Qingque stared at the cup of Happy Tea that Levi had downed in one gulp, her mouth twitching.
She looked at him, annoyed.
"You really don't hold back, do you?"
"Come on, who are we if not friends? If I were polite, wouldn't that be disrespecting you?"
Levi smacked his lips and grinned.
Qingque stared at him for a long while before finally relaxing a little.
Just like he said, she knew exactly what kind of person he was.
To put it simply, he was someone like her.
A person whose dream was to eat and slack off until death.
Someone who had no desire for immortality, only wanting to live each day peacefully and comfortably.
Qingque couldn't, for the life of her, imagine why such a person would join the Herbal King's Secret Lineage.
Maybe before his illness was cured, it could've made sense. But now that he was fine…
"You should just stay with me and live the lazy life," Qingque said as she straightened the Jade Tiles in front of her.
"Stick with me, and I promise your days will be nothing but smooth and comfortable from now on!"
"Oh, right, and you should find a job like mine!"
'Getting paid to slack off!'
'That's the real joy of slacking off!'
Feeling pleased, Qingque smiled and said, "How about coming to work at our Divination Department? I can put in a good word with the Grand Diviner. As long as you're not totally hopeless, you can get in."
As for how she'd plead, of course, she'd just grab the old woman's leg and say, 'As long as Levi joins, I swear I'll never slack off again in my life.'
Of course, that's just talk. When it's time to slack off, she'll still slack off.
'When have I, Qingque, ever been afraid of anyone?!'
Hearing her words and remembering the way Fu Xuan looked at him every time they met, Levi gave a strained laugh.
"Better not. I'm afraid that after two days, Fu Xuan would sneak into my room at night and strangle me for corrupting you."
Glancing at the tiles in front of him, Levi suddenly remembered something and looked at Qingque with a strange expression.
"Qingque…"
"What?"
Qingque picked up a tile and, seeing the pattern on it, laughed.
"If I remember right, the Divination Department doesn't have a holiday today, does it?"
Levi hinted.
Not only was it not a holiday, it was a big day for an important event.
"Oh, come on, friend, don't you know me by now?" Qingque didn't take him seriously. "Not slacking off during work hours is like cooking without salt or shopping without money, it just doesn't make sense!"
"Besides, what event could possibly be more important than playing Jade Tiles!?"
Qingque exclaimed excitedly again, "Hu! I win!"
Levi looked at the jade tokens reaching out in front of him and was clearly in no mood to envy her.
[Ding! –10,000 Credit Points deducted]
"Huh? Why are you transferring so much money?" Qingque shrank back when she met Levi's gaze.
Then she said loudly, "Hey, I'm telling you, I only sell my skills, not my body!"
After thinking for a moment, she added in a smaller voice, "Of course, if it's, say… a million or two credits, maybe I could make an exception…"
"What are you imagining?" Levi said flatly.
He looked at Qingque's completely flat chest, sighed, and shook his head.
Qingque blinked, looked down at her toes, and when she realized what he meant, she punched him in the arm.
"So what if it's small?! Am I eating your rice?!"
"Seriously though, why'd you suddenly transfer that much money?"
"Buy yourself a good meal, fuel up before the trip."
"Oh, so it's a last supper then!"
Catching her small fist, Levi looked at her and explained, "Remember what I said about the Divination Department having an important event today?"
Qingque nodded.
The Divination Department had plenty of so-called "important events."
Most of them were old traditions, totally pointless.
Whether she showed up or not never made a difference.
"This time's different," Levi said quietly. "It's not some leftover tradition. It's about the Abundant Abomination."
"The Abundant Abomination? The Abundant Abomination!"
"!!!"
Qingque's expression went from confusion to shock, then panic, and finally a forced calm.
Levi finished the last sip of Happy Tea, wiped his mouth, and said, "Shouldn't you be running back to confess to your Grand Diviner right about now?"
"No rush!"
Qingque waved her little hand. "It's summer in the Luofu right now, afternoon work starts at 2:30. I just checked the time, it's only 2:00!"
Thirty minutes.
Even if she walked slowly, she'd get there before work started.
"Pardon me asking, but when you say just now, how long ago was that?"
"Just now…"
Then she saw Levi holding his phone in front of her, showing the screen.
[Afternoon. 2:30 PM.]
Not a minute more, not a minute less, exactly work time.
Exactly work time…
Exactly work…
Exactly…
"!!!"
Qingque shot up and bolted toward her destination.
As she ran, she muttered, "Crap crap crap… I'm late!"
Seeing how slowly she was moving, Levi couldn't help but facepalm.
Although Qingque was a Pathstrider, her lack of exercise, and her desk job, meant her physical fitness was worse than that of a regularly trained ordinary person.
After running just a few steps, she stopped, panting.
Looking at the intersection ahead and feeling her body growing heavier, Qingque's face turned ashen.
"It's over. I'm completely done for…"
She lifted her head toward the sky, as if seeing her carefree slacker days waving goodbye to her.
Suddenly, an arm reached from behind and lifted her up.
When Qingque came to, the scenery around her was flying by rapidly, and Levi's profile filled her vision.
Clearly, he was carrying her at full speed toward the clearance site.
Being carried by a close friend, Qingque didn't feel shy.
She patted her cheek and asked in a serious tone, "Can you make it there in two minutes?"
'Two minutes? What do you think I am, the Monkey King?!'
Levi said through clenched teeth, "…I'll try."
Ignoring the amused looks from bystanders, Levi silently sped up.
As the crowd thinned out, they quickly reached the location where the Abundant Abomination had appeared.
Hearing the sounds in the distance, Qingque patted his arm.
"Put me down, I'll run the rest of the way myself."
If her coworkers saw her being carried like this, she'd never live it down.
Besides, since it had only been a few minutes, she could still pretend she was just late, not that she had forgotten something this important.
She patted her flushed cheeks, tidied her messy hair, and looked straight ahead, taking a deep breath.
"Action!"
Levi rolled his eyes, and Qingque immediately took off running, shouting loudly, "Late! I'm late, Lady Fu Xuan!"
Hearing the noise, Fu Xuan turned to look in her direction.
Her voice was so loud that everyone on-site heard her clearly... including the Abundant Abomination.
Watching Qingque's dramatic running form, Levi had a bad feeling.
Smack!
"Ow!"
With a yelp, Qingque tripped over her own feet and fell flat in the middle of the battlefield.
The Jade Tiles she always carried for quick games scattered everywhere.
The entire area went silent. Even the Abomination tilted its head at the sight of her lying on the ground.
Stiffly, Qingque lifted her head to meet its gaze.
Fu Xuan sighed. "Sigh..."
"Lady Fu Xuan…"
Qingque turned to her, looking awkward and embarrassed.
'Roar!"
Just as Fu Xuan was about to execute the so-called "Monkey God," an accident occurred.
Before the formation could even activate, the "Monkey God" swung its massive fist down at Qingque.
"Qingque!" Fu Xuan's eyes widened.
According to the divination, no one was supposed to be injured on this mission, so why was this happening?
Not far behind Qingque, Levi's eyes narrowed.
Hearing the roar, Qingque looked up, and the enormous fist filled her vision.
'Huh? Am I about to die?'
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave blasted past them. Qingque instinctively shut her eyes, and when she opened them again, Levi was standing in front of her.
The two fists had collided, and Levi hadn't been pushed back.
"Big monkey! What the hell do you eat to get this strong?!"
Roar!
Seeing that a small creature so much weaker-looking than itself could actually meet its punch head-on, the "Monkey God" was provoked.
After pounding its chest a few times, it leapt into the air and came crashing down on Levi.
"Qingque!"
"Huh? Oh!"
Rolling across the ground a few times, Qingque scrambled to Fu Xuan's side. Meeting Fu Xuan's gaze, she gave a sheepish smile.
"Um… Lady Fu Xuan…"
"Hmph, We'll deal with you later!"
Fu Xuan snorted coldly, turning back toward Levi with a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
'Phew. Guess I'm safe for now.'
Feeling Fu Xuan's attention move away from her, Qingque breathed a sigh of relief.
She got up, brushed the dirt off her clothes, and looked toward Levi in the middle of the battlefield.
Right now, Levi was staring up at the "Monkey God" diving down at him.
He had a gut feeling, he could send this thing flying with one punch.
"Let's test that."
As the shadow loomed closer, Levi clenched his right fist.
The moment the monster's fist was about to strike, the muscles on Levi's arm bulged.
Bang!
The ground trembled beneath them. An even stronger gust swept past, forcing Fu Xuan to squint.
When the dust finally settled, Levi was still standing where he was.
At his feet lay the fallen Abomination, its arms twisted grotesquely, clearly broken from the impact.
It had gone blow-for-blow with Levi, and lost.
"Buddy… since when did you get that strong?"
Qingque's mouth hung open.
It was already unbelievable that he could block the blow and save her.
This was like, if your usually frail friend suddenly whipped out a medal and said he was the world boxing champion.
And when you didn't believe him, he entered a tournament, KO'd the opponent in the finals with one punch, and came back with another medal.
Qingque had expected Levi might somehow take down the Abomination, but doing it head-on like that? Never in a million years.
Not just her, Levi himself was just as shocked.
He'd thought that the "Super Strength" he bought would only make him a bit stronger than a normal person.
He hadn't expected this.
That huge Abomination, twice his size, famed for its raw power, had its arms shattered by his counterpunch and died instantly.
And his arms? Didn't even hurt.
At most, he just felt a little drained.
Levi looked down at his hands. "I wonder if the 'Super Strength' sold in the chat group always works like this…"
Then, a small hand patted his shoulder.
"Muttering to yourself again? You still haven't answered me, when did you get this strong?"
Qingque rested both hands on his shoulders and stared at him seriously.
"Be honest. To save me, did you secretly take drugs?"