Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?

This time in the instance, without items like soul puppets, characters can't be transferred, so from the moment Wen Nan left the refresh point, apart from doing tasks, he actually just focused on finding his strategy target—

Although he likes multiple-choice questions, he obviously wouldn't compete for strategy characters that already belong to other players.

So, after seeing his name in the background introductions of three non-target strategy characters consecutively, Wen Nan felt very helpless.

He really didn't intend to flirt with them. The interactions before were completely for completing the main and side quests. How did those characters develop feelings for him?

Wen Nan scratched his head.

It seems this ten thousand charm points value really is quite powerful...

He's basically like Elder Tang on the journey to obtain the scriptures, and those female spirits all want to cozy up to him.

However, this plot deviation shouldn't affect the subsequent main quests, right?

Just as he was thinking, two wet, sticky, thin arms wrapped around his neck.

Yu Shouling's entire body was drenched with sweat, as if she had just been fished out of the water. Her hair was already tousled, her damp bangs sticking to her cheeks in strands, yet the wooden hairpin still stubbornly nestled in her hair, refusing to be removed.

She brought her face close to Wen Nan's and stared into his eyes at close range, asking, "Do men and women lose focus when doing this kind of thing?"

Her tone didn't carry any hint of complaint, instead, it seemed she was genuinely pondering this question and trying to give an answer herself, "Is it some sort of protection mechanism? To protect you from exhaustion or burnout?"

Exhaustion? Burnout?

In this context, hearing these words from a woman who is clueless about the anatomical differences between men and women quickly stirred Wen Nan's competitive spirit as a male.

He picked up the used box with two tablets from beside him, "If you are worried about exhaustion, try a few more times, and you'll naturally understand."

...

...

As the moon set by the coast and the sun slowly rose from the horizon, Wen Nan held Yu Shouling in his arms, quietly watching the sunrise on the beach.

"All used up."

"It's not necessary to use it every time."

She playfully pushed Wen Nan's chest, chastising with a bit of coyness, "What do you take me for?"

Wen Nan gave her a once-over from head to toe and seriously shook his head, "Be more confident, at least a small flask."

Yu Shouling was both amused and annoyed, raising her hand to hit Wen Nan, her legs straddling his waist.

Wen Nan lifted his arms, easily restraining her fists, warning with suppressed breaths, "Don't mess around, careful not to escalate things carelessly."

Recalling the events of the night past, a hint of apprehension appeared on Yu Shouling's face, and she obediently climbed off Wen Nan.

The sun had fully risen from the sea, resembling a salted duck egg yolk, painting the water's surface with a gold hue, covering the beach and the shoulders and hair tips of the two sitting side by side with a golden layer.

Wen Nan sincerely admired, "It's beautiful here."

Yu Shouling shifted her gaze slowly from the sunrise to Wen Nan's cheek, propping her elbow on her knee, her palm under her chin, looking at the man next to her with a slightly proud smile:

"Amazing, huh? It's an illusion I crafted myself."

"Hmm." Wen Nan nodded.

Yu Shouling then asked, "Is it really like this by the sea in the summer?"

Wen Nan frowned slightly, his smile diminishing a little, "You haven't seen summer?"

Yu Shouling shook her head, "I was born here, grew up here, I...have never stepped out of Snow Mountain Villa."

Wen Nan looked at Yu Shouling, the golden glow softened the lines of her profile.

"Do you want to go out? To see the summer, to see the sea."

A spark of light instantly lit up in Yu Shouling's eyes but quickly dimmed.

She shook her head, "I have my mission, I can't leave."

"Your mission?"

"Yes," she said softly, "I promised my father."

"Your father?" Wen Nan remembered that the character's background introduction said Yu Shouling had been parentless since childhood.

"My foster father," Yu Shouling explained, "was the one who taught me alchemy."

She recalled something else and added, "When you fell from the upstairs earlier, you should have seen the stars on the top floor, right? Those were left by my father; he was a Great Demon Master and an astrologer."

Wen Nan's thoughts stirred, and a name surfaced in his mind. He instinctively asked, "Do you know... the Divine Staff Fragment?"

Yu Shouling paused, her eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion, looking at Wen Nan.

After a moment of silence, she shook her head, "I don't know."

Wen Nan wanted to ask more, but Yu Shouling stood up, "Alright, you've shown me how to use a small umbrella; in exchange, I'll tell you the secret of Eve's aromatic oil."

It must be said, Yu Shouling knew how to change topics. Compared to the mission of the Great Demon Master, Wen Nan was now indeed more curious about [Eve's Aromatic Oil].

Wen Nan agreed joyfully.

Yu Shouling summoned a spray bottle from somewhere, raised it above Wen Nan's head, and poured it over.

Wen Nan was immediately shrouded in white smoke, and when it cleared, the waves and beach had entirely disappeared, and he found himself once again standing in a dimly lit basement.

Yu Shouling raised her hand, pulling out the wooden hairpin from her updo, letting her brown hair fall and cascade down to her rounded hips.

She grasped the end of the wooden hairpin with her slender fingers and pointed the tip towards her neck.

Wen Nan hesitated for a moment, but then saw Yu Shouling insert the wooden hairpin into the red apple gemstone on her necklace.

With a click, the clasp was opened.

The smooth gem fell into her palm, and she supported it with one hand while extending the other to Wen Nan, "Give me the powder from Adam's rib."

Wen Nan's gaze fell on the gem in her palm, immediately followed by a system notification sound—

9527: [Important item detected: Eve's Aromatic Oil.]

Yu Shouling gave Wen Nan a playful wink,

"Let me show you the biggest secret of this villa.

"Trust me, you won't be disappointed."