"Li Ran, Li Ran."
Just then, Song Linjia came running over from afar in a panic.
"You want me to team up with you too?"
"How did you know?"
Song Linjia looked at Li Ran in surprise, then glanced at the others.
"You guys, too..."
Clearly, everyone gathered at the meeting point today had come to ask Li Ran to team up with them.
Actually, this was a good thing. Li Ran didn't mind at all.
"I can help, but I charge a fee." A faint smile appeared at the corner of Li Ran's mouth.
Xiao Yi pushed up his glasses, frowning slightly. "Can't we just split the rewards evenly?"
Li Ran wagged his index finger. "My fee is simple. After we complete the task, I take half the points. I don't want anything else."
"That's outrageous!" The burly man beside Xiao Yi said angrily.
Li Ran smiled and said nothing. He had already named his price. Whether they accepted it was up to them, and he had nothing to lose.
"I agree."
Lu Zhaohui didn't hesitate. "Help me with my task first. I'll give you half my points."
"I'm fine with that too," Song Linjia said.
Song Linjia had already made this kind of deal with Li Ran by the pond, when she was dealing with Granny Mi's task, so she naturally had no reason to refuse.
Xiao Yi and the other two, however, hesitated. Xiao Yi's expression grew dark, but he still refused to give up.
"I'm sincerely inviting you to join us."
"I got a multiplayer team task, and it's pretty difficult. With me, Chen Jiabin, Huang Wentao, and you, we'd have just the right number of people to complete it."
"The reward for this task is generous. It wouldn't be fair for you to take half of it all by yourself," said the tall boy.
The tall boy was Huang Wentao, one of the survivors. Xiao Yi had rescued him from a sealed warehouse yesterday.
Xiao Yi, Chen Jiabin, and Huang Wentao had teamed up, and they'd completed quite a few tasks yesterday.
The three of them had very similar levels of Mysterious Power and points.
"We're all teammates, Li Ran. Don't be like this," Chen Jiabin said.
Li Ran looked at Xiao Yi and said calmly to Chen Jiabin, "Do you remember how you lost your hand? If I were you, I wouldn't team up with him again."
Li Ran still remembered how, during Grandpa Ge's task in the Security Room, Xiao Yi had pretended to care while egging others on to act as cannon fodder.
The moment anything went wrong with a task, Xiao Yi would be the first to run.
After dealing with him once, Li Ran already knew what kind of person Xiao Yi was.
Chen Jiabin and Qiu Zhongji had been used as pawns without even realizing it. How pathetic.
Chen Jiabin paused, then smiled. "Are you trying to drive a wedge between us?"
Li Ran paused too. "I've said all I have to say."
At that moment, Xiao Yi stepped forward, displeasure plain on his face. "Li Ran, I admit that we had some unpleasantness before."
"But too many of our teammates have died. That's in the past now."
"It's already the fifth day. Things will only get more dangerous, and the tasks will only get harder. We need to stick together if we want any chance of surviving to the end."
Xiao Yi knew Li Ran was definitely the strongest among them. Li Ran had obtained a piece of blue equipment from the fake Fortune Teller, then completed various tasks big and small. He was far stronger than Xiao Yi.
If Li Ran joined them for this team task, it would go much more smoothly, and they'd be able to claim the generous reward.
Xiao Yi's expression softened. He glanced at Huang Wentao and Chen Jiabin behind him, then turned back to Li Ran. "Besides, the three of us together are definitely more useful than you alone. There'll be times when even you need help."
He thought that would convince Li Ran, but Li Ran simply said, "You mean in terms of being cannon fodder?"
At that, Xiao Yi's face turned black on the spot.
"Oh, I've changed my mind. If you want me to join you, I want all the points!" Li Ran said.
In terms of strength and usefulness, Li Ran was far beyond what they could imagine.
Xiao Yi was the kind of person who'd sell out his teammates without them even realizing it. He was also calculating and full of schemes. Li Ran had no interest in associating with someone like him.
Split one task's rewards four ways?
Would he agree to that?
Only kids made choices. He wanted it all.
Xiao Yi gritted his teeth with rage, then finally spat out, "Just you wait. I'll make you regret this!"
Xiao Yi left with the two cannon fodder. As they went, the other two glared fiercely at Li Ran.
Li Ran only smiled, unbothered. His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Chen Jiabin disappear into the distance.
Lu Zhaohui urged Li Ran on. "Ran, let's go. Help me with my task."
Only then did Li Ran look away and turn to Lu Zhaohui. "What's your task?"
Lu Zhaohui took out his phone, opened his Moments, and tapped on the profile picture of a girl named Meng Ge.
Meng Ge was the girl he'd been pursuing for his guidance task. Li Ran had even written him a detailed outline on how to win her over.
Judging by the Mysterious Power he had, he'd already completed the guidance task.
There was a new post on the girl's Moments.
Meng Ge: If you've been protected by a wolf, you'll never like a puppy...
Lu Zhaohui looked at Li Ran anxiously. "Ran, what does she mean? Is she talking about me?"
Song Linjia covered her mouth and laughed as soon as she heard that. "Some guys see a post from a girl they like, then start overthinking and assuming it's about them?"
"Is that really it? She's not talking about me?" Lu Zhaohui asked doubtfully.
Li Ran smiled. "What trouble are you in now?"
"Last time, I followed your outline and completed the guidance task. Then I triggered a new task that requires the girl to contact me first."
"I sent her a greeting before bed last night, but she still hasn't replied. This morning, though, I saw she'd posted something new on her Moments."
"What does she mean? She hasn't replied to me. Is she rejecting me?"
Lu Zhaohui was frantic, speaking at a breakneck pace.
The more Song Linjia listened, the more she wanted to laugh. She couldn't help saying, "Is this what you'd call a simp's wild imagination?"
"Then tell me what she means!" Lu Zhaohui asked anxiously.
"When a girl posts on Moments, it doesn't necessarily mean she's hinting at anything. Sometimes, they don't even know what they're posting. They just want to put something up."
"Of course, that's not always the case. It depends on how things are between you two."
As a girl herself, Song Linjia understood girls pretty well.
Li Ran got the gist of it. The new task was simply to get the girl to contact Lu Zhaohui first.
Honestly, that was pretty difficult for a lot of simps.
However, Li Ran wasn't a simp. He was the king of single men, the kind not even the God of Marriage could matchmake.
Of course, that didn't count the version of him in the dungeon who was already a father.
Song Linjia looked at Lu Zhaohui and shrugged. "Sorry, I can't help you."
"Ran, please help me think of something. This task has a one-day time limit. If I fail, I'll die horribly!" With no other choice, Lu Zhaohui turned to Li Ran with pleading eyes.
Li Ran said, "Pay me first."
"Okay, I'll transfer it right now."
Soon, 100 points appeared in Li Ran's Points Mall.
This guy Lu Zhaohui was really honest. Wasn't he worried about getting cheated?
In other words, the task rewarded 20 Mysterious Power and 200 points.
Li Ran smiled. Now that he'd been paid, he'd definitely help.
Song Linjia was also curious about how Li Ran would get the girl named Meng Ge to contact Lu Zhaohui first.
Li Ran took Lu Zhaohui's phone and tapped away, leaving a comment under Meng Ge's post from earlier.
Lu Zhaohui and Song Linjia leaned in, full of questions.
When they saw the screen, their jaws nearly hit the floor.
Meng Ge:
If you've been protected by a wolf, you'll never like a puppy...
Lu Zhaohui: If you have the option, I'd recommend finding a person instead. Animals have a lot of bacteria and parasites.
Lu Zhaohui took one look and nearly went crazy. "It's over, it's over. She's definitely going to get mad. Then she'll be even less likely to talk to me."
But he'd barely finished speaking when his phone rang.
"She's calling. Hurry and answer it." Li Ran handed the phone back to Lu Zhaohui.
Lu Zhaohui was terrified. He hesitated for a while before picking up.
A woman's voice came from the phone. She didn't sound very gentle.
"Where are you?"
"I'm... I'm, I'm at the entrance to the neighborhood."
"Wait there!"
With a click, the call ended.
"See? That completes the task. Easy," Li Ran said.
Song Linjia stared at him in shock. "That works?"
"What do you mean, it works? When she gets here, she's going to eat me alive." Lu Zhaohui didn't look excited about completing the task at all. If anything, he was even more anxious.
Li Ran stepped forward to reassure him. "From what I've observed these past few days, once a task is complete, it usually won't affect what happens afterward."
"Really?"
"Of course. Don't you trust me?"
"I do!"
"Then there you go. When she gets here, just tell her you couldn't get in touch with her, so you had to resort to this. Then go to the supermarket and buy her a bouquet of roses. You'll win her over in no time. After that, just follow the outline: ask her out to eat. Do I really have to teach you all this?" Li Ran said.
"I... I'll go get ready."
Watching Lu Zhaohui run toward Happiness Supermarket like an idiot, Li Ran rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Maybe I was a master of romance in my life before last, and that's why I was punished with a whole lifetime of being single in this one."
"Are you playing out three lifetimes of love or something?" Song Linjia rolled her eyes at him, then transferred 250 points to Li Ran through the Points Mall.
"I transferred the points. Now help me complete my task."
Li Ran was very pleased to have such a cooperative teammate. "We'll talk as we walk."
With Song Linjia's 100 points added, Li Ran now had 3,150 points. He could probably trade them for a top-quality fine-grade piece of equipment, or a rare piece of equipment with no skill.
Song Linjia led Li Ran toward a restaurant outside the neighborhood.
"Do you remember the guidance task I told you about?" Song Linjia said.
Li Ran replied, "I remember. A stray cat was killed by a terrifying monster."
Song Linjia parted her lips in surprise. "You have a good memory. I've already completed two follow-up tasks for this one. Yesterday, I just triggered the third. The task requires me to subdue that monster."
"Where is it? Take me to see it," Li Ran asked curiously.
"Down here." Song Linjia pointed to a narrow alley beside the restaurant, her expression grave. "It's dangerous. It's the most terrifying monster I've encountered these past few days. I'm afraid that with just the two of us, we might not..."
"Is the task reward 500 points?" Li Ran suddenly asked.
Song Linjia asked in confusion, "Yes. Why?"
"Then it's not a problem."
Before you continue