Mini World Game Console

"Please be careful; it's just down this slope."

Captain Lin Lang, with the high-ranking officials from Sky Capital following behind, arrived at the central area of the closed-off section of the Wuyi Mountain Scenic Area, directing his flashlight to indicate the target location.

Yes, it was that very Captain Lin Lang, the Tactical Bureau captain who had lost his captain-level attire. He was now the person in charge of the search operation at Wuyi Mountain and had scoured nearly every stone in the Wuyi Mountain Great Rift Valley Scenic Area.

Generally speaking, in the past, someone like Lin Lang would have faced consequences. Even without making mistakes, merely being unluckily involved in a significant incident meant he would be treated coldly. If not demoted, he would at least be made to cool off for a few months and ponder, Why is it always me who's unlucky, and not others?

But things were different now. In the face of mysterious incidents related to the resurgence of Spiritual Energy, officials had keenly noticed a pattern: those previously involved in mysterious events had a greater likelihood of encountering them again.

This kind of jinx or star-crossed attribute is almost always present in the protagonists of detective and supernatural works, but those are works of fiction lacking any scientific basis.

However, with the emergence of the Spiritual Qi Cyclone, some experts now believed that if a Cultivator experienced a mysterious event, and its core remained unsolved, the chances of that Cultivator encountering it again increased significantly.

Members of the Tactical Bureau who had escaped death at the hands of monsters somehow bumped into them again while leading a large team on a separate case; a serial killer who had evaded capture by the Tactical Bureau twice encountered the very same pursuers while relaxing in another province.

Through big data analysis, the Tactical Bureau found that these dramatic 'coincidences' had almost become a kind of 'certainty.' The mutual chase between two Extraordinary Creatures seemed to weave some kind of thread connecting them.

Some experts even believed that if two Extraordinary Creatures established an extremely tenacious Bond, wouldn't this thread manifest greater power? Perhaps allowing them to know each other's locations? Sense each other's thoughts? Or even... borrow each other's abilities?

Based on these considerations, the reason for Lin Lang leading the search operation was quite apparent: the Tactical Bureau hoped he could find more traces of the Fairy Palace, especially since his clothes had been 'borrowed' by the Collector.

And Lin Lang did not disappoint the Tactical Bureau, swiftly accomplishing the task. Consequently, Sky Capital dispatched people immediately.

What puzzled Lin Lang, though, was that the key figure among the Sky Capital visitors always wore a black cloak, revealing no skin or facial features. Moreover, despite Lin Lang's attempts to dissuade them, this person insisted on heading up the mountain to investigate the situation that very night.

"Mr. Chuan, shall we go down?" asked a man in a suit standing beside the black-cloaked figure.

"Let's."

It was the first time Lin Lang heard Mr. Chuan's voice—deep and steady, as if not uttered from the throat but more like an echo in a valley.

Then Lin Lang saw Mr. Chuan jump straight down. He was momentarily stunned but said nothing.

The people sent by Sky Capital were certainly not ordinary. For Lin Lang, this slope merely required activating his 'Clothing' Skill; it surely wouldn't challenge the visitor.

Moreover, upon seeing Mr. Chuan, Lin Lang's scalp had tingled, and the hairs on his body had stood on end. Although the sensation subsided after a while, Lin Lang knew in that instant—facing Mr. Chuan, he was likely mere prey, which was why he had subconsciously felt such overwhelming Fear.

Indeed, it was true, or rather, it utterly astonished Lin Lang: under the illumination of several high-powered flashlights, he could clearly see Mr. Chuan wasn't sliding down the nearly 70-degree slope at all. Instead, he was walking down step by step, as if on flat ground!

He moved with incredible speed, leaving no significant footprints on the ground. He wasn't stabilizing himself by digging his feet into the terrain; he truly possessed some mysterious mountain-walking Ability!

Before long, Mr. Chuan ascended again. The man in the suit asked, "Have you finished looking?"

"Yes. The details, I will, report to, Ren Zuo."

Mr. Chuan spoke haltingly. Could he have a stutter? Lin Lang wondered.

However, Lin Lang didn't believe Mr. Chuan could have discerned much. After finding the last known location of the adventurer, they hadn't even found footprints indicating departure. They could only confirm the adventurer's presence through a human-shaped impression and some hairs left in a pit; nothing more had been discovered.

The man in the suit nodded and said to Lin Lang, "Please arrange for a vehicle to take us to the airport."

"No problem," Lin Lang replied. "Aren't you going to look at the other secondary locations?"

The secondary locations were the specific places where items had been lost. These spots were all some distance from where the adventurer had appeared, which was why it had taken Lin Lang and his team several days to find the adventurer's primary location.

"No need," Mr. Chuan said, his voice resonating deeply. "What isn't there, still isn't there. The Fairy Palace... traceless, no sign... Hmm!"

Lin Lang watched in surprise as Mr. Chuan suddenly struck a nearby tree trunk. His hand moved so fast that only an Afterimage lingered in the air, completely obscuring his arm. Within half a second, eight distinct thuds echoed as he punctured the tree trunk.

Lin Lang asked, "What's wrong? Is there a problem there?"

"...Nothing," Mr. Chuan shook his head.

The man in the suit smiled. "Mr. Chuan is just hungry. Captain Lin, we'll take our leave now."

Watching the Sky Capital visitors head down the mountain, Lin Lang was somewhat puzzled. But since it was getting late, he instructed the search team to regroup, collect the nearby surveillance equipment, and prepare to descend the mountain to rest.

He walked over to inspect the tree Mr. Chuan had attacked. He released a Qi Cyclone to sense the area but found nothing unusual.

He shone his flashlight on the tree trunk, and after staring for a while, he finally noticed something peculiar.

Mr. Chuan had jabbed eight holes into the tree trunk, each about a finger-joint deep. And in every hole, there was a skewered ant.

***

"Zhao Huo, do you know how to flirt with girls?"

"I do!"

Ren Suo pondered for three seconds, then changed the question. "Then do you know how to flirt with girls in English?"

"Umm... does 'you jump, I jump' count?"

"That sounds more like a threat! Useless! No wonder you're stuck in a Shura Field!"

After hanging up on Zhao Huo, Ren Suo looked at his friend list and fell into deep thought.

There's no point asking my middle school and high school classmates, he mused. I haven't seen them in years. Suddenly calling to ask how to flirt would probably make them think it's some new trick to borrow money.

As for college classmates... I was in a major with a male-to-female ratio like 1:99 bleach to water; asking them would be like asking a blind man for directions.

He considered his bonding partners: Yu Kuangtu tried to woo a girl discreetly but ended up clashing with Red Armor and getting beaten half to death. He only succeeded after revealing his impressive identity. Trash. Exclude.

Li Dan? If he knew how to flirt, why would he be sleepless and bored every night? Exclude.

Bai Ji seems like the type to be pursued, not the pursuer. Exclude.

After much deliberation, Ren Suo opened WeChat to ask a friend he was reasonably familiar with:

Lover of Zha Jiang Beef Brisket and Mixian Noodles: "Chairman Xie, you there?"

Chairman Xie: "Not here. Scram."

Lover of Zha Jiang Beef Brisket and Mixian Noodles: "Do you know how to flirt with girls?"

Chairman Xie: "Wanna witness my skills? I'm busy lately, but in a few months, I'll take you to a bar and let you see my moves."

Lover of Zha Jiang Beef Brisket and Mixian Noodles: "I was hoping you could teach me."

Chairman Xie: "(/shocked) Oh, right. You're not Zhao Huo; he has a fiancée. You should start thinking about your own future... But my methods are pretty advanced. You wouldn't be able to learn them."

Lover of Zha Jiang Beef Brisket and Mixian Noodles: "Why can't I learn them if they're advanced?"

Chairman Xie: "Your face is too low-level."

Ren Suo: "..."

Lover of Zha Jiang Beef Brisket and Mixian Noodles: "No worries, it's an online relationship. Can you flirt in English?"

Chairman Xie: "Impressive! Going for a foreigner! Although I passed English Level 6, I can't help you. Communication is already difficult, let alone flirting..."

Chairman Xie: "You should ask Qiao Muyi."

Lover of Zha Jiang Beef Brisket and Mixian Noodles: "Her? Isn't she a woman?"

Chairman Xie: "Women are even better at flirting, okay! I've heard she's the most popular in the Tactical Bureau. Plus, she occasionally shares pure English articles on her Moments. Her English should be pretty good."

Ren Suo rarely checked Moments and had no idea about this. He directly opened Qiao Muyi's profile and found that she did indeed 'occasionally' post articles entirely in English.

As for her other Moments posts, they generally followed this style:

"Our Deputy Director Yu has reached the third turn! Members of Team Seven, do you see that? As long as you all work hard, eliminate dangers for the citizens of Lianjiang City, solve those difficult mysterious incidents, and faithfully carry out the orders from your superiors...

... then *I'll* have plenty of time for Cultivation and will soon advance to the third turn myself!"

What exactly had Qiao Muyi done, Ren Suo wondered, to get her subordinates to swallow this kind of toxic 'inspiration' and still work hard...?

So Ren Suo sent her a message: "Teach me how to flirt in English."

Qiao Muyi replied quickly. Perhaps she was in the middle of editing more toxic 'inspiration' for her Moments, "Who are you trying to flirt with?"

"An online friend."

"...Why are you suddenly into online dating?"

"Can't I just want to learn English?"

"If you want to learn English, you could just chat with guys."

"No good. I want to flirt with girls, improve my romance skills!"

"If you want to flirt with girls, why not the ones around you?"

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder. The distance to a foreign country is just right for that."

Ren Suo was just spouting nonsense. As the conversation veered off topic, he quickly brought it back: "Are you going to help me or not?"

"...Wait a moment."

Half an hour later, Qiao Muyi sent him a Word document containing a Chinese-English guide to flirting. Ren Suo was very satisfied. "Next time, dinner's on me, at the Dong Chengling Family, my treat!"

"Negative emotions from Qiao Muyi, +233."

Qiao Muyi didn't reply again. Judging from the negative emotion notification, she must have been quite upset.

Ren Suo, on the other hand, quickly opened "My Life is Not Your Game," wondering if he could finally complete this level.

He had finally found the right strategy to max out the Rebel's Determination Value, allowing him to perfectly control the Rebel's actions. But he soon encountered a problem: the Rebel still had to find a way to get close to Her Royal Highness the Princess!

Moreover, he had to speak English; Ren Suo had to type the English dialogue himself to converse with Her Royal Highness!

Actually, this wasn't a huge problem. If it were just casual chat, Ren Suo could have gone on indefinitely with, "How are you? I am fine, thank you. And you? I am fine too, thanks."

But Her Royal Highness the Princess was surrounded by a crowd. If the Rebel engaged in such boring chatter, other NPCs would squeeze him out in the next second. Her Royal Highness would then ignore him. Furthermore, if the Rebel tried to approach again, she would warn him. A third attempt would result in the Princess's bodyguards forcibly removing him from the banquet hall, leading to direct mission failure!

The strategy guide also updated:

"Strategy Tip: Find a way to stand next to Her Royal Highness the Princess, where the light remains unchanged because of you (engage in a conversation with Her Royal Highness the Princess that lasts for more than fifty sentences)."

This meant Ren Suo had to make Her Royal Highness the Princess interested in the Rebel from the very beginning, and she had to exchange more than fifty sentences with the Rebel!

After much thought, the only strategy Ren Suo could devise was: flirt!

To put it nicely, it was courtship communication; to put it bluntly, it was hitting on someone.

Of course, flirting definitely wasn't about foolish lines like, "You're so pretty," "Your crow's feet are beautiful," or "Your flat chest is so charming." Instead, it required a complete, ongoing conversation strategy.

Qiao Muyi's guide provided very detailed conversation strategies, and Ren Suo selected a few suitable ones to start testing.

Her Royal Highness the Princess and the Lady of Light seemed to be sisters, so Ren Suo decided to try this first: "Your Highness, your sister is so cute. I really like her!"

...The Rebel was immediately escorted out of the banquet hall by bodyguards.

"Your Highness, do you enjoy playing games?"

...After four sentences, the Rebel was squeezed out.

Ren Suo tried several times but still felt it wasn't working.

The main issue was the lack of information about Her Royal Highness, and there were too many others vying for her attention. If the Rebel couldn't make a decisive impression within three sentences, there was no way to keep Her Royal Highness's attention focused on him.

Ren Suo opened the "Equipment Interface" and found the Rebel. He was surprised to see that the Rebel's Equipment Slot looked strange. Compared to other game characters, it had a watery, blurred appearance, as if it were about to disappear.

Fusion games are just unreliable... Ren Suo muttered, then equipped the Rebel with "Desire Detection."

"Desire Detection" was hit-or-miss in reality, but it seemed more effective in the game: every sentence from Her Royal Highness now included parenthetical notes indicating her reaction to the conversation, whether it was 'interesting' or 'boring.'

But even with this, the Rebel could only sustain a conversation for about thirty sentences at most before Her Royal Highness shifted her attention elsewhere.

What to do? Ren Suo had no choice but to pore over Qiao Muyi's flirting guide again. Finally, between the lines, he saw two crucial words: Be Handsome.

It must be because the Rebel isn't handsome enough that he can't flirt effectively!

Ren Suo had tried his best!

Sigh, it's all the Rebel's fault. Although Ren Suo wasn't sure if a little figure made of 25 pixels even had a concept of 'handsome'... it definitely wasn't Ren Suo's problem.

Ren Suo glanced at the time, preparing to head to Dong Chengling's home to mooch a meal, when Dong Chengling called.

"I've had a really good feeling about my Cultivation these past three days, so I'm going to focus entirely on that and won't be cooking."

"Oh, okay. Good luck then!"

Ren Suo scratched his head and sighed, resigning himself to the cafeteria. He had grown accustomed to Dong Chengling's home-cooked meals and had become quite picky. Eating at the cafeteria now would probably give him indigestion...

Meanwhile, Dong Chengling switched to her chat with Qiao Muyi. "I've told Ren Suo I won't be cooking for the next three days. But will it really work?"

"It will. After all, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder.' You see him every day, so he subconsciously overlooks your charm. Actually, three days is too short; a month would be better. Isn't the saying 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' followed by 'a brief separation is better than a new marriage'?"

"Thirty days is too long for me."

"Three days will do. You should use this time to prepare your new Spells properly and give those freshmen a taste of what's to come."

At that moment, in the Team Seven office at the Tactical Bureau, 8.8 km from Heavenly Lotus Academy, the team members heard their captain let out a cold laugh. A chill instantly ran down everyone's spine.

They all knew their captain's peculiar trait: when the captain laughed, it meant someone was in for a rough time. They could only pray that person wasn't one of them.

Only one female team member, who was retrieving files from the captain's desk, heard their captain's devilish whisper:

"So, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' huh? So, you'll treat *him* to a meal, will you? Let's see how you like not eating well for three days..."