Chapter 119: This Dating Spot Is Quite Something

"What is this..."

Wen Nan held the ring up to the light coming from the ceiling of the rental apartment, rotating it slowly to discern the three rows of hollowed-out characters, each as fine as a mosquito's leg:

[f.#+|'| m." w.@/')> s.y.]
[l.*&|>}!@ y.+|#"f.]
[f.|<|% j.j.]

Staring at the jumbled characters, Wen Nan narrowed his eyes. This thing was even more cryptic than the Elvish or Wizarding scripts from Middle-earth. Could it really be the One Ring? Should he find a furnace and toss the ring inside to test it?

Just as he was thinking this, the system’s introduction popped up:

9527: [Portable Storage Ring: Can be used to store equipment, items, and objects from any instance or game lobby. The use of the space within the ring ignores game rules.]

...Ignore game rules?

Wen Nan: [Does that mean if there are items restricted to an instance that can't be taken out, I can put them in this ring and take them out?]

9527: [Yes.]

That’s overpowered!

Could he... could he put his target for conquest inside the ring and take her out?

9527: [Your portable storage ring currently has a storage capacity of a 1cm x 0.5cm x 0.1cm cube. Items exceeding this volume cannot be placed inside. Please be aware.]

This storage space... it’s smaller than a fingernail!

What you see is what you get? The storage space inside is only as big as the ring looks? There isn't even a little bit of expanded space? What could possibly fit in such a tiny area?

9527: [The original purpose for crafting this storage ring was to store a loved one's hair as a memento, so no additional expansion space was designed.]

The original purpose? That’s not right. Didn't this thing drop randomly into the player's backup equipment slot?

9527: [This ring was originally designed and crafted by a certain contestant. Later, due to personal reasons, the contestant placed it into the game's prize pool, entering the cycle of reincarnation. After 3689 rotations, it dropped randomly into this map, was allocated to contestant Yang Mingzhong's backup equipment slot, and was then gifted to you by that contestant.]

Uh, a tiny ring with such a bumpy life, just like a message in a bottle...

As he was thinking this, he caught a glimpse of the wall clock and realized it was already past 9:15 PM. It was almost time for his date with the CEO.

Thinking of this, Wen Nan stood up from the beanbag chair, stretched his limbs, and walked over to the TV cabinet to start rummaging through it.

There was a whole row of discs in the cabinet, mostly games, with only a few rare collector's edition movies. Wen Nan pulled out all the movie discs, chose the only one with a dog on the cover, and casually shoved it into his backup equipment slot.

As soon as he did, the system emitted a vibration notification, and a character message popped up:

[The Female Devil: I’m downstairs.]

Wen Nan froze. He checked the time—it was exactly 9:30 PM. Not a minute more, not a minute less.

So punctual? As expected of a CEO, her sense of time is much stronger than the average person's.

While feeling impressed, Wen Nan replied: [Coming down now, five minutes.]

He straightened his sleeves and walked toward the door. As he passed the three girls playing intensely, he casually mentioned, "I'm going out for a bit, might be back late."

The three were giggling and feeding each other snacks. Upon hearing Wen Nan, only Qiqi replied, "Brother, go and come back soon. Have fun, stay safe."

It was a very perfunctory and formulaic response; none of them even spared him an extra glance.

Wen Nan shrugged helplessly and walked out with his hands in his pockets.

Parking spaces downstairs were tight, and the lot was already full for the night, but Wen Nan spotted his target at a glance—a black Cadillac XT5 parked by the side of the road. A slender figure leaned against the driver's side door, dressed in a sharp skirt, her long legs crossed casually. In the night, her skin looked so pale it seemed to glow.

Just like when they watched the movie last time, Guan Ailin’s silhouette on the deserted street appeared somewhat lonely. She hung her head slightly, staring blankly at her toes, lost in thought. Sensing Wen Nan’s approach, she lifted her eyes, and the moment she saw him, her once-dull gaze immediately ignited with light.

"Been waiting long?" Wen Nan asked with a smile.

Guan Ailin shook her head as she opened the car door. "No, I just got here."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Wen Nan glanced around the interior. The SUV was quite spacious, much more comfortable than he had expected, though judging by the interior, it looked like an older car.

Catching his gaze, Guan Ailin said, "I bought it the year I returned from studying abroad, using the tax-exempt quota for overseas students."

Wen Nan was about to say it was nice, but heard her continue: "An old, cheap car, nothing compared to a newly bought Maybach, and the shock absorption is a far cry from it."

Wen Nan: ...

Is she really this jealous?

As he was thinking, the car stopped at the exit. Wen Nan glanced at the payment prompt and was shocked. It showed a total parking time of 3 hours and 49 minutes, requiring a fee of 30 yuan.

Wen Nan looked at the person beside him in disbelief.

Guan Ailin looked away awkwardly and picked up her phone to scan the payment code.

"Let me!" Wen Nan hurriedly raised his hand and paid the parking fee before she could.

As the car slowly pulled out of the residential complex, Wen Nan hesitated and asked, "You..."

"I happened to be meeting a client nearby, so I just happened to park at your complex," Guan Ailin explained before he could finish.

"Oh." Wen Nan didn't say anything more.

Crown Cinema was right near the company, a short walk away, and only a five-minute drive. After parking, Guan Ailin excitedly dragged Wen Nan into the elevator to the top floor of the mall where the cinema was located.

Seeing the barricades blocking the cinema entrance and the huge notice board standing to the side, Guan Ailin’s smile froze on her face. The notice stated that due to upgrades and renovations, Crown Cinema would be closed for the next week.

Guan Ailin stared at those few lines of text for a long time, finally forcing a smile at Wen Nan. "My luck is so bad, to have it closed just at this time."

Actually, Wen Nan wanted to say that even if it weren't closed, the two handwritten movie tickets they had definitely wouldn't work. Before coming over, Wen Nan had considered having the system book two tickets for another movie around the same time, but then he realized that with the system's personality, it was likely that tickets he bought himself wouldn't count toward the side quest.

Therefore, before leaving, Wen Nan had already thought of a solution.

"I brought a collector's edition; I guarantee it's much better than what's showing in theaters right now." He took the disc with the dog cover out of his backup equipment slot. "Does your office have a player or a computer with an optical drive we can use?"

Guan Ailin's eyes brightened when she saw the disc, but she shook her head upon hearing about the player. "No, it's rare to find a place that can play such antique discs..."

After thinking for a moment, her eyes lit up again. "There is one place! It should work!"

With that, she grabbed Wen Nan and hurried back to the Ailin Group headquarters building as fast as she could, finding a secluded area.

"Here it works!"

Guan Ailin pointed excitedly toward a dim room ahead.

Wen Nan stood beside her, stunned.

Isn't this... that secret laboratory?!