Li Qing fell silent as he read the words "large-scale rollout of Dynamic Intelligent Script Dungeon Instances" in Zhang Qin's reply.
Although rolling out "intelligent-generated dungeon instances" really could reduce the pressure of dungeon instance design and development,
this one dungeon instance alone had stretched Li Qing's working hours to seven times the average field assignment.
They might as well send all the Design and Development Team staff freed up by the new technology over to the Maintenance Team to fix bugs together.
Li Qing typed and deleted his reply, then deleted and typed again, before deciding to have a proper talk with Zhang Qin once he got back.
Still, Zhang Qin's reply wasn't entirely nonsense.
Li Qing reviewed his actions since entering the dungeon instance, along with the guesses in the live comments after his private meeting with Yu Xiaohe, and realized that hiding his movements and concealing his purpose had actually made him stand out more among the other players, whose role-playing identities were all clearly defined.
-He had to admit that Zhang Qin was much better than Li Qing at understanding other people's minds.
He closed the message interface and lightly bit down on his pudding spoon, thinking about what sort of "character premise" he could give himself to make moving around easier.
...Hmm, first, I need to establish the overall direction.
His goal was to keep the dungeon instance running normally, and its greatest anomalies were the player Yu Xiaohe, who was supposed to be the boss, and Bai Cha, who kept changing other people's destinies.
Since Bai Cha is always inexplicably wary of me...
Then I should try putting myself on the same side as Yu Xiaohe-the dungeon instance boss version.
Yu Xiaohe had once been bullied over her appearance by Gong Yao-the dungeon instance middle-school version. Now she had returned to the entertainment industry with a new look, intent on dealing a fatal blow to the person who had looked down on her and nearly driven her into the abyss.
Then I...
...can play someone with a secret crush on Yu Xiaohe.
Just as He Li wanted to eliminate An Ya, his imagined rival, for Meng Tian's sake, Li Qing would help Yu Xiaohe get her revenge. That was perfectly reasonable.
And once his identity was tied to another player, it would be difficult for anyone else to suspect that Li Qing had a different identity.
So how should I act out a "secret crush"?
Go back and invite Yu Xiaohe out for another private meal?
Li Qing looked at the table full of empty plates before him and sank into thought again.
A secret crush, reasonable, He Li... Right, let's see what He Li is doing now.
He Li's character had already exited the film, but He Li himself hadn't left the production.
Perhaps no one could leave the script early until the final day of filming arrived.
Unless they died first.
And Li Qing didn't believe a B-Rank dungeon instance would offer only one life-or-death test to players whose characters exited early.
Li Qing enlarged He Li's livestream window slightly.
Perhaps because He Li was only B-Rank and unremarkable-looking, his livestream had the fewest viewers of the six.
Yet He Li's behavior greatly satisfied a certain segment of viewers with more morbid tastes.
At that moment, he was sitting in a dark hotel room, his face illuminated by his computer screen.
An extremely bloody scene filled the screen: a masked person was cutting up a corpse with a saw. It was already impossible to tell whether the body was male or female.
It wasn't some gore movie, but a livestream. In the chat beside it, viewers' real-time comments kept scrolling past in languages from all over the world.
He Li's pupils dilated as he excitedly typed, "An Ya An Ya An Ya An Ya An Ya..."
Although Li Qing personally found this sort of venting through violence deeply repulsive, objectively speaking, if He Li were this dungeon instance's boss, its progression might go more smoothly.
He quietly noted the first entry in his Secret Crush Guide: [Express murderous intent toward your crush's imagined rival].
That's easy. Pretty much everyone in Gong Yao's livestream knows I mean him no good. I'll just reinforce that impression later.
Before long, the killing show ended.
He Li switched screens, bringing up something else.
It was another hotel room.
A little while later, Meng Tian entered the frame in pajamas, completely unaware of her sole viewer.
Li Qing: ...
He silently noted the second entry in his Secret Crush Guide: [Spy on your crush and wear an indecent expression].
"..."
Li Qing's gaze gradually lost focus.
This seemed a little too difficult for him.
So love was something this profound.
Just then, his pupils shifted slightly as a familiar figure appeared in his field of vision.
...Bai Cha?
Dressed in a clean, neat casual suit, Bai Cha had shed his usual listlessness and instead looked like the playboy he portrayed in the film.
He sat down across from a middle-aged man whose face wasn't clearly visible and began talking animatedly with him.
Li Qing pushed up his glasses and began analyzing Bai Cha's state...
...Hmm, still the same old Bai Cha. He smiled cheerfully at the middle-aged man before him, but a trace of impatience showed around his eyes.
Perhaps because Li Qing's gaze was too direct, Bai Cha noticed him as well.
His smile froze, and the knife and fork in his hands nearly fell onto his plate.
Li Qing nodded in greeting and continued watching him, showing no intention of looking away.
Bai Cha: "..."
This might have been the most agonizing dinner Bai Cha had ever eaten.
After finding an excuse to see the man off, he turned to go back into the restaurant and find Li Qing, only to discover that Li Qing had somehow already taken up a position by the entrance...
...and was still staring at him.
"You don't like him. Why force yourself to have dinner with him?"
Li Qing cut straight to the point, so bluntly that Bai Cha was caught somewhat off guard.
Bai Cha said, "...Why are you so nosy?"
Li Qing said, "I'm just a little curious."
Bai Cha sneered. "Not everyone has the freedom to do whatever they like. Speaking of which, you're the one I can't figure out."
Li Qing tilted his head.
"Who exactly are you? I've never seen you before, not once."
"When do you mean by 'before'?"
Bai Cha didn't answer.
After a moment, he added, "With looks like yours, there's no way you'd still be some unknown production assistant. What are you really after? Getting close to Gong Yao?"
"Gong Yao." Li Qing nodded. "You seem to pay an unusual amount of attention to him."
"Everyone pays attention to him. Everyone wants to suck up to either him or Tao Lele. That's normal. But you..."
He looked at Li Qing, an indescribably complicated expression in his eyes. "You appeared out of thin air, yet you've got that man acting like a completely different person, revolving around you! What exactly did you do?"
Appeared out of thin air...
"You're very familiar with 'Gong Yao,' aren't you?" Li Qing leaned slightly closer, a hint of interest finally appearing in his eyes. "But the two of you never had much to do with each other before, did you?"
Bai Cha's pupils contracted.
Li Qing took a step back again.
"I understand your goal now. I don't think I'm your enemy. If you need it, I can offer whatever help is necessary."
Bai Cha said, "...Huh?"
"My target isn't Gong Yao. It's Yu Xiaohe."
He paused and began putting his new persona into practice.
"Yes, I have a secret crush on Yu Xiaohe."
Bai Cha said, "...Ah."
Bai Cha went blank.
Meanwhile, by the roadside,
a passerby in a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses walked backward toward the two of them, then lowered his sunglasses and leaned forward to stare at Li Qing in astonishment.
"...Huh???"
At the same time, behind the live comments that had instantly turned green in Gong Yao's livestream, Li Qing saw his own face.
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