I'm Not a Big Shot

The question flashed through Wen Nan's mind.

Looks like next time, he'd have to focus his capture efforts on [Fair and Tender Neighbor Auntie].

For now, though, he went back over tonight's main quest, "Go on a Date"—

First, he'd accepted Qiqi's invitation to go on a date, and naturally ended up with the highest capture rating.

After he turned down the campus belle, she'd seemed to cry bitterly from that hurried glance he'd caught of her. But judging from her capture rating, she seemed to like Wen Nan even more.

As for Little Chili... She hadn't spent much time with Wen Nan that night. They'd only done one thing together, so all it took was Wen Nan pinning her against a wall and kissing her by force for her capture rating to hit 72%...

By comparison, Aunt Mei's target capture rating of 36% made a lot more sense. The only interaction they'd had was a brief chat and a hurried meeting. If he wanted to explore a higher capture rating, he'd have to rely on the next two main quests.

Finally, there was the Straight-A Student's target capture rating of 60%...

One possibility was that, as a "cold and scheming" character, she'd secretly enjoyed tutoring Wen Nan, despite acting reluctant on the surface.

But there was another possibility: she really wasn't a character in the game, just as Wen Nan had suspected, but a player in disguise.

If that was the case, then the Straight-A Student was even more impressive than Wen Nan had imagined—

"She" had not only used some kind of skill, item, or game-system bug to successfully change from a player into a character and enter this map, but could even manipulate and alter certain core game data with ease, such as the target capture rating.

At the moment, Wen Nan's capture rating for [Cold and Scheming Straight-A Student] was 60%—exactly the required amount, not a point more or less.

If that number wasn't a coincidence, then the Straight-A Student was telling Wen Nan this: You've successfully captured me. From now on, pretend you haven't figured out I'm a player disguised as a character. I'll keep my target capture rating under control and make sure you can clear the game. We'll stay out of each other's way and leave one another in peace.

If that was what was happening, it wasn't a bad thing for Wen Nan. He'd miss out on one potential romantic partner, which was a little disappointing, but having one fewer target to capture wasn't so bad.

As for whether his guess was right, he'd have to wait until he saw the Straight-A Student again.

Back to the other four characters—

Judging by the results of the quests he'd completed so far, in a sense, a character's [target capture rating] reflected their personality, preferences, and sexual tastes.

Qiqi liked sweet, lighthearted dates. The campus belle liked being rejected (?), though he wasn't sure and would have to see. Little Chili liked old-fashioned domineering CEO behavior like being pinned against a wall and kissed by force. As for Aunt Mei...

He hadn't spent enough time with her yet to know what she liked. But Wen Nan figured it had to be something to do with either fair skin or tenderness.

Looks like he'd have to find a way to explore Aunt Mei's capture rating next time, and see just how deep her preferences went...

"Um, Ye... Big Shot, your target capture rating..."

A roommate's hesitant voice sounded in his ear.

Wen Nan was deep in thought, and the interruption abruptly snapped him out of it. He replied without thinking, "Aunt Mei's 36%攻略 rating is a little low..."

He'd barely started speaking when he realized there was no need to share his thoughts with the other players. He stopped and looked up, only to see the other three staring at him with complicated expressions.

How to describe those looks? Maybe three parts resentment, three parts embarrassment and anger, and four parts unwillingness to accept it.

Shao Ling, the bespectacled one, clutched his overworked lower back and gritted out, "A little... low?"

The fat guy and Huang Tao chimed in, just as incredulous. "You think those capture ratings of yours are... low?!"

It felt just like the day the college entrance exam results came out. The three of them, students scraping by around the cutoff for a top-tier university, had been huddling together for comfort when some genius next door showed up with the highest score in the city and an acceptance letter from one of the country's top two universities, then said, "I didn't get full marks on the science subjects. That's a little low."

A. Little. Low.

It was the cruelest possible insult to the three of them, who'd barely scraped by.

But they couldn't even blame the top scorer, because it was entirely possible he wasn't showing off or mocking them. He might genuinely be dissatisfied with his results.

Even so, the damage was devastating.

The fat guy's face puckered like a bitter melon.

"Do you hear yourself? Your capture rating is a little low? You captured five characters at once. Your highest is almost perfect, and your lowest is still 36%!

"Thirty-six percent, and you think that's a little low?!

"All three of us together have one at 20%, one at 9%, and one at 3%. That's still lower than your lowest rating!

"Big Shot Ye, could you stop humblebragging and leave us nobodies a way to survive..."

Hearing the fat guy's complaints and seeing Huang Tao and Shao Ling's expressions, Wen Nan realized he might really have said the wrong thing and failed to consider his roommates' feelings. He began, "Sorry, I—"

"—No, no, don't apologize! We're the ones who should be apologizing!" Wen Nan had barely started when Shao Ling immediately waved his hands, cutting him off.

The fat guy chimed in too. "Exactly! We were blind, looking down on you like a couple of mangy dogs! How dare we doubt someone as mighty as you? Who do we think we are, questioning you?

"You dared to take on five high-difficulty capture targets at once from the very beginning. That made your Big Shot status crystal clear! We were just too stupid to realize you really were a Big Shot until now!

"Tell us, which of the nine legendary big shots are you? Could you grant me a spot in your guild? Please!"

As he spoke, the fat guy forced a dazzling smile onto his face, squeezing the folds of fat beside his eyes toward his cheeks.

He bent over in a pose of utter servility. If his butt weren't busted, he might already have dropped to his knees in front of Wen Nan.

Wen Nan smiled awkwardly. "I'm not a Big Shot."

There was no way the remaining players in the dorm would believe that now, even if they were beaten to death.

Oh, you're not a Big Shot?

Give me a break.

You picked five female ghost bosses at once and scored an incredible 91 on your very first quest, and you're saying you're not a Big Shot?

Do you think the three of us are brainless idiots?

The fat guy suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "The Big Shot doesn't want to admit who he is because he wasn't happy with our attitude before the results came out! Got it!"

As he spoke, the fat guy raised his hand high—

Slap!

A crisp slap rang through the dorm.

Five fingerprints immediately appeared on the fat guy's face.

"Big Shot, are you satisfied now?"