An increase in favorability is a good start to a date. This option isn't particularly challenging - most people would get it right unless they're deliberately trying to cause trouble.
However, according to Shen Yi's speculation, option D wasn't just for fun. If he hadn't been concerned about insufficient assets, he might have actually chosen it.
Jian Leyi had a materialistic label attached to her. Spending lavishly on her could genuinely result in gaining significant favor.
If this tactic were used on the previous literature girl, it probably wouldn't be as effective - giving her a classic novel might have worked better.
"I've ordered."
"What would you like to drink?"
After meeting, all of Jian Leyi's dialogue was broadcast through voice.
Shen Yi casually selected one of the floating options.
Jian Leyi nodded slightly, gracefully arranging the order.
While waiting for the drinks, Jian Leyi spoke first.
"Though I don't know why you sought me out, thank you anyway."
As soon as she finished speaking, the options before him changed:
A. No need to thank me, I just want to get to know you better
B. It's nothing, my shoulder is always here for you
C. Stop talking, my bed is big and comfortable
D. Please input
The options now included an input field, apparently supporting free expression for those unsatisfied with the system options.
Shen Yi currently had too little information to know what she was thanking him for, but continuing the conversation was key.
The good news was that unlike cold text communication, the tone and voice carried emotion, allowing Shen Yi to better discern the situation.
Although Jian Leyi's attitude had improved slightly, her tone was floating and casual, clearly showing low interest and giving the impression she was restless.
Shen Yi conservatively chose option A. He figured that joking around recklessly might end the scene unpleasantly. Though there wouldn't be much loss, he wanted to complete the process once to observe.
Fooling around could wait for the second playthrough.
"Click."
Jian Leyi lit a cigarette and held it, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Shen Yi's response, though she did become a bit more serious.
"Shen Yi, what do you do for a living?"
A. I'm a destined worker
B. I'm a wealthy young master
C. I'm an ace programmer
D. I'm a passing Kamen Rider
E. Please input
Five options appeared on screen. Without much thought, Shen Yi chose the wealthy young master option, planning to fully target Jian Leyi's materialistic nature.
His choice made Jian Leyi's face show doubt, as if she couldn't completely believe it, but she still smiled and said:
"Who actually calls themselves a wealthy young master? You're quite the joker."
Favorability neither increased nor decreased, clearly showing doubt about Shen Yi's fabricated identity.
'Quite intelligent...'
Thinking about it, Shen Yi found it reasonable. After all, with the free input option, if he wrote that he was an Ultra Giant from the Land of Light, would she believe that?
The AI's involvement and maintaining reasonable doubt helped the storyline progress smoothly.
Shen Yi, sitting in front of the screen, nodded approvingly at the development team's rigor.
Soon, a waiter came forward, busy serving and changing glasses, then slowly retreated.
Jian Leyi raised a glass to toast with Shen Yi, the screen shook, indicating they both drank.
Putting down her glass, Jian Leyi extinguished her cigarette and teased:
"Young master, what do you usually like to do?"
A new round of options appeared. This was typical in games - seemingly vast but actually fixed branches, all variations on a theme.
Shen Yi scanned the choices floating on screen:
A. Discuss national affairs
B. Talk about domestic and international celebrities
C. Discuss literary masterpieces
D. Talk about music and art
E. Please input
'Huh? No outrageous options...'
Shen Yi muttered to himself, feeling uncomfortable with such normal options, though these choices seemed too serious.
Looking at Jian Leyi's appearance, Shen Yi felt none of these would be good choices. For someone uninterested, these would be boring and profound topics, and forcing such discussion would create an arrogant, distant feeling.
Struck by inspiration, Shen Yi decided to trust the system's information and typed "Let's talk about luxury goods" in the last field.
Shen Yi was quite confident this topic would match Jian Leyi's taste, as she was not only materialistic but fond of shopping. Her small handbag looked quite exquisite, suggesting she was familiar with luxury goods.
After the new option was input, the screen froze for a while as if calculating. After Shen Yi waited a bit, Jian Leyi's expression changed from initial delight to strange, and finally to complete impatience.
Gray-black bubbles continuously floated from her avatar in the upper right corner, and favorability suddenly evaporated significantly.
With too little feedback information on screen, Shen Yi couldn't figure out what went wrong.
The plot continued, with Jian Leyi's face turning cold on screen, her thin lips uttering:
"Thank you for today's treat, young master Shen. I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving first."
She stood up and left without any option to stop her appearing.
Her voice through the phone speaker had lost its sweetness, replaced with mockery, especially emphasizing the words "young master."
After Jian Leyi left, one heart under her avatar immediately dimmed.
The scene slowly faded out, accompanied by checkout sounds, displaying a bill showing 15,000 yuan deducted from assets.
"Date ended!"
"System calculating..."
[Overall Rating: D, A Failed Date]
[Reward: 50,000 yuan]
[System Comment: Fake young master, real big spender.]
[Insufficient rating, unable to synchronize]
[Review scene?]
Large amounts of text refreshed on screen, with the D rating particularly bright and eye-catching, as if mocking Shen Yi.
Shen Yi had never suffered such humiliation before. Feeling unfairly defeated, he quickly skipped the previous descriptions and clicked confirm on the review prompt at the bottom.
The review unfolded, flowing before Shen Yi's eyes in text form, similar to a battle report.
Scanning the previous descriptions, there wasn't anything particularly unusual until the drinking and chatting part.
[Your young master introduction successfully made Jian Leyi laugh. Although she didn't completely believe it in her heart, she didn't question it either, thinking "what if it's true?"]
[Cold alcohol poured down her throat. Jian Leyi extinguished her cigarette, thinking about another income today, her mood improved, and she decided to chat more with you, this big spender...]
[Jian Leyi's life was unremarkable, not knowing where to start the conversation, so she decided to ask about your interests.]
[Your answer made Jian Leyi's face brighten with interest, slightly piquing her curiosity. She didn't expect you to also like luxury goods. As expected of a young master, she only had a show-off bag, and in turn guessed you must own many luxury items.]
[Unfortunately, the real you knew little about luxury goods, and forced discussion made you increasingly exposed. Under pressure, you could only make things up...]
[Jian Leyi was stunned, seeing through your fake young master identity, unable to accept your nonsense, she decided to leave.]
[She felt disappointed, thinking you were a cash cow...]
Review ended, Shen Yi looked surprised, never expecting to fail at trying to cater to her interests.
'Damn! Not choosing normal options leads to the character making things up...'
Shen Yi didn't know whether to criticize this game as reasonable or unreasonable. He personally knew little about luxury goods, but shouldn't game characters share game data?
Where was the AI when needed? The dialogue seemed quite realistic, but when it came to professional knowledge, it seemed too lazy to search.
"What a trap, free input is just a gimmick after all..."
Shen Yi complained while habitually plugging his phone into the bedside charging cable.
This free input dialogue appeared to maximize freedom on the surface, but such a big problem occurred so early. Shen Yi suddenly felt this was just a trick by the developers.
However, Jian Leyi's acting was quite good just now. Wonder which drama school she graduated from, now reduced to filming game scripts.
"What a shame..."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
igrating to the cultivation world for two hundred years, I've managed to lie low and reach the Nascent Soul stage. Only now does my golden finger arrive? ...
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
