Volume 2, Chapter 9 – Me, Anran- Send Money to Increase Favorability

Zhou Jieyu ran around for a bit and spent 1 Bilu to buy a bottle of water. It stung a little, but the moment she thought of those 50 EXP, she immediately turned around and hurried back in high spirits.

“Here, freshly bought mineral water!”

Zhou Jieyu handed the bottle to Anran.

After Anran confirmed that everything was in order, the game automatically prompted that the quest had been completed.

Looking at the 50 EXP that had appeared out of nowhere, Zhou Jieyu was already bursting with joy inside, but on the surface she still maintained enough composure. Only the look in her eyes as she gazed at Anran was full of longing.

Want it, want it, really want it, I want more…

Anran had not yet removed the yellow exclamation mark above her head, so Zhou Jieyu subconsciously assumed there were still quests to take.

At this moment, however, Anran had turned her attention to the favorability system and the profession mentor system.

Since “Leading the Escape,” this perfect experimental specimen, had not left yet, she needed to hurry up and run a few more tests.

The favorability system was like the one in most games. Players could raise their favorability with an NPC by completing that NPC’s quests, or by giving the NPC things they liked. That could also increase favorability.

Once favorability reached a certain level, different functions could be unlocked depending on the kind of NPC. For example, merchants would sell higher-level items, special NPCs would issue hidden quests, and according to the official promotion, you could even have an interspecies romance with an NPC!

Including but not limited to kissing and sex.

Anran discovered that she could set preferred items in the favorability system.

So she immediately entered one word: “money.”

Fast, precise, ruthless. Straight to the point!

Anran was brave enough to share her preferences with players.

As for the favorability system, there was one thing that worried Anran: if her favorability with a certain player increased, would the game forcibly alter her opinion of that player?

Just thinking about it was a little scary.

Luckily, favorability could be adjusted manually.

Anran decided to give it a try.

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…

“Favorability -1.”

Zhou Jieyu, who had been expecting another quest, froze on the spot. Why had the favorability gone down?

“Favorability -1.”

“Favorability -1.”

Zhou Jieyu’s face darkened. The prompt just would not stop. In the blink of an eye, her favorability with Anran had dropped to -7.

Zhou Jieyu was depressed as hell. She had not done anything at all, so why had her favorability gone down? Logically speaking, completing a quest should have increased favorability, right?

Could it be that the game had bugged out?

That thought flashed through Zhou Jieyu’s mind at once.

If doing things that increased favorability actually lowered favorability, then wouldn’t doing things that lowered favorability actually increase favorability?

Zhou Jieyu secretly glanced at Anran. This NPC seemed to be spacing out. Then her gaze shifted to the bottle of mineral water on the table.

Clunk!

Zhou Jieyu suddenly reached out, grabbed the bottle of mineral water, quickly twisted off the cap, clamped the bottle opening between her lips, and gulped down the clear, cool liquid in great swallows, sending it straight down her throat into her stomach.

“…”

Huh?

Anran stared blankly at Zhou Jieyu’s bizarre move.

What the hell was this?

Wasn’t this bottle of water already mine once the quest was completed?

She actually dared to snatch my stuff!

“Favorability -20!”

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“…”

Zhou Jieyu’s body stiffened as she was drinking. Her favorability had dropped straight to -27.

Her guess had been wrong!

FML!

Zhou Jieyu was on the verge of tears. With the bottle opening still between her lips, she could neither pull it out nor bring herself to drink it all.

After thinking it over carefully, she tipped her head back and finished the little bit that remained.

“Favorability -3.”

Anran rounded it off for her on the spot.

No need to thank me.

Anran did not know whether the favorability system would affect how she viewed players. She only knew that she had now classified the player “Leading the Escape” as an idiot-type player.

Seriously infuriating.

“Bang!” Zhou Jieyu smacked the empty bottle down on the table. Because she had drunk too fast, traces of water still remained at the corners of her mouth and along her neck.

“Wait, I’ll go buy another bottle!”

Zhou Jieyu hurried off. She was afraid that if she stayed there, her favorability would keep dropping.

She returned to where she had started and was just about to spend 1 Bilu on another bottle of mineral water. After thinking it over, she spent 1 extra Bilu and bought a bottle of spring water from some brand instead.

Anran noticed Zhou Jieyu rushing back again. There was a new bottle of water in her hand, and the packaging seemed to have changed.

“Here.”

Zhou Jieyu handed over the water. Anran took it reflexively, then heard Zhou Jieyu continue, “That bottle of water just now was too cheap. It didn’t suit your status. This more expensive one is better.”

“…”

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Anran was left speechless.

What kind of expression was she supposed to make at a time like this? Maybe a “facepalm.jpg” would be appropriate.

This was shameless to the extreme!

The quest had already been completed. Only an idiot would believe a reason you made up like that.

Maybe she thought all NPCs were idiots.

Still, Anran did not want to dampen Zhou Jieyu’s enthusiasm, so she symbolically increased her favorability by 5 points.

After hitting someone with a stick, you still had to give them a sweet date.

After saying that, Zhou Jieyu did not blush or skip a beat. She was steady as hell, a skill honed through years of fooling her big brother.

But she broke almost immediately.

“Favorability +5.”

Only 5 points?

Come on. Drinking one bottle of water had dropped it by 30 points, and giving one bottle back only added 5. Her favorability was still negative. How the hell was she supposed to keep taking quests like this?

As far as Zhou Jieyu knew, to accept quests from an NPC, favorability had to be at least 0. Many quests even required higher favorability to unlock.

She absolutely had to salvage this somehow.

Zhou Jieyu stared eagerly at the yellow exclamation mark above Anran’s head.

She cast a Reconnaissance skill on Anran.

The information she got back was relatively sparse, only Anran’s basic information and not much else.

An NPC with four professions. Impressive.

There was another piece of information that caught Zhou Jieyu’s attention in particular.

Preferred item: money.

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Emmm…

That was certainly straightforward.

She had heard that if you gave an NPC something, and it was the right thing, it could increase favorability.

Zhou Jieyu checked her balance.

She shut her eyes in pain. Only 42 Bilu. This was still the extra pay the old man had specially given her before she set out for Twinmoon City.

Forget it. Time to gamble.

Zhou Jieyu’s right hand trembled as it slipped into her pocket, then trembled again as it came back out. Resting on her palm was a 1 Bilu coin.

“Here… here… for you.”

The gleaming silver coin was dazzling in the sunlight, and Anran’s eyes lit up at once. How sensible.

“Can I really take it?” Anran said with a touch of coyness.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Zhou Jieyu nodded repeatedly. Please let my favorability go up.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

With a wave of Anran’s right hand, the coin in Zhou Jieyu’s palm vanished.

A little painful.

What Anran was thinking was that 1 Bilu was a little too little. But at a time like this, she absolutely could not dampen Zhou Jieyu’s enthusiasm. Instead, she had to tempt her into handing over even more money.

“Favorability +5.”

Huh, it really worked?

1 Bilu increased favorability by 5 points?

Pfft. Zhou Jieyu regretted it so much she could die. If she had known earlier, she would not have bought the water at all. Wouldn’t directly giving money have been much faster?