Chapter 10
Chapter 10: That's How It Goes in Those Games
Liu Yuqing pushed up her glasses.
"I just used 【Appraisal】 to check… Yu Shishi's current status!"
"She has a mark on her called 【Scarecrow's Gaze】!"
Liu Yuqing took a deep breath and explained, "It's a double-edged curse."
"If she enters a certain zone, the mark acts like a flashing target—monsters will automatically lock onto her and attack."
"But…"
Liu Yuqing pointed at the Mutated Crows circling in the distance outside the car window, not daring to come closer.
"In other areas, the mark actually functions as an 'aura of a higher being.'"
"For these low-tier crows…"
"She's like a moving warning sign."
"That's why she survived in the forest—and even ran all the way here!"
After hearing the explanation, everyone inside the vehicle froze.
That luck… was it good or bad?
"So… is Shishi still human?"
That was Chen Tong's biggest concern.
Liu Yuqing glanced at the panel again and nodded.
"Don't worry, Teacher. Her race still shows as Human."
"She's just been marked as reserved food stock, that's all."
Confirmed human, Chen Tong visibly exhaled in relief.
She wasn't afraid of much—only of watching students turn on each other, or seeing a former student become a monster.
Everyone's gaze shifted back to the man sitting in the executive chair.
"Boss, what do we do?" Wang Meng asked.
Jiang Nan sat on the leather sofa without even lifting his eyelids.
He picked up the notepad beside him, scribbled a line, and held it up for everyone to see:
【Ignore her. Don't bother.】
【Drive. Move out.】
He wasn't some shelter warden, and he certainly wasn't a hormone-driven mutt who went weak at the sight of a pretty face.
What was the point of taking in someone who had already abandoned the team once?
For her appetite?
For her tears?
Seeing Jiang Nan's decision, Wang Meng immediately got the message.
He rolled down the driver's side window, leaned his head out, and bellowed at Yu Shishi, who was still frantically pounding on the door below.
"Get lost! Stop blocking the road!"
"Move it or I'll run you over!"
Yu Shishi had been sobbing with tears streaming down her face when she suddenly heard that familiar booming voice. She froze completely.
She wiped the mud from her face and stared up at the chubby face in the window in disbelief.
"W… Wang Meng?!"
She had assumed this was some other survivor convoy—she never expected it to be people from the original bus!
‘But…’
‘How did the bus end up like this?’
‘This luxurious?’
‘This impressive?’
Past the shock came a surge of wild joy!
If they were people she knew, this would be so much easier!
"Wang Meng! It's me! I'm Shishi!"
Yu Shishi called out frantically, "Hurry and open the door! It's terrifying out here! Please!"
"Scram!"
Wang Meng cut her off without mercy. "Who said we know you? Don't try to play the friendship card!"
"We're classmates, but we're not your parents! This is the apocalypse—no one's obligated to take care of you!"
"When you abandoned us last night and ran off with Bai Lianhua, did you think about the fact that we were classmates then?"
Wang Meng's words drained the color from Yu Shishi's face.
He was right…
She had made that choice herself.
"But… but I was wrong…"
Yu Shishi sobbed even harder, her heart drowning in remorse.
"It was all Bai Lianhua's fault! She tricked me! I really know I was wrong!"
Then suddenly, something clicked.
Wang Meng said we…
Which meant he wasn't the only one in the vehicle.
The person calling the shots in this vehicle…
Could only be that man.
Yuqing's hunch was right…
"Where's Yuqing? I want to see Yuqing!"
Yu Shishi cried out at the window:
"Yuqing has to be in there, right? I'm her best friend! Please just let me see her!"
"Yuqing was right, I shouldn't have left… I want to go home… I want to find Yuqing…"
Inside the cabin.
Jiang Nan watched the scene through the holographic surveillance system, his expression cold.
Just as he was considering opening the window to silence this nuisance for good, something came back to him…
Wasn't this Yu Shishi supposedly Liu Yuqing's friend?
He turned his head toward Liu Yuqing, who was standing to the side.
He could see a faint trace of reluctance on her face.
‘Time to buy some goodwill.’
He picked up his pen and wrote out a few notes.
【This person—you make the call.】
【This isn't a test. It's the latitude I give my people.】
【But I only keep useful ones. Not clueless deadweight.】
Done writing, he handed the notes to Liu Yuqing.
Liu Yuqing took them, and a wave of warmth washed through her chest.
The Boss… actually asked for her opinion?
In this authoritarian apocalypse convoy, that kind of respect was worth its weight in gold.
"Thank you, Boss!"
Liu Yuqing took a deep breath and gave a firm nod.
Her feelings toward Yu Shishi were, in truth, complicated.
From high school through university, the two of them had been inseparable.
Liu Yuqing came from a single-parent household, poor and struggling, but academically brilliant.
Yu Shishi's family were well-known local merchants, but she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and her grades were a disaster.
Back then, Liu Yuqing had nearly been sold off by her gambling-addicted father to pay off debts to loan sharks.
It was Yu Shishi who wept and begged her father to intervene—who even sent bodyguards to break that deadbeat's leg.
Only then was Liu Yuqing rescued, and Yu Shishi had even funded her through the rest of high school.
Yes, Yu Shishi could be foolish sometimes, spoiled and headstrong, and last night she had even caved to peer pressure and abandoned her.
But Liu Yuqing knew—this silly girl wasn't bad at her core.
Just… painfully, heartbreakingly stupid.
Just dumb enough to make your chest ache.
"Phew…"
Liu Yuqing let out a long breath, and the meaning behind Jiang Nan's note became clear.
As long as Yu Shishi had value, she could stay.
She gave Jiang Nan a bow, then pressed the door release and stepped out.
Outside.
The moment Yu Shishi saw Liu Yuqing appear, she lunged forward and wrapped herself around Liu Yuqing's legs, clinging tight.
"Yuqing! Wuwuwu! You finally came out!"
"I was so scared! Those crows were staring at me all night! I thought I'd never see you again!"
Liu Yuqing looked down at this once-celebrated campus beauty—now filthy, barefoot, and bleeding—and felt a tangle of emotions she couldn't name.
Like looking at her own helpless past.
She didn't offer comfort. Instead, she pushed Yu Shishi away firmly and gripped both her shoulders:
"Stop crying! Listen to me!"
"Shishi, I'm only asking you one question, and your answer determines whether you get on this vehicle."
Liu Yuqing stared straight into her eyes. "Did you eat the Awakening Fruit? Have you awakened an ability?"
Yu Shishi blinked, still hiccupping through her sobs:
"Wh… what ability?"
"The fruit… I ate it. I was starving, so I just swallowed it. I wasn't really paying attention…"
"…"
‘Great.’
‘This girl really is as dumb as advertised.’
‘Something as huge as an awakening, and she missed it because she was hungry?’
"Hold still! Let me check!"
Liu Yuqing skipped the pleasantries and activated 【Appraisal.】
A blue light swept across Yu Shishi's body.
【Name】: Yu Shishi
【Race】: Human
【Physical Composite Rating】: Grade F (Frail)
【Status】: Mentally Disoriented, Scarecrow's Gaze
【Aptitude】: Grade F
【Ability】:
Cleanse (Grade F): Instantly removes all dirt and grime from the surface of a target.
At the last line, Liu Yuqing let out a long, slow breath of relief.
"Phew… Not bad. It's a Grade F domestic ability, but an ability is still an ability."
As long as she had an ability, she wasn't total deadweight.
"Get up! Come with me!"
Liu Yuqing hauled Yu Shishi to her feet.
"When you see the Boss in a moment, do whatever he says. Don't you dare pull any princess attitude. Understood?!"
"Understood, understood! I'll do whatever you say!" The fight had completely drained out of Yu Shishi. She was meek as a quail.
The two of them boarded the vehicle.
The moment Yu Shishi stepped inside the cabin, the lavish interior hit her so hard she forgot to cry.
‘This… this is still the same beat-up bus?’
‘Outside is hell. In here is paradise.’
Jiang Nan was still seated on the sofa, with Chen Tong perched on his lap.
Liu Yuqing led the fidgeting Yu Shishi over to Jiang Nan and carefully gave her report.
"Boss, she's awakened."
"Only Grade F, but the ability is… 【Cleanse.】"
Jiang Nan raised an eyebrow—an expression that unmistakably said, that's it?
Liu Yuqing hurried to explain. "Boss, her combat ability is zero, I know!"
"But she can handle all the cleaning from here on—laundry, shoe-polishing, all the chores!"
"Saves the rest of us the trouble!"
Jiang Nan considered it for a moment, as if weighing the pros and cons.
Finally, he gave a reluctant nod.
A free live-in housekeeper wasn't a bad deal.
But…
Ground rules needed to be set.
Jiang Nan pointed at his own pair of muddied dress shoes.
Then he pointed at Yu Shishi.
The meaning was obvious: shine my shoes.
Seeing this, Liu Yuqing quickly nudged the still-dazed Yu Shishi. "Hurry! Show him what you can do!"
"Oh… oh!"
Yu Shishi snapped to attention and stepped forward.
Chen Tong glanced over and blinked—a quick, pointed look drawing attention to where Jiang Nan's hand rested on her leg.
That single glance made Yu Shishi's face go as red as a steaming teapot, her imagination running wild.
‘This… this fast?!’
‘Who would've thought Jiang Nan was so composed on the outside but such a devil behind closed doors?!’
‘Truly, you can never judge a book by its cover!’
‘Teacher Chen Tong must have already fallen into his clutches—corrupted just like the heroines in those games!’
‘That's why she’s acting like this!’
Yu Shishi was suddenly certain she understood everything.
Due to her angle, she misread the gesture Jiang Nan made pointing at his shoes as pointing at his pants—and even filled in imaginary dialogue to match.
"Give me a good time, you useless pillar!"
Yu Shishi's face burned even redder.
‘That's how it goes in those games—the villain coerces the heroine, then triggers the special scene CG!’
‘All this "cleaning" nonsense is just an excuse. He obviously wants me to do that kind of thing!’
But right now, to stay in this warm paradise…
She didn't hesitate for a single second. With a thud, she dropped to her knees in front of Jiang Nan.
"I… I'll do it right now!"
Yu Shishi reached out with both hands.
Jiang Nan was already losing patience.
‘It's just shoe-shining. What's with all the theatrics? What a dumb—'
The thought never finished.
He suddenly felt a chill on both legs.
His Patrick Star-style boxers were exposed to the room.
Jiang Nan's eyes went wide as he stared down at his now-pulled-down trousers. ‘What on earth is this girl doing?’
Chen Tong covered her eyes. "That's not what I meant!"
Liu Yuqing's jaw dropped. ‘Huh? Did the airhead not understand?’
And Jiang Nan—met with a roomful of bewildered stares—yanked his trousers back up with one sharp pull.
He had absolutely no interest in being a spectacle.
Then, furious, he snatched up the notepad and stabbed the pen into the paper so hard it nearly tore through, thrusting it in front of Yu Shishi's face.
【WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!!】