Chapter 245
Chapter 245
“Everyone triggers a quest tied to their plot,” Jian Fan said.
Lu Jing nodded. “I know. I already triggered mine.”
That surprised Qin Nan and Jian Fan.
“How?” Qin Nan asked.
Lu Jing scratched his head awkwardly. “I took off my clothes. A boy said I wasn’t wearing anything, and then I received a quest to find the two swindlers.”
As he spoke, Zhou Jingying and Yang Zhen arrived at almost the same time.
Their provisional group of nine was finally assembled.
Yang Zhen heard him and looked surprised. “That’s all it took to trigger your quest? I’ve run around for ages and gotten nothing.”
Zhou Jingying frowned slightly as she listened, apparently considering something, but said nothing.
Jian Fan looked at Yang Zhen and Zhou Jingying. “You go first.”
Yang Zhen paused.
Now that everyone had gathered, information sharing could begin. Jian Fan clearly did not entirely trust her or Zhou Jingying.
Yang Zhen wanted to resist a little.
“We’ve already given you one piece of information, plus Lu Jing’s quest,” Jian Fan said, immediately silencing her objection.
Helpless, Yang Zhen replied, “There isn’t much. Only information about the host of the ball.”
“Oh, right.” Her words reminded Yellow Hair. “The host is supposed to appear at nine. Now…” He checked the System time. It was already 9:02.
“Could the information be wrong?” Lin Junruo noticed the time as well.
Before they could discuss it further, a commotion arose at the ballroom entrance. Everyone instinctively looked over.
The doors were opened, and a group of people surged inside. They quickly formed two orderly lines. Then a man in a white Tuxedo and white jade crown entered.
That appearance…
He had to be the host of the ball–the man they had heard called Your Highness.
As Your Highness walked toward the central platform, Yellow Hair continued.
“Your Highness is searching for a young woman. But! He doesn’t intend to marry her.”
Many of them had heard that the Prince sought a woman. The second part, however, stunned everyone.
He was searching for a woman but did not want to marry her. What kind of plot was that?
“Could she actually be his enemy?” Qin Nan found the idea absurd.
Yellow Hair shook his head. “I don’t know. But if this fairy tale has been rewritten, then I think this falls within the three of your expertise.”
As he spoke, he pointed at Qin Nan, Lin Junruo, and Mu Xin.
Of their group, those three knew the most about movies and television. For Qin Nan, it was because of his work.
Qin Nan stroked his chin. “If we’re thinking in terms of melodrama, there are plenty of possibilities. Maybe he’s using her as a substitute. The Prince had a lost great love who died, so he found a substitute. After endless physical and emotional torment, the substitute fled. The enraged Prince swore to retrieve her. He could never marry the substitute–he only wants to keep her beside him and torment her mercilessly.”
Jian Fan: “?”
Yellow Hair stared at Qin Nan in shock. “Brother, I never imagined your knowledge was so broad.”
Qin Nan: “…”
Lin Junruo and Mu Xin found nothing unusual about it.
“For something even more melodramatic, perhaps the Prince really is searching for the woman he loves, but they can’t be together or marry. Maybe lovers finally become brother and sister?” Lin Junruo added.
Everyone: “…”
Impressive.
“Following that logic, maybe a blood feud separates Your Highness and the girl,” Mu Xin said with a sigh. “Stories like that often lead to imprisonment, locked rooms, and violent possession.”
Lu Jing swallowed. “Does it need to be that vicious?”
“That’s nothing. You simply haven’t seen enough. Plenty of heroines get sent to prison by the male lead or have their kidneys, hearts, even uteruses removed,” Lin Junruo said dismissively.
Lu Jing: “???”
“Brother, are they really that vicious?” Yellow Hair asked Qin Nan for confirmation.
Qin Nan cleared his throat awkwardly. “I haven’t read them, but I’ve heard of those tropes. Apparently they’re quite popular.”
“How can anyone keep reading that?” Yellow Hair asked in shock.
Lu Jing’s thoughts followed a different path. “You’re all terribly cruel to yourselves.”
“It’s not happening to us,” Mu Xin said dismissively.
Lu Jing swallowed. “But we’ve entered these rewritten plots now.”
Everyone: “…”
Everyone: “???”
Damn!
If they were unlucky enough to draw plots like those, wouldn’t all that suffering happen to them?
Yellow Hair sucked in a breath, then relaxed. “I’m a man. This shouldn’t have anything to do with me, right?”
Lu Jing immediately followed. “I’m a man too.”
Looking at them, Lin Junruo quietly said, “Love has no borders of gender or nationality. What if Your Highness likes men? In that case, we’re the safe ones.”
Yellow Hair and Lu Jing: “???”
What kind of horrifying statement was that?
“Stop frightening yourselves,” Jian Fan said helplessly, pressing his fingers to his brow.
How had the discussion reached this point?
It was simply unbearable to watch.
Once Jian Fan spoke, everyone finally stopped. Some of the preceding conversation had been joking, but it also contained genuine reasoning. This world was probably a derivative work based on fairy tales, yet they still knew nothing about how its plot unfolded.
All they could do was adapt as events occurred.
Their next step now was exchanging information.
At the same time–
Fang Kang was still climbing.
He climbed and climbed until he finally reached the top of the fish tank. Gripping the rim with one hand, he hauled himself up and sat there.
He needed a moment to recover before continuing.
Hearing a commotion outside, Fang Kang forced his eyes open and looked over.
Your Highness’s appearance had sent excitement through the ballroom.
For some reason, young women began crying out one after another. That was not the important part. The important part was–
An unidentified object suddenly arced through the air. Someone had thrown it, and it dropped directly into the fish tank.
Fang Kang did not react.
What did that have to do with him?
At that moment, however, a voice sounded in his mind.
“Ding! Character Quest triggered. Before the ball ends at midnight, retrieve the Golden Ball for the Princess. Success awards one World-Clear Hint. Failure results in erasure. Bonus Objective: Make the Princess kiss you voluntarily. Success restores your human form. Failure removes your ability to speak.”
Fang Kang: “???”
What the hell?