After hanging up the phone, Song Yu looked disdainfully at the semi-transparent interface before him. “System.”
[Here, Host.]
“You disappeared for so long, and now the first thing you do when you show up is tell me this?”
[Due to recent changes in the main storyline, the World Consciousness…!@# Therefore, the system will occasionally go offline.]
“What happened to the World Consciousness?” This was the first time Song Yu had heard this term. What struck him as even stranger was the garbled code that followed the system’s mention of it.
[!@#￥]
Song Yu fell silent for a moment before deciding not to dwell on it. “Then why was the task changed?”
[Fluctuations have occurred in the main storyline. As required by the main system, the tasks have been adjusted. In addition to completing the original storyline tasks, side quests must also be completed]
“What’s the difference between saying that and saying nothing at all?? And doesn’t that just mean I used to work nine-to-six, but now I have to work overtime too?”
Song Yu suddenly felt a bit dead inside.
[According to the system’s calculations, the main storyline the host needs to complete doesn’t seem to have started yet.]
“Hold on, it’s not like I’m just sitting around waiting for the plot to happen!” Song Yu instantly bristled. “If you’re so capable, why don’t you go to school instead!”
He had barely managed to survive university in his previous life, only to end up transmigrating into a book and returning to his freshman year, and now he had to play the role of some lackey.
The system probably didn’t know how to argue back and fell silent.
The cleaning staff, who had been tidying up, noticed Song Yu returning angrily after his phone call and subtly averted their gazes.
Before Song Yu could figure out how to argue with the system about his benefits, a new notification popped up, a friend request from Cheng Yao on WeChat.
The protagonist shou was adding him as a friend?
Was this part of the original book’s plot?
Song Yu hesitated, tentatively hovering his finger over the “Accept” option. To his surprise, the system’s OOC warning didn’t go off.
Really?
After a moment’s thought, he pressed it.
Sure enough, the system’s OOC warning remained completely silent, as if it had never existed.
Song Yu was skeptical, but he knew that even if he asked the system, he wouldn’t get any answers, and he might even get an electric shock as a bonus.
Forget it, he wouldn’t dwell on it.
[Song Yu, Yuanheng said that the beta who tried to attack you in the alley last night suffered multiple organ failure due to excessive blood loss. Fortunately, the surveillance camera at the alley entrance captured him injuring himself]
[Don’t be scared! He brought this on himself!]
Multiple organ failure?
Song Yu raised an eyebrow. He didn’t feel any pity, after all, this person had tried to stab him last night.
What intrigued him more was how the protagonist shou had become so close to the white moonlight already. According to the plot, shouldn’t the protagonist gong and shou be struggling internally and slowly getting closer at this point?
But his tasks had nothing to do with the main storyline anyway. Right now, he should worry about his side quests.
Suddenly, Song Yu realized something.
[Complete no fewer than ten errand tasks as a lackey within three days]
Didn’t that mean he had to stay by Lu Qiwén’s side?
But it was obvious that Lu Qiwén was too sick last night to return within three days!
“System,” Song Yu tentatively asked.
“What happens if I don’t complete the side quests?”
[Deduct money]
“Electric shock is fine, but… deducting money?!”
Song Yu’s voice suddenly rose sharply, startling everyone in the dormitory.
He raised his hands to wash his face, smiled at everyone, and said, “It’s nothing, you all carry on. I have something to attend to and need to step out.”
After leaving the dormitory building, Song Yu lowered his voice, “What do you mean by deducting money?”
[Whether you receive it depends on whether you complete the main quest, and how much you receive will depend on the completion of side quests.]
“You’re heartless!!”
[I’m sorry, Host. As a system, I indeed have no humanity.]
Song Yu closed his eyes, feeling as if he had boarded a massive pirate ship.
“Song Yu.”
Hearing someone call him from behind, Song Yu turned around with a face full of resentment, “Who is it?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Lu Zhi, holding a book in his hands, looked at him with deep concern and affection, “Why do you look like that?”
He paused for a moment, as if understanding but finding it difficult to speak.
“Is… is it because of my cousin?”
“No, please get to the point quickly. I have things to do.” Having just received shocking news, Song Yu had no patience left for this person.
In his eyes, Lu Zhi, the protagonist’s love interest, was nothing but a scumbag. His so-called gentleness was just a euphemism for being a “central air conditioner.”
He had taken advantage of the original host’s feelings, and after the original host was ruined, he acted like a master manipulator, making the original host shoulder all the blame.
Yet, even after Song Yu spoke so bluntly, Lu Zhi still managed to maintain his smile, “It’s nothing much, really. I was just passing by on my way back from the library to the dorm, and I thought if I saw you, I’d like to invite you.”
“Invite me?”
“Yes.” Lu Zhi pulled an envelope from his book and handed it to Song Yu, “This is an invitation to my birthday party. I’ve invited many high school classmates, and I hope you can come too.”
Song Yu took the envelope, skeptical of Lu Zhi’s claim about “passing by.”
How could someone from the eighth dormitory building possibly pass by his dorm?
Seeing him accept it, a hint of contempt crept into the corners of Lu Zhi’s smile.
Still so easy.
“Everyone will surely be very happy then.”
Song Yu thought for a moment. Although he had no feelings for this protagonist love interest from the original story, wasn’t he currently lacking just a pillow to rest his head on?
Opening the envelope, he saw that the date was tomorrow. Song Yu immediately recalled that in the original plot, shortly after the two got together, the protagonist suffered his first major setback at this birthday party.
It was also the plot point where Lu Qiwen and Lu Zhi had their first confrontation in the original story.
Thinking of the side quest he had just been worrying about, Song Yu’s smile instantly became much more genuine.
“Thanks, I’ll definitely be there on time.”
…
To attend the birthday party, Song Yu had taken out the performance outfit the original host had always worn on stage.
However, upon arriving at the venue, he couldn’t help but be dazzled by the opulent, golden splendor before him.
“Tsk.” Song Yu clicked his tongue, “Rich people, the root of all evil.”
But then he remembered that after completing his quest in about a year and a half, he would become a rich person too, and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.
The venue was large, and most of the invited guests were peers of the same age, so everyone was quite relaxed.
Song Yu followed the crowd inside. Before he could look for anyone, a tall alpha blocked him completely from behind.
The alpha grabbed Song Yu by the collar and dragged him into a corner.
“Who is it?!” Song Yu tried to struggle, but was firmly pinned down by the other person.
He turned his head to see, it was Lu Qiwen.
Lu Qiwen’s jet-black long hair slipped from his shoulders, brushing against Song Yu’s neck, which was tightly encircled by the collar of his gray shirt.
His strikingly beautiful yet aggressive face was now dark with anger, his voice fierce and menacing. “Song Yu, tell me why you’re here.”
“It seems you and my dear brother are getting along quite well, aren’t you?”