Has her stingy System finally changed its ways? Not only did it gift her a new identity as a clearance reward, but it even thoughtfully assigned her a partner!
After being exploited by the System for so long, Xiaxi felt genuinely overwhelmed by such favor for the first time.
At this thought, she immediately perked up, racking her brain to recall the romance novels she had read before, and began pondering how best to appease her boyfriend.
Unfortunately, her 'boyfriend' wasn’t having any of it and directly hung up on her.
Qianben Xixi:…
This man is so petty—he just had to get back at her for hanging up on him before.
"System, did you really assign me a partner?" Xiaxi couldn’t help but complain. "But this partner’s temper is way too bad."
【System: Please explore the game content on your own. Wishing you a pleasant life :)】
Just then, Xiaxi felt her phone vibrate. An envelope-shaped icon popped up on the screen, automatically opening to reveal the letter inside. According to the on-screen prompt, it seemed to be an email from Gin.
It had been a long time since she last used such an old-fashioned phone. Qianben Xixi was momentarily stunned before realizing she needed to tap to view the email.
Upon opening it, two unread emails lay quietly inside, both signed by GIN. The slightly earlier one was likely the email he mentioned—the one she hadn’t replied to.
So his name was Gin—what a strange name, like a type of alcohol. His personality did seem to match that of a strong, flavorful spirit like gin. At this thought, she suddenly paused—what had he called her? Asti… if spelled as Asti, wasn’t that also a type of alcohol?
She remembered it was a sweet sparkling white wine from Italy, with a brewing process similar to French champagne, requiring great care when opening due to the high pressure inside the bottle. However, unlike champagne, Asti interrupts the secondary fermentation process through low temperatures, keeping the alcohol content around 7% while retaining some of the fruity aroma and sweetness of Muscat grapes—making it particularly suitable for women.
Tsk, such a subtle coincidence, such a romantic alcohol-inspired nickname—could she really be in a relationship with that person…
Qianben Xixi quickly opened one of the emails to check.
【Organization activity tomorrow. Await my notification at any time—Gin】The timestamp was 2:20 AM on August 3rd.
So he was a night owl too. But what was this "Organization activity"? Some kind of club event? Could he be a senior at her school? She remembered her current identity was indeed a graduate student, though it was summer break and she hadn’t paid much attention to school matters.
She then opened the newly arrived email.
【If you skip without reason, ignore calls, or fail to reply to emails again, I’ll report it to the Boss. No next time—Gin】The timestamp was 7:12 PM on August 11th.
Sure enough, she had missed the last school activity. "Boss" probably referred to the advisor in her department’s research institute, Xiaxi guessed. After all, back when she was still a working professional, she had habitually nicknamed her big boss "Boss"—office workers would understand. But she hadn’t expected this 'boyfriend' to be so considerate. Despite being angry, he had covered for her and hadn’t let the Boss know.
Qianben Xixi quickly typed a reply to the email. When it came to signing off, she paused for a moment before deciding to use her nickname.
【Got it ^_^ — Asti】
…
Meanwhile, inside a black Porsche 356A cruising through the night, Gin sneered and closed his phone.
"So, boss, did that Asti reply?" Vodka asked, glancing over from the driver's seat.
Gin didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled a cigarette from his trench coat pocket, lit it with the car's lighter, and brought it to his lips with slender fingers before replying coolly, "She did."
"She did?" Vodka didn't understand, so he asked directly, "Then why did you look so displeased earlier…"
"Displeased" was putting it mildly. He hadn't dared to say that Gin's expression earlier had been as complicated as someone suffering from constipation.
Vodka, much like his namesake, was straightforward and uncomplicated—a pure, strong liquor with no complex flavors besides the alcohol itself. But that didn't mean he was stupid. Without some emotional intelligence, he wouldn't have lasted this long by Gin's side.
"Hmph, the last person who dared to defy my orders is already resting at the bottom of Tokyo Bay," Gin snorted coldly.
"Exactly, boss. How dare she hang up on you? She really doesn't know what's good for her," Vodka chimed in, following Gin's lead. "What's the deal with this newcomer anyway? Is she going to be working with us from now on? I had no idea the Organization had someone like her—it's like she just popped out of nowhere."
After Vodka finished speaking, silence filled the car for a moment. Just as he thought Gin wouldn't respond, the other man spoke up.
"Directly assigned to me by the Boss. A new official member of the Organization. Twenty-two years old, 178 centimeters tall. A graduate student in Information Science and Engineering at Tōdō University," Gin stated flatly. "A sniper."
Hearing that she was directly assigned by the Boss, Vodka didn't dare to badmouth her further. Instead, he changed the subject. "Oh, a sniper? We've been pretty short on snipers since that guy left. How's her skill? Must be decent, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't have such an attitude."
Her attitude wasn't the issue; it was her brain that seemed a bit off. Gin thought of the smiley face emoji in her recent email reply and felt his mood sour. He disliked people who were unpredictable, no matter who they were.
"I don't know her skill level. I've never seen her in action," Gin paused before adding, "There's no record of her at the training facility either."
"No record at all?" Vodka was surprised. "Then we really have no idea how capable she is."
"Hmph, we'll just arrange a test," Gin sneered, as if Vodka had said something foolish. "After this mission is over, I'll have her go to the training facility. I'll call Korn and Chianti to join."
After saying this, Gin casually flicked his cigarette out the window. "Hmph, I hope she's actually competent. Otherwise…"
…
"Achoo!" Qianben Xixi, who had just finished her shower, suddenly felt a chill. She wondered if she had accidentally caught a cold.
She sighed. It was all because the shower stall was too small—even with her height, it was hard to stand up straight inside.
Now living in the attic above her snack shop, her room was tiny. There was no bed, just a tatami mat on the floor to sleep on. With conditions like these, the bathroom was even worse. She was genuinely eager to upgrade her shop so she could improve her living conditions.
But relying solely on selling egg pancake rolls, who knows how many years it would take to level up. Qianben Xixi suddenly had an idea and asked, "System, are there any other ways to earn JJ Coins?"
[System: Dear player, you can sign in and complete tasks to earn JJ Coins.]
"Signing in only gives 1 JJ Coin per day—what's the use of that?" Qianben Xixi twitched her lips, not wanting to mention this stingy system.
[System: Then you can choose to complete tasks.]
Qianben Xixi: "What kind of tasks are there?"
[System: 「Flourishing Business」 Successfully sell 1,000 products. Upon completion, reward 1,000 JJ Coins.]
The task reward isn't bad, but if I could sell 1,000 products, I'd have already leveled up my shop. Xiaxi sighed helplessly and asked, "What else?"
[System: Sorry, other tasks will only unlock after leveling up.]
Qianben Xixi: …
[System: Actually, player, you can also earn money in reality and convert it into JJ Coins, with a 10% handling fee deducted as usual.]
"Do you think I have time to work a part-time job? If I had that kind of time, I'd rather sell more egg pancake rolls."
Qianben Xixi sighed, her eyes inadvertently glancing at a row of books on the shelf, which included a collection of novels by the currently bestselling detective novelist, Yusaku Kudo. She often read them at night when she was bored, as a pastime. Suddenly, an idea struck her—she might not have time for a part-time job, but she could write novels.
"System, System, I want to write a novel based on my experiences in the Infinite Flow game. Where do you think would be a good place to submit it?"
[System: Understood, player. Searching for you now…]
[System: After screening and comparison, there's a website called Green Jinjiang that is quite popular for Infinite Flow. You can try submitting your work online.]