be adapted into your own combat system?" "That was just a game..." Diya cut herself off mid-sentence. Rising to her feet with a thoughtful expression, she mimed a couple of stances in the open space, her look growing increasingly solemn. The Watcher remarked leisurely, "There is a reason the Sorcerer Duel series became the most widespread game in Gospel Country, inspiring countless individuals to become sorcerers." Diya nodded excitedly. "You're right. I'll head into the Void Realm right now to test it out—" "And that brings me to why I came to find you." Diya blinked. She saw the Watcher now perched on the windowsill, gazing down at the bustling metropolis below. "Did you forget? The reason I put you through all those pranks was that I need you to become my companion and explore the Void Realm together." "Did you just admit you were pranking me?" "You misheard. I said guiding you." Not a hint of change colored the Watcher's tone. "Since everyone is free tonight, shall we officially begin Void Realm Exploration? You will need to wait a short moment, however; we still require some preparation." *So it was real all along?* *He genuinely intends to invite me to explore the Void Realm alongside them?* *But isn't the Void Realm somewhere one can only enter alone...?* Much as Diya wanted to question the possibility, the Watcher's actions over the past two days had indisputably proven that he was a man of his word. When he said Lisi would play, she couldn't stop for even a single second; when he said Diya would fight Yaxiu, her hands couldn't leave the controller until the game was finished. There was no reason for the Watcher to spin a lie that would be debunked in mere moments. Diya fell silent for a beat. "What do you need me to do?" "You need not do anything at all." The Watcher's figure gradually faded, leaving behind only a final sentence: "Sacred destiny binds you and me together. We shall meet in the Void Realm very soon." *** Meanwhile, having finished his shower, Yaxiu lay in bed, holding a book and immersing himself in an ocean of knowledge. The book's cover read: *The Complete Strategy Guide to the Sorcerer Duel Series*. Just as Yaxiu was daydreaming about how he would crush Lisi tomorrow with a flawless combo string, his Book of Gospel popped open on its own. In the top-right corner of the "Profile" tab, a red exclamation mark appeared. It was the sort of prompt that compelled anyone with the slightest hint of obsessive-compulsive tendency to tap it. Upon opening, three notifications presented themselves: "*Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook has completed device binding and data migration! The player may henceforth log into this game using this device. Resolution has been upgraded to Ultra HD, and operator portrait art now features animated CG effects.*" "*Operator 'End Watcher''s soul health restored to 100%.*" "*Operator 'Dead Frenzy Sword Princess''s soul health restored to 100%.*" Yaxiu blinked. What on earth? Behind his back, this game had voluntarily migrated itself to a new device—the Book of Gospel—and even added animated CG effects? This wasn't merely progress; it was an outright evolution! It had evolved from a money-grubbing mobile game into... a slightly more conscientious money-grubbing mobile game. Yet compared to the game's massive transformation, Yaxiu cared far more about the latter two messages! Their souls were fully restored. That meant they could finally explore the Void Realm tonight! In other words... They could finally meet.