"I didn’t expect to run into four juniors here, hello!"
"Sister, we’re in senior year of high school."
Xu Miao smiled slightly, "I graduated from Nancheng No. 3 High School four years ago."
With those words, the senior’s imposing presence hit them like a wave.
Plus, she was already a seven-out-of-ten beauty, but with makeup, she was easily a nine. Add to that a few more years of mature aura, and she instantly intimidated the four high school students.
"Is there something you need from us, senior?"
"Here’s the thing," Xu Miao gestured toward Jiang Lingxi, "See that blue-haired girl over there? I’m currently making street challenge videos and wanted to invite you to play a game with us. It’s the shooting game you were about to play. If you accept the challenge and win, there’s a cash prize of a thousand yuan. If you lose, I’ll give each of you three general voucher tickets for this arcade. How about it?"
"Will it be posted online?"
Xu Miao nodded, "Definitely."
Xu Ling’an immediately wanted to shake his head and refuse, but the other three were somewhat tempted.
Even though their families were well-off, they were at the age of asking their parents for allowance. A thousand yuan was a significant amount of money, and even three general vouchers would be worth three hundred yuan.
It’s free money if you don’t take it, not to mention the chance to be in a video.
Although Xu Ling’an was tempted by the thousand yuan reward, she knew her limits. She had never been to this arcade before, let alone knew how to play. If she lost, the three arcade vouchers would be useless to her.
Seeing her companions were a bit inclined, she simply stepped back, "You guys go ahead and play, I’ll just watch from the side."
Lin Chan looked at Li Fei and Han Ye, "How about the three of us play a round with that girl over there first?"
Li Fei and Han Ye exchanged glances, then looked at Xu Ling’an, who had already stepped back. Finally, they nodded.
Actually, they had noticed the blue-haired girl before too but were too shy to approach her.
This rare opportunity allowed them to get to know her, and maybe even add her as a friend.
And so, a competition with undisclosed motives on both sides started tacitly.
The arcade’s shooting game was simple, with players divided into two groups representing red and blue teams.
Once geared up, players shot at members of the opposing team in an obstacle-filled zone. When a player’s injury level reached 100%, they were eliminated.
Though the game was meant to be fun, plastic bullets hitting you could sting quite a bit if shot at close range.
Xu Ling’an stood on the edge of the field, watching the red and blue teams’ figures on a nearby big screen.
When she saw Jiang Lingxi in red gear, she wrinkled her small, delicate nose in puzzlement.
This blue-haired girl wearing glasses was someone she was seeing for the first time, yet she felt oddly familiar.
It was as if they had met before.
But where exactly had they met?
However, she quickly forgot all about it as her attention was drawn to her three classmates getting thoroughly beaten.
Li Fei and Han Ye suffered the most, their clothes nearly covered in the red paint from the exploding plastic bullets!
Jiang Lingxi silently snuck behind Li Fei and Han Ye and fired two bullets, hitting their shoulders precisely.
The injury level increased by two percent.
She frowned, dissatisfied.
She wasn’t quite used to the toy gun in her hand. If she were using her trusty bow and arrow, each shot would have dealt at least one percent.
This way, the opponent would need to be hit a hundred times to be eliminated by the system.
Little did she know, even with these circumstances, Li Fei and Han Ye were close to breaking down.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t just surrender on the spot, but their inexplicably stubborn pride wouldn’t allow it.
They also harbored hopes of redeeming themselves.
With such determination, they gritted their teeth and persisted, only to be thoroughly beaten in the end.
When they heard their gear’s mechanical voice announce ’You have been eliminated’ instead of injury stats, they felt relieved.
In the locker room, they removed their gear, hissing in pain continuously.
"That blue-haired girl was brutal; I suspect she’s aiming for wherever it hurts. I’m in pain all over. Look, my skin’s all red and it’ll probably bruise and swell soon."
"We underestimated her; we’re just not as good."
Despite the pain, they endured it as best as they could.
But when they removed their face shields and saw the red paint on each other’s faces, from who knows when, they finally lost it.
Unable to utter a word, they rushed to wash their faces.
It wouldn’t come off.
They asked a staff member, who apologetically said, "The paint will fade in a couple of days. It’s not washable right now. Normally, people only get it on their hands; this is the first time I’ve seen it on faces."
Their faces stiffened completely upon hearing that.
They’re still students, you know. Tomorrow is Monday, and they have to return to school.
Will they go back with these faces?
They’ll never hear the end of it from classmates and teachers!
Jiang Lingxi comments: "My secret skill, not shared with anyone."
Not many get the pleasure of being specially targeted by her!
As for the other girl, Lin Chan, Jiang Lingxi didn’t specifically target her, but she did give her a bit of a lesson anyway since she had brought Xu Ling’an here with improper intent.
After returning the gear and coming out of the locker room, she heard Lin Chan complaining to Xu Ling’an, "That blue-haired girl was really rough; she hit me several times on my arms and legs, it still hurts, and my right hand is a bit weak. I wonder if it’ll affect my writing."
Xu Ling’an wanted to comfort her but didn’t know what to say.
She wanted to say that since both sides agreed to the game, there’s nothing wrong with the other side taking it seriously.
Besides, the equipment was the same for everyone. If they lost badly, it was just because they weren’t as good; you can’t expect the opponents to go easy.
That was until she saw Li Fei and Han Ye coming out afterwards.
Xu Ling’an: This was a pretty miserable loss.
These two are popular in class, and this was the first time she had seen them looking so defeated!
Xu Miao, who had been checking the footage she’d just shot, was taken aback by the state of the two juniors.
She had initially thought that the blue-haired girl wanted to meet the two juniors, which is why she invited them to the game. But now, that theory went out the window.
Did she really want to get to know them, or make enemies?
The game was indeed exciting.
She even had a title ready: "Blue-haired Girl Dominates the Arcade!"
Seeing Jiang Lingxi walking over, Li Fei and Han Ye instinctively took a step back.
Once they realized what they had done, their faces turned red.
Luckily, their faces were still stained with some red paint, concealing it somewhat.
But it was clear to everyone that they were still nervous.
In contrast, Jiang Lingxi, after a glance at them, focused her gaze on Xu Ling’an nearby. She approached and met the younger girl’s somewhat dazed look. "Come over here for a second."
At that moment, with less than a meter between them, Xu Ling’an noticed that through the striking blue hair and large black-framed glasses, she was looking into a pair of familiar eyes. Her small body stiffened immediately.
She opened her mouth but stopped herself from blurting out ’sister.’
When Jiang Lingxi turned to walk toward a corner, Xu Ling’an pursed her lips and quickly followed her with small, hurried steps.