The Heart Flutter skill?

Xin Jiu thought back to the little labyrinth she had encountered during the open beta. It seemed to have been to the southeast?

"Look, why is that girl in red heading off on her own?"

"Going solo in a labyrinth dungeon? Does she have a death wish?"

"Maybe she's an expert player."

"Even experts need a party. Didn't you hear the system say there are NPCs here? What if she runs into a vicious one?"

"She's not even afraid the NPCs will gnaw her down until there isn't a scrap of bone left."

Xin Jiu put the players' chatter out of her mind and walked on by herself.

She had to visit this little labyrinth.

During the open beta, she had encountered a very special Tibetan fox here. Although she didn't know whether it would be there now, taking a look wouldn't hurt.

It wasn't far away anyway, so it wouldn't take much time.

What she didn't notice was that a party of six had followed her.

A little over ten minutes later.

Xin Jiu reached a stone door three meters tall. She pushed it open, and familiar Cyprus morpho butterflies flew out.

This little labyrinth was a miniature version of the Forest Labyrinth.

The Cyprus morpho butterflies fluttered around Xin Jiu.

She raised her hand, and one landed on her fingertip, its metallic blue wings beautiful in the sunlight.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Xin Jiu turned, displeasure showing on her face. "Were you following me?"

Seeing her displeased expression, the player leading the group immediately stepped forward.

"We'd like to party up with you."

He was around 185 centimeters tall, with shoulder-length hair, half of it tied into a little tuft at the back of his head.

[Holy shit! A hottie!]

[And the cool, aloof type, too. Yes, please. Give me all of that!]

Xin Jiu was about to refuse when her heart suddenly began beating rapidly, thumping away. Was this... what falling in love felt like?

Did I like this type of handsome guy?

No!

No, no, no!!!

With a thought, she activated the item she had bought from the shop, [Monkey's Eye]. A trace of golden light flashed through her left eye.

[Player: Chen Rui]

[Strength: 16]

[Agility: 20]

[Perception: 22]

[Charm: 45]

[Stamina: 98%]

[Skill: Heart Flutter (B-rank), permanent]

[Skill description: Causes the target to develop an extremely favorable impression of the skill's owner.]

[Tip: Stop staring at him, or you'll fall in love!]

Xin Jiu: "..."

With a face that handsome, he hardly needed this skill, did he? Just look at how high his charm was.

Still, this skill... seemed pretty useful. Xin Jiu thought of that deranged boss on the nineteenth floor. With this skill, it probably wouldn't chase her around trying to kill her.

The game didn't seem to prohibit killing players to steal their skills, either.

Xin Jiu narrowed her eyes.

Seeing Xin Jiu standing there in a daze, the viewers in her livestream hammered away at their keyboards.

[Damn, did Jiujiu fall for a honey trap? Is this her type?]

[You know what, I'm pretty into him too.]

[He looks like an arts student.]

Xin Jiu looked at the only two girls in the party.

One had the skill [Follow], while the other had [Basic Healing].

No wonder they had caught up despite how fast she had been walking.

"We didn't mean anything by it. We just thought you looked a lot like a streamer I followed before. She really likes wearing red too. Then we saw you leave the group alone, and we were worried you might run into danger, so we followed. Why don't you party up with us?"

"A streamer?"

"Yeah, her name's Xin Jiu. She's a gaming streamer, and she's in the game right now too. You must have seen her. She's number one in the world."

Chen Rui's handsome face was full of pride.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was number one.

But besides pride, there was only admiration. He had no romantic feelings for Xin Jiu; he simply admired the strong.

Xin Jiu: "..."

The livestream viewers were laughing themselves silly.

[His idol's right in front of him and he doesn't recognize her. My tummy hurts.]

[My toes are curling. What do I do?!]

[My secondhand embarrassment is acting up again.]

[It's only natural to like Jiujiu.]

"I know the streamer you mean. I watch her streams occasionally too, but I remember her fans being girls," Xin Jiu said.

Chen Rui's face was full of friendliness toward a fellow fan. "If you've watched her streams, you must know my username."

"...?"

"My username in her livestream is Chen Yuyuer."

Now, not only Xin Jiu's fans but Xin Jiu herself knew who he was.

Chen Yuyuer.

A major fan in her livestream who rarely spoke but liked sending gifts.

Judging by his username, everyone had thought he was a girl. He had organized several online events, all of which had been very successful and received widespread praise.

"Well? Ring a bell?"

Xin Jiu nodded stiffly.

Then, as though showing off a treasure, Chen Rui pulled a whole bunch of merch from his pocket and showed it to Xin Jiu.

"This is all merch of my idol. Looks great, right?"

"...Why did you bring that?"

"Oh, when I got the game notification, I thought, since she's an expert player, maybe bringing her merch would bring me luck?"

"..."

Seeing that Xin Jiu wasn't interested in his treasured merch, Chen Rui put it away.

"Since we're both Jiu's fans, let's party up. Jiu said we should help each other if we meet in a dungeon. Oh, what's your username? I'll add you."

Xin Jiu refused.

"..." Chen Rui didn't press her and began introducing his teammates.

Aside from remembering that almost all of them were new players, Xin Jiu didn't remember a single name.

Once they left the dungeon, they would hardly ever meet again.

Why bother remembering their names?

It was just that she wasn't quite sure what to do about this devoted fan, Chen Rui.

"What floor did you clear up to during the open beta?" Chen Rui asked again.

"Would you believe me if I said I cleared it?"

Before Chen Rui could speak, someone in his party scoffed. "If you said the number one player cleared it, I'd believe you. But you... no way."

Looking at how small and delicate she was, someone had probably carried her through the tutorial match.

Xin Jiu didn't feel like explaining and walked into the little labyrinth. The others looked at Chen Rui, their eyes asking whether they should follow her and take a look.

"Follow her."

Chen Rui must have forgotten to turn off his skill. That intense pheromone aura kept spilling out, so overpowering it nearly made Xin Jiu dizzy.

She wanted to escape the area the scent reached, but whenever she quickened her pace, they sped up too.

They looked around, appearing perfectly relaxed.

"There doesn't seem to be anything special about this labyrinth."

A player said this as he looked at the forest before him. If anything stood out, it was the occasional bricks on the ground, all the same size.

As he spoke, his left foot was coming down on a stone engraved with runes.