Jiang Jian Yue suddenly felt a rush of hurried footsteps behind her, accompanied by an unmistakable aura of low pressure.
She and Yuki Asahi stopped simultaneously and turned around.
Cuiyue was walking toward them with large strides. She hadn’t changed out of her black Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu combat uniform yet, which tightly outlined her extremely impressive curves.
Yuki Asahi blinked in surprise. “Why are you here?”
“Why am I here?”
Cuiyue stopped in front of them and crossed her arms — a gesture that made her ‘advantages’ even more obvious.
She stared coldly at Yuki Asahi, the corners of her mouth curling into a mocking arc. “I’m here to ask the Captain what the ‘training’ content is for this afternoon.”
“Or perhaps the Captain’s plan was just to walk with the organizer and gather intelligence?”
Yuki Asahi was suddenly a bit embarrassed. “Uh… because we won so easily today, I thought everyone might need some rest…”
“You disappeared without even saying a word?” Cuiyue was aggressive. “That idiot Hayami is still waiting for you in the breakroom.”
Yuki Asahi was in the wrong, so he could only lower his gaze and apologize. “Sorry, I didn’t think it through…”
Jiang Jian Yue watched from the sidelines with a cold eye.
Looking at this woman who wore her own face but lectured people with such a tone, that feeling of annoyance bubbled up in her heart again.
However, she did feel that what Cuiyue said made quite a bit of sense.
It matched what she had been thinking in the VIP box — Yuki Asahi was somewhat love-brained.
‘No wonder he ran to the box as soon as the match ended. He didn’t even arrange anything for his teammates.’
“Hey.”
Jiang Jian Yue suddenly spoke, interrupting Cuiyue’s snide remarks toward Yuki Asahi.
Cuiyue turned her head, the hostility in her gaze dissipating slightly. “Young Miss Jiang, do you have any instructions?”
Although she felt a bit jealous of this Young Miss, Cuiyue was living a pretty good life herself now. She wouldn’t go as far as to hate Jiang Jian Yue just because she disliked Yuki Asahi.
Being someone who was content with a small amount of wealth and security, there was really no need for her to clash with Jiang Jian Yue, even if she was likely her clone.
After all, Cuiyue had seen Jiang Jian Yue transform into lightning and land in the middle of the stage during the Opening Ceremony. Therefore, it definitely wasn’t just a coincidence that they looked alike.
“…Do you want to… join DRG?”
As soon as these words came out, the most surprised person wasn’t Cuiyue, but Yuki Asahi.
He had thought Jiang Jian Yue hated this person who looked so much like her.
In reality, Jiang Jian Yue had only been uneasy and frustrated at the start due to the potential conspiracy behind Cuiyue.
However, the Dark Crow Unit had followed and monitored Cuiyue for so long that they were practically reporting the color of her underwear every day; it seemed the people responsible for the monitoring truly had nothing left to write.
Additionally, Jiang Jian Yue had later deduced from Meiguan’s reaction that ‘Yu Shirakawa touching reality had accidentally caused Cuiyue’s appearance.’
This Cuiyue was simply an accident. There was no conspiracy behind her… and if there were, it could only have been set up by Meiguan.
Therefore, Cuiyue’s danger level in her heart was even lower than that of the Light Extinguishers. Her ‘dislike’ for Cuiyue was even more of a groundless rumor.
“Join…” Cuiyue lowered her arms and fell into deep thought.
‘Is she… testing me?’
During their first meeting, Jiang Jian Yue had been aggressive, and after hearing the name “Cuiyue,” she had been incredibly shocked.
Cuiyue had thought the other party would start targeting her quickly, but she didn’t expect that even after she had established a foothold in this world, there were no major moves.
During that time, the other party even sat by and watched as she joined Special Response HQ Unit 1.
Cuiyue could only interpret this as the other party having no ill will. But joining DRG?
Hmm… although it was very tempting, still…
“I’ll consider it.” Cuiyue pursed her lips. “I will give you an answer once the GSAC is over.”
“Fine.”
“Then… I won’t disturb you two further.” With Jiang Jian Yue’s interruption, the resentment in Cuiyue’s heart had mostly faded.
‘If I join DRG in the future, won’t Yuki Asahi become the boss?’
‘Better to stay on good terms, then.’
Cuiyue was someone who could bend and stretch according to the situation; she was truly a person of character.
…
As time passed, the group stage finally came to a close.
After several days of intense competition, the list for the main tournament’s top thirty-two was officially released.
There weren’t many surprises.
Special Response HQ Unit 1, with an undefeated record, took first place in Group A without any suspense. They were hailed as the “strongest physical team” of this tournament.
In all the matches of the group stage, they hadn’t been forced to reveal a single one of their abilities.
It was likely because the grouping was quite lucky, pitting them against weaker teams.
In any case, because of their ridiculous performance and the fact that they were one of the few local Japanese teams, Special Response HQ Unit 1 was extremely popular on the Japanese internet.
The ART Team also advanced as the first-place seed from Group C with a perfect record. Shadow Girl’s mystery and power made this team one of the favorites to win the championship.
Because Tokyo University netizens would “crawl out” from the Great Wall, their popularity in the Japanese-speaking community was second only to Special Response HQ Unit 1.
As the only “one of their own” in the top thirty-two, the Tokyo University netizens were very supportive.
The strength of the Knights of the Round Table was beyond doubt, and they advanced as the first-place seed from Group E. However, their popularity in the English-speaking community wasn’t number one.
The most popular team in the English-speaking community was the first-place seed from Group B, the North American coalition “Tool,” composed of members from the United States and Canada. Their team name came from an underground alternative metal band.
Because she was also a metal fan, Jiang Jian Yue began to follow this team later on. This team possessed the same overwhelming strength over their group as the others, and the captain’s humor and wit during interviews garnered significant attention.
Next was Pepe’s Kitchen, the second-place seed from Group G — yes, that troll team Yuki Asahi had happened to be watching before actually advanced.
Fortunately, the furries had drowned in the qualifiers.
But something even worse than furries had advanced — Futanari, the second-place seed from Group F, with members from Commonwealth countries.
Jiang Jian Yue nearly fainted when she saw the team name… ‘Can a name like that… even be broadcast on the TV station?’
There were two other advancing teams that were of great interest to the English-speaking audience.
One was “Star of David” and the other was “Azadi.”
Judging by their names alone, there was a strong scent of gunpowder.
However, in this anime world, because North America had shifted toward cooperation with the Kingdom of Zhong, the warmongers had been purged.
A more moderate government had taken power and was currently negotiating the formation of a joint regime for the two peoples.
English-speaking netizens joked that they had received notice that the Sixth 00 War had been relocated to Japan.
However, Jiang Jian Yue specifically had people inquire about the status of the two teams. Both teams seemed relatively peaceful, at least for now.
They had even met and hadn’t started fighting yet, actually behaving quite friendly toward one another.
Jiang Jian Yue could only sigh; compared to the real world, this was a relatively happy ending.
Even so, Jiang Jian Yue ordered that they should try their best to keep these two teams from meeting. If one side lost and it affected world peace, the sin would be too great.
In summary, the Knights of the Round Table — a team with a heavy British flavor and no distinctive features — couldn’t even make it into the top five in terms of attention.
As for the “Supernatural Club” team, which was not highly regarded and composed of high school students… after a series of ups and downs in their battles, they had miraculously stumbled into the main tournament as the second-place seed in their group.
“Whew… it’s finally over.”
Jiang Jian Yue looked at the final list in her hand and let out a long breath. The end of the group stage meant that the real competition was just beginning.
The round of thirty-two would no longer be child’s play.
The main tournament used a knockout format of Group First Place vs. Group Second Place. Originally, Jiang Jian Yue had intended to use a Swiss-style bracket to decide the top eight first.
But that would have dragged on too long, and there were other competitions following this one.
‘It’s a good thing I didn’t use the Swiss bracket, or those two teams would have definitely collided.’
“Young Miss, the drawing ceremony for the top thirty-two is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Do you want to participate?” Morita Aoya asked as he stood before the office desk.
“No.”
Jiang Jian Yue glanced at the time. There were only a few minutes left before she could get off work. “Is there… anything else?”
“Regarding ‘Pluto’ whom you mentioned, there is no news yet.” Morita Aoya paused and then continued, “Then there’s nothing else. I…”
Jiang Jian Yue, who had been eager to jump up from her boss chair, slumped back into it listlessly when she saw that Morita Aoya was still speaking.
“I’d like to request a few days of leave.”
“Huh?” Jiang Jian Yue was quite surprised.
After all, Morita Aoya had never really had a life of his own. It was truly surprising for him to ask for leave.
“I… cough.”
Morita Aoya’s face turned slightly red. “The Family Head said that I’m not getting any younger and it’s time to start a family. He’s introduced me to a few girls.”
‘Father, do you really love playing matchmaker that much?’
But it was about time Morita Aoya had his own family. She couldn’t let him be bolted down to the position of Chief Supervisor his entire life. Like Mr. Shima, guarding the Jiang Family Old Residence alone for a lifetime…
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t have the heart for that.
Now that DRG Japan had formed its ‘Cabinet,’ Morita Aoya’s absence wouldn’t have such a big impact.
“Fine.” Jiang Jian Yue nodded in agreement, then asked, “Is that… everything now?”
“That is all.”
Zap!
A flash of electricity flickered before Morita Aoya’s eyes. He instinctively covered his eyes, and when his vision returned, he found only the boss chair still spinning.
‘The Young Miss… really doesn’t want to work for even a second… Well, she is still a child, after all.’
Morita Aoya shook his head with a chuckle. Then, thinking about his blind dates, he felt a bit of distress again. His experience in romance was zero; dealing with girls was truly quite…
…..
The reason Jiang Jian Yue didn’t even take a car this time and used her ability to rush back to the shared apartment was simple.
The qualifiers had ended, and Episode 15 hadn’t updated. Now that the group stage was over, it couldn’t possibly not update, right!?
After entering, Jiang Jian Yue hurriedly kicked off her shoes and tripped, but then scrambled back up with great energy. She grabbed snacks and drinks as she passed the kitchen.
She crashed into her computer chair, the chair letting out a dry, rattling sound.
With excitement, she shook the sleeping screen. As she looked at the unresponsive black monitor, it reflected her own flushed face.
“Is this necessary? So much in a rush? You seem more eager than a groom entering the bridal chamber,” Meiguan teased.
“What do you know? What if there’s information on Pluto? I’m racing against time here.”
“You… you just want to watch the anime, don’t you?”