As the four-person teams gathered one after another, many groups had already started looking for missions. Luo Chenxuan’s group had only just stepped outside the hotel.
“So… where should we go?” Li Hao looked at Luo Chenxuan. With just one glance, he realized how awkward their team composition was—besides the two of them, there was a conceited rich boy and a gloomy girl with glasses.
Jiang Wan was practically invisible in class, but she had the highest entrance exam scores. Her hair always draped down, covering her eyes, and she wore thick black-rimmed glasses, always looking slightly down. She was the kind of person who seemed to exist in shadows.
“Obviously, we should go to the amusement park!” Wang Tianwen said, looking at them like they were idiots.
“But wouldn’t most people head there? If too many are there, we might end up waiting in line and wasting time,” Luo Chenxuan said from the side.
Wang Tianwen was annoyed again—this guy always had a way of challenging him, and his resentment grew deeper.
“Then where do you think we should go?”
“I think the forest park.”
“What if everyone thinks the same and avoids the amusement park, so they all go to the forest instead?” Wang Tianwen sneered, thinking he finally had the upper hand.
“That’s not a problem.” Luo Chenxuan pulled out a regional map he found back in the room.
“The activity area covers the entire Sunset Ocean Hotel. On the left, there’s the amusement park and the aquarium. On the right, the forest park and zoo. The amusement park and aquarium are far apart—probably so the noise from the rides doesn’t disturb the aquarium guests—so they’re connected by a sightseeing shuttle. On the other hand, the forest park and zoo are basically side-by-side. Part of the forest park is allocated to the zoo’s bird-watching area. So even if the forest park is crowded, we can immediately switch to the zoo. No time gets wasted.”
Wang Tianwen clenched his teeth, clearly displeased.
“Damn, bro, you’re actually smart?” Li Hao was genuinely surprised. Then he turned to give Wang Tianwen a disdainful glance. “So yeah~ I’m listening to my bro.”
Even the usually quiet Jiang Wan spoke up, “I agree with him.”
Wang Tianwen, no matter how upset he was, could only follow along.
…
At the forest park, lush greenery stretched as far as the eye could see. The trees were thick with leaves, the air cool and refreshing. Beams of sunlight filtered through the gaps, landing softly on the budding plants below.
They stepped onto the pebbled paths, looking around.
“Hey, there’s a drink stand!” Li Hao shouted and rushed over.
The rest had no choice but to follow.
“Boss, how much for a bottle?”
The vendor smiled politely. “2 points per bottle~”
“2 points?”
“Yup~ 2 friend points per bottle.”
“Yes. Here, everything is bought using friend points.”
“Then how do we pay you?”
“There’s a program on your phones. You scan and pay with your points.”
Luo Chenxuan quickly pulled out his phone and opened the activity center, finding a personal QR code.
“So if we don’t have points, we can’t eat or drink anything?”
“There are some free options, but… they’re not exactly tasty.”
“This feels less like an activity and more like a competition,” Luo Chenxuan muttered.
“If that’s the case, it’s hard to just enjoy this place without participating. Is that why this point system was designed—to force everyone to get involved? And I’m a Student Council member too, why don’t I know any of this? Did I miss that much while I was asleep?”
Just then, a little girl ran up to them.
“Big brother, big sister, will you play with me?” She looked up at them with wide innocent eyes.
“But we’ve got things to do,” Luo Chenxuan replied, crouching down with a gentle smile.
“But if you play with me, I’ll give you a reward~”
“Oh? What kind of reward?”
“Um… I think it’s called… friend points~”
At that, everyone leaned in. They instantly realized—this little girl was part of the mission.
“Okay, then we’ll play with you~”
“Yay!” The girl ran off a bit and pointed to an open area.
“Let’s play ghost tag~”
“Can you explain the rules?”
“Everyone takes turns being the ghost. You wear a blindfold and stand in the center, spin five times, then stop. Around you are six trees. The others will also blindfold themselves and hide behind one of the trees. I’ll hide too, but I won’t be blindfolded. If the ghost touches a tree and finds a teammate, you both get 3 points. If you find me, it’s 5 points. But if you touch an empty tree, you lose 2 points. Each person gets three rounds, then we switch ghosts. At the end, we tally the scores~”
“Sounds easy enough.”
“And~ in the final round, I’ll be the ghost. If I catch you, you lose 5 points~”
“How much??” Li Hao shouted.
“What if I end up owing you points…”
The girl giggled, “It’s okay, you can pay it back slowly~”
“Everyone earns their own points. At the end, your team’s total determines the winner, right?”
“That’s right~”
“Sounds simple enough. The ghost just needs to judge where the voices are coming from.”
Li Hao already thought he had it in the bag.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Luo Chenxuan murmured.
“Alright, let’s begin!” the little girl cheered, sizing up the four of them.
“I choose… that big sister to be the ghost!”
Jiang Wan followed the instructions, stood in the center, and put on her blindfold.
The others each chose a tree and blindfolded themselves too—except for the girl.
The game began.
Luo Chenxuan mentally calculated—six trees total, three teammates, one jackpot, and two empty ones. That meant two-thirds chance of a good outcome.
Jiang Wan spun in place five times, then stopped, slightly dizzy.
“Hey! Come to me!” Wang Tianwen shouted first. He was obsessed with winning, even though it was a team game. He just wanted to prove he was better than Luo Chenxuan.
“Don’t go to him! Come to me!” Li Hao shouted, just to spite him.
Jiang Wan hesitated between them. They stood at opposite ends, arguing. Luo Chenxuan finally spoke.
“It’s fine, choose whoever you want. We’re all teammates. No matter who wins, we all win together.”
A few minutes later, Jiang Wan’s first round ended. No one knew who she chose. Before anyone could ask, her second round had already begun.
…
Meanwhile, in the distance, Leng Yueli stood quietly, gazing at the blindfolded Luo Chenxuan behind the tree with an obsessed expression.
“Let’s make this game more interesting~”
She stepped forward.
The other two boys were still bickering, and the little girl giggled behind a tree.
At that moment, Luo Chenxuan suddenly felt something warm on his lips.
Soft, wet, and hot.
Along with heavy, heated breathing.
“If you make a sound… everyone will notice~ Chenxuan~”