Inside Liu Xiyue's bedroom.
"Whew~" Rumble!!! "Mm..."
Nestled in her warm blankets, Liu Xiyue curled up like a lethargic cat, her breathing steady and shallow. However, she didn't wake up; instead, she turned over with a hint of dissatisfaction. But after a short while...
Rumble!!!
From the ground floor of the perfectly peaceful apartment building, a deafening roar suddenly erupted. The massive sound waves penetrated the walls, striking Liu Xiyue's eardrums. She bit her lower lip tightly, her brow furrowing deeper. She wanted to get up and check but was dragged back to bed by a wave of drowsiness, leaving her to let the annoying roar echo in her ears as her mood soured.
Afterward, as time passed... no more noise came from within the room. This rare peace finally allowed Liu Xiyue's tense nerves to relax. She let out a sigh and buried her face in the soft pillow. Just as her consciousness was about to sink into the deep sea of chaos...
Rumble!!! "Ah!??"
The massive sound tore through the silence once again. It forcibly dragged her back to reality from the abyss of half-sleep. Liu Xiyue sat up abruptly, her hands unconsciously gripping the corners of the quilt. She stared blankly ahead, confusion and bewilderment surging into her heart like a tide. Beneath her furrowed brows, the resentment from being repeatedly disturbed had now manifested into something tangible.
Liu Xiyue casually brushed her messy hair behind her ear, then looked at her phone in confusion.
[1:02 PM]
Just as she glanced at it, the familiar noise returned. This caused the nameless fire of irritability already in Liu Xiyue's heart to instantly surge from the depths of her chest straight to her head. Ignoring her image entirely, her eyes turned bloodshot. She let out a long cry full of anger and helplessness.
"Who is it?! What's all the noise in the middle of the day! Are you doing renovations at home for no reason!"
Since Liu Xiyue had been recovering at home these past few days, she had been spending her time playing games and browsing videos. She had accidentally stayed up a bit late playing games last night, so she felt like she hadn't fully woken up yet. And yet, that damned noise from downstairs arrived right on schedule.
"Whew~ Calm down, calm down. Liu Xiyue, you can't be too agitated..."
Liu Xiyue took a deep breath, trying to use logic to convince herself that it might just be accidental noise and would pass if she just endured it. As if intentionally slapping her in the face, the sound penetrated the walls once more. It was even louder than before. This almost made Liu Xiyue explode on the spot. She clutched her head in pain, her face filled with towering rage.
"Dammit! If it were any other time, I would have kicked their door down long ago!"
But the only response she got was another massive sound.
"I'm so mad! Just you wait, I'll teach you a lesson sooner or later."
Liu Xiyue grabbed her pillow and buried her head deep into its softness, her entire petite body shrinking into the covers. She tried to use this method to block out the outside interference. But in her dazed state, Liu Xiyue didn't notice that—aside from her—the people in the other apartments could hardly hear this mysterious sound at all.
At this very moment, in an apartment downstairs.
The originally orderly, plain-colored living room was now being dyed by bizarre neon lights, as if it had been dragged into a cyberpunk game scene. The art style inside created an absurd sense of disconnect from the world outside the door. What was even more miraculous was that the space in the living room had already exceeded the size an apartment should have. The space here was almost approaching the size of a basketball court.
Two figures, dressed differently but equally petite, were leaping and dashing through the space. The two were none other than the familiar Yunli and Silver Wolf.
Yunli's small face was written with anger as she repeatedly swung Old Mettle at Silver Wolf. Every swing of Old Mettle carried the sound of breaking air, showing that Yunli was hardly holding back. Silver Wolf, appearing a bit guilty, was simply dodging and retreating. She would then occasionally use Prometheus to fire at Yunli. Light bullets resembling colored mosaics were fired accurately toward Yunli.
Silver Wolf's aim was not comparable to the "stormtrooper aim" of villains in movies. It wasn't easy for Yunli to dodge them all, so she eventually just charged through using Old Mettle.
Yunli :(｢･ω･)｢ Hey Learn about parrying.
Phew, phew!!!
Silver Wolf fired a few more bullets with Prometheus in hand. She complained with a slightly dissatisfied expression.
"Yunli, that's enough! I'm only using basic attacks, yet you're using skills with every move?"
Just after speaking, Silver Wolf leaped backward into the air. The next second, Yunli's blade landed where she had just been standing. Old Mettle smashed into the living room floor like a meteorite. Miraculously, the floor cracked with spiderweb-like fluorescent patterns, and bursting particle effects condensed in the air. Then, after just a few seconds, it restored itself to its original state.
At this time, Yunli pulled out Old Mettle and replied, not to be outdone. "Hmph, don't look down on me!"
With those words, Yunli raised Old Mettle to easily block the incoming bullets, her footsteps not retreating an inch. Colored particles exploded against Old Mettle, but they caused no effect. She then immediately charged toward Silver Wolf again.
Seeing this while in mid-air, Silver Wolf generated a little colored platform out of thin air. After landing on it, Silver Wolf dodged to the other side. Yunli missed her mark again, but she immediately gave chase once more, relentlessly. This was starting to make Silver Wolf feel a bit impatient. She had no interest in fighting Yunli here. After all, it would be more practical to spend this time playing a few games.
So she spoke with an unfriendly tone. "Yunli, what exactly do you want! Why are you acting so strangely today?"
"This young lady is in a very bad mood today, so I must slash you a few times to be satisfied!" Yunli replied casually, then dragged Old Mettle through a 720-degree spin before throwing it with all her might.
Watching the flying Old Mettle, Silver Wolf reached out her left hand and tapped casually in the void a few times. A colored barrier appeared in front of Silver Wolf, and the incoming Old Mettle passed directly through the curtain. Then, Old Mettle suddenly flew out from a curtain that appeared behind Silver Wolf at the same time.
A hint of anger finally appeared in Silver Wolf's bored eyes. The Prometheus in her hand instantly switched from pistol mode to sword mode. Beneath the original muzzle, a cool sword blade deformed and extended in the blink of an eye. The original projection icon on Prometheus also changed into the shape of a sword.
Seeing Yunli already charging in, Silver Wolf swung a horizontal slash. The quick-reacting Yunli immediately leaped, performing a graceful backflip to dodge the sword strike filled with light effects. Now, facing a temporarily weaponless Yunli, Silver Wolf engaged her in a brilliant close-quarters battle.
Silver Wolf's swordsmanship wasn't exceptionally great, but as a Stellaron Hunter, her skills were not lacking. Without her weapon, Yunli didn't dare to go head-to-head for a moment and could only keep dodging and maneuvering. Finding the right moment, Silver Wolf brought her sword down. It looked as if Yunli was about to be split in two.
The quick-eyed and quick-handed Yunli immediately extended her two small hands and slammed them together. A real-life version of "catching a blade with bare hands" was achieved by Yunli. Silver Wolf took the opportunity to ask:
"We are essentially the same person; what exactly have I done to offend you now?"
However, Yunli simply threw a tantrum. "I'm not listening, I'm not listening! Anyway, just keep taking my moves!"
And all of this, of course, was due to a certain kind-hearted prankster meddling behind the scenes. What happened after that was even simpler. In a fit of pique, and with the guidance of a certain kind-hearted person (Sparkle), the hot-headed Yunli arrived at Silver Wolf's residence.
Although Silver Wolf and Yunli both looked equally petite... the former wasn't that foolish. She already had a faint idea of the answer in her heart. The only thing Silver Wolf had done recently was hacking for pocket money.
This made her curse inwardly: 'What a pain. Was I really this boring before?'
Sparkle (๑＞＜๑): I promised not to tell Acheron, and Sparkle has been keeping it from her, so Sparkle didn't lie~