Goddess Strategy Outline

"I got sleeping pills from my therapist, bought some charcoal at the supermarket, then went back to the hotel and slept with him. Afterward, I secretly crushed a large number of the pills into his water and lit the charcoal..."

"Because I'd been taking sleeping pills for so long, my body had built up a tolerance. We were supposed to die together, but my first love was the only one who died."

Anna described how she had killed her first love, but didn't say why.

After that, Anna said she'd dated several guys in college, but there was no doubt they'd all been after her looks.

One year, she returned to her hometown, and a childhood friend she'd grown up with invited her to dinner under the pretense of catching up.

But he'd only used dinner as an excuse to make a move on her.

"That night, he held a knife to me and forced me to go to a hotel. He made me take off my clothes and took pictures against my will..."

"That was when I finally understood. Men were all the same—ugly creatures who thought with their lower halves."

"When he tried to blackmail me with the photos again, I used a thousand apple seeds I'd prepared in advance. I ground them into powder and poisoned him until he was paralyzed, then killed him."

Li Ran was horrified.

The woman in front of him could talk about killing someone and how she'd done it as if it were nothing.

She was even more terrifying than the Demon King of Killing.

Li Ran didn't dare show the slightest hint of fear. Instead, he asked with interest, "What happened after that?"

The three people in the booth all sucked in a sharp breath.

Li Ran was even more twisted than the twisted.

One spoke casually about killing someone, while the other listened to the details with complete indifference.

The scene sent a chill crawling up their legs. "Brr..."

"Later, after I started working, my boyfriend secretly sold my photos for profit."

"By now, the grass on his grave must be pretty tall."

Anna lit a cigarette and tilted her head slightly. Her wine-red hair fell in soft waves, perfectly bringing out her feminine charm.

Li Ran poured her a glass of wine and rolled his neck. "That was quite a story."

Anna smiled as if it meant nothing. "You've been trying to hide behind that magazine, but I know you like me."

Li Ran nodded. "Yeah, I like you. So what?"

He admitted it frankly. Who didn't like beautiful things?

"Just as I thought. You're no different from the others. But I can make an exception for you."

"I don't care how rich you are or how handsome you look. Just don't cheat on me, lie to me, or play games behind my back."

Li Ran asked, "Are you okay? Why are you telling me all this?"

Anna looked puzzled. "Don't you like me?"

"I do like you, but I'm not trying to date you."

Li Ran's words made Anna choke on her cigarette right there...

Even the bartender behind the counter looked up in astonishment.

Xiao Yi, Chen Jiabin, and Lu Zhaohui all spat out their drinks at once.

Was there something wrong with Li Ran's head?

A rich woman was practically offering herself to him, and he turned her down?

The three of them were dumbfounded by Li Ran's outrageous move.

Anna's gaze shifted as she stared at Li Ran in disbelief.

Had she really been the one who'd read too much into things?

"Fine, I admit it. You are a little different from other men."

Anna glanced at the clock behind the bar, then gave Li Ran a seductive smile. "Would you like to come upstairs and keep me company?"

What man could refuse an invitation from a beautiful, mature, sexy woman?

"Man, if I could spend one night with her, I could die happy," Lu Zhaohui said, swallowing hard.

"Okay, Li Ran wins. He can really save ten years of effort now," Chen Jiabin said enviously.

Xiao Yi's face darkened again. He almost crushed the glass in his hand.

On the other side, Li Ran's heart gave a little lurch at Anna's invitation.

As a lifelong bachelor, he'd fantasized about a scene like this countless times: a beautiful, mature woman with a charm all her own, on top...

But he couldn't act on impulse. His reason told him not to follow her upstairs.

(Warning: If you accept her invitation, this day next year will be the anniversary of your death.)

The prompt confirmed his judgment: Anna's invitation was another test.

Li Ran's Mysterious Power was now strong enough to intimidate Anna and even kill her outright, but the bartender behind the bar frightened him more.

Her strength was no less than the Demon King of Killing.

If a fight broke out, he'd die!

Just as everyone expected Li Ran to accept Anna's invitation without hesitation, he picked up the fashion magazine from the table again and said, "I told you, some sights are worth seeing only once."

Anna seemed to have expected that answer and wasn't too disappointed.

"A-Qing."

"Yes, miss."

Anna instructed the bartender to bring over a black card.

"Thank you for listening to my story. Here, a little something for your trouble." Anna handed the black card to Li Ran.

"Thanks."

Li Ran took the card without hesitation.

It was a reward of 100 points of Mysterious Power and 1,000 points.

She really was rich. One mission paid as much as ten guide missions.

If he really won her over, he could save ten years of effort.

"Oh, and with this card, you can make one request of me."

"Any request?" Li Ran asked.

Anna walked up the stairs, leaving him with a stunning, meaningful look. "Anything you want..."

Watching Anna's graceful figure disappear, Li Ran finally let his tense nerves relax.

She was both beautiful and dangerous. Every move she made seemed to be a deadly temptation.

That last look stayed with Li Ran for a long time.

Then the mission-completion notification sounded again.

[Mission complete: Anna's Story]

[Completion rewards: Mysterious Power +100, Points +1,000]

That had been a huge haul.

His trip had been well worth it.

Li Ran

Mysterious Power: 310

Agility: 20

Strength: 20

Points: 1,100

Active skills: [Shadow Escape] [Shadow Assault]

Passive skills: Thunder Mark, Focus

Li Ran could clearly feel an even stronger power surging through his body.

"I'll save up a few more points, then trade them for a top-tier piece of gear in the shop."

"Once I finish the missions here, I'll go to the Mutton Restaurant and find Grandma Mi's son. If everything goes smoothly, I'll stop by the Beauty Salon too. I might find something even better there."

With that, Li Ran strode toward the booth.

"I'm heading out. If you're staying for another drink, it's on me," Li Ran said generously.

Xiao Yi walked over with a dark expression. "Quit pretending to be a good guy. Why is it that you keep completing missions while we're stuck looking like clowns?"

"Do you think we're a joke?"

"I don't need your pity. I'll prove what I can do with my own strength."

With that, Xiao Yi angrily stormed out.

His lackey, Chen Jiabin, naturally followed him.

Lu Zhaohui scratched the back of his head, completely baffled. "What got into them?"

"Nothing. You said you wanted something to eat, didn't you? It's on me."

"Sure! Where are we going?"

"Let's see... the Mutton Restaurant nearby."

"Let's go."

On the pedestrian street,

Lu Zhaohui had become a complete fan, following along behind Li Ran with admiration.

"Could you teach me how to get a girl?"

A single guy asking another single guy—one who was just slightly less single—how to get a girl was like the student ranked dead last asking the one ranked second to last for help...

But,

Li Ran gave him a mysterious smile. "You came to the right person."

What did his being single have to do with dating?

That didn't stop him from getting full marks in theory.

"My guide mission is to pursue a girl. We've added each other on Feixin, but after a few messages, I had no idea what to say next." Lu Zhaohui took out his phone. The pinned chat at the top showed the profile picture of a sweet-looking girl.

Li Ran asked, "Is there a time limit on the mission?"

"Not exactly, it's just..."

"It's just that if I don't win the girl over, the matchmaker will cling to my window every night and nag me."

A line of black appeared across Li Ran's forehead.

If he remembered correctly, Lu Zhaohui lived on the eleventh floor.

Just imagining the matchmaker clinging to an eleventh-floor window every night was creepy.

"Aren't you scared?"

"I'm scared to death! But then I realized the matchmaker couldn't get inside, so I stopped being so afraid. Besides, I sleep really well. Once I'm out, even thunder won't wake me."

"Must be nice to sleep that well. I'm the same."

Lu Zhaohui sighed. "But I can't sleep through being hungry. There's nothing at home, and if I don't do missions, I can't earn points to buy food. If I don't buy food, I'll starve to death."

"That's true."

"Everyone says you're really good at this. Could you help me? At least help me finish my first guide mission."

There was a pleading look in Lu Zhaohui's eyes.

"We're teammates, so we should help each other out. Let me see your phone."

They found a bench in the shade of a tree and sat down.

"Here."

Li Ran looked through the chat history, his brow furrowing.

Lu Zhaohui: Hello, Auntie Wang introduced us.

Meng Ge: Hello.

One day later...

Lu Zhaohui: Are you free to go for a walk?

Meng Ge: I quit my job to take care of my mom. She injured her leg in a fall, so I can't go out.

Lu Zhaohui: O-okay.

Li Ran had thought he was the ultimate straight guy, but it wasn't until he saw Lu Zhaohui's chat history that he understood what a nuclear bomb of a straight guy was.

"Couldn't you find something else to talk about? Or show her you care. You could at least ask how her mom is doing."

"I know, but when the words are right there, I can't get them out. I want to show I care, but what right do I have to ask? Besides, the matchmaker barely gave me any information about her. I can only see three days of her posts, so I know nothing about her. How am I supposed to keep a conversation going?"

"I was thinking of asking her out again today. If she can come, great. If not, forget it. I'll just eat tree bark for the rest of the dozen or so days."

Lu Zhaohui's mindset was actually one Li Ran had once shared.

"Just think of her as part of the mission, and you won't feel so awkward. Focus on what you'll get when you finish it." Li Ran sounded like a teacher instructing a student. "Here, I'll draw up an outline for you. Follow it, and if nothing goes wrong, you can win her over in three days."

"Can it really be that amazing?"

Lu Zhaohui's eyes went as wide as light bulbs. It was as if a golden halo had appeared behind Li Ran.

Li Ran took out paper and a pen from his storage space, then swiftly wrote six large characters on the page:

Goddess Strategy Outline