The Return of the God Level Assassin

After the emcees, Lena and Lila, delivered their closing remarks, the top four teams were transported back to their respective headquarters. The space remained exactly as they had left it—untouched by the chaos of the quarter-finals. If the battles had caused any damage, the game had already seamlessly repaired it.

"And why shouldn't I be the MVP?" Su Yuqi responded, raising an eyebrow at what Bai Ze just said. She then added with a mocking smirk, "Let me guess—you thought you deserved it instead?"

"That's not what I meant. I'm just saying Xiao Jin deserved it more," Bai Ze replied, correcting her with a hint of defensiveness.

"Heh, if you say so," Su Yuqi replied sarcastically, then turned to Luo Jin. "What about you, Ah Jin? Do you agree with that?"

"I think you absolutely deserve to be the MVP," Luo Jin blurted out, as if his very survival hinged on the answer.

Su Yuqi smiled, clearly satisfied. "See? Even Ah Jin agrees with me."

Bai Ze rolled his eyes. "Please, he's got a crush on you! Of course he's going to agree."

"I think the MVP title this round was mostly determined by how much a player contributed to uncovering the clues in finding each checkpoint," Luo Yan chimed in, offering his perspective. "And in that sense, I'd say Sister Yuqi definitely earned the MVP title."

Hearing Luo Yan's reasoning, Bai Ze found himself at a loss for words. As much as he hated to admit it, Su Yuqi had been the one who contributed the most to finding the clues at each checkpoint. But that didn't mean he had to like it. Left with no choice, he sulked quietly, pouting to himself.

Seeing Bai Ze's reaction, Luo Yan couldn't help but chuckle. Sometimes, his cousin could be ridiculously childish. As he turned, he spotted yet another one pouting.

"What's wrong, Eclipse?"

"It's Uncle Dusk," Eclipse said, sounding almost offended. "The moment we got here, he went straight off to find Uncle Rowan."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Luo Yan asked, genuinely confused.

"Of course there is!" Eclipse exclaimed, his eyes wide with dramatic concern. "What if they're starting to develop a relationship? What'll happen to my grand plan of marrying Aunt Yuki to Uncle Dusk?" He folded his arms, frowning as if the very thought had thrown his entire future into chaos.

Eclipse's outburst caught everyone's attention. Not only did Luo Yan turn to look at him, but the rest of the group also stared.

"Rowan and Dusk... together? Ugh, why would you put that kind of image in my head?" Bai Ze groaned, shuddering as if the mere thought gave him goosebumps. He rubbed his arms dramatically, clearly unsettled by the idea.

Seemingly having found an ally, Eclipse said, "Right? Uncle Dusk definitely looked better with Aunt Yuki."

"But what if Uncle Dusk actually ends up liking Rowan?" Luo Yan asked, partly to humor Eclipse but also honestly curious about what his response would be.

Eclipse visibly struggled with the thought, his expression twisting in reluctance. But finally, through gritted teeth, he muttered, "Then... I'll support them."

"Relax, that's probably not going to happen," Shen Ji Yun chimed in unexpectedly. "Dusk only went to find Rowan to train him, so he won't end up incapacitated again in the next round."

Before leaving, Dusk had informed Shen Ji Yun through their telepathic connection that he intended to train Rowan. Though their relationship was more that of polite acquaintances than close friends—unlike Luo Yan and Eclipse—Dusk still made it a habit to occasionally update Shen Ji Yun on his whereabouts.

Eclipse let out a visible sigh of relief upon hearing that, casting a grateful glance in Shen Ji Yun's direction. It was clear from his reaction just how seriously he had been taking the whole 'Dusk-Rowan' situation.

"I doubt training Rowan will make much of a difference," Su Yuqi remarked. "There's a good chance only the five of us will be allowed to compete in the semi-finals, anyway."

Everyone—except for Eclipse—immediately understood what Su Yuqi was implying. Since the theme of the next round was 'RPG', it was likely that pets wouldn't be allowed to participate. The name alone suggested they'd have to take on specific roles.

If it was anything like the Thousand World Fantasia dungeon, they would probably be thrown into a scenario where their appearances were altered, and they'd have to act according to the roles they were assigned.

Pets were, technically speaking, still NPCs. No matter how human-like they behaved, they were ultimately bound by their programming. Playing a role outside of their predefined behavior was simply impossible, which was why Su Yuqi made that point.

"Why?" Eclipse asked innocently. "Is it because Uncle Rowan keeps getting incapacitated?"

Luo Yan smiled gently at Eclipse and said softly, "No, it's not because of that. The next round just has different rules, and only the main players are probably the only ones allowed to participate."

Eclipse still looked a bit confused, but he nodded anyway, as if trusting Luo Yan's words despite not fully grasping the explanation.

Luo Yan ruffled the teenager's hair and decided to give him plenty of Mana fruits later.

"By the way, what's your opinion on team Fenghuang?" he asked after a while. "Will they give us a hard for tomorrow's match?"

Shen Ji Yun and Bai Ze both glanced at Su Yuqi, as if fully expecting her to answer. Seeing that, Su Yuqi let out an irritable sigh.

"Don't look at me like I'm some expert on team Fenghuang," she said, rolling her eyes. "I only know their captain personally, that's all."

Hearing that, Luo Jin was suddenly reminded of what Su Yuqi had mentioned during his visit to B City for her birthday—that some person, whose name he couldn't quite recall, was the captain of team Fenghuang.

What was that guy's name again?