What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C21.2

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Chp21. part2

The bag contained a box.

Jiang Jin helped her open the box. Inside was a pair of black high-top boots, sturdy and lightweight, the same kind Pei Han and the others wore.

“Your clothes are fine, easy to move in,” Jiang Jin said, “but canvas shoes won’t do.”

Her opinion on Ning Ge’s outfit was completely opposite to Owen’s.

“Some dungeons have harsh conditions, requiring long walks, so you need good shoes. The size is just a rough estimate, if it’s wrong, go to a shop called Amitie upstairs and have them exchange it for you.”

Ning Ge was a little surprised, this sentence was very long, longer than all the words she had spoken in the dungeons combined.

“I’m leaving,” Jiang Jin said, glancing at Pei Han beside Ning Ge.

She added, “Don’t trust men too much, you can tell what’s going on in their heads.”

She turned and left decisively, descending the escalator.

Ning Ge hugged the box, silent, feeling a lump in her throat.

She silently resolved to wait…

“When I have money, I’ll definitely buy her the best wristband ever, the kind you won’t find anywhere else in the entire transfer station.”

Owen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, almost laughing himself to death. “Absolutely amazing!”

Pei Han’s face was cold. He suddenly moved his wrist and blurted out, “Actually, I also have an old injury on my wrist.”

Ning Ge: “…”

Owen pressed his stomach. “Oh no, I’m going to laugh all I can for today. I really don’t really want eight-pack abs.”

Ning Ge, of course, understood what Pei Han meant— he wanted a gift too.

Giving it to him wasn’t a problem, the issue was—

“Or should I give it to you next time? I don’t have enough points.”

Pei Han looked at her. “The dungeon run costs 50,000 points, and we just got transferred another 200,000 points as a reward, so you definitely still have 130,000.”

Ning Ge: “…”

He was right. She’d forgotten that the dungeon run itself had 50,000 points, enough to buy another wristband.

Ning Ge calmly reminded him, “But the convenience store only has one pink one left, and I can’t afford any of the others…”

“Pink is nice,” Pei Han said.

“Ah, my stomach!” Owen groaned, bending over in pain.

Ning Ge glanced at Pei Han. He doesn’t even care about his own choice. Why is she worrying about him?

Ning Ge boldly slammed her wrist, adorned with a bracelet, on the counter. “Sir! Give me another pink one!”

The transfer station was bustling with people.

Pei Han rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing a striking pink terry-cloth wristband, giving him an unexpectedly fresh, girlish look.

He looked at the wristband with satisfaction, then looked up, about to speak.

“No need for a return gift,” Ning Ge interrupted him, cutting him off.

Pei Han froze for a moment before asking, “Why can she reciprocate, but I can’t?”

Owen laughed heartily, eager to answer, “Because she knows exactly what’s going on in a man’s head.”

Pei Han: “…”

Pei Han choked, composing herself for a while before asking, “Want to go to my place?” Ning Ge couldn’t leave the transit station and was about to refuse when Pei Han pointed upstairs, “It’s on the top floor, I’ve booked a room.”

This was even more awkward.

Pei Han, observing her expressions, added, “Owen too.”

Owen: “Me too?? I still have an opened bottle of wine… never mind.”

Pei Han, exuding a pink, girlish charm, swaggered through the crowd, leading Ning Ge and the others upstairs.

“Are there places to stay upstairs?” Ning Ge asked curiously.

“There are hotels, everything,” he said.

The upper floor used to be several floors, like a sizable shopping mall, with places to eat, drink, and buy things. It was spacious and bright, much better than the messy old station below.

Ning Ge saw the store that Jiang Jin had mentioned, called Amitie. The shoes in the window were very nice, but the price tags were only three digits, maybe four at most.

“Is that the price?” Ning Ge pointed to the 299 shoes and said it was impossible.

Owen glanced at it. “Oh, they usually don’t write ‘ten thousand’ at the end.”

Ning Ge: “…”

Pei Han’s attention was elsewhere.

Ning Ge followed his gaze and noticed a large display screen hanging overhead, not far away, that seemed to be a ranking list.

The first place was an abbreviation— PH, clearly Pei Han.

The ranking list had several pages, scrolling continuously. Ning Ge saw that the names on it were varied.

Some names were initials, some were full names, some resembled screen names, and there was even a bizarre one at the back with the name “–“, seemingly giving everyone on the list a cold shoulder.

This was their monthly Alpha ranking leaderboard.

The top few scores were very close, each separated by only a few points. The second-place name was “asdf,” which looked like it was randomly typed, and it was only five points behind Pei Han.

“You’re getting caught up,” Owen patted Pei Han on the shoulder.

Ning Ge glanced at Pei Han’s expression and thought it was too serious.

So serious, it wasn’t for the money.

“What are the benefits of being number one, besides the higher points earned from dungeons?” Ning Ge asked.

“Ten consecutive months of being number one, and you get freedom,” Pei Han answered this time, “Leave this place forever, never to come back.”

Number one actually had such benefits.

“You’re nine months along, aren’t you?” Owen asked, as if Pei Han were about to give birth. “Just hold on for the last month.”

It sounded like she was trying to save her pregnancy.

“Last time, he stayed in first place for nine months, but he was pushed down in the last month, failing miserably. This time, he has to hold on.”

Owen sighed.

“If only a huge bug could fall from the sky and leave second place miles behind.”

Pei Han remained silent.

The huge bug, Ning Ge, also remained silent.

Ning Ge suddenly realized that this was almost certainly a death trap.

People endlessly rotate between dungeons until death arrives.

The only way out is to move upwards, accumulate win rate, become a system-recognized Alpha, then compete with other Alphas, driven by the system to do maintenance work, earn achievement points, maintain the number one position for a long time, and finally regain freedom.

For Pei Han, the last month meant running the dungeon once every seven days, she only needed to run it four times to leave.

But passively running dungeons like this, without enough achievement points, would mean losing his first-place position and wasting all his previous efforts.

This rule was incredibly unfair.

“Has anyone managed to do it?” Ning Ge asked. “Has anyone actually been released by the system?”

“Well, not since I came in,” Pei Han said. “All the Alphas ranked ahead of me are dead.”

The upper floors were luxuriously decorated, with bars and nightclubs galore. Those who used their points to spend here were the best in the dungeons. People indulged in pleasure in this virtual place, enjoying every second as if their inevitable fate wasn’t ahead.

They were no different from the people pedalling wheels in the dungeons.

The top floor was a hotel, where Pei Han had booked a suite.

He showed Ning Ge around.

The suite had two rooms, elegantly and comfortably decorated.

“Sometimes I’m too lazy to go out, so I stay here,” he said. “But most of the time it’s empty.”

Owen immediately grabbed a controller and started playing games as soon as he entered, chasing and killing people, seemingly not yet done with his dungeon runs.

The first thing Ning Ge did upon entering was to use the bathroom to carefully examine herself in the mirror.

After her quick rise and fall in the dungeon, she hoped she hadn’t aged.

Thankfully, the person in the mirror didn’t look any different.

Ning Ge then washed her face.

Pei Han leaned against the doorway, continuing his conversation with her.

“Aren’t you going out this time?” he asked casually. “If you’re not going out, you can stay here, I won’t be here anyway.”

Ning Ge silently wiped the water from her face and looked at the person in the mirror.

He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, eyes slightly narrowed, the pink on his wrist the only bright spot on his entire outfit.

This was an Alpha player who had consistently ranked number one on the leaderboard.

He was cold and composed, impassive, instantly weighing the pros and cons, and striking without hesitation when no one expected it.

He was more shrewd and decisive than Jing Yao.

Even when he would casually chat with her, playfully coaxing her to give him gifts, and passionately kissing her in his arms, Ning Ge didn’t truly believe him.

Ning Ge had run two dungeons with him and was very familiar with the expression on his face when he was thinking.

Ning Ge was 100% certain that his question now was a test to see if she truly couldn’t live without the system.