Central District Plaza is the largest open area at Nanhu College aside from the athletic field.

Now, many temporary tents had already been set up across the plaza. People were strolling around everywhere, making it extremely lively.

Standing in the shade of a tree outside the plaza, Shu Yuxin watched the scene and felt a strong sense of déjà vu—it was just like the university consultation fair her high school had held after graduation.

“Shu Yuxin!” A lively voice came from behind her. As Shu Yuxin turned around, she saw Peng Xiaoxiao running toward her. “Haah, you got here really fast.”

Of course she did—she had a private ride picking her up and dropping her off.

Smiling, Shu Yuxin said, “You were the one who told me to come. Couldn’t you have come out a bit earlier?”

“Well, I thought it would take you some time to get here,” Peng Xiaoxiao replied after letting out a long breath. She looked around and asked, “Is it just you?”

“What do you mean, just me?”

“Your boyfriend! That handsome guy! Didn’t he come with you?”

The corner of Shu Yuxin’s mouth twitched. “I already told you, he’s not my boyfriend…”

“Alright, alright, he’s not, he’s not,” Peng Xiaoxiao waved her hand dismissively. “Then your best friend didn’t come with you?”

“He originally planned to come take a look, but something came up last minute. One of his classmates called him away,” Shu Yuxin said, shaking her head slightly. “Besides, he’s not even from our school. Why would he come see our club recruitment?”

“Huh? He’s not from our school? From the neighboring one then?”

Shu Yuxin nodded.

Peng Xiaoxiao seemed to think of something, then suddenly clapped her hands. “Nice! Handsome, gentle, and a top student!”

Shu Yuxin stared at her for a moment and said faintly, “You’ve taken a liking to him? I can help you, you know.”

“How could that be? I was just saying it casually. And besides, if he has a girl at your level as a—friend, do you think he’d even look at other girls?” After a pause, Peng Xiaoxiao patted Shu Yuxin’s shoulder with mock seriousness. “And anyway, hardcore otaku like us don’t get boyfriends. Wake up.”

Shu Yuxin smiled softly and said nothing.

She remembered that in the past, she had always wanted to find a girlfriend who liked gaming—someone she could play games with when bored, and when gaming got boring, they could, well, mess around together. She figured there were quite a few people with the same idea. A girlfriend who shared the same interests was definitely in high demand, and Peng Xiaoxiao herself was quite good-looking—if she put herself out there, plenty of people would pursue her.

The key was whether she wanted to look for one or not.

But since they hadn’t come out just to chat about relationships, the two of them didn’t dwell on that topic. After a bit of casual conversation, Peng Xiaoxiao grabbed Shu Yuxin and dragged her into the crowd at the plaza.

It had to be said that although Nanhu College wasn’t very large, it had quite a lot of clubs. Along the way, they saw many familiar ones—roller skating club, skateboarding club, tennis club, basketball club, badminton club, volleyball club… a whole series of “normie” clubs. Quite a few of these clubs even had one or two good-looking guys acting as their mascots while recruiting—like two guys skating at the roller skating club, or someone dribbling a basketball at the basketball club.

Naturally, none of these clubs caught Peng Xiaoxiao’s interest. She merely glanced at them before moving on. What really drew the attention of the two girls were the “hardcore otaku clubs,” such as the anime club.

To Shu Yuxin’s surprise, the anime club’s tent was actually surrounded by quite a few people, both male and female. She even saw several boys and girls wearing ita-fashion outfits. At the very center of the crowd were two cosplayers, both with pretty high-quality cosplay—good enough that they would likely attract onlookers and photographers at a convention. These two were probably the anime club’s main draw.

Shu Yuxin had originally thought that a hardcore otaku club like this wouldn’t get much attention, but now it seemed she had underestimated things. Nowadays, terms like “otaku” and “hardcore otaku” had gradually come to represent a special group of people. To others, they might seem unsociable, but when a bunch of unsociable people gathered together, it was suddenly the so-called “normal people” who didn’t fit in. As this group continued to grow, more and more people came to understand them. Of course, understanding was one thing—acceptance was another. But whether others accepted them or not didn’t really matter. When you were alone, you might care about how others saw you, but once a group formed—who cared what outsiders thought?

Whether the people standing there were truly hardcore otaku or just normies wearing an otaku disguise, they were clearly having a great time themselves.

Seeing Peng Xiaoxiao’s excited expression, Shu Yuxin said, “Want to go take a look?”

Peng Xiaoxiao shook her head. “You think this club is a hardcore otaku club? Heh, too naive.”

Before Shu Yuxin could respond, Peng Xiaoxiao grabbed her hand and dragged her off in another direction. “Come on! I’ll show you what a real hardcore otaku club looks like.”

The two of them arrived at the outer edge of the plaza. Here, some of the club recruitment tents had barely anyone around, and the level of desolation was worlds apart from the bustling center. After scanning the area, Peng Xiaoxiao suddenly acted as if she had discovered a new continent and pulled Shu Yuxin along as she ran. “Waaah—! Bride Nero!”

Following her line of sight, Shu Yuxin saw that Peng Xiaoxiao was looking toward the model club.

Under the model club’s tent were only two very old, worn-out long tables. They looked shabby enough to make Shu Yuxin feel secondhand embarrassment. But clearly, Peng Xiaoxiao wasn’t looking at the tables—she was looking at what was on them: figurines, models, prize figures.

“Waaah—! Gundam! Waaah! Yamato! Waaah! Nine-Eight Billion!”

Like a child seeing new toys for the first time, Peng Xiaoxiao exclaimed as she examined the items, startling the guy watching over the booth.

Perhaps because they didn’t have much hope for recruitment to begin with, the model club had put out a pile of plastic figures, along with just one chubby guy sitting behind them to hold the fort. The chubby guy had been playing on his phone the entire time; if Peng Xiaoxiao hadn’t startled him with her excited reactions, he probably wouldn’t have even noticed two people standing there.

The chubby guy hurriedly put down his phone and looked up—then froze when he saw the two girls. “Uh—cough. Are you… interested in joining the club?”

Holy crap! Two girls!

“Looks interesting. Can we take a look?” Peng Xiaoxiao asked politely.

The chubby guy immediately became enthusiastic. “Of course! Feel free to look!” After a pause, he added, “But all these things are contributed by club members, so please try not to touch them. If they break… it’d be hard to deal with…”

Seeing how troubled he looked, Peng Xiaoxiao laughed boldly. “I know, I know—‘please don’t touch my models to avoid causing damage,’ right?”

The chubby guy froze for a moment, then was shocked.

Holy crap—could she be a model girl too?