The Reincarnated OP Protagonist Is Now A 3rd Grade Student (Patreon)

Chapter 22: Those Years of Running

The effect of 'Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode' allowed him to pay his life points down to 100. The ATK increase of 'Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode' was paid in life points, and in this instant, its ATK rose to 49,900 points. With Lu Li's remaining 40,000 life points, even with 'Giant Divine Soldier' acting as a barrier, she clearly couldn't withstand the divine attack.

"Have I... lost?"

Lu Li spoke with a somewhat dazed expression. The defeat of having her 100,000 life points emptied all at once... surprisingly didn't leave her feeling defeated at all.

She didn't feel any dissatisfaction with her loss, but this sense of dejection, emptiness, this...

"Should we continue?"

Chen An combined the cards in the graveyard with those on the field, then looked at Lu Li and asked softly.

"Can we... continue?"

Lu Li raised her head in astonishment, looking at Chen An in disbelief.

"Well, if you're willing, we can continue."

Chen An lifted his head, gazed at the sunset, and nodded with a sense of deep emotion: "Although it's getting late now, if we don't head back soon, we might get lectured with our ears pulled. However... I had a great time, and I wouldn't mind continuing to have a great time. So not only tomorrow, but if every day in the future can be as enjoyable as this, who wouldn't want that?"

Pressing her hand against her chest, in a rather magical way, all the desolation and emptiness that had filled her chest earlier vanished. In their place was a sense of anticipation, even if it was for tomorrow, or the day after, or the future beyond that, this kind of continuous game would always be filled with anticipation.

So, the girl carefully put away her deck, looked at Chen An with a satisfied expression, and said: "Let's play again tomorrow. I'm already quite content now."

"Sure, tomorrow I'll bring an even more 'interesting' deck."

Chen An scratched his head and said, "By the way, where do you live? Tomorrow, I'll be downstairs at your place, calling you to go to school together."

"Are you going to carry my schoolbag for me?"

Lu Li exclaimed in shock, "But I lost...!"

"Don't even dream of it. You carry your own school bag!"

Chen An scratched his cheek and said, "Going to school together is still okay... Well, never mind, do you agree?"

"I really want to agree."

Lu Li shook her head regretfully, "But I don't even know how to describe the way to my house to you. How about this? After school tomorrow, I'll take you there."

Seeing Lu Li leaning closer with a remote control in her hand, Chen An took the remote control with a somewhat strange mood. He and Lu Li walked back along the same route to the first floor of the shopping mall.

In this way, the situation was successfully resolved. Although the dust had settled, as he held the remote control, he still felt a bit incredulous. He had actually managed to save a bunch of cram school classes and a classmate who had almost gone down the wrong path, all through playing cards.

"Kid, what are you doing here?! Weren't you supposed to be heading home?"

At this moment, Li Kui, now in uniform, walked over and looked at Chen An with concern. He also glanced at Lu Li who was beside Chen An, feeling like he recognized her from somewhere...

"Officer, go to the rooftop! Hurry!"

Chen An, without showing any signs, stepped in front of Lu Li and pointed to the rooftop in a terrified manner: "I 'saw' it! The culprit is on the rooftop!"

"What?!"

Li Kui's eyes widened, his gaze shifting from Lu Li to the rooftop. Ignoring the eerie déjà vu feeling, he hastily told them to find a safe place, then hurriedly ran towards the rooftop.

Watching Li Kui disappear from view, Lu Li looked at Chen An with guilt and asked, "Shouldn't I apologize to that police officer?"

"What are you thinking, you fool!"

Chen An couldn't help but comment, "Even if you're a minor, you might end up in the newspapers, causing an online sensation. You could become a meme played around with for decades. You might even wish you could invent a time machine to go back and erase your current self!"

"Then... what should we do?"

Lu Li looked around anxiously.

"I'll figure out a way for that kid whose birthday party you ruined to meet you and apologize. So for now... run!"

Chen An started moving, sprinting towards the exit. After a momentary hesitation, Lu Li followed, running as fast as she could.

Although the moon hadn't completely risen yet and its outline was barely visible, the sunset's glow was gradually fading. The impatient shop owners had already lit up the neon lights on their signs.

The gradually brightening colored lights illuminated the faces of passersby, capturing the myriad emotions of humanity. All of this unfolded before Chen An's eyes as he dashed away, leaving it all behind.

Gasping for breath, he continued to run, occasionally turning his head to check if the girl was still following.

It was a strange emotion, one for which Chen An couldn't find the right adjective even after searching through his mental vocabulary. To say "elated" seemed too disheveled, while "youthful" was a bit immature. They had dashed past various stalls, brushed by various sights and sounds of the human world, inexplicably running while people looked on in resignation and nostalgia, until they ran out of breath and finally stopped in an open space.

No words were spoken, just the sound of their heavy breaths. The boy and the girl sat back to back, slowly settling down on the grass.

By chance, they turned their heads at the same time and saw each other's disheveled appearances. Their exhausted gasps for air transformed into hearty laughter, not because something was particularly funny, but simply because their mood was so pleasant, so unrestrained.

If he hadn't followed his rational instincts and rushed to the rooftop that day, he would have lost this memory that he would continue to look back on in the future.

"And all of this, we really have to thank your sister."

"Sister?"

Lu Li, who was sitting back-to-back, was filled with confusion: "What sister?"

"Of course, your sister. It was she who handed me the card that defeated you, and the specificity of it shows she really knows your deck and playing style."

Hearing Chen An's sentiment, Lu Li's puzzled expression deepened.

"I don't have a sister, my parents only had me as their daughter."

"Huh?"

Chen An was taken aback. He had confidence in his eyesight. Even though the Hollywood superstar's big sister was wearing dark sunglasses, he could still make out Lu Li's features. Wasn't this proof of a blood relation between the two?

"Besides, I've never mentioned my card building to anyone outside."

"Huh?"

Chen An scratched his head in confusion. Lu Li had no reason to lie, so who was this Hollywood big sister?