Chapter 16: Making Simple Matters Complicated

Why did Yu Shujun do this? She was blatantly targeting Wen Nan, wasn’t she? What benefit could she possibly gain from putting Wen Nan in trouble?

If you think about it another way, Yu Shujun’s actions—using certain means to create two scenes of chaos for Wen Nan—were, in fact, centered around Wen Nan as well. However, Qiqi, Wu Yuwei, Little Pepper, and Aunt Mei all behaved in ways that drew them closer to Wen Nan, seeking every opportunity to interact with him. This was much more in line with the purpose of the “Invitation to Attend” mission.

Yu Shujun, on the other hand, seemed intent on making things difficult for Wen Nan. Creating trouble for him would not help them finish the mission quickly; it would only make it more challenging. So, for some reason, Yu Shujun didn’t want Wen Nan to complete the task so easily… But why?

Of course, it’s not unusual for some targets in a romance strategy game to start with zero or even negative affection toward the player before the mission begins. Yu Shujun’s character was always described as “aloof and cunning, a top student.” With such a personality, a cold attitude from the start was only natural.

Yu Shujun’s initial affection toward Wen Nan was very low. Now that Wen Nan had lost the boost of maximum charm, her resistance to the mission was unsurprising.

But the issue was—

Yu Shujun had encouraged Wu Yuwei and helped Little Pepper and Aunt Mei enter the campus, all before meeting Wen Nan. In other words, while Wen Nan still had full charm and before they had even met, Yu Shujun was already working to create trouble for him.

Was it some deep grudge or resentment? Was it simply because Wen Nan didn’t arrive on time for their appointment? That seemed unlikely. Moreover, Yu Shujun gave that letter to Wu Yuwei before the scheduled tutoring session, so she probably didn’t even know Wen Nan would be late.

Of course, to take it a step further, it’s not unheard of for a romance strategy game to have a few extremely difficult characters, those who harbor negative feelings or even hostility toward the protagonist at the start of the story. After all, conquering an enemy who seems insurmountable brings much more satisfaction than pursuing a childhood friend whose ending has already been written.

But Wen Nan felt that Yu Shujun’s situation clearly did not fall into that category.

One reason was that this was only the novice trial zone. Wen Nan doubted the game would present such a difficult target here, or else it would be far too unfriendly to beginners. Furthermore, Yu Shujun’s difficulty rating was only one and a half stars; by all appearances, she shouldn’t naturally have such strong hostility toward Wen Nan.

Of course, these were just Wen Nan’s subjective judgments, not direct evidence.

As for direct evidence—

Wen Nan: [9527]

9527: [I am here]

Wen Nan: [Yu Shujun admitted just now that she’s Wu Yuwei’s close friend. Did you hear that?]

9527: [Yes, confirming: Yu Shujun and Wu Yuwei do have a close friend connection.]

Wen Nan: [So, in the background information you gave me about Wu Yuwei, where it said, ‘Fortunately, her close friend found the letter at the back door of the classroom and promptly warned Xiao Wei,’ does that mean the close friend was Yu Shujun?]

9527: [Correct. Congratulations! You’ve discovered a blind spot! You receive an extra map exploration reward: 10 gold coins!]

Wen Nan: …

Ten gold coins? Are you trying to brush me off like a beggar?

And if I hadn’t asked, would you have withheld even those ten coins?

Wen Nan couldn’t be bothered to argue with the system and quickly got back to the main point: [9527, retrieve Yu Shujun’s background information again.]

9527: [Here is Yu Shujun’s background—

Background: Yu Shujun has always been a top student since childhood. In every exam, big or small, she ranked first in her grade, never falling to second place.

She has absolutely no interest in anything except studying. Aside from attending classes, taking exams, doing homework, and participating in Olympiad competitions, her high school life had no other activities.

Not only is she immune to romance, she is immune to friendship as well.

She has always been solitary—no lovers, no friends, no distracting social relationships.

She does not participate in extracurricular activities, class gatherings, or social events…]

Wen Nan: [Alright, stop—right here.]

Wen Nan: [9527, are you certain that the background information you’re giving me now reflects Yu Shujun’s current reality?]

9527: [Confirmed]

Wen Nan: [So, Yu Shujun has always been solitary—no lovers, no friends, no distracting social relationships?]

9527: [Yes]

Wen Nan: [Then tell me, how does she have a close friend?]

9527: …

9527: [A close friend typically refers to a special intimate bond between two female friends. It is a form of friendship…]

Wen Nan: …

This is where the AI acts like a rogue. When it cannot answer a question, it starts giving irrelevant definitions.

But Wen Nan didn’t care anymore.

He had confirmed his suspicion with the system—Yu Shujun was problematic.

Either, as a character awaiting conquest in the trial map, Yu Shujun’s identity had been altered and what the system showed Wen Nan now was an erroneous background.

Or, the profile provided by the system truly belonged to Yu Shujun, but… the person sitting beside Wen Nan was not Yu Shujun.

Of these two possibilities, Wen Nan leaned toward the latter.

Just as he was about to call the system again in his mind, the movements of the person beside him interrupted his thoughts.

Yu Shujun lifted her wrist, glanced at her watch, and said coldly, “Time’s up. Today’s tutoring session ends here.”

With that, she gathered up the papers on the table, grabbed her backpack, and turned to leave.

“Wait a moment!” Wen Nan called after her.

Yu Shujun turned back. “Any questions can wait until the next tutoring session.”

“But, I haven’t figured out the problem from just now.”

Yu Shujun frowned lightly. “Ye Jiu, why must you make a simple single-choice question so complicated?”

Wen Nan: …

He suspected she was being sarcastic, but he had no evidence.

As Yu Shujun walked out of the classroom, the system’s voice sounded in Wen Nan’s mind.

9527: [Congratulations! You’ve completed Main Task 1. Please return to the trial zone refresh point—your dormitory—for task settlement.]

Wen Nan didn’t set off immediately. Instead, he asked: [9527, how many players participated in this novice trial zone map this time?]