Duan Mu

In the early morning quiet, a black silhouette darted through the shadows of the houses, sometimes running across rooftops, sometimes climbing along the ground, all while listening to the sounds of cats.

Finally, amidst a series of ear-splitting screams, a young man with black hair emerged from the shadows of a house, carrying a cat.

The young man was in his early twenties, with a reasonably handsome appearance, though his face was covered in scratch marks.

"I thought you were killing the cat just now," a burly middle-aged man said, laughing heartily as he saw the youth emerge from the alley. "Kid Duan Mu, Granny Shuiyue is practically becoming a regular customer of yours."

"It's Duan Mu, not Duan Mu!" Duan Mu said, stuffing the struggling, fat cat into a pre-prepared sack. He couldn't understand why this fat cat, which wouldn't even budge when others touched it, always acted like its fur was standing on end whenever it saw him.

"What's the difference?"

"A big difference, and the pronunciation is different too."

Too lazy to bother with the uncle who couldn't even get his name right, Duan Mu slung the sack over his shoulder, left the main street, and turned into a small alley, finally stopping in front of a residential house and knocking on the door.

Before long, an old woman, who looked to be around seventy or eighty years old, opened the door.

Of course, that was just how she looked. As far as Duan Mu knew, this granny was at least a hundred and fifty years old.

"Granny Shuiyue, this is your cat." Seeing the old woman, Duan Mu's face broke into a gentle smile, and he reached into the sack, pulling out the fat cat and handing it to her.

Granny Shuiyue's eyes lit up. "Thank you for your trouble, Duan Mu."

"It's no trouble at all, just a small favor."

"Right, how much was it?"

Duan Mu felt speechless. Granny, just say you don't want to pay. The fee for finding lost animals is clearly marked at 1000 rings, and you still ask after all these times.

Despite his thoughts, Duan Mu's smile remained unchanged, his expression as gentle as ever. "No need to pay. We've known each other for so long. If you don't need anything else, I'll be going now."

"Thank you so much," Granny Shuiyue said, closing the door, which made Duan Mu's smile freeze slightly. This old granny...

Duan Mu didn't dwell on it. He hadn't taken this job to make money anyway. After saying goodbye through the door, Duan Mu turned and headed back to his shop, his attention focused elsewhere.

[Shuiyue Yu Affection +1, Gained 4 Experience Points]

"She's really stingy. Going from 19 affection to 20 affection, and only getting 4 experience points."

Name: Duan Mu

Race: Human

Level: Eighth Stage

Physique: Beginner (16/500)

Spiritual Pressure: Low-level (743/1000)

Hakuda: Inactive (0/50)

Shunpo: Beginner (145/500)

Zanjutsu: Beginner (486/500)

Zanpakuto: Inactive (Activation conditions unknown)

Kido:

[Hado #4: Byakurai]Intermediate (3213/10000)

Special Skill:

[Canceled Incantation]Low-level (16/1000)

Current Experience Points: 186.

↓ Expand to view Affection Interface.

"If I activate Hakuda, will similar commissions be easier to handle in the future?" Duan Mu pondered for a moment and added 50 experience points to Hakuda.

The "Inactive" status next to Hakuda on his stats screen immediately changed to "Beginner (0/500)".

Duan Mu stumbled slightly. A flood of information poured into his mind, and his body began to change. The information in his mind was mostly about hand-to-hand combat techniques, and the changes in his body seemed to correspond with that information, giving Duan Mu the feeling that he had been practicing Hakuda for a long time, not just in memory but also in muscle memory.

As for the remaining experience points, Duan Mu didn't use them carelessly. Because while cultivating Spiritual Pressure and Physique was very difficult, once a skill was activated, he could practice it on his own afterward. Just like Zanjutsu, after activating it and gaining a certain foundation, he hadn't added any experience points to it in the past six months. He had been relying entirely on practice and was now close to breaking through.

In lower stages, without guidance, practicing alone makes progress difficult. That's when using experience points becomes more worthwhile.

So, aside from wasting some experience points on 'Byakurai' early on, he mostly saved them for emergencies or when hitting a bottleneck.

After all...

Experience points aren't easily obtained.

Whenever he thought of this, Duan Mu's expression would turn a bit strange.

Three years ago, when he inexplicably fell from the sky while sleeping, he had already discovered the system in his mind.

However, it took him a full six months to figure out how to gain experience points.

If he absolutely had to give his mental system a name, 'Scoundrel System,' 'Harem System,' or 'Player System' would all be fitting.

Simply put...

When Duan Mu gained favorability from a woman, he would gain a certain amount of experience. Men, however, yielded no experience whatsoever.

This was practically looking down on us, the vast male population!

Although Duan Mu's orientation was perfectly normal, couldn't men have favorability towards each other? Why not?

Getting back to the point.

The experience gained from increasing favorability varied with each woman. To be more precise... the amount of experience gained depended on the other person's status and strength. The higher their status and strength, the more experience points he gained.

Simultaneously, the higher the favorability, the more he gained.

For example, Granny Shuiyue just now, from 0 favorability to 9 favorability, he gained '1' experience point each time. From 10 favorability to 19 favorability, each increase granted '2' experience points.

In a way, this system could be called powerful...

If Duan Mu were a scoundrel, he would probably be very strong by now.

However, Duan Mu was someone who could be described as 'semi-agoraphobic.' According to people who knew Duan Mu in his previous life, those willing to befriend him were angelic beings. The reason was simple: perhaps angels could defeat demons.

His social experience couldn't even be described as '0'; it was in the negative.

Therefore, Duan Mu chose the most foolish method.

In a single sentence: to gain sincerity, you must offer sincerity.

Keeping this phrase in mind, Duan Mu sincerely interacted with others. Regardless of age, as long as they were women and needed help, he would step forward to assist.

This included, but was not limited to: helping elderly ladies push carts, helping elderly ladies find cats, acting as a love consultant for budding young girls, coaxing children for mature young women, and buying lollipops for little lolis...

In short, he helped with all his heart, striving to block out distracting thoughts and the idea of gaining experience points, genuinely making friends with them.

Of course, Duan Mu hadn't encountered women who remained unmoved no matter how sincere he was, or women who became increasingly affectionate on the surface, as if they had fallen for him, constantly giving him hints; however, once he discovered that his favorability hadn't increased at all, Duan Mu decisively distanced himself from them.

Such women felt very dangerous.

The reason for saying that if Duan Mu were a scoundrel, he would be very strong by now was because...

Once favorability exceeded 60 points, it would transition from favorability to romantic value. This way, even if the woman had no status or strength, each increase would yield a qualitative change in the experience points gained.

Before 60 favorability, even from 59 to 60, he gained only 16 experience points. But from 60 favorability to 61 romantic value, he gained a full tenfold increase, earning 160 experience points!

Back then, to reduce this '1' point of romantic value, Duan Mu had exhausted all his efforts. Finally, after the other party's favorability plummeted by 10, he successfully achieved his goal.

After three years of research, Duan Mu had basically figured out favorability.

10 points of favorability was roughly equivalent to an unfamiliar neighbor.

20 points of favorability meant he knew the person, knew their name, and would greet them enthusiastically on the street.

30 points of favorability meant they were basically friends.

60 points of favorability indicated that the other person already considered Duan Mu a close friend. If Duan Mu was in trouble, they would definitely step forward to help, even if it was dangerous.

As for anything beyond that, Duan Mu wasn't very clear. But the 61 points of romantic value gave Duan Mu the feeling of... I see you as a brother, I don't intend to date you, but if you confess to me, I'll hesitate for a few days and then reply, 'We can try dating.'

Of course, not everyone could reach 61 points to convert to romantic value. For women who had a crush or were married, with a few exceptions, 60 favorability was the ceiling.

It was worth mentioning that decreasing favorability did not reduce experience points.