Chapter 54: Your Masterpiece?

Yu Shujun clenched his molars so tightly they were about to shatter, his face twisted in a grimace, every feature etched with refusal. Yet, on the back of his neck, the circular sigil flashed with a golden light, leaving him no room for defiance.

“Mas…ter…” Those two syllables, heavy with humiliation and shame, were forced from Yu Shujun’s lips. Raising a stiff hand, he grasped Wen Nan’s outstretched one, and though his whole body was rigid, he still bent in reverent formality to press a kiss onto the back of Wen Nan’s hand.

Wen Nan blinked in surprise. He had merely intended to shake hands.

But that hardly mattered. Wen Nan kept his gentle, faint smile, giving no sign that he sensed the turmoil in Yu Shujun’s heart. His tone was light as he said, “Good. Call me that a few more times, and when I tire of it, I’ll let you change it.”

As he spoke, Wen Nan’s gaze dropped to the control sigil at Yu Shujun’s throat. This sigil was golden.

Qiqi’s silver control sigil was only Level 1. The requirements to activate it were not high—just a 90% favorability—but its control duration was short, lasting only an hour.

Now, however, with the aid of the Flower’s Tear, the sigil branded onto Yu Shujun had reached Level 3.

[Level 3 Control Sigil: Activation requires 99% favorability. Duration: Permanent (except in cases of force majeure alteration or death of the controlled target).]

Seeing this duration, Wen Nan curled his lips in satisfaction.

In his inventory, the effect of the “Flower’s Tear” item had already expired after its three minutes of activation. That meant, if “Flower’s Tear” had only been used on Qiqi’s sigil, it would now have reverted from Level 3 back to Level 1.

But Yu Shujun’s Level 3 control sigil would never fail—because it had been replicated using a shard of the Grand Magus’s Staff.

Skills copied with the staff shard ignored their original duration, remaining permanently in effect.

A staff shard forged by the Creator God truly lived up to its reputation.

Yet deep down, Wen Nan still felt a twinge of regret.

From the moment Yu Shujun proposed a gentleman’s agreement, Wen Nan had been wary of any tricks. That was why he insisted Yu Shujun keep his strategy value at 99%.

When Yu Shujun requested access to Wen Nan’s backup equipment inventory, Wen Nan had immediately activated the staff shard—he’d already decided that he would replicate the control sigil.

Yu Shujun’s subsequent outrage, accusing Wen Nan of wasting a priceless item, was simply because, in the eyes of these high-level players, such a staff shard should be reserved for truly deadly skills or equipment.

Wen Nan didn’t see it that way.

He was content to take life as it came, at peace with a simple existence. Those powerful, destructive skills meant little to him. He’d read stories of protagonists who treated dating sims like war games, or played life simulators as if they were battle royales, or even turned pet-raising games into competitive arenas.

All that fighting and scheming seemed exhausting to Wen Nan. Since he was in a romance game, his desires were simple: to enjoy a leisurely love affair.

So, when Yu Shujun saw the staff shard had already been used, Wen Nan’s only thought was: if Yu Shujun gave up on his plot for the shard, he’d let him go.

Originally, Wen Nan hadn’t planned to use the control sigil on Yu Shujun—after all, no matter how formidable Yu Shujun was, he was still a player, a man, and a troublemaker apt to stir up drama in Wen Nan’s “harem.” Wen Nan had little interest in keeping such a person close.

At first, Wen Nan intended to replicate a control sigil to use on Lin Xuemei. He liked Lin Xuemei—especially her delicate hands and soft, pink skin—and genuinely wished to keep her by his side. Moreover, Lin Xuemei was Qiqi’s aunt; since he planned to keep Qiqi with him, having Lin Xuemei as company for her would be a bonus.

But, alas, plans changed.

Yu Shujun pressed in relentlessly, and in the end, Wen Nan had no choice but to counterattack, using the sigil on him.

Still, Wen Nan quickly adjusted his mindset. Though he didn’t have Lin Xuemei, gaining a player as formidable as Yu Shujun wasn’t a bad trade.

He had only just completed the first trial map and already encountered such a strong player. Clearly, this game world was teeming with powerful figures.

The road ahead would not be as easy as he had hoped.

Having Yu Shujun by his side as protection in critical moments might prove invaluable.

Lost in these thoughts, a live countdown for the respawn point suddenly flashed across the system interface:

[00:00:59—]

[00:00:58—]

[00:00:57—]

Less than a minute remained before the final main quest settlement!

He hadn’t even made it back to the respawn point yet.

Wen Nan maxed out his agility, spun around, and sprinted from the sports field toward the boys’ dormitory at top speed.

He just barely made it to the front of the boys’ dorm as the timer ran down—only to be stunned by what he saw.

The boys’ dormitory had collapsed.

Wen Nan turned to Yu Shujun, who had chased after him. “...Your handiwork?”

Yu Shujun shrugged, expressionless. “I just knocked out a few load-bearing columns.”

Wen Nan: ?

This was the map’s respawn point!

But, come to think of it…

“Aren’t respawn points supposed to be invincible? No NPCs or target characters in the map should even be able to approach, right? How did you manage to take down the load-bearing columns?”

Yu Shujun gave a mocking half-smile. “A trivial matter.”

But the smile didn’t last long; thanks to the control sigil’s compulsion, Yu Shujun had to grind out one more word through gritted teeth: “Master.”

Wen Nan shook his head, about to say something, when the system’s mission countdown reached zero.

[Now entering main quest settlement phase]

[All players, return to your positions]

The projection that should have appeared on the dorm roof now hovered only in Wen Nan’s mind.

With the respawn point gone, where could anyone return to?

As he pondered, the world around him began to spin, collapsing in on itself, and his body plummeted into darkness.

When he next opened his eyes, Wen Nan found himself falling into an abyss so deep that not even his outstretched hand could find the faintest trace of light.