Chapter 116
Chapter 116 Where’s the Value?
The basketball games over the next two days garnered even more attention than the first day.
It even surpassed the excitement of several previous tournaments.
At the heart of it all was Linjiang University’s spotlight.
On the first day, the duo performance by Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo stirred quite a buzz in Linjiang City’s college circles. Not to mention Ling Mo, but just the impressive show put on by Xia Xinyan was enough to draw many people in to learn more.
Little did they know, once they found out, it was a whole different story.
The daughter of the Xia Family Group! Miss Xia!
Born with a silver spoon in her mouth!
And she’s so beautiful!
And incredible at basketball!
This wave alone attracted quite a few fans for Xia Xinyan, not just male admirers, but also a considerable number of female fans.
Because her performance back then was seriously cool!
And the students at Linjiang University watching the game basked in the glory, puffing up with pride when discussing the matches outside—”Did you see? She’s the young lady! From our school!”
There was a certain pride in being a classmate of Xia Xinyan.
Of course, Xia Xinyan was completely oblivious to all this and couldn’t care less.
Now that she transitioned from a substitute to a starter, the school wouldn’t be able to whip up a uniform for her in such short notice, so she was still wearing her casual clothes for the game, hair tied up just like the first time, making her one of the few girls on the court; it was hard not to notice her outfit.
Yet, this relaxed style only added a touch of rebellious spirit and heroism to her presence on the court, perfectly fitting the phrase “heroic woman.”
This also made the spectators even more eager.
By the second and third days, aside from those genuinely interested in the match, more students showed up just to catch a glimpse of her.
To some extent, Xia Xinyan’s radiance even overshadowed Ling Mo.
She realized this fact.
So on the third day, during the finals, she chose to chill out.
After all, it was only fair to let Ling Mo have his moment, right?
Though his skills were not yet on par with hers, given his current physical prowess and reflexes, beating these students wouldn’t be a challenge at all, plus his teammates weren’t exactly slouches either—any normal performance could easily crush the opposing side.
This was probably turning into a game against kids.
During the finals, they had the largest audience, which left the players on edge and excited, including Ling Mo’s opponents. Those guys had seen Ling Mo’s team play in earlier matches and knew their strength, but even if they were to lose, they wanted to lose with dignity, right?
At least they tried.
Ling Mo was equally excited.
He had already made quite a name for himself during this league.
Yet even so, he was still aiming to win the championship.
He wasn’t planning to take it easy.
—However, the moment the game started, he was dumbfounded.
He had intended to team up again with Xia Xinyan for an effortless crushing, but every time he passed the ball to her, she’d catch it and immediately toss it to someone else, completely uninterested in putting in any effort.
He quickly grasped that she was in chill mode.
Not wanting to play anymore?
As the thought crossed his mind, he stopped passing her the ball.
Thus, the game turned into a solo showcase by Ling Mo.
In the audience, even those who had originally come just to see Xia Xinyan couldn’t help but shout “Amazing!” as they witnessed Ling Mo’s jaw-dropping moves!
And since Xia Xinyan was fully in chill mode, relying solely on Ling Mo meant he couldn’t keep track of everything on the court, making this match even more intense than the previous ones; it offered more excitement and roused the crowd’s emotions to a fever pitch.
After all, watching absolute domination can get boring after a while; it’s the competitive and showy matches that are the most enjoyable.
Because of this, over the course of this game, Ling Mo’s brilliance, previously overshadowed by Xia Xinyan, finally shone through.
As waves of cheers swept through the audience, this thrilling match finally came to an end.
The two teams’ scores predictably widened, but at least this time, the opposing side didn’t embarrass themselves as much as before.
After the match ended, the two teams came together for a little camaraderie; the opposing captain looked at Ling Mo with a genuine smile, saying, “So you’re Ling Mo? You’re really impressive.”
“You all did well too,” Ling Mo smiled back.
“Let’s pretend you were being truthful there,” the captain, with no guilt at all, accepted his words, “Congratulations on winning the championship.”
The award ceremony for the league champions was straightforward; after all, friendship came first, competition second. They valued the camaraderie between the schools, so around three in the afternoon, the event wrapped up, allowing students some free time.
The captain of the basketball team originally wanted to invite Ling Mo and the others out to celebrate, but Ling Mo declined. With this rare free time, he wanted to enjoy some fun times with Xia Xinyan.
The scenery here was pretty nice; who knew when they’d get to come back again?
The captain understood their relationship and just gave Ling Mo an “I get you” look before heading off with his fellow teammates to celebrate.
The chubby guy and Bai Yu had also come by today; they congratulated them when they won, but afterward, they seemed to have disappeared. Their school was even farther from this place than Linjiang University, so they probably wanted to take this chance to enjoy themselves.
Ling Mo didn’t bother about them.
As for what they had talked about during dinner previously, both conveniently decided to drop it.
However, not mentioning something doesn’t erase it from happening.
Walking side by side with Xia Xinyan, hand in hand along the lakeside, feeling the gentle breeze, Ling Mo quietly said, “Xinyan, there’s something I really want to ask.”
Xia Xinyan tilted her head to look at him: “Hmm? Go ahead.”
“Does ‘Realm of Divine Presence’ affect the real world?” Ling Mo asked somewhat casually, gazing ahead.
Xia Xinyan observed his profile for a moment.
To be honest, the serious look on his face was quite charming.
She knew what Ling Mo was getting at.
Since that meal with the chubby guy, she understood he had begun to question the game.
Not the issues behind the game, but the game itself.
Perhaps… he sensed the changes in his own body.
As stated before, the Game Pod gradually transforms players to match the physical attributes in the game; in other words, the points players apply aren’t just numerical but happen in reality.
According to the typical experience from dungeon runs and the slow initial understanding of the game, players normally do not increase their stats quickly. Plus, the Game Pod was also taking its time catching up—this “boiling frogs in warm water” approach makes it hard for anyone to notice any abnormalities.
But in this lifetime, having her guiding Ling Mo made his improvement remarkably fast.
Even if the Game Pod was lagging, the water was getting a bit too hot.
So he noticed.
These basketball games had become a turning point.
But anyway… for Xia Xinyan, it wasn’t a bad thing at all.
“Yes, it does affect the real world.”
Hearing this, Ling Mo was about to say something when Xia Xinyan suddenly turned her head, looking at him with a teasing smile: “Mo Mo, there’s only so much I can tell you right now…”
In other words, if he asked again, she wouldn’t spill any more details.
Ling Mo paused and nodded, “Got it.”
He seemed to… have begun to understand where his value lay.
