Rise with the Rooster

"Hello, everyone. I'm an adventurer who just debuted today. I hope you'll like me."

The system appeared to offer three choices, but in reality, there was only one he could pick.

The first option, "Only those defeated by me can become my teammates," looked safe and challenging. As long as he succeeded in the challenge, he could obtain a powerful character with a one-hundred-percent guarantee.

But in reality, it was a complete trap.

At present, Yang Yu had nothing besides the grass-growing skill [Cultivate Four-Leaf Clover]. His only means of attack was a normal attack—not the kind that came with Double Slash or Cleave, but a genuine, ordinary normal attack.

If he chose an experienced adventurer as his opponent, then no matter how fancy his moves were, he would still be overwhelmed when the other side hurled a whole arsenal of skills at his face.

As for the weak ones, he had no desire to find a blank slate to carry his bags. Besides, he did not need anyone to carry bags for him.

As for the third option, "True heroes do not need friends; become a proud lone wolf," it was obviously an option for challenging himself on a second playthrough. Choosing it would probably grant a buff to experience or attributes, but he might never be able to form a party again.

This option generally required a certain understanding of the game and confidence in one's own skills. Picking it on a first-time, no-save-file clear was practically courting death—like knowing your wife had saved a pile of coupons for the Double Eleven sales, then telling her to wait until the next day to buy everything.

After thinking it over, Yang Yu ultimately chose to show off his talent. If his charming dance happened to catch the attention of some big shot, wouldn't that be wonderful?

The moment he made his decision, the system issued a quest.

[Display your talent in the center of the Adventurers' Guild tavern. Reward: Favorability Detection for thirty minutes (allows you to see others' favorability toward you; you may recruit those with favorability above 20 as companions).]

It was a standard quest, and recruiting through favorability was nothing unusual.

After accepting the quest, Yang Yu immediately walked to the center of the tavern. Unafraid of everyone's stares, he began humming a song.

If Yang Yu had not been able to Cultivate Four-Leaf Clover, it would have long since leaped up and delivered a Comet Strikes Earth straight to Yang Yu's head.

The onlookers were equally dumbfounded. They had never seen such an exaggerated, bizarre dance, and they all wondered whether the young man had suffered some kind of mental blow. But once they saw that the ball Yang Yu was tossing was a Slime, they all suddenly understood.

"So he's a Demonic Beast Tamer. Then it's fine."

There were very few people who successfully formed contracts with demonic beasts and still had normal brains.

Not long afterward.

[Quest complete. Favorability Detection has been activated. Remaining time: twenty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds.]

The system's voice rang out. Yang Yu stopped dancing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, then confidently turned around and gave a seductive smile.

Although that dance had not been reproduced with one-hundred-percent accuracy, it had to be at least seventy or eighty percent there. This enchanting dance would surely capture most people's hearts, regardless of gender or age.

He looked around.

Numbers appeared above the heads of the tavern's onlookers. Some were red, representing favorability; some were white zeros, representing neutrality; but even more were gray, representing disgust.

What the hell is going on? Why are there so many people with negative favorability? Was my dance really that bad?

A sense of defeat washed over him, and the air filled with awkwardness.

Yang Yu desperately wished he could reload and try again. If he could reload, he was confident he could figure out how to get everyone's favorability to 100. But it was too late to ask the gods for a save-and-load function now. He could only search among the pitifully few red numbers for someone who met the requirements.

With one glance, he saw that the red numbers were all ones and twos. Those above three were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. The situation was far worse than he had expected.

"I should've picked the first option. I could've chosen some blank slate, beaten him up, and then kicked him out."

With a long sigh, Yang Yu headed toward the counter, intending to use the power of money to recruit some companions. At that moment, a small, thin figure in the corner caught his eye.

Messy hair covered her face. Her petite body was wrapped in a dull red-and-black dress, while a long, oversized purple robe made her already frail frame look even thinner. Beside her rested a wooden mage's staff, smooth as a cane and heavy with the marks of age.

A plate of dried sweet potatoes sat on the table, and her only drink was plain water. She quietly chewed by herself, looking utterly lonely.

A large fellow had blocked this slender girl from view earlier, causing Yang Yu to overlook her by accident.

He had merely glanced at her once amid the crowd, yet Yang Yu's gaze was deeply drawn to her.

For no other reason than the large nineteen above her head. It was the only favorability score in the tavern that exceeded a single digit. Unfortunately, it was still one point short of the requirement.

"Wait, who said it had to be the favorability score at the end of the performance?"

A single dance had changed everyone's favorability. With thirty minutes, was it not enough for him to recruit one teammate?

Although Yang Yu was also a single dog whose actual age equaled his actual age, prolonged illness made a man a doctor. Even if he had never eaten pork, had he not seen pigs run? Besides, many RPGs had at least a little romance in them, and Yang Yu was already thoroughly familiar with those romantic elements. Raising a little favorability would be easy.

Changing course, Yang Yu walked over to the girl's table and opened her status panel.

[Name: Bai Jin Level: LV12

Race: Human (Commoner) HP: 62/62 MP: 230/230 Stamina: 30/30

Strength 14, Defense 18, Intelligence 201, Special Defense 72, Agility 35, Endurance 12, Charm -10, Luck 10

Resistances: Curse Resistance 50%, Magic Resistance 20%

Status: Frail.]

Did this kid put every single point into Intelligence?

That was Yang Yu's first impression. But he soon realized that even if he reached that level and put every attribute point into Intelligence, he definitely would not reach 201 Intelligence. In other words, this was her natural talent. Comparing people really could make one furious.

Fortunately, her other values were fairly normal. She was a standard glass-cannon mage, exactly the kind of talent Yang Yu needed.

With the corners of his lips raised at a forty-five-degree angle, Yang Yu swept back his short hair, slightly lifted his brows, and let his eyes carry a trace of haziness and indescribable sincerity. In a warm, enthusiastic tone, he greeted Bai Jin.

"Hello, lovely miss."

Bai Jin stopped chewing her dried sweet potato and turned her head. Beneath her messy bangs, one eye ringed by severe dark circles was revealed, lifeless and hollow.

"Are you talking to me?"

"There's no one here besides you. If not you, then who else would I be talking to?" Yang Yu imitated the mannerisms of the handsome men in his memories as best he could and continued, "Lovely miss, if you do not mind, may I sit here? There are some things I would like to discuss with you alone."

The moment Yang Yu finished speaking, the number above Bai Jin's head changed.