“Ah…just two bars ago, you were saying things like… ‘Is it easy being the protagonist?’ but after just one chapter, you’ve completely dumped this mess on me…”

It was four in the afternoon. Xiao Tan walked alone down the street, his schoolbag on his back, muttering to himself.

“Saying things like…‘Anyway, there’s still a long time before midnight. I alone am enough to keep an eye on Xiongji, and you can just wander freely in this script world, maybe pick up some hidden quests or get some items’… Heh…that’s just passing the buck…”

As he muttered, he looked down at the map in his hand: “And…this map is drawn so sloppily…Can I really find Meow Beauty’s house and meet up with them relying on this…”

“Hey~ that student over there.”

Just as Xiao Tan was looking down at the map, a rather effeminate voice came from behind him.

“Huh?” Xiao Tan’s first reaction was, “A salesperson?”

In the real world, Wang Tanzhi was the type who was often stopped on the street. Because he looked like a very approachable person, so…insurance salesmen, fitness card peddlers, salesmen of all kinds of shoddy products, self-proclaimed talent scouts…all liked to find him. There were also…random street interviews by TV stations, approaches from strange women, approaches from strange men, approaches from strange gender-ambiguous individuals, etc., etc…

Xiao Tan was just that kind of person, the kind that made people feel warm and safe at first glance. It was an innate temperament, although it had something to do with appearance, it wasn’t entirely about looks. To give a counter-example…Feng Bujue was one.

Jue-ge’s appearance was definitely not ugly. The white-clothed woman at the south gate of the Harem City had a very pertinent evaluation of him—"Forgive me for speaking frankly, but in terms of appearance, this young master is still lacking just a little bit." Since it was "just a little bit" lacking, that meant…not much was lacking. Considering that the Harem City world didn't have any oppas or anything, their aesthetic standards should be quite reliable.

However, Feng Bujue rarely got spoken to by strangers on the street…Even the staff who handed out flyers indiscriminately to passers-by would avert their eyes and show a hint of nervousness when handing a paper to Jue-ge.

Under the same circumstances, if Xiao Tan was walking down the street with a smile, people would feel…this handsome guy must have encountered something good. But if Feng Bujue was walking down the street with the same smile, people would think…this handsome guy just finished a locked-room murder, right…

“Hello, student, can I trouble you for a moment?”

When Xiao Tan turned around, he saw the figures of two men.

These two…were both “people.” Genuine humans, not anthropomorphic animals or anything.

The one who spoke to Xiao Tan looked to be in his forties or fifties, wearing a light green kimono. He had light brown hair and a stubbly chin.

The one next to him looked to be in his early twenties, wearing a beige kimono. He had black hair, a fair complexion, and dead fish eyes. On his back, he carried a wooden box tied with a straw rope.

“Hmm…” Xiao Tan hesitated for two seconds, then replied, “Sure.”

He was just wandering around aimlessly anyway, wanting to find some side quests and hidden missions or something, so he had plenty of time.

[Side Quest Triggered]

As soon as Xiao Tan said “Sure,” the system prompt came.

He immediately opened the game menu and looked at the quest log. The line [As a judge, witness the outcome between Basho-san and Sora-kun] appeared before his eyes.

“Hmm?” Xiao Tan saw the quest content and reacted for a couple of seconds, thinking, “Judging from these two’s names and appearances…could they be ‘Matsuo Basho’ and ‘Kawai Sora’ (the historical Matsuo Basho was a famous haikai master of the Edo period with the title "俳聖", Kawai Sora was a haiku poet of the same era who traveled with Matsuo Basho as a disciple through Oshu and Hokuriku, i.e., the "Journey of the Narrow Road to the Deep North", he was also one of Matsuo Basho's ten great disciples, the "Basho Ten Disciples")?”

Xiao Tan was not as familiar with *Hiyori* as Jue-ge was, but his historical knowledge was quite solid. He knew some historical figures from various countries, so he wondered in his heart: “Aren’t these two in a master-disciple relationship…what’s with this胜负business?” Thinking of this, his expression changed slightly, “But…in this silly universe, anything can happen. I should just watch and see first…”

“Great, student. Oh…right, let me introduce myself first.” Seeing that Xiao Tan had agreed, Basho continued with a smile, “I am the famous Matsuo Basho.”

“To say that you’re famous yourself to someone you’ve just met…” Xiao Tan didn’t know what kind of person the *Hiyori* world’s Basho was like. After hearing this, he complained in his heart, “Wait…even in front of acquaintances…ah…never mind…”

Two seconds later, Xiao Tan smiled awkwardly, pretended to be a little surprised, and replied: “Eh~ you’re the famous Matsuo Basho-san?”

“Hehe…yes, it is indeed me, would you like me to sign your clothes?” Basho asked with a pleasant expression.

“Uh…” Xiao Tan squinted and replied, “That…that won’t be necessary…May I ask, what is it that you want to see me about?” Xiao Tan quickly steered the topic to the main point, wanting to complete the quest as soon as possible.

“Oh! That’s right, it’s like this…” Basho pointed to Sora next to him, “That man with the terrible eyes over there is my disciple, Sora-kun.”

“Slap you right in your bear face!” As soon as Basho finished speaking, Sora slapped him from the side and behind.

“Ah—” Basho screamed and turned his neck ninety-some degrees, but in two seconds, he recovered, looked back at Xiao Tan, and said with a threatening look and tone, “You…did you see anything just now?”

“No…I’m a little farsighted, I didn’t see anything…” Xiao Tan looked up at the sky and replied against his will.

“That’s good.” Basho said solemnly, with tears in the corners of his eyes, “The legend of Basho on this land still needs you to praise it, thank you for your trouble!”

“Rely on me…” Xiao Tan twitched the corner of his mouth and replied, “Speaking of which…’the legend of Basho’…what exactly is that?”

“Ah, that’s the reason I stopped you.” As Basho spoke, he began to explain, “Actually…Sora-kun and I each wrote a haiku just now (a classical Japanese short poem consisting of seventeen syllables in a 5-7-5 pattern, with strict format requirements and subject to the restrictions of *kigo*)…”

At this time, Sora said to Xiao Tan in a very fast voice: “What I wrote was—Magnificent pine islands, the cuckoo soars, borrowing the sparrow's robe, cease the scenery’s dissipation.”

After he finished speaking, Basho said: “And what I wrote was—Although until just now, it was still terribly itchy, but now it’s already better.”

“Hey…” Xiao Tan was shocked after listening, “What’s with that second verse? This shouldn’t be a problem with the system translation, right? Even though I haven’t studied Japanese, I can hear that the two verses are worlds apart…”

“Student, I just want to find an observer to judge which verse is better.” Basho hadn’t finished speaking yet, and he read it triumphantly, “But if I were to say…if my haiku is ‘100,’ Sora-kun’s verse is probably ‘2’…oh no…it’s vomit, hehe…vomit, ah ha…ah ha…ah ha ha ha…” As he spoke, he shamelessly giggled.

“Slap you right in your bear face again!” The next second, Sora-kun stopped Basho’s foolish behavior with another slap…

“I’ll be damned…could the攻受attributes of these two be any more obvious…” Xiao Tan felt a lot of pressure watching from the side, and thought to himself, “Also…does the outcome between these two really need a ‘judge’ to evaluate…”

“Student…” Basho quickly covered his swollen left cheek and approached Xiao Tan as if nothing had happened, “The general situation is like this…Sa~ tell me…whose haiku do you think is better, me or Sora-kun? Say it…and then praise the legend of Basho…”

“Sora-kun.” Xiao Tan gave the answer decisively without even waiting for Basho to finish speaking.

“Pu-erh—” Before the words were finished, Basho instantly spat out a mouthful of old blood and collapsed on the side of the road in an *orz* posture.

“You should give up now, Basho-san.” Sora stood behind Basho and said coldly.

“That…this student…although I don’t know your name yet…” Basho seemed to not have given up yet, and he came to Xiao Tan again, “Please…reconsider carefully…”

“This guy’s skin is really thicker than usual…” Xiao Tan looked at Basho with a face full of cold sweat, and thought to himself, “You don’t know my name because you never asked me, nor did you give me a chance to introduce myself, right…and…the more you repeatedly and carefully consider a haiku like yours, the more you’ll feel how low it is…”

“Ah! I’ve got it!” Suddenly, Basho’s eyes lit up, and he took out a rather thick piece of cardboard from who knows where and handed it to Xiao Tan, “If you consider it carefully, I can give you this~”

“Trying to bribe me…” Xiao Tan muttered softly, and took the thing the other party handed over, “Hmm…if it’s really a good item, I might consid…”

His words stopped abruptly, because he found that…on that piece of cardboard, there was only Basho-san’s signature, and what was even more outrageous was…there was actually a bright red lip print next to the signature.

“Please put this kind of thing away…” In that instant, Xiao Tan’s blackened state suddenly went online, “Even if you kneel down and beg me, I won’t accept it…”

“That’s enough, Basho-san.” At this point, Sora seemed to be unable to watch any longer. He stepped forward and grabbed Basho by the collar, “Let’s go, Basho-san, don’t cause any more trouble for others.”

“Wa…wait! Sora-kun…” At this moment, Basho turned over and stood up straight, “No…Sora!”

*Slap*—

“No…Master Sora…” Another powerful slap in the face made Basho change his address for his disciple, “…Duel me! Duel me!”