People in Tokyo, the world is clear

These words made Qingshan Xiazhi straighten up as he was about to bend down.

wink.

"for example?"

"There are other more interesting knowledge, happiness, friendship, good memories, and..."

Lin Sen snapped his fingers.

“A journey towards a dream.”

I couldn't help but vaguely recall my experiences in my previous life, and suddenly felt a little emotional.

"You know, Qingshan, I was once ridiculed for not pursuing a proper career. My family and friends didn't think that what I considered a career was serious at first. They questioned me, felt heartbroken, and played the role of trying to persuade me to return to the right path when I was at my lowest point."

"But I'm the only one who knows what I want. So, I persevered to the end. Even if the ending wasn't so satisfying, it allowed me to witness other people's legends on the stage that should have belonged to me."

"But if someone asked me to go back in time, would I still take that path? My answer would definitely be yes. Because I had already bought a one-way ticket for life, and I set out without hesitation towards the direction I had set in my heart."

"Perhaps, throughout my life, I will only be the runner-up blessing others on the highest stage. But I am the champion of my own life."

Chapter 16 Have you ever seen Tokyo at four in the morning?

It was already after midnight when we finished our work and chatted.

Perhaps because she thought Lin Sen was a talented person and spoke well, Qingshan Xiazhi, a half-orc girl who once called herself a beast worker, chose to walk with him for a while.

"So, what is that career that Kobayashi-san considers his dream?"

He asked this question with eyes full of curiosity.

"I always feel a little embarrassed to say it, so forget it."

In fact, it’s not so hard to say it. It’s mainly because the profession Lin Sen engaged in in his previous life was really sensational in this era without the World Wide Web.

So I had no choice but to avoid talking about it.

But one advantage of being a riddle teller is that the audience will fill in the ambiguous content on their own.

I don’t know how, but the girl next to me started to relate to me.

She straightened her back seriously, and spoke out words of empathy from the bottom of her heart:

"I understand. Actually, I'm... pretty much the same. When I talk about my ideals and stuff like that with others, I get ridicule and skepticism. Over time, I just feel like there's nothing much to talk about anymore."

Judging from her tone, this girl seems to be a dream chaser as well.

But the relationship between the two was obviously not close enough for them to reveal their secrets to each other, so Lin Sen was too lazy to inquire about it in detail.

We chatted for a while and finally found a crossroads to end today's interpersonal activities.

"See you tomorrow, Kobayashi-san!"

"I have to take tomorrow off."

"Ah, see you the day after tomorrow then! Bye anyway!"

After saying goodbye to each other, they found a small shop with the lights still on and squinted their eyes to see the time on the clock.

It was around three in the morning, almost four.

This is not a bustling area like Shibuya or Shinjuku, so it is a little quieter at this time.

A few middle-aged men in suits, who were so weak in legs that they had to support each other as they walked, appeared on the roadside, arm in arm. Judging from the content of their conversation, they were the Bubble Series who had just finished a great journey.

Unable to suppress a yawn, I strolled along the sidewalk, looking up at the night sky, where the stars were obscured by the light pollution on the ground, for some entertainment, and prepared to go home and sleep.

But suddenly, a figure under the street light forced him to take a detour.

With long blond hair and glasses, he leaned against a lamppost.

He wore a long-sleeved sports jacket, half-dressed and half-closing, with the collar partly turned outward and partly turned inward.

He was wearing a pair of pure cotton pants, I don't know if they were pajamas, one of his legs was arched and kept shaking.

He was holding a copper-covered magazine in his hand, reading it intently in the dim light above his head.

What a sloppy girl.

After a closer look, I recognized the name of the book in my hand.

A national comics magazine.

When I got to this point in my research, I was suddenly stunned.

I realized this person looked familiar. After searching through my memory, I finally recognized his identity.

It’s the decadent homebody who lives next door.

There was no response when I knocked on the door, but today he came out so late.

You are good at reading comics but not good at opening the door, right?

He stopped as he passed by. She seemed to notice something. When she looked up, their eyes met.

The pupils are blue. In this era when cosmetic contact lenses are not even known to exist, it can be assumed that they are natural.

It seemed like he recognized himself too.

Suddenly, a guilty look appeared on his face, and he subconsciously turned his gaze away indifferently. Then, stupidly, he suddenly realized that his reaction was wrong, and hurriedly lowered his head and pretended to read the comic again.

His pupils dilated and stared for a while before they refocused. Then he moved cautiously upwards and took another peek.

Lin Sen, who was standing there and not in a hurry to leave, caught him red-handed.

!

He quickly and awkwardly returned his gaze to the page in front of him, a noticeable blush visibly spreading across his cheeks.

It seems that the facial skin is relatively thin and the facial capillaries are relatively abundant.

Of course, it is also possible that the autonomic nervous function becomes disordered due to external factors, resulting in dysfunction of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves that control the blood vessels, abnormal vasodilation and relaxation, and thus enlargement of the facial blood vessels.

In simple terms, it's because I stayed up too late, and it's especially obvious on my face when I get excited.

From this point of view, combined with the humble expression just now, he was most likely awake when someone knocked on the door that day.

So it turned out that our relationship wasn't close enough and our favorability wasn't high enough, so we couldn't get this Earth OL hidden NPC to open the door for us.

Of course, I won’t hold a grudge because I was rejected. I just want to find out the whole story and give myself an explanation.

It's rude to stare at me anymore.

Lin Sen tried to put on a calm yet friendly expression.

"morning."

"..."

Of course it didn't matter if there was no answer, so I turned around and left.

I could clearly feel a sound like a long sigh behind me.

Maybe he's a little socially anxious?

do not care.

Another little episode on the way home happened at the door of an arcade closer to the apartment.

It seemed like there was an awards ceremony.

From the poster posted at the door, I learned that it was a small competition where only the champion and runner-up would receive prize money.

After a middle-aged man with dyed hair received the runner-up prize, the sparse crowd of onlookers suddenly burst into loud cheers.

"A new king is born! As expected, royal power is not eternal!"

"It was really exciting! The battle lasted for three or four hours."

"It turns out that young people are more energetic and have better skills."

"Ao Laotou's tactics were a great success!"

The champion's attire was strange. His short frame was completely enveloped by an oversized coat, and his face was mostly obscured by a large hood and mask. Judging from the exposed eyes, he looked young.

He is very popular, but Lin Sen's attention is not on this person.

The focus instead fell on the entrance staircase leading to the main hall on the second floor.

A young man took off his glasses and sat on the stairs, covering his face.

Ladder weeps.

Judging from his body shape and attire, he is between middle school and high school students.

I'm so sad, I must be the loser of the competition. If I were third, it would be even worse.

Watching the winners accept prize money and cheers is always a bit painful for competitive young people.

Two words: numb!

Lin Sen knew this feeling all too well. After all, he had experienced it countless times in his past lives.

I couldn't help but walk over and hold his shoulders.

"Third place?"

"Ah."

There was a sticky, wet sound in the voice.

With a choked voice.

I guess I'm not willing to accept it.

"Third place should also get a prize."

Lin Sen handed over a bag of snacks he had taken from the vending machine next to him, waited quietly for the other party to take it, and then walked away in the wooden gaze.

Not a cloud left.

Then, I don’t know how long.

The boy's daze was finally awakened by another call.

"Which place is it?"

The girl with the ponytail squatted down.

"Third."

"It's pretty good too."

Qingshan Xiazhi put a bottle of drink on the face of the strange boy, still with that warm smile.

"Keep going. I believe you'll become a champion one day."

Small acts of kindness are always everywhere.

“There are always kind people in the world.”

Standing at the door of his house, Lin Sen finally uttered this sigh.

Probably because there was a small hand-folded paper box on the carpet in front of the door.

Pick it up carefully.

I picked up the note at the top and, leaning against the faint white moonlight, I could clearly see the cute, childish handwriting.

[Senior, you didn't see me this morning again...please be more careful next time!]

[Thirds of a time! Otherwise I'd be a little angry too!]

Next to the three exclamation marks is the angry face of a cat with bared teeth and claws.

Then the next sentence returns to the topic:

[As for the apples...I accidentally bought too many after get off work and can't finish them all.]

[Can you help me solve this problem?]

Open the paper box and see a red apple.

There are dried water wrinkles on the bottom of the box, which shows that it has been washed and can be chewed directly.

Leaning against the railing, he took a bite in the moonlight.