Chapter 73: Don’t You Want to Touch It?

[Spicy! Double kill!]
[Wait, who just said the streamer was a legend? I actually believed it! Is he famous for being terrible? The kind of legendary disaster?]
[Honestly, you can't really blame the streamer. He has to deal with six romance targets all at once, and they're all high-star characters with soul puppets. It's a miracle if nothing goes wrong.]
[Exactly, this is the highest-level beginner dungeon. For a player who just cleared the trial map, starting like this is completely normal.]
[By the way, these players all just finished the trial, so why are they matched to a level 5 map that's so hard? That's some rotten luck.]
[It's not about luck. The difficulty of matched maps in this game is tied to players' overall strength. Look at the streamer's level.]
[What the—Bronze?!]
[He cleared just one trial map and already made it to Bronze?! How did he manage that? Is he really that talented?]
[Is it possible for a pro to start out with two negative scores?]
[Maybe he's practicing how to make an extreme comeback?]
[Stop making excuses. Seriously, buddy, is it that hard to admit you misjudged him? He's obviously a newbie, clueless as can be. Just started and already took on six soul puppets, now can't handle it. Once this first main quest ends, he'll earn six soul threads and trigger the reverse Tian Gang plot—enjoy the chaos!]
...
...
CEO's office.

After hearing Wen Nan's explanation, the female CEO's expression remained cool and indifferent. "There's no need to explain."

Is there really no need for an explanation?
Then raise this negative fifteen percent romance progress, if you dare.

Wen Nan stood by the desk, looking at the woman seated in the swivel chair, her stunning face radiating beauty.

No wonder she's a ten-star romance target. Besides the two genuinely snowy-white curves on her chest, her looks were truly exceptional. It seemed work kept her busy—she hadn't put on any makeup, yet even this bare-faced version was, apart from that fleeting moment when Yu Shu Jun took off her glasses, the most beautiful character Wen Nan had seen in this game world.

As a CEO, her presence was remarkable. Sitting there, her posture was as upright and solitary as a pine tree on a snowy mountain.

[Name: Guan Ailin (Ailin)]
[Identity: The cold-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside, extremely powerful female CEO]
[Background: Young and accomplished, Guan Ailin built Ailin Group from scratch at just twenty-eight, relying on her sharp market instincts, outstanding management abilities, and relentless drive.

Her precociousness, diligence, and unyielding spirit meant that for more than twenty years, her life revolved solely around her career. Her lofty pride left her with almost no close friends; she cared little for family, and her love life was a blank slate.

“Standing higher brings solitude; seeing farther makes you out of place with the present. If I'm destined to walk this path, I care nothing for others' opinions...”
These are the words Guan Ailin keeps close to her heart. Because of such beliefs, she has always been alone, yet fulfilled and satisfied.

Until recently, when an unexpected event caused this steadfast workaholic to begin changing her outlook.
]
[Romance Difficulty: ★★★★★★★★★★]

The background introduction for this female CEO wasn't long, but Wen Nan stood there, stunned, staring silently for a long time.

Standing higher brings solitude...

That line in the middle left Wen Nan lost in thought for ages.

Guan Ailin spoke coldly, but received no response, her brows furrowing as she raised her hand and waved it in front of Wen Nan. "What are you daydreaming about?"

Wen Nan's unfocused eyes snapped back, his gaze landing on Guan Ailin's face, and, inexplicably, he asked, "If I wanted to take you away, would you be willing to follow me to the ends of the earth?"

His tone was earnest, catching Guan Ailin off guard. "What are you talking about? Didn't get enough sleep?"

After a brief pause, Wen Nan laughed, shook his head, and quickly returned to his usual composure. "Boss, what did you just ask me?"

Guan Ailin sighed and pointed at the projector on the desk in front of her. "I want you to turn on the projector. Let's review last night's PPT."

Wen Nan's heart tightened, but he quickly switched on the projector.

A black background with white lettering appeared, bluntly displaying—

[The Joy of Two Threads—You Deserve It!]
[Reporters: Zhang Beibei, Ye Jiu]

Uh, this report title made Wen Nan's phantom limb pain flare up.

Guan Ailin's icy voice sounded, "I asked you, is this PPT yours?"

Wen Nan shouldered the blame, "Yes."

Her voice grew even colder. "You even got your own name wrong?"

Wen Nan gritted his teeth and admitted, "I'll take ninety percent of the blame, and the input method gets ten percent."

Guan Ailin continued, "Our company’s PR department has produced countless branded report templates. Why not pick any of those? You had to make your own, with black background and white text? Do you think this funeral-style PPT is suitable for guiding the sales team?"

Wen Nan shook his head, "It's not suitable, not suitable at all. I'll fix it, right away!"

9527: [Attention, target 'cold-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside female CEO,' current romance progress decreased to: -25%.]

Wen Nan: ?

He had completely admitted fault as she demanded; how had the progress dropped another ten points just after reviewing the cover? If they went through all twenty slides, wouldn't the progress plunge to minus two hundred?

Admitting fault didn't work—should he argue with his boss instead?

That hardly seemed appropriate...

[Mind Reading] was still cooling down, so Wen Nan simply set the system to automatically activate the skill as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Guan Ailin's frosty voice continued—

"Here, our product's tagline 'Longest-lasting on the surface,' violates advertising laws. Who told you to write that?"

"And this map—I’ve told you countless times, avoid using any maps, it's prone to political errors. Did you take that to heart?"

"And this Venn diagram, the proportions are obviously wrong. Did you correct them?"

...

Wen Nan suspected that if this scolding went on, he'd be fired on the spot.

Still, the romance progress stabilized, holding at the initial -25%, not budging further.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, his body relaxing as he leaned back in the chair, his elbow brushing against something soft and resilient, instantly conjuring an image of snowy white in his mind.

"Sorry."

Wen Nan quickly withdrew his hand and sat up straighter.

In his mind, a gentle female voice sounded softly:

'When your junior kissed you in the break room earlier, you didn’t try to dodge, did you?'

'Now that you touched my chest, you’re eager to pull away?'

Wen Nan: ?

(End of chapter)