Chapter 11: Friend

Maine was slightly stunned, and then asked, “Is something wrong?” 

Xie Sen raised the bag in his left hand. “To thank you for taking me in yesterday, I’m giving you breakfast in return.”

Even if it was exam day, he couldn’t forget to collect energy. One breakfast could earn two energy!

“You’re welcome. Taking you home was not entirely voluntary on my part.”

Xie Sen didn’t know about Maine being ‘educated’ by the enthusiastic crowd. He thought his involuntariness was Maine seeing him unconscious, recognizing his predecessor and being forced to save him out of humanitarianism.

“Anyway, you should be thanked for helping me. Besides, we’re friends.” Xie Sen raised his smile. “I have another happy thing to share with you.” He gestured inside the house. “How about going inside?”

Maine had never met anyone who acted so familiar. People who knew him, avoided him from afar. Sharing happy things was too foreign to him. The other person’s expression was open and clear-eyed, not at all like he had an agenda, as if he really just considered him a friend. He hesitated for a moment, then shifted his body to make way in the doorway.

In front of Xie Sen’s eyes appeared: grateful energy 1, total value 1.

Xie Sen froze and looked at Maine in surprise, only to see that the gratitude value above his head was 9/10.

It was a good sign that he got one energy before he even started eating!

He smiled more brightly, walked into the living room, quickly took out the food box and put it on the dining table. He turned back and said, “Come and eat. I specially used the insulated food box, so it’s still hot.”

Maine closed the door, walked back to the table and sat down. He looked at Xie Sen’s face full of smiles, and after a little thought said, “You are really different from before.”

“I’ve come to a great realization,” Xie Sen said, then asked, as if curious, “What do you think I was like before?”

Maine used a knife and fork to divide the fried meat into small pieces, and answered with little thought, “Silent and unsmiling.” After he said that, he gave Xie Sen a look.

Could a person really change so much? It was almost like two extremes from before.

“You’re quite good at using idioms.” He thought of his predecessor’s situation and sighed. “People’s words can be too stressful. Now that I’ve decided to ignore other people’s opinions, I instantly feel much more relaxed.”

Maine considered that, and thought it made sense, so he stopped thinking about it. His personality might change, but his appearance would always remain the same. He started to focus on eating his breakfast.

Xie Sen’s eyes were eagerly fixed on him. He was hoping for the same grateful energy he had received yesterday.

Maine finished eating and looked up at him. “You didn’t eat?” Xie Sen’s gaze was so intense that it was hard for him not to notice.

“Yes, I ate at home,” Xie Sen made sure he didn’t get any energy, looked at the empty plate, and couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t I make it well?”

“It was good.”

Xie Sen looked at Maine with disappointment. It was like finding a huge treasure hole, expecting to get a lot of treasure, but the hole was empty.

Maine wondered at his reaction. After a moment’s thought, a smile appeared in his eyes and he added, “It’s very good. Better than what many restaurants make.”

Xie Sen waved his hand awkwardly. “I’m not a child. I’m not asking for praise.”

“No?” Maine raised his eyebrows.

“Of course not!” Xie Sen reached out to clean up the food box, but Maine raised his hand to stop him. “I’ll do it.”

Maine was quick, and it didn’t take him long to clean the box and return it to Xie Sen.

Xie Sen had already gotten over the disappointment of not getting the energy from the food, and was cheered up by the thought of the energy he had received when he entered. No matter what, he had made a friend for sure.

Even aside from the energy, this man was a friend worth making, not to mention the simple fact that he could get energy! He decided to ask for the handsome man’s name when he got to school. This man looked so good, he looked like a celebrity, and he asked directly, not in line with his status as an alumnus.

“Didn’t you say you had something happy?” Maine asked as he watched Xie Sen put his lunchbox back in the bag, and half leaned back in his seat.

Xie Sen smiled. “Yes, I almost forgot. I got a job at the Gold Medal Care Center.”

“Aren’t you from the plant department?”

“Yeah, I was looking for something random, as long as there was a job. I didn’t want to find something related to my major.” Xie Sen said. His eyes fell on Maine’s chest. “You must be a male, what is your contract beast? If it needs care, you can go to the store where I work. I’ll try to get you a discount.”

Maine shook his head. “Giant lion beast. Haven’t found it yet.”

Xie Sen had learned a lot of contract beast information yesterday at work, such as contract beasts were divided into S, A, B, C, D, and E class, with S class being the strongest. The tougher the Beast Star person awakens was, the higher the level of the contract beast, so the level of the contract beast represented the strength of the owner.

The area he worked in yesterday was the female contract beast area. Most of the contract beasts he saw were E class, with only a few D class. Beast Star people who awakened contract beasts above D class were almost all males.

If the female contract beast was higher than D class, this female was equivalent to the real sense of a female man. That kind of female was rare. He remembered very clearly that the giant lion beast was an A class contract beast.

“You’re awesome!” he praised sincerely. “I heard that not many people have awakened A class contract beasts.”

Maine said, “S class is the most powerful. But when you haven’t even found a contract beast, awakening is meaningless.”

“How can it be meaningless? You’re very strong! We have a lot of contract beasts in the store, so I’ll help you keep an eye on them. If there is a giant lion beast, I’ll notify you first.” Xie Sen said hurriedly.

Beast Star people found similar contract beasts through their awakened beast patterns. If the contract beast synchronization rate was more than 50 percent, they could bond. If someone wanted to have a contract beast of his own, he must first find a similar contract beast.

The higher the level of the contract beast, the smaller the number of A class and above. There was no artificial feeding, and every one of them was wild. The beasts were capable and strong. If someone wanted a beast that was other than their pattern, it was difficult to capture them.

This also made most of the A class awakened people have to wait at least until middle age to have their own contract beasts. After all, every citizen must complete eighteen years of education, during which time it was nearly impossible to try to find a contract beast in the wild, in person. Then, after having the ability to do so, the search was another long process.

Of course, lucky contracted people could buy contract beasts, which depended on the skills of the various merchants. Basically, there was a price.

Maine’s heart felt warm. Xie Sen said those words naturally, quickly, and not at all deliberately, which showed that he really wanted to help him.

Xie Sen looked at the prompt that suddenly appeared in front of him, energy 1, total value 2. He froze. He looked up and saw that Maine looked unchanged, but the energy above his head had become 8/10. He smiled. “You will definitely find the contract beast. I have to take the exam today, so I’ll leave first, and see you tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Maine called out to Xie Sen, who was heading out. “I have an exam too. Let’s go to school together!”

Maine was stunned when the words left his mouth. He hadn’t expected he would initiate a request to go together.

Was it because the way the other had said that they were friends was too justified and too natural, and he was infected by him? Or was it because he actually, subconsciously thought of the other man as a friend?

Friends? Maine mulled over this word. He thought about their two days together, and his eyes moved slightly. That feeling was very different from when he was alone. It seemed very good.

Xie Sen didn’t postpone, and wasn’t polite. “Really? That’s great! My shuttle is still at school. It’s great that I can catch a ride with you.”