From afar, Byrd's hair was blown up by the wind, and the snow fluttered down and landed on his companion's umbrella. He looked like an ancient gentleman standing quietly in the snow, happy and content.

He was talking to the person beside him with his head lowered, his expression gentle and steady.

He seemed to have sensed your gaze, or caught your pheromone. He raised his head and met your gaze.

His eyes were extremely white, as if they were hidden in the winter snow.

You raised your hand and shook it at him.

From afar, you lip-synched to him and said:

[Senior, what a coincidence.]

Byrd smiled a little, evidently discerning what you were saying. He whispered something to the man beside him, and then began to walk slowly toward you.

The snow fell on his body gently.

He's in front of you. Stop.

"Is Eretta going out with Hyrlan?"

Andy, full name Andy Hyrlan, was an Omega from the Computer Science Department. Naturally, he lived in the same dormitory as you, so you weren't surprised that Byrd knew Andy.

"Yeah, we're going to eat dessert together. Speaking of which, it feels like I'm always seeing Senior."

You smiled as you said this, your right canine teeth were faintly discernible, and your eyes seemed to sparkle. It made people's hearts burn, and they felt as if they had sunk into a soft place. Your snow-white cheeks were stained with frost, making you look especially delicate.

Byrd looked at the sparkle in your eyes, and his silver-white pupils seemed to move. He relaxed his eyebrows and said gently to you:

"I think so too. Maybe this is fate."

Fate?

Heh.

Andy, who was standing quietly at the side, sneered mercilessly when he heard the word "fate." He deliberately glanced coldly at Byrd in front of him, and then looked away.

Byrd, who was standing in front of you, felt Andy's hostility, but he didn't care. In other words, other than the polite greeting at the beginning, he treated Andy as if he didn't exist. Naturally, he was immune to his hostility.

You tilted the umbrella towards Byrd, letting it cover most of Byrd's body.

"Fate, I like this word very much." You said casually as you shook the umbrella.

You glanced at Byrd's companion walking to the side, as if waiting for Byrd.

And …

You quickly glanced at Andy, who was next to you. Since Byrd appeared, his expression had been "unhappy", "annoying", and "tsk". This trip was to appease Andy. If you continued to chat with Byrd, his mood would probably worsen.

So you said:

"But, Senior, you should have something to do, right?

Senior, you should go ahead. "

As soon as you said this, you felt the cold air around you start to flow. Even the temperature seemed to have dropped.

…

You silently tightened your jacket in an attempt to resist the cold outside.

When Andy heard your words, he instantly smiled and lifted his chin to look at Byrd.

His expression was

"Unhappy", "Annoying", "Get lost"

His expression changed.

"Did you hear that?

Get lost. "

“

。

Those who didn't know would think that there was a deep hatred between them. In fact, they only knew each other yesterday, let alone a deep hatred.

Byrd's expression didn't change. In fact, his expression became gentler. When he saw you tighten your jacket, he took out something from his pocket and handed it to you.

"Eh, this is?"

You looked at the thing in your palm that looked like black gold. You were stunned.

"It's a new product. You'll know when you hold it."

You blinked and held the heater in your hand.

The heat from your hand instantly spread throughout your body. It was as if you were in a warm room. You felt warm all over.

"…!"

Black technology.

You moved your gaze from your hand to Byrd's face. You were about to speak when you were interrupted.

"Actually, I'm also afraid of the cold."

Byrd suddenly spoke. From the content of his words, it sounded very witty. He said it in a low and elegant voice with a hint of teasing. There was a subtle feeling of contrast.

He looked at your slightly puzzled expression and added:

"For Eretta. Consider it a late and insignificant greeting gift."

Andy watched the entire process. The corner of his mouth that was originally raised gradually flattened. In the end, it became a straight line. His golden eyes dimmed.

…

"Then, Eretta, goodbye."

Byrd smiled at you unhurriedly.

You saw that his long eyelashes seemed to be slightly fluttering due to the wind. Occasionally, snowflakes drifted to the ends of his hair. His silver-white eyes were still a barren land of snow. It was as if he was born from the winter snow.

"And Junior Hyrlan, goodbye."

After he said goodbye to you, he seemed to suddenly remember that there was someone else beside him. He added without changing his expression.

"Goodbye, Senior."

The winter wind suddenly blew so hard that it seemed to swallow your voice.

The voice that had been soaked in cherry wine seemed to have been shaken into ice and whiskey. Ding dong ding dong.

***

After you and Andy finished dessert, you went back to the dormitory together.

Andy's mood fluctuated throughout the day. After eating the desserts, he felt a lot more relaxed, but you could feel that he was still tense, as if he was on guard against something.

But you thought you had done your duty as a friend.

And you didn't know what he was unhappy about.

To be precise, you didn't really want to know.

So when you got to the fourth floor of the elevator, Andy went to his dormitory floor. You smiled and said goodbye to him before happily returning to your own dormitory.

After returning to the dormitory, you leisurely stretched yourself.

You turned on the optical computer to check your school year plan and class schedule.

You didn't joke when you said to your brother that you wanted to make a mech. Admittedly, it was difficult to make a mech that could really be used on the battlefield or used for commercial purposes. Every skill had its specialization, and the manufacturing of a mech was very difficult. But as long as you learned to look at blueprints and identify various materials and the basic operation, the next most important thing was to train your hands-on ability. Therefore, the students of the mech manufacturing department basically spent their time in the laboratory from the second to the fifth year.

But your major had already been applied to the computer science department, and you didn't intend to transfer.

So naturally —

Minor.

Become an auditing student of the mech manufacturing department.

You looked at the school's official website and clicked on the minor column.

Well, if you want to apply for a minor in the mech manufacturing department …

You can apply in the second semester of your freshman year. The requirements are to be in the top 10% of the department and get the approval of your department's and the mech manufacturing department's professional mentors.

It seemed to be a very simple task.

You blinked and closed the school page.

But …

You tilted your head and finally chose to let yourself go.

You put on the helmet and logged into the game.

***

[Reminder: There is an official invitation letter from the Alliance's mech industry. Do you want to check it?]

As soon as you logged into the game, a message box popped up in front of you.

You reached out and clicked on [Yes].

[To Qiu Yu:

Hello!

This is the official invitation letter from the Alliance's mech industry.

December 10th is the 50th anniversary of the Alliance's mech industry!

We hereby invite the top 50 players on the leaderboard to participate in the offline exchange.

We will pay for your transportation and accommodation.

We welcome your arrival.

If you agree to participate in the offline exchange for the 50th anniversary of the Alliance's mech industry, please sign your game ID in the lower right corner. Thank you!]

Offline exchange …?

You thought of your friend, Yu Qiu.

Yu Qiu was always clamoring to meet you, but you rejected him every time.

Since you were bored, why not take this opportunity?

You thought about it and finally signed your name in the lower right corner.

Qiu Yu.

Backstage, somewhere you can't see.

A staff member who was processing data was yawning idly. The next second, he saw a piece of data sent back —

"Qiu Yu!"

When he saw the nickname on it, he stood up excitedly and shouted, "Hello, Mr. Zhang!

"Qiu Yu agreed to participate in the offline exchange!"

The people around him who were in the same state as him woke up and surrounded the machine. After they confirmed that there was no error, they sighed.

"Guru Qiu Yu actually agreed to participate?"

"Didn't he reject all kinds of social gatherings before?

Why is he willing to participate this time? "

"Hey, who cares!

Anyway, I can finally meet Guru Qiu Yu this time!

I'm super excited! "

"Don't stop me!!

I want to post something!! "

"By the way, is Guru Qiu Yu an alpha or beta?"

"Are you talking nonsense?

Of course he's an alpha! "

All kinds of conversations were mixed together and the entire backstage control room became lively.

"What are you doing?"

A cold voice suddenly sounded.

"Nothing!"

When the others heard this voice, they froze and quickly returned to their seats. They lowered their heads and pretended to be immersed in their work.

That person glanced around and walked to the control panel that was surrounded by people.

… Qiu Yu?

He saw the game ID in the database and instantly understood the reason for the commotion.

Tsk, he's finally willing to appear.

Thinking of this, he chuckled.

When the others heard his laughter, they froze and started to tremble.

… But, scary … He actually laughed …

You, who had just signed your name, calmly clicked on the contact list and found Yu Qiu.

[I'm going to the 50th anniversary exchange, do you want to come?]

You closed the notification and was about to go to the leisure area.

You received a message from the other party.

[I'm going!!!!]

The exclamation mark looked like it was about to break through the notification.

You look hesitant. You don't know why, but you suddenly regret agreeing to meet.

[You don't have to be so excited, right?]

[No!!

I do!!

I feel like I finally got what I wanted!]

[Please pay attention to your words. Who's the one with you?]

[Hey, hey, hey, don't worry about these small details!]

[By the way.]

[Hmm?]

[You forgot to transfer the money to me.]

[… That's too much!

I'm only worth this much to you!]

[More or less.]

[Hey!]

That's more like it. After you closed the notification, select the door on the left and open —

The streets were bustling with people and it was a hubbub of voices.

This was the leisure area, a business center for entertainment, leisure, and shopping.