Chapter 109: Female Little Devil

After getting the reward, you immediately went home to study; your arm felt faintly hot, and your nightmares usually stay on your arm, you guessed they must have changed somehow.

Returning home, you happily discovered that the nightmares on your body had become five! However, the extra one was a black, shapeless thing.

This black blob not only lacked the ability to move freely like other nightmares, but also couldn't obey your commands; after studying it for a while and still not knowing what it was, you simply gave up researching it.

When your parents learned you got first place in the final exam, they were very happy; your mother gave you pocket money and spiritual praise, but your robot father only said, "My son Zhang Jie has the demeanor of an Ultimate Player!" which left you speechless.

Age 12: You enjoyed a pleasant winter break; Liu Delie often came to play with you, and to your surprise, Yu Xiaomo also came to find you, which you didn't understand.

However, Yu Xiaomo did a good job as your lackey, running errands and fetching things; she never missed any task a lackey should do, but after each time she helped you, she never forgot to talk back, saying she would eventually shake off her lackey status.

You didn't mind and told her you don't accept every bet, and told her not to dream of turning the tables and becoming the master.

But for some reason, you always felt that Yu Xiaomo seemed to have a sense of secret delight.

Thus, Yu Xiaomo once again joined your circle with a perfectly reasonable excuse; this time she didn't make random little moves, though she occasionally talked back, but her impression improved considerably compared to before, at least from your perspective.

Age 13: This year was much calmer; since the Dream Realm merged with reality, more and more nightmares began appearing in the real world, but each time they were swiftly eliminated by the Management Bureau's patrollers, causing no major damage.

However, for you, the biggest thing was that you finally shed your elementary school identity and became a student in the Junior High Dream Realm Class.

As students grew older, the time they could spend in dreams increased; the junior high curriculum shifted more toward Dream Realm instruction, and at fifteen they would get their first chance to become players, so the curriculum began approaching game-world strategy.

However, this content is exclusive to the Dream Realm Class, so Yu Xiaomo doesn't receive such treatment, after all she's a regular class student.

Becoming a player, you tackle scored games, obtain items from the game world, raise your score—this is the player's path of advancement.

Correspondingly, the game's mechanism became unusual: game companies invite Dream Builders to create games, and if a game is approved by Dream Online, it receives a score and becomes a game players can tackle.

However, once a game has a score, the developer cannot modify it; only by killing the game's "administrator" and obtaining their authority can the game be considered fully cleared.

The game world's ratings range from F to SSS to X, with X being the highest difficulty today; no player has ever cleared an X-rated game, and clearing it is a crucial step toward becoming an Ultimate Player, so countless players study it day and night but have no clue.

Age 14: Your body entered a rapid growth phase, your height kept increasing, making you tall for your age, but your strength and physique still lagged far behind your peers.

Liu Delie, meanwhile, kept getting bigger and stronger—after all, a brute needs a good physique—but the one who changed the least was still Yu Xiaomo.

Now she is finally shorter than you, or rather, she basically hasn't grown at all.

Perhaps all her growth hormone was used up in childhood; now Yu Xiaomo is just barely 1.5 meters tall, much shorter than her peers, but this doesn't stop her from mocking you like a female little devil.

That's right; after you once lost a bet to her by mistake, Yu Xiaomo started mocking you again with sarcasm.

At first you were very angry, but after seeing the term "female little devil" online, your impression of Yu Xiaomo completely changed.

You realized this title matched Yu Xiaomo almost exactly: her petite frame, arrogant expression, and irritating words all fit perfectly.

After that, you ignored Yu Xiaomo's provocations and mockery; you no longer got angry at her few irritating remarks, and to you she was just a nonstop hopping little snort.

Once your indifference to Yu Xiaomo's mockery set in, she at first thought she hadn't hit the mark, then unleashed a barrage of cheeky attacks on Zhang Jie, only to realize it didn't work on you.

The tactic she'd used for over three years suddenly stopped working on you; Yu Xiaomo got frustrated, even saying she was crying while talking, and you saw her looking bewildered.

"Hey bro, how can you mock me and still end up mocking yourself into tears? Are you obsessed with mocking me..."

You said that, but she just tossed out "You don't get it!" and vanished, not coming back for several days.

After the little buzzing thing by your ear disappeared for several days, you weren't used to it; recalling earlier, Yu Xiaomo this little thing had been able to appear openly by your side, so whether it was school or winter break, you basically saw her every day, even though she was somewhat irritating.

But after just five days, Yu Xiaomo reappeared in your view; she hadn't reformed, she just spoke even more irritatingly, and you realized this guy wasn't reflecting—they were studying the art of language.

To this, you were utterly speechless; besides this, there was another matter of utmost importance.

You're finally about to reach the age to awaken as a player!