Chapter 4: Battlefield of Carnage

When the second female ghost appeared on screen, the livestream chat exploded:

[Here comes another one!]
[Are these tasks actually running in parallel?!]
[So if you pick five options at once, you have to complete five tasks simultaneously? That’s a new lesson learned.]
[I saw it—just now, on Night Nine’s way to the rendezvous, that figure in white with long hair flashing under the streetlight, that was her!]
[She’s been targeting Night Nine from the start, followed him all the way to the sports field.]
[So she had the best seat in the house and witnessed the whole thing?]
[Come on, let’s see a fight!]
[I love a good love triangle showdown.]
…

By the bleachers, Wen Nan was still in a daze when the system’s voice echoed in his mind:

[Name: Wu Yuwei (Xiaowei)]
[Role: The stunningly beautiful school belle]
[Background: Xiaowei possesses breathtaking beauty and is pursued by countless admirers. She enjoys the attention but doesn’t wish for romance to affect her studies, so she neither accepts nor rejects anyone. She’s amassed a trail of hopeful suitors but manages to keep herself untouched by any real involvement. Recently, however, she’s experienced her first flutter of real affection—and the one who has stirred her heart is you.

She placed a letter in your desk drawer, inviting you to meet her by the basketball court, but you never saw it. Fortunately, her best friend found the letter by the back door of the classroom and alerted Xiaowei in time.

With letter in hand, Xiaowei hurried to the sports field, hoping to confess, only to witness Qiqi and you locked in an embrace.]

[Difficulty: ★★★]

Reading Xiaowei’s background, Wen Nan fell into thought.

At that moment, Qiqi pressed herself tightly against Wen Nan, gripping his arm as though she were a frightened little animal, her whole body tense, glaring warily toward their new arrival.

Wen Nan gently patted her hand to soothe her.

From Wu Yuwei’s perspective, the sight made her eyes redden further, her lips pressed tightly together, on the verge of tears yet stubbornly holding them back. She approached them, forcing a smile as she asked,

“Did I come at a bad time?”

Hmm, why did this scene feel so familiar? Had he seen it somewhere before?

Ah, now he remembered.

Wen Nan’s lips curved into a faint smile as he extended his other arm toward Wu Yuwei. “No, you came at just the right moment.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, both girls turned to look at him with a sage, knowing expression.

Wu Yuwei stepped back, putting a little distance between them, a look of unmistakable disdain in her eyes. Even Qiqi released his arm and stopped pretending to be so meek, her expression displaying a hint of resentment.

Heh, as expected, TV dramas are all lies.

Wen Nan sneered inwardly.

Meanwhile, the livestream chat reached another fever pitch:

[(꒪ȏ꒪;)]
[(╬⁽⁽⁰⁾⁾Д⁽⁽⁰⁾⁾)]
[Huh???]
[Wow, is our pro really this bold?]
[He just managed to offend two female ghosts at once—is he not afraid of dying too quickly?]
[You have to admit, he really knows how to entertain his fans.]
[Wait, we were just joking! We didn’t actually want him to stage a love triangle showdown!]
[This is the most entertaining stream I’ve watched in ages. If it ends here, my fun will be over.]
[Seriously, what is he trying to do? Is he prioritizing drama over completing the task now?]
[Right, the task was to attend the date and have a pleasant night. If he gets these two fighting, there’s no way he’ll finish the task.]
[Feels like he’s lost the plot. Look, he’s just standing there frozen—maybe he doesn’t know what to do next.]
[Can even our pro make a mistake?]
[Did we misjudge him?]
…

The reason Wen Nan stood unmoving was not because he didn’t know what to do, but because he was calling out to the system.

Wen Nan: [9527]
9527: [I’m here]
Wen Nan: [Check the task progress]
9527: [Main Task 1, current completion: 15%]

Just as he thought…

This first main task, according to the description, had two key points: “to spend” and “pleasant.” Spending the time was easy—just complete the date. The difficult part was the “pleasant” aspect.

When he first learned he’d have to go on simultaneous dates with five different targets, Wen Nan had felt a wave of despair—

How could he possibly satisfy five women at once? Not even the world’s greatest time management expert could pull that off.

But soon, Wen Nan realized he was stuck in a conventional mindset.

Though this was a romance strategy game, at its core, it was meant to serve the player.

If its purpose was to create emotional value for the player, then it should be player-centric.

If that was the case, then the “pleasant” part shouldn’t depend on the satisfaction of his targets, but rather… on himself.

So, the true aim of Task One was not to make the five romantic interests happy, but to ensure that Wen Nan himself was having a good time.

The best proof was the task progress: after his outrageous remark a moment ago, instead of dropping, it had increased by five percent.

In those few short minutes, Wen Nan had clearly offended both girls—there was no trace of “pleasure” on their faces. Yet, he himself remained relatively unruffled.

Thus, as long as Wen Nan continued to “spend a pleasant evening,” the task would continue to progress.

With this realization, the whole matter suddenly seemed much simpler.

With a smile, Wen Nan withdrew his hand. “I was just joking.”

If anyone else had made such a joke, Wu Yuwei and Liu Qi would have stormed off immediately. But when it was Night Nine, of course, they chose to forgive him!

Tonight, this man seemed to radiate charm from every strand of hair.

All he had to do was curve his lips into a faint smile, and they were utterly captivated.

Damn it! How could a man be this attractive?

How had they never noticed his charisma before?

Wu Yuwei lowered her eyes, struggling to suppress the flutter in her heart. Taking a step forward, she offered the pink envelope in her hand. “I wrote you a letter and put it in your desk drawer. Did you not see it?”

Wen Nan glanced at the letter held out to him, hesitating for a moment about whether to accept it.

Just then, Qiqi snatched the envelope first, glaring at Wu Yuwei like a territorial little beast, eager to assert her claim.

“Stop pestering my brother! We—we’re already together!”

Wu Yuwei turned her gaze to Wen Nan, tears welling in her eyes once more. “Is it true? Are you… together?”

Wen Nan paused for a moment. “We…”

Wu Yuwei shook her head, cutting him off. “You don’t have to say anything.”

She no longer cared to hear the answer.

Stepping forward, she rose on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.