My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 114
by Little PandaThe Bet
“Sis! What’s with that face? I’m your own brother! You’ve got to help me! You can’t just stand by and watch me get trapped in this game forever! Come on, tell me—how did you get that 50% Off Honored Grand Member status? At least that way, everything I buy in the mall will be half off!”
Confronted by Ren Muhui’s relentless pestering, Ren Chenxi asked with a cold face, “Even if you got the fifty percent discount, so what? How many items in the Apocalypse Mall can you actually afford? Besides, our malls are identical. If there’s something you really want, can’t you just have me buy it for you?”
When Ren Chenxi put it that way, Ren Muhui found it made a lot of sense. It was true—the items in the Apocalypse Mall were ridiculously expensive. Even with a fifty percent discount, he still might not be able to afford them! And really, his sister having membership was basically the same as him having it anyway~
But…
“But how did you get it in the first place? I’m just curious~”
Ren Chenxi’s expression soured further. She could hardly tell Ren Muhui that all he had to do was go find his Goddess Mu, give her a hug and a squeeze, and the membership would be theirs, could she? After glaring coldly at her brother for a long while, she finally spun a plausible excuse: “Because my cumulative spending in the Apocalypse Mall has reached five million crystal stones, so the system rewarded me with a 50% Off Honored Grand Member status.”
“…But how did you accumulate that much spending in the first place?” If it was a reward for high spending, Ren Muhui couldn’t complain, but he was still utterly shocked by the sheer number of crystal cores his younger sister had managed to acquire.
“By buying all sorts of daily necessities, seasonings, and machinery! Like the Crystal Core Generator and the Crystal Core Engine… A lot of the time, Mu Ning was the one paying the crystal cores.” Knowing full well that this wimp wouldn’t dare verify this with Mu Ning, Ren Chenxi simply dumped it all on her.
“But Goddess Mu doesn’t even know you have access to the Apocalypse Mall…” Ren Muhui was still half-skeptical of her explanation.
“Nonsense, of course I wouldn’t tell her about the Apocalypse Mall. Back when I first arrived at the base, I wasn’t close with Mu Ning at all. Whenever she wanted something, I made sure to charge her crystal cores for it!”
“You—you weren’t close to her?” Ren Muhui stared at Ren Chenxi, momentarily speechless. After a long pause, he gave her a thumbs-up. “You really are a ruthless profiteer. You even dared to fleece the very person you used to pursue.”
Ren Chenxi rolled her eyes hard at him and snapped back, “If a certain someone hadn’t been so useless, would I have needed to use his account to help him with the pursuit?!”
“…” Cut down by her retort, Ren Muhui was left speechless again. Looking down, he toyed with the watch she had just handed him, desperately trying to change the subject. “So, little sister, is this watch a gift for me? Knowing that your brother’s skills lack any offensive power, you went out of your way to buy me a ‘watch’ like this. Your brother is so touched~”
“In your dreams. It costs crystal cores!” Ren Chenxi cold-bloodedly shattered his delusions.
Hearing that his own sister was demanding crystal cores from him, Ren Muhui instantly went wild. “I’m your own brother, and you still want to rip me off?!”
Unmoved by his accusations, Ren Chenxi stood her ground, choosing crystal cores over sibling bonds. “I’m not ripping you off. I didn’t add a single core markup to this watch! Take it or leave it! If I just give you this watch, I won’t even have any crystal cores left to draw cards!”
“I’m not listening, I’m not listening! If this watch isn’t a gift for me, then I don’t want it!”
“Oh, then give it back to me!” Without giving Ren Muhui a chance to refuse, Ren Chenxi snatched the watch back in a flash.
“Hey, hey, hey! You!” Ren Muhui hadn’t expected her to be so heartless. Even if she wasn’t gifting it to him, she didn’t even plan to let him borrow it! “Ren Chenxi, do you still treat me as your brother? You already have so many powerful cards. What do you even need this watch for? Can’t you just let me borrow it for self-defense?!”
“Heh!” Ren Chenxi cast a disdainful sideways glance at him. “A grown man like you actually has the nerve to say that? You’ve been in this game world for so long, yet how many zombies have you actually killed?”
“…” He had chopped up a few mutated seafood creatures, but as for zombies, he really hadn’t killed a single one. There was no helping it—zombies were just too sickening!!!
Seeing his silence, Ren Chenxi sighed softly and continued, “You know Keyu and those other girls who don’t have esper abilities, right? When they went out hunting in the wild with Zhang Tongqi and the others, they could not only hack down low-tier mutated beasts but even slice through low-tier zombies like watermelons—one slash, one kill! For a guy as built as you, aren’t you ashamed?”
“…” Ren Muhui certainly knew the Huo Keyu his sister was talking about. She had left a deep impression on him, mostly because of the ugly knife scar on her face.
Speaking of her, when Ren Muhui had gone to the beach with everyone else before, he had noticed this non-esper girl. She hacked at mutated crabs as if they were just ordinary crabs. Her movements were swift, her strikes brutal. Compared to her, Ren Muhui did feel rather pathetic. But still… “She’s a native NPC2 in this game world; she’s been surviving in this apocalypse for ages. I’ve only been here for a few days…”
Before he could finish, he saw the disdain in Ren Chenxi’s eyes deepen. Suddenly, he remembered that when she had first arrived in this game, she was also capable of wielding a blade and hacking down zombies. Consequently, the rest of his excuses died in his throat. Bowing his head and sulking for a long moment, he still couldn’t accept it, raising his eyes to plead with her once more. “Exactly, all of you girls are stronger than me! Since Huo Keyu can already chop zombies like watermelons, you might as well give this watch to me…”
“Ha!” Ren Chenxi was practically laughing with rage at his sheer shamelessness. “Ren Muhui, so you’re genuinely admitting you’re worse than a girl now? You’re a player with game skills, and you actually have the gall to snatch gear from them?”
“Isn’t snatching gear from NPCs exactly what players are supposed to do?” Ren Muhui argued, thoroughly unconvinced. “On the contrary, you’re a player too, yet you’re actively gifting equipment to NPCs. What on earth are you thinking?”
“Hmph! I’m not cold-blooded like you, and I’ve never treated Keyu and the others as mere NPCs! Besides, who said I was giving this gear to Keyu as a gift? She has far more backbone than you do. If she wants this watch, I bet she’ll absolutely pay for it with her own crystal cores!”
“Pfft! Five million Level 1 crystal cores! Do you think she’s an esper? How many zombies or mutated beasts could she possibly kill to get that?”
By the time Ren Muhui arrived at the base, the food stalls run by Huo Keyu and the other girls had already paused operations for the winter. He had no idea how skilled Huo Keyu was, let alone how incredibly popular her stall had been. Seeing his dismissive look, Ren Chenxi sneered and challenged, “Then how about we make a bet? What if Huo Keyu insists on paying for this watch with her own crystal cores?”
“Then I’ll give you every last one of my crystal stones! But if she doesn’t, you have to give me this watch!”
“Pfft! Only a little over two hundred thousand crystal stones, Ren Muhui, and you actually have the nerve!”
“Hey, who told you to be my sister? I’m just that shameless. So, are we betting or not?”
“It’s a bet! But you have to do exactly as I say first!”
Thus, when dinner time rolled around that evening, Ren Muhui arrived at the Girls’ Building, flanked by a crowd of boys. Seeing so many guys gathered outside, Zhang Tongqi, who was busy cooking in the kitchen, came out looking highly displeased.
“What are you all doing here? We didn’t make much for dinner! There’s no extra food for you to freeload3!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, we’re not here to freeload!” Chen Gu protested, deeply offended. “Not only are we not here for food, we’ve actually come to show you guys something good~”
“What good thing?” Zhang Tongqi glared at Chen Gu with pure suspicion. “Don’t tell me it’s some new trick to freeload a meal?”
“It most certainly is not!” As Chen Gu spoke, he smugly pulled out the watch and held it high in the air. “Ta-da! Look, what’s this!”
“A watch…”
While Chen Gu and Zhang Tongqi bickered, the other girls gathered around to watch the commotion, and among them was Huo Keyu. Ren Muhui covertly glanced at Huo Keyu while gesturing with his eyes toward Ren Chenxi, who was standing at the very back of the crowd.
Heh, brat, just watch. I don’t believe for a second that these ordinary girls will be willing to pay out of their own pockets for gear! I bet the moment they hear the sheer quantity of crystal cores required, they won’t even dream of buying it!
To secure his victory, when Ren Chenxi had been instructing him on how to show off his Forging skill and the watch, Ren Muhui had seized the chance to add a condition: if Huo Keyu or any of the other non-esper girls showed no interest in buying the watch, Ren Chenxi would still lose. Ren Chenxi had agreed. Now, Ren Muhui was simply waiting for them to ask about the watch’s special properties so he could state the actual price to scare these girls off.
Initially, Ren Chenxi had wanted Ren Muhui to only quote half the price, but he had stubbornly refused. Left with no choice, she had let him have his way. In any case, she believed that no matter the price, a woman as resilient and self-reliant as Huo Keyu would find a way to scrape the crystal cores together. If she couldn’t gather them in one year, then she’d take two; if two years weren’t enough, she’d take three!
Ren Muhui had truly underestimated the determination of Huo Keyu and the other girls.
Sure enough, the moment Chen Gu revealed that this watch was actually a miniature weapon, Huo Keyu’s focus locked onto it. When he explained that charging it with crystal cores would allow the user to snipe zombies and mutated beasts from a distance, her eyes lit up. However, when Chen Gu added that the watch had been forged using Ren Muhui’s new ability at a material cost of five million Level 1 crystal cores, the faint smile at the corners of Huo Keyu’s mouth visibly stiffened. Yet, she quickly locked her gaze back onto the watch, her expression turning even more resolute.
“Hey, Chen Gu, aren’t you exaggerating a bit?” one of the girls called out. “Five million Level 1 crystal cores just to forge a weapon like this? And besides, how did you guys even pool that many cores together?”
Like Huo Keyu, the other girls were deeply intrigued by this weapon. Unlike the quiet Huo Keyu, however, the chattering girls immediately voiced whatever doubts they had on the spot.
“Yeah, exactly! That many crystal cores? You guys aren’t inflating the price on purpose just to fleece us, are you?”
Having anticipated this reaction, Ren Muhui stepped forward with calm composure and explained in a slow, serious tone, “First of all, this is a weapon, not an ordinary watch. As long as you charge it with enough energy, it can instantly kill even a 7th-order zombie or mutated beast. On top of that, it’s incredibly compact, easy to operate, and boasts a long range—a full twenty meters. Wearing a watch like this on your wrist is practically no different from being a long-range esper! Furthermore, a powerful weapon like this truly cost five million Level 1 crystal cores to forge. Because we lacked high-tech materials, we had to make up for it with crystal cores, which I borrowed from my younger sister, Ren Chenxi.”
The moment the words left his mouth, all the girls turned their heads in unison to look at Ren Chenxi. “Xi-jie, is this true?”
Ren Chenxi nodded calmly. “Yes, it’s true.”
Footnotes
- nǐ dàyé: A vulgar Chinese slang term literally meaning 'your uncle', used to express exasperation, dismissive irritation, or to mock someone's words by telling them 'my ass'.
- tǔzhù: Literally 'native' or 'indigenous', a common Chinese internet and gaming slang term used by players to refer to the original, non-player inhabitants of a game world.
- cèngfàn: A common slang term literally meaning 'rubbing food', referring to eating at someone else's expense without invitation or contribution.
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