"You’re a true friend; I’ll treat you to a cup of milk tea after school!"

The girl smiled with her eyes curling up, patting Xu Ge’s back with satisfaction.

"I want a large cup, and it has to be the newest and most expensive one."

Xu Ge straightened his expression and said seriously.

"No money, only a small cup of original flavor. Take it or leave it."

Miss Zhao glared at him.

"Alright then, a small cup it is."

Someone admitted defeat.

After a bit of banter, Zhao Linqian asked again:

"By the way, what were you about to say just now?"

Xu Ge paused, frowning slightly.

He had been interrupted earlier, and now he couldn’t remember what he was going to say.

However, after a moment of recollection, his eyes lit up:

"Oh right, I wanted to ask, did you say you watched the ’Elf Kingdom’ game movie at the exhibition?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Isn’t it called ’Elf Adventure’? Are the authors Black Cat and Bilodis?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Haha! I knew it! I’ve wanted to recommend it to you for so long! Isn’t the plot amazing?"

"Yes! With the perspective of a transmigrator adventuring in another world, combined with the ’Elf Kingdom’ setting, it’s just fantastic! I didn’t realize until the end that it was filmed in a game! I initially thought it was a movie I didn’t know about! And the plot is so touching! After watching it, I realized how intelligent and adorable the NPCs in ’Elf Kingdom’ are!"

"Right! Right! Do you know? The original work is by Mr. Black Cat! Of course, the plot’s great!"

"Mr. Black Cat? The Mr. Black Cat I know?"

"Right!"

"Wow, instead of focusing on manga, what’s with playing games and making movies?!"

"He’s hooked on ’Elf Kingdom,’ that’s why his updates have been so delayed lately..."

"Hahaha..."

Finding a common topic, the two excitedly chatted away.

After talking for a while, Zhao Linqian suddenly turned her head to Xu Ge with a probing look that made him a bit uneasy.

"What’s up?"

He asked, puzzled.

"Wait a minute, you love ’Elf Kingdom’ so much, why haven’t I seen you register for it?"

The girl stroked her chin and asked with a raised eyebrow.

Upon hearing this topic, the boy’s mood visibly lifted.

He leaned forward slightly, with a cheeky grin, saying: 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"How do you know? Maybe I secretly registered during class."

"Nonsense, registration opens at two o’clock sharp. I sat behind you, and you napped all through one class."

The girl pouted.

Xu Ge: ...

Were you really watching me since then?!

He gave the girl an exasperated look and then grinned:

"I’m not registering."

"Not registering? Weren’t you always saying you definitely wanted to get a spot? I used to resist ’Elf Kingdom’ partly because you were relentlessly recommending it day and night..."

Zhao Linqian gave the boy a curious look.

Xu Ge: ...

He cleared his throat and chuckled, saying:

"No, I’ve already got a spot."

As he said this, he picked up his phone and showed a certain text to the girl.

Zhao Linqian: ...

Seeing the text congratulating Xu Ge on winning a public test spot, she scrunched her nose like a little pig:

"You sneaky! When did you sneak this?!

"Hehe, there was an event on the official forum awhile back. I participated and won a spot. Good luck; hope to see you in the game tomorrow."

Zhao Linqian: ...

"That’s so unfair! Your luck is too good! What kind of event was it?"

"I don’t quite remember the name, something like ’Elf Kingdom Life Church Reform Opinion Poll’ or something... You don’t know; ’Elf Kingdom’s development relies entirely on player input, and many features require players to think and create. But, having such a reward is the first time."

Xu Ge said with a smile.

After speaking, he patted the girl’s shoulder:

"Keep going, there are almost a hundred eighty thousand spots; I’m sure you can make it."

Zhao Linqian: ...

"Wait... wasn’t it supposed to be two hundred thousand spots open?"

She widened her eyes, tilted her head, furrowing her brows, full of confusion.

"It is two hundred thousand, but two thousand are for purchase, with one spot costing as much as my annual allowance. Even so, they were gone in five minutes once sales started. And from the remaining one hundred eighty thousand, five hundred were awarded to forum event winners, so the actual lottery spots are less than one hundred eighty thousand... roughly rounded to one hundred eighty thousand."

Xu Ge explained in detail.

"Is that so?"

The girl furrowed her brows.

"Yeah, if you had told me earlier that you were interested in ’Elf Kingdom,’ I’d have asked you to join the event back then. I thought you were adamant about not playing ’Elf Kingdom’..."

Xu Ge spread his hands, showing a resigned expression.

After saying that, he checked his phone again in amazement:

"Wow... it’s almost at twenty million."

His expression a bit sly.

Zhao Linqian: ...

"Get lost..."

She kicked him.[Missing paragraph]

Xu Ge, who had been on high alert, dodged lightly, laughing heartily.

After the laughter, he regained his composure and comforted:

"But don’t worry, statistics show that frequent gamers and high-ranked players on various game leaderboards have a better chance of getting a spot. You finished in the top three of the ’Knight’ season arena, right? I think you can do it."

Zhao Linqian: ...

"Leave it to fate..."

She let out a sigh.

However, although appearing listless, her eyes still sparkled with hope.

Until the very last moment, everyone hopes they’ll be the winner.

This is what youth is all about.