I'm Not a Big Shot

This question flashed through Wen Nan's mind.

It seemed that for his next mission, he would need to focus his strategy on [Fair and Tender Neighbor Auntie].

As for now, he needed to review the main quest of "going on a date" from this evening—

He had accepted Qiqi's invitation first, which had logically earned him the highest affection rating.

After he rejected the school beauty, although that final fleeting glance suggested she seemed heartbroken, her affection rating indicated that she actually liked Wen Nan even more.

As for Little Chili... her time spent with Wen Nan that night hadn't been long, and in their interaction, they had only done one thing. Yet, simply because Wen Nan had pinned her to a corner and kissed her forcefully, her affection rating had soared to 72%...

In comparison, Aunt Mei's 36% target affection rating seemed much more reasonable. After all, their only interactions had been a brief chat and a hurried meeting. If he wanted to explore a higher rating, he would have to rely on the next two main missions.

Finally, there was the 60% target affection rating of the [Cold and Scheming Straight-A Student]...

One possibility was that the Straight-A Student, as a "cold and scheming" character, was actually enjoying herself while tutoring Wen Nan, despite her outward reluctance.

However, there was another possibility: that "she" was, as Wen Nan suspected, not a game character at all, but a player in disguise.

If the latter were true, then this Straight-A Student's abilities were even more formidable than Wen Nan had anticipated—

"She" had not only used some skill, item, or game system bug to successfully transition from a player to a character and enter this map, but "she" could even easily manipulate and modify core game data, such as this current target affection rating.

Currently, Wen Nan's affection rating for the [Cold and Scheming Straight-A Student] was 60%, exactly the threshold for meeting the target—not a point more, not a point less.

If this number wasn't a coincidence, then the Straight-A Student was using it to tell Wen Nan: "You have successfully cleared my route. From now on, you pretend you didn't notice I'm a disguised player, and I'll control my target affection rating to ensure you can clear the game. We'll stay out of each other's way and live in peace."

If it were the latter, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Wen Nan—though it was a slight pity to lose a romantic interest, not having to strategize for one target was not all that bad.

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

Returning to the strategies for the other four characters—

Judging by the mission results obtained so far, in a sense, the [Target Affection Rating] should be a reflection of each character's personality, preferences, and sexual kinks.

Qiqi liked sweet, fresh, and youthful dates; the school beauty liked being rejected (or so it seemed, he would have to see); Little Chili liked old-school, overbearing CEO behaviors like wall-pinning and forced kisses; as for Aunt Mei...

He had had too little contact with her to determine her preferences, but Wen Nan surmised that it would ultimately have something to do with being "fair" or "tender."

It seemed that for the next mission, he would need to find a way to properly dig into Aunt Mei's affection rating and test her depths...

"Um, Night... Great God, your target affection rating..."

A tentative voice from one of his roommates reached his ears.

Wen Nan was deep in thought, and as his train of thought was abruptly interrupted, he subconsciously replied, "Aunt Mei's 36% affection rating is a bit low..."

He had only just begun when he remembered there was no need to share these thoughts with other players, so he stopped himself. He looked up to see the other three staring at him with extremely complex expressions.

Those expressions were, how should he put it, about thirty percent resentful, thirty percent ashamed and angry, and forty percent unwilling to accept reality.

Shao Ling, the one with glasses, clutched his overworked lower back and repeated through gritted teeth, "A bit... low?"

The fatty and Huang Tao echoed in disbelief, "You think these affection ratings of yours... are low?!"

The feeling was exactly like the day the college entrance exam results were released, when the three of them, struggling just to pass the baseline, were huddled together for comfort, only to hear a top-tier genius from next door, holding a city-topping score and an acceptance letter from a top-two university, say that he was a bit disappointed because he hadn't gotten a perfect score on his science section.

It, was, a, bit, low!

This was the most ruthless insult to the three of them, who were barely scraping by.

Yet, they couldn't even blame this "top scorer," because it was very likely he wasn't showing off or mocking them—he was genuinely dissatisfied with his own results.

But the lethality was just too high.

The fatty's face twisted like a bitter melon.

"Do you even hear yourself? The affection rating is a bit low? You're targeting five characters at once, the highest is nearly perfect, and the lowest is already at 36%!"

"36%, and you think that's a bit low?!"

"The three of us have 20%, 9%, and 3% respectively. All of ours added together don't even reach your lowest rating!"

"Great God Night, can you stop being so humble-bragging? Leave a path for us small-fry to survive..."

Hearing the fatty's complaints and seeing the expressions on Huang Tao and Shao Ling's faces, Wen Nan realized he had indeed said the wrong thing and hadn't considered his roommates' feelings. He began, "Sorry, I—"

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

The fatty chimed in, "Right, right, right, we were blind and had eyes but couldn't see! How dare we doubt a Great God like you just now! Who are we to question you?"

"You dared to challenge five high-difficulty targets at once from the very beginning; that already clearly signaled your status as a Great God! We were just too stupid to realize it until now!"

"Tell us, which of the nine legendary masters are you? Could you spare a spot for us to join your guild? Please!"

As the fatty spoke, he forced a brilliant smile, the fat on the corners of his eyes bunching up into folds.

He was hunched over in a posture of extreme sycophancy; if it weren't for his sore backside making it difficult, he might have already knelt before Wen Nan.

Wen Nan smiled awkwardly, "I'm not a Great God."

The remaining players in the dorm would never believe that, even if they died.

Ha, you're not a Great God?

Stop joking.

You chose five female ghost bosses at once and completed the first mission with a super-high score of 91 points, and you're telling us you're not a Great God?

Do you take the three of us for some brainless idiots?

The fatty suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "The big boss doesn't want to admit his identity right now simply because our attitudes before the results came out didn't satisfy him! I get it!"

As he spoke, the fatty raised his hand high—

Smack!

A crisp slap echoed through the dormitory.

Five finger marks immediately appeared on the fatty's face.

"Big boss, are you satisfied yet?"