Chapter 130: Cash on delivery?

When Wen Nan’s results were finalized, the dormitory erupted in gasps.

Beyond the usual gold coin count that dwarfed everyone else’s, what truly stunned the members was the character affinity displayed on the panel—

Every single character had successfully surpassed the 80% threshold required to pass. Excluding the "Grand CEO," a ten-star character, every other character had exceeded 90% affinity, with the "Little Junior Sister" and the "Young Wife" reaching perfect completion values!

This was only a Level 5 entry-level map. For new players who had just come from the trial map, simply staying alive by the time they reached the second main quest was a miracle. Most other players, even if they had managed to攻略 (cultivate affinity with) just one character, would likely have lost a leg or an arm by this point.

Yet, look at their guild leader... By the end of this mission, not only had he avoided triggering a single soul-thread, but he had secured two perfect completions and one near-perfect one!

At this rate, he would likely have perfect affinity with all six characters before the third main quest even concluded.

Reflecting on this, the members were moved.

Guo Xiaofu: "The Guild Leader is so amazing."
Huang Yan: "I don't think we're playing the same game as him..."
Hu Jiayao: "A-Xing, based on what you said earlier, does this mean... we've hit the jackpot?"
Gu Gujinxing: "Yes, the grand prize."

As the group chatted back and forth, they looked toward Wen Nan, only to find the subject of their discussion frowning, his expression dark as he stared at the holographic screen above.

Guo Xiaofu nudged Huang Yan and whispered, "Brother Sanhuo, why does the Guild Leader look so unhappy?"

Huang Yan tried to guess, "Maybe it’s because his score wasn’t good enough?"

"Huh?" Guo Xiaofu couldn't understand. "Isn't a passing score enough? Besides, the mission completion and affinity are separate. If the affinity is near perfect, isn't that enough?"

Huang Yan shrugged. "We don't understand the world of straight-A students."

Still, Huang Yan also felt that the Guild Leader’s score was a bit low. Even though the crucial quest items were found by Gu Jinxing and Hu Jiayao, the key to the secret laboratory had clearly been handed to them by the Guild Leader. He shouldn't have to be on the same level as players like them who had done nothing but coast through.

With this in mind, Huang Yan walked over to Wen Nan, gave his shoulder a light tap, and tried to console him:

"Boss, this system score is definitely unfair. I suspect that because the entrance to the 'G-spot' was exposed and then blocked off later, the system couldn't detect it and missed your contribution value."

"That damn system is heartless!"

"But your ability is plain for all to see. We brothers are all convinced and look up to you!"

"Don't let such a small score affect your mood; it’s not worth it."

Wen Nan, who had been deep in thought, was momentarily stunned by Huang Yan’s comfort. "What score?"

Who said he was upset because of the score?

The passing line of 60 was indeed low, but in Wen Nan’s view, anything that didn't reach the threshold for a lucky draw was the same. Gu Jinxing and Hu Jiayao hadn't broken 80 either; even if the contribution value for the key had been added to his own, it wouldn't have triggered the prize wheel. To him, there was no difference between a 60 and a 79.

Huang Yan choked on his words. "Uh, it's not? Then Boss, what are you unhappy about? Tell us, let the brothers—I mean, let us share the burden?"

What Wen Nan had been thinking about was the verification process for the key item during the mission settlement.

There was only one key item for this second main quest, so unlike the first, it couldn't be distributed among all players. According to the system, it didn't need to be "picked up" by everyone—once Hu Jiayao picked it up, the other players couldn't perform the action even if they found the secret lab. But...

Now, at the spawn point, during the final settlement, the system had completely skipped the scanning phase for the key item.

According to the explanation on the screen, because the key item was unique, it used a shared-result mode, so there was no need to verify each player individually.

It was reasonable not to require six separate verifications, but why was there not even a single scan during the entire settlement process?

In Wen Nan’s logic, the system should have required Hu Jiayao to produce the key item, scan it at the settlement point, and verify it before requiring the other players to settle in order.

Why skip the scanning verification entirely?

Just as Hu Jiayao had been complaining earlier, what if a player like Gu Jinxing had been careless and accidentally burned the key item to ash with a lighter? Was the system not worried about that?

Was it because the system was confident that players could never easily destroy the key item?

That still didn't explain why the system didn't require a scan. It was like two gangs making a deal: everything was ready, and when it came time to exchange money for goods, our side delivered the goods, but the other side didn't even inspect them before paying.

Was that... reasonable?

Were they too confident in the goods, or... was there another reason?

As he pondered, the prompts on the screen above flashed rapidly:

[Congratulations to all participants! Main Quest 2 has officially concluded!]

[Initiating countdown for Main Quest 3—]
[00:00:03—]
[00:00:02—]
[00:00:01—]
[Beep!]
[New player mission delivered. Please check!]

In the dormitory, all the players looked up at the screen in shock.

Again?

Was every main quest on this map seamless? They hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath, and the third quest was already out?

As they thought this, the mission topic appeared on the screen, causing all the players to fall into silence once more:

[Main Quest 3: Find Mr. Horn (a type of insect)]

Seeing this, Huang Yan couldn't help but mutter, "Damn, a type of plant."

Hu Jiayao was amused by this and chuckled, giving him a rare thumbs-up instead of arguing.

With the experience of the previous missions, even the youngest, Guo Xiaofu, was no longer naive. "This 'Mr. Horn,' it couldn't be that Mr. Horn I'm thinking of, could it?"

Standing to the side, Gu Jinxing saw the topic, and certain images involuntarily surfaced in his mind. He lowered his head, his gaze darkening, and he reached up to lightly push the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.