Within dorm room 404, shouts and yells echoed.
The entire hallway could hear Wen Cunming's angry curses.
"I say, Deng Bo, can you freaking aim a little better? It's been 20 minutes! You play as a robot, and all you hooked are three minions! Didn't I tell you to get eye surgery during the summer?"
"Lou Xun, what are you laughing at! Playing a blind monk in the jungle with a score of 0-0-0 after 20 minutes! Why not just hang out in the fountain?"
"And Gu Bai! I'm begging you, please don't play Yasuo when we're in a group again! You died 21 times in 20 minutes, how are you dying faster than time? Tell me how!"
Wen Cunming was clutching his head and shouting hysterically.
Although Gu Bai felt extremely ashamed inside, he still put on a calm expression on the outside.
"Don't panic, once I get Endless, there's still a chance for a comeback."
After saying that, he cleared another wave of minions in one second, and the enemy Talon seized the opportunity to use a Shadow Assault combined with Noxian Diplomacy, turning Gu Bai's computer screen black and white again.
Wen Cunming, controlling his VN, just managed a triple kill in a 1v3. Deng Bo's robot had no assists, and seeing the system notification that Gu Bai was killed again, he fell into utter despair.
"I think we can end this match now."
Gu Bai: "+1, the enemy Talon is a pro boost."
Lou Xun: "+2, haven't played all summer, lost my touch."
"Don't you talk!"
Deng Bo hadn't even spoken before being interrupted by Wen Cunming's roar, quickly ducking his head with an awkward smile.
Seeing Wen Cunming, who was furious from being sabotaged by the three of them, Deng Bo immediately changed the topic, asking Gu Bai, "White Pieces, what's up with that loli today?"
Gu Bai hurriedly gave Deng Bo a thumbs-up secretly, "Nothing much, just added on WeChat."
"On the first day of freshman orientation, a junior adds you on WeChat; it looks like your face alone grants you priority in college dating."
"Don't envy, it's useless, this stuff's innate."
Seeing the two chatting excitedly, Lou Xun, who was bearing Wen Cunming's wrath alone, suggested, "Why don't we go out to eat?"
"Seconded!"
"Let's eat at the cafeteria!"
"This is the season of long legs everywhere; eating isn't important, just want to see if the seniors and juniors gained weight over the summer."
Wen Cunming looked at the 20-45 score on the computer and lost interest in playing. They had surrendered earlier, which he refused, and now they'd have to wait three more minutes to surrender again, so he just exited the game.
Warmth held in tomorrow (Night Hunter) exited the game.
Young flames burn (Steam Robot) exited the game.
Too high to bear (Gale Sword Hero) exited the game.
My feet don't stink (Blind Monk) exited the game.
Noxian Hand: "????"
The four of them turned off their computers and headed straight to the cafeteria.
Shanghai Theatre Academy's cafeteria, not to mention the taste, the decoration seemed more unique than other universities.
There were quite a few people coming and going in the cafeteria at that time, but most were girls. After all, most who harbored dreams of becoming celebrities were girls, resulting in a gender ratio at Shanghai Theatre Academy skewed towards more females than males.
The sight of many swaying long white legs made both Zuo Qiu Kun and Lou Xun's eyes light up, but Gu Bai seemed much calmer. Having seen his fair share of temptresses, his immunity to long white legs had increased significantly.
"Three portions of meat sauce pasta and one meal of twice-cooked pork."
On their way, the four had already discussed what to eat. Compared to the others, Gu Bai still preferred Chinese food.
The food was prepared quickly, and the four of them carried their meals to find an empty spot to sit down.
"It's just the start of the semester, and the National Day Golden Week is right around the corner. Do you guys have any plans?"
Just sitting down, Lou Xun asked the three of them.
"Forget traveling, the attractions are packed with people. I plan to stay home and watch the S7 World Championship Finals."
Deng Bo, born and bred in Shanghai, didn't live far from the school. Gu Bai had been to his house a few times, each time in a different property; a standard template for a Shanghai resettlement household.
In truth, if you can get into Shanghai Theatre Academy, few have poor family conditions. After all, those with less favorable conditions are better off pursuing the regular college entrance exam path. Without superior conditions, how can you chase a celebrity dream?
Lou Xun then looked towards Gu Bai.
Gorging on a big bite of food, Gu Bai mumbled, "Not sure yet, I'll see when the time comes."
After hesitating for a while, Wen Cunming slowly spoke.
"A company contacted me, said they want to sign me. I'm considering whether to sign or not."
"Sign it, we're only sophomores; sign a three-year contract. If it's comfortable, stay after graduation; if not, leave right after, can't lose."
Gu Bai glanced at him and casually said.
"That's easy for you to say. Domestic broker contracts start at 8 years. This company's actually quite big, has a good reputation in the industry, but the contract they're offering me isn't great, so I'm thinking of going home during the Golden Week to discuss it with my parents."
Wen Cunming hadn't made up his mind yet.
"Which company?"
"Tangren Film and Television, the one with Hu Ge."
"They contacted you today?"
"Yes."
Gu Bai didn't say anything more.
He remembered that in his past life, Wen Cunming never joined any management company, so how come in this life he got a company invitation right on the first day of the semester? Is this the butterfly effect?
While the group was chatting, a crisp voice sounded in their ears.
"Oni-Chan!"
Hearing this voice, Gu Bai quickly lowered his head and continued eating his food, while the three others simultaneously showed teasing smiles.
"Oni-Chan, you're also here at the cafeteria for lunch."
The speaker was the white-haired, twin-tailed loli, Yi Yiyi.
Deng Bo teased with a full face of mockery: "Yiyi is greeting you, how can you be so impolite?"
Seeing this, Gu Bai could only lift his head, glare daggers at Deng Bo, and then said with a face full of embarrassment: "Was too engrossed in eating, didn't hear it."
"No worries."
Yi Yiyi smiled sweetly.
Then she turned to Deng Bo again: "Thank you, greasy uncle."
Deng Bo's face turned green again, he stood up and said: "You can sit here, I'm going to get some drinks."
Yi Yiyi, showing no formality, directly sat down next to Gu Bai.
Gu Bai hurriedly scooted to the side.
"I say, do you have nothing better to do? Can't you go bond with your roommates?"
Yi Yiyi's pure white twin tails wobbled.
"They are all here~"
She pointed to three girls in the distance.
Leading them was a girl with long, wavy hair, sporting peach blossom eyes, wearing tight hot pants, exuding a full sense of allure.
Yi Yiyi quickly stood up, waving her hand: "Sister Man! Over here!"
Hearing Yi Yiyi's voice, the wavy-haired girl came over with the other two girls.
As soon as the wave-haired girl arrived, Yi Yiyi excitedly began her introduction.
"Sister Man! This is our senior from sophomore year, named Gu Bai!"
Then she glanced at the nearby Wen Cunming and Lou Xun, unable to recall their names after a long time, she shyly smiled: "You two can introduce yourselves..."
Fortunately, neither of the two were the shy type, and promptly introduced themselves to the girl called Sister Man: "Wen Cunming, sophomore in the acting department."
"Lou Xun, acting department."
"Qi Man, freshman in the acting department."
After speaking, Qi Man showed them a polite smile. Whether intentionally or not, every action and word of Wen Man seemed to epitomize what it meant to be captivating.
Wen Cunming and Lou Xun weren't the type to become dumbstruck at the sight of a woman, but upon seeing Qi Man, it was as if their souls were captured, taking them a while to recover.
Qi Man seemed accustomed to such looks, remaining quite composed.
The other two girls also introduced themselves.
"Hong Linli, freshman in the acting department."
"Dong Ping, freshman in the acting department."
Qi Man, looking at Yi Yiyi beside Gu Bai, teased: "Yiyi, on your first day at school, you already know such a handsome senior?"
Yi Yiyi, unashamed, revealed a pair of little fangs.
"Of course!"
Gu Bai only then lifted his head to scrutinize the girl named Qi Man before him.
Actually, he knew Qi Man, though she didn't know him. In his previous life, until he graduated, Qi Man had always been hailed as the school flower of the Shanghai Theatre Academy by those with good intentions. Not only had he seen her photos on the school forum, but also on other platforms, a girl who truly became famous for her beauty.
However, perhaps due to being in the limelight too much, some negative rumors about her were always circulating at school. Things like being kept as a mistress, and many had uploaded photos of her getting into various luxury cars at the school gate, yet she never clarified these rumors.
Gu Bai quickly scanned Qi Man's attributes.
"Name: Qi Man
Appearance: 97
Health: 92
Affection: 20"
Just 3 points shy of a full score in appearance, fully deserving her title as the school flower of Shanghai Theatre Academy. As for the affection...
In all honesty, this was the first time Gu Bai encountered an opposite gender who, upon first meeting, had such a low affection score for him. After all, people are sensory creatures, especially women. With his looks, most women typically had a pretty decent impression of him, with the lowest being 40 points. Yet, Qi Man had only 20 points of affection for him.
But Gu Bai wasn't so naive as to believe all the world's girls would fall for him at first sight. It's completely normal for someone to have a low initial impression of him.
Politely smiling at them, he continued eating his meal.
Since others didn't have high affection for him, there was no need to offer his warmth unnecessarily. Although Qi Man was the most beautiful girl Gu Bai had seen so far, it wasn't to the extent that he'd become a simp.
As for Qi Man, seeing Gu Bai only glance at her briefly, she grew a little intrigued by him.
For all these years, any normal man's initial reaction upon seeing her was the same as Lou Xun and Wen Cunming. There really weren't many like Gu Bai.
Of course, there were some playing hard-to-get tricks too, but having seen so much, Qi Man could already distinguish between hard-to-get and genuinely uninterested.
Clearly, Gu Bai belonged to the latter category.
Because after greeting with a smile, he buried himself in his meal, quite naturally, as if his plate of leftover pork wasn't an attraction in itself.
Qi Man really misunderstood Gu Bai.
For someone like him, an old lascivious type, it was impossible to not be interested in Qi Man. If an explanation was needed, it could only be that Gu Bai was too lazy, often unwilling to expend his energy.
He was confident that there wouldn't be a shortage of beauties around him of Qi Man's caliber, just too lazy to take the initiative.
A truly Zen-like Divine Rich.