Taking on the heavy responsibility of helping the boss upgrade the shop at such a young age, Wen Qian grumbled quietly as she accepted the bowl of beef noodles, feeling a little jealous of the boss.
How nice it must be for the noodle shop owner—just smiling and greeting customers every day—while the player has so many things to consider.
Wen Qian took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder. The steaming hot beef noodles looked exactly like the pictures in the game, extraordinarily appetizing.
The smooth noodles just touched her lips when Wen Qian was stunned by the unexpectedly delicious taste.
This is way too good!
[Stamina +1]
Wen Qian, still marveling, suddenly heard a system notification sound.
“What the heck?”
She cautiously took another bite, and sure enough, the system prompt appeared again beside her ear:
[Stamina +1]
It seemed that stamina was linked to fullness. Wen Qian blinked and carefully lifted a single noodle strand.
If every bite of noodles could increase stamina by one point, then she was going to make a killing!
As Wen Qian eagerly waited, the system notification sounded again:
[Stamina… buzz—]
[Stamina +0.1]
Wen Qian stared blankly, her hopes dashed, and she vented by shoveling noodles into her mouth.
Damn system! Don’t you understand what a bug is? That’s part of the game too!
Jiang Zhi had not left the noodle shop. Maybe the blazing sun outside was annoying, or perhaps he wanted to see what unexpected things the strange boss and stranger customer would do next. So he stayed.
He saw the girl give a small exclamation after the first bite, and her eyes changed when looking at the beef noodles—then… she started eating the noodles strand by strand?
For some reason, she quickly gave up on that and muttered softly about the damned game.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Jiang frowned slightly, pushed his bangs back with his hand, grabbed the backpack on the chair next to him, slung it over his shoulder with one hand, and stood up.
The movement caught Wen Qian’s attention. She looked up slightly and first noticed the young man’s right hand hanging by his side.
His knuckles were well defined, the pure black metal ring on his pinky stood out against his skin tone, and the veins on the back of his hand disappeared beneath the bandages on his wrist.
Under the slightly rough bandages, faint scratches were visible—small wounds the owner had neglected.
Wen Qian withdrew her gaze and, as he passed by her, quickly glanced at the top of his head.
Still no exclamation mark. So he really was just a passerby NPC?
Disappointment was inevitable. When she saw his face clearly, she thought some mysterious chain quest was about to start.
Otherwise, why would a stingy player like her spend ten gold coins on a bowl of noodles, just to stay a little longer to see if a quest would trigger?
As for stamina—what a joke. For someone like her, before her stamina bottoms out, it wouldn’t recover.
Wen Qian watched the young man leave the noodle shop with a regretful look. Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt his last steps looked a little stiff.
Before heading to the library again, Wen Qian put the blue cart into the game’s built-in backpack and followed the arrow indicators on the ground toward the other side of the street.
At the fork, she glanced at the path without an arrow—it seemed to lead to her school, if she remembered correctly.
The nightmare fact that she had to go to school tomorrow weighed on her mind again.
Wen Qian didn’t dare think too deeply about whether the main quest’s entrance exam would trigger as soon as she enrolled. The urgency to rush to the library and grind intelligence points quickened her steps.
About forty or fifty meters away, Wen Qian noticed the so-called library.
An extremely conspicuous tall building stood there, colored a dark gray that clashed with the surroundings—not a decorative color, but one that visually erased sunlight’s presence.
Floating in the middle of the building was a large hovering lock with bold characters below it:
[Locked]
Watching people come and go in and out of the library, Wen Qian silently stared for two seconds.
It was… pretty magical.
Wen Qian couldn’t understand the game system’s logic. If the library needed unlocking, why didn’t the noodle shop require unlocking?
Discrimination against noodle shops?
At the edge of the library, the sound of coins being scattered rang in Wen Qian’s ears.
[Congratulations, host, you have unlocked a new building—the Library]
[Reward: 10 experience points, stationery set (answer speed +10%)]
Wen Qian’s eyes brightened and she immediately dismissed her earlier grumbling. Good! Unlocking is good!
According to her, the entire map should require unlocking!
“System, that noodle shop was my first visit. Why didn’t it need unlocking?” Wen Qian righteously complained in her mind.
[…Initial buildings do not require unlocking]
Wen Qian: “…Tch.”
The library was a one-to-one replica of the game design. Bookshelves spiraled along the walls, giving every first-time visitor an overwhelming sense of pressure.
The round dome ceiling was carved with ornate stone sculptures, with creatively designed stained glass windows embedded within. Golden threads divided the colorful glass pieces, and sunlight filtered through the windows, casting dazzling halos of light.
First-time visitors couldn’t help but gasp in awe.
“My goosebumps are rising—this really is a library?”
“So beautiful! How much money must have been spent? Quick, quick, take a photo for me.”
“My phone can’t capture this feeling at all. Are these all real books? There must be millions.”
“I heard it’s a library partnered with that Royal Saint Thorn Academy, so it makes sense.”
Among the exclamations, only Wen Qian squinted and examined the sunlit sections of the bookshelf, voicing a unique thought:
“Putting books under direct sunlight, that’s interesting. I wonder how yellow these books will get.”
“That’s quite an interesting perspective—I hadn’t noticed that before,” a casual voice with a hint of a smile sounded beside Wen Qian.
The newcomer wore a loose shirt with the top two buttons undone. Slightly curled hair fell by his face, and his gentle peach-blossom eyes always carried a faint smile.
Lorren glanced at Wen Qian with some interest but found that she didn’t react unusually to his greeting. Instead, she looked at him with a somewhat expectant expression.
Usually adept at reading people’s minds, this was the first time Lorren felt a bit puzzled. He didn’t show it on his face but smiled at Wen Qian.
“First time here?”
Wen Qian, waiting for this NPC to give her a quest, replied, “Yeah. Are you here to read too?”
“Nope.” He waved a finger lazily. “I’m here to find someone.”
Wen Qian’s eyes lit up. Okay, no need to say more. As a player, she keenly sensed the aura of a quest!
“Need help?” she asked, a little excited.
Lorren glanced at her school uniform with casual indifference, his smile deepening.
Wearing that uniform at this hour to meet that person—wasn’t that like walking right into a trap?
But he didn’t warn her. Instead, with a spectator’s mindset, he said:
“If you’re willing.” Lorren chuckled lightly, his tone lazy and drawn out.
The girl, who had just excitedly offered help, didn’t respond immediately but silently kept looking—at his head?
He felt a flicker of doubt and was about to speak when he heard her uninterested voice:
“Oh, sorry, I’m not willing.”
Then she turned and left without a second glance.
Lorren stared at her retreating back, stunned by the sudden change in attitude.
Huh? Did he say something wrong?
Wen Qian thought she must be seeing things today. The good-looking NPCs she met seemed completely disconnected from quests.
The one at the noodle shop could be just her overthinking, but this one clearly wanted her help.
At this point, there was still no quest marker.
Is that right?
Before the pre-profession module opens, making money is really difficult. More quests would certainly help.
She immediately questioned the system in her mind: “Are you sure your quest system isn’t malfunctioning?”
[Player report received… scanning complete, no anomalies detected]
“Oh, I don’t believe it. I want to complain.”
[System busy—]
Tch, playing these kinds of tricks on her.
Following the spiral staircase up to the third floor, Wen Qian keenly noticed that the crowd here was much larger than on the previous two floors.
What’s going on? She looked up at the signs. This wasn’t even the popular fiction section. Are so many people reading popular science?
Wen Qian was amazed. No wonder this is a school-themed game—even the NPCs are so enthusiastic about learning. She had to admit defeat.
Having no interest in popular science herself, she stepped back reluctantly under the pressure of all that knowledge light. Just as she was about to head to the next floor, a very conspicuous [!] symbol blocked her way.
Wen Qian immediately turned around, determined to head for the target.
A young man in a dark gray coat sat in the innermost reading area. Sunlight traced the handsome contours of his profile. Despite his aloof aura that kept people away, he still attracted attention.
Most people on this floor chose seats not far from him, but no one ventured into the nearest circle around him. Occasionally, one or two brave souls would approach, but their friends would whisper warnings, and they’d stop.
Lu Yanbai glanced at his watch expressionlessly, annoyed that someone had stood him up again. His irritation grew as he looked around at the noisy people nearby who hadn’t lowered their voices.
He looked up and his eyes turned cold when he saw the girl walking straight toward him.
Noticing her clothes, Lu Yanbai frowned. Another one? When will these people give up this foolishness?
The girl walked straight to him and suddenly stopped about a meter away, looking at him with disbelief several times.
[Affinity level not met, quest locked]
Walking in front of the quest target under countless eyes, Wen Qian, eagerly expecting a quest to start, nearly lost her temper.
What? What does “affinity level not met” mean?
If it’s not met, why even give me a quest? Using [!] to lure players—is that fun?
Looking at the handsome face in front of her, Wen Qian lost all worldly desire.
In reality, she might have glanced twice, but after those two handsome guys earlier, now repeating the same thing for a third time, Wen Qian felt she was becoming allergic to handsome guys.
Is the game toying with her using this trick? Ha, game, you win.