"You have earned 300 Merit Points. Please use them wisely."

"You have obtained a Four-Star Treasure Box*1, which can be opened in the Content Preservation Vault."

"According to your gaming experience, your exclusive rewards are currently in transit."

"According to the game's star level, you have obtained the prop 'Rippling Spring Sounds'."

"Detected that the Player already has 'Rippling Spring Sounds'. 'Rippling Spring Sounds' fusion completed."

Currently in transit...? Ren Suo slightly raised his eyebrows. He wasn't online shopping, so where was this 'in transit' coming from? Was the game console trying to delay giving him his exclusive reward, hoping he would forget about it so they could justifiably swallow it up?

"Quite a few unexpected things come up when playing this game..." Ren Suo muttered. This game had presented many unexpected situations. For instance, the 'Determination Value' system at the beginning required him to personally learn English. Later, he had to deal with the Pallbearer chasing the Phantom Lolita. Ren Suo felt his subjective abilities were thoroughly leveraged.

However, Ren Suo didn't pay much attention to it, since he couldn't just smash the Mini-World Game Console. 'All final explanations belong to Naiser Company' was just that domineering. Could he call a consumer hotline to complain about this game company, which might not even exist in this world, maliciously wasting his electricity?

After all, Ren Suo didn't play this game for the exclusive rewards; without expectations, there would be no disappointment.

Having 300 Merit Points credited to his account finally made Ren Suo breathe a sigh of relief. The amount of Krypton Gold spent on this game session had made him quite sore. After all, restarting the first and second levels cost money, and controlling other units cost money. Going back and forth over a dozen times, even though Ren Suo had 'Plucking Feathers from a Flying Goose,' he still ended up spending around eighty to ninety Merit Points, nearly running out.

Just think, the 'High Energy Ahead' 2-star game only gave him 108 Merit Points.

Now he had finally made up for it. With a total of 400 Merit Points in his account, whether playing games or buying games, he felt quite comfortable.

Exiting the game, on the main interface, the icon for 'My Life is Not Your Game' indeed had a spinning CD in the bottom right corner.

Ren Suo suddenly remembered there was no task evaluation this time; the game was directly uploaded after completion, somewhat similar to 'Pass the Hat' which he had played before.

And Ren Naiser hadn't uploaded videos of 'Pass the Hat', so it seemed that 'My Life is Not Your Game' was unlikely to appear online as well.

It was a bit of a pity, Ren Suo thought. He was actually quite interested in the Rebel's adventures in the magical world, and he also wanted to know where exactly the Rebel's story would take place. Now that he couldn't see it, he felt somewhat regretful.

To Ren Suo, watching videos uploaded by Ren Naiser was also a delightful pleasure—like watching his own sculpted work go through final processing to become a dazzling, world-renowned piece of art. The pride of sharing in the glory, and that sense of superiority from 'only I know this was my good deed,' was really hard to share with others.

But Ren Suo had stayed up for several nights in a row and had only slept a little that morning. He quickly finished the takeaway bought by his Cloning. Then, he instructed his Cloning to do the laundry, mop the floors, clean the toilet, and dust before hurriedly crawling into bed.

「At 5 PM, Ren Suo was woken up by a phone call.」

As soon as he answered, he said, "Hello?"

"Ren Suo, have you eaten yet?"

"No, are you inviting me to eat?"

"Yes, I'm taking you out for skewered meat hotpot!"

Suddenly, Ren Suo's sleepiness vanished. He glanced at the caller ID on his phone, pondered for a moment, and said, "If this is about an anal issue, a hotpot meal won't be enough..."

"We're eating, why bring up anal issues!" Zhao Huo retorted irritably, "Are you eating or not?"

"Eating, eating, eating. But if it's not about that, then... no way! Zhao Huo, you have a fiancée and a household warden, don't tell me you're messing around outside and caught something? No, that's wrong. As a Cultivator, you should be resistant to those diseases..."

"10 minutes and I'll be downstairs. Take it or leave it!"

Ren Suo scratched his head, briskly changed his clothes, and went downstairs. He saw Zhao Huo waiting for him in a silver sedan and suddenly understood. Opening the car door, he sat in the passenger seat and asked, "So you struck it rich, huh! One meal of skewered meat hotpot isn't enough then!"

"This car isn't mine," Zhao Huo muttered, stepping on the gas and driving off campus.

"Then whose is it?"

"My fiancée's..."

"What, your fiancée's car?" Ren Suo was astonished. "I thought when you said fiancée you meant those plastic figurines you keep. I heard that's quite popular among you Anime Fans. Aren't the ten earrings on your two ears symbols of ten fiancées?"

Zhao Huo retorted angrily, "Who do you think I am? Am I the type that would point at figurines and call them my fiancées?

"Those are my wives! They're not some fiancées! I've told you about the earrings; it's a custom. Over there, they have to wear ten earrings, symbolizing 'undivided for all eternity'."

"...I don't really understand you Anime Fans, much less you life winners," Ren Suo leaned back in the seat, feeling like going back to sleep. "Then why did your fiancée give you a car?"

Zhao Huo hemmed and hawed. Since he didn't have many acquaintances at the college and Ren Suo was one of them, he felt there wasn't much he couldn't say. He organized his thoughts and continued, "A couple of weeks ago, during the summer holidays, Xiao Meng came to visit me. You remember Xiao Meng, right?"

"I remember, I remember. Otherwise, I wouldn't call you a life winner," Ren Suo said. "By the way, between your fiancée and Xiao Meng, who is prettier?"

"Ah? Uh... probably..." Zhao Huo fell into thought but soon jolted awake. "No, wait, how did the topic shift? Don't interrupt, you've thrown off my rhythm."

They say the first person who comes to mind when you hear a question is the answer in your heart... "Okay, okay, I'll stop." Seeing Zhao Huo's 'if you keep talking, I'm not treating' look, Ren Suo had no choice but to surrender.

Zhao Huo continued, "Xiao Meng came to stay with me for a few days, right? To make it convenient for her, she stayed directly at my place. The only public transport near the college is the subway, so it would have been quite troublesome if Xiao Meng had stayed elsewhere. Then, my fiancée found out about this..."

So that's how it is! Having grown up watching "My Fair Princess" and "Romance in the Rain" with his mother, Ren Suo suddenly connected the dots, enlightened.

"So that's how it is, you dead head." Zhao Huo tugged at the corner of his mouth. "She said she had a car she usually doesn't drive, so she helped me get a Lianjiang license plate for it. Now, when other friends visit me in Lianjiang, they can use the car to go out. This saves them from having to cram into my place."

"My fiancée is really good to me, aren't you jealous?"

"...I've decided to make friends with you," Ren Suo said seriously. "Remember to talk to me if you ever have any troubles."

Although he hadn't seen the Rebel's outstanding performance, he'd found new entertainment—watching the undercurrents of struggle around Zhao Huo was definitely worth observing from a premium seat.

"Why have you suddenly become so disgusting?" Zhao Huo said. "By the way, others will be joining us for hot pot later."

"Do I know them?"

"No, you don't."

"Then you'll have to treat me to another meal some other day," Ren Suo said earnestly. "Eating with strangers is a major trial for me; I need to be compensated. As everyone knows, I have very thin skin..."

Zhao Huo tugged at the corner of his mouth and gritted his teeth, saying, "Fine!"

If I hadn't blocked all resentment notifications from non-bonding partners in the Bond System, I'd definitely be kept awake by the flood of Zhao Huo's negative emotions right now, Ren Suo thought.

About fifteen minutes later, Zhao Huo drove to a shopping plaza in the city center and took Ren Suo to the "Jinguan City Spicy Skewered Hot Pot" on the fifth floor.

Zhao Huo's friends had already arrived; there were seven or eight of them. They seemed a bit tense when they saw Zhao Huo and Ren Suo and quickly greeted them.

Ren Suo didn't mind much since he was just there for the free food and drinks. Zhao Huo wasn't in a hurry either and handed the menu to Ren Suo. "Go ahead, order whatever you want!"

Ren Suo's eyes lit up, and he immediately called over the server. "Let's get five dozen spicy beef skewers, five dozen lamb skewers, five dozen crispy chicken cartilage, and five dozen squid skewers..."

Zhao Huo, listening to him order, grinned—Your skin is as thick as a city wall! Picking all the expensive stuff, you're really not holding back!

"Hmm... all meat. Shall we order some greens too?" Ren Suo looked around for opinions. Zhao Huo breathed a sigh of relief. This kid still has some shame, he thought, and nodded. "Go ahead."

"Then let's get a dozen Sprite!" Ren Suo said.

At that moment, Ren Suo faintly heard "negative..." "coming from..." through his Listening Headphones. Is this an auditory hallucination? I've already blocked negative emotion alerts from non-bonding partners. Could someone's negative emotions still break through the block? he thought.

This skewered hot pot restaurant was quite good. The name 'Chuan Chuan Xiang' (skewered hot pot) originates from the practice of skewering various ingredients on bamboo sticks. These are then dipped into a boiling hot pot to be eaten. It's a variation of hot pot, but because the bamboo skewers are disposable, it's more hygienic than using chopsticks and simpler than using a spoon. Despite the hot weather, the air conditioning was strong. Still, eating made everyone break out in a sweat; it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Before long, everyone's used skewer container on the table had dozens of sticks. Only Ren Suo and Zhao Huo were still eating—Cultivators have bigger appetites.

At this point, Zhao Huo said, "How's this meal, Ren Suo?"

"Free food always tastes good!" Ren Suo said without hesitation.

A girl sitting next to Zhao Huo suddenly asked, "By the way, Brother Zhao mentioned that Mr. Suo, you've always been working in Healing. Is working in Healing fun?"

"Just getting by, nothing fun about it." Ren Suo bit into a piece of spicy, tender, and delicious beef, so spicy he immediately washed it down with a gulp of Sprite.

"Would you like to show off your skills in front of everyone, demonstrate your strength?" the girl coaxed.

"I would, but I'm afraid of dying," Ren Suo said.

"Then that settles it!" Zhao Huo slapped Ren Suo on the shoulder. "We're planning a stage play. It will let you safely demonstrate your strength and maybe earn the adoration of countless female fans. Are you in? If we win, the main characters get the lion's share of the prize money, though it's not a lot. But you could play a handsome character! Who knows, maybe you'll even meet that future wife of yours who's still in elementary school!"

"I'm not a lolicon like you!" Ren Suo retorted.

Ren Suo wasn't surprised. When Zhao Huo invited him to dinner, he knew it was for a reason. However, he had just completed this month's free game. With nothing else to do at the moment, and considering Zhao Huo was his friend, Ren Suo was willing to lend a hand.

"How long will it take? I'm not interested if it's too complicated," Ren Suo said lazily.

Zhao Huo: "It won't take long. Your character is mainly about fighting. You'll just need to practice for two or three days, and then perform on the day of the comic exhibition."

Ren Suo: "That sounds doable... By the way, what's the play about? What's my character?"

Zhao Huo: "It's a battle scene set in an alternate version of the Three Kingdoms game. The character you'll be playing is the historically renowned—"

Ren Suo: "Zhao Yun? Ma Chao? Lv Bu?"

"Zhang Fei," Zhao Huo replied honestly.

"And you?" Ren Suo asked, not upset.

"I'll naturally play my namesake, White Horse Silver Spear, Zhao Yun," Zhao Huo said proudly.

"This can't be settled with just a round of skewers," Ren Suo said calmly.

"After the play, I'll treat you to a 500 yuan per person seafood buffet," Zhao Huo said, gritting his teeth.

"Deal."