Three hours ago, after finishing that "feast" in the evening, Wen Nan offered to help wash the dishes but was shooed out of the kitchen by Qiqi.
With one arm inconvenient, Wen Nan didn't insist and simply went back to his room to freshen up first.
Coming out of the bathroom, he glanced at the time and suddenly realized it was already past ten o'clock at night.
Less than ten hours were left until the end of this main task.
Looking down at the bruise on his wrist from the soul threads, just to be safe, Wen Nan checked the current strategy percentage for all six characters in the system one by one.
Every character had successfully surpassed 80%, but the strategy percentage for the CEO was stuck right at the 80% clearance line.
Even after completing side quests and going on a date to the "Princess Room" with her, having battled all night, Guan Ailin's strategy percentage still lingered at a relatively low 80%.
Talking, sleeping with, and dating other characters had easily exceeded 90%, yet only with Guan Ailin, whom Wen Nan had invested the most thought and emotion, had yielded the lowest strategy percentage.
Exactly... where did things go wrong?
Could it be because a ten-star strategy character is inherently more challenging than other characters?
With this thought, Wen Nan pulled up Guan Ailin's chat window, staring at their chat history for a long while.
Ultimately, he didn't send a message, silently closing the chat window back into the system.
If he were to proactively ask Guan Ailin out now, even if she wanted to go, even if they happily spent the night like last time, the system still might not acknowledge this strategy percentage.
Looking again at the purplish bruise on his wrist from the soul threads, Wen Nan took out the CEO's soul puppet from the equipment's spare slot and played with it in his palm.
The intricately crafted doll was wearing a white shirt with a large hole in the middle, previously pierced by Yu Shujun.
However, the cavity that was originally drawn out behind that hole had now completely healed, with not even a trace visible around the edges.
Peeling off the tattered professional suit, Wen Nan's fingertip gently traced down the puppet's chest...
The texture of the soul puppet's skin was very similar to human skin, fair, smooth, and delicate...
As his fingertip continued downward, it eventually touched a small wound at a very hidden spot on the puppet's thigh.
The wound was tiny, on the already palm-sized puppet's leg, as small as a tiny mole, easily overlooked if not careful.
Wen Nan paused, exerted some force in his hands to spread the puppet's legs open, examining closely.
Had there always been such a wound?
The wound appeared a tender red color on the surface, still in an unscabbed state.
Even Yu Shujun's rough sword wounds could heal so quickly without a trace, so why hasn't such a small wound been instantly repaired?
While lost in thought, a figure, like a phantom, suddenly appeared by Wen Nan's side.
"After Yang Mingzhong left the café, he returned to the refresh point and never left again..."
Yu Shujun had just reached Wen Nan's bedside, immediately reporting the surveillance situation to him.
However, halfway through speaking, noticing Wen Nan's peculiar action, he hesitated.
Then, seeing the soul puppet opened in an odd position by Wen Nan, Yu Shujun's expression turned very complex.
Wen Nan's gaze swept past the person's shoulder, looking at the door behind, casually complaining, "Why didn't you knock when you came in."
Yu Shujun initially wanted to say it was Wen Nan's order in the café, requiring him to report back at any time, but his lips twitched, and eventually swallowed those words, changing his tune to, "If you need to hand-fuel, I'll step aside, and return later, Master."
Wen Nan looked at the soul puppet in his hand, realizing the misunderstanding, his eyes filled with helplessness, "No, am I that perverted?"
Yu Shujun's brows slightly knitted, as if seriously contemplating this question.
Wen Nan sighed, raising a hand, "Alright, stop there, let's talk business."
Yu Shujun briefly recounted Yang Mingzhong's route of actions.
Wen Nan nodded, recalling the answer from the conversation at the café, mentioning the southeastern edge of this map...
Although Yang Mingzhong was good at exploiting tool loopholes, during the 60-second effectiveness of the Truth Serum, he couldn't lie.
Even if he tried to make his answer ambiguous, the place he mentioned was definitely the reason for his restart.
"Head to the southeast corner of the map, that desolate place that's sealed off, and check what's there," Wen Nan said solemnly.
Yu Shujun received the order and immediately turned to walk out.
Watching the person's back, Wen Nan, thinking of Yang Mingzhong's mention of the high-level NPCs guarding the place, couldn't help but speak, "Be careful, stay safe."
Yu Shujun's steps halted, turning to look at Wen Nan, his eyes flickering with an odd expression, quickly returning to his cold face, "There's nothing in the beginner map that can harm me, Master."
Watching the swiftly disappearing silhouette, Wen Nan shook his head in resignation, thinking he shouldn't have kindly reminded, giving the other a chance to act cool.
His hand again touched the small wound on the soul puppet, placing it back in the spare equipment slot, then taking out the "perk item" obtained from G. point.
A round, pink, and fluffy mass lay in Wen Nan's hand, kneading and playing with it.
Though its shape and color could easily be misinterpreted, Wen Nan was certain its texture was completely unlike that body part.
Despite being soft, it felt more like some kind of special gel material rather than flesh...
This texture oddly reminded Wen Nan of a childhood toy—bubble gum, a small jar that could blow into a huge bubble.
Could this thing also be used for blowing bubbles?
With this thought, Wen Nan lifted the pink mass to his mouth, trying to place his lips around a certain spot.
Qiqi, wrapped in a towel, walked in.
Seeing the scene on the bed, Qiqi stood frozen, fixing Wen Nan with a perplexing gaze.
Great, another misunderstanding.
Shouldn't the next line be, 'Sorry for interrupting,' then turn and leave?
But Qiqi didn't turn; instead, she walked more resolutely forward, taking the "perk item" from Wen Nan's hand, placing his hand on her chest.
The towel slipped off, pooling at her legs.
Wen Nan could clearly feel her heartbeat thumping under the moist skin.
Qiqi leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"Brother, the fake texture isn't any good. Why don't you try the real thing?"