Chapter 175 - [Bonus ]Jing Jing Agreed To Play

"Ms. Jing Jing, you have a potential to play this game! Why not try to download the app and play? I think you will do great!" Claire muttered. She gave the lady a bright smile and blinked a few times as if hinting that she should agree with her words.

"The strategy that you said is really something. Miss Jing Jing, join our squad?" Clark followed.

"HAHAHA, thank you for the offer! But my time with playing online games had already passed and my interest has changed now. I am happy to see you guys enjoying the game," Jing Jing replied curtly.

"If you do not want to play in the official tournament games, that is fine. Just casual matches then... it's for fun... is okay," Joey suggested.

Stephen remained silent. He easily went to look for Sofia's charger like the apartment unit was his own place too. 

After a while, he saw the object that he was looking at, dangled by some pin in the wall. He quickly charged his phone and return to his seat.

Meanwhile, the other three members of the Chronos squad gave Jing Jing a pleading look that was too hard to resist. They really wanted her to play along with them. In the end, Jing Jing released a sigh and agreed to them.

"Okay, I will download the game. Actually, when this was released, I have this on my phone. But, because of my career, I also removed it," Jing Jing spoke and managed to press few buttons on her phone. Then, the status bar appeared that gave her the progress of the download percentage.

"Yey! I personally want to learn from you, Ms. Jing Jing! Come play with me after you download all the resources!" Claire exclaimed in excitement while peering at Jing Jing's phone.

"I'm not an expert in the game," Jing Jing scratched her head and gave them a warry smile. For some reason, her advice earlier really made a deep impression on these teens. Now, they even convinced her to play!

"Ms. Jing Jing, you are so modest! Your advice is an expert level," Clark commented.

"No, no, it was common gameplay in pc games that I played before. I just remembered some of it. But, I am not sure if all of the strategies that I learned on pc games are applicable in mobile games," Jing Jing stated and forced a smile.

They continued to talk with no awkwardness at all. Jing Jing shared with them what she had done in her younger years... 

By the time Sofia finished her night class and returned to her apartment, she saw the group sharing giggles and waves of laughter in her living room.

Sofia paused and just gazed at the happy figures sitting on her couch. A small smile also appeared on her lips while looking at them.

"Guys, I'm back! Sister Jing, glad you came!" Sofia expressed and made her presence known. Her hands carried the plastic bags full of take-out food. 

Stephen and Joey quickly moved their feet and took the plastic bags in Sofia's hands and put them on the dining table.

"Welcome back!" all of Sofia's guests said at the same time. Then they looked at one another before they burst into laughter once more.

Sofia nodded her head and also burst into giggles. It sounded like they had rehearsed just to welcome Sofia in her place.

"How's your class, Miss Sofia?" Jing Jing casually asked while watching her close the door behind.

"It's uneventful. I'm requested by our teacher to join in the academic tournament under the essay contest," Sofia easily responded.

"Essay contest?" Claire paused and repeated. Her tone somehow sounded like she was asking another question: 'Can you do it?'

"Yes, it's the essay contest. The venue of the contest is just on our school grounds," Sofia replied oblivious of Claire's sudden change of expression.

"Miss Sofia, you are so amazing! You are so young but the way you manage your time is so admirable! How are you able to handle everything that going on in your life?! I want to know so I can learn from you!" Jing Jing stated in deep admiration. 

Upon hearing this compliment, one word came to Sofia's mind: Transmigration. If it was not that she had retained her past memories and experiences, she may not be this confident in her new life. But she would never dare tell the people in front of her about it. She decided that it's a secret that she would be bringing in her afterlife. 

Instead, she just gave them a wide grin while avoiding their eyes. She moved her feet towards her bedroom.

"I do these things one at a time so that I won't be overwhelmed," she responded.

On the other hand, Claire gave her a suspicious look. "Can you write an essay for the contest?"

Claire knew that the original Sofia was not even mindful of proper punctuation when writing. How could she even participate in an essay contest? 

"Now, I learned to improve my writing and our teacher praise my essay. So, she decided to make me the representative of the night class," Sofia carefully replied.

Since when did you have the time to learn to write?! You are always playing a game with us or doing errands!

The timeline was very suspicious that Claire raised one of her eyebrows to Sofia.  "How did you improve?"

"HAHAHA, I think it's not really improving. Maybe we have no other representative. So, my teacher picked me instead," Sofia reasoned. Leave it to her close friend to be so observant in her life. Now, she was struggling to give an alibi to get out with the changes in her attitude and personality.

Upon sensing that there was a disbelief in Claire's tone, Jing Jing also came to Sofia's rescue. 

"Sofia is a brilliant leader! If you only knew how awesome your squad leader is. This essay contest is just a piece of cake for her. She can even make legal contracts. That is very impressive!"

Jing Jing did not read the situation well. But her praises were actually adding fuel to the fire. Now, Claire crossed her hands on her chest and leaned back. Her silence conveys a deep meaning that made Sofia felt almost guilty for lying to them. But, what can she do? She was also helpless when it comes to her overall situation!

"HAHA, it's nothing. I just learned some skills from watching online tutorials and reading," Sofia awkwardly spoke. Then her line of vision went to the box that was settled on the mini table.

Jing Jing also noticed that Sofia was staring at the cake. "I brought it on my way. I figured that our celebration would be complete with the perfect dessert!"

"AH! Thank you, sister Jing! You are so thoughtful, as always!" Sofia exclaimed. She then bent her body and slowly examined the cake.

"Are those real orchids?" she asked referring to the design that was placed on the top side of the cake. It was her subtle attempt to divert the subject of their conversation.

"It's not. That's an icing that was hardened to form the orchid flower. Carmella Cakes is really a top-notch maker of this kind of product," Jing Jing expressed.

"What is the flavor of the cake?" Sofia questioned again. Her eyes were completely glued to the dessert. The beauty of the design from the flowers to its texture was indeed so much appealing that she just want to have it as a decoration than eat them.

The other members of the Chronos squad were not so much keen on details. In their mind, as long as it's cake, they will eat it. But the topic of their discussion somehow shifted to the cake. Sofia secretly thanked the product.

"That's chocolate," Jing Jing answered.

"Let me borrow your charger, Clark!" Joey asked on the other side while looking at his phone.

"I did not bring any charger," Clark responded.

"Just use mine," Sofia suggested as she was about to go to her bedroom.

"I've already used your charger, Sof," Stephen said and eyed his phone that was connected to the outlet.

"Ohh, okay," Sofia hummed and glanced at Claire.

"Here, use my charger, we have the same charging pin right?" Jing Jing quickly asserted while giving Joey the white cords.

"Yes, this is perfect! Thank you, Ms. Jing Jing!" Joey spoke and plugged the charger and placed his phone next to Stephen's device.

"Okay, let's celebrate! Ahh, we can't use candles because there is a smoke detector in this unit," Sofia said.

"It's okay! It's better to be safe," Jing Jing stated.

Soon, they distributed the take-out food that Sofia brought. The meals were already packed individually and there were enough disposable spoons and fork together with other condiments along with it.

"Okay, so this is to celebrate the beginning of our success! To the business ventures and the regional tournament and for the future endeavors of our team! Let's do our best! Let's eat!" Sofia announced.

Jing Jing subconsciously clapped her hand and the other members followed her.

'Success for the future endeavors of the Chronos Squad,' she mentally repeated.