My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 68
by Little PandaLevel 8 Crystal Core
Smack, smack, smack, smack! The octopus monster also realized that if it didn’t run now, it was truly going to meet its end on this beach. Even though it couldn’t see a thing, it relied on instinct, frantically thrashing its tentacles and spewing ink as it tried to flee back toward the sea.
The wildly spraying ink splashed a few drops onto Ren Chenxi’s clothes. Upon contact, the ink also turned invisible. In the brief moment Ren Chenxi was splashed, Mu Ning moved again.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— This time, twenty thick, long vines wrapped around the octopus monster, halting its escape once more.
Ren Chenxi seized the opportunity. Swish, swish, swish! She hurled her remaining three SR-rank Explosion Cards at the octopus monster in quick succession. The boss’s health bar was reduced to a mere 3%!
Smack, smack, smack— The octopus monster struggled even more fiercely. Even twenty vines couldn’t hold it; it tore through all of them.
Before Ren Chenxi could even check if the monster’s blind duration had ended, she slapped another Flash Card on it while simultaneously hurling her remaining three R-rank Explosion Cards. However, these three R-rank Explosion Cards had absolutely zero effect on the monster’s health bar.
Seeing that the octopus monster had stopped spewing ink and was purely focused on accelerating its escape, twenty more vines suddenly materialized in midair with a swish, entangling the beast once again. At the exact same moment, a dense cluster of ice spikes materialized all around the octopus monster, driving ruthlessly into its body.
In that instant, the octopus monster’s health bar finally bottomed out!
The eight massive tentacles thrashed a few more times in apparent defiance, snapping the last remaining vines wrapped around it. Only then did the gargantuan body crash heavily onto the sand with a loud BOOM.
Simultaneously, Ren Chenxi saw Mu Ning’s health bar drop drastically, stopping just slightly above the sand. Was Mu Ning… physically exhausted to the point of passing out?
Ignoring the dead 8th-order octopus monster, Ren Chenxi hurriedly ran over to Mu Ning’s health bar. Mu Ning had lost 10% of her HP. This could be related to overdrawing her esper abilities, or she might have been injured while straining to hold the vines against the fleeing octopus. Regardless, Ren Chenxi immediately applied a Recovery Card on her. After doing so, she noticed that Mu Ning’s level now displayed as 6th-order.
Did she overdraw her esper abilities in that final desperate struggle with the octopus monster, resulting in an advancement? Is that why her water-system ability mutated into an ice-system ability? If not for that guess, Ren Chenxi simply couldn’t explain where that dense ring of ice spikes—which claimed the monster’s final sliver of life—had come from.
The Invisibility buff timer beside Mu Ning’s health bar was still ticking. Although Ren Chenxi could see the health bar, she couldn’t tell which end of Mu Ning was which. She could only reach out her hand and carefully grope around below the health bar, wanting to help Mu Ning up.
Then, Ren Chenxi’s hand found a very soft spot…
When she first touched it, Ren Chenxi didn’t immediately realize what she was grabbing. She simply brought her other hand over as well—only for her palm to press against another soft mound… This time, Ren Chenxi finally understood exactly which part of Mu Ning her two hands were holding!
Her face flushed crimson in an instant. Ren Chenxi hastily yanked both hands back. At the same time, Mu Ning’s incredibly soft voice floated through the air: “Are you… doing this to get back at me because I touched you once?”
“…” Damn it, you actually didn’t pass out!
Ren Chenxi was mortified. She had assumed Mu Ning was unconscious, meaning she could have just swept this accidental groping incident under the rug. Who knew…
The atmosphere froze for a moment. After a long while, Mu Ning’s soft voice sounded again: “Aren’t you going to dig out that octopus’s crystal core?”
Look at the timing, and she’s still worried about the octopus’s crystal core! Ren Chenxi rolled her eyes exasperatedly. Unfortunately, since she was still invisible, Mu Ning couldn’t see it at all.
“How are you feeling right now?” Mu Ning’s voice wasn’t just soft; she was panting slightly. She sounded not only weak but incredibly tired.
“I—I’m fine… I just need to rest a bit. You go dig out the octopus’s crystal core first. An 8th-order mutated octopus’s crystal core will easily attract other high-order sea creatures.”
Since Mu Ning put it that way, Ren Chenxi couldn’t refuse. She had already used a Recovery Card on her anyway; perhaps resting for a while really would help her recover. Besides, her main goal in coming to the beach today was exactly this octopus monster! Mu Ning was right. They had gone to so much trouble to kill this beast, and since a monster attacked by the System would drop its core upon death, she needed to collect it immediately. If she let the other mutated seafood buried under the sand get a cheap meal out of this, she’d have nowhere to cry about it.
When the 8th-order octopus monster first appeared, all the visible red dots on the mini-map had vanished. Some might have been scared off by the boss, while others might have been indiscriminately smashed to death by its massive tentacles. Either way, it was completely safe as Ren Chenxi walked toward the corpse. By the time she reached it, a few of the dead octopus’s tentacles were still squirming endlessly. It looked truly disgusting…
The Level 8 crystal core dropped by the octopus monster was automatically gathered into her inventory. Likewise, a single octopus tentacle was automatically picked up. Ren Chenxi only took one look at that tentacle—densely packed with suckers—before averting her eyes. Forget it, she couldn’t be bothered to count how many legs the octopus had left. She’d just sweep everything away. The octopus was already dead anyway; even if its tentacles were still moving, they were dead meat. And no matter how gigantic you are, entering my inventory only takes up a single slot.
Stretching out a single finger in disgust, Ren Chenxi carefully poked the octopus monster’s corpse. Instantly, the gargantuan body that had occupied a massive swathe of the beach vanished into thin air.
With the monster packed away, Ren Chenxi returned to Mu Ning’s health bar. Ignoring the sandy ground, she simply sat down. She needed a short break, too.
Even though the danger had passed, and even though Ren Chenxi seemed quite calm on the surface, only she knew that her heart was still pounding violently. Her legs still trembled from just taking those few steps, and even her hands, which she now rested on the sand, still had fingers that wouldn’t stop shaking.
There was the relief of surviving a disaster, and the thrill of obtaining a Level 8 crystal core, but… the overwhelming emotions were… panic and terror. Even though the octopus monster was dead, the aftershocks of that fear still lingered in her heart. And the entire reason she felt this way was because of the person lying beside her. Even though she couldn’t see Mu Ning, every time the octopus monster snapped Mu Ning’s vines, Ren Chenxi’s heart had involuntarily skipped several beats, as if the monster was snapping her own tightly wound nerves rather than vines!
Sighing softly, Ren Chenxi could only be thankful she was invisible so Mu Ning couldn’t see a thing. She kept telling herself to stay calm, but frustratingly, her emotions were always so easily swayed and influenced by Mu Ning.
I shouldn’t be like this anymore!
Although Mu Ning couldn’t see Ren Chenxi, she could hear her soft sigh.
Why is she sighing? We finally killed the 8th-order mutated octopus and got the Level 8 crystal core. Shouldn’t she be happy? Does she have some new, difficult problem?
Mu Ning waited for quite a while, but she didn’t hear another sound from Ren Chenxi. Finally, fighting through her intense exhaustion, she asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong? Did you get the Level 8 crystal core?”
Mu Ning’s low, deep, and slightly hoarse voice instantly pulled Ren Chenxi back from her tangled web of complex emotions. Hearing the worry in Mu Ning’s tone, Ren Chenxi pushed aside her messy feelings and answered absentmindedly, “Yeah, I got the crystal core…”
“Then why do you seem unhappy?”
“…” Jie, please stop asking. Who do you think I’m unhappy because of?!
Ren Chenxi sighed again, feeling helpless. She really wanted to act like she did when they first met. Whenever confronted with questions she didn’t want to answer, she’d bluntly shoot back with a rude “none of your fucking business.” But… the moment she recalled how Mu Ning had used her slender, fragile body to fight the gargantuan octopus monster, Ren Chenxi just couldn’t bring herself to snap at her.
No choice. I have to change the subject!
Ren Chenxi glanced sideways at Mu Ning’s health bar, once again noting her 6th-order level, and casually said, “I’m not unhappy, I was just scared by the mutated octopus’s 8th-order level. Oh, right, I haven’t congratulated you yet. You leveled up again.”
Her tone was completely flat; there wasn’t a hint of actual congratulation to be heard.
Compared to Ren Chenxi’s emotionless delivery, Mu Ning’s voice in the air sounded far more sincere.
“Thank you. Your esper ability leveled up too~ Congratulations~”
My esper ability leveled up too? Ah, she means my player level, right? Ren Chenxi casually pulled up her player information. Sure enough, her level had previously been 4, and the EXP bar had been quite a long way from an upgrade. Considering she had leapfrogged levels1 to challenge an 8th-order octopus monster, of course she’d gain a massive amount of experience!
Because the player level was fucking useless, Ren Chenxi closed the information panel immediately after checking it. However, in the air, Mu Ning’s voice continued.
“Your esper ability is incredible. Not only can it deal massive damage to an 8th-order mutated octopus, but it can also give me some kind of Shield, turn me invisible, and boost my speed… So… can you tell me… exactly how many esper abilities you have?”
Even without seeing Mu Ning’s face, Ren Chenxi could practically picture the cautious, tentative expression she wore just from her tone.
Sigh. Even though you sound so careful and humble, this is yet another question I really don’t want to answer!
But what could she do? The situation had been so critical just now. Mu Ning could have been swatted to death by the octopus monster’s tentacle at any moment. Ren Chenxi simply hadn’t had the luxury of hiding anything; she had subconsciously thrown her cards directly onto Mu Ning.
The Shield Card, Acceleration Card, Invisibility Card, the SSR-rank Explosion Cards with their super destructive power that definitely didn’t belong to a 4th-order esper, and the Flash Cards she threw out every now and then… Mu Ning had witnessed all of these cards. Even if there were a few she hadn’t seen yet… was there any point in hiding it anymore?
Ren Chenxi massaged her temples, sighing again as a headache set in.
Forget it. I might as well explain it to Mu Ning. It’ll save me the trouble of holding back the next time we run into danger. Though, realistically, she would likely just recklessly throw cards around again anyway.
Of course, even if she explained, she had to pick and choose what to reveal. She absolutely couldn’t spill everything about this being a game world, her being a player, or the System. Fortunately, she was currently invisible. Since Mu Ning couldn’t see her expression, she could easily and comfortably spout a bunch of nonsense without any pressure.
The author has something to say:
Xixi: I have Invisibility Cards, Acceleration Cards, Explosion Cards…
Mutou (*////▽////*): Using the Invisibility Card and Acceleration Card together seems very stimulating~~~
Xixi: …
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