Chapter 1193: Dawn Battle Outfit

For the Evening, Zhang Wei chose to improve his Charisma by visiting the spa. When he returned to the dorm, his packages had arrived.

Raven Shark slept on the upper bunk like a dead man, but he tried his best to open his eyes and peer curiously at what Zhang Wei had ordered.

Among the four packages, one was glinting. That must be the Dawn Battle Outfit.

“Whoa, it seems amazing!”

Zhang Wei rubbed his hands together in anticipation, picturing a cool glinting armor like Gao Yang’s Golden Armor. As soon as he touched the package, the option to wear it popped up.

“Put it on!”

The package vanished. The outfit was put on it.

He looked down and stared in incredulity.

It wasn’t an outfit for battle, not at all, but a tacky overall of fake muscles. It transformed Zhang Wei into a fitness addict wearing only briefs.

“Holy! What the hell is this?!” Zhang Wei yelled. “This is supposed to improve my Charisma? I look like an idiot! How do I take this off? Why can’t I? No, I’m not walking around in this humiliating thing!”

Raven Shark closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, but his lips twitched with the effort to swallow his laughter.

Zhang Wei struggled and finally confirmed that he couldn’t take the muscle outfit off since the permanent bonus to Charisma had been applied. He resigned himself to the fate. With no time to dawdle, he skipped ahead.

...

Morning, Classroom.

“Hahahahaha!”

Vermilion Bird almost laughed herself into fainting on the dais.

“What are you laughing at?! This is the game you created! You’ve got strange taste!” Dressed in the Dawn Battle Outfit, Zhang Wei ducked his head with red spreading from his cheeks to his ears. He briefly entertained killing himself.

Vermilion Bird took a calming breath and rested a hand on her hip. “You weren’t listening yesterday, were you? I can only set up the overall rules of the game. The actual content and theme are related to the target’s mind. So that’s Lust’s taste.”

“I’ve sacrificed too much for this victory.” Zhang Wei glanced at Zhou Jing’s desk. She wasn’t there.

To avoid wasting time, he skipped the scene.

Afternoon, Club.

“Hahahahaha!”

White Dew doubled over with laughter and almost slid off the piano bench. Gone was the elegant and dignified woman.

Zhang Wei glared at her silently, his face flushed a deep red. If learning music here didn’t improve his Charisma, he wouldn’t have come here. Whatever image he had painstakingly built before these two goddesses came crashing down because of the dumb battle outfit.

His Charisma jumped by 5 points, reaching 70.

Beep

. Zhang Wei took out his phone. Zhou Jing had sent a message.

[Zhou Jing: I’ve made up my mind. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend going forward. Please take care of me.]

“Whoa!” Zhang Wei showed his phone to White Dew with his fake muscles on full display. “See? I did it! It’s all for our victory!”

“Good work.” White Dew stopped laughing, her expression turning grave. “I can sense the game streamlining. Vermilion Bird may not be able to keep the Strange Realm running for much longer.”

“Then we should hurry!”

Zhang Wei asked Zhou Jing out on a date through his phone. Among bar, cinema, dessert shop, park, and library, he picked bar according to Zhou Jing’s preference.

He appeared on a packed dancing floor. Zhou Jing was lost in the dance.

At first, Zhang Wei felt awkward about joining, but remembering that the crowd around him were all NPCs, he started to relax and move his body around without any techniques.

Zhou Jing danced with her eyes closed and lips curled into a joyous smile. Her now blond hair followed her motion in the dim, dream-like lighting. A few strands stuck to her flushed face due to the sweat. She radiated a raw vitality of nihilistic bliss.

For a moment, she looked captivating to him.

Noticing his slipping defense, Zhang Wei quickly focused.

He had to hurry. The moment he saw the notification for affection gain popped up on Zhou Jing’s head, he skipped the scene.

He returned to the dorm room.

“How did it go?” Raven Shark asked from the upper bunk.

“All going well!” Zhang Wei said confidently. “I just have to keep increasing her affection level. The moment it hits the ceiling, I’ll have cleared her route! Hmph, meet your death, Lust!”

Beep

. Zhang Wei checked his phone. “Shit, the option to date is added to the Late Night actions!”

“Go.” Raven Shark felt like a master seeing his disciple spread his wings. “Remember to bring a gift. That’ll grant bonus affection on a date.”

“Got it!” Zhang Wei looked at the two gifts he had left, a cute whale pillow and a heart necklace. “Which one?”

“Necklace,” Raven Shark said.

“That’s what I think!” Zhang Wei pocketed the necklace and hit skip.

He found himself in the grove with Zhou Jing by his side.

Grove again?

Zhang Wei grumbled silently.

We’re on a date. Shouldn’t we go to a different scene? This damn game is cutting so much corners. Sister Xia’s Strange Realm really is reaching its limit.

Zhou Jing was wearing pajamas and furry slippers, her hair down. Their hands interlocked. “Let’s sit there for a while, Zhang Wei.”

“Sure.”

They headed to a clearing amid the trees. Moonlight shone onto a boulder. They took a seat in the silver spotlight.

“Sorry to ask you out so late,” Zhou Jing said with a slight pout. “I don’t know why I couldn’t sleep.”

“What a coincidence. I couldn’t sleep either.” Zhang Wei said whatever she would want to hear. In truth, he had never slept in this game. How could he?

“Why do you want to date me?” Zhou Jing asked seriously.

“Because I have feelings for you,” Zhang Wei responded.

“Why? What do you like about me?” Zhou Jing seemed hesitant. “You don’t look like the player type.”

“Of course I’m not!“ Zhang Wei hadn’t realized what she was getting at.

“The loyal type won’t like me,” Zhou Jing said with a wry smile. “Only those who like many people at the same time will like me, and the feeling is mutual.”

“Oh.” Realization dawned on Zhang Wei. “So that’s why you didn’t give me an answer immediately?”

“Yeah.” Zhou Jing nodded. “I would’ve accepted you immediately if you were disloyal, too, but you aren’t...”

“Then why did you change your mind?” Zhang Wei asked curiously.

Zhou Jing admitted after a silent moment, “Because I had a dream about you.”

“Really?” Zhang Wei laughed. He found himself looking forward to the dream.

“A terrible monster was going to eat me in the dream. I yelled for help, but everyone simply watched me like spectators. You were the only one who rushed over to save me, just like you did back in the bar. You were scared, but you shielded me and told me to run...” She met his gaze with gentle eyes. “When I woke up, I realized that you...are the only one who ever shows me kindness without asking for anything in return.”

Zhang Wei blinked, feeling a pang in his chest.

“I don’t have parents. I grew up with my grandma...” Zhou Jing reminisced about her past. “When I was little, I was always bullied. No one ever helped me... I was scared, so I sucked up to those tall, strong boys and asked them to protect me. At first, I bought them toys or did their homework for them. Once I was older, I dated them...”

She chuckled. “I got used to the way of life at some point. It’s not bad. We all get what we need out of the relationship. It’s simple, easy. And in a relationship, I’ll be treasured and needed. My days are spent with sweet words and scented roses...”

She lowered her eyes. “However...”

“However?”

“It’s fleeting, the happiness. We both tire of it like there’s an expiration date. It’s fine, though. We just have to date other people... Oh, I’m digressing.”

“It’s fine,” Zhang Wei lied. “I’ll listen to you reading a phonebook.”

“Haha, you’re cheesy!” Zhou Jing pushed his shoulder playfully. “I mean that when we first date, we’ll do everything for each other. But once the relationship cools, we may as well be strangers... You’re different, though. Even when we weren’t in any relationship, Zhang Wei, you stood up for me.”

“That’s not true. We were friends.”

Zhou Jing stared at him unblinkingly. “We’d only known each other for a few days. Would friends really go that far for each other?”

Zhang Wei touched his hair and laughed self-consciously. “I wasn’t really thinking. When I realized it, I was already getting beaten up...”

Zhou Jing let out a peel of laughter. “My ex is good, isn’t he?”

“Well, he’s good at fighting.”

Zhou Jing smiled mischievously. “I only seek the strong out.”

“Don’t worry! You have me now!” Zhang Wei, in Dawn Battle Outfit, flexed his biceps like a bodybuilder. “If anyone picks on you, I’ll hurl them like a barbell!”

Zhang Wei was trying to make her laugh and gain affection points, but no notification popped up. Zhou Jing stared at Zhang Wei like she had chanced upon something beautiful she had never seen before.

“Even if...I weren’t your girlfriend, you would still do that for me?”

“Of course,” Zhang Wei said easily. He was telling the truth.

Zhou Jing’s gentle eyes gleamed with something else as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her scented hair ran down and blanketed his chest. None of them said anything for a moment.

Zhang Wei was in a hurry to progress the game, yet he found himself enjoying this moment of serenity.

If only Zhou Jing was simply Zhou Jing.

The moment the thought occurred to him, he shuddered and caught himself.

“The moon’s beautiful,” Zhou Jing suddenly said.

“Yeah, the moon...” Zhang Wei looked up and started. The moon hanging overhead wasn’t a regular moon, but the strange white one appearing during the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation.

“...It’s so beautiful,” he finished, calming himself.

I really have to hurry now!

He produced a necklace from his pocket. “I’ve got a gift for you.”

“Really?”

“The first time I saw you, darling, I fell for you. I bought this necklace that day because I thought it would look good on you.” Zhang Wei had become a master of lies.

“Oh, it’s pretty!” Zhou Jing lit up when she saw the necklace with a heart pendant.

“Here. Turn around. I’ll put it on for you.”

“Yeah!” Zhou Jing turned her back to him.

Zhang Wei reached forward and put the necklace around her fair neck.

Something strange happened. There was nothing wrong with the necklace’s clasp, and Zhang Wei’s hands were steady. Yet he couldn’t put the necklace on properly no matter what, as if it was a bug in the program.