The shouting from the crowd grew increasingly intense, for they were the very last couple to step onto the stage.
From the beginning, the virtual screen had clearly stated the rules, those who could not accept them could choose to leave, but otherwise, failing to complete the task would result in a forced exit.
Thus, every other couple remaining had already kissed in front of everyone.
Shen Buqi found himself in a real dilemma, trapped with no easy way out. He even felt that being the last to go up was worse than just getting it over with early.
But there was no turning back now. Unless he wanted to give up on this game entirely, kissing was unavoidable.
He took a deep breath and looked at the shy, timid Alpha in front of him. His dark eyes seemed to hold a pool of water, and his heart softened a bit more.
A-Shi must be terrified too, right?
Slowly releasing his spiritual power to comfort Ji Weishi, he summoned his courage, stood on his tiptoes, and pressed his lips against the Alpha’s.
Ji Weishi accepted the kiss with complete peace of mind, simultaneously releasing his own boundless, overwhelming spiritual power to ensure no one in the crowd would dare make a reckless move.
He stood there obediently and submissively, waiting for his lover’s closeness.
Shen Buqi, however, was so overwhelmed by shame that he lost all train of thought. His eyes were shut so tightly that his long eyelashes wouldn’t stop trembling. He raised his hands to hook around Ji Weishi’s neck, delivering his own chaotic breaths into the kiss.
His soft tongue, having nowhere to settle, poked here and nudged there, like a lost fish frantically searching for its way home.
Suddenly, it slipped through a deliberately opened clam shell, finding a fellow lost companion. The two fish swam side by side, leaning into one another.
Their breathing became uncontrollably rapid. Shen Buqi felt as though he was drowning in thin air. This kiss was so deep, far more disorienting than any they had shared before.
Yet, despite such an incredibly passionate performance, no one cheered for them.
The rampaging spiritual power swept across the area, some people could barely stand, while others were completely dazed and disoriented.
With a sharp beep, Shen Buqi finally managed to open his eyes when they parted. His dark eyes were overly moist, looking as though a gentle blink would cause tears to spill over.
A small virtual screen, visible only to him and Ji Weishi, appeared before them, accompanied by a mechanical voice:
“Congratulations on completing the Collective Task. Fearless Intimacy +10. Remaining distance to target. 88.”
“Congratulations on completing the Bonus Task. Infatuation +20. Remaining distance to target. 68.”
As expected, Ji Weishi merely raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
Shen Buqi, however, knitted his brows and asked, “What is this ‘Infatuation’? Does everyone get it?”
Ji Weishi didn’t know how to answer him. If he guessed correctly, this “Infatuation” was probably detected through their electroencephalograms (EEGs), it would only trigger if genuine emotion was stirred.
Just now, he had indeed been stirred a little by Shen Buqi’s initiative… but as for Shen Buqi…
He looked at the person beside him. This youth always maintained a cold, detached expression, and even when his emotions reached their absolute peak, the only sign would be his burning earlobes. He had never felt anything resembling love from this person.
He knew all too well that the biggest difference in how Shen Buqi treated him versus how he treated that cat was simply that he would actively kiss Shen Buqi, whereas the cat would not.
That was exactly why Ji Weishi’s heart had been so easily swayed by his initiative.
But what about this person?
Had he fallen for him too?
Before he could ponder further, another virtual screen manifested in the center of the venue, and the cheerful, girlish voice rang out once again.
“Congratulations to everyone for completing the Collective Task! Your rewards have been credited. Now, let the Competitive Task begin!”
The voice sounded so much like a real person that many failed to realize it was merely a machine, a machine incapable of pity, simply following its programming. It announced:
“The content of the Competitive Task is, choose a spot with your lover and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, perform what you consider to be the absolute, absolute most intimate act~ I will record and rate your performance!”
“What the hell is this?! Since it’s what I consider the most intimate act, can I just do a kiss?”
“Yeah, seriously! A kiss is one thing, but making it the ‘most intimate’ act? Isn’t this just making things difficult for people…”
“Screw this ‘Love Space’, I don’t even want the damn reward anymore.”
As the oppressive spiritual power faded, the crowd’s terror dissipated, and they were once again drawn in by this bizarre task.
A wave of cursing erupted, and some people immediately tapped the exit button.
After the double filtering of the previous round and this current one, less than half the crowd remained on the plaza, barely a third left. Their faces were flushed red as they looked at one another, completely at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, some people were already gritting their teeth and stripping off their clothes.
Even though Ji Weishi had anticipated something like this, he was still somewhat taken aback to hear such an overly explicit task.
He had assumed the game would start testing the couples’ unspoken chemistry, but in the end, it was still entirely about physical compatibility.
It had absolutely nothing to do with mutual understanding.
This made the reward rather interesting. Since the couples filtered out by these rounds were clearly those with high physical compatibility, what was the point of an All Gender Compatibility Agent?
Was it just to disgust people, or had they changed the reward entirely?
He didn’t make any sudden moves, wanting to ask for Shen Buqi’s opinion first, only to find him staring blankly into space.
Ji Weishi gently tugged at his sleeve.
Shen Buqi turned around instantly, his face notably pale. When he spoke, his voice trembled slightly. “A-Shi, I hate this. Let’s not do this, okay?”
Ji Weishi raised an eyebrow and followed his gaze, landing on an Alpha-Omega couple who were currently “getting into the groove.”
Coincidentally, this was the exact same couple who had spoken so rudely in the previous round. They were certainly uninhibited, showcasing not just simple sexual activity, but even adding elements of a lifetime marking ritual.
The sticky, disgusting pheromones thoroughly polluted the surrounding air.
Both of them were A-grade, which was considered a high rank in society, and their intense, mingling pheromones began affecting everyone else in the venue.
Originally, some couples had been reluctant or indifferent to the reward, opting only to hold hands, hug, or kiss. But under the influence of these pheromones, they completely threw shame to the wind, driven by pure instinct to engage in passionate acts right then and there.
What Ji Weishi detested most were people who allowed their bodies to be controlled by pheromones. Moreover, it was one thing for them to let loose, but this chaotic cocktail of pheromones was genuinely nauseating.
He carefully pulled Shen Buqi into his arms, cloaking him with his own pheromones at close range while making sure his own scent didn’t bleed into the crowd.
Shen Buqi was indeed in a bad state.
He felt dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseous.
His heart felt incredibly stifled and uncomfortable.
The scene he had just witnessed kept replaying in his mind, causing a strange tightness in his chest.
Part of it was pure disgust, but the other part was something Ji Weishi hadn’t noticed, the explicit words of that Omega. “Mark me.”
Perhaps swept up by the environment, that Alpha began putting on arrogant airs again. Glancing over at the completely motionless Ji Weishi and Shen Buqi, he let out a sneer, his eyes filled with disdain. “Hey buddy, are you impotent, or are you regretting it now that you realize you can’t get it up for a male Beta?”
“Tell you what, I’ll have my wife moan a little louder so you can get hard too!”
A flash of murderous intent crossed Ji Weishi’s eyes, vanishing so quickly it went entirely unnoticed.
His embrace around Shen Buqi grew even gentler, his voice soft and soothing. “Xiao Yi, don’t be afraid. I’m right here. We won’t do this.”
As he spoke, he covertly extended his spiritual power.
Initially, he had felt it wasn’t right to cause a scene on someone else’s turf, wishing instead to play along with this Guardian of District 6 and use gentler means to get what he wanted.
But now, it seemed that was out of the question.
He was just about to use his spiritual power to directly link up with the amusement park’s main system and force a victory.
To his surprise, the playful, girlish voice beat him to it:
“Congratulations everyone, the battle segment has concluded! The rewards have been distributed, please accept them. We will now begin the Daily Tasks, please follow the prompts accordingly.”
The moment the voice faded, a small virtual screen materialized in front of them, accompanied by a mechanical chime:
“Congratulations on completing the Competitive Task. Soul Blending +30. Remaining distance to target. 38. Entering Daily Task mode, please listen carefully for guidance at all times.”
30 points?
Even Shen Buqi, who had been completely checked out, was startled. If he remembered correctly, this was the highest score awarded among all the tasks so far. Yet, he and A-Shi had done absolutely nothing just now, barely managing a brief hug.
What exactly did “Soul Blending” mean?
Ji Weishi, however, was thinking of something entirely different.
In this game, while the main screen broadcasting the tasks was visible to everyone, the smaller screens showing the score updates were completely private. The resulting implication was clear, if they wanted to, the amusement park management could entirely rig who won the game. There was an immense amount of room for manipulation.
Evidently, the game was heavily favoring the two of them.
Yet, he was absolutely certain that Zhou Qingran had never seen his face and couldn’t possibly recognize him.
The Alliance maintained incredibly strict restrictions; even among the S-grade Arbitrators of District 4, only Qi Qiushui and Chen Shengxiu had seen what he looked like. Among the Guardians, only Qin Che, Qin Miao, and Wen Jiayu had met him. He wasn’t sure if the Guardians of the other districts had caught a clear glimpse of him last time.
As for Zhou Qingran… in short, there was definitely a catch here.
Whether it was targeting him or Shen Buqi remained to be seen.
With these thoughts in mind, Ji Weishi’s wariness deepened.
The subsequent tasks were fairly standard, fitting well with the specially designed environment. For instance, teaming up to defeat monsters, allocating tasks reasonably, and some simple cultivation quests.
Shen Buqi and Ji Weishi completed them at a steady pace, not slow, but certainly not the fastest either. Even so, their points shot up rapidly.
Naturally, this was because Ji Weishi was deliberately suppressing their speed.
Before long, his suspicions were confirmed when a nearby couple complained furiously. “No way! We went through all that trouble to harvest herbs together and only got 1 point? Is this system holding a grudge against us?”
While Shen Buqi and Ji Weishi didn’t have the exact same task, they had one of similar difficulty, yet their reward was 5 points.
The discrepancy was glaringly obvious. Shen Buqi and Ji Weishi smoothly sailed through the tasks, becoming the very first to reach the target score.
Following another distortion of space, the two androids reappeared before them.
The android that had welcomed them into the game gave a slight nod of satisfaction: “Congratulations to the two of you for winning the championship. You may now proceed to claim your prize.”
Ji Weishi put on an expression of great delight. However, while the two androids turned to retrieve the reward, he expanded his spiritual power, probing into the bustling crowd around them.
The result was exactly as he expected.
Heh. Aside from himself and Shen Buqi, there wasn’t a single real ‘person’ here.