Why had Yu Shujun done that?
Wasn't she blatantly targeting Wen Nan? What good would it do her to get him into trouble?
Actually, if he took a step back, Yu Shujun had used various methods to create two scenes of romantic chaos for Wen Nan. In a way, that meant her actions revolved around him.
It was just that Qiqi, Wu Yuwei, Little Chili, and Aunt Mei all acted with the goal of getting closer to Wen Nan and creating as many chances as possible to interact with him. That also fit the purpose of the "Accept the Invitation" quest better.
But Yu Shujun's actions seemed aimed at causing Wen Nan trouble.
And causing Wen Nan trouble wouldn't help the two of them finish the "Accept the Invitation" quest any sooner. If anything, it would only make the quest more difficult.
So, for some reason, Yu Shujun didn't want Wen Nan to complete the quest smoothly... Why?
Of course, it wasn't unusual for some romance targets to start a quest with zero or even negative affection toward the player.
Yu Shujun's character was supposed to be "a cold, scheming top student." With that kind of personality, it was only natural for her to be distant at first.
Yu Shujun's initial affection for Wen Nan was very low, and Wen Nan had now lost the boost from his maxed-out Charm stat. It wasn't strange that this made her resistant to the invitation quest.
But the problem was...
Yu Shujun had encouraged Wu Yuwei and helped Little Chili and Aunt Mei get into the school before she had even met Wen Nan.
In other words, back when Wen Nan still had maxed-out Charm, before the two of them had even met, Yu Shujun had already been going out of her way to cause him trouble.
What had he done to deserve that?
Was it because Wen Nan hadn't shown up on time for their meeting? That didn't seem likely. Besides, Yu Shujun had given the letter to Wu Yuwei before the time she and Wen Nan had agreed to meet for tutoring. At that point, she shouldn't have known he'd be late, right?
Of course, even if he allowed for the worst, it wasn't unheard of in romance games for one or two characters to be difficult to win over. Some might even feel hostile toward the protagonist at the start of a story.
After all, conquering an enemy who seemed impossible to overcome was far more satisfying than winning over a childhood friend whose happy ending had already been written into the script.
Still, Wen Nan didn't think Yu Shujun's situation fit that description.
One reason was that this was only a beginner Trial Zone. Wen Nan didn't think there would be romance targets who were that difficult to win over. Otherwise, the game would be far too unfriendly to beginners.
Besides, Yu Shujun's displayed difficulty rating was only one and a half stars. There was no way someone with a rating like that would naturally harbor such deep hostility toward Wen Nan.
Of course, these were all just Wen Nan's subjective judgments. They couldn't count as direct evidence.
As for direct evidence...
Wen Nan: [9527]
9527: [I'm here.]
Wen Nan: [Yu Shujun just admitted that she's Wu Yuwei's best friend. Did you hear that?]
9527: [Yes. I have confirmed that Yu Shujun and Wu Yuwei are best friends.]
Wen Nan: [So in the background information you gave me earlier about Wu Yuwei, the part that said, "Luckily, her best friend spotted the letter by the classroom's back door and warned Xiao Wei in time"—that best friend was Yu Shujun?]
9527: [Yes. Congratulations! You successfully spotted a discrepancy! You have received a bonus exploration map reward of 10 coins!]
Wen Nan: ...
Ten coins? Was it trying to fob off a beggar?
And if I hadn't asked, would you have kept those ten coins to yourself, too?
Wen Nan couldn't be bothered to argue with the system. He quickly returned to the point. [9527, retrieve Yu Shujun's background information again.]
9527: [Here is Yu Shujun's background information—
Background: Yu Shujun has been a top student since childhood. Whether it was a major or minor exam, she always ranked first in her grade and had never fallen to second place.
She has absolutely no interest in anything except studying. Aside from attending classes, taking exams, completing assignments, and participating in academic competitions, she has no other activities in her high school life.
She is not only immune to romance, but to friendship as well.
She has always been a loner. She has no romantic partner, no friends, and no social relationships of any kind to distract her.
She does not take part in extracurricular activities or attend class gatherings and mixers...]
Wen Nan: [All right, stop. Right there.]
Wen Nan: [9527, are you sure the background information you've just given me accurately describes Yu Shujun's current situation?]
9527: [Confirmed.]
Wen Nan: [So Yu Shujun has always been a loner, with no romantic partner, no friends, and no social relationships of any kind to distract her?]
9527: [Yes.]
Wen Nan: [Then tell me, why does she have a best friend?]
9527: ...
9527: ["Best friend" usually refers to the close relationship between two female friends who get along well. It is a form of friendship...]
Wen Nan: ...
That was the trouble with AI smart-alecks.
Whenever it couldn't answer a question, it started giving irrelevant dictionary definitions...
But Wen Nan didn't care anymore.
The system had confirmed his suspicion: there was something wrong with Yu Shujun.
Either Yu Shujun's identity information, as a romance target in the Trial Map, had been altered, and the background information the system had shown him was incorrect.
Or the information the system had provided really did belong to the character Yu Shujun, but... the person sitting beside Wen Nan right now wasn't Yu Shujun.
Of those two possibilities, Wen Nan was more inclined to believe the latter.
With that in mind, Wen Nan was about to call out to the system again in his mind when the person beside him stirred, interrupting his thoughts.
Yu Shujun raised her wrist and glanced at her watch. Then, her face cold, she said, "Time's up. That's enough tutoring for today."
With that, she gathered up the test papers on the desk, picked up her backpack, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Wen Nan called after her.
Yu Shujun turned back. "Save your questions for the next tutoring session."
"But I still haven't figured out the question from earlier."
Yu Shujun furrowed her brows. "Ye Jiu, why do you insist on making a simple multiple-choice question so complicated?"
Wen Nan: ...
He suspected she was taking a jab at him, but he had no proof.
The moment Yu Shujun left the classroom, the system's voice rang out in Wen Nan's mind.
9527: [Congratulations! You have successfully completed Main Quest 1. Please return to the Trial Zone refresh point—your dormitory—as soon as possible to claim your rewards.]
Wen Nan didn't leave right away. Instead, he asked, [9527, how many players are participating in this beginner Trial Zone map?]
Before you continue