Chapter 1205: Experienced in Love

Zhang Wei deflated, but he couldn’t afford to waste time. He skipped ahead and returned to his dorm room at the period before sleep. He updated Raven Shark while he lay in bed.

Raven Shark gave it a good thought and admitted, “I’m not sure how to keep going, either.”

“Huh?” Zhang Wei jolted. “Aren’t you Pro Gamer? Be a pro!”

Raven Shark sighed. “In a regular game, you will have locked in on the romance.”

“Locked in?”

“Usually, you do that by kissing. Then the romance will be cleared.”

“Um...” Zhang Wei felt a belated fear catch up with him. “I had the chance to, but I had a feeling that I would die horribly if I kissed her then.”

Raven Shark closed his eyes and frowned. “This is no longer a simple game. It’s more like...love in real life. It’s too complicated and beyond my understanding.”

“Dammit.” Zhang Wei slapped his forehead. “Despite all the theoretical wisdom I have, I’ve had little hands-on knowledge, either.”

“Ask Elder Vermilion Bird,” Raven Shark suggested. “She’s experienced.”

“Alright! I’ll get on that.”

...

Classroom, the next Morning.

“Experienced in love?” Vermilion Bird asked in surprise from the dais, holding a pointer. “Who told you that?”

“Raven Shark,” Zhang Wei said.

Vermilion Bird laughed awkwardly. “I was boasting. While I loved checking out hot guys, my personal experience...um, it’s a little lacking.”

“Lacking?” Zhang Wei pressed. “How lacking?”

Vermilion Bird’s eyes flashed with embarrassment. “Well...I went on two blind dates. The kinds that ended with both deleting the other’s contact afterward.”

“

What?

”

“What! I was too busy to have a relationship! I boasted to establish my authority, or the brats wouldn’t listen to me, would they? Hey, don’t you dare run your mouth, Zhang Wei!”

“Fine.” Zhang Wei’s heart sank. “But what do I do now?”

Vermilion Bird smirked. “Stupid, go to White Dew. She seems like someone with a story, no?”

“Oh, right! How did I forget her?” Zhang Wei took out his phone and pressed skip.

...

Club, afternoon.

“That’s the situation.” Zhang Wei had finished his retelling of the story with a generous dose of gesticulation. “Zhou Jing’s gone. She hasn’t responded to my messages. Raven Shark doesn’t know what to do. Sister Xia told me that you would have an idea.”

White Dew shot him a strange look. “You sure you’re gonna win Zhou Jing over by treating it like a real relationship?”

“I have to try when treating it like a game doesn’t work,” Zhang Wei said.

White Dew nodded after a pause. “Alright. I’ll give it a try with my method. I don’t guarantee it’ll succeed.”

“Go for it.” Zhang Wei rubbed his hands together. “What do you need me to do?”

“Forget about Zhou Jing. Hurry up and pursue me.”

“Huh?”

Zhang Wei had lost count of the number of times he was flabbergasted. “Wait, seriously?”

“Why, am I not good enough for you to do that?” White Dew raised an eyebrow in irritation.

Zhang Wei quickly clarified, “Oh, no, that’s not it. It’s worth three lifetimes of fortune for someone like me to pursue someone like you. But I’m in a hurry to clear the game...”

“I am helping you with that,” White Dew said.

Zhang Wei blinked, still not understanding.

White Dew pointed out with a smirk, “Something slips through your fingers when you hold on too tightly. It stays when you loosen your hand a little.”

“Oh, I get it now!” Zhang Wei came to a realization. “I’m making Zhou Jing jealous by messing around with you. Then she’ll seek me out!”

“It’ll work if Zhou Jing truly loves you,” White Dew confirmed.

“According to the rules of the game, Zhou Jing has already developed feelings for me, but true love?” Zhang Wei rubbed his chin worriedly. “I can’t say for sure that it’s possible for her.”

“Let’s put her aside for now. What about you?” White Dew countered his point. “Have you ever felt that way?”

Zhang Wei didn’t have an answer for that. Yeah, putting Zhou Jing aside, had he ever loved anyone truly in his life? He had never considered that.

White Dew’s long, slim fingers caressed the black and white keys of the piano.

“Love isn’t some grandiose thing, but it’s fascinating. It can’t be seen or touched. There’s no formula proving its existence. Only when it comes to you will you know that it’s love. But there’s no guarantee that it’ll come. There has to be a push. Jealousy can often be that.”

White Dew pressed a key, but the chord being struck was one in Zhang Wei’s heart.

“I understand now, Master White Dew!” Zhang Wei felt like he had just had an epiphany. “What are you waiting for? Let’s date!”

White Dew rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t really care, but rules are rules. You have to increase my affection level and trigger my scenes first before dates with me will be unlocked.”

“Oh, right!” Zhang Wei was already a pro in this thanks to Raven Shark’s help. “Outside of affection level, I also need to push my stats to a certain level to romance someone. Zhou Jing’s requirement is Charisma. Vermilion Bird’s is Knowledge. What’s yours?”

“I don’t know,” White Dew said. “But I like people with a good sense of humor.”

“Humor it is!” Zhang Wei snapped his fingers. “No problem. I’ll be pushing up my Humor and giving you a gift every day to speed up the increase in your affection level. What kind of gifts do you like?”

White Dew smiled. “I like fluffy things.”

Her smile slid off her face the moment the words tumbled out. She slowly turned to the floor-to-ceiling window, hiding her face from Zhang Wei.

“Alrighty! Fluffy things, coming right up!”

Oblivious to her reaction, Zhang Wei skipped ahead with his phone.

...

For the next few days, Zhang Wei visited White Dew at the club every afternoon to give her gifts. He spent the rest of his time increasing Humor in every way possible.

On the fifth day, he finally unlocked dates with White Dew.

He went to the bar with White Dew, trying his luck. Perhaps they would run into Zhou Jing and trigger a scene. Rather than going to the dance floor, he and White Dew sat in a booth seat, drinking. Zhang Wei stayed in the scene for fear of missing anything.

Drinking the tasteless cocktail, he looked across the table at White Dew. Dressed in a cinched red dress with a low cut, she wore her hair up, silver curls dangling over her fair shoulder. Her delicate collarbones peeked out of her dress. Facing the side, she sat with a hand propping her chin up and the other hand holding a tall goblet. Amid the changing lights, she was beautiful like a captivating dream.

“Were I given the chance to date someone beautiful like you in the real world,” Zhang Wei lamented, “I would be boasting about it my whole life.”

“Will men die if they don’t boast?” White Dew scoffed, but her tone was soft.

Zhang Wei shrugged. “Can’t help it. Only a select few men are successful, while mundane people like me are the majority. Shittalking is all we have.”

White Dew snorted. “That doesn’t sound like someone with Confidence.”

“Being confident doesn’t mean being blind to my shortcomings.” While he spoke, Zhang Wei looked for Zhou Jing among the dancing patrons on the dance floor.

White Dew leaned toward Zhang Wei with her legs crossed, curious. “You share that with my ex.”

“Huh?”

Zhang Wei turned to meet White Dew’s eyes, feeling a little awkward.

“He is confident, but he knows himself, too.” White Dew smiled like she was remembering something pleasant. “The day he met me, he told me that he was a scum who plays around.”