Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Although he'd always known that wild monsters spawning in RPGs was normal, Bai Fuling hadn't expected them to show up within the town.

Logically, these monsters should only randomly spawn in fringe areas like [Forests] or [Suburbs].

Bai Fuling remembered riding the big wolf back from the city, and the guards said wild beasts weren't allowed in the city.

He thought that meant the city was a relatively safe place—but after this, the player realized he couldn't let his guard down!

Even the city had wild boars running around!

Bai Fuling got a serious look on his face as he thought it over.

His phone went "ding." He glanced at the screen.

"#Zhong Xiaye#: ...What wild boar? What are you talking about?"

"#Bai Fuling#: Didn't a wild boar smash the door?"

"#Zhong Xiaye#: ."

"#Zhong Xiaye#: No, you did."

The player did it? Bai Fuling took a second to process, then it hit him: A wild boar must've sent the player flying!

He pictured the situation while he was AFK: The player, following the AFK route, headed toward Zhong Xiaye's villa. On the way, they ran into an evil wild boar that attacked people at random, charging at the player and launching them like a cannonball right into the villa door—

This plot made total sense!

Bai Fuling was already deep in his wild boar fantasy, totally unable to snap out of it. He kept thinking along those lines.

This time, the boar only gave him a mild concussion and stole his raincoat, but what about next time?

What if next time the AFK player got unlucky and ran into a wolf, only to log in and find themselves gutted and eaten?

That kind of reload would be way too infuriating. If that really happened, the player would have no choice but to spam bad reviews on the official blog—though he still hadn't found the game's official site.

But the point of gaming is to have fun. Since he'd found the problem this time, he might as well fix it. Bai Fuling thought. To avoid getting hurt while AFK, he'd tweak the AFK program settings.

Before, for convenience, the player kept AFK instructions brief, just saying the starting point and main actions.

Now, it looked like he needed to add a few more lines to the text settings, like: When AFK, if a living thing touches the player, they automatically start doing Tai Chi.

Why Tai Chi and not just pull out a knife?

Simple—the player didn't want to wake up and find himself in the opposite extreme, becoming a super red-name wanted criminal for killing someone just by walking past.

In comparison, Tai Chi was way safer. It wouldn't hurt anyone; it'd just use softness to overcome hardness, tripping or tossing away anything living that got close!

Perfect! This way, he protected himself without hurting anyone. Thinking that, Bai Fuling decisively opened the settings panel and added that point.

Just as he finished, he heard another "ding" in the background, and the envelope icon had a red dot—Zhong Xiaye sent a new message.

"#Zhong Xiaye#: Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure or blame you with what I said... Actually, I've been thinking of replacing the door for a while. It's been years since I last fixed it. Before I give it to you, I'll fix it up."

Bai Fuling thought for a moment and offered a suggestion: "Are you gonna add a boar-proof fence?"

"?"

The other side just sent a question mark.

Bai Fuling shook his head at that, thinking: Looks like he couldn't use the system to make an NPC modify the house. He'd have to build the furniture himself.

He made the character put away the phone and exit the messaging page.

The car slowed down, finally coming to a smooth stop.

Bai Fuling glanced at the mini-map. They'd stopped at a shopping mall, not far from the town's central hospital, just one street over.

Perfect! Bai Fuling's eyes lit up. After he picked up the clothes, he could head to the hospital on the way to check out the second madman from the auction, Lin Shanze.

The driver in the front seat said, "Sir, we're here."

"Good." The man didn't close the thick book, *Complete Butterfly Encyclopedia*, in his hands. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with one hand, not looking up, and said, "Take him there. That dress is dirty; get him a new outfit."

"Understood, sir." The driver nodded in acknowledgment. He got out, opened the door on Bai Fuling's side, and said, "Please follow me."

Huh, was this new NPC a guide NPC or something?

Not following the player's movements—it really seemed like he was just here to take the player shopping for a dress-up game.

Bai Fuling guessed internally. Without pausing his character's actions, he directly followed the driver and pressed: "Buy clothes? Anything I want?"

"Sir said to take you to get a new set of clothes." The driver didn't directly answer Bai Fuling's question, just repeated the man's words. He smiled politely. "Your dress is dirty—Sir doesn't like seeing that."

Bai Fuling: ...So he didn't like seeing dirt on others and had to drag them off for a street makeover? Was he so germophobic he couldn't stand any stain on someone else?

Honestly, that was totally insane!

But since the guy was offering free clothes, Bai Fuling mentally crossed out the instinctive label of [insane].

No, no, no—anyone giving stuff to the player was a good person! He hoped this NPC not only had a germophobia but also a poverty-phobia, hating seeing players with low funds and thus stuffing them with cash...

The player daydreamed for a bit, then pulled his thoughts back to the present.

The driver led Bai Fuling up an elevator to the top floor.

The top floor here was all high-end clothing, a VIP service area for the wealthy, with a relatively small crowd.

The driver NPC politely made a "please" gesture and said, "Sir has instructed that you may pick freely and change into a new set of clothes."

Bai Fuling looked around. All he saw were high-end garments emitting a faint glow. He blinked and confirmed again: "Anything I want?"

"Yes, you may pick any one set."

After confirming the dialogue a few times, Bai Fuling understood the rules of this exchange: The NPC was guiding the player into dress-up mode, and the newbie reward was a free set of clothes.

The player looked around, almost mesmerized by the faintly glowing garments.

...Each piece of clothing's glow was so beautiful; it was really hard to choose.

In moments like this, Bai Fuling's mind worked faster. He calmly thought using years of player bug-exploiting logic: The NPC had said to take the player to get a set of clothes.

Note the key word here: [set], not [piece].

"...I understand." Bai Fuling nodded seriously.

The driver had no idea what Bai Fuling had been thinking in that brief moment. He just followed the man's instructions and said politely:

"Feel free to pick whatever you like. Once you've chosen, you can change into it directly. The staff will bring the receipt to the front desk to settle the bill—I'll pay with the gentleman's card."

"Alright," Bai Fuling nodded, smiling. "Then I'll go all out picking."

"Go for it," the driver replied, following the man's instructions. "Just don't take too long—finish within ten minutes, as the gentleman is still waiting downstairs."

So there's a time limit. Bai Fuling thought. Guess I gotta speed this up!

He made his character hustle, diving straight into the bright clothing shop.

The driver stood by the elevator, waiting. There were sofas and chairs nearby, but he preferred to stand.

Down in the parking lot, the man sat in the car, still flipping through his book with an air of elegance. He checked his watch.

Twenty minutes, the man figured. He'd given the driver a time limit: twenty minutes to get back.

He had other matters to attend to today. This detour was totally unplanned.

Leaning back in his seat, the man braced himself to wait the full twenty minutes. But just ten minutes later, he heard movement outside—they were back.

The man looked up from the vivid, colorful butterflies and through the open car window.

—He was met with another burst of color, nothing like anything human.

There was the black-haired youth, wearing a sky-blue dress with lotus-leaf floral print, topped with a blue-and-white polo, and over that, a mandarin jacket. Under the dress, he had on a half-length red skirt, jeans, and dark brown boots. And on top of all that, he'd thrown on a black trench coat!

The man: ?

He looked up further and saw the guy wearing a baseball cap, a straw hat on top of that, and two big sun hats stacked on top.

The man: "..."

He was completely speechless.

Bai Fuling waved his arms happily and bounced over: "I've changed! Now I'm wearing a clean outfit."

With limited time, the player couldn't bother to coordinate. He just grabbed whatever he saw and piled it on, layer after layer.

It didn't matter if it looked good—what mattered was hitting that 'outfit' concept! Who says you can't wear a polo over a dress, or a coat over another coat?

Basically, the player didn't skip a single item he could pick and wear. In dress-up games, it's all about stacking stats—by wearing everything, his stats would be maxed!

"Thanks, I really like this outfit," Bai Fuling trotted over to thank him, making sure to emphasize the whole 'outfit' thing.

The driver looked like he wanted to chase after him but couldn't keep up with the player's pace.

He was stunned by the outfit for a solid four or five seconds, and that delay made him miss Bai Fuling's elevator!

No, no! Don't go out in that 'close to crazy, far from human' getup! He can't let him face the gentleman like this—

Bai Fuling, of course, had no intention of waiting for the NPC.

The player was entirely self-willed. He handed the receipt to the staff to pass to the driver, then happily took the elevator downstairs in that outfit.

At least it was the start of the dress-up mode. Bai Fuling planned to greet the guiding NPC in the car, hear some evaluation criteria, and see the effect.

He moved toward the man inside the car, his steps light and brisk.

With each bouncing movement, the hem of Bai Fuling's black trench coat fluttered, revealing the layers of mandarin jacket, polo, dress, and half-skirt beneath. The three hats on his head bobbed and shifted, a riot of colors blending together.

The man sitting in the car looked rather unwell. He held back, then held back again, but ultimately turned his head away, his Adam's apple bobbing.

A faint sound of retching came from the background audio.

Bai Fuling: ?

He paused mid-step.

...Dude, what does that mean?

Did the NPC just get sick from the player's outfit?!

Hey, wait—isn't this a stats-based game?!

In dress-up games, the competition is all about stacking layers. The player had put on so many high-end glowing clothes to max out the stats, so the NPC should be praising him with sparkling eyes!

Author's Note:

Bai Fuling: Stats are unbeatable.

Bai Fuling: What's with the puking?