0p0 Chapter 167 Favorability 10
Chapter 167 Favorability 10
Su Yumin walked over and took the cardboard box from Yan Xun's hand.
Then everyone tried it.
The cardboard box was so light it seemed to contain nothing, but according to the man with the mustache, the man and the cat were inside.
The box had a paper tape seal, and there were no ventilation holes on the box; everything was suspicious.
"The whiteboard says that the box cannot be opened before the designated time." Sun Yue was the last to put down the box. She looked at the others and asked, "Do we need to take turns caring for the human-cat?"
"The schedule should be updated on the whiteboard at the designated time," Yan Xun said.
The "Eight-Character Mustache" meant that before the end of the day at seven o'clock, there would only be their two teams here, and he would not come to this floor again.
The only way to notify them when to open the box is through a whiteboard that is updated daily.
"It's estimated that it won't be open until the seventh day," Sun Zhao said.
The group of people looked at the cardboard box placed on the table.
Currently, the only useful information provided by the copy is the hints on the whiteboard.
Yan Xun bent down to look at the cardboard box in front of him, and he touched it casually—the feel of the box still sent chills down his spine—he turned to his teammates, "How are we going to take care of it?"
"Should we try expressing our love to it first?" Sun Zhao walked over to Yan Xun and looked at the cardboard box with him.
"Meow meow meow, is the kitten inside?"
Yan Xun: "..."
"Are you doing this for the sake of the show?" Yan Xun asked.
Sun Zhao: "..."
“I’ve seen this kind of talk to cats online,” Sun Zhao whispered to Yan Xun.
After Sun Zhao finished speaking, everyone received a system notification.
[Human-cat satisfaction +1, current favorability: 1]
"Look!" Sun Zhao immediately said to Yan Xun, "It works!"
He patted Yan Xun on the shoulder as he spoke, "You should give it a try too."
Then he called to the others, "You guys come too."
And then a strange scene unfolded in the room—
Yan Xun and the others stood around the cardboard box, each with a different expression, and then spoke to the box in a high-pitched voice.
"Meow meow meow, little kitty, we love you."
[Human-cat satisfaction +6, current favorability: 7]
Yan Xun squatted down again and touched the cardboard box. "Good cat, good cat."
[Human-cat satisfaction +1, current favorability: 8]
"It can't be that simple, can it?" Su Yumin wondered. He moved closer to Yan Xun and, imitating Yan Xun, touched the cardboard box.
However, he was a bit stronger, and even with his voice strained, he sounded somewhat unwilling.
[Human-cat satisfaction -1, current favorability: 7]
Su Yumin: "?"
"Targeting me?"
“Raising a human-cat isn’t that simple,” Li Wu said. “Affection level isn’t the key to leaving the instance.”
Otherwise, those elites from the Retrospective Guild wouldn't have perished in the dungeon.
Afterwards, they tried praising the cat in the room, and Gu Jia even shook the cardboard box while hugging it.
In the end, the human-cat relationship level stopped at 10.
Then nothing changed.
"Is the daily limit for favorability 10?" Yan Xun asked, looking at the cardboard box.
God created the world in seven days, and he always felt that the seven-day adoption period for humans and cats in the game was related to this.
Otherwise, why is the number of participants so high, and why is the adoption period also seven?
A more ominous thought lingered in his mind—
One player dies each day, and on the last day, just enough time does one player leave.
Of the seven members in the previous round of the Retrospective Guild, only one remains who can completely match up.
While Lou Yanchuan and the others were examining the box, they were also watching Yan Xun. Seeing that Yan Xun seemed to want to say something, Lou Yanchuan asked, "Have you thought of something?"
Yan Xun simply explained his speculations.
“That’s not entirely unreasonable,” Su Yumin said.
“We need to be careful tonight,” Sun Zhao said, looking at the group. “I suggest we don’t separate tonight.”
"Let's stay in one room together and see what changes occur in the box."
"At midnight, we also need to check the whiteboard to prevent the other side from changing key information," Li Wu added.
What do you all think?
No one objected.
Jonathan's floor was large enough, probably because many "adopters" had come here. The room was fully equipped, with food and unopened water in the refrigerator.
All the necessary living facilities are also available.
They found the largest room and placed the cardboard box on the table in the center of the room.
Outside the window, you can still see Jonathan's giant projection, with a blonde woman still playing with a kitten, and behind her is a very tempting advertisement telling everyone that as long as you get Jonathan's human-cat, you can get all your wishes.
Yan Xun looked out the window at everything.
Besides Jonathan Company, there are other huge advertisements here.
For example, a certain fast food group, and lifelike robots, etc.
It seems that the technology in this instance is extremely advanced... Yan Xun looked at the advertisement for the android. The robot looked incredibly agile, and apart from the charging port on the back of its neck, it was almost indistinguishable from a real person.
He pulled out the glasses he'd gotten in the previous dungeon from his pocket—
The view outside the window remained normal, and he turned back to look at the cardboard box in the center of the room.
These glasses, which supposedly reveal the truth, can only show that there is a dark mass inside the cardboard box; they cannot see its true form.
Yan Xun's gaze fell on Sun Yue.
A blurry figure could be vaguely seen behind the other person. As if sensing Yan Xun's gaze, the figure quickly turned its head.
Yan Xun couldn't see "her" face clearly, but he could sense that "she" was probably smiling.
But soon his eyes stung—
Yan Xun took off his glasses.
"When did you start wearing glasses?" Sun Zhao turned around and saw Yan Xun taking off his glasses.
Yan Xun put the glasses in his pocket. "A prop."
"They say they can see through the truth."
Lou Yanchuan asked upon hearing this, "Did you get it from the last dungeon?"
He couldn't hide this from him, and Yan Xun hadn't intended to conceal it in the first place; otherwise, he would have concealed the purpose of the glasses from the beginning. "Yes," he said, looking at Lou Yanchuan. "And you?"
"What item did you get?"
"Land deed," Lou Yanchuan said.
Just as Yan Xun thought he was lying to him, he heard him continue, "Only with the land deed can the guild's territory be expanded."
"You're planning to expand your territory?" Sun Zhao asked. "Is this why you're going to the dungeon?"
Perhaps realizing there were three newcomers here, Sun Zhao explained to them, "In the game, a guild needs a land deed to expand its territory."
"Just like players have to purchase their residence from the system, if there is no land deed, even if the guild occupies a territory, the system will not recognize it."
"At that time, everything will enter this territory and raze the guild to the ground."
"Guild members can usually live directly in the guild base, so many players who can't afford to buy housing in the game will join a guild..."
Yan Xun's expression grew increasingly subtle as he listened.
Wait, why is buying a house still so difficult even in this infinite loop?!
Sun Zhao was completely unaware of Yan Xun's inner thoughts and was still lamenting, "Sigh, when I was a new player, I had nowhere to stay."
"We can only wander around and shorten the time we spend outside the instance."
Gu Jia, a player who spends real money, certainly doesn't lack housing within the system. He looked at Sun Zhao with some confusion, "Can't we sleep on the street?"
After clearing the dungeon, Yan Xun never left the unfinished villa except when heading to the guild base in Huisu. He also teleported directly to the Huisu guild, so he never saw the outside world.
"Are there streets outside?" Yan Xun asked.
“It’s a bit like a satellite city,” Gu Jia explained after thinking for a moment. “Each player’s residence is in an independent space, but the forums share routes to the main city.”
“Players who don’t own a house or join a guild in the game can only find a hotel in the main city or simply sleep on the street.” Sun Zhao made a money gesture. “Hotels charge by the day, and sleeping on the street is free, but you’ll get polluted.”
"The houses and residences within the system can ensure that players are not corrupted by those mysterious entities."
Sun Zhao frowned as he spoke, "When I was a newbie, I met a player who lived by the roadside."
"When I passed by the next day, he had turned into a pool of blood and melted like a candle."
"It is said that on that day, a mysterious entity happened to be watching that area, and the players looked up and noticed it." Sun Zhao made a throat-slitting gesture, "and all the players on that street turned into blood."
The system is deceiving itself, Yan Xun thought.
If the mysterious beings in this world are powerful, ordinary players will turn into blood just by looking at them, because they have seen "unobservable objects".
What then are the so-called plot and world-building elements of a novel?
The system's sole purpose from beginning to end is to allow itself to continuously complete tasks in order to find Gui Yuchong's soul fragments.
—What is the relationship between Gui Yuchong and the system? Why do we need to find out for ourselves?
He doesn't believe in coincidences.
Moreover, there were the scenes he had seen in the previous instance, and the things he had seen when Lou Yanchuan came into contact with him.
Yan Xun didn't even bother to test the system or ask it what kind of dungeons the novel, featuring Gui Yuchong as the protagonist, would take place later.
He could guess the system's answer—
[Because you, host, are just cannon fodder! Therefore, you don't have permission to view that much content!]
The system can only view the instance you are required to play!
Each player will have a system after entering the game, which is responsible for helping players redeem rewards in the store and start a live broadcast, etc., and can be regarded as a smart auxiliary tool for players.
He had some suspicions before, but lacked evidence.
Looking back now... he feels that the system was less of a help to him and more of a surveillance of his actions.
They consciously guided him to dungeons containing fragments of Gui Yuchong's soul.
So Gui Yuchong is a mysterious being? Was he demoted for some reason, and therefore needs to collect faith to be resurrected?
Yan Xun recalled Lou Yanchuan's explanation of Jia Ye in the conference room.
However, the main system doesn't care about the fate of the downgraded mysterious being. The system and the main system should be on the same side, so there's no reason for it to go against the main system's wishes.
Yan Xun's mind raced as he recalled everything he had encountered since entering the game.
He remembered the expired food in the basement and his completely blank memories, and began to suspect that this was not his first time entering the game, but that some of his memories had been intentionally erased before the Meimei Building instance.
Lou Yanchuan's advice to him was: 'Those things can't be trusted, and neither can your system.'
The fact that the Guild has been established for a long time is why there are rumors that Lou Yanchuan is an octogenarian.
But in the memory that Lou Yanchuan passed on to him, the other person was not very old at the time and would call him brother.
So, he really is a centenarian? Yan Xun was starting to have doubts about life.
If he really was a player from a hundred years ago, then why is Lou Yanchuan still young after decades, while I have lost my previous memories?
"Can I ask you a question?" Yan Xun suddenly asked.
He looked at Lou Yanchuan and said, "I was very curious when I was browsing the forum."
How old are you exactly this year?
He was worried that asking directly would be detected by the system, so he used the forum as an excuse.
As soon as Yan Xun said this, everyone in the group except Li Wu turned their attention to Lou Yan Chuan.
—After all, this is one of the biggest secrets of the Retrospective Guild: how old is the guild leader this year?
Lou Yanchuan glanced at Yan Xun.
He seemed to know what Yan Xun really wanted to ask, "Just like you thought."
"I am already very old."
He smiled apologetically at them, "So I don't even know how old I am this year."
"As you know, older people don't have very good memories."
The others in the room didn't really believe Lou Yanchuan's words, taking it as a joke. Some even thought that the Retrospective Guild had secretly changed its second-generation guild leader.
Only Yan Xun knew that Lou Yanchuan wasn't lying; what he said was true.
[What are you thinking, host?] The system suddenly spoke in Yan Xun's mind.
"I was just wondering if he exchanged for some kind of item." Yan Xun had already quickly come up with an excuse. His thought just now was not a message to the system, so it could not be detected by the system.
"Does the system contain elixirs that prolong life?"
"Of course not!" the system immediately replied. "There's only one way to achieve immortality."
"What's possible?"
"She has pledged allegiance to some being and become a believer." The system said nonchalantly, "Just like Sun Yue, her lifespan will also become very, very long."
"Then tell me, can I convert to a certain faith?" Yan Xun tentatively asked in his mind.
"How about I form a pact with the witch? I think she really enjoys coming to my live stream."
"No." the system said.
Seemingly realizing it had rejected the idea too quickly, it swiftly explained, "Host, you must be careful! Forming a bond with those beings doesn't grant freedom, and there's a high probability you'll eventually lose your own consciousness, becoming a complete believer and puppet."
The system does not recommend players do this!
It seems that the relationship between the system and those mysterious entities is also quite subtle.
Yan Xun thought that the main system could profit from both sides, obtaining energy from both the mysterious beings and the players, but he didn't want the players to become complete believers in those things.
Because it will get out of control or...?
Yan Xun knew that he wouldn't get an answer by getting stuck in his own thoughts, so he changed the subject.
"I just looked at it with my glasses."
He didn't say it explicitly, worried that the cat and the person inside the box might "observe" their words and actions. Fortunately, his teammates were all experienced players and instantly understood that he meant they had just looked through the cardboard box with their "seeing-through-the-truth" glasses.
"I can't see clearly," Yan Xun said. "It's pitch black, I can't see anything."
But no sooner had he finished speaking than everyone received another notification—
[Human-cat satisfaction -2, current favorability: 8]
[Cats and humans hate being observed!]