I Can't Be the Villain!

Bin City is a sub-provincial city, bearing the titles of Garden City and Romantic Capital. It has six municipal districts, namely Zhongshan, Xigang, Shahekou, GJZ District, Jinzhou, and Lushun District, arranged geographically in that order.

Li Xian currently lives near Sanba Square in ZS District, while the mission location, Gaoxin Wanda Plaza, is in GJZ District. That means he has to cross two major districts to reach his destination.

The distance between them is roughly twenty kilometers.

Normally, taking the bus would require at least two transfers, and even with good traffic, it would take over an hour. Taking a taxi would be much faster, but not by much, since there are so many traffic lights along the way—no one can say for sure how long the road might delay them.

The mission time limit is only thirty minutes. Isn't that just setting him up to fail?

Li Xian was a bit annoyed, but he had no time to complain. Time was ticking away, and a single minute's delay could mean losing millions.

This was literally millions at stake every minute.

Once the countdown started, Li Xian first logged into a ride-hailing app and posted his trip, adding a tip of a hundred yuan directly.

And sure enough, having a ride-hailing app was convenient. In the old days, he'd have to get dressed, go out, and then get into a car, which would take at least seven or eight minutes.

Now, with the trip posted and the lure of a hundred-yuan tip, his order was snapped up instantly.

Li Xian hadn't even finished putting on his pants when the driver called. He had to admit, that was damn efficient.

Money really was good!

From getting dressed to going downstairs to getting into the car, Li Xian took a total of three minutes.

The reason he got into the car so quickly was that the driver who took the order was nearby, just around the corner from his building, which saved him a lot of time.

Countdown: 26 minutes, 17 seconds.

"Driver, step on it. I'm in a hurry." Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Xian urged before he'd even caught his breath.

The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties, probably in a good mood from snagging a big fare. He didn't get annoyed at Li Xian's urging, instead chuckling and saying, "Alright, we're off."

The car started, turned a corner, and slowly picked up speed. The driver glanced out of the corner of his eye at Li Xian, who kept checking the time, and asked curiously, "Young man, in such a rush—late for a date?"

The destination was a mall, so the driver naturally thought of a date. Weren't young people these days always into shopping at malls, then eating and watching a movie?

"Heh, even more important than a date." Li Xian didn't explain much. He couldn't exactly say he had a date with a G-Wagon and would lose it if he was late.

The driver gave him a knowing look, lightly pressed the accelerator to speed up, and said, "Don't worry, young man. I've been driving for over twenty years—I won't make you late."

Countdown: 25 minutes, 10 seconds.

How could he not worry!

Li Xian glanced at the mission countdown, then checked the time. It was now 11:10, and he had to arrive before 11:35.

Whether he could make it in such a short time, Li Xian really had no idea. He tested the waters and asked, "Driver, can we get there before 11:35?"

"Huh?" The driver glanced at the time and said, "How's that possible? That's way too tight. 11:50, maybe."

"11:50... everything would be cold by then." Li Xian muttered, then pulled out his trump card. "If we can get there before 11:35, I'll add another two hundred to the fare!"

"Young man... it's not about the money." The driver said helplessly.

"Five hundred..."

"Uh... I'll try my best, but no guarantees."

"A thousand..."

"..." The driver turned to look at Li Xian, his eyes burning. "Young man, are you serious?"

"Absolutely..." Li Xian nodded earnestly and said, "Add a thousand to the fare. For every minute early, add another hundred!"

"Damn... you said it, don't go back on your word."

"I won't. If I don't pay, you can just not let me out of the car."

"Heh, that won't happen... Hold on tight." With that, the driver stomped on the accelerator, and the car shot past the one in front, then nimbly overtook a few more.

A generous reward brings bold volunteers. Money really was good.

The forty-something veteran driver transformed directly into the Nameless Car God, and the speed spoke for itself.

That thousand yuan was well spent. Compared to the millions for the G-Wagon, it was nothing.

From Sanba Square to Gaoxin Wanda, the shortest route was Zhongshan Road, but that road had to circle the Zhongshan Square roundabout and pass by the train station, which would be very congested.

So the driver chose to take a detour via Shugang Road, avoiding that stretch. Although it added distance, it picked up speed. Bypassing the train station meant skipping at least a dozen traffic lights, saving about ten minutes.

After passing the train station and the busiest Qingniwa commercial area, the road ahead was much smoother.

Then they passed Xinghai Square and Ocean Park, drove onto Huangpu Road, and with less than five kilometers to the destination, the driver finally relaxed. "Young man, your money isn't easy to earn."

Is making money ever that easy?

Heh...

Li Xian smiled without saying a word, not in the mood to chat. He stared intently at the countdown—ten minutes left.

Seeing that Li Xian wasn't interested in talking, the driver wisely shut up and continued on. After five or six minutes, the Wanda Plaza finally came into view.

"We're here, we're here. 11:32..."

"Go to the underground parking lot, Level B2, Zone B..."

"You need to go into the parking lot too? Alright, I'm going in."

The benefactor had spoken. For the sake of the money, the driver swiftly spun the wheel and turned into the underground parking lot, entering the first basement level. Only then did Li Xian's nerves, which had been taut the whole time, finally relax.

Countdown: 1 minute 32 seconds.

Finally here. My G-Wagon.

"Phew..." Li Xian let out a mouthful of stale air, smiling warmly at the driver. "Master, your driving skills are pretty good."

"Of course. Twenty-plus years of driving isn't for nothing." The driver chuckled, then hesitated before saying, "About that money..."

"Don't worry, I won't stiff you." Li Xian pulled out his phone. "You've got Alipay and VX, right? I'll transfer it to you."

"Yes, yes, yes... I know you young folks like using VX, so I specially set one up." The driver said, pulling out his phone to log into VX and open his payment QR code. His foot didn't idle either, giving it some gas to head into the second basement level.

Li Xian readily transferred 1,300 yuan to him, then said, "Drive slow. I'm looking for a car."

"Alright..."

The driver slowed down. Li Xian rolled down the window, took out the Mercedes-Benz key from the system warehouse, and kept pressing the unlock button.

"Click, click, click..."

The faint sound of unlocking was hard to catch even in this extremely quiet environment. But luckily, the car lights would flash when unlocked. In such a dim underground parking lot, that was a guiding beacon.

Found it!

"Master, pull forward a bit." Li Xian pointed to the end of Zone B. At the same time, the system gave a task completion prompt.

[Task complete. Time used: 29 minutes 28 seconds.]

[Task reward: Matte matte black Mercedes-Benz G65, Character Attribute Points +1, one lottery draw.]

Holy shit. Starting with ten million, and they throw in a G65? This is the peak of life!

Li Xian stood excitedly in front of the G-Wagon's hood, his whole body trembling with exhilaration. This 2014 latest limited edition G65 was absolutely the G-Wagon among G-Wagons.

Other Mercedes-Benz G350s, 500s, and even the V8 4.0T Mercedes-Benz G63 were all little brothers in front of it.

This car had a V12 6.0T twin-turbo engine, 1,000 Nm of torque, 630 horsepower. Just the performance alone completely crushed the same series.

Not to mention the price: 3.5 million for the bare car, 4.3 million out the door. That was a full 1.5 million more expensive than the G63, and even with money, you might not be able to buy one. Only 65 units globally.

In all of Bin City, this was probably the only one.

Although this car couldn't compare to top-tier supercars worth tens of millions, it was absolutely a man's faith.

"Holy shit! Since when did Bin City have a G65?"

The driver, who was about to leave, saw Li Xian standing in a daze in front of a Mercedes-Benz off-roader. Out of curiosity, he got out of the car. When he saw this beast-like Mercedes-Benz G65, he was completely stunned.

"Young man... is this car yours?" The driver asked Li Xian uncertainly.

Li Xian smiled faintly, pressed the unlock button on the car key, and the lights flashed. "That's right. My car."

The driver opened his mouth in surprise, then gave Li Xian a thumbs-up. After holding it in for a long time, he finally spat out two words: "Fucking awesome!"

"I saw this G65 in a magazine. It seems to be this year's latest limited edition. I didn't expect there to be one in Bin City. Today, I've really seen the light."

The driver was a car enthusiast who usually loved reading car magazines. Although he'd never seen a real G65, he recognized it at a glance from the pictures.

"V12 6.0T engine, 630 horsepower, seven-speed manual-automatic, top speed of 230 km/h, 0-100 in just 5.3 seconds. Tsk tsk tsk, this off-roader is a man's ultimate dream." While stroking the hood, he recited its specs like reading from a textbook, then cast an envious glance at Li Xian.

Li Xian crossed his arms, tilted his head, and said, "This car is fierce enough, but it guzzles gas."

"Now you're talking..." The driver was speechless. Driving a car worth over four million, and you're worried about gas money?

Of course, he couldn't say what he was thinking out loud. He still wanted to bask in Li Xian's glory and see the interior of this G-Wagon.

"Young man, could you let me have a look at the interior?" the driver asked.

"No problem..." Li Xian nodded generously. Just as he was about to open the door, a discordant voice came from behind.

"Whose taxi is this? It's blocking my car. Move it now."

Turning to look in the direction of the voice, Li Xian saw a man about 1.8 meters tall standing impatiently next to the taxi.

The man wore a neat casual suit. He was on the thin side, with a passable face—about a 6 or 7 out of 10.

"My car, my car... I'll move it right away." The driver reacted first, immediately apologizing.

His taxi had parked right in front of a parking spot, blocking a blue BMW 3 Series. This tall, thin man was the owner of that BMW.

The driver hurried to move the car. Li Xian stood still, glanced at the man, and was about to look away when he was drawn to two girls walking over from not far behind the man.

The two girls were one tall and one short. The tall one was about 1.7 meters, with a delicate face. The short one was just over 1.6 meters, with a cute look. Although their styles of dress were different, their looks were about the same—both around 7 out of 10, considered beauties.

None of that was the main point. The main point was that Li Xian knew both of these girls.

The tall one was his ex-girlfriend, Zhang Ning. The short one, Cao Xue, was Zhang Ning's best friend.

Small world, isn't it?

Enemies on a narrow road?

Li Xian was momentarily stunned, these two phrases popping into his mind.

But then he immediately felt something was off. No way it's this coincidental. Broke up this morning, run into her at noon. System, come out. Is this your doing?

The game system didn't respond, as if it had crashed.

But Li Xian was certain—this had to be some trick from the system. Coincidence? Serendipity? He absolutely didn't believe it.

This damn random mission had him drive twenty kilometers to pick up a car, only to give him thirty minutes to do it. So this was the trap it had dug.

What did it mean? The system came with a vendetta navigation.

Li Xian laughed bitterly to himself. He didn't want to cross paths with Zhang Ning again, but now there was no dodging it—Zhang Ning and her bestie Cao Xue had already spotted him.

"Li Xian?" Cao Xue spoke first.

Zhang Ning furrowed her brows, her gaze fixed on Li Xian as she said, extremely unfriendly, "What are you doing here!"

Her tone made it sound like Li Xian had deliberately followed and tailed her, which was grating to hear.

"Hah, that's hilarious. Is this place your family's property? I can't come here?" Li Xian shot back without holding back. Since he'd been spotted, there was no point in hiding.

Bro had money now, and plenty of confidence!

"I'm warning you, stop pestering me!" Zhang Ning eyed Li Xian warily, her expression growing uglier by the second.

Li Xian rolled his eyes at her and said dismissively, "Pester you? Dream on... Xiao Xue, you're looking pretty today." With that, he ignored Zhang Ning's glare and greeted Cao Xue.

Just then, the tall, skinny man clearly hadn't caught on. He looked at Zhang Ning and asked softly, "Ningning... you know him?"

"Not really..." Zhang Ning said stiffly.

Li Xian gave a contemptuous smirk, deliberately making his tone plaintive. "That's a bit cold, don't you think? We were together for six months—if that's not 'knowing' each other, what is?"

"What are you babbling about... Lu Yang, don't believe him—"

Zhang Ning panicked, rushing to distance herself from Li Xian, but Li Xian wouldn't give her the chance. He slung an arm over the man named Lu Yang's shoulder and said teasingly, "Bro, you must be Zhang Ning's new squeeze, huh? Good taste—she's pretty skilled in bed."

"Who's your bro? Who the hell are you!" Lu Yang's face shifted, and he swatted Li Xian's hand away.

Li Xian raised an eyebrow. "What? Zhang Ning didn't mention me? Alright, let me introduce myself. I'm Li Xian... I guess you could call us brothers-in-law."

That was a vicious jab. Lu Yang's face instantly turned awful, while Li Xian wore a grinning expression, feeling smug as hell inside.

"Lu Yang... listen to me, he's just a scumbag." Zhang Ning grabbed Lu Yang's arm, then shot Li Xian a fierce glare. "You're so shameless! Just because I rejected your advances, you have to slander me like this?"

What a masterful twist of the truth!

Li Xian let out a cold sneer and was about to say something when Lu Yang, as if he'd finally figured it out, blindly sided with Zhang Ning. He glared at Li Xian and said, "I'm telling you, get the hell out of here. Ningning is my girlfriend now."

Then, turning to Zhang Ning, he said gently, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Mm..." Zhang Ning nestled against his arm, nodding obediently. What a picture of mutual affection, husband singing and wife following.

What a pair of dogs and bitches—a perfect match!

No, that was an insult to dogs.

Li Xian really couldn't stand it anymore. Even Cao Xue behind them couldn't take it. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then hesitated and stopped.

[Random Mission: Must vent this anger.]

Li Xian "..."

This game was a bit hardcore!