By the time Xia Liang completed her patrol and returned to the secret base, the sky was already approaching dusk.
She collected her Heart's Gem at the entrance with a trace of fatigue, changed into indoor shoes, walked into the living room, and then immediately spotted Lin Xiaolu lying on the sofa playing with her smartphone.
"Aren't you watching the TV that's on?"
Heading straight to the sofa, Xia Liang sat down next to Lin Xiaolu. Scanning the living room, she pointed to the TV that was still playing an animation: "Then, I'll just change it to something I like to watch, okay?"
"Mhm." Lin Xiaolu continued to stare at her screen, responding without even lifting her head.
This indifferent reply piqued Xia Liang's curiosity because Lin Xiaolu would usually strongly oppose any suggestion of changing the channel.
The two of them often argued over what program to watch on TV. Xia Liang favored idol dramas, variety shows, and news, while Lin Xiaolu only liked animations and scientific programs. To fight for control of the TV, the two had their fair share of tussles.
But as curious as she was, an opportunity was too good to miss. Since Lin Xiaolu didn't mind, Xia Liang wasn't shy about it either, picking up the remote and switching the channel to the local station to watch the evening news.
A few minutes passed with Xia Liang supposedly focused on the news, but subconsciously, she was wondering what Lin Xiaolu was doing. She hadn't planned to ask, but her curiosity grew stronger until she couldn't help it anymore, propping herself up to peek at Lin Xiaolu's phone:
"What are you doing?"
Lin Xiaolu glanced at her and then refocused on her phone screen: "Playing a game."
Her interest piqued, Xia Liang said, "Did you have a sudden epiphany? Why did you start playing games?"
"It's related to Magical Girls." Lin Xiaolu didn't lift her head.
"You don't know but you're still so engrossed?"
"...You're so annoying."
Finally, Lin Xiaolu looked at Xia Liang, tilting her phone screen towards her: "Look, it's this kind of game."
"Let me have a look. This interface, turn-based combat? And these characters... a gacha game?"
Xia Liang looked at Lin Xiaolu as if she was a stranger: "Why did you start playing this sort of thing?"
Lin Xiaolu turned her phone screen back and continued tapping with her thumb: "I'm just killing time, just playing casually."
"Did you get any good stuff?"
"...Just playing casually." Lin Xiaolu's face showed a look of detached acceptance.
Although Lin Xiaolu's answer seemed off-topic, Xia Liang understood what she meant: Lin Xiaolu hadn't managed to get any good items.
Not getting good items in a gacha game was indeed not something to be happy about, so Xia Liang didn't say much more. However, she didn't leave either and continued to squat beside Lin Xiaolu and watch.
As one played and the other watched, time passed until Xia Liang, as if she had realized something, pointed at the screen: "Hey, why are you always looking to borrow a character named 'Dawn Grass'? She doesn't seem that strong."
In the game "Magical Girl Squadron," when new players encounter levels they can't pass, they can request to borrow "Support Characters" from other players to help them clear the levels.
And throughout her gameplay, no matter the difficulty of the current level, Lin Xiaolu always looked to borrow a character codenamed "Dawn Grass," which puzzled Xia Liang.
"How is she not strong? I've been passing levels smoothly, haven't I?" Lin Xiaolu looked over with some dissatisfaction.
"But she's obviously not a damage dealer, clearly a support... Do you really character?"
"Then why don't you borrow different Support Characters from other players?"
"How I play is my own business, right?"
With a lengthened tone to express skepticism, Xia Liang kept watching before she suddenly realized something and pointed at the screen at the Magical Girl named "Dawn Grass": "This pink color scheme, and the codename 'Dawn Grass,' could this character possibly be..."
"You're thinking too much."
Whether or not Xia Liang had struck a nerve, Lin Xiaolu's expression began to show some complexity: "It's just a smartphone game."
"But 'Dawn Grass' is another name for cherry blossoms, right?" Xia Liang continued to pry.
"...I don't know about such things." Lin Xiaolu muttered.
Her response was clear and direct, so Xia Liang found it difficult to press further. Silence fell between them once again until Lin Xiaolu finished the level she was on.
Without a word, she proceeded to the next level, searched the "Request Support" screen, found the character named Dawn Grass, and clicked on her.
[Remaining support times for today: 0]
The game popped up with this message.
This caused Lin Xiaolu's hand to freeze in place.
In silence, she stared at the screen for a moment, then suddenly returned to the game's main menu, and without lingering, she went straight into the gacha option.
Under Xia Liang's gaze, she used all the rewards from clearing the game's levels for gacha pulls, repeating the process over and over, with various characters continuously emerging from the summoning pool.
However, until all rewards were depleted, it seemed that the "Dawn Grass" Lin Xiaolu had been paying attention to was not among the characters pulled.