[Master, please hurry to the small auditorium to attend the opening ceremony.]
Xiao Ai’s reminder brought her back to her senses.
Su Nianyao had to admit that her own wandering thoughts had startled her.
‘The older you get, the more your mind wanders. I mustn’t keep thinking about this. If I do, I’ll go crazy and never complete my first capture.’
‘When everything is unknown, the only way to verify a guess is to take the first step.’
‘I’m a player. I’m a player.’
‘I’m just here to play a capture game.’
‘As soon as I capture one character, I’ll immediately quit this game.’
Su Nianyao mentally brainwashed herself. She raised her head and watched Jiang Tang’s back disappear around the corner of the corridor. A back scratcher protruded from the side pocket of her backpack, swaying back and forth as she walked.
‘…A rich young lady carrying a back scratcher on her first day of school. What kind of new trend is that?’
She looked around and saw that nobody was paying attention to her, so she turned without hesitation and headed toward the auditorium.
‘What kind of joke is this?’
‘Only a fool would willingly walk into a trap and get bullied.’
Su Nianyao hurried away without noticing that Jiang Tang was quietly watching her retreating figure from behind a tree.
Seeing that Su Nianyao had genuinely run off, Jiang Tang wasn’t angry and simply left on her own.
The opening ceremony was being held in Incite High School’s grand auditorium.
When Su Nianyao slipped in through the side door, an elderly man with graying hair was speaking onstage. He was said to be one of the school’s trustees.
She found an empty corner in the last row and sat down.
‘Thankfully, Jiang Tang didn’t come.’
She breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Wait, why should I feel relieved?’
‘I never agreed to go with her in the first place.’
[Xiao Ai, help me check who here has the highest Affection Rating toward me.]
Having regained her confidence, she decided to start grinding quests.
[Okay! I’ve found the character with the highest Affection Rating in the entire venue for you: the school trustee, with a current Affection Rating of 40. Would you like to use Mind Reading once?]
‘Can I cheat, too?’
[Every time an Affection Rating reaches 30, you gain one use of Mind Reading. Would you like to use it on the school trustee?]
‘Forget it, forget it. One look at those shrewd eyes tells me everything. He just sees me as a living advertisement, someone he can use to showcase this year’s poverty-alleviation achievements.’
[Then this Mind Reading opportunity will be saved. Whenever you want to use it, just call Xiao Ai.]
‘Can Mind Reading be used on other people, too?’
[Yes, there are no restrictions on the target. However, Affection Rating calculations are only unlocked after you meet the other person.]
Su Nianyao immediately began calculating.
‘Then the number of times I can use it right now is three…’
[It’s six times, my dear Master.]
‘Grandma provided two opportunities, and the school trustee provided one. Among everyone else here, at least three people must have an Affection Rating of 30 or higher toward me?’
[Everyone else attending the opening ceremony has an Affection Rating below 30 toward you.]
‘Then who provided the extra three opportunities?’
[Jiang Tang.]
Su Nianyao’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Huh?’
‘Did I hear that wrong?’
‘Wasn’t Jiang Tang supposed to be the person who bullied me the most?’
‘What’s Jiang Tang’s Affection Rating?’
[Jiang Tang’s initial Affection Rating toward you is: 99.]
——?!
‘Is that right?’
‘What kind of reason could make someone’s Affection Rating toward the person they bully so high?’
Su Nianyao suddenly thought of Hannibal. Perhaps when the cannibal was planning how to deliciously devour his target, his Affection Rating was just as high.
‘After all, who could resist delicious food!’
Thinking about this, Su Nianyao immediately felt fortunate that she had run away quickly. Who knew what nasty tricks Jiang Tang was still keeping up her sleeve?
‘If you can’t afford to provoke someone, you can at least afford to avoid them.’
The opening ceremony ended smoothly. There were no surprises, and nobody caused any trouble.
Although Su Nianyao felt relieved, she was also a little bored. She still hadn’t found anyone she wanted to capture. Should she try looking in a more crowded place? There would always be an opportunity somewhere, right?
No sooner had the thought occurred to her than Su Nianyao headed toward the cafeteria.
The good news was that the cafeteria was indeed crowded. The bad news was that she couldn’t even squeeze her way inside.
With her weak character stats, even a casual passerby could give her a gentle push and send her drifting outside like a willow catkin.
Looking at the overcrowded cafeteria, Su Nianyao couldn’t help questioning herself.
‘Can I really find someone to capture in an environment like this?’
‘I probably wouldn’t even get the chance to say hello before someone pushed me away, right?’
She changed tactics and waited at the cafeteria exit, watching for a suitable target to appear.
[Actually, Master, if you want to find someone with a high initial Affection Rating to capture, why not choose Jiang Tang?]
‘Such an obvious trap. I’m not falling for it.’ Su Nianyao sneered inwardly. ‘It’s clearly meant to lure me in so she can finish me off. First, she gives me a high Affection Rating, then, just before I reach the final stage, she completely reverses it. That’s the most torturous approach.’
[Master really understands NPC psychology!]
‘Of course, I—’
Su Nianyao suddenly paused.
‘What was I about to say just now?’
Her thoughts began drifting away, and a vague image flashed through her mind.
“Su Nianyao.”
The familiar voice sounded again, interrupting her thoughts.
The bamboo handle of a back scratcher was held horizontally in front of her, its small wooden teeth stopping just one centimeter from the tip of her nose.
“…What is it?”
Su Nianyao turned her head, her hair fluttering slightly in the breeze. She deliberately put on a stern expression, trying to look fierce enough to make the other girl stop provoking her.
She was all too familiar with pig-butchering scams. She wasn’t going to fall for one.
But with that face, no matter how hard she tried to look fierce, she resembled nothing more than a hissing, clawing kitten. She wasn’t intimidating in the slightest.
Jiang Tang held a carton of strawberry milk in one hand, the straw between her lips, and stared at Su Nianyao as though she were a particularly appetizing delicacy.
Su Nianyao muttered inwardly to Xiao Ai.
‘Look, doesn’t her expression resemble a cannibal staring at a dish she wants to eat?’
[Xiao Ai suggests that Master explore the story personally rather than make assumptions.]
“You stood me up.” Jiang Tang swallowed a mouthful of milk, licked the corner of her mouth, and continued, “A disobedient wildcat needs to be taught a little lesson.”
She smiled, her eyes curving as her bold and dazzling presence radiated around her.
“Take her away.”
Two men in black suits emerged from behind the trees.
‘When did they hide there?!’
Before Su Nianyao could react, a hand covered her mouth.
“Mmph—”
She was lifted completely off the ground and carried away like a little fish caught in a net. After a series of jolts along the way, she was taken to a secluded villa deep in the woods.
Su Nianyao shouted inwardly.
[Xiao Ai! Xiao Ai! You promised me there wouldn’t be any danger to my life!]
[Xiao Ai doesn’t understand what Master is saying. Xiao Ai suggests that Master explore the story personally.]
Buzz—
The heavy main door slowly descended.
Su Nianyao thought that she had finally sunk to the point of being turned into someone’s dinner.
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