193 Do You Mind if I Play Soccer? (1/2)

It was late at night in the living room of the Music History department. Ye Qingxuan, Charles and Bai Xi stared at each other in awkward silence.

After a long time, Ye Qingxuan took the lead and asked with a serious expression, ”So what can we do now?”

”Nothing.” Charles scratched his head. ”That *sshole from your grade was right. We’re probably dead this time.”

”One-thousand points per win, five hundred each for a tie, and five hundred deducted for a loss…If we don’t find a solution, we’ll lose horribly this time. I’m okay but senior, you won’t be able to graduate!”

”…Well, it’s okay if I can’t graduate.” Charles asked with some hesitation, ”I’m used to it anyway. So what if I wait some more and try again next year?”

”Okay, so we won’t worry about graduating now. But the Cave of Sleep and sublimation ritual…we won’t get that opportunity again.” Ye Qingxuan grew impatient. ”Senior, you have to work too. Look, even Bai Xi got a few hundred points today! You already passed the first round, so can’t you put in some effort?”

”But putting in effort is useless for these things, isn’t it?” Charles shrugged. ”If working hard can solve everything, then why isn’t everyone working hard?”

”…Then we’re definitely dead meat this time.” Ye Qingxuan sighed helplessly. ”I don’t have enough points to deduct if you want to graduate. The school board can happily force us to beg for food next year.”

”There’s nothing bad with that, actually.” Charles scratched his head. ”To be honest, I was doing really badly here for some time. Professor had been worried that I’d have to beg for food in the future. But then I suddenly got it!”

”…Got it?”

”That’s right.” Charles became spirited. ”I spent a few months observing Avalon’s beggars and studied their techniques. You wouldn’t know it, but Avalon’s charity is pretty good. There’s no stress either. I’m telling you, I found some spots where you won’t go hungry if you beg there! So Junior, don’t worry. Even if we have to beg, I can still take you to the top!”

”Senior, where are your ambitions?!” Ye Qingxuan cracked his knuckles, kind of wanting to hit Charles.

”I’ve even memorized the most valuable golden spots for begging in Avalon! I may be unaccomplished normally, but if I go beg, I’ll be the king of beggars! How is that not a pursuit?”

”Your dream is to beg for food?!”

Beside them, Bai Xi could not take it anymore and interrupted, ”Hey, you’re off topic!”

Ye Qingxuan returned to the sofa and crossed his arms. He said seriously, ”The most important thing now is the manpower problem! If we don’t solve it, we’ll be dead!”

Charles and Bai Xi exchanged glances and sighed in unison. There really was no solution to this problem.

Yes, the most fatal problem for the History department currently was—manpower! They did not have enough people!

Even if one did not look at the three major schools of Modifications, Summoning and Revelations, even the other departments like Music Theory and Classicism had handfuls of people! As for the major schools, forming a league was no problem, not to mention a soccer team!

But the History department had no allies and was unloved by all over the years. Their annual budgets were not even as much as what the others received for cafeteria reimbursements. No wonder Bart said they were dead meat. They could not even form a basic team!

There were currently only three students in the entire department. If Ye Qingxuan and Bai Xi were not here this year, it would be even worse. Charles would be a one-man band. They would not even be able to catch up if everyone on the field only took one step, not to mention playing ball!

”Actually, I think us three are okay.” Charles coughed. ”If it’s us three, at least we have chemistry. Isn’t that how fantasy novels are all written nowadays? Three people form a small team, and we charge and retreat together. You come as one person and we have three people. You come as one hundred, and we’re still three…”

”Those people are usually the antagonists, alright? And even if they come as three, they’re still beaten by the main character…and the main character isn’t alone either. He can easily find twenty-some people, along with replacements, coaches and a cheerleading team! How can we do this as three people?” Ye Qingxuan said in exasperation.

”Ha, Junior, you shouldn’t be so pessimistic. Don’t Easterners have that saying, ‘the mountains and rivers multiply and there’s a road to the underworld; the willows are dark and blossoms shine, and there is a godly village ahead?’ There’s always hope.”

”Senior, what kind of weird saying is that? It makes it feel like we’re definitely done for now.” Ye Qingxuan suddenly felt powerless and kind of wanted to go crazy. ”And we totally don’t have enough people! Even if we have a forward, a mid-field, and a defender, we still need a goalie! Where do we get a goalie?”

”Uh…here’s the goalie!” Charles lifted the big golden dog that was sleeping on the ground and shook it before Ye Qingxuan. ”Look, what a great goalie! Imposing! Aggressive! Cold! Merciless! Practically the Academy’s nightmare, a dark legend!”

The sleeping Old Phil opened its eyes and looked around in confusion, not understanding what was happening.

Ye Qingxuan was stunned too. ”Can that work?”

”I think so!” Bai Xing raised a hand in support. ”Old Phil is much better than humans!”

”Yeah!” Charles nodded. ”They didn’t say we can’t use dogs and Old Phil isn’t an average dog, either. Right, Old Phil?”