Count Me In

Delayed by the storyline for Xiao Wei's Entanglement, Wen Nan barely made it back to the boys' dormitory in time.

The moment he reached the door, he saw that the other three players had already returned.

Shao Ling was sitting by his desk, still hovering over his chair with his butt in an absurdly effeminate pose. This time, even Huang Tao couldn't stay standing and was sitting in his seat in an equally contorted position.

Only the fat guy looked full of life. The instant Wen Nan walked in, he rushed over and started fanning him. "Grandpa Ye, you're back?"

Above them, the countdown to the main mission suddenly began flashing a piercing red.

[00:00:10--]

[00:00:09--]

[00:00:08--]

Better late than never—he'd made it just in time.

The timing couldn't have been better.

[Main mission results are now being tallied]

[All players, please take your places]

Just like last time, a row of prompts appeared on the screen: [Player Huang Tao, please confirm your identity].

Huang Tao expertly slapped the [Confirm] button. The results appeared on the screen.

[Player Huang Tao, your main mission results are as follows:

Completion status: Complete;

Mission score: 60 points;

Mission rating: Average;

Additional rewards: None;

Selected target: Brother Who Likes Singing Dancing and Basketball;

Target progress: 38%;

Livestream popularity payout: 364 coins;

Livestream betting payout: 145 coins;

Livestream tips payout: None;

Account balance: 668 coins.]

Huang Tao stared at his mission results, looking even more troubled than last time.

After two missions, his target progress still hadn't reached 40%. To pass the final mission, he'd need to get his progress above 60%, so he couldn't just waste time like he had this time.

Worse, his mission score had been 62 last time. Now he'd scraped by with exactly 60 points. At this rate, even if he reached the required target progress in the final mission, he was afraid his rating still wouldn't be enough to pass.

And he hadn't dared to spend a single coin from his last payout, thinking that combined with this one, he'd have enough to buy a [Safety Bubble]. But he only had a little over 600 coins—not nearly enough.

Why was it so hard to make money?

At the thought, Huang Tao looked plaintively at Wen Nan, who had just come in. He started wondering whether he should call him "Grandpa" and suck up to him like the fat guy did. Maybe Wen Nan would give him a few Safety Bubbles, so he could enjoy playing basketball in his next mission.

But although his mouth opened, the word "Grandpa" turned in his throat, and he just couldn't get it out.

Forget it. Sucking up to someone was clearly not a job everyone could do.

Just then, the screen changed.

[Player Wang Xiaoer, please confirm your identity.]

The fat guy walked up and casually tapped the [Confirm] button.

The results appeared on the screen.

[Player Wang Xiaoer, your main mission results are as follows:

Completion status: Complete;

Mission score: 88 points;

Mission rating: Good;

Additional rewards: None;

Selected target: Old-fashioned Married Homeroom Teacher;

Target progress: 43%;

Livestream popularity payout: 523 coins;

Livestream betting payout: 238 coins;

Livestream tips payout: 500 coins;

Account balance: 3,122 coins.]

At the results, Huang Tao and Shao Ling glared at the fat guy, looking thoroughly unconvinced. The fat guy grinned smugly.

Sure enough, with Grandpa Ye's help, he'd taken off!

His mission score had shot up from 63 last time to 88. His target progress had jumped from just 9% to 43%. He'd earned slightly fewer coins than last time, but with the items Grandpa Ye had given him, he had no need to spend any.

As long as he kept up this performance, he'd pass the final mission with ease.

The fat guy gazed fondly at his Grandpa God of Wealth, sighing inwardly.

Sucking up feels good, and the more you do it, the better it feels.

The screen changed again.

[Player Shao Ling, please confirm your identity.]

Shao Ling got up with grim determination and hobbled over to slap the [Confirm] button.

The results appeared on the screen.

[Player Shao Ling, your main mission results are as follows:

Completion status: Complete;

Mission score: 69 points;

Mission rating: Average;

Additional rewards: None;

Selected target: Brother with Eight-Pack Abs;

Target progress: 5%;

Livestream popularity payout: 3,689 coins;

Livestream betting payout: 2,163 coins;

Livestream tips payout: 5,200 coins;

Account balance: 17,665 coins.]

Staring at his results, Shao Ling was about ready to cry.

The only consolation was that his livestream's popularity had stayed high. Even though the stream had once again been blocked halfway through because of some sensitive footage, his tips had actually tripled.

Apparently, soap-picking scenes might seem niche, but there was still a substantial audience for them.

The problem was, this account balance was completely useless to him.

He didn't need a [Safety Bubble]. If he used one, his Brother with Eight-Pack Abs wouldn't be able to get in and would go berserk.

His score had been 69 on both missions. It hadn't changed at all. It seemed that as long as he lay flat enough, his mission score was very stable.

But if he kept lying flat like this, there was no way he'd pass.

He'd had only 3% target progress at the end of the last mission. Now that this one was over, he'd only gained two points.

Come on, target progress, move a little! How could it lie flatter than he did?

Actually, Shao Ling knew exactly why his Brother with Eight-Pack Abs wasn't satisfied with him.

At the very start of the first mission, he'd raised his Strength attribute to 100 and gone on his date with a body full of muscle. His target progress had soared to 30% for a while.

But then his trial card expired, and he reverted to his original form. His Brother with Eight-Pack Abs had looked at him with disgust, muttered, "String bean," and left in disappointment. After that, his progress hadn't budged.

So to satisfy his Brother with Eight-Pack Abs, lying flat wasn't enough. He needed sixteen-pack abs!

But Attribute Trial Cards weren't something you could just buy with money.

At the thought, Shao Ling looked at Wen Nan.

He gritted his teeth, walked over, grabbed Wen Nan's hands, and pleaded through his tears. "Grandpa Ye, are you still looking for grandsons?"

At that, Huang Tao was the first to lose his composure. If the other two were sucking up to the big shot, that could only mean this was their dorm culture!

What was there left to agonize over? He should just fit in.

Huang Tao had been unable to bring himself to do it before, but now he threw away the last of his pride, rushed forward, and grabbed Wen Nan's other hand. "Grandpa, if there's room for one more grandson, count me in."