Chapter 322

Chapter 322

“I agree with Jian Fan,” Qin Weiyi said.

“We don’t have much time. Wasting it looking for people would do more harm than good. If we miss this chance, we’ll have to wait until the next night, and we don’t know whether the cycle can keep repeating forever. They have Points too, so they can use the Security Lock to stay alive. As long as they survive, we’ll meet up again at the entrance to town when day breaks.” Jian Fan disliked lengthy explanations, so Qin Weiyi spoke instead. His thinking was the same as Jian Fan’s.

Rather than spend time searching for Yellow Hair and Lin Junruo, they would be better off focusing on clues.

Lin Junruo and Yellow Hair were Old Players too. They could not rely on the others to protect them forever. As long as they kept their wits about them and spent some Points, making it through the night alive should not be difficult.

Qin Weiyi’s reasoning convinced everyone.

“Then where do we start looking?” Zhou Jingying asked.

That was a good question.

There were only a handful of suspicious places in the Xie Residence, and they had already searched almost everything they could the day before. What else could they do now?

“Find someone,” Jian Fan said suddenly.

Find someone?

Who?

Jian Fan was already heading outside as he explained, “Go back to the banquet.”

His decision caught Qin Nan by surprise, but Qin Nan quickly realized what he had in mind. “You want to find an NPC?”

“More precisely, we should find the Zhao girl,” Qin Weiyi said, getting to the heart of the matter.

Only then did Zhou Jingying remember the issue with that strange NPC.

The Zhao girl’s Favorability was far too strange.

To investigate it, Jian Fan and the others would have to take a risk.

The group returned to the banquet.

Miss Xie was still making her rounds with wine, while Shi Chen followed numbly behind her, just as Fang Kang had before him.

None of the guests found the group’s sudden reappearance strange.

After going through this several times, Qin Nan had more or less figured something out.

These NPCs were not very intelligent. Or perhaps they were under some kind of control, with only a limited set of thoughts in their heads. When something fell outside their established parameters, they had no idea how else to respond, making them seem rather foolish.

The group returned to their seats.

Jian Fan took out another two bouquets and handed them to Qin Nan.

“Hmm? Who are they for?” Qin Nan asked, bewildered.

“Auntie Ma and Brother Ma,” Jian Fan said.

He wanted to confirm whether the Zhao girl was the only one with a problem.

Once Qin Nan understood what Jian Fan meant, he immediately made an okay sign. Then he spotted Auntie Ma and her husband, took the flowers, and headed straight for them.

“Auntie Ma, Brother Ma, we imposed on you at your home earlier. These two bouquets are for you,” Qin Nan said with a smile. He knew they were ghosts, but after spending so long in a nest of ghosts, he had grown somewhat numb to it.

Brother Ma reacted with indifference, but Auntie Ma looked delighted. After accepting the flowers, she thanked Qin Nan over and over.

Qin Nan gave a perfunctory response, his full attention on the System notifications sounding in his mind.

“Character Favorability +8. Current Character Favorability: 18.”

“Character Favorability +5. Current Character Favorability: 5.”

The first was Auntie Ma’s; the second was Brother Ma’s.

Qin Nan returned to his table with the results.

“The base Favorability should be zero across the board. On top of that, Auntie Ma probably thought we could bring her some benefit, so she gave us ten Favorability, just like Brother Zhao did before. In any case, most people have zero Favorability, or maybe a small base amount. Someone like the Zhao girl, who starts at negative one hundred, should be rare. She may even be the only one,” Qin Nan analyzed seriously.
Jian Fan took out another bouquet. “We’ll know once we try.”

Qin Nan was puzzled.

Qin Nan accepted the flowers and looked around.

There were children here too. Qin Nan picked one at random and gave the child the bouquet. Soon, another System notification sounded.

“Character Favorability +7. Current Character Favorability: 7.”

Jian Fan took out yet another bouquet and handed it to Qin Nan.

Qin Nan was puzzled again.

Just how many bouquets did you exchange Points for?

This time, Qin Nan found a young woman. After he gave her the flowers, her Favorability rose by nine. She also had a base Favorability of ten, bringing the final total to nineteen.

Once Qin Nan was done, Jian Fan thought for a moment, then gave flowers to the same young woman.

Afterward, Jian Fan received a result.

“Character Favorability +9. Current Character Favorability: 39.”

When Qin Nan learned the number, he fell silent for a moment.

So it still came down to looks, didn’t it?

Jian Fan remained completely unfazed and analyzed the situation with a straight face. “The Favorability gained from giving flowers is fixed for each NPC, but NPCs have different base Favorability toward Players according to their personal preferences. As for the Zhao girl…”

Jian Fan left the rest unsaid.

He took out another bouquet and went straight to find the Zhao girl.

Jian Fan was aloof and taciturn. After finding her, he simply held the flowers out in front of her.

The Zhao girl accepted them.

Then–

“Character Favorability +2. Current Character Favorability: -8.”

Jian Fan’s expression shifted ever so slightly.

“Can I ask you about a few things?” Jian Fan began.

He was not good at socializing, but compared with Qin Nan’s negative ninety-eight Favorability, Jian Fan decided he had better be the one to win over the Zhao girl.

The Zhao girl did not answer at once. She looked at Jian Fan, tilted her head, and asked, “With so many people here, why ask me?”

Jian Fan had overheard her earlier conversation with Qin Nan. She did not like others treating her as a child.

With that in mind, Jian Fan countered, “Why can’t I ask you? You’re all the same.”

The remark seemed to please the Zhao girl. She smiled, though her words contradicted him. “No, I’m different from them. I’m smarter.”

At the same time, another notification sounded in Jian Fan’s mind.

“Character Favorability +1. Current Character Favorability: -7.”

Jian Fan was puzzled.

That was enough to raise her Favorability too?

This Zhao girl really was no ordinary NPC.

“You’re very confident,” Jian Fan said.

The Zhao girl’s lips curved again. “Of course.”

“Character Favorability +1. Current Character Favorability: -6.”

Jian Fan had discovered that a few compliments worked better than giving her flowers.

Unfortunately, complimenting people was still somewhat difficult for him.

Jian Fan glanced toward his table. “Would you like to sit with me over there? There are many things I’d like to ask you about.”

The Zhao girl pouted, seemingly reluctant. At just the right moment, Jian Fan added, “There’s a boy at our table who’s a little older than you. He’s a child prodigy. I’m curious whether you’re more capable or he’s a little smarter.”

Jian Fan disliked socializing, but that did not mean he was incapable of it.

He said little, but went straight to the point.

The Zhao girl raised her eyebrows. “Let’s go.”

And so, after watching Jian Fan exchange only a few words with the Zhao girl, Qin Nan and the others saw him bring her straight over.

Impressive. Sure enough, things were different when a Big Shot took action.