Unexpected Company

Yan, having finished lunch, logged back into the game.As he opened his eyes, he was once again greeted by the sight of the coffee shop, just as it had been when he logged off earlier.

‘Had those two not logged on yet?’

Yan instinctively checked the party interface, where both their IDs remained grayed out.

‘Well, they’re probably intentionally waiting a bit longer to log in. After all, players as engrossed as I am are a minority.’

“Good afternoon, Yan.”

Alice, however, had been there all along, sitting quietly beside Yan, a sweet smile gracing her lovely face.

“Good afternoon, Alice.”

Yan returned her smile, greeting her in kind.

“Are we heading to the event map now?”

Alice tilted her head slightly, her gaze on Yan tinged with a hint of confusion.

“Isn’t it a bit too early?”

“You’re right.”

Yan glanced at the time; it was just one o’clock.

The afternoon event was scheduled from 3:00 to 5:00, meaning there were still a full two hours until it began.

Besides, Yan and his companions weren’t there to compete, but simply to witness the excitement of the afternoon session, so there was no need to arrive so early.

Yan’s plan was to arrive around four o’clock, primarily to observe the fighting styles of the five victorious arena masters and mentally prepare himself.

Incidentally, the scoreboards for players participating in the morning session and those in the afternoon session were separate; they couldn’t be combined, meaning players could only choose to participate in one.

Otherwise, if someone won five or six matches in the morning and another five or six in the afternoon, their total wins would skyrocket, virtually guaranteeing a spot in the top twenty.

Speaking of which, how many matches did Qing Bai end up winning? Was it eight?

Yan furrowed his brow, a hint of helplessness in his expression.

‘It’s a delicate situation…’

Whether that fellow could secure a spot in the top twenty would now depend entirely on her luck.

At the very least, it seemed no one in the morning session had held their arena longer than she had (excluding An Dong and Lian, who won from start to finish).

‘Surely, there wouldn’t be too many more freaks like that in the afternoon, would there?’

Yan’s lips curved into a bitter smile.

‘Should I say, as expected of “Companion Gods Realm”?’

Even with his max-level attributes at 150, having come to the new server, he was still just one of five monstrous arena masters here…

‘Ah, no, I should add the five arena masters who would emerge from the afternoon session.’

The ten arena masters ultimately produced by this event symbolized the ten strongest players currently on the new server, and Yan was one of them.

‘As expected of me.’

At this thought, Yan narcissistically curled his lips, a sly grin spreading across his face.

“Yan? Good afternoon.”

A clear, melodious female voice entered Yan’s ears, and, still basking in his self-satisfaction, he instinctively replied.

“Ah, good afternoon… Huh?”

‘Who was that?’

Yan finally registered the voice, turning his head in confusion to find its source.

Xiao and Guan Ying stood at the coffee shop’s entrance. As Yan’s bewildered gaze slowly morphed into astonishment, Xiao smiled, tilted her head, and raised a slender hand, gently waving her five fingers at him.

“Yo.”

“Eh-eh-eh-eh?”

Yan was startled by this sudden development.

“Why is Xiao here?”

“What? Is there a problem with me being here?”

Xiao adopted a puzzled expression, then gestured for Guan Ying to sit at the adjacent wooden table.

“One cappuccino, and one serving of forest fruit cookies, please.”

She raised her hand, signaling to the NPC staff, then turned her gaze to Guan Ying.

“What would you like to order?”

“Old-fashioned Dried Roast.”

Guan Ying replied flatly.

“Ah, come on, you really don’t fit the aesthetic of this coffee shop, do you? Would anyone seriously seek out plain tea like Old-fashioned Dried Roast in a fantasy RPG world!?”

Xiao cast a helpless glance at him, muttering her complaint.

She scrolled the floating menu window all the way down, and astonishingly, she actually found the name [Old-fashioned Dried Roast].

“Oh, wait, no, I should say it’s even more baffling that ‘Old-fashioned Dried Roast’ actually exists here…”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, then raised her hand and lightly tapped the menu, placing Guan Ying’s order.

‘She ordered for herself by directly calling the staff, but for Guan Ying, she used the self-ordering system…’

‘That guy, he definitely chose self-ordering because he was too embarrassed to say “Old-fashioned Dried Roast” out loud, right? Absolutely, right?’

Yan looked at Xiao, a wry smile on his face, and thought this.

“So, is there something strange about me being here?”

Xiao puffed out her cheeks indignantly, glaring at Yan as she returned to their previous topic, her expression suggesting she was displeased by Yan’s impolite remark.

“This coffee shop isn’t exactly your private property…”

“Ah…”

Yan scratched his head with a wry smile.

“Because Xiao, you always strike me as a leveling maniac… I mean, your level is the highest, and I’ve always seen you deep within high-level maps. I honestly thought you wouldn’t be slacking off in a coffee shop like us ‘salted fish’ players…”

“While that’s true, I do spend most of my gaming time leveling up and getting stronger, and I rarely come to Fengxing City to wander around.”

To Yan’s surprise, Xiao didn’t deny his words. Instead, she smiled and wagged a single index finger from side to side in front of him.

“However! If you think of me that way, Yan, you’re being too naive.”

“Hmph, appropriate relaxation is essential, you know; I understand such basic things.”

‘It seems she’s not a heartless leveling machine after all, but a human just like us…’

Perhaps due to Xiao’s consistently far-ahead level, Yan had always felt she wasn’t truly enjoying the game, but rather acting like a machine programmed to achieve a certain objective, lacking a certain human touch.

Now, however, it seemed that wasn’t entirely the case.

Watching the playful Xiao, Yan couldn’t help but smile, thinking to himself.

‘She’s enjoying this game in her own way, too.’

“Mmm~ So delicious.”

Xiao popped an entire forest fruit cookie, which had just been served, into her mouth, then covered her cheeks and let out a sound of pure bliss.

That blissful expression after tasting delicious food was no different from Tian Jiu’s or anyone else’s.

‘Still just a young girl,’ Yan thought with a faint smile, before using the self-ordering system to get himself a cup of Blue Mountain coffee.

“…”

Guan Ying gave her a placid look, then raised his teacup and took a small sip.

Xiao, reveling in the joy brought by her cookies and cappuccino, presented a stark contrast to Guan Ying, who sat opposite her, quietly savoring his Old-fashioned Dried Roast.

‘How on earth did these two end up playing together…?’

Yan watched the scene unfold, his lips twitching in exasperation, then, on a sudden impulse, he slowly spoke.

“If I may be so bold, are you two, Xiao and Guan Ying, dating?”

“Pfft!!!”

Upon hearing this, Guan Ying suddenly spewed out a mouthful of tea. Fortunately, he managed to turn his head in time, sparing Xiao, who sat opposite him, from the spray.

‘Why are *you* the one reacting like this…?’

Yan grumbled inwardly.

“No, we’re not.”

Xiao tilted her head, replying with remarkable composure.

“Wh-wh-wh-what?! How is that possible! You’re mistaken!”

Guan Ying’s face flushed crimson as he frantically shook his head.

‘So why on earth are *you* embarrassed…?’

Yan once again grumbled inwardly, feeling helpless.

He then looked at Xiao with a somewhat surprised expression.

“Oh? Is that so?”

“We’re not dating.”

Xiao shook her head calmly, a slight frown forming on her brow as she looked at Yan with a hint of confusion.

“Rather, why would you jump to that conclusion…?”

“Ah, well, you two just seem so familiar with each other. Aside from the very first time I met you, Guan Ying was always by your side.”

Yan shrugged his shoulders, saying with a smile.

“Is it not normal for us to always be together?”

Xiao looked at Guan Ying in front of her with a puzzled expression. Guan Ying turned his face away, not looking at her, so she shifted her gaze back to Yan.

“It’s always been like this. In real life, we’ve always been together… After all, we’re childhood sweethearts (TL Note: ‘Qing mei zhu ma’ refers to a pair of children, typically a boy and a girl, who grow up together and share a close bond, often implying a romantic potential or deep platonic relationship).

Guan Ying is a year older than me in real life, and he’s quite the troublesome older brother.”

Xiao spread her hands helplessly, saying this without an ounce of shyness.

‘A troublesome older brother…’

Yan mused over the complex description with a helpless expression.

“Yeah, all our neighbors say the same thing about him.”

Xiao continued to poke fun at Guan Ying’s shortcomings.

“It’s definitely not my problem. It’s all because you’re usually too outstanding, Xiao, which just makes me seem ‘troublesome’.”

Guan Ying finally reached his limit and exclaimed.

“Outstanding? Me? How could that be… Hahaha.”

Xiao laughed it off, seemingly trying to gloss over the matter.

“Then you tell me, what rank did you get in the last final exam of your senior year of high school?”

Guan Ying angrily drained the tea from his cup, then pointed at Xiao and said.

“…First.”

Xiao was silent for a moment, then slowly extended a single finger.

“See? This guy, honestly, I don’t know whether to call you humble or what…”

Guan Ying rubbed his forehead in exasperation, momentarily at a loss for words.

‘She’s actually a real JK (TL Note: ‘JK’ is a Japanese slang term meaning ‘joshi kōsei,’ referring to a female high school student)!’

Yan stared at Xiao in shock, his focus clearly having veered off track.

“With you as a comparison, I definitely became the ‘troublesome older brother’…

Guan Ying said helplessly, pouring himself another cup of tea to calm his nerves.

“My apologies for being too outstanding.”

Xiao playfully stuck out her tongue, then snatched the teapot from Guan Ying’s hand and poured herself a cup.

“Bitter…”

After taking a sip of the authentic, extra-strong Old-fashioned Dried Roast, she made a face like a bitter gourd, her small, bitter tongue peeking out.

“Pfft.”

Yan couldn’t help but chuckle, watching the two of them.

‘Speaking of which, “childhood sweethearts”… huh?’

‘I wonder what Xuerou is doing right now?’

Watching Guan Ying and Xiao playfully interacting before him, his mind drifted back to the years he had spent with Xuerou.

‘If only… I could play “Companion Gods Realm” with her.’