Life's Illusions

"Upper floors of the Dungeon? I was on the upper floors today, sure, but how did you know, Miss Eina?"

Lu Qiming looked at Eina: her bashful little face (or so he thought), shy voice, and slightly expectant gaze. Could it be... Miss Eina had fallen for him?

The next second, Lu Qiming tossed that ridiculous thought far away. It was definitely one of the three great illusions of humanity: she likes me, I can turn the tables, and I'm strong. At least when it came to knowing his own limits, Lu Qiming had a decent grasp of reality.

He'd been single in his old world. How could he make Eina fall for him in less than a day after arriving here? Besides, he didn't want to die of embarrassment. He remembered an old friend who'd gotten the contact information of a pretty girl. She'd only ever sent him one or two messages now and then, the sort that went, "Hehe," "Mm," and "I'm going to take a shower. Talk to you later."

That guy had excitedly come to tell Lu Qiming that the pretty girl definitely liked him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have told him such a private thing as when she was going to shower.

At the time, Lu Qiming had actually thought his friend had struck gold and caught someone's eye. He took the phone and looked at the chat history.

Good grief. His friend had sent hundreds of messages a day: "I miss you," "Let's go get something delicious," "I bought you this and that," and even records of money transfers. The girl accepted the money and gifts without a second thought.

But whenever his friend asked her out, she'd come up with all kinds of excuses, like not feeling well or having something to do. Or she'd message him at seven in the evening to say she was going to take a shower, then reply at noon the next day that she'd been too tired last night and had only just woken up.

Lu Qiming had handed the phone back and told his friend the girl was just treating him like a sucker and an ATM. He was just another fish in her pond.

His friend had angrily shouted at him not to insult his goddess. She was so innocent, going to bed early every night and waking up the next afternoon. How could she possibly be stringing him along?

After that, the guy had turned and walked away, saying Lu Qiming had insulted his goddess and that they were no longer friends.

A simp never got a happy ending. You couldn't reason with a hopeless simp!

Thinking of this, Lu Qiming bit his lip hard and looked at Eina with a resolute gaze. He had to stay clearheaded. A wise man didn't fall in love!

"Lu Qiming, didn't you know?"

Eina hadn't noticed Lu Qiming's strange movements and expression. She pointed at his black hair and the stainless steel basin on his head. "You slaughtered a lot of monsters on the upper floors of the Dungeon today, and lots of adventurers saw you. Everyone agrees you must be some unknown big shot."

"Huh? That's it?"

Lu Qiming had never imagined that this was how Eina had found out he'd fought on the upper floors of the Dungeon. Actually, he'd been a tiny bit hopeful just then. He'd thought maybe Eina was worried about such a newbie as him and had secretly followed him to protect him.

"Mm. How else did you think I knew, Lu Qiming? Don't tell me you thought I'd secretly gone into the Dungeon to protect you?"

Eina looked at Lu Qiming with an amused smile, as if he were some innocent young boy.

"No! Of course not! I was just curious how you knew, Eina. I definitely didn't think you were worried about me and had gone into the Dungeon to protect me!"

"Okay, okay! I was mistaken."

Though Eina said that, she couldn't stop smiling.

"..."

Watching Eina smile, Lu Qiming felt as though countless sharp swords were piercing his heart. He raised his hand and grabbed the stainless steel basin, holding it out in front of Eina.

"Hmph!"

Lu Qiming gave a soft snort and turned his head slightly.

"Exchange this for Valis for me."

"Sure, sure."

Eina smiled faintly at Lu Qiming's sulking expression. She stopped teasing him and looked into the stainless steel basin.

"!!!"

The stainless steel basin, which had been empty before, was now filled with Magic Stones and various drops, shimmering with an unusual purple light.

"Lu Qiming, th-this is!"

Eina stammered as she pointed at the Magic Stones and drops in the basin.

"What's wrong?"

Lu Qiming slowly turned around and looked at Eina, who was pointing at his Stainless Steel Basin Brother.

"They're Magic Stones and drops. What else would they be?"

"But..."

Eina looked at the Magic Stones in the basin, then at Lu Qiming's unconcerned face. She had seen more Magic Stones than this before, but this was the first time she'd seen a newbie adventurer who had just registered and didn't yet have a Blessing earn so many Magic Stones on his first trip into the Dungeon.

From the drops and Magic Stones, Eina could roughly guess how many monsters Lu Qiming had killed that afternoon. When the other adventurers had been discussing it, she'd thought it could be a few hundred monsters at most.

But the Magic Stones and drops in the basin before her had to be from at least a thousand monsters!

"There's no 'but.' I can get even more Magic Stones tomorrow!"

Lu Qiming looked at the stunned Eina, his face calm, though he couldn't hide the pride in his eyes. The protagonist of the original story, Bell, had only collected a little over ten Magic Stones in a day after half a month of Dungeon adventures with Hestia's Blessing.

But Lu Qiming had gotten 2,500 Magic Stones in a single afternoon today, along with a pile of drops. More importantly, he'd exceeded the target for the daily task he'd set himself—and he'd done it all in one afternoon.

At this rate, he might be able to finish the task ahead of schedule in less than a year. The more monsters he hunted, the faster his strength would grow, and the sooner he'd complete the task.

At that moment, Eina's voice interrupted Lu Qiming's thoughts.

"Here. One million Valis in total."

Eina handed Lu Qiming a small pouch filled with ten-thousand-Valis bills. It was the money he'd earned by exchanging all his Magic Stones and drops.

"Thanks."

Lu Qiming smiled faintly, took the pouch, pulled out a ten-thousand-Valis bill, and offered it to Eina.

"Here. I said this morning that I'd pay you back tenfold. This is ten thousand Valis."

"No need. A thousand Valis is fine."

Eina smiled as she accepted the Valis Lu Qiming offered, then took nine thousand Valis from her pocket and handed it back to him.

"No way. I refuse!"

Lu Qiming immediately returned the Valis Eina had handed him. Since childhood, he'd been taught to repay even the smallest kindness many times over. Besides, Eina was the second person he'd met after arriving in this world, and she'd taken such good care of him.

Seeing how determined Lu Qiming was, Eina didn't say anything more. She put the money away, stepped out from behind the counter, and came over to him.

"Well, since you insist, I won't refuse anymore. But you have to come have a meal with me. It's my treat."

"Food! Let's go, let's go!"

When Lu Qiming heard Eina suggest getting food, he finally remembered that he hadn't eaten a thing since morning. His current physique was so far beyond an ordinary person's that he could fight nonstop for three days and nights without a problem; otherwise, he'd have been starving ages ago.