Godfather

Upon hearing Wen Nan's seemingly nonchalant words, the corners of Little Chili's mouth, which had been curled upward, slowly flattened.

She cast a meaningful glance at Wen Nan. "You... are such a pervert."

Wen Nan chuckled softly.

He felt a bit like a pervert himself, but there was no helping it; since this damned game insisted on designing the main quest this way, he had no choice but to play along.

However, after hearing him say that, the sticky, clingy enthusiasm Little Chili had been exuding faded significantly. She twisted her waist to break free from Wen Nan's embrace and stopped bringing up the topic of becoming his girlfriend.

Raising her hand, she grabbed Wen Nan's palm and pulled him forcefully toward an alleyway by the side of the road.

"What are you doing?"

Wen Nan asked casually, thinking to himself that such a small alley was actually quite suitable for doing some indescribable things.

But although Little Chili was fiery and passionate when chasing someone, her mind was actually as clear as water; she had never once thought about the things Wen Nan was currently imagining.

Her fantasies about a boyfriend stopped strictly at being able to kiss and hug, being on call whenever she needed, belonging only to her, and being willing to accompany her—

"To the internet cafe, to play games!"

Wen Nan: ?

The indescribable thoughts in his head were instantly wiped clean.

Stunned as he was dragged toward the internet cafe by Little Chili, Wen Nan hadn't yet regained his senses. He asked, "Weren't we just talking about establishing a romantic relationship?"

Little Chili didn't stop her pace, merely turning her head back to give Wen Nan a wicked, charming smile. "Does that still need discussing? I've already unilaterally declared that we're together."

Wen Nan: ?

That was allowed?

"No, isn't this something that involves two people?"

Little Chili replied righteously, "As far as I'm concerned, this is a one-person decision. Besides, you've already kissed me, so you don't have the right to refuse."

Wen Nan felt bewildered.

It wasn't until he was led by Little Chili into a small couple's booth and sat side-by-side in front of two computers that he began to consider a very important question—

There wasn't much time left for him.

In a place so perfectly suited for wasting time, how was he supposed to complete the main quest?

Seventh High School campus, by the flower bed in front of the teaching building.

A girl wearing an oversized school uniform, thick glasses, and a ponytail held a mineral water bottle in her hand, staring expressionlessly at a trash can.

"Miss, are you still using this?"

An elderly man in tattered clothes, his hands covered in grime, walked up to the girl carrying a snakeskin bag. He pointed at the water bottle in her hand and asked.

Yu Shujun kept a cold face, looked the old man up and down, and then, without a word, turned and walked toward the school gate.

It was as if the old man were nothing more than a puff of air.

The old man stood rooted to the spot, clutching his snakeskin bag, and watched Yu Shujun walk away.

Once her silhouette disappeared through the school gate, the corners of the old man's mouth curled up, revealing a somewhat sinister smile.

In one of the old man's pupils, a red light flickered on, and a faint mechanical sound emanated from his chest: "Target discovered, locked."

The light flickered twice and quickly extinguished.

After Yu Shujun walked out of the school gate, she stopped by the side of the road.

Her face remained expressionless, but she whispered to herself, "No time left."

Having said that, she turned her head and looked toward an internet cafe across the street.

Wen Nan and Little Chili sat side-by-side in the internet cafe's couple booth, playing a duo match.

During the game, Wen Nan turned his head from time to time to look at the girl beside him, his eyes filled with helplessness.

The flickering light from the computer screen spilled onto Little Chili's face, making her delicate features appear even more three-dimensional.

Her eyes, which held a hint of mixed-race heritage, were glued to the screen. Because she was so focused, her lips were slightly parted; one hand was frantically clattering away at the keyboard, while the other was clicking the mouse like a madman.

With her actions, she demonstrated to Wen Nan exactly what a "human-shaped edge-tracer" was.

A troubled girl, unskilled but addicted.

These two phrases surfaced in Wen Nan's mind.

He shook his head with a helpless smile, never expecting that as the trial quest neared its end, he would actually be grinding in an internet cafe with a girl...

This really didn't look like the kind of scene a romance strategy game should have.

"What are you looking at me for? Watch the road! You've already crashed into a tree—are you driving without a license?" Little Chili shouted, her gaze never leaving the screen. "Give me the 8x scope."

Wen Nan was startled, thinking to himself, You're a master of missing every shot, what do you need an 8x scope for?

"Hurry up! There's someone on that mountain! Watch me get a headshot!" Little Chili urged Wen Nan impatiently.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Wen Nan, and he said, "Call me 'Daddy,' and I'll give it to you."

Little Chili briefly tore her gaze away from the screen to glare at Wen Nan before returning to the game. "You big idiot, are you possessed today? Why are you so obsessed with being my father?"

Wen Nan just smiled and didn't reply.

He knew that even if he succeeded in tricking her into saying it while she was caught off guard, the system probably wouldn't count it.

His final main quest had been stuck at 60% completion for a long time now.

He pulled up the real-time countdown interface for the refresh point from the system—

[00:59:36--]

[00:59:35--]

[00:59:34--]

There was less than an hour left until the mission ended.

Was he really going to fail at the very last step?

A sense of crisis welled up in Wen Nan's heart.

Just then, the game-over screen popped up; they had been wiped out in the final circle.

"Damn it!"

Little Chili slammed her keyboard in anger, her mouse clicking loudly as she threw it down, causing customers in the main hall outside to peek over repeatedly.

Oblivious, she continued to curse, "What a trash game, boring! Uninstalling! I'm done playing!"

Seeing this, a sudden realization hit Wen Nan. He had it!

He smiled at the person beside him. "Let's not play this anymore. Let's play something more interesting; I guarantee you won't be able to stop."

Little Chili looked skeptical. "What game? Let's see it."

Wen Nan quickly pulled up the store interface, bought a new game at lightning speed, and introduced it solemnly: "Black Monkey."

Little Chili squinted at Wen Nan's screen. "A broken monkey?"

Five minutes later, after Wen Nan finished playing the game's promotional video, Little Chili grabbed his arm tightly. "Awesome! Let's do it, let's do it!"

Wen Nan gestured toward the screen with his chin. "Buy it."

Little Chili glanced at the price and immediately wilted. "It's so expensive..."

Wen Nan: "For this production quality, this price is very reasonable."

Little Chili made a bitter face.

It wasn't a question of whether it was reasonable or not; she was a "moonlight" spender who barely had three digits in her account on a good day, and it was the end of the month—she simply didn't have that kind of money.

After a moment of thought, she looked at Wen Nan. "Big idiot, can you... can you lend me your account to play?"

Wen Nan raised an eyebrow. "...Big idiot?"

Little Chili immediately corrected herself. "Brother Jiu!"

Wen Nan still didn't look satisfied. "Brother Jiu?"

Little Chili rolled her eyes, catching on. Although she didn't like it, for the sake of Black Monkey, she was going all in!

"Daddy!"

She cupped her hands together and shouted at Wen Nan with great momentum, "From now on, you are my cyber foster father!"

9527:[Main Quest 3, completion 100%]

9527:[Congratulations! You have successfully completed Main Quest 3. Please return to the trial area refresh point—your dormitory—as soon as possible to settle the mission.]

Wen Nan:?

That actually worked?

He finished the quest just like that?

He had... cleared the level?

Wen Nan turned to look at Little Chili, dazed. His gaze drifted toward the hall behind her, and he caught sight of an unexpected visitor.

Yu Shujun?

Wearing a blue and white striped school uniform and thick-rimmed glasses, the scholar looked completely out of place in this smoky, noisy internet cafe.

Yu the Scholar stood not far from the entrance, clearly unwilling to venture further in. He scanned the room, and when his eyes landed on the couple's booth, his gaze locked with Wen Nan's.

Wen Nan opened his mouth, wanting to ask, Is something wrong?

But he realized that in such a noisy place, the other person wouldn't be able to hear him anyway.

When he looked back, he saw that Yu Shujun had already turned around and walked out the door without looking back.

The next moment, a message popped up in the chat system between Wen Nan and the character:

[Yu the Scholar: Come out]

[Ye Jiu:?]

[Yu the Scholar: The agreement. Fulfill it now.]