June 25th

"Shit!" Jade's voice suddenly sounded at the back of Annie's mind, panicked.

Annie felt the energy draw back and falter as Jade forcefully pulled it back.

She felt Jade push the clone of Jinx into the direct centre of the spiritual space.

Jinx's main body floated in front of Annie, "Huh? What happened?"

"Wait, sorry, let's try again," Annie quickly covered up.

She held out her ring finger again. This time Jade didn't stop it.

The energy felt weaker and less cold this time. There was less dark mist and the skill channelled faster.

A dark and faint butterfly flickered in front of her.

It was an exact replica of the Jinx that sat in her mind, which she noticed that she could still summon.

She gasped, "Two natal butterflies?"

Jinx nodded his antennas, "You can think it like that."

"The skill one seems stronger too?" Annie asked.

"Yup, it's an upgrade!" Jinx said.

If Annie was in the game right now, she would see that she has gained a second talent.

[Natal Clone (S) Lv1]: Create a clone of your Natal Butterfly with increased power by 20%. Duration: Until the death of the clone. Cooldown: 4 weeks.

Annie smiled. This talent is super worth it. It instantly raises her up to the ceiling of the current Awaken playerbase.

…

On the other side, in Aokulan.

Yel and his party stood in the empty classroom still.

"It's been hours bro," Tairitsu said worriedly. "We still haven't heard from Jin yet."

"At this point, there is no point!" Yel snapped. His sentence made no sense, showcasing that he's super worried too.

"Everyone just go home," Lee said. "There's no way she wouldn't log on tomorrow, just wait until then."

"What if An does something to her…" Jill said.

"She wouldn't," Yel said. "After long years of friendship, An wouldn't be cruel enough to kill Jin."

Plus, they are sisters. Yel smiled at the back of his mind.

Yel waved his hand and headed out the door, "Everyone good night, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"I asked the teacher of this room already, he allows us to make this our permanent base," he added. "Same time tomorrow!"

Yel headed out, but he didn't go home.

He leaped onto the room of the maths block building.

Sitting down, he stared at the sea, which had been dyed scarlet by the setting sun.

Maths block was his favourite building in the school.

Here, one can see the sea extremely well. Positioned on a slight hill, Yel was on the same level as the island that sat as a backdrop to the sun.

He looked at the distance.

So much had happened in one day. Although none surprised him, there were still a lot of events.

He sat on the roof for a long time, trying to straighten his mind and figure out future plans.

Jian and Dao. Yel's first targets would be to get a healer and an utility support to fill up for the 2 open slots in his party.

He knew that there was a 99.99% chance of them being Acquaintances too, so he could craft the perfect full Acquaintance party.

Schrödinger will be great…

Second, Jinx and Suresa. Yel knew about this too.

This wouldn't be the last, but it was the first obstacle.

Then he felt another figure leaped onto the roof and sat down beside him.

"What's so fascinating about the sunset?" Jill asked with a tinge of smile.

"Heh," Yel gave a slight sigh. "It's a good backdrop for a protagonist to ponder deeply isn't it."

Jill slapped him on the back. "Wake up bro," she rolled her eyes.

Yel gave a slight shake of his head. "I have too many secrets, and you wouldn't want to hear them all."

Yel turned to face Jill. He squeezed out a smile.

"Just enjoy the current, and think about the future later," Jill said to Yel, worried.

"I'm trying to do that," Yel smiled slightly. "That's why I'm here."

Jill rested her head on Yel's shoulder.

Yel went stiff. She has never done this before.

"Isn't the sunset a romantic backdrop as well," Jill smiled.

It's too fast… Yel panicked. This wasn't part of his plan.

A sudden confession. So sudden that web novels won't even have such a bizarre plot.

He looked at his watch — June, the 25th.