You worry your friend is having a hard time.
But you also worry your friend is driving a luxury SUV.
Your own failure is certainly frightening.
But your friend's success hurts even more.
...Psychology Master Kiana's conclusion.
Her own bad mood most likely came from exactly that.
"Wow, there are so many people over there! Let's go take a look!"
March 7th's voice sounded beside her, and the next moment, she felt her wrist being grabbed.
One in front and one behind, the two headed toward the crowd.
After walking a short distance, a loud shout drowned out the surrounding chatter.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Don't miss it if you're passing by!"
If someone familiar like Levi had been here, he probably would have known why people had gathered the moment he heard that voice.
And he would have kindly played the role of a passing Cloud Knight patrol.
Or acted as a concerned citizen and reported it to the Cloud Knights.
"This is..."
"Street performance."
Kiana answered March 7th's curiosity. Looking at Sushang showing off her skills, she couldn't help becoming a little interested herself.
"I'm not bragging, but I can do all of that too."
"Really?"
March 7th was skeptical at first.
Then she remembered Kiana's performance yesterday.
Forget smashing rocks on her chest.
Even if Kiana said she could catch bullets with her bare hands, March 7th wouldn't think she was exaggerating.
"Of course it's true!"
Kiana nodded.
And then...
Guinaifen, who had overheard her, pulled her over.
———
[Herta Space Station]
The researchers passing through the cafeteria looked at Asta's flushed cheeks. Although they found it a little strange, they didn't think much of it.
They just assumed she hadn't slept well.
Some researchers even came over to ask if she was feeling alright.
Worried that she was blushing because she was sick, they warmly offered to take her to the infirmary.
But Asta, who knew the real reason, declined.
"Thanks for your concern. I'm fine."
She said she was fine, but under everyone's gaze, her face only became redder and redder.
In the end, unable to take it anymore, Asta put away her tableware, left the cafeteria, and found an empty room to calm herself down.
To be honest, the words after Elysia's translation had dealt quite a blow to Asta.
The moment she saw them, her breathing quickened and her heart started racing.
No one had ever said something like that to her before.
Leaning against the station's cold wall, feeling her wildly beating heart, Asta rubbed both cheeks.
"Calm down, calm down, Asta."
"He's a pervert. He only said that as a joke."
If anyone other than Levi had said those words, Asta probably wouldn't have thought they were joking.
But the person who said them was Levi, the guy who had already been officially labeled a pervert in the group.
The things he said in the group could basically all be treated as jokes.
Very little of it was true.
If it wasn't true, then naturally there was no need to take it to heart.
"..."
"How could I not take it to heart!"
Covering her face, Asta crouched on the bed, the blush on her face spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.
Just because very little of what he said was true didn't mean it was all false!
A mix of truth and lies was the hardest thing to tell apart.
Even if it was a lie, it was still devastating to an innocent girl like Asta.
If she had been on her bed right now,
she would already have wrapped herself into a little cocoon and been rolling around nonstop.
Too bad she was outside.
She couldn't exactly roll around on the floor.
If someone saw that...
Her life would be over.
After a long while, Asta finally calmed her breathing and heartbeat.
She patted her cheeks, which had finally returned to their normal temperature.
Then she opened the door behind her and prepared to return to her post to handle today's work.
Miss Herta had left.
She needed to be even more diligent now.
She couldn't let embarrassment delay her work.
Bang!
The door closed.
In a corner she hadn't noticed, a faint red light flickered.
After Asta returned to her workstation,
Levi, who had been waiting without getting a reply, took the initiative to ask in the group chat.
[Levi: Lady Asta!]
[Asta: Just call me Asta.]
'"Lady" sounds kind of strange.'
[Elysia: Ooh...]
[Ding! Group member "Elysia" has been muted by administrator "Levi" for 10 minutes!]
Elysia was muted the instant Levi noticed she was about to start teasing him.
But that obviously wasn't enough to completely stop her from speaking.
[Stelle: She says...]
[Ding! Group member "Stelle" has been muted by administrator "Levi" for 30 minutes!]
[Lumine: Hear me out...]
[Ding! Group member "Lumine" has been muted by administrator "Levi" for 1 hour!]
[Levi: To my dear Asta, the three criminals have all been taken into custody. Please let me know what matter you wished to entrust to me.]
[Asta: ...]
[Asta: It's actually nothing serious. Are you on the Luofu Xianzhou right now?]
[Levi: I'm very sorry. I'm in Teyvat right now, so I can't return to the Luofu for the time being.]
[Levi: Of course, if you want, I can teleport Stelle back right now. The only problem is that she might permanently become blonde.]
The temporary blonde experience card would become a permanent one.
And the kind that couldn't be removed.
Though it was only a possibility.
After all, missing the Rite of Descension would at most count as failing the mission.
She would probably just be forcibly separated from it.
Besides, this Rite of Descension was the last one.
Even if he attended the next one, there would be no point.
So returning to the Luofu now would only result in mission failure.
[Lumine: "!!!"]
"Bro! You can't just abandon me like this!!!"
The Rite of Descension was about to begin.
The mission was almost complete, and then something like this happened.
Lumine was numb.
She couldn't exactly blame Asta.
Asta hadn't done anything wrong. She had just been chatting normally.
The only one to blame was that idiot Lev...
"What did you just call me?"
"Handsome guy! Handsome guy!"
Ding!
Just then, Asta spoke again in the group chat.
She politely declined Levi's offer.
The matter she wanted to ask of him wasn't urgent.
There was no need for him to take the risk of coming back.
Originally, she had planned to leave it to Stelle's group on the Xianzhou.
But compared to how increasingly unreliable Stelle had become in the group chat, she decided to entrust it to Levi instead.
He was somewhat unreliable too, but his strength more than made up for it.
For him, investigating that matter would probably be as easy as lifting a finger.
Looking at the group chat in front of her...
[Asta: Tell you what it is after you return to the Luofu. For now, go help that blonde.]
[Lumine: "!!!"]
"Waaah! Asta is so kind!"
Starting today, she was officially a member of the Asta Fan Club too.
But she absolutely refused to acknowledge Levi as the president of the Asta Fan Club.
Him?
As if he deserved it.
Even a locksmith would look at him and ask, "Deserve what?"
Seeing this, Levi didn't say anything else.
He simply smiled brightly.
He replied to Asta in the group chat that he understood, then followed the crowd straight toward the Rite of Descension venue.
Watching him, Lumine suddenly felt her heart tighten.
Why did she suddenly have such a bad feeling?
"Paimon! Stay close to me! Don't get lost! If you can't find me, fly into the air and shout my name!"
"Mhm! Got it, Xiangling!"
Lumine's eyes instantly turned cold.
"So that's why you're targeting me..."
She should have swallowed her whole back then.
"..."
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