After the two left, Xu An hurriedly closed the shop door and checked his remaining free attribute points. He still had nearly two hundred.
Wahaha, I got this many attribute points just from them eating here once. What if they came a few more times? After distributing them equally between physique and spirit, Xu An felt that the world before him had become much clearer. His strength had also increased considerably, with an obvious difference from before.
"Physique and spirit have both passed a hundred. Holy crap, the whole world feels different."
Xu An got out of bed and tried lifting the solid wood table, wrapping both hands around it and heaving.
"My table!!!"
That night, another unsolved mystery appeared on Inter-Knot.
As for that, Xu An's response was, What the hell does that have to do with me? Stop looking at me.
Fortunately, sometime around midnight, a notification announcing an increase in attribute points rang out in his mind. Presumably, it had to be because the siblings had eaten his fried rice.
A week later.
"Looks like I can only get attribute points from people connected to the plot? Tsk, that's kind of a pain. Aside from the video-selling siblings, I don't seem to have met any other characters yet. Damn it."
Over the past week, he had tried interacting with General Chop, the arcade owner, and others, but had received no attribute points.
He had, however, continued gaining plenty of attribute points around Wise and Belle.
And so, after raising his Ether aptitude to a hundred over the past few days,
Xu An had also tried entering a Hollow, discovering that ordinary Ethereals and Hollow corruption seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.
He had also grown a little closer to the video-selling siblings over the past couple of days. Of course, it was possible that the two simply craved his amazing cooking, so their soaring affection was hardly surprising.
According to Wise and Belle, starting with that first bowl of egg fried rice, every meal he made seemed to wipe away a whole day's fatigue after they ate it. Xu An had done some experimenting with this as well.
He discovered that aside from restoring their condition somewhat, it didn't seem to have any other uses for now.
But even that alone was great. It actually had restorative effects.
If he cooked a dish right inside a Hollow for the agents to eat, wouldn't they be able to rest while fighting?
On that subject, a certain shark-tailed girl would later say that Xu An's food worked much better than lollipops and the like.
Of course, that was a story for later.
A month or two of uneventful days passed.
That day, Xu An was in the shop, thinking of ways to get some attribute points, when he heard voices from the room.
"Belle, the mayor sent a message saying he wants to find a time to contact us tomorrow to discuss the investigation."
"And from what he said, this case is rather troublesome. We'll need to leave Sixth Street and spend some time in Waifei Peninsula, concealing our identities to investigate in secret."
"Waifei Peninsula? I remember that's over near Thorn District, right? Looks like we'll be taking a long trip this time."
He wasn't deliberately eavesdropping, of course. It was just that his five senses had grown considerably sharper along with his physique.
The two continued talking in the room while Xu An browsed videotapes outside, though he was actually eavesdropping to work out where they were in the plot.
From what he had heard so far, it seemed Vivian's storyline had already passed. Master Yixuan should soon be coming to take them to Waifei Peninsula.
Fortunately, he had played through Yixuan's storyline back then and remembered it quite clearly.
But then another thought struck him: Shit, doesn't that mean I opened my shop for nothing? Tsk, not necessarily. Maybe I could open a little shop in Waifei Peninsula too?
Forget it. I'll take things one step at a time.
Hehe (.-`ω´-), I've gotten familiar with the two Proxy protagonists over the past two months. Attribute points will be easy pickings from now on.
Going by what they said, Yixuan should arrive tomorrow. Yep! I'll go with them tomorrow.
It should be fine if I'm just tagging along for the ride, right? With that thought, Xu An placed the copy of Ballet Twins in his hand on the counter, paid, and left.
A night passed.
Xu An came to the video store under the pretext of returning his videotape.
"You two, I've come for a formal visit as agreed. The mayor just sent word that you've accepted the investigation commission... is that correct?" Yixuan's eyes drifted toward Xu An. For some reason, this was the first time she had felt that a man could draw her gaze.
Hehe, Xu An had long since raised his charm to two hundred. Although there wasn't much difference between two hundred and a hundred, once he reached a thousand, there would surely be another qualitative change. Probably.
After a hundred, anyone's affection toward Xu An would rise automatically. In particular, their first impression of him would definitely be good.
This also laid the groundwork for his future interactions with the many agents.
♪٩(´ω`)و♪
Meanwhile, Xu An appeared to be choosing a new videotape, but was actually eavesdropping again.
Although he had spent over a month with the video-selling siblings and they were on quite good terms, the ginger siblings still hadn't revealed their identities as Proxies.
It's normal to have secrets. After all, being a Proxy isn't exactly legal in New Eridu. They're probably afraid of scaring me. Probably.
Wise, Belle, and Yixuan went into the back room to discuss things.
But he could still hear them.
"The mayor said a photo of our teacher, Carole Arna, was found in Waifei Peninsula... We want to get to the bottom of this."
"Mm... Mayflower gave me the broad strokes. Even though the world considers her the chief culprit behind the fall of the Old Capital, you, as her students, still believe she was not an evil person, and that there was more to it.
"Such sincerity is admirable. Since we're undertaking this investigation together, we of Mount Yunkui will certainly lend you a hand and help you investigate the source of that photograph."
"Thank you, Master Yixuan. We're truly grateful that you're willing to believe our teacher was wrongfully accused!" Belle's voice grew a little louder.
Having heard that much, Xu An stopped listening and went back to pack some luggage, waiting for Belle and the others to come out.
Soon, Belle emerged from the shop with Yixuan, having changed into a Mount Yunkui disciple's uniform.
"Huh? Belle, did you buy new clothes? They fit you really well. Pretty cute, too. And who's this?" Xu An looked at the mature, white-haired beauty beside her and pretended not to recognize her.
"I am Yixuan, the master of Mount Yunkui. Young man, you have a gentle countenance. You must be someone blessed with great fortune."
"Ahaha, thanks. My name's Xu An. Are you heading out?" Xu An asked.
"Yep, yep! I'm going to Waifei Peninsula to train with Master Yixuan. Jealous? Hehe." Belle planted both hands on her hips, looking smug.
"Waifei Peninsula? I was just planning to take a trip. How about I go with you? By the way, training? What kind? Cultivating immortality?" Xu An asked in confusion.
"Sure, sure! My brother has to stay here for now to sort out the video store's business, and Master Yixuan and I won't really know anyone over there. We could look out for each other if we went together. What do you think, Master?" Belle gave Yixuan a pleading look as she spoke.
Yixuan glanced sidelong at Belle's pitiful expression, smiled slightly, and said, "We're going there anyway. Bringing one more person won't hurt."
The three then headed to the airship terminal and boarded the direct airship to Waifei Peninsula.
On the airship, Belle and Xu An pressed against the window and looked down, exclaiming in unison, "Wahaha, is that... the Lemnian Hollow?!"
"Looks like we're almost there. Good thing nothing happened along the way!" (^-^)/ Belle's face was full of happiness.
Xu An, however, had an ominous feeling.
Yixuan watched the two with a smile and softly replied, "Mm."
Meanwhile, not far away on the ground.
[The target is approaching the designated position.]
Boom.
With a deafening blast, red lights flashed wildly inside the airship.
"What's happening?!" Belle asked in panic.
"The airship is falling?!" Yixuan said, her expression grave.
"Ah!" Belle screamed.
"Grab my hand, Belle!" Xu An caught hold of Belle as he spoke, while Yixuan took his other hand. The airship soon plunged into the Hollow.
Not long after the fall, Xu An opened his eyes to a ringing in his ears.
Shit, good thing I raised my physique, or I'd definitely be scattered all over the place. Wait, Belle doesn't have my physique. I need to find her fast. Master Yixuan must be fine. Xu An started moving as he thought.
Fortunately, the two weren't far apart. Xu An soon found Belle, who was still dazed and had yet to wake up.
"Good thing she only passed out. So protagonists really do have plot armor? (˘•灬•˘) Why was I the only one who hit the ground?" Sigh, forget it. Nobody has it easy.
For now, he could only stay by her side. If he ran around, getting out would be even harder.
An unknown amount of time passed before Belle groggily woke up. The first thing she saw was Xu An's large face, instantly jolting her awake.
"Ah!" she cried, pushing Xu An backward, though the force was practically nonexistent.
"Y-you... what are you doing? Even if you wanted to do something, you can't do it in a Hollow... X-X-Xu An, I really misjudged you." She covered her face as she spoke. Seeing the red tips of her ears, Xu An knew he really had been too close just now.
"What? I was just checking when you'd finally wake up. Don't get the wrong idea!" Xu An explained.
"That's all?" Belle sounded a little disappointed.
"Huh?! Why do I get the feeling you were looking forward to me doing something naughty to you?" Xu An couldn't help teasing.
"Ah, stop talking about it!" Belle's face turned bashful again.
"All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you. What do we do now?" Xu An looked around as he spoke.
"Why ask me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Belle rolled her eyes.
"We're both fine, so Master Yixuan must be fine too. Let's just lie here and wait," Xu An suggested.