CHAPTER 376: CHAPTER 304: THE GIFT

This service center, from the outside, looks like nothing more than a single-story building with an area of less than eighty square meters.

A black box with just a small door and not even a window in sight.

Surprisingly, upon entering and passing through the front reception hall, after several twists and turns, it suddenly opens up into a Suzhou Garden-style courtyard.

As Wen Nan was being led toward the pavilion inside, he observed the courtyard’s environment.

Although the scenery here looks very realistic, it should be some kind of illusion.

Just as he was thinking this, the NPC leading the way beside him explained with a smile, "This is just a projection, not a real scene, Mr. Ye Jiu. Please try to walk along the stone path underneath your feet, if you stray, you might easily walk into a wall."

Wen Nan looked down at the winding path and asked, "Why not use a real scene?"

The NPC replied with a smile, "This service center usually doesn’t have players coming in. Besides me, there is only one other NPC going in and out. The room here is usually a closed-off structure like the outside reception hall. It was the agent, sir, who came over half an hour ago to distribute gifts for you. He found our place too cramped and lacking openness, so he temporarily arranged this scene himself."

...Half an hour ago?

Doesn’t that align perfectly with the level 36 high-risk target mentioned in Gu Jinxing’s [Crisis Prediction]?

Thinking of this, Wen Nan looked toward the man in the pavilion.

The man was sitting at the table with his back to Wen Nan, brewing tea.

The NPC hurried to the pavilion’s edge and said to him, "Mr. Ye Jiu has arrived, Agent sir."

The agent turned around, saw Wen Nan, and immediately smiled, pointing to the empty seat in front of him, "Mr. Ye, I’ve heard so much about you, please have a seat."

The NPC left after saying goodbye, and Wen Nan stepped into the pavilion, sitting opposite the agent and sizing him up.

The man was wearing a set of new Chinese-style robes, the slanted lapel buttons meticulously fastened to his throat, with a jade pendant hanging in the pocket on his chest, faintly flashing with golden light.

The man looked about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, with a retro hairstyle parted 3:7, resembling a younger, budget version of Liang Chaowei, but with a more distinguished temperament.

While Wen Nan was observing him, the agent also discreetly scrutinized Wen Nan. Once the tea was brewed, he placed a cup in front of Wen Nan and said with a smile:

"Mr. Ye, you’re the first to earn the [Silver Star] here, I didn’t expect someone so young, it truly impresses me."

Wen Nan thought, in a game primarily about romance and daily life, he apparently qualifies as mature for his age.

However, he didn’t voice objections. He recalled that his maxed-out charm value was probably adjusted in the game lobby to match the looks favored by the main members here.

The fact that he didn’t turn into a muscleman like Ronnie meant this agent didn’t prefer such a fit build, but maybe he naturally had a fondness for youth, which made Wen Nan appear relatively young?

Just as he was pondering, the agent picked up a teacup, took a sip, then casually smiled while pointing to Wen Nan’s palm and asked, "I heard, Mr. Ye, you’re handling quite a remarkable individual?"

Wen Nan closed his palm and didn’t answer, simply retorting with a smile, "Heard? Agent sir, where did you hear that?"

The man laughed, "Among the higher-ups of the six major guilds, it’s long been spread around, hardly a secret."

"Higher-ups of the six major guilds?" Wen Nan asked again, "Are you one of them?"

The man maintained his smile, nodded, and admitted, "Yes."

Seeing the other’s candidness, Wen Nan directly pursued, "[Feng Shui Huan] Guild, current leader?"

The man’s lips curved slightly deeper, "You’re very clever."

Wen Nan chuckled and added, "I heard that the [Feng Shui Huan] Guild Leader is known for being omniscient in strategy. Is it because he became an agent for the game’s main deity? As an agent, can you get a lot of inside information from the main deity?"

The man shook his head, "Is it because I became an agent, so I’m omniscient in strategy, or is it because I’m omniscient in strategy, thus qualified to become an agent? I think Mr. Ye should figure this out before asking."

"Really?" Wen Nan tilted his head slightly, looking at the golden-glowing jade pendant on the man’s chest.

"Ah, it’s about time." The man put down his tea cup, stood up, "I suppose we should take care of the real business first."

Having said that, the agent raised his hand, fetching a gift box about the size of a tissue box from the void, offering it respectfully to Wen Nan,

"Congratulations Mr. Ye, for becoming the first player in this world to receive the [Silver Star] medal. Here is a gift box from the game system for you; please accept it."

Wen Nan reached out to take the gift box, just about to open it when he saw the agent suddenly step back, looking panicked, retreating all the way out of the pavilion before halting.

Wen Nan paused, halting his hand from unwrapping the gift box,

"No way, dude, there isn’t a bomb in this surprise gift box, is there?"

The man standing outside the pavilion laughed at these words, shaking his head, "Mr. Ye, you must be joking."

Wen Nan grasped the box lid and opened it at once, seeing inside a completely white, round, columnar object.

Wen Nan knew this item all too well,

"...Fiji Cup?!"

This [Silver Star] bonus gift box, just like the prize pool he pulled from and the skill points he drew, is specifically matched to his player traits?

But his buddy’s schedule in this world is quite tight, constantly busy either horseback riding or trading cryptocurrency. Even if gifted to him, he wouldn’t use it.

When Wen Nan cast a questionable glance at the man outside the pavilion, the man returned the look, the corner of his eyes twitching a bit,

"Hehehe, Mr. Ye, you have quite an imagination."

Wen Nan raised his hand, reached into the gift box, grabbed the object, lifted it, and looked at the bottom, increasingly sure,

"No mistake, I’m sure I’m not mistaken, this is definitely a Fiji Cup... Hey!"

Before Wen Nan could finish speaking, the cylindrical object in his hand suddenly started to vibrate violently, nearly escaping from his grasp.

Wen Nan hurriedly hugged it with both hands, and as his fingers touched the cup wall, a brilliant light suddenly burst from inside the cup, forcing Wen Nan to close his eyes tightly.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a void.

At first glance, it greatly resembled the testing space of the Divine Staff Sheath, yet upon closer inspection, it was different — the testing space of the Divine Staff Sheath was like a deep water pool, whereas here, it felt like a black cloud cluster, smoke drifting around Wen Nan’s feet at this moment.

A voice from the pitch-black, indistinguishable whether male or female, came from a place reaching out with an unseen hand ahead, "Ye Jiu, you’ve finally arrived?"

Wen Nan was slightly stunned, "You know me?"

"I’ve been waiting for you for a long time."

"Waiting so long, why hide in the dark instead of coming out to meet me?"

The other party fell into a long silence.

So long that when Wen Nan was about to speak again to provoke further, a figure slowly emerged from the dark haze.

It was a slightly slim figure, cloaked with a hood covering the face, making it impossible to tell the gender or see the features clearly.

Wen Nan narrowed his eyes, "You wouldn’t... be my gift, would you?"

"Hmph," the other party snorted coldly, as if hearing a not-so-funny joke, "This deity forgives your first-time entry ignorance and recklessness."

...This deity?

"You are... the game’s main deity?"

Wen Nan narrowed his eyes, his face filled with disbelief.

No way, what kind of good deity would trap itself in a Fiji Cup, is something wrong with their brain?

"Insolent!" The other person harshly rebuked, "Do not insult this deity!"

This rebuke seemed to penetrate directly into Wen Nan’s mind, compelling part of his subconscious to want to kneel before the other.

But Wen Nan managed to resist, merely supporting his knees with his hands and taking a few breaths, "Quite a temper..."

The main deity restrained its anger, reluctantly explaining, "What you see now is the illusion of this deity; the prop you obtained from that gift box is a vessel for containing this deity’s illusion."

"So... my gift is your illusion?"

The main deity sneered disdainfully, "Your gift is a question."

"...A question?"

"From now on, you may pose one question to this deity, any question, and this deity shall certainly answer you."

Wen Nan cursed inwardly,

Again?

Another instance of posing a question?

Before entering this game world, he had been screwed over by so-called one question deals, and now having received a gift box, it mandates posing another question?

The main deity, having heard Wen Nan’s thoughts, asked in confusion, "Has someone promised you a question before?"

"Is it your turn to ask me or mine to ask you?" Wen Nan uttered, feeling a sense of doom, "This doesn’t count as a question, does it?"

"Hmph," the main deity sneered, "Of course not, you may proceed with your question now."

Luckily, luckily, at least this illusion wasn’t as tricky as the one before entering the game.

Wen Nan patted his chest, feeling relieved.

The main deity straightened its cloak, revealing through the seams a body of black smoke-like, ephemeral form, "Hurry up! Don’t waste this deity’s precious time."

Wen Nan thought, isn’t this just an illusion in a Fiji Cup specifically for him to pose questions? How is time being wasted?

"If you keep insulting this deity in your mind, this deity reserves the right to retract the question."

"Alright, alright, I won’t think about it," Wen Nan stood up straight, waving his hand with a sense of helplessness.

"Don’t dawdle!" the main deity urged again.

Wen Nan cleared away the laid-back look on his face, looking directly at the empty face beneath the cloak and asked:

"Is the person I’m looking for really in this world?"