Out of Place

The system's distinct electronic, mechanical voice rang out in his mind.

9527:[I apologize, participant involvement is classified information. Participants currently in the novice trial zone map are not authorized to access it.]

...Classified?

When Wen Nan had first arrived at the four-person male dormitory—the spawn point for their map—he had clearly chosen his target for conquest alongside the Fatty, the Glasses-wearer, and the Athlete.

If it were truly meant to be classified, shouldn't the players have been separated to make their choices the moment they entered the spawn point?

To claim it was classified only now... there had to be something fishy going on.

So, was the system protecting certain special players?

Was Yu Shujun... truly a game character being impersonated by a player?

If that were the case, then her strange behavior and bizarre attire all made sense—

In such sweltering heat, she insisted on wearing long sleeves, long pants, and a school uniform, covering most of her face with her bangs, wearing thick glasses, and using clumsy makeup techniques to make herself unrecognizable—all for one purpose: to hide her true appearance.

But why would she want to infiltrate the game characters?

If she were a player, didn't she need to complete the main quest like Wen Nan? By becoming the target of Wen Nan's conquest, wouldn't her own process of completing the mission become riddled with difficulties?

Wait...

Wen Nan seemed to have overlooked an important question—

Was she... truly a "she"?

As far as Wen Nan knew, this was a male-oriented dating simulation game. Theoretically, the players inside should all be male, or at the very least, psychologically male.

If that were the case, this player impersonating Yu Shujun...

Wen Nan's thoughts ran wild—

Although the batch of players who entered the novice trial zone with him was quite diverse, Wen Nan himself absolutely did not have those kinds of inclinations.

If the players in this game were merely uploading their consciousness into the characters' bodies, he could barely force himself to turn a blind eye and grit his teeth to finish the conquest if a man were playing a female character. After all, Wen Nan had certainly thought about things like, "If I turned into a woman, I'd definitely let the bros have some fun first."

However, in this game, it was clear that their original bodies were being directly transported into the game map. Even if changes in levels and attributes caused varying degrees of physical alteration, it shouldn't reach the point of changing one's biological sex.

In that case...

The possibility that this Yu Shujun was a cross-dresser had become extremely high!

Hiss.

Wen Nan's heart tightened, and his rear end followed suit.

He shuddered and shook his head vigorously.

During the next main quest, if he encountered Yu Shujun again, he had to make things clear with "her."

It would be best if the two of them could reach some sort of beautiful, peaceful coexistence agreement—"she" could disguise herself as a game character, and whatever her purpose was, he would let "her" be; Wen Nan wouldn't interfere. But "she" shouldn't come and mess with Wen Nan's conquest missions either. When the trial ended, "she" could voluntarily max out the favorability rating and give Wen Nan a fake "five-star review," and that would be the end of it.

From then on, they would go their separate ways, like water flowing down its own path.

Just as he made up his mind, the system's voice rang out in his mind once again.

9527:[Main Quest 1 has concluded. Please return to the spawn point within 15 minutes to initiate mission settlement. If you exceed the specified time window, you will lose your eligibility for this settlement. Please be advised.]

As the urging voice faded, Wen Nan stood up and walked toward the male dormitory.

Back in the dormitory, a row of massive countdown numbers flickered on the light screen floating above, indicating the time until the mission settlement would begin.

At this moment, apart from Wen Nan, the room was empty.

He was actually the first one back.

The floor of the room was still littered with empty beverage bottles, and the familiar, complex stench of foot odor and instant noodles still lingered in the air.

Wen Nan leaned back into the chair under his bunk and pulled up the [Community] interface from his mental system, wanting to check the players' live-streaming feeds, only to discover that the streams automatically closed during the settlement phase.

Just as he was about to browse the [Mall], the dormitory door was pushed open.

The Athlete walked in with heavy, dragging footsteps.

Even though only a short night had passed, the Athlete looked as if he had lived through a lifetime. When he left, he had been a vibrant, energetic youth, but upon returning, he looked like an old man nearing the grave—hunched over, leaning against the wall, and stumbling toward his own bunk.

The moment he saw Wen Nan, he froze in place. "You... you quit halfway through?!"

Wen Nan shook his head. "The mission ended, so I came back."

Hearing this, the Athlete suspected he had misheard or that his memory was failing him. "You, you didn't, didn't you choose five female... female characters at the same time?"

"I did," Wen Nan nodded and replied truthfully, "I finished all five."

The Athlete stared at Wen Nan, dumbfounded. "Five? All of them? You finished them?!"

How was that possible! He had only chosen one neutral NPC and had almost been played to the point of quitting halfway through, and the guy across from him had actually chosen five female ghosts! How could he possibly have finished them all?

Finishing them was one thing, but why...

The Athlete looked Wen Nan up and down, his gaze finally landing on Wen Nan's lower half. "Why... are you so clean?!"

For a fleeting moment, Wen Nan felt as if the other party were questioning his virility. However, Wen Nan considered himself a self-disciplined and courteous man; he felt that since they had only just finished the first mission in the trial zone, it shouldn't have progressed to the point of being "unclean" yet, right?

Wen Nan was stunned for a moment, then retorted, "You've become unclean?"

No sooner had Wen Nan finished speaking than another figure walked slowly into the dormitory.

Wen Nan and the athlete looked toward the door at the same time, only to see Fatty hunched over, leaning against the wall, and stumbling toward his own seat.

One of his hands was pressed against his lower back, and with every step he took, he would wince and hiss in pain as it jarred a certain spot.

The moment his heavy frame touched the chair, he immediately jumped up, eventually shifting his backside to the very edge of the seat and sitting down in a remarkably effeminate posture.

His gaze fell upon Wen Nan, and Fatty looked utterly shocked. "You... you quit halfway through?!"

Wen Nan: "...The mission ended, so I came back."

Fatty: "Why... are you so clean?"

Wen Nan: ...

It had happened twice now.

Wen Nan asked again, "You've become unclean too?"

As soon as the words left his lips, the bespectacled man walked in from outside the dormitory, also hunched over, also leaning against the wall, also stumbling toward his seat, and also sitting down in a remarkably effeminate posture.

Likewise, the moment he saw Wen Nan, his eyes widened in surprise. "You—"

"—didn't quit, and I'm very clean."

Wen Nan had already learned to preempt the question.

Inside the dormitory, the other three men looked at Wen Nan simultaneously, as if he were an alien.

Wen Nan: ...

He never expected that one day, he would feel out of place among the others simply because he wasn't "dirty enough"...