Chapter 19: The Grueling Semifinals

“If they hadn’t held back just now, we would have lost!” Qin Yu reminded Luo Shangyu, trying to dispel her mysterious confidence.

“But we still won in the end. Besides, they often train their bodies and have strong physical fitness—it’s only natural they could beat us,” Luo Shangyu replied without losing her confidence in Qin Yu’s words.

“After this, we’ll definitely keep winning!”

Qin Yu stopped trying to persuade Luo Shangyu to view the match rationally.

She led Luo Shangyu to the stands to rest and prepare for the upcoming semifinals.

The Maids had long prepared chilled drinks, smoothies, and ice cream to quench Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu’s thirst and cool them down.

Qin Yu took the latest issue of the comic series (David Dai’s Adventures) from a Maid’s hand and read it with great interest.

This issue told the story of David using his unique advantages to continuously overcome enemies and ultimately reach the world’s most dangerous secret realm, where no one had ever gone before.

Meanwhile, Luo Shangyu took out an ancient Magic Book and carefully studied it.

Qin Yu curiously looked at the cover—there were no words, only a slightly mottled surface.

The book was thick and old; the pages had yellowed a bit but were free from curling or damage, showing it had been well preserved by its owner.

“This is…” Qin Yu’s curiosity was piqued by the book.

“It’s notes left behind by my teacher. I’ve been using it to learn magic. The incident at the Changning King’s Residence and what I heard about Valya made me see my own shortcomings—I wasn’t able to protect you. I really have to work hard now,” Luo Shangyu answered.

“…Thank you for trying so hard to protect me,” Qin Yu said quietly.

“Huh? What’s there to thank me for? We’re good friends—no need to be so formal~”

***

Lost in the sea of books, time flew by quickly.

Before they knew it, it was nearly four o’clock.

Time to prepare for the semifinals.

The Maid helped Qin Yu pack up the books and then informed her of the draw results.

“Group 39?” Qin Yu murmured the number.

***

Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu arrived at the competition venue.

Only two courts remained in the center of the spacious stands, surrounded by cameras that projected the matches onto giant screens for the audience.

Qin Yu stood on the court, scanning her surroundings.

Their opponents had not yet arrived, and only one team had appeared on the adjacent court.

That team was also two girls.

One girl looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, taller than Qin Yu and about the same height as Luo Shangyu, with fair skin.

Her long black hair reached her waist, and her bright red eyes sparkled.

She wore a black, revealing Gothic-style swimsuit, with leg rings strapped around her thighs.

She smiled happily at Qin Yu.

The other girl had pure white hair tied into a ponytail.

Her hair was more grayish than Qin Yu’s pure white, and her skin was somewhat sickly pale.

She looked to be around twenty and was slightly taller than Luo Shangyu.

She also had red eyes, but a deeper, more intense shade, like a pool of blood.

Dressed in a long athletic suit, she stood silently behind the black-haired girl, her blood-red eyes fixed on Qin Yu.

Seeing them watch her, Qin Yu waved and shouted, “Hello! We’re team thirty-seven!”

The black-haired girl responded with a smile, “Hello! We’re team forty-seven. Looking forward to meeting you in the finals.”

“Another pair that thinks they’ll definitely make the finals,” Qin Yu muttered to herself.

“Why is everyone so confident?”

Luo Shangyu glanced at the two girls beside her, her eyes initially filled with suspicion, then surprise and disbelief.

But soon, her expression returned to normal.

***

As the match time neared, Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu’s opponents finally appeared—two young men, tall and athletic, with sun-kissed skin and visible muscles.

They were clearly regular exercisers.

“This is going to be tough,” Qin Yu muttered.

“They’re not magicians, so their anticipation of the ball isn’t as precise as our Maids’, but it won’t be too far off either. Beating them will only be slightly easier than defeating our Maids.”

The betting panel beside the court began to jump wildly.

Soon, bets on both sides surpassed 100,000 copper coins.

The numbers fluctuated rapidly, but it was clear more bets were placed on the opposing team, group thirty-nine, which had already reached 310,000 copper coins, while Qin Yu’s side had only 150,000.

‘Things don’t look too optimistic,’ Qin Yu thought.

“I bet 10,000 copper coins on us, so we have to perform well. If we win, I’ll make a big profit,” Luo Shangyu said, pulling out a ticket stamped with a red seal, encouraging Qin Yu.

After three minutes of warm-up, the Referee organized a rock-paper-scissors match to choose sides and the first serve.

Qin Yu won the right to serve first.

Before the match started, both sides greeted each other and introduced themselves.

The opponents were named Wu Yong and Sun Tao.

Qin Yu served first again. After serving the ball over the net, she immediately ran into a defensive position—a tactic learned from playing with the Maids earlier.

Sun Tao was in front, Wu Yong behind.

Qin Yu’s serve wasn’t very high, just grazing the net as it passed over.

Sun Tao reacted quickly and blocked the ball, which was swiftly returned.

Pressure shifted to Luo Shangyu.

She pushed the ball backward, passing it to Qin Yu.

Qin Yu ran forward, lightly setting the ball up, preparing Luo Shangyu for a spike.

Luo Shangyu jumped and spiked the ball toward the back corner of the opposing court.

Wu Yong ran over just in time to catch it, but Luo Shangyu’s hit was so powerful that it slipped past his hands and flew out of bounds.

Zero to one!

The second point was served by the opponents.

Wu Yong did not hold back and performed a powerful jump serve.

Qin Yu clearly couldn’t handle it and lost the point.

The score tied at one all.

Qin Yu served for the third point.

The opponents returned it easily.

Luo Shangyu chose to block at the net, gently sending the ball back near the net to lure Sun Tao into blocking.

Sun Tao took the bait, but Luo Shangyu used her magic to predict the trajectory and easily returned the ball.

The exchange lasted less than half a second—too fast for a normal person to react—and Sun Tao failed to catch the ball, losing the point.

The score was now two to one.

The opponents served again.

Learning from last time, Luo Shangyu switched to the backcourt, and Qin Yu took the front.

Luo Shangyu received the ball.

Although she could predict where the ball would land and the best spot to hit, she wasn’t skilled at volleyball.

As soon as she touched the ball, she felt its full force.

She only lightly grazed it, but the ball went wildly off course and flew out of bounds.

They lost the point, tying the score at two all.

***

Just like that, the hard-earned points Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu won through coordination were immediately caught up by Wu Yong’s serves.

The score remained tight with no gap.

“This isn’t good!” Qin Yu began to get anxious.

“If this goes on, it’ll be hard to win!”

Luo Shangyu’s expression darkened as well—not just because of the match’s deadlock, but also because of the 10,000 copper coins she had bet!

The score reached five all.

Qin Yu served.

The two followed their previous tactics—luring the opponents into a net-front block duel to weaken their offense and relying on Luo Shangyu’s magical prediction to secure the win.

Soon, the score was six to five in Qin Yu’s favor.

“Just one point away from the match point,” Qin Yu whispered.

She knew this point could not be lost.

The rules required a team to reach at least seven points and lead by two to win.

If the opponents tied again, they would need to play until 8–6.

The longer the match went, the more unpredictable it became.

The opponents served.

Luo Shangyu stood at the baseline, Qin Yu at the net, ready to receive.

Wu Yong served over the net, and Luo Shangyu hurried to position herself, barely managing to touch the ball.

However, the ball flew toward the right sideline and was about to go out.

Qin Yu decided she had to make a desperate attempt!

She sprinted toward the landing point, jumped at the sideline, and bumped the ball back into bounds mid-air.

She fell heavily onto the sand.

The crowd in the stands rose, eager to see what had just happened. Those who had bet on Qin Yu’s side began to cheer excitedly.

The ball was kept in bounds by Qin Yu’s save, but she lay on the ground.

Only Luo Shangyu remained standing, facing the opponents alone.

“Time to get serious!” Luo Shangyu prepared to seize this chance to finish the match.

Luo Shangyu lightly lobbed the ball over the net, then, using her prediction and reflexes, successfully outplayed Sun Tao at the net to land the final kill and win the match.

On the court, Luo Shangyu rushed over to help Qin Yu up.

The crowd outside erupted in cheers, though some who had bet on Wu Yong and Sun Tao shouted in frustration.

“We finally won!” Qin Yu exhaled deeply.

Luo Shangyu was thrilled as well—according to their bet, she would receive an extra 5,000 copper coins!

On the opposing court, the black-haired girl approached Qin Yu’s side gracefully, smiling.

“Congratulations! Looks like we’ll be facing each other in the finals~” She laughed softly.

The gray-haired girl behind her only nodded and gave a faint smile.

Qin Yu realized these two girls had also defeated their opponents and would be their final adversaries.

She asked, “What are your names?”

The black-haired girl stopped laughing and put on a mysterious expression and said, “You’ll know very soon~”