Foster Father

Hearing Wen Nan say that so casually, Little Chili's upturned lips slowly fell.

She gave Wen Nan a meaningful look. "You... are so twisted."

Wen Nan chuckled.

He thought it was a little twisted too, but there was no helping it. This damn game had designed the main quest like this, so all he could do was play along.

But when Little Chili heard him say that, the heat of their previously clingy embrace faded considerably. She twisted out of Wen Nan's arms and stopped bringing up the idea of becoming his girlfriend.

She reached out, grabbed Wen Nan's hand, and tugged him toward an alley by the roadside.

"What are you doing?"

Wen Nan asked casually, thinking that an alley like this would be a pretty good place for some unspeakable activities.

But although Little Chili had been passionate when pursuing him, her mind was actually as clear as water. She had never once thought about the things Wen Nan was thinking of right now.

Her fantasies about having a boyfriend went no further than being able to kiss and cuddle with her, having him at her beck and call, having him all to herself, and having him willing to accompany her—

"To an internet café, to play games!"

Wen Nan: ?

The unspeakable thoughts in his head vanished in an instant.

Still dazed, Wen Nan was dragged toward the internet café by Little Chili. He hadn't come back to his senses yet when he asked, "Weren't we just talking about making our relationship official?"

Little Chili kept walking. She merely looked back at him with a wicked smile. "Is there anything to discuss? I've already unilaterally announced that we're together."

Wen Nan: ?

She could do that?

"No, isn't this something that involves both of us?"

Little Chili was perfectly reasonable. "As far as I'm concerned, it only involves one person. You already kissed me, so you don't get to refuse."

Wen Nan was confused.

It wasn't until Little Chili led him into a small private booth for couples and they sat side by side in front of two computers that he began to consider a very important question—

He didn't have much time left.

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

On the Seventh High School campus, beside the flower bed in front of the classroom building.

A girl in an oversized school uniform, thick glasses, and a ponytail held a bottle of mineral water and stared blankly at a trash can.

"Miss, are you done with that?"

An old man in ragged clothes, his hands filthy, came over with a woven sack and pointed at the bottle in the girl's hand as he asked.

Yu Shujun gave the old man a cold once-over. Without saying a word, she 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, the sack in his hand, watching Yu Shujun walk away.

After her figure disappeared beyond the school gate, the old man's lips curled into a sinister smile.

A red light flickered to life in one of the old man's pupils. A faint mechanical voice sounded from his chest. "Target detected. Locked on."

The light blinked twice, then quickly went out.

After walking out of the school gate, Yu Shujun stopped at the roadside.

Her face was still expressionless. She merely murmured to herself, "There's no time."

Then she turned and looked across the road at an internet café.

Wen Nan and Little Chili sat side by side at the internet café's gaming station for couples, playing a duo match.

Every so often, Wen Nan turned to look at the girl beside him, his eyes full of helplessness.

The shifting light from the computer screen fell across Little Chili's face, making her delicate features look even more defined.

Her mixed-race-looking eyes were fixed on the screen. So focused was she that her lips parted slightly. One hand hammered away at the keyboard while the other frantically clicked the mouse.

With her actions, she showed Wen Nan exactly what it meant to be a master of missing every shot.

A problem girl with terrible skills and an addiction to gaming.

Those two phrases came to mind.

He shook his head with a helpless smile. He hadn't expected that, with the trial mission nearing its end, he'd be playing online games with a girl at an internet café...

This really wasn't the sort of scene one would expect in a romance攻略 game.

"Why are you looking at me? Watch the road! You've crashed into a tree! Driving without a license?" Little Chili shouted, never taking her eyes off the screen. "Give me the eight-times scope."

Wen Nan was startled. What did a master of missing every shot need an eight-times scope for?

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

Wen Nan suddenly had an idea. "Call me Dad, and I'll give it to you."

Little Chili briefly glanced away from the screen to look at Wen Nan, then returned to the game. "You big dummy, are you possessed today? Why are you so determined to be my dad?"

Wen Nan smiled without answering.

This sort of trick, getting someone to call him "Dad" when they weren't paying attention, probably wouldn't count as success even if he pulled it off.

The progress on his final main quest had been stuck at 60% for a long time.

He brought up the countdown interface showing the refresh point's real-time timer—

[00:59:36--]

[00:59:35--]

[00:59:34--]

Less than an hour remained before the mission ended.

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

A sense of urgency welled up inside Wen Nan.

Just then, the game-over screen appeared. They'd been eliminated in the final poison circle.

"Damn it!"

Little Chili slammed the keyboard and banged the mouse against the desk, drawing frequent glances from customers in the main hall.

She didn't notice at all. She cursed furiously, "What a crappy game. This is no fun. Uninstall it! I'm done playing!"

Seeing this, Wen Nan suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He had it!

He smiled at the girl beside him. "Let's stop playing this. We'll play something more fun. I promise you won't be able to stop."

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

Wen Nan swiftly opened the store interface, bought a new game in record time, and introduced it solemnly. "Black Monkey."

Little Chili narrowed her eyes and looked at Wen Nan's screen. "Just some stupid monkey?"

Five minutes later, after Wen Nan played the game's promotional video, Little Chili clung tightly to his arm. "That's awesome! Let's go, let's go!"

Wen Nan nodded toward the screen. "Buy it."

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

Wen Nan said, "For a game this well-made, that price is a bargain."

Little Chili grimaced.

It wasn't about whether it was a bargain. She lived paycheck to paycheck, and there were hardly any days when her balance reached three digits. It was the end of the month, and she simply didn't have enough money.

After thinking it over, she looked at Wen Nan. "You big dummy, could I... borrow your account to play?"

Wen Nan raised an eyebrow. "...You big dummy?"

Little Chili immediately changed how she addressed him. "Brother Nine!"

Wen Nan was still dissatisfied. "Brother Nine?"

Little Chili's eyes shifted as she finally caught on. Though she didn't like it, she was willing to do anything for Black Monkey!

"Dad!"

She clasped her hands together and called out to Wen Nan with great gusto. "From now on, you're my cyber foster father!"

9527: [Main Quest 3, progress: 100%]

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

Wen Nan: ?

That worked?

He'd completed the quest just like that?

Had he... cleared the game?

Wen Nan turned to look at Little Chili in a daze. His gaze happened to drift toward the hall behind her, where he spotted an unwelcome visitor.

Yu Shujun?

The top student in a blue-and-white striped school uniform and thick glasses looked completely out of place in this noisy internet café, which reeked of cigarette smoke.

Yu the Scholar stood not far from the entrance, seemingly unwilling to go any farther inside. After scanning the room, she finally looked toward the private booths for couples, and her gaze met Wen Nan's.

Wen Nan opened his mouth, wanting to ask, "What's up?"

Then he remembered that in an internet café this noisy, she wouldn't hear him anyway.

By the time he came back to his senses, Yu Shujun had already turned around and headed out without looking back.

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

[Yu the Scholar: Come out]

[Ye Jiu: ?]

[Yu the Scholar: The agreement. We're settling it now.]