Chapter 50: Are You Surprised? Is It Unexpected?

Staring at the two options before him, Wen Nan raised his hand but didn’t make a choice right away.

…

[Don’t accept it, there’s definitely a catch]
[What if one of those hidden items on the ground is some high-risk weapon?]
[Exactly, like that blade of grass with blood and dirt—it could be some unknown virus. If the streamer puts it in his inventory, maybe it’ll paralyze his backup slots.]
[I think those holey socks look suspicious too.]
[Refuse]
[Wait, did you all forget the streamer signed the Gentleman’s Agreement? He doesn't even have the right to refuse, does he? He has to agree to share.]
[The agreement only says he has to share once, but doesn’t specify when. I think he should wait until the mission countdown ends—fulfill it at the last possible moment before settlement.]
[Right, and this field feels off. He should go to the boys’ dorm entrance, and as soon as sharing activates, dive into the refresh point. Even if Yu Shujun is a disguised player, he’s a female ghost now, and female ghosts can’t enter the refresh point.]
[But if that weed really is a player-system virus like you say, even hiding in the refresh spot won’t help.]
[Either way, now’s not the time to accept.]
[Exactly. It’s not just a matter of timing—the location itself is a problem. Feels like a trap Yu Shujun set up, just waiting for the streamer to jump in.]

…

Out on the field, seeing Wen Nan hesitate, Yu Shujun let out a derisive laugh. “What, having second thoughts?”

Wen Nan snapped back to himself, shaking his head with a smile. “I already signed the Gentleman’s Agreement. How could I back out now?”

He raised his hand and tapped [Accept].

A moment later, a “click” echoed in his mind, like a safe being unlocked.

Immediately, in his backup inventory, amid a pile of empty coin pouches, a heap of “junk” appeared.

Wen Nan casually picked up the bloodstained, muddy blade of grass. The system instantly displayed its description—

9527: [Pseudo-Ginseng: Potent medicinal herb. Rapidly stops bleeding and accelerates wound healing.]

Sounded like a perfectly normal healing item.

Wen Nan swiped to the next slot and saw two pairs of holey athletic socks. Again, the description popped up—

9527: [Athletic Socks: Grants a slight speed boost. Equipping increases agility by 2%.]

Such ragged socks, yet surprisingly useful gear?

Wen Nan kept flipping through and reached the blackboard eraser he couldn’t examine earlier—

9527: [Board Eraser: Classroom exclusive. While standing at the podium in any classroom, hurling this item with full force at a target inflicts a certain amount of damage, determined by the target’s strength and armor.]

Reading the description, Wen Nan couldn’t help picturing his stern homeroom teacher’s face—this item seemed custom-made for her.

But honestly, how was this different from a regular eraser in real life? Teachers threw these at students all the time.

He moved on to a crushed, empty water bottle. The next description appeared—

9527: [Empty Water Bottle: Can be deposited in the system’s trash transfer station for a reward of 1 coin.]

Exactly the same as the soda can Wen Nan picked up earlier.

The rest were similar odds and ends—clearly, Yu Shujun had placed ordinary low-level items from the map into Wen Nan’s inventory, nothing out of the ordinary.

…

[Whoever said these were system viruses, come out and explain yourself.]
[What is this collection of junk items?]
[They look completely useless.]
[What did you expect from a new player’s trial map?]
[Exactly. For a level 1 rookie, even if you gave them high-level gear, they couldn’t use it.]
[Actually, looking at this, maybe Scholar Yu isn’t scheming at all—maybe he really just wanted to use the streamer’s inventory to smuggle stuff out?]
[No way.]
[There has to be something wrong…]
[Wait! When these items were on the field, the streamer couldn’t check their descriptions, right? But now, in the backup inventory, he can. Doesn’t that mean the sharing isn’t just storage rights, but also access and usage rights?]
[So what?]
[Damn!]
[This is devious.]
[So sneaky.]
[What are you all talking about? What’s the big deal?]
[Don’t you get it? If this so-called backup inventory sharing grants not just storage, but direct access and usage, then the streamer’s gear…]
[In other words, Scholar Yu has full access to the streamer’s stuff?]

[Shit]
[!]

…

While Wen Nan was still flipping through the descriptions of Yu Shujun’s “junk,” Yu Shujun had already, through his own character system, deftly opened Wen Nan’s inventory.

With just a brief scan, Yu Shujun immediately locked onto the item—the shard glowing with a ghostly blue light.

That’s right, all that talk about characters being unable to leave the map with equipment and needing a player’s help was pure fabrication.

Yu Shujun had made it all up as a ruse.

The so-called Gentleman’s Agreement had one sole purpose: to get Ye Jiu to open up his backup inventory permissions so Yu Shujun could get his hands on that item.

The Archmage’s Staff Fragment.

From the very beginning, Yu Shujun’s goal in entering this map had been precisely this.

The prophecy Wind and Water gave Yu Shujun had clearly stated that the final piece of the Archmage’s Staff would drop on this trial map.

When he first entered, Yu Shujun wasn’t sure how the fragment would appear.

After scouring every corner of the map, he realized—the fragment wasn’t a hidden item, but something that fell straight into a player’s inventory from the lottery pool!

It had taken some maneuvering, but no matter—the result was the same. The fragment had, at last, landed in Yu Shujun’s hands.

With a triumphant smile, Yu Shujun raised his hand, and from the system, grasped the gleaming gem fragment.

The moment his palm made contact, the fragment flashed.

Catching sight of the message on the fragment, Yu Shujun’s pupils contracted.

Suddenly, he looked up, eyes wide with disbelief, staring at the man before him. “You…?!”

Wen Nan, at some point, had already closed out of the item description page.

Seeing Yu Shujun’s furious expression, Wen Nan curled his lips into a sly smile.

He pointed with his chin at the staff fragment in Yu Shujun’s hand and asked,

“Surprised? Didn’t see that coming, did you?”