The villa was quiet for several days. Aside from A’da occasionally making trips to the service station to check the rankings, nobody went out.

Everyone was cooped up inside. The atmosphere was different from before.

In the past, mealtimes at the dining table had been full of chatter and laughter. Now it was suffocatingly silent.

A’da seemed to be giving Yuri the cold shoulder, and by extension barely spoke to Natasha either. Meanwhile Yuri and Natasha were mired in their own deep anxiety over the man called Jason.

In truth, they still had walkthroughs for three dungeons in hand. Even mired in their current predicament, they weren’t completely without dungeons to clear.

But Yuri, considering that the team had developed fractures and that this might affect performance inside the dungeons — combined with his own unsettled state of mind — decided not to make any plan for entering a dungeon.

The outside world continued to watch them closely.

A score of 999 was simply too conspicuous to ignore. Now, seeing this team go quiet and still, many people were convinced the team was on the verge of disbanding…

Feeling both sorry for them and a little relieved — relieved that they were faltering, which meant this year’s spots might still be up for grabs.

……

One morning, Bai Youwei lay sprawled lazily in bed, not wanting to move.

Shen Mo went downstairs to get her breakfast and told her to keep sleeping.

Without any dungeons to clear, their sleep schedules had gotten somewhat erratic. The curtains were always drawn, and the room stayed dim at all hours.

She squinted at the thin slivers of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains, and couldn’t help feeling that recently she’d been living far too indulgently…

She glanced again at the disheveled sheets on the bed, and the scattered clothes lying around.

Bai Youwei: “……”

She made a decision. Today, no matter what, she was going outside to get some fresh air and soak up some sunshine.

She got up, got dressed, tidied the sheets and bedding, and was preparing to bring them to the maid for washing when she opened the door — and happened to catch A’da opening his door at exactly the same time.

A’da’s room was diagonally across from Shen Mo’s. He looked to be in surprisingly good shape — his braids were undone, his shoulder-length hair falling naturally and loosely, his posture relaxed, a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.

That was unusual.

These past few days, ever since the dungeon information leak, A’da had worn a permanent dark expression and barely acknowledged Yuri or Natasha.

“Good news?” Bai Youwei asked curiously. “You seem to be in a good mood~”

“Ah… is it that obvious?” A’da unconsciously touched his own face and smiled. “Had a good dream — dreamed about some things, and it felt like something that had actually happened.”

Bai Youwei understood immediately. “Oh, like memory fragments?”

“Yeah, that kind of feeling.” A’da nodded.

Perhaps because his mood was genuinely good, he was feeling very talkative right now, and he generously shared the details of his dream with Bai Youwei.

“Even though I was dreaming, I had this constant sense of déjà vu — as though something similar had actually happened before. I dreamed that I was at a sanatorium chatting with my fiancée. I picked an African daisy and left it by her bedside. I even called her by her name —”

A’da recalled the scene from the dream, his lips moving along with the sound: “…Fia, I called her something Fia… Ma-Fia? Or So-Fia?”

He searched hard in his memory, but his expression remained shrouded in confusion. Eventually his face fell. “I can’t remember anymore.”

“At least you know half her name now.” Bai Youwei smiled. “That’s progress~”

“That’s true.” A’da smiled as well.

It was just a dream — a tiny, insignificant thing — and yet it gave an inexplicable sense of comfort. At the very least, the dark mood that had plagued this man for days had been entirely swept away.

Shen Mo came up the stairs carrying breakfast. He saw the two of them talking in the hallway, paused briefly, and greeted A’da: “Coming down for breakfast?”

A’da immediately frowned. “Are Yuri and Natasha downstairs?”

Shen Mo smiled. “Still haven’t let it go?”

“Tch, I’m just making my stance clear.” A’da pursed his lips. “The more I act this way, the more guilty Yuri feels — and knowing his personality, he probably won’t consider kicking me out of the team anymore. That’s strategy.”

Bai Youwei said teasingly: “So by your logic, my husband and I should also stage a fight.”

A’da shrugged. “Go for it~ You’re welcome to try.”

—