Chapter 51: Rest Hall

［Task Failed—］

Lu Xunchen abruptly opened her eyes and sat up from the bed with an expressionless face.

Her straight black hair slid down to her chest with the movement.

She couldn’t believe she had failed again.

Even more unbelievable was that her fragments all shared the same NPC.

She split off so many fragments every time she undertook a task precisely to complete multiple tasks, but she failed twice in a row.

Because of one NPC.

This had never happened before.

A contemplative glint surfaced in Lu Xunchen’s deep blue pupils.

The plot of this world mainly told the story of an experimental subject saving the world.

The protagonist was an experimental product created by the villain, and the villain had a wife.

This wife was both stupid and dramatic, completely ignoring the protagonist’s existence. After the apocalypse hit, she became even stingier, reluctant to share food or drink with her own wife and child.

Later, the protagonist was abandoned by the big villain and the big villain’s wife. After turning dark, she killed the big villain’s wife.

But the big villain was very powerful, so the protagonist continuously eliminated zombies and grew madly until she finally killed the big villain. Using the experimental data left by the big villain, she successfully concocted purification agent, ending the apocalypse.

Lu Xunchen rubbed her temples. From the moment her fragments entered the small world, all their memories were sealed except for those belonging to the characters themselves.

Ever since her soul strength reached its limit, she had been undertaking tasks in this manner.

She split her soul to enter the bodies of characters in small worlds.

Other taskers could only handle one character’s task at a time, but she could manage many simultaneously, earning multiplied points.

But now, there was no use thinking about it anymore.

If she failed the next time, she would take on a task in the supernatural world.

Lu Xunchen got out of bed, intending to make something to eat. She actually no longer felt hunger, but she was purely gluttonous.

She still needed to maintain her humanity; otherwise, things would get boring.

Lu Xunchen opened her door and headed to the kitchen.

But as she prepared to retrieve ingredients from her storage space, Lu Xunchen fell silent for a moment before closing it.

She remembered giving snacks to a crybaby last time. That NPC and the crybaby actually shared a trait—tears flowed whenever they felt like it.

She had done nothing wrong, yet she ended up giving away her snacks.

Whatever. She would head to C District again; it had been so long since she last ate those snacks.

If she ran into her this time, she wouldn’t give anything.

She might not run into her anyway, since everyone returned from small worlds at different times.

［Points Settlement: Performance Completion +100, Task Failure -100, Remaining Points: 0］

Shen Ke let out a wail and buried her face deeply into the pillow.

“So annoying!” Her voice spread through the pillow, muffled and heavy—anyone listening could tell Shen Ke was in a foul mood right now.

She flipped over, lay on her back staring at the ceiling, and angrily pounded the bed.

She had already passed through two worlds, but she hadn’t earned a single point. She couldn’t even afford food.

She still had the snacks from that weirdo last time, but she didn’t want to eat them. She wanted juice.

“System! System! Come out!”

Immediately, an egg with matchstick limbs appeared in mid-air.

The system floated leisurely over to Shen Ke. “What’s wrong, Tasker 56417?”

Shen Ke grabbed the system and pouted. “System, I want juice.”

System: “I have no points.”

Shen Ke furrowed her pretty eyebrows. “I don’t care! I want juice.” She looked somewhat aggrieved.

The system touched its smooth bald head with a matchstick hand and fell silent for a moment. “Then come to the supermarket with me.” It just so happened to have time and could take Shen Ke to browse the supermarket.

After all, it was the first system ever born; the supermarket staff would definitely give it some face.

Shen Ke narrowed her eyes and said sweetly, “System, you’re so good to me.” As she spoke, she held up her other hand to indicate a tiny distance. “I like the system a little bit now.”

The system’s entire body suddenly turned red, its rigid mechanical voice stuttering. “N-Nothing at all.” What was this talk of liking from a tasker to a system?

Shen Ke released the system, got out of bed, and made a beeline for the supermarket.

Meanwhile, Lu Xunchen—wearing a mask and hat—kept selecting snacks.

A robot trailed behind her.

The supermarket manager was also a system, numbered 666. It sent the robot to follow the masked, hatted human because that person had been wandering the supermarket for a full hour.

With a mask and sunglasses that couldn’t be scanned, she looked extremely suspicious no matter how you sliced it.

Lu Xunchen had no idea. She appeared to seriously pick out food, but her peripheral vision constantly scanned every person entering through the door.

After some indeterminate time, a spoiled voice rang out from the entrance.

“System, we’re here.”

Shen Ke strode in first, heading straight for the juice section with clear purpose.

The system, meanwhile, went to the checkout counter, extended its black hand, and greeted, “Long time no see, 666.”

System 666 had the appearance of a little dog. It waved a paw at the system. “Long time no see, 000. Need to buy anything?”

The system coughed twice, sidled up to 666’s ear, and whispered, “666, could you, cough, I have no points right now. Can you let that human have some juice for free, for my sake?”

A smile appeared on 666’s little dog face. “000, no can do. You know everything in my supermarket is top-quality.”

“The cheapest juice costs 100 points.”

Right then, Shen Ke returned with a bottle of grape juice.

Her eyes sparkled, her red lips curved slightly—both pretty and cute. “System, I want this one.”

System 666 scanned it, then said, “Total: 150 points. Please pay immediately.”

The system rubbed its hands together, then pulled 666’s dog head aside and whispered, “666, for the sake of our years as colleagues, just this once!”

666 chuckled. “I, won’t, do, it. Back when I asked you to cover my shift, you refused. Now that you need a favor, I’m refusing too.”

The dog and the egg bickered on and on. Shen Ke vaguely caught snippets.

Something about no points, credit, doing it for old times’ sake.

Shen Ke gripped the juice bottle tightly. She had a rough idea of what was going on.

666 finally got fed up with the system. It extended a paw and shoved the system away hard. “Annoying! I said no credit!”

The system’s round body flipped once in mid-air. It still wanted to argue.

But then Tasker 56417’s voice came from behind. “System! I don’t want it anymore!”

“Let’s go back!”

The system stiffly turned its egg body and saw Shen Ke’s slightly reddened eyes.

Its core jolted. It floated to Shen Ke’s shoulder and whispered, “Sorry, I—” Had it made the tasker feel humiliated? Yeah, this sort of thing was definitely embarrassing.

Shen Ke grabbed the system in her hand, then returned the juice to its spot. As she passed System 666, she shot it a vicious glare. “Hmph! I didn’t steal from you—why’d you push my system? You’re so annoying!” How dare it push her system? It infuriated her!

Shen Ke stormed out of the supermarket in a huff, completely unaware that the juice bottle she had just held now ended up in someone else’s hand as she left.

Lu Xunchen pursed her lips. She had seen it clearly—she hadn’t expected this crybaby to be unable even to afford such cheap juice.

Lu Xunchen paid up and left the store in two or three strides.

Shen Ke and the system arrived at a bench and sat down.

Shen Ke’s face flushed red with anger. “Ugh, that dog is awful!”

The system faltered. “Tasker 56417, sorry.”

Shen Ke snorted coldly. “I’m not that petty. Just make it up to me next time when you have points.”

The system didn’t know what to say. Tasker 56417 had been so excited, but it had let her down.

Shen Ke’s stomach suddenly started growling.

She furrowed her delicate long eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Whatever, let’s head back. I still have those snacks from last time.”

The system inexplicably felt awful, its programming in disarray. But it had to go check on other taskers—someone had run into a problem.

It said goodbye to Shen Ke and vanished.

Leaving Shen Ke alone on the bench.

She stretched out her legs, tipping her shoe tips up and down.

Next world, she absolutely had to complete the task!!!

Then she could pay fair and square!

As Shen Ke fantasized about all the ways she could splurge with points.

A magnetic, icy voice came from beside her. “Hey.”

Shen Ke blinked and turned her head. Seeing the familiar outfit, she abruptly stood up to leave.

This person wasn’t here to make her repay the snacks, was she?!

Lu Xunchen flashed in front of Shen Ke, removed her sunglasses to reveal those deep blue eyes. “I thought it over—last time, I was indeed in the wrong.” With that, Lu Xunchen handed over the bag in her hand. “This is for you.”

Shen Ke bit her lower lip, desperately suppressing the upward tug of her mouth. So this person was an idiot, delivering food to her again.

Shen Ke fake-coughed, then took the bag. “I’ll give you credit for having a conscience.”

Shen Ke’s eye corners still held a faint red from her earlier anger, and so did her cheeks. A light pink bloomed across her soft white face, giving her an utterly pure and translucent beauty.

Shen Ke lifted her face and finally couldn’t resist flashing Lu Xunchen a smile. It wasn’t exaggerated—more like a haughty one.

Lu Xunchen’s eyes flickered. “Then I’ll head out first.”

Shen Ke’s bright black eyes whirled. She said, “I’m Shen Ke. Next time you come find me, just call me Shen Ke.” There was a little scheme behind these words. She didn’t know this person, but they seemed loaded with points and super generous.

If they became friends, she could eat even more stuff.

She could even treat the system.

To become friends, they’d need to meet often. She didn’t know if this person would seek her out again, so she said it preemptively.

Shen Ke thought she hid her little schemes perfectly, but Lu Xunchen saw right through them from Shen Ke’s expression.

Even so, she said nothing. She slipped her sunglasses back on and murmured lowly, “I’m Lu Xunchen.” With that, Lu Xunchen vanished from Shen Ke’s sight.

Shen Ke puffed out her cheeks. “I wasn’t done talking yet.” Oh well. Shen Ke shook her head, her brows and eyes lit with a smile as she opened the bag. Right on top was the grape juice.

Shen Ke’s little mouth parted slightly in surprise. This was exactly what she had wanted.

After one small world, she only earned 200 points. This juice cost 150—way too expensive. She might not even buy it if she had the points.

This Lu Xunchen really was rich and generous!

Shen Ke returned to her rest space with her haul.

After eating her fill and drinking her fill, she lay on the bed. With no points, she couldn’t buy anything.

She could only lie there spacing out. She didn’t want to wander outside—she had no points, and going alone was boring.

As Shen Ke mulled things over, she slowly closed her eyes and mumbled, “Next time, I definitely want points.”