Chapter 187 : Chapter 187
187 – A Single Cent Can Defeat a Hero
“Name?”
“Yi Ning.”
“Sex?”
“……”
After completing the perfunctory evaluation administered by Annali, Yi Ning quickly entered the same line of questioning Lu Zheng had just gone through.
Although she’d already found the whole routine boring while standing beside Lu Zheng, now that the questions were being directed at her, Yi Ning realized—It was actually even more boring than just listening to it.
Why on earth were they asking about her gender?
Did she not look like a girl? Or was this alien planet just a fan of gender diversity?
Yi Ning echoed Lu Zheng’s earlier inner complaints.
Only, compared to Lu Zheng’s rather sharp and ordinary response, Yi Ning’s answer leaned even more into this alien world’s gender diversity mindset.
“My gender is an armed helicopter.”
Annali: “?”
She tilted her head.
Due to limitations of her own civilization, Annali had no concept of an “armed helicopter” in her mind. But thanks to the translation of Konjac, she somehow understood exactly what Yi Ning meant by “armed helicopter.”
This bizarre disconnect gave Annali’s brain a brief system crash.
Fortunately, Annali was the type to just let things go.
If she couldn’t figure it out, she just tossed the thought aside.
She raised her head and gave Yi Ning a once-over, her gaze briefly pausing at Yi Ning’s chest, before hesitantly writing the character female in the gender column.
That hesitation made Yi Ning frown slightly.
She felt a bit offended.
But Annali didn’t seem to notice Yi Ning’s dissatisfied gaze. With an expression as calm as ever, she raised her head and continued to the next question.
“What would you like to put in the occupation field?”
Spinning her pen with interest, she cast a glance at Lu Zheng who stood off to the side, and raised an eyebrow at Yi Ning.
“Wanna put down ‘Hero’s girlfriend’?”
Annali’s eyes sparkled with teasing amusement as she looked at Yi Ning.
“It’s not that…”
Lu Zheng quickly stepped in, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.
But before he could finish, Yi Ning replied directly to Annali.
“Girlfriend? What kind of nonsense is that? If you really need to define the relationship, then my role should be ‘archenemy.’”
There wasn’t a shred of shyness or hesitation in Yi Ning’s voice, which disappointed Miss Annali, who had been hoping to extract a hint of sugary romance from a bashful little couple’s denial.
Back in the arena, the two had acted with such natural closeness, yet now they were denying any romantic involvement with zero embarrassment or hesitation?
Surely, people that are close should at least have some feelings for each other?
To deny it so flatly…Were they just dense… or maybe siblings?
Annali glanced at Yi Ning’s pink hair and Lu Zheng’s black hair.
Didn’t really look like siblings either?
“That’s enough.”
Yi Ning swiftly shut down Annali’s wild imaginings, her expression entirely devoid of any particular emotion.
Off to the side, Lu Zheng, who had been interrupted mid-sentence and booted from the conversation, looked a little awkward.
He opened his mouth, then quietly took a few steps back and acted like nothing had happened.
So all those “benefits” she gave him before really didn’t carry even a trace of affection?
Though Yi Ning’s response didn’t particularly surprise him, the firm and unflinching way she denied any romantic involvement still left Lu Zheng feeling a bit disappointed.
And to think he’d often let his mind wander just because of her adorable appearance.
Yi Ning returned the topic to the business at hand: “Anyway, just write ‘Evil Scientist’ in my occupation field.”
As before, Annali faltered for a moment upon hearing a term unfamiliar to this alien planet.
But having learned her lesson, she recovered in less than a second.
Still, she seemed strangely unaware of the brief daze she had just experienced.
“Have you decided what you want to put?” Annali twirled her pen again, continuing the inquiry.
That odd moment of spacing out caught Yi Ning’s attention for a second.
But she didn’t dwell on it too much and simply repeated her answer.
“Evil Scientist.”
The woman in front of her looked unreliable in every way, so zoning out wasn't all that unexpected.
This time, Annali didn’t space out again. She carefully wrote “Evil Scientist” in the registry, stroke by stroke, as Yi Ning had requested.
Though she only vaguely understood what the profession meant.
Soon after, Annali smoothly signed her name at the bottom of the registry, packed away everything on the desk, and retrieved two iron plates from under the counter, handing them to Lu Zheng and Yi Ning.
The plates had unfamiliar text engraved on them.
But thanks to the Translation Konjac, the meaning of the strange text quickly appeared in their minds.
It was mostly basic personal information—where they had registered as adventurers, who had handled the process…
On the back of the iron plates, a single large letter was also engraved.
Lu Zheng flipped his plate over and noticed the letter seemed to correspond to “A.”
Was this a ranking for adventurers?
He glanced over at Yi Ning’s plate and saw that it had a different letter—
F.
Most likely the lowest rank.
So this was an adventurer ranking system.
Though this alphabet-based ranking did feel strangely familiar.
Annali resumed her usual lazy, fish-slacking receptionist mode and held out her right hand toward Lu Zheng.
“Thanks for your patronage. That’ll be 500 copper coins each—1 silver coin total.”
Lu Zheng & Yi Ning: “?”
The two spoke almost in unison: “You have to pay for this?!”
Annali tilted her head in confusion: “Isn’t it normal to charge for this?”
“Even though it’s not much, the tags you’re holding contain some special materials. Even if your body’s reduced to ashes, the name on the tag won’t fade.”
“Add in some processing costs, and 500 copper coins is already dirt cheap.”
“And you’ll earn it back easily once you complete a few missions.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng and Yi Ning both looked down at their tags, complex expressions on their faces.
Ultimately, Yi Ning reacted faster.
She pointed at Lu Zheng and shouted: “Lu Zheng! I command you to go out and beg immediately! Use your romantic arts to collect 1 silver coin and return!”
Lu Zheng reflexively retorted: “Romantic arts? And why me? You’re the cute one—wouldn’t it be easier for you to get money begging?”
“Hah?”
Yi Ning definitely couldn’t let that slide.
She tilted her head, raised her chin, and glared at Lu Zheng, jabbing her index finger at his forehead.
“Lu Zheng, is your brain malfunctioning?”
“Someone as adorable as me going out to beg would only result in one kind of ending. The kind that starts with an ‘S’ and ends with an ‘E,’ and would definitely get censored by Green Dam!”
Thanks to the pair’s dramatic performance, everyone present instantly understood their predicament.
These two didn’t have a single coin on them!
In the end, it was their friendly alien companion who came to the aid of these poor lost children stranded on a foreign planet.
Lester stepped up to the counter, pulled a silver coin from his pocket, and placed it on the table.
“…I’ll pay for you.”