When Armand returned to the group, Mu Sicheng, who had been knocked down by the wind, got up and tried to continue, but Bai Liu held him back.
Bai Liu's gaze swept across the crowd and met Georgia's eyes from afar.
Georgia's eyes lingered on the troubled Mu Sicheng for less than a second before shifting to Bai Liu, where the Golden Dawn captain looked back intently, almost as if he were trying to see straight through Bai Liu's face.
"Wow," Bai Liu said with a smile. "This Captain Georgia really looks like he knows me."
Tang Erda's expression darkened. "...He shouldn't. If he remembered what you did, he'd have attacked already."
"Georgia is a man who goes out with a clean slate," Bai Liu added.
"So why does this Captain Georgia keep staring at me?" Bai Liu looked up at Tang Erda thoughtfully. "It's not like he fell in love at first sight, is it?"
Tang Erda couldn't help blurting out, "Not impossible—he only met you once before running off with you too..."
Bai Liu: "..."
Fortunately, Georgia didn't linger on Bai Liu for long. When Armand rejoined him, Georgia withdrew his gaze and led the group forward as if he had never noticed Bai Liu at all.
The onlookers, panicked by the gusts of wind, quickly cheered and screamed—they interpreted the chaos as a dazzling duel.
The clear victor was Armand, signaling that this striking newcomer also possessed serious combat skills. The Golden Dawn supporters erupted in excitement.
The cheers reached a peak as the bright gold-colored team passed Bai Liu and the others.
Mu Sicheng frowned, muttering, "Shit… that means my skills are banned. If only we could go into the game and fight it out…"
"All right," Bai Liu said, giving him a light glance. "You've already given them enough publicity today. Don't give them more. Go train."
"…Fine," Mu Sicheng muttered, stifling a fist. His fingers shifted from monkey paws back to human form, and he said no more.
The group headed back toward the boarding gate, ready to start the next round of training.
-----------------
Two games later, Liu Jiayi's system panel popped up in the swamp, shrouded in poisonous fog, with a message:
[System Alert: Player Liu Jiayi has reached the required number of games to register for the league. Do you want to register?]
Liu Jiayi glanced at Bai Liu and took a deep breath, seeing the certainty in his eyes.
[OK.]
[Registration Guild Choice: Killer Sequence, King's Guild … Wandering Circus …]
Her eyes lingered briefly over the King's Guild crown logo before she selected Wandering Circus.
[System Alert: You have become one of the registered players in the (Wandering Circus) Guild League. Please find all the other four teammates as soon as possible …]
The moment Liu Jiayi's entry was confirmed, her picture appeared at the end of the popularity poll announcement—an oddly angled shot of her, veil half blown by the wind, standing over a behemoth with poison. Her movements were crisp and ruthless, yet her mouth curved in a childishly playful, innocent smile.
This default entry photo had been set up for her in advance by the King's Guild.
It could not have been a screenshot from a small TV; the angle was too close and intimate, clearly captured by someone standing nearby during combat.
Liu Jiayi stared blankly at the photo. She remembered who had been behind her at that moment in the game—Hearts.
After she had slain the big monster, Hearts had looked at her with a smile, drawn a playing card, and, without hesitation, struck her veil, leaving a bloody scratch on her cheek.
Liu Jiayi had looked up in shock. Why was Hearts doing this?
Hearts crouched to meet her gaze, smiling: "That's the first lesson I'll teach you about the league: never trust your teammates too easily, even if they're standing right behind you."
Her eyes gleamed with quiet warning: "You don't know when those around you will go mad. They will betray you. Attack you."
"Teammates aren't reliable. The only person you can truly trust in a game is yourself—and absolute control over your teammates, so that even if they go mad, they remain your weapons."
Liu Jiayi paused for a moment, replaced the photo, and walked out of the boarding area with her head held high.
Her league registration scrolled on the system panel's popularity bulletin board, and suddenly her panel exploded in virtual fireworks:
[System Alert: Player Liu Jiayi has joined the Wandering Circus team!]
[System Announcement: Player Liu Jiayi has permanently withdrawn from the King's Guild team!]
Liu Jiayi spotted a familiar face standing near the boarding house exit amidst the falling digital sparks.
Qi Yifang was holding two boxes, red-eyed and tear-streaked, yet smiling like a protective older brother to Liu Jiayi, who had just logged out.
"Congratulations to the little witch for joining the league!" he said.
Liu Jiayi stopped in her tracks.
Bai Liu gently nudged her forward. "Go on, say goodbye properly."
Liu Jiayi slowly approached Qi Yifang, who tried to smile but couldn't stop the tears.
"Oooh, Jiayi, you're amazing! I'm so happy to see this …"
Qi Yifang squatted, sniffled, and said, "I… I joined the official team, Jiayi."
Liu Jiayi raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that great?"
"It's not great at all, wuuu…" Qi Yifang shed two more tears. "We've been grinding and training with a nun player recently. She's so good that Liu Ji and I can't keep up. The Queen calls me a loser every day. I'm terrified we'll have to fight against you later, wuuuuuuu."
"What if we win?" he continued, crying so hard that snot bubbled from his nose. "The Queen said she wouldn't show you any mercy!"
Liu Jiayi couldn't help but laugh, hugging her chest and raising her chin with a grunt. "Don't underestimate my new team. It's not certain who will win!"
"Stop crying!" Liu Jiayi said with a headache. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
Qi Yifang handed her the boxes, relaying Queen Hearts' message between sobs: "It was supposed to be the guild's new head of information delivering this to you, but he saw your system registration pop up and couldn't hold it in. He's crying worse than I am. The others are all crying in their dorms, and I'm the only one who could manage a little self-control, so I was asked to come bring this to you."
Liu Jiayi took the two boxes in silence as Qi Yifang suddenly produced a pair of skates and handed them to her.
They were a vibrant pink pair, with a doll and a little witch awkwardly holding hands painted on one side—both clearly later additions.
Liu Jiayi looked up in surprise. "[Super Speed Ice Skates]? Where did you get these? I don't remember a Level 3 copy of this item appearing for a long time."
"There's a copy of this in the game pool, but it's tough to gather the monster book to get it," Qi Yifang said, sounding a little pitiful. "It took our whole group more than half a month to get a pair. Liu Ji tried, got injured in the process, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He improved a lot while brushing the book, and that's how he ended up being selected for the official team."
The smile on Liu Jiayi's face slowly faded.
Qi Yifang went on, "We were going to give you a gift when you got into the league. You can't move very fast now, but with these skates, you'll be able to run faster and not get hurt as easily."
"Now that you're in the league," Qi Yifang added, pushing the skates toward Liu Jiayi and looking at her blearily, "take them."
Liu Jiayi looked at him quietly before speaking calmly, "Half a month ago, I was a member of the King's Guild. Now I'm not, and I didn't join the league for you, so this is something I won't…"
"But we did!!!" Qi Yifang's eyes brimmed with tears as he half-kneelt and stepped forward to hug Liu Jiayi, bawling, "We want to be on the team because we want to protect you!"
Liu Jiayi's breath hitched slightly.
Qi Yifang choked out, "No matter whose team you join, we want you to be safe."
"The Queen said the tournament was cruel but fair," he continued, "and that you're very intelligent. You could see we were deliberately letting you live in the tournament to keep you safe—but that also interfered with your strategy, making you more dangerous because you would go easy on us and affect your own decisions."
Liu Jiayi's fingers curled into tight fists.
Qi Yifang closed his eyes. "We're not as smart as you and didn't know what to do. After thinking about it for a long time, we decided this was the only way."
His eyes snapped open as he held Liu Jiayi tightly. "We swear to fight you with all our might, Jiayi, and you will fight us with all your might. And if you see us coming after you, run!"
"Run as far as you can! So we can't catch you! Run until the game is over!"
"You must live!"
Liu Jiayi laughed softly, tears glinting in her eyes, and returned his hug generously. "Don't make me sound like such a loser."
"Who's going to run? We're going to win!"
Qi Yifang let go, wiped his tears, and smiled firmly. "So are we!"
Bai Liu watched as Liu Jiayi returned with the two boxes and the skates.
Behind her, Qi Yifang dried his tears and turned to leave, but didn't get far before breaking into another run, crying again.
As Liu Jiayi walked, she couldn't help but run too. She leapt into Bai Liu's arms and buried her face, not wanting anyone to see her tear-stained cheeks.
"Bai Liu, are we really… going to win?" she asked softly, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Bai Liu stroked her head. "It will be won."
Liu Jiayi's voice softened further. "And the price of winning… what is it?"
Bai Liu looked past Qi Yifang's retreating figure. "You don't need to pay any price, because you have already paid me. The price of victory will be paid by me alone."
At that moment, the number [0] below Liu Jiayi's poster in the system's popularity voting panel shifted slightly.
[League player Liu Jiayi gets one vote.]
[League player Liu Jiayi gains access to the game pool.]