Ning Rongrong's Secret

"A young man, tall and thin, wearing grey-blue work clothes." Ma Hongjun recalled, "I sensed him carefully, and there wasn't a shred of soul power fluctuation on him. Either he's a mortal, or his cultivation is so high that I can't perceive it at all."

The room fell silent.

Oscar's fake front tooth clicked, and he quickly pushed it back into place with his tongue.

"If he really is a mortal, why would Ning Rongrong go running to him? It can't be that they're dating, right?"

Ma Hongjun shrugged: "Hard to say. When Ning Rongrong went in, she was carrying food; it looked like she brought it for that boss."

"Brought food for the boss?" Tang San sat up straight.

"Yes."

The four of them exchanged glances.

Dai Mubai frowned, thinking for a long time before speaking.

"I suspect this boss is a hidden Title Douluo."

Ma Hongjun nodded in agreement: "I think so too. Someone who can make several girls' strength skyrocket in such a short time can't be an ordinary person. He might be running a shabby little shop on the surface, but in reality, he's secretly helping them cultivate."

Tang San shook his head: "Not necessarily. Even if a Title Douluo were to pass on their power, they couldn't boost someone by eight levels all at once. I've never even seen such a method in the Clear Sky Sect's archives."

"Then what could it be?"

Tang San didn't answer; he began to piece all the clues together in his mind.

At 10:00 PM, Girls' Dormitory Room 666.

All four of them had returned.

Zhu Zhuqing was the last to arrive. Her black leather jacket was stained with dust from the training grounds. She kicked off her boots at the door, walked barefoot across the floor, and sat down on her bed.

Bai Chenxiang had already showered. Her light green pajamas hung loosely on her frame, and she had taken down her two low ponytails and re-tied them. She was sitting on her bed, flipping through the cultivation manual.

Xiao Wu had changed into a pink nightgown. Her scorpion braid was undone, her long hair cascading over her shoulders. She sat cross-legged on her bed, turning the Pink Rabbit Pendant over and over in her hands.

Ning Rongrong leaned against the headboard, still wearing her blue skirt, her white silk stockings folded at the foot of the bed.

Xiao Wu looked up at Ning Rongrong: "Rongrong, did you go to the shop this afternoon?"

"Yes."

Ning Rongrong glanced at the other three, hesitated for a moment, and then sat up straight.

"I discovered something today."

The three of them looked at her in unison.

Ning Rongrong lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Do you remember the prompt on the Crystal Ball? Helping the shopkeeper with chores, or receiving the shopkeeper's favor, can increase membership experience. The higher the membership level, the better."

"I remember." Xiao Wu nodded.

"I tried it today," Ning Rongrong said. "I helped Brother Chuan clean the shop, wiped down the claw machine, swept the floor, and took out the trash. After I finished, my membership experience increased by 5 points."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up.

"Really? Just doing chores increases experience?"

"Really. But it seems you can only increase it once a day; I tried wiping things down again later, but it didn't have any effect."

Zhu Zhuqing, arms crossed and leaning against the wall, interjected: "What about the other one? Receiving the shopkeeper's favor."

Ning Rongrong's face flushed slightly, though it was hard to tell in the dim light of the desk lamp.

"I tried that too. It went up by 10 points."

"10 points?" Xiao Wu was shocked. "More than doing chores? How did you manage that?"

Ning Rongrong lowered her head, twisting the corner of her quilt: "...I confessed to him."

The room went quiet for two seconds.

Xiao Wu was the first to react: "You confessed to Brother Chuan?"

"Yes."

"And then?"

"Then he rejected me. Said something about how a man with empty pockets shouldn't lead a beautiful woman astray."

"Then how did the experience go up?"

Ning Rongrong's voice was even smaller: "...I kissed him."

The room fell silent once more.

This time, even Zhu Zhuqing looked up, staring at Ning Rongrong.

Bai Chenxiang's cultivation manual slid to the floor. She stared blankly at Ning Rongrong, her mouth agape.

"You kissed Brother Chuan?" Xiao Wu's voice jumped an octave.

"Shh! Keep it down!" Ning Rongrong quickly glanced toward the door. "What if the girls in the next room hear us?"

Xiao Wu lowered her voice, but couldn't hide her excitement: "How did you kiss him? Where did you kiss him?"

"Just... the lips."

Xiao Wu gasped.

Zhu Zhuqing's expression remained unchanged, but a subtle shift appeared in her eyes.

Bai Chenxiang's face was beet red, and she kept her head lowered, not daring to look at anyone.

"And after you kissed him?" Xiao Wu pressed.

"After the kiss, the system notified me that I had upgraded from an Ordinary Member to a Bronze Member. The amount of game currency I can exchange increased by one, my daily grab attempts increased by one, and the high-tier zone was unlocked."

Xiao Wu's mouth formed an 'O' shape: "Bronze Member? You leveled up just like that?"

"Yes."

Xiao Wu couldn't sit still on the bed. She flipped over onto her knees, braced her hands on the edge of the mattress, and leaned her head toward Ning Rongrong.

"Wait, wait, wait. You mean to say that showing affection to Brother Chuan increases membership experience? Once the experience bar is full, you level up? And after leveling up, the number of grab attempts increases?"

"Yes."

Xiao Wu's brain began to race.

An Ordinary Member gets three attempts a day, while a Bronze Member gets four. This meant that for the same amount of Gold Soul Coins, she could make more attempts. The more attempts, the higher the chance of winning. The higher the chance of winning, the better the prizes she could get.

And the way to level up was—to be good to Brother Chuan.

Xiao Wu slapped her thigh hard.

"I knew it! Those hints written on the crystal ball, about helping the shopkeeper with chores and gaining the shopkeeper's favor to increase experience—so that's what it meant!"

Ning Rongrong nodded: "The better we treat him, the greater our gains."

Zhu Zhuqing thought for a moment and spoke up: "Then what about after reaching Bronze? How much experience is needed to continue leveling up?"

"Bronze maxes out at 20 points," Ning Rongrong said. "I'm at 5/20 right now."

Xiao Wu rubbed her hands together: "Then what's the next level? Silver? Gold?"

"I don't know, it doesn't say."

The four of them fell silent for a while, each calculating in their own minds.

Xiao Wu traced circles on the bedsheet with her finger, muttering to herself.

"Five points for doing chores, ten points for a confession or a kiss. At this rate, leveling up isn't too slow. But the problem is, you can only get chore points once a day, and I've already tried—repeating the same confession doesn't count."

"The system prompt said that repetitive check-ins are invalid and told me to unlock new scenarios," Ning Rongrong added.

"New scenarios? What kind of new scenarios?"

"I don't know."

Xiao Wu thought about it for a long time, but couldn't come up with anything, so she simply set the question aside for the moment.

The four of them lay down.

The lights were turned off, and the room was filled only with the occasional chirping of insects from outside the window.

Xiao Wu lay in the darkness, staring at the ceiling, turning Ning Rongrong's words over and over in her mind.

Doing chores, 5 points. Confessions and kisses, 10 points. Unlocking new scenarios...

Xiao Wu did the math in her head. Ning Rongrong got 10 experience points just by kissing Brother Chuan and leveled up to Bronze immediately. If she were to do the same...

No, what if she did even more?

Ning Rongrong only kissed him once. What if she managed to achieve even more "scenarios"?

Xiao Wu tossed and turned under the covers, her heart rate inexplicably quickening.

She snuck a glance at Ning Rongrong's back on the opposite bed. Ning Rongrong was already asleep, her breathing steady, her shoulders rising and falling slightly.

Zhu Zhuqing lay motionless on the bed in the corner; it was unclear whether she was asleep or lost in thought.

Bai Chenxiang was curled up in her quilt, with only her two low ponytails visible.

Xiao Wu closed her eyes, then opened them again. She had made a decision.