"Bond Level with Qiao Muyi has increased!"

When Ren Suo was awakened by the warm sun, a sudden prompt from the Bond System appeared.

Was it a backlog of notifications from while I was sleeping, or did it just appear?

No, the main question is why did the Bond Level suddenly upgrade while I was sleeping... Can the Bond System upgrade while one is AFK?

Ren Suo shook his head, flung off the blankets, and standing in front of the window, stretched lazily. His bones crackled loudly as he let his face bask in the brilliance of the sun, sighing, "The whole day's plan is made in the morning."

"DING—DONG—DONG—"

As the bell for the eighth afternoon class at Heavenly Lotus Academy rang, Ren Suo's phone also chimed:

"As I tear open this half-mile cosmos of dusk and dawn, three feet of bluish glow cycles to cleanse the dust~"

Ren Suo glanced at the caller ID and answered the phone, asking, "What's up?"

"Bro, you're awake? I waited until class ended today before calling you, just to avoid waking you up," Ren Xingmei's chattering voice came from the phone. "Really, you're back, but you didn't even tell me! If Teacher Dong hadn't told me about today's dinner at her house, I wouldn't have known you were back... Do you even consider me your sister anymore?"

"Well, sisters can be biological or not..." Ren Suo mumbled, donning his cotton slippers and yawning as he went to brush his teeth and wash his face.

"Oh?" Ren Xingmei's voice suddenly grew dangerous. "Then what am I?"

"You're particularly capable..." Ren Suo said, his words muffled by toothpaste and gargling, "Glgghh... Haven't climbed the rankings for several days. Counting on you tonight... Glgghh..."

Ren Xingmei hummed twice, seemingly quite satisfied with Ren Suo's response, then said, "By the way, did anything strange happen while you were away for so many days?"

"What strange things could there be?... Spit!" Ren Suo spat out the mouthwash and said, "Did you think I'd bring a sister-in-law back for you or something?"

"You dare?!" Ren Xingmei said instinctively, then quickly added, "We've been busy with Cultivation, studying, and writing papers at school these past few days, and you dare to go out and have fun?"

"Hmph, my silly sister. Have you finally witnessed the ugly face of adulthood?" Ren Suo chuckled twice, and concluded, "You see I had to sleep for a whole day after I got back. That shows you how tough these past few days have been for me. Otherwise, I would've at least brought you a souvenir or something..."

"Speaking of which, where have you been these past few days, and what have you been up to? I couldn't contact you for days."

"Hmm? Haven't been anywhere special," Ren Suo rubbed his temples and casually replied, "Just had to do something necessary but very troublesome... It was kind of like back when I had to wash your bedsheets after you wet the bed as a kid..."

"See you at Teacher Dong's house later!"

Ren Xingmei hung up the phone, seething. Ren Suo scratched his head, washed his face, and poured himself a cup of hot water. While drinking, he pondered—What exactly had I been up to the past few days?

Strangely enough, he had no clear memory of the past eight days. His most vivid recollection was from a dream he'd had that morning: chugging strong spirits all night, scamming someone out of a sushi meal, and having his mouth stuffed with cake...

As for where he and Qiao Muyi had gone and what they had been doing with such great effort for the past eight days, Ren Suo pondered for a few seconds before completely dismissing the matter. Since he couldn't remember, they probably went to some boring places and did some boring things, or maybe he was engrossed with his phone the whole time...

Moreover, his earphones were ruined, and even the "Blurry Mask" he had inscribed just a few days ago was lost. What a terrible string of luck he'd had these past eight days.

Ren Suo first went to turn on his computer, intending to handle some pending invitations on the internal network. He had been offline for a full eight days and might have missed many opportunities to earn Research Points, such as what style of clothes Truth Seekers preferred, whether Truth Seekers wore underwear, and what color their underwear was...

As soon as he logged onto the internal network, he saw a question highlighted in red and pinned at the top of the "Mysterious Phenomena" section:

"Federal Watcher Angel Zack Brutally Beaten for 4 Hours! Is This Moral Decay or the Extinction of Humanity?"

What, Angel Zack got beaten up again?

Ren Suo clicked on the post and saw Angel Zack struggling to regenerate inside a pit; the sight of which made Ren Suo hungry. It looked just like a pile of white cheese melting and expanding under heat.

"...At 2 AM Sky Capital time today, Federal Watcher Zack, while apparently training in global high-speed movement, suddenly engaged in combat with a mysterious individual in the Flourishing Sakura Region. The battle zone extended all the way from the Missile Area to the Tokyo Area, drawing the attention of countless citizens."

"Because of their fight, the 'First Global Transcendent Combat Competition,' originally scheduled to be held in the unpopulated area of the Missile Mountain Range, was directly canceled. The Supernatural Organizations who had already set up camp in the Missile Mountain Range—Mysterious Country's Great Wall, the Federal Watchers, Flourishing Sakura Martial Soul Hall, the EU Wizard Council, the Russian Winter Fortress, and the South American United Steel Solar Flare—all witnessed Angel Zack being beaten and suppressed by the mysterious figure."

"The mysterious person could not be recorded by any surveillance equipment, their appearance obscured by a blurry darkness, making it impossible to determine their gender, appearance, or even if they were human-shaped. After beating Angel Zack in Tokyo for four hours, the mysterious figure quietly disappeared. Fortunately, their battle did not cause any casualties or property damage."

"Still, no Supernatural Organization has claimed responsibility for this incident."

Ren Suo continued reading. The researchers' replies below mainly discussed the mysterious person's strength and identity. First, the mysterious person was able to beat Angel Zack senseless, undoubtedly exhibiting strength beyond the Fifth Tier; second, they seemed to be quick to throw punches, probably aligning with a chaotic evil faction.

Some said the mysterious person was a reinforcement brought by the Handsome Monkey King. Although the Handsome Monkey King had also thrashed Angel Zack before, things get easier with practice, so maybe the Handsome Monkey King had persuaded a mysterious individual from the Fairy Palace to descend and try their hand against Angel Zack. Others speculated that the mysterious person was from a new Supernatural Force, probably called 'Underworld' or 'Hell,' hence their rough welcome for the angel...

With various opinions, no one could provide solid proof. Ren Suo just enjoyed the buzz, thinking these past few days were certainly lively, though it was a pity he missed the live broadcast.

But what was this 'First Global Transcendent Combat Competition'? Ren Suo searched the internal network and found out it seemed like a military competition, but it was actually an international fellowship event for Transcendent beings from various countries.

The six great Supernatural Organizations first gathered in Tokyo to eat and drink, then went to the Missile Mountain Range to soak in the hot springs. Finally, they headed to an unpopulated area to spar freely, an event designed to build fame that they could boast about back in their respective countries. After all, mutual promotion on an international stage is far more impressive than mere self-praise within one's own country. Being lauded by foreigners was the true mark of prestige.

Moreover, these organizations had also sent their national idols: Daoist You Jiu from Mysterious Country; Queen of Annihilation Caroline from the Watchers; Gun Supreme Sakura Kyoko from the Martial Soul Hall; Lone Wolf Kadell from the Wizard Council; Thunder Bear Ursa from Winter Castle; and Shadow Dai Ze from Iron Sun...

Tsk, there's even such a thing as a publicly funded party!?

Why didn't I come across such good fortune, instead going on some exhausting missions with Qiao Muyi that I can't even remember?

The data also included information about the Transcendent beings from each country. Ren Suo clicked to have a look and found that the path to fame for all national idols was similar—they all played the hero.

Superheroes who brought hope.

You Jiu spent over a month traveling across more than ten cities in the country, smashing dozens of human trafficking dens, robbery rings, and scam syndicates. His face was in the news almost daily, and he effectively fashioned himself into a revered hero of Mysterious Country by racking up achievements.

Of course, with You Jiu's intellect, apart from killing, he was probably just a male chauvinist. But it didn't matter that he couldn't investigate cases; it seemed Ren Naiser's investigative team was temporarily under his command. With the help of Extraordinary Magic and the highly efficient cooperation of the national Public Security tactical system, they had directly forged You Jiu into such a godlike figure.

The other countries' national idols operated similarly: Caroline slaughtered many rich and powerful villains, Sakura Kyoko suppressed an internal Transcendent cult within Flourishing Sakura...

After all, humanity didn't have many external enemies. If these heroes wanted to become famous, aside from disaster relief and rescue operations, their only remaining path was to eliminate the pests within human society.

The world is too peaceful; it's hard for heroes to thrive.

Don't you see, in animated movies, superheroes only quickly gain fame by fighting giant monsters or aliens, but now there are no giant monsters or aliens... well, not exactly none, but they certainly can't compete with the Fairy Palace, World Tree, or the Three Gods.

So they had to make do with bullying criminals who deserved to be executed.

After reading for a while, Ren Suo closed his laptop. He checked the time—still not dinnertime—so he heave-hoed the Mini-World Game Console back to the TV cabinet in the living room and, after a long absence, turned on the console.

"Mi-ni. World. Its. Joy. Is. Bound-less."

The startup sound this time was like a friendly greeting spoken by a weary, weathered man; it sounded a bit happy, a bit sad, and also somewhat relieved, all at once.

A mere game console, yet it sure brings a lot of drama.

Ren Suo grumbled silently, intending to check if "Inverted World" had finished uploading—it had been uploading for eight days. Young Master Mu and Xiao Suo must have finished everything by now, right? The baby should almost be born, shouldn't it?

However, as soon as he entered the main interface, several messages popped up: "Upload of 'Inverted World' task evaluation failed. Retrying now..."

"Error in settling 'Inverted World' task evaluation. Recalculating now..."

"Task evaluation settlement completed. Due to the player's score triggering a hidden condition, all rewards have been reset. Please claim your new rewards."

"Upload of 'Inverted World' task evaluation failed."

"A major malicious bug has emerged in 'Inverted World.' It has now been permanently closed. Naiser Company deeply regrets any potential loss to players (but Naiser Company reserves the final right of interpretation)."

"All rewards for 'Inverted World' have been issued."

This barrage of messages left Ren Suo baffled. He decided to sort through his thoughts from the beginning.

So, after the task evaluation was recalculated, my score triggered a hidden condition, and all the rewards were reset?

What does that mean? Was the score wrongly calculated when I cleared the game?

But Ren Suo remembered his score in "Inverted World" had already reached 90 points, a 'Great Contribution' level, very hard to surpass.

Could it be that the console gave me extra points for an achievement during the recalculation?

However, the game was gone now, and its completion had been eight days ago. Ren Suo had naturally forgotten most of it and had no way of knowing if he'd truly earned extra points—He didn't even remember if his clone had worn clothes while working eight days ago.

These were trivial matters he didn't dwell on, forgotten as soon as they passed.

But getting hidden rewards was always a good thing. Ren Suo wasn't particularly interested in the exclusive reward, the "Annihilation Certificate," so getting new rewards now was even better.

However, this hidden reward... How should I put it...

"Black Coffin Demon King"

"5-star character, exclusive abilities: 'Absolute Insight,' 'Ice-Fire Wind Moon Earth,' 'Impenetrable,' 'Rapid Learning,' 'Blinking Teleport,' 'Guardian Demon King,' 'Fear Intimidation'..."

"Note: Depending on the situation, the Black Coffin Demon King may need to consume negative emotions or Merit Points during combat; otherwise, spell effects will be drastically reduced."

Looking at the data, the Black Coffin Demon King might not be the strongest, but was undoubtedly the most omnipotent—flying, burrowing, teleporting, controlling ice, fire, wind, earth, spatial movement, healing, protection, mental intimidation, and even 'Rapid Learning,' which meant learning others' spells on the spot.

Black Coffin Demon King's Talent might not match up to Ren Han or the Truth Seeker, but with his omnipotence and potential, he could easily be ranked among the top-tier characters in the game.

But this was a 5-star game character...

Ren Suo, still a Level 4 player, felt very conflicted.

At this moment, Ren Suo noticed in the notification that the word 'loss' in 'may cause partial loss to the player' was bolded and even underlined, indicating it was clickable.

After clicking, the screen automatically switched to the "Equipment Interface," and then the item details for "Rippling Spring Sounds" directly popped up.

Unaware of what was going on, Ren Suo read through to the end, only then realizing what had happened—

The summonable time has actually... been completely depleted!?

In the summonable time column for "Rippling Spring Sounds," the balance was starkly 0!

He couldn't quite remember how much time was left before, but it definitely wasn't zero!

How could he have used it up so completely!?

Ren Suo sulked for a good while, but only for a while—although he couldn't use "Rippling Spring Sounds" in the game anymore, meaning Ren Suo could no longer brute-force his way through levels. Not that he was the type to rely on cheats anyway; he had managed without "Rippling Spring Sounds" before.

The main thing was that he had nowhere to complain; the final right of interpretation for Mini-World still belonged to Naiser Company. If he continued to be upset, he would only generate more negative emotions for himself.

And though he had lost some summonable time, he'd gained an unsummonable game character!

After consoling himself with the Ah Q spirit, Ren Suo's focus quickly shifted elsewhere.

When Ren Suo had just woken up, he heard the Bond System notifying him that Qiao Muyi's Bond Level had increased.

But now that he looked, he realized Qiao Muyi's Bond Level had actually jumped two levels!

"Qiao Muyi, Level 5 Bond, Bond Ability 'The Demon King Returns': Grants access to pure, safe negative emotions that can serve as a universal energy source."

"Derived Ability #1: Unique Protagonist: Consumes negative emotions to strengthen all spell effects (attack, movement, healing, enhancement, etc.), with a maximum enhancement of 150%. Simultaneously, all spells can carry the 'Unique' Trait, making them stronger and more efficient at damaging enemies."

"Derived Ability #2: Accomplice: When the bonding partner gains negative emotions, the player will receive an equal amount; likewise, when the player gains negative emotions, the bonding partner will also receive an equal amount."

The first reaction Ren Suo had after reading this Bond Ability was—Was it called 'The Demon King Returns' before?

But since Bond Ability names were typically four characters long, it probably was called that...

The enhancement effect of 'Unique' increased from 50% to 150%, and a new 'Accomplice' ability was added.

That is to say, even if Ren Suo did nothing but lie around at home, he would have a continuous influx of negative emotions. Qiao Muyi, that little hedgehog, would surely be pricking others everywhere, causing them to bleed negative emotions.

As for Ren Suo, he felt that as a mascot deeply loved by teachers and students, he probably wouldn't have much chance of generating negative emotions himself.

DING.

"You've received a message."

Ren Suo had just put down the controller, preparing to deal with it, when he saw another message pop up on the game console. However, it was already dinnertime. I'll deal with it when I get back tonight, he thought.

He kicked his cotton slippers as he left Dormitory Building No. 2 and entered Dormitory Building No. 1, where he happened to see Qiao Muyi waiting for the elevator.

"What a coincidence, you're here to snag a meal too," Ren Suo greeted.

Qiao Muyi rolled her eyes and hummed without responding. When the elevator arrived, they stepped in, and Qiao Muyi suddenly said, "Lend me your phone."

Ren Suo blinked, not quite understanding, but still unlocked his phone and handed it to her.

Qiao Muyi opened the photo gallery and found that Ren Suo really was quite the straight arrow—aside from silly memes, there were only a few photos of Dong Chengling, Ren Xingmei, Gu Yueyan, and Little Jiu.

However, between November 20th and November 25th, over those six days, his album had gained many more photos from Flourishing Sakura...

Landscape photos.

Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Asakusa, Clear Sky Tower, Meiji Shrine... His album was full of street shots of these places. Some photos looked like they were taken with the front camera for selfies, but there was no one in them.

All the precious moments, all the scenes worth cherishing, all the memories he had wished would last forever... were gone.

Qiao Muyi thought for a moment, selected these photos, and deleted them all, without any sentiment.

Past moments were certainly worth cherishing, but compared to a future filled with infinite possibilities, they amounted to nothing.

"Oh, right." Qiao Muyi handed the bag she was holding to Ren Suo. "This is for you."

Ren Suo took it, pulled out the item inside, and his eyes lit up. "1000XM3?!"

"Weren't your headphones broken? I bought you a new pair," Qiao Muyi said, taking a selfie with Ren Suo's phone as she spoke.

"That's great, thank you! I didn't realize this could be reimbursed... I thought I'd worked for nothing these past few days!" Ren Suo touched the headphone packaging; the boxes for expensive headphones always felt particularly nice.

"Why would it be for nothing?"

Qiao Muyi smiled, handed the phone back to him, and said, "Nothing you've done will ever be in vain."

"Also, this isn't a reimbursement from the Tactical Bureau. I bought these for you with my own money."

"Huh?"

Ren Suo followed Qiao Muyi out of the elevator in a daze. Watching her ring the doorbell, he said shyly, "Then... thank you. Uh, should I pay you back..."

He was just being glib, much like how he'd join in bantering in QQ groups, egging others on to send red packets—just words. But now that Qiao Muyi had actually bought him headphones with her own money, Ren Suo felt incredibly flattered.

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Suo," Qiao Muyi suddenly said, "I noticed you haven't changed your phone's screensaver for many days, so I helped you change it."

Huh?

Ren Suo looked down and saw that the screensaver on his phone had been switched to a photo of Qiao Muyi.

Although it was a selfie hastily snapped in an elevator, without filters or editing, Qiao Muyi's beauty was still showcased to its fullest: her eyes, curved into crescents, held a hidden allure; the corners of her lips tilted upwards in a proud smile; and her gaze was sharp and strikingly assertive, like a dazzling burst of fireworks in full bloom.

He subconsciously replied, "This, was it from pub—"

Just then, the door opened.

"Ren Suo, you're really not dead yet?" Zhao Huo exclaimed in surprise upon seeing him, causing Ren Suo's expression to darken.

Qiao Muyi harshly stomped on Zhao Huo's foot and strode inside. She looked toward Dong Chengling, who was emerging from the kitchen, waved happily, her lips curling up, eyes curving into crescents, and said softly, "Cheng Ling, I'm here."

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