——"Have you never been to an amusent park before? Your parents never brought you here?"
[No.]
After Su Ming’an spoke, he saw Noel look at him with eyes full of extre sympathy, pity, and regret. Those eyes twinkled, brimming with endless comfort, like looking at a child from an orphanage or a kid just out of the hospital after dostic abuse.
"They were just too busy," Su Ming’an added. "I don’t have any childhood traumas."
"Ah..."
Noel sighed.
"Forget it," he said. "It seems you’re not so interested in these sowhat juvenile amusents. Let take you sowhere that can ignite passion."
As he spoke, he led him in a certain direction.
Passersby, both n and won, looked at them with strange eyes.
After all, to have a privacy shroud in such a place ant either autism or a problematic identity.
But they were just there to relax, and wouldn’t fuss over the identity of these suspicious characters, only subconsciously staying far from them, avoiding them as if warding off evil, fearing encountering so terrorist.
And Noel, just like that, led him against the flow of the crowd to an archery booth.
"Whoosh!" The arrow quivered as Noel took up the bow.
A perfect ten.
"Want to try?" Noel handed the bow to him.
Su Ming’an still didn’t see the fun in practicing archery in a place like this. He treated the whole day as if he were just an accompanying player, and all his efforts were aid at a perfect pass. He took up the bow.
"Whoosh!" The arrow quivered.
The arrow, carrying a powerful force, shot out and even brought up a cool breeze in its wake.
Noel, with spark in his eyes, watched the arrow fly out.
And then, he watched it fall to the ground.
"You’re so bad," Noel remarked with visible contempt in his eyes.
"I don’t have skills like Long Bow," Su Ming’an put down the bow.
"Normal practice should enable one to learn sothing like this."
"..."
"Forget it, forget it..." Noel turned around, picked up a toy bear from under the counter, and placed it in his hands.
"I’ve heard that reaping rewards can also bring joy," Noel said. "Congratulations, you hit nothing... pfft. Cough, anyway, here’s your prize. Happy now?"
Su Ming’an took the toy bear.
"If it were a girl playing with , maybe I would be happier," he said.
Noel suddenly froze.
Then, he lifted his head and looked at him with a completely new expression.
"What did you just say?" Noel gaped. "Wait... are those words you can utter? Girl, you have this concept in your dictionary?"
Su Ming’an pulled the toy bear back into his backpack compartnt.
"What else do you want to play?" he said. "I can accompany you to anything."
Noel’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Let’s go," Su Ming’an said, looking at the Ferris wheel in the distance that was starting to glow against the night sky. "Is that the next one? Let’s do it together."
As he spoke, he walked over there on his own.
Noel stood in place, pondering.
He could clearly feel that the other party... was no longer treating him with an ordinary attitude.
But it is in how one treats the mission, the objective of the mission.
For Number One Player, the act of accompanying soone in play was treated as a mission that must be completed. Every action taken was in pursuit of fulfilling this mission.
"Really... how dull," Noel sighed, kicking a pebble at his feet, "Hardcore players like that are the eternal nesis of players who slouch around."
...
The brilliance of the multicolored lights gradually dimd.
Shrouded in black mist, Su Ming’an and Noel walked among the crowd.
People around them were strung with colorful lights, laughing as they passed by, yet they bore not a single bright color, like two smudges of black in a palette.
Voices of people discussing around them could be heard, mixed with excitent and agitation.
"Looks like the eting is about to start—"
"Hey, there are so many people in the live stream, there’s even a point card system, that’s absurd..."
"I’m really looking forward to it, I wonder who will attend the eting, I’ve been eagerly awaiting them sitting together and chatting, not sure if Su Ming’an will go..."
"He hasn’t appeared among the attendees so far, but I guess if he does go, it’ll be like a preaching scene..."
"Sobody should be able to chat with him, after all, there must be many people with deep convictions from the United Group, at least more than a student..."
The bright sun sunk, and twilight descended.
The whole amusent park dimd, section by section, as if the land was slowly falling asleep. Only the occasional lamps on both sides of the road, like moonlight, continued to emanate a steady and gentle light.
"Rattle-rattle— " The sound of wheels rubbing against the ground was clear, yet the thinning crowd seed not to hear, as Casual Players shed their uniforms, picked up little bottles of alcohol, and left in small groups. Cyclists kicked up dust, the crisp ringing of their bike bells trailing off into the distance.
—Finally, this world fell completely silent.
Su Ming’an lifted his head to look at the Ferris wheel, absolutely dark, like a dead object, "Seems like it’s out of service... Even in a constructed amusent park of the New World ga, there is a Ferris wheel that stops for maintenance?"
Noel smiled and walked forward.
"Allow to introduce you, Number One Player." He turned, his back to the pitch-black Ferris wheel, faced Su Ming’an, and spread his hands.
His eyes, at that mont, were extraordinarily bright, like two lit-up stars.
"About us, about the adventure team, about— the New World Guild."
He gently clapped his hands.
From bottom to top, circle by circle, one lamp after another.
As if the spring breeze were greening leaves and imbuing flowers with color.
The entirely dark Ferris wheel before them was gradually stained with colorful lights, grid by grid.
And then, a faint sound of rotation followed.
The colors from the sky began to turn, condense, blend, and wobble until they beca a blurred swirl.
Gentle, like shattered fragnts of colored glass mixed in water.
Su Ming’an felt as if he were watching a fireworks festival, with the rising brilliance clearly resembling the stunning mont of their explosion.
"New World Guild." Su Ming’an chewed on the term, sensing a aning of "It’s finally here."
"This amusent park, this fabricated scene, is a property of the New World Guild," Noel said with a smile. "Thanks to a friend of mine with a side occupation, his design sense, business acun, and particularly strong premonition of the Main God Space allowed the New World Guild to grow so uniquely that it took control of the entertainnt industry in this area."
"Our philosophy is—let’s all play happily together."
"Even in the twilight before the night, everyone should play gas with a smile."
"And now—everyone has gone, it’s closing ti."
"This Ferris wheel, which has always been out of service, is waiting for the most important mont, waiting for its first turn."
He smiled, bowed, as a Gran gentleman would do:
"Number One Player, you are its first guest."
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