Liang Mu was completely baffled by Xiao She’s sudden shift in behavior. When Xiao She lunged forward, Liang Mu was mid-kneel and lost his balance. The two tumbled together and hit the floor.
Xiao She bumped his previous injury, causing him to gasp in pain. The next second, Liang Mu shoved him away with great force.
“What on earth do you want?” Thinly veiled fury flashed across Liang Mu’s face at the feeling of being played. Xiao She froze for a moment, then remembered the “maximum degree of freedom” the system sphere had mentioned. Sitting directly on the floor, he waved a hand at the standing Liang Mu. “Nothing. I just suddenly found it boring.”
The expression on Liang Mu’s face clearly signaled disbelief, watching to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve. Xiao She didn’t bother explaining further; after all, no amount of explanation could change the fact that he couldn’t reveal he wasn’t the original owner.
So, pausing briefly, he put on an impatient front and said, “What’s with that look? Feeling uncomfortable just because I’m not playing with you anymore?”
Liang Mu was visibly disgusted by this slightly insulting remark. He took a step back, shot Xiao She an icy look, threw down a cold “You better mean it,” and slammed the door as he left.
Xiao She rested on the spot for a moment. When they had fallen together earlier, he had taken the brunt of the drop, his back landing hard on the firm floorboard, leaving him in quite a bit of pain.
After slumping on the floor for a short while, he finally gathered enough strength to climb up and go to the bathroom to change his clothes.
The man’s fingers moved through the fabric, unbuttoning the shirt one button at a time. Half-undressed, he stood in front of the bathroom mirror to examine himself.
The system didn’t dare make a sound for a long time. If someone were standing beside him right now, they would probably laugh at him for being narcissistic.
Xiao She stared earnestly at his reflection in the mirror and reached out to wipe away a stray drop of water splashed onto the glass. The original owner paid great attention to his own physique and charisma; his six-pack abs were not the slightest bit inferior to Xiao She’s before he transmigrated.
He called out lazily, “System.”
The bathroom was dead silent. Xiao She blinked, and only then did the system make a half-second-delayed “ding,” sounding exceedingly submissive: “Present! The new connection experienced a bit of lag. Does the host need something?”
Xiao accepted the explanation and tapped the surface of the mirror. “Pull up my personal attributes for me to take a look.”
A translucent light screen quickly popped up in front of him. The numbers inside were somewhat unstable. Just as he was about to ask, he heard the system say with a bit of embarrassment, “Host, could you put on some clothes before talking to me?”
Xiao choked on his breath, picked up a towel from the side, and wiped off the wine stains on his chest. Once he cleaned himself up, he buttoned a fresh dress shirt while scrolling up and down to check the interface.
Just as he thought, for the top few metrics, the original owner had spent immense effort grinding them to the max. But scrolling all the way to the bottom, he still couldn’t find what he was looking for. Xiao retracted his hand and asked, “Why isn’t the Character Value displayed?”
He needed to check his current Character Value to judge the plot and avoid the ultimate ending where the original owner’s character hit a rock-bottom negative value, leading to system detachment and the protagonist’s counterattack.
The system replied, “The host previously requested to directly hide attributes that couldn’t be leveled up.”
Xiao rubbed his temples and said, “Un-hide everything.”
The screen in front of him flickered briefly, and instantly swelled to more than double its length. Among the added metrics were Wealth Value, Interpersonal Relation Index, and Intelligence Potential. Looking at those miserable single-digit numbers, Xiao She was rendered utterly speechless.
Was the original owner really this extreme? Out of sight, out of mind, huh?
He rubbed the bridge of his nose with a headache. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a five-minute countdown timer in the bottom right corner. He asked casually, “System, what is that time in the bottom right?”
“It’s a task countdown,” the system answered.
Xiao She recalled the gestures the original owner had tapped in the air earlier. Throwing his towel back onto the rack, he said helplessly, “Cancel it.”
“Understood, host,” the system responded. After a moment passed without any further update, Xiao She frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The system’s tone carried a hint of tearful frustration: “Host, your Character Value is too low. The task cannot be canceled.”
Alarm bells rang wildly in Xiao She’s head. He immediately walked out of the bathroom and grabbed his jacket. “What task?”
The system said, “Throwing wine at Miss Gu in public.”
This kind of task was more than enough to drain the absolute last drop of his Character Value.
Xiao She’s brow darkened instantly. “Contact headquarters right now. I need permission authority.”
The system sphere knew Xiao She’s urgency and quickly replied, “I’ve already contacted headquarters. The permission you hold allows you to modify the target, restricted within the scope of yourself.”
Xiao’s expression twisted slightly. “You call this permission?”
“Ahem…” The system sounded a bit sheepish, but added, “You can still issue tasks; that is your permission!”
“Shut up,” Xiao She snapped. “Change the wine-throwing task target to me.”
The system hesitated for a second. Xiao She growled, “Spill it, quick!”
“Ahem… Forcing a permission modification comes with restrictions,” the system said. “You need to simultaneously add an action to alter the predetermined target.”
Xiao She felt like he was about to suffocate. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
The system didn’t dare utter a sound. Xiao She was driven completely mad by its mothering procrastination, his tone turning urgent despite himself: “Pour it over me, and then clean it up for me. Now, right this second, modify it!”
“Modification successful. Sending command now.”
The system quickly uttered a ding and immediately scurried away. The noisy static sound rapidly faded from Xiao She’s head. During the conversation, Xiao She had already rushed downstairs, arriving right behind a decorative pillar.
He glanced at the bustling crowd in the main hall and decided to duck behind the pillar. Liang Mu was within his line of sight, holding a wine glass with a troubled expression, searching around for someone. When he spotted the hiding Xiao She, his face filled with clear contempt for a hypocrite who failed to keep his word.
Xiao She rubbed his nose, pretending to look away. But when he turned back and saw that Liang Mu wasn’t walking toward him, he sensed something amiss. He asked, “System, was the modification not executed?”
What answered him was an automated response: “Bzz, the system is loading. Please wait a moment~.”
Xiao recalled the connection lag the system mentioned, and his expression changed drastically.
He watched as Liang Mu walked stiffly toward Miss Gu, stiffly exchanged a few pleasantries, and stiffly tilted his glass… No, no, no!
Xiao nearly screamed out loud. Immediately following that, a “ding” echoed in his mind as the system delivered two consecutive notifications:
“Connection lag, pending modification.”
The red wine was already sloshing over the brim of Liang Mu’s glass.
“Beep. Modification completed. Task failed.”
Liang Mu’s hand suddenly twitched violently, followed by his arm, his upper body, and finally, his whole body collapsed onto the floor with a loud “thud” right in front of the entire audience.
Before passing out, he even looked over in Xiao She’s direction, seemingly unable to believe that Xiao She could actually be shameless to this extent.
Xiao She: …Wait… No, that’s not…
He dashed forward and caught the falling Liang Mu just in time. His arms went numb from the stray electrical current, and caught off guard, he nearly dropped Young Master Liang back onto the floor.
During the impact, the wine in Liang Mu’s glass spilled all over Xiao She’s fresh suit jacket, and the electrical current disappeared the next second. Liang Mu tried hard to reach out and grab Xiao She’s collar, using every ounce of his remaining strength to utter his last words: “The clothes… leave the clothes for me to wash…”
Only after receiving a firm, affirmative answer did he close his eyes and pass out in peace.
Miss Gu, who had rushed over out of concern, wore a thoroughly complicated expression.
Xiao She offered Miss Gu a strained, awkward smile. “President Liang… President Liang wanted to apologize on my behalf, but as you can see, he might be feeling a bit unwell…”
Seeing Miss Gu’s increasingly bizarre look, Xiao She could only bite the bullet and ask, “Is your family doctor around?”
“…Yes, he is.”
On the second floor of the Gu residence, a crowd surrounded the large guest bed. Liang Mu’s eyes were tightly shut, and he was still muttering in pain, “The clothes… need to be washed.”
“Ahem.” The family doctor cleared his throat awkwardly, turning around to address everyone. “It’s nothing serious. President Liang’s baseline health is likely somewhat weak, and he has been overworking himself lately.”
Hearing this, Chen Changyan grabbed Xiao She’s collar in a fit of rage. “It’s all because of the trouble you’ve been causing lately!”
Xiao She nimbly took a step back, dodging his hands. Smoothing down his collar, which had already been crumpled by Liang Mu anyway, he said, “Calm down.”
“Calm down my ass!” Chen Changyan said agitatedly. Just as he was about to move again, the person sitting at the foot of the bed tugged at his sleeve and said in a deep voice, “Enough!”
The person speaking was an unfamiliar face. Xiao She found it quite surprising to see Chen Changyan back off reluctantly.
The father and daughter of the Gu family read the room and said tactfully, “President Liang needs proper rest, so we won’t disturb him further. Take good care of him.”
The unfamiliar man exchanged polite pleasantries with them before seeing the Gu family out. Before they had walked very far, Chen Changyan secretly cracked the wooden door open, letting the conversation between the father and daughter drift inside.
“Yuanyuan, Liang Mu’s health isn’t good. Even if you hold him in high regard, you can’t just jump into an engagement decision like that.”
Gu Yuanyuan had a strange look on her face as she nodded. She clearly had other thoughts, but it wasn’t appropriate to discuss them in the hallway, so she pulled at her father’s sleeve, and the two went downstairs together.
Once they were gone, the man sitting at the foot of the bed asked coldly, “Xiao She, is this the reason for your reckless behavior?”
“The reason? Doing this to avoid an engagement?” Xiao She scanned the room, looking for a place to sit. Seeing that no one seemed particularly welcoming, he shrugged. “Hardly. Besides, I don’t exactly have the power to make President Liang faint on command, do I?”
Chen Changyan sneered coldly. “Who knows what dirty tricks you pulled?”
Xiao She was rendered speechless. Technically, he did pull a trick.
Thus, he took off his jacket, folded it neatly, and placed it by the bedside. Turning to the crowd, he said, “I’ll leave my clothes here. Remember to tell Liang Mu when he wakes up.” Not feeling entirely reassured, he added, “Make sure he washes them himself. Don’t help him.”
Chen Changyan stared at him in disbelief. “What do you mean by that?! You’re treating Brother Liang like a servant?!”
Xiao She: “That’s not what I meant…”
Chen Changyan exploded: “That’s EXACTLY what you mean! You actually want Brother Liang to wash your clothes?!”
Xiao She simply put on an innocent front: “He was the one who insisted on washing them. You all heard him yourselves.”
Seeing that Chen Changyan was about to speak again, Xiao She cut him off offhandedly, “Right, right, I have the magical ability to control Liang Mu into talking in his sleep. Can I leave now?”
Chen Changyan was so infuriated he almost passed out backwards.
Confirming he had his phone with him, Xiao She stood up. As he passed the bedside, he noticed the unfamiliar man watching him with a deep, somber gaze. Xiao She hesitated for a moment before stopping his footsteps. “Take good care of him…”
“Of course we will,” the man replied naturally.
Xiao She turned and walked straight out. He bade farewell to the Gu family father and daughter, expressed his sincere apologies, and only when he walked to the underground garage did he realize he didn’t even have a single car key on him. He had no choice but to walk out to the main gate of the residential compound to hail a taxi.
By the time he finished all the hassle and returned to the original owner’s apartment, the night was already late. Xiao She sank onto the sofa to catch his breath. Seeing his completely untouched Character Value, he felt a headache coming on and attempted to tap open the task interface.
The screen remained completely static.
Xiao, her voice turned cold. “System.”
The system sphere squeaked guiltily, “Here…”
“You failed to explain the tasks, and you failed to execute the modification properly,” Xiao She said frigidly. “What use are you?”
The system shrank smaller and smaller at his words. “I’m sorry, host…”
Xiao She remained silent. Terrified that he might breach the contract, the system stammered anxiously, “Host, I’ve submitted a request for you to view the details of your next three upcoming tasks!”
Xiao’s brow furrowed even deeper upon hearing this. “I can’t even view all the tasks?”
“After all, we have privacy policies we must abide by…” The system chuckled nervously. “Besides, most of the tasks initiated by the original owner were random tasks. I can help you predict them and give you warnings.”
Random tasks?
Xiao’s frown deepened. He clicked open the three pathetic tasks, finally understanding what the system meant.
Flirt with any female encountered who has a Wealth Value above 80;
Insult any female with a Family Influence Value of 80;
Act disrespectfully toward elders (Triggered when Prestige reaches above 90).
Xiao felt the veins on his forehead throbbing violently. He hadn’t expected the original owner to be such a dedicated trouble-seeker. With trembling hands, he tapped the plus sign at the end of the task list, and the page extended downward into a long, continuous roll, though all the specific details were blurred out.
He squeezed the question out almost from between his teeth: “Total number of tasks.”
The system sphere squeaked timidly, “…35.”
The pen in Xiao She’s hand snapped at the corner. He slumped backward onto the sofa, took a deep breath, and said, “Meaning, from now on, I have to stay by Liang Mu’s side at all times?”
“Yes,” the system sphere replied. “My predictive range covers half a kilometer, but I can only give you a ten-minute head start…”
“Shut up.”