Chapter 21: I Am Not a Big Shot

This question flashed through Wen Nan’s mind. It seemed that for the next task, he would have to shift his strategy and focus on the “snow-white and rosy neighbor aunt.”

As for now, reviewing tonight’s main task of “going on the date”—he had first accepted Qiqi’s invitation, naturally achieving the highest affection score. The campus belle, though she seemed to have cried heartbreakingly at that last fleeting glance after being rejected, apparently liked Wen Nan even more, judging by the affection score.

As for the little firecracker… Her interaction with Wen Nan tonight hadn’t lasted long. They’d only really done one thing together, so simply because Wen Nan had pressed her against the wall and kissed her, her affection score had already reached 72%. In contrast, the neighbor aunt’s target affection of 36% seemed much more reasonable; after all, their only interaction was a brief conversation and a hurried meeting. To explore a higher affection score, he’d have to rely on the next two main tasks.

Finally, the 60% affection score of the top student… One possibility was that, as a “cool and scheming” character, the top student was secretly enjoying tutoring Wen Nan, even if she acted reluctant on the surface.

But there was another possibility—that “she” was exactly as Wen Nan suspected, not a real character in the game at all, but a player disguised as one. If that were true, then the top student’s abilities were even more formidable than Wen Nan had imagined. “She” had not only used some skill, item, or exploited a bug in the game system to successfully switch from a player to a character and enter the map, but could even manipulate and modify certain core game data with ease—such as this affection score.

Currently, Wen Nan’s affection score with the “cool and scheming top student” was exactly 60%—precisely the required value, not a point more or less. If that number wasn’t a coincidence, then it was the top student’s way of telling Wen Nan: You’ve already completed my route. From now on, pretend you don’t know I’m a player in disguise. I’ll keep my affection score steady so you can clear the game; let’s not interfere with each other, and we’ll both be fine.

If that was the case, it wasn’t a bad thing for Wen Nan—though losing a romance target was a minor regret, having one less character to pursue wasn’t so bad.

As for whether Wen Nan’s guess was correct, he’d have to wait until he saw the top student again.

Returning to the other four characters—judging by the results of the tasks completed so far, in a sense, the “target affection score” probably reflected each character’s personality, preferences, and sexual interests. Qiqi liked sweet, fresh-date styles; the campus belle liked being rejected (perhaps? Not sure yet, need to observe more); the little firecracker liked forceful, old-school domineering behaviors like being pinned and kissed; as for the neighbor aunt…

He hadn’t interacted with her enough to know her preferences, but Wen Nan suspected it had something to do with being snow-white or rosy.

So, next time, he needed to find a way to dig deeper into the neighbor aunt’s affection score and test the waters.

“Um, Night… God, your target affection score…” a tentative voice from a roommate echoed in his ear.

Wen Nan, lost in thought, was abruptly pulled back to reality and replied out of habit, “The neighbor aunt’s 36% affection score is a bit low…”

He’d just started, then realized there was no need to share these thoughts with other players, so he stopped and looked up—only to see the other three gazing at him with complicated expressions.

How to describe those looks? Perhaps three parts grievance, three parts shame and anger, and four parts unwillingness.

Shaoling, adjusting his sore lower back, gritted his teeth and repeated, “A bit… low?”

The chubby one and Huang Tao echoed, incredulity in their voices: “You think those affection scores… are low?!”

It felt as if, on the day college entrance exam results were released, the three of them—struggling just to make the cutoff—were comforting each other, only to hear the genius next door, holding the city’s top score and an acceptance letter from a top-two university, sigh, “Didn’t get full marks in science—kinda low.”

Kinda. Low.

That was the most merciless humiliation for those barely scraping by.

Yet they couldn’t even resent this top scorer, because he probably wasn’t boasting or mocking—they really weren’t satisfied with their own results.

But the impact was devastating.

The chubby one’s face scrunched like a bitter melon. “Do you even hear yourself? Affection score a bit low? You’re pursuing five characters at once—your highest is nearly perfect, your lowest is 36%!

“Thirty-six percent, and you think that’s low?!

“The three of us have 20%, 9%, and 3%. Added together, we still don’t reach your lowest! Night God, could you stop being so Versailles? Leave a little hope for us nobodies…”

Hearing his complaints and seeing the faces of Huang Tao and Shaoling, Wen Nan realized he’d misspoken and hadn’t considered his roommates’ feelings. He began, “Sorry, I—”

“—No, no, no! Don’t apologize, we should be the ones apologizing!” Shaoling quickly waved his hands to cut him off.

The chubby one chimed in, “Right, right, it’s us who were blind! How dare we question you, the great one! Who are we to doubt you?

“You dared to take on five high-difficulty romance targets at once from the very start—that alone proves you’re a legend! We’re just idiots for not realizing it until now!

“Tell us, which of the nine legendary grandmasters are you? Could you grant me a spot in your guild? Please, I beg you!”

As he spoke, a brilliant smile squeezed onto his face, the flesh at the corners of his eyes pushed up in folds. He bent at the waist, all but groveling—if his injuries allowed, he’d probably have knelt before Wen Nan already.

Wen Nan managed an awkward smile. “I’m not a grandmaster.”

At this point, there was no way the remaining players in the dorm would believe that.

Not a grandmaster? Don’t joke.

You picked five female ghost bosses at once, completed your first task with a score of 91, and you say you’re not a grandmaster?

Do you think we’re idiots?

Suddenly, inspiration struck the chubby one. “The grandmaster won’t admit it because, before the results came out, our attitudes must have disappointed him! Got it!”

He raised his palm high—

Slap!

A crisp smack echoed through the dorm.

Five clear fingerprints immediately appeared on his cheek.

“Grandmaster, are you satisfied now?”