Chapter 22

Chapter 22

As Bai Fuling watched, the man in the wheelchair not only stood up, performing a medical miracle, but also took off running incredibly fast. In an instant, he disappeared around the corner of a nearby street.

Bai Fuling stopped in his tracks, completely stunned. "If he can walk, why was he in a wheelchair?"

The bespectacled NPC blurted out the same question: "If he can walk, why was he in a wheelchair?"

"..."

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other.

The bespectacled NPC's gaze returned to Bai Fuling. After the recent incident, his initial nervousness had dissipated considerably, and he finally placed him. "...Oh, oh, it's you."

"You remember me? I remember you too." Bai Fuling scanned the area. "By the way, where's the bicycle?"

After the failed attempt to summon the Grey Wolf, Bai Fuling had come to see the value in traditional transportation—at least a bicycle wouldn't fall asleep, didn't need to replenish a mana bar, and could be ridden whenever he pleased, allowing for a quick getaway.

"I didn't ride my bicycle tonight." The bespectacled NPC shook his head. "I was originally supposed to push the wheelchair and escort Mr. Chen home."

"Was that guy your relative?" Bai Fuling pressed, really wondering if it was indeed a medical miracle. "What was wrong with his leg?"

"He's not a relative. Mr. Chen has been a regular visitor to the library recently. Last time, when I was moving a bookshelf, I lost my grip and accidentally dropped it on his leg."

Mentioning this, the bespectacled NPC looked apologetic. "I paid his medical bills and promised to take him to and from home during this period—fortunately, Mr. Chen's home isn't far away."

Shouldn't paying the medical bills be enough? Why the additional escort service? Bai Fuling frowned. Moreover, that guy didn't seem to have a broken leg at all.

Bai Fuling asked, puzzled, "Was this a requirement from the police or from your library?"

"Huh?" The scholarly NPC adjusted his glasses. "It was Mr. Chen's request."

Bai Fuling: "..."

Such a gullible NPC! How could he just agree to whatever the other party said? He's way too nice!

Bai Fuling stared at the bespectacled NPC, thought for a moment, then decisively stuffed the axe into his raincoat and stowed it in his backpack, controlled his character to lie down on the spot, and rolled next to the wheelchair:

"Ouch, you hit me—I can't get up. Unless you give me 9,999 bucks, I won't be able to get up. Oh dear."

It's dumb not to use an advantage! A player naturally seizes the characteristics of an NPC to maximize their benefits. Just like how he previously assigned work to the diligent Pang Chengyu.

"..." The bespectacled NPC was startled by Bai Fuling's swift fall and practiced roll right in front of the wheelchair wheel. An exclamation mark popped up above his head. "What are you doing?!"

Bai Fuling lay sprawled out like a starfish. "You injured me by hitting me. I can't get up. Unless you compensate me with 9,999 bucks and escort me to and from school every day."

The bespectacled NPC fell silent for two seconds before saying, "...Isn't this extortion?"

Bai Fuling looked up. "You actually recognized this as extortion?!"

This was simply unfair game mechanics! Why could an NPC named [Mr. Chen] successfully pull off extortion, while a player's imitation gets seen through immediately? Bai Fuling was pissed off. NPCs and players should receive equal pay for equal work, and equal compensation for equal scams!

The bespectacled NPC: "..."

"Please get up first." He sighed softly, stepped forward, and helped Bai Fuling up from the ground. "I understand what you mean—thank you for your reminder and concern, Little Friend."

Bai Fuling: ?

Huh? Bai Fuling was pulled up by the NPC in confusion. He had just been testing to see if he could score some loot.

"Actually, I know Mr. Chen's request was somewhat unreasonable. As you demonstrated, it seemed more like extortion." After helping Bai Fuling up, the bespectacled NPC bent down to pick up the items that had fallen from his canvas bag, saying, "I only agreed to it to avoid trouble."

"Mr. Chen... has been making trouble a lot lately, and my colleagues are all fed up." The bespectacled NPC said slowly, looking down. "If my compliance can spare my colleagues from this annoyance, then it's not without value."

Bai Fuling understood. "He's harassing you?"

The NPC in front of him adjusted his glasses, looking somewhat helpless. "You could say that. Although he occasionally gets handsy, there's no real harm done, so I let it slide."

Bai Fuling pondered for a moment, then looked the bespectacled NPC up and down, somewhat suspicious. "...Are you a girl? Or is Mr. Chen a girl?" He hadn't noticed at all!

"Of course not." The bespectacled NPC chuckled. "We're both male."

Bai Fuling paused. Then paused again. And again. Then it dawned on him: Holy crap! There's a gay guy here!!!

Of course, the player doesn't discriminate against homosexuality; it's just rare to see a game with a default gay setting.

Generally, in RPG games, unless you set it yourself before starting, the NPCs are basically defaulted to be heterosexual.

Suddenly encountering a default gay setting, Bai Fuling was momentarily surprised, but then he understood the game devs' message: That is, boys also need to protect themselves when they're out and about!

Thinking this, Bai Fuling tried to accept a quest and asked, "So, do you need help?"

"It's fine, no need." The bespectacled NPC shook his head. "Let's just leave it at that."

How can we just leave it at that? Bai Fuling widened his eyes. How can a quest just appear and then vanish? Once the introduction is out, it should continue. Otherwise, wouldn't this entire conversation be wasted?

So, while bending down to help pick things up (but casually stuffing them into his own backpack), Bai Fuling declared confidently, "It's okay, I can help you fix this for good."

The bespectacled NPC rubbed his eyes. For some reason, he noticed that ever since Bai Fuling started bending down to help pick things up, the items seemed to be getting fewer and fewer...

Now, hearing Bai Fuling's words, he shifted his attention, smiled slightly, and casually replied, "Really, Little Friend? How are you going to help resolve it?"

Bai Fuling: "Have Mr. Chen drink some traditional Chinese medicine to regulate his system."

Bespectacled NPC: ?

"Just kidding." Bai Fuling was just casually making a joke; he knew the game probably didn't have such things recorded. He blinked and continued, "I can help you resolve it physically."

"...Physically resolve it?"

Bai Fuling said seriously, "Snip him off, then he won't come to harass you anymore."

Bespectacled NPC: ?

Bespectacled NPC: "Snip him off?"

"It means kill him." Bai Fuling said naturally. "If his health bar is emptied, he won't appear again, unless he's a daily mob that respawns—but that's okay, I can come help you snip him off every day when I'm not busy."

If each "snip" yielded rewards, then the player naturally wouldn't mind coming regularly to farm mobs and stats!

Bespectacled NPC: ...He's saying things I don't understand, and they sound terrifying, all with a straight face!

He fell into an eerie silence. After a moment, the bespectacled NPC's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Haha, you really love to joke."

Bai Fuling remained silent, looking back at him. He tried to skip the unnecessary dialogue and directly accept the quest.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

The bespectacled NPC's expression changed slightly. "...You are joking, right?"

Bai Fuling's lively black eyes still gazed at him, glistening.

"...Oh, oh. I think you're joking. Thank you for being so eager to help, but it's really not necessary." The bespectacled NPC averted his gaze and said softly, "There's no need to resort to violence. Just endure it for a while—or there must be other peaceful ways to resolve this."

What a pushover of an NPC! Enduring things from minor inconveniences to a lifetime of them. Bai Fuling sighed inwardly. He seemed like the type who, when angry, would just flounce off and cool down by himself.

In that case—

Bai Fuling once again tried to test the system's judgment, making his character flop over sideways in front of the wheelchair, repeating his earlier words:

"Ouch, you bumped into me—I can't get up unless you give me 9,999 coins. Otherwise, I'm staying down."

Please, let him score some free loot from the system NPC! He'd already sussed out the NPC's deal!

The bespectacled NPC: "..."

He went quiet for a couple of seconds, then silently repeated his earlier action, helping Bai Fuling up from the ground—and then plopping him into the wheelchair.

"The ground's cold at night. If you really want to lie down or sit, you can sit here." He said good-naturedly, "I don't have that much money, but I can take you home."

"Is this Mr. Chen's wheelchair?" Bai Fuling had his character feel around the wheelchair, trying to find the [Tame Wheelchair] option like he did when taming the wild wolf mount.

"No, it's mine." The bespectacled NPC said, "I bought it."

Bai Fuling replied instantly: "I'm a student. Gimme."

The bespectacled NPC: ?

Bai Fuling saw a question mark pop up above the pixel character's head, with no other options appearing, and knew he couldn't get a free gift from the NPC... Probably because the favorability wasn't high enough yet.

Speaking of favorability, they hadn't even properly introduced themselves yet!

It finally dawned on Bai Fuling that even though they had met so many times, they hadn't exchanged names.

"Hello, what's your name?" Bai Fuling said cheerfully, "I'm Farmer Great Detective! Fresh Cabbage."

The bespectacled NPC blinked, then smiled: "Is that your nickname? Interesting—I'm Luo Qingyue, I work at the town library." He said, "If you're a student, you can apply for a student card. The borrowing period is two weeks longer than a regular library card."

Bai Fuling filed that tip away. This was a hint from the NPC!

"Unlock Character - Luo Qingyue"

He saw the prompt for unlocking a new character appear on the screen and clicked on it.

○ Pink Heart (17%): [Luo Qingyue] thinks you're an enthusiastic yet strange student.

○ Pink Heart (1%): He's slightly more interested in you than in a stranger.

○ Purple Triangle (0%): * (Hidden)

○ Gray Gift Box (?%): Unopened & In Progress?

-

Bai Fuling stared at this panel, slightly stunned.

...Why were there two identical hearts? Two favorability values? It didn't look like a glitch. The gift box at the bottom also looked strange.

"You must be a student at Pelland Academy? Let me take you back first." Luo Qingyue pushed Bai Fuling on the wheelchair forward. "It's best not to stay out too late. Because... well, you know." He lowered his voice. "There are hardly any people on the streets now."

Bai Fuling didn't get it at first, until he looked up and saw a curved pixel moon in the sky on the screen, realizing the key element—the crescent moon.

It was the Crescent Moon days, the time when the Crescent Scythe Murder Case might occur!

No wonder the streets were so empty even though it wasn't that late, resembling a late-night or early-morning scene with no trace of human presence.

Logically, this should be a rather eerie environment, but Bai Fuling felt a bit excited.

As a player, events meant a bit of excitement in an otherwise peaceful life!

"I guess you know about that too, which is why you brought an axe when going out..." Luo Qingyue muttered, but before he could finish, Bai Fuling sprang up from the wheelchair.

"Wait!" Bai Fuling shouted, "I almost forgot!"

He had taken out the axe to unearth treasure, and he still planned to search for clues at Cozy Home Estates tonight—he had almost forgotten because of his interaction with the new NPC.

After all, a player's focus is all over the place, often getting distracted by other things while in the middle of a task.

Luo Qingyue gaped as the black-haired youth pulled an axe out from under his raincoat—how on earth did he hide things in there—and then rushed toward the brick wall from earlier.

Returning to the brick wall, Bai Fuling couldn't quite remember where the black lines had disappeared. All the pixel brick walls in this area looked exactly the same, with no distinguishing features.

Alright. Bai Fuling thought. In that case, he could only rely on good old-fashioned player grit and do a grid search.

Just like trying out items one by one earlier, the brute-force approach never fails—it would eventually succeed.

Luo Qingyue followed him over, as if worried. He saw Bai Fuling stand in front of the wall, dazed for a second, then raise his axe and start banging against the wall—thud, thud, thud!

"...Wait, what are you doing???"

"I'm busy. Don't mind me, this doesn't change anything—let's continue our earlier conversation—" Bai Fuling went "thud, thud, thud," then paused. "Oh, right, am I making too much noise? Could it attract the Crescent Scythe Murder Case culprit? Will the culprit come?"

Mentioning this, Bai Fuling felt a bit excited.

Luo Qingyue silently stepped aside as flying chips of brick nearly grazed his cheek. He said, "...No, I don't think the culprit will come while you're chiseling the wall."

—To be precise, no normal person would approach this scene. An axe hacking at a wall was the kind of deadly scenario only seen in horror movies!

So the culprit wouldn't disturb people while they were working—the program settings were quite considerate. Bai Fuling was somewhat moved upon hearing this.

Remembering that Luo Qingyue seemed afraid of the culprit and was quite tense about it, Bai Fuling pulled out his hoe from under his raincoat and handed it to him.

"Come on, let's work! We'll chisel the wall together, and tonight will be a peaceful night!"

Author's Note:

Bai Fuling: Wow, this game has gay men!

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Bai Fuling: Huh, this is a gay men's game!