Chapter 62: Road Trip Tips
Chapter 62: Road Trip Tips After the words came out, Tang Xinjue turned to look at him.
The young man's expression did not change at all, as if the logical loophole pointed out was just an insignificant topic. He tied his hands and walked around the convertible, calmly changing the topic:
"I took a look at it for you. There is nothing wrong with the car except that it is too old. It's just that the radio is broken. Do you need help repairing it?"
Tang Xinjue stared at this thin young man.
Except for the uniform of a gas station employee, he did look similar to her own age. If she looked closely, he looked like a student. He was not obviously irritable like other ordinary ghosts. Instead, his aura was so restrained that it was difficult to detect it. Only when she got close could she feel a hint of coldness.
This was something she could only detect with the help of her mental skills.
A ghost who can hide his strength and aura.
If the other party hadn't tried to blow her up, Tang Xinjue would have been hard-pressed to distinguish him from the other NPCs in this instance, because the other party had not made any dangerous moves except to test her once with a refueling gun.
However... Tang Xinjue's eyes moved slightly, and the toilet plunger appeared silently in her palm.
Although she had never experienced the difficulty of a First-Rate University, she did not think that under normal circumstances, the ghosts of a First-Rate University would appear in the C-level examination room of Third-Rate candidates.
When something goes wrong, there must be something strange going on.*
*literal translation: When something goes wrong, there must be a demon. This is a proverb in traditional Chinese culture, which means that when things are out of the ordinary, something unusual will happen; If a person behaves abnormally, it is likely because they have bad intentions in their heart.
He didn't get a response, and the young man didn't care: "Of course, the repair is not free, and it can't be reimbursed by Grandma Mayas."
He was leaning against the other side of the rearview mirror, looking like he would be flung away as soon as the car drove away.
Tang Xinjue had an intuition that if the young man didn't get up, the car might not be able to drive away.
She thought for a while: "What reward do you want?"
As if he didn't expect Tang Xinjue to be so cordial, the young man raised his eyebrows slightly: "The reward is very simple. I don't want the most valuable thing from you, nor the cheapest thing. You can choose anything in between.
"Of course, the value of the payment you give will determine how well the radio can be repaired."
Following the young man's words, Tang Xinjue glanced at the dusty car radio: "Is this considered cheating in the exam?"
"Of course not. NPCs can provide some harmless help to candidates within a limited scope, although under normal circumstances, no NPCs will do this."
Tang Xinjue shook her head: "No, I'm not asking myself... I'm asking you.
"In the middle of the exam, entering the exam room randomly, replacing the original gas station NPC, interfering with the dungeon process and interacting with the candidates, does it count as cheating on the exam?"
Ill-fitting gas station uniforms, unfamiliar with refueling techniques, a nonchalant attitude that undermined the workplace, and the fact that the regular employees had a "problem."
Tang Xinjue even felt that the moment she had just driven to the gas station and the time the young man came to do his "part-time job" was merely the distance between the front and back feet. The other party had no time to complete the settings, and his absolute confidence made him not care about being exposed, which led to all kinds of loopholes.
Young man: "……"
After a moment of silence, he said leisurely: "I heard that at Third-Rate University, a student used the supervision system for the first time and successfully reported an NPC that violated the regulations."
Tang Xinjue was noncommittal.
Since the young man already knew that she was from Third-Rate University and came here specifically, she wouldn't be surprised if he knew everything about her.
But this also clearly pointed out a message: ghosts could exchange information with each other.
They did not only submerge in a single dungeon. They could even move freely at certain times, and even break into other exams.
Then she heard the young man continue to say: "This freshman not only took the blame for the exam and the entire course, but also took over as a teacher in the department, successfully killing dozens of NPCs. Even the dark creatures were not spared. The rampage of trouble in Third-Rate University has attracted the attention of many parties..."
Tang Xinjue: "..."
? ? ?
Even ghosts were susceptible to the Woozle effect*?
*The Woozle effect, also known as evidence by citation, occurs when a source is widely cited for a claim it does not adequately support, giving said claim undeserved credibility. Original idiom “三人成虎; three people makes a tiger”, meaning: If three people in a row say that a tiger appears on the street, it makes people believe that there really is a tiger on the street. It is a metaphor that if a rumor is repeated again and again, it can make people believe it to be true.
She was silent for two seconds and then said with a smile: "You may have recognized the wrong person. I don't quite understand. What does reporting mean?"
The young man lowered his eyes and looked at her: "I also heard that this freshman's surname is Tang."
Tang Xinjue turned the toilet in her hand and said without hesitation, "My surname is Ma."
"...Anyway," speaking seemed to make the young man very tired, and his already pale face was covered with a layer of gloom. He looked even weaker than Tang Xinjue’s thin and frail appearance* as he breathed out, "Now we all have something to do with each other, why don’t we each take a step back. I’ll help you repair the radio, and you can give me something if you’d like.”
*弱柳扶风; a weak willow supporting the wind, describes a woman as weak and soft in movement
Tang Xinjue didn't want to get entangled with him anymore: "Okay, then in exchange, you can get my friendship."
"..."
The young man didn't seem to be able to catch his breath. After a few seconds, he slowly said through his teeth: "Friendship? Is this the reward you give me?"
Tang Xinjue looked solemn and spoke categorically: "To be honest, I am a person who has made many good friends. Every NPC in the exam will praise me. Did you see the shameless little boy just now? This is it. The power of friendship.”
"Oh."
The other party was out of breath, his brows were no longer furrowed, and even the ghost's cold breath was no longer hidden. There was a sarcastic arc on his face: "It seems that you are very confident in this exam and do not need extra help. I wonder what your roommates would think when they see this scene?"
"Of course you can't guess what my roommates are thinking, because you have never had the friendship of an upright student. In any case, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to enter the examination room, and then come and leave empty-handed."
Tang Xinjue was neither humble nor arrogant.
Time was counting in her mind, flowing downwards second by second.
It was impossible for her to hand over anything in kind to a ghost whose origin and abilities were unknown. Of course, if it was not hopeless, she would also like to see what the effect would be after the radio was repaired.
She was betting that since the other party found her, even if they just had free time to enter the exam, they would not be willing to leave empty-handed*.
*(找)了个寂寞, an internet slang, literally means (find) loneliness - it means that someone didn’t find what they wants to find, or have been doing something (in this case, trying to find) for a long time without any results, becomes just a waste of time.
Ghosts could be smart and calm, but they were always greedy.
A brief moment of tension spread in the air, and then disappeared in the young man's low cough.
"Li Xiaoyu is right, the new students are really a bit difficult to deal with this time."
Tang Xinjue's eyebrows twitched, Li Xiaoyu?
——This young man knows Li Xiaoyu?
"Friendship? Well, now that you say so..."
Before she could think about it carefully, a piece of paper suddenly appeared in front of Tang Xinjue. If she looked carefully, she could see that the template on the paper looked like both a debt note and a simple contract. After a cursory glance at the specific content, it roughly amounted to: (...) voluntarily giving friendship to (...) without the possibility of regret or revocation. This agreement will take effect on September XX.
"Your expression seems a little surprised."
Seeing Tang Xinjue slightly stunned, the young man finally raised a victorious smile, "It's amazing, right? In the so-called NPC world, even illusory friendships can be expressed in the form of a contract. If you really want to pay, then sign the contract.”
Tang Xinjue casted an identification technique:
[This is a universal contract that cannot be changed once signed. As for the contract content, you only need to manually replace the keywords.]
Tang Xinjue understood, smiled, and picked up a pen to write her name.
At a glance, the name signed by the young man also fell into her eyes: Wu Shi.
Tang Xinjue wrote down her name.
After the deal was reached, the young man stopped talking nonsense and clapped his hands twice on the radio: "After I repair this, the restoration naturally is equal to the value of your friendship."
After twisting the button twice, there was indeed a sizzling sound. Tang Xinjue nodded and asked, "When the radio is repaired, if my friendship changes, will its restoration value also change?"
Wu Shi raised his eyebrows lazily: "Of course not..."
After fully realizing the meaning of this sentence, he opened his mouth: "Friendship changes? Do you want to violate the contract?"
Tang Xinjue smiled: "Of course I won't break the contract. You have already gained my friendship. But soon, I realized that you and Li Xiaoyu are friends. Coincidentally, I once met a person named Li Xiaoyu in the exam. Classmate Xiaoyu and I have some conflicts.
"According to the principle of hating a house and also the room*, our friendship will be discounted by nine-tenths this minute compared to the last minute. But there is no need to worry, after all, the contract does not stipulate the type of friendship. After all, the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, while the friendship between villains, which is as sweet as sweet wine.**"
*恨屋及屋: hate a house also a house? I think it’s a derivative of the saying hating a house and also hate the bird living in it, as in when you don’t like someone, you don’t like anything associated with them.
**"The friendship between gentlemen is as light as water" means that the friendship between gentlemen is based on morality, elegant and pure, and as light as water, but it’s deep. On the other hand, “the friendship between villains, which is as sweet as sweet wine” means that the interactions between villains contain a strong sense of utilitarianism. They build their friendship on the basis of mutual use. On the surface, it seems "sweet". If the other party cannot meet their utilitarian needs, it is easy to break off, since there is only interest.
Tang Xinjue stepped on the accelerator and made a goodbye gesture to the friend she had just met:
"It's amazing, right? In the human world, friendship is so fickle."
Stepping on the accelerator, the convertible sped away, leaving the ghost who had lost his smile far out of sight.
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