Despite being so small, it was quite up to date. All the appliances were electronic, and it was quite luxurious despite being so small. Compared to a normal student apartment, this one was very nice.

Counselor Watanabe was sitting on a cus.h.i.+on near the table as Li Ming served the tea. She had been quite upset today for some reason, but she refused to say anything about it until they got settled down.

As Li Ming took a seat next to her, she cleared her throat.

"So, what have you been up to this past week?" she asked as Li Ming began to drink his tea, "I came by here on the second day of Golden Week to check up on you, but your landlady said she hadn't seen you for a while."

"Well..." Li Ming hesitated. He knew that she was slightly agitated right now.

"Well what?" she anxiously followed up.

"Well, I won a ticket to see my favorite team compete on the world stage, so I flew over to see them since I had the tickets anyways..." Li Ming explained?

"Compete? You mean that game that you normally play?"

"Yeah, it's called Legends Rise. The tournament was held at the St*ples C*nter in Los Angeles, California."

"Oh is that so. How did it go?"

"I had a lot of fun. My favorite team lost though."

"That's quite unfortunate then." She concluded the topic with a look of warmness on her. She looked like a mother that was relieved that her child hadn't been getting himself into trouble while she wasn't looking.

"You know," she said with a calm demeanor, "I got in touch with a friend of mine who works at Tokyo University. She said that if you can pa.s.s their easiest entrance exam, they wouldn't mind taking you in as a freshman starting next year."

"..." Li Ming was speechless. He knew that she had pulled some strings behind her back to get this deal to go through. He understood that she had tried her best to get him into a good school so that his future would be secure.

Unfortunately, he was now placed in quite a difficult position. He was recently invited to a professional team. On this team, he would be a starting player, meaning that he would be required to attend their daily practice sessions, which would last about 12-14 hours a day. This included their actual time playing the game, as well as watching replays to find areas to improve in.

This left no time to start his college career. It would just be impossible to balance both lifestyles together. Of course, he hadn't signed the contract to the team yet. It was very much possible for him to choose not to sign with the team.

However, that would mean turning his back on a potential career that very few people had been capable of even reaching.

"I'd like some time to think about this..." Li Ming said, "It's honestly a bit sudden, you see..."

"Its okay~!" the counselor smiled, "Take your time! Here, take this business card of hers. When you decide to take the test, just call her and tell her your name. She'll set it up for you."

With that concluding statement from her, she quickly got up and left. Of course, she didn't forget to place her empty tea cup into the sink on the way out.

Locking the door behind her, Li Ming collapsed onto the floor at the doorway; his mind lost in thought. What was the better option here? To go to college? Or to go join the Osaka Phoenixes? He couldn't make up his mind.

He understood that going to Tokyo University was a big deal. Such a big opportunity surely wouldn't come to him again. However, the same was true for joining a professional eSports team. By the time he finished college, he would definitely not be as good as players who had been playing the whole time.

Li Ming decided that the first thing that he needed to do was to take a nap. He would decide on what to do after he got dinner later. Climbing into his bed, he fell asleep quite quickly. There was no one else to disturb him, after all.

***

Li Ming groggily opened his eyes. Although he certainly felt well rested mentally, his body was quite exhausted still. Li Ming reached for his phone to check for the time, only to find that his phone wasn't on the table nearby.

It took him some searching before he remembered that he had stuffed his phone underneath his pillow to m.u.f.fle any notification sounds. He pulled out the phone to look at the time, only to be startled awake!

It was already 11 at night!

Most restaurants were already closing at this time, and Li Ming definitely didn't want to eat convenience store food. He had just come off of a fun vacation, so transitioning straight to ready-made meals was quite a drop. Frustrated, he could only blame himself for this carelessness.

Li Ming swung a jacket on before walking out of his apartment. He decided to go for a walk before going to the convenience store to go eat. Surely, taking a walk would help him clear his mind of the predicament he was in currently, as the choice between going to college or joining a professional team was still plaguing him.

Li Ming walked along a river bank for a while before he noticed an oden cart! What a life saver! Now he could enjoy some hot treats before going to the convenience store to get anything else he would need to fill himself up completely! Li Ming had forgotten about this option, as when he was in Los Angeles, his only option for a night time snack was chips at a convenience store.

Li Ming happily sauntered over to the oden cart and pushed aside the curtain to take a seat. The old man was facing away from him, but still welcomed him to sit down.

"Mmmm..." Li Ming said as he absorbed all the scents in the air, "This smells delicious!"

"Hahah~ I sure hope so!" the old man laughed, turning around.

Li Ming's eyes were like UFOs, scanning every single option on display. He wanted to have a variety of different things, after all!

"I'll have 2 of this right here, 2 of these, 4 of those, 2 of those over there, one of these," Li Ming started listing off all of the oden parts that he found appealing, "6 of those quail eggs, and 2 of these."

"Oho! I see you're quite hungry tonite, eh?" The old man's scruffy voice jeered, "Worry not, your order is coming right up!"

Li Ming sat happily as he waited for his food to come out. Glancing at the old man, he couldn't help but find him familiar. However, he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Here ya go, lad!" the old man said, placing a bowl of piping hot oden in front of Li Ming, "Enjoy~!"

"Thank you!" Li Ming said as he began to dig in. He started with the quail egg, as that was his favorite part of any oden dish. "Mmmmm..." he couldn't help but moan as the soft b.u.t.tery yolk melted onto his tongue and coated his mouth with a soft and decadent soy sauce flavor.

"How've things been going for ya, eh lad?" The old man asked.

"Eh, pretty average up until the last week or so." Li Ming said while he stuffed his mouth with some braised fish cake, "I got an option to go to a pretty good college."

"That's quite good, is it not? Why do ya seem upset at that?"

"Well, the thing is, I also got invited to play on a team for a game that I play. They were offering me one million US dollars every year."

"Oh that's quite a crossroads you have there!" the old man mused. After a while of thought, the old man asked, "What kind of game is it?"

Li Ming swallowed his stewed mushrooms before answering, "Well, it's called 'Legends Rise'. It's a virtual reality game where you fight against other people."

"And a scrawny brat like you got invited to that?" the old man jeered, "Who could you even beat up?"

"I actually got scouted because my spearplay was quite good, ya know!" Li Ming said adamantly as he waved around a toothpick with a fishball on its end, "I was able to connect the playstyle of a mage and the playstyle of a spearman! I basically went undefeated while I was there!"

"Pfffft," the old man snorted, "You said you're good at spearmans.h.i.+p? I haven't even taught you all of it yet and you said you're good?"

Confused, Li Ming looked up while nibbling on the edge of a stewed radish.

The old man stared straight back at him with pride in his eyes. Suddenly, Li Ming remembered why the old man was so familiar.