Chapter 45: The Forty-Fifth Cup

Chapter 45: The Forty-Fifth Cup

"Of course, if you directly ask him which planet he's from or if he's an alien, he'll deny it outright." Li Quanliang shrugged. "I speculate that the game developers, when building his personality model, erased related experiences."

"But by repeatedly asking the same questions, we can always find some clues. After all, creating a personality entirely separate from one’s experiences is more of a paradox. Personality formation is closely tied to past experiences; there will always be traces left behind."

Li Quanliang glanced inside. "They should be coming out now. Alright, I’ll return him to you. If you come again, see if you can dig up anything else."

He Wuning turned to look at the laboratory. Qijiang had gone through a lengthy Q&A session but still looked energetic. Seeing He Wuning, he immediately flew over: "Honey!"

He spun around proudly. "They said I did well!"

"I was helpful!"

He Wuning, unusually silent, paused and patted his head. "Mm."

Qijiang rolled around in delight. "Eh?"

"Did I help a lot without realizing it?"

"Sort of." He Wuning replied casually. "Let's go."

Qijiang obediently followed. "Where are we going?"

He Wuning put his hands in his pockets. "To use someone's dorm for a shower and a meal."

Yi Luo stepped forward. "That someone is here."

Xue Xun quickly peeked out. "Hey, your brother is still inside..."

"It's fine; I'll go home on my own later." He Anan smiled. He looked at Qi Hong, who, despite being physically larger, stood hunched and timidly held onto his sleeve. "I'm glad I could help. If you need anything in the future, feel free to reach out."

He softened his voice. "What did you see? Qi Hong, can you tell us? Take your time, say whatever comes to mind."

Qi Hong slowly raised his head, hesitating. "Everything?"

"I saw..."

He pointed upward. "There, monsters came down from there."

Xue Xun was stunned. "From the sky?"

...

Yi Luo emerged from the bathroom. As soon as he took a step, a pillow flew from the couch. Qijiang shouted loudly: "Pervert, no shirt!"

"It's not wearing a shirt," Yi Luo corrected, heading to his closet. "I just forgot it. What do you care? It's my dorm, why can't I go shirtless?"

Qijiang covered his eyes and reached over to cover He Wuning's. "Honey, don’t look at him!"

He Wuning lazily looked away and scoffed. "Who hasn't seen guys running around in their underwear in a dorm?"

He Wuning lowered his gaze, seemingly unaffected by Yi Luo's wet, narrow waist and broad back.

"Can this even be called underwear?" Yi Luo looked down at his loose pants, then slowly turned around. "I’m about to get dressed. Want another look?"

He Wuning lifted his eyes and scrutinized him from head to toe. Yi Luo let him, and He Wuning laughed. "If you like showing off so much, want me to take a photo and display it in the service hall?"

Yi Luo obediently turned to dress. "No, that won’t be necessary."

He asked casually, "What are you looking at?"

"The skill tree," He Wuning answered succinctly.

He had been busy leveling up and hadn’t added new skills recently.

After receiving the 6% fragment compensation, he now had 22%. Adding the 4% and 5% from the tree demon and Old Vine Monster, he now had 31% of the administrator permission fragments.

First, he would unlock the triple-customizable level 10 skill, reducing the number of milk tea cups needed before battles. Next was the skill He Wuning had been eyeing—a healing skill, specifically blood-sucking.

Sweet Sticky Rice Milk Tea (Blood Glutinous Rice Milk Tea)

Effect: Restores 3% health based on attack damage.

While it required attacking to heal, it was better than nothing and would significantly enhance combat endurance.

Additionally, he wanted to unlock a unique skill for the next area.

Once they reached level 30 and left the rainforest, they would enter the ocean zone.

He Wuning had struggled here—only a damaged narrow bridge spanned the sea, with monsters leaping from the water to attack. Being dragged underwater meant almost certain death.

Some players leveled up in the rainforest until level 40, skipping the ocean zone and entering the next area early morning when the bridge refreshed daily at 5 AM, making it relatively safe.

Despite few venturing underwater, He Wuning planned to unlock a special skill—Fish Form: temporarily granting gill breathing.

"Fish Form" requires 30% administrator permission fragments. If unlocked, he couldn’t continue modifying the milk tea cart into an amphibious vehicle.

He Wuning frowned. Suddenly, the sofa beside him sank—Yi Luo sat down.

"What’s troubling you?"

He Wuning simply replied, "The ocean."

Yi Luo chuckled. "Planning how to extract dragon tendons from the Dragon Prince? How are you planning to stir up the sea?"

He Wuning caught the scent of shampoo on him, the same one he used.

Thinking about it, it made sense since he had borrowed someone else's bathroom. But for some reason, perhaps because they shared the same scent, He Wuning wasn't as wary of him as he should have been.

—This situation alone was enough to raise suspicion.

He Wuning forced himself to stay alert and turned his head to glare at him emotionlessly. "Move over."

"I can't see clearly from there." Yi Luo refused to budge, acting like a child.

"A sniper can't see clearly?" He Wuning raised an eyebrow, scoffing at his casual lie.

"So what if I'm a sniper." Yi Luo sank deeper into the sofa. "Snipers need to rest their eyes too. I haven't done my eye exercises today. Hurry up, let me finish watching this and then I'll do them."

He Wuning closed the skill tree. "There's nothing much to see anyway. We're still missing some fragments. Check if you have any skills that can turn the milk tea cart into an amphibious vehicle?"

Yi Luo sprang up. "Talking about this wakes me right up! Yes, there is, but it's expensive."

He Wuning looked at him. "How much?"

"20%." Yi Luo sighed, feeling the goal was distant once again, and leaned back.

He only had the initial 3% from He Wuning plus another 3% from game compensation, totaling just 6%. To reach 20%, with a drop rate of around 4% to 5% from bosses, they would need to defeat four or five more.

"It shouldn't take too long," He Wuning glanced at Q-jam. "Don't you think we've been getting fragments more frequently lately?"

Yi Luo lifted his eyes and nodded. "Not just us looking for those bosses; they're also looking for you."

"Those monsters can communicate with each other. They probably plan to kill you while you still have few fragments."

When discussing serious matters, Yi Luo's smile faded. His eyes lowered slightly, and his fingers moved unconsciously—the habitual motion of pulling a trigger.

He didn't smile when sniping; his serious expression made his jawline appear even sharper, like a drawn sword.

But he quickly sheathed it, returning to his usual grin. "So we'll save up... does this mean all the upcoming fragments go to me? It feels a bit awkward."

"You don't look the least bit awkward. It's perfect for adding firepower to the milk tea cart." He Wuning glanced at him and turned to Q-jam, having something specific in mind to ask.

Q-jam noticed his gaze and tilted his head. "Hmm? What's up, darling?"

He Wuning hesitated. If he asked directly, Q-jam would likely deny it, so he decided to approach it indirectly. "I want to ask you, do you remember if you have parents?"

Q-jam was taken aback. "Parents?"

He laughed. "Oh, darling, what are you talking about? I'm a system, not born, I was manu—"

Suddenly, he seemed to freeze, his black-bean eyes widening, then returning to normal. He Wuning heard the familiar voice of World Voice. "Hello, esteemed administrator candidate."

"Detected keywords related to exploring the truth of the world. Now, let me answer your question."

He Wuning composed himself. "Are you going to answer?"

"Checking administrator permissions. Current permissions—31%, 6%." World Voice replied without emotion. "I apologize, but you currently do not have the right to explore the complete truth of this world. However, I would like to know the reason for your question."

"Is there any significance in asking about the parents of this system?"

He Wuning did not hide his intentions. "I want to know if he has ever lived."

Q-jam's eyes flickered, and World Voice responded, "Yes."

"The system's personality is simulated based on players who died within the game. This is their legacy. He once lived."

He Wuning pressed his lips tightly together.

World Voice continued, "To prevent database confusion, we do not choose systems from the same galaxy. Therefore, you have never met him, living light-years apart."

"He isn't even a carbon-based life form, esteemed administrator candidate. What are your emotions?"

He Wuning looked up, uncooperative. "None of your business."

World Voice did not press further. His eyes flickered as he continued, "Administrator permissions reached 30%. Opening background database. Logging into administrator database. Default name—Mercy (Compassion). Name change allowed."

"Compassion?" He Wuning raised an eyebrow. "Change name."

"Please enter a new name."

"BUG."

"..."

Author's note: He Wuning: Is compassion mocking me?

Rabbit: Probably to encourage you to show some mercy and stop exploiting bugs, Mr. BUG.

Xue Xun: Huh? What's an eighth prince?

Thank you to those who voted for me or watered the nutrient solution between 20:55:13 and 23:57:32 on August 28, 2021.

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Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!