Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Strength Is the Sharpest Weapon for Winning Others Over.

[Zhou Yujing really has a girlfriend?]

[Wait, his girlfriend also entered the infinite game?]

The viewer who came to spread the news suddenly became charitable and patiently answered the questions from the viewers in Zhou Yujing’s livestream.

[She directly took Zhou Yujing’s game invitation and charged all the way to the game transfer point.]

Seeing that sentence, the livestream viewers immediately became energized, one by one developing the mood to eat gossip and watch drama.

[So she didn’t know the nature of this game?]

“Kindhearted Viewer”: [At first she definitely didn’t know. She even told another bewildered newcomer player, “Have fun playing.”]

[Huh?]

[What an interesting blessing.]

[Your phrase “charged all the way there” is excellent. So did she hear something, or notice something?]

“Kindhearted Viewer”: [Probably. She herself never received a game invitation at first, and originally didn’t have game qualifications. From the moment she entered the transfer point, I felt that beneath her calm expression, she was suppressing blazing fury.]

[6.]

[So she came to catch cheating?]

[Looks like she knows Juan Juan likes Zhou Yujing now?]

“Kindhearted Viewer”: [She knows now.]

[“Juan Yu CP,” officially supported, blessed by players, teammates matchmaking them. This legitimate girlfriend... things look rough.]

Not a single viewer in Zhou Yujing’s livestream was optimistic about the official girlfriend.

After quite a while, that “Kindhearted Viewer” slowly posted one more line.

[That may not be so certain.]

[?]

[What do you mean?]

After successfully stirring everyone’s curiosity, “Kindhearted Viewer” stylishly patted their backside and left, abandoning a group of viewers scratching their hearts with curiosity, faces full of gossip-hunger.

—

Without Ning Rong knowing, a batch of viewers who had specifically come to eat gossip and watch drama flooded into her livestream.

The One Thousand and One Nightmares livestream platform had a unique recommendation system.

As a newcomer who had just begun to stand out in the game, Zhou Yujing already had quite a lot of fans.

Once someone connected to him in real life entered the game, the platform would prioritize recommending that livestream to viewers who followed Zhou Yujing.

As Zhou Yujing’s real-life girlfriend, Ning Rong’s livestream was very easily noticed by his fans.

[Very good. Livestream room ID83913. I remember it.]

[So what’s her name?]

The older viewers all spoke at once, helping the newcomers answer questions.

[Sis.]

New viewers: [What?]

Old viewers: [You can call her Sis, or Little Newcomer.]

New viewers: [Why call her Sis? Her name? There isn’t one?]

The old viewers said meaningfully:

[Because this Sis is really a bit special.]

—

Ning Rong and Lu Wen had only taken a few sips of hot tea in the living room when the village chief came over sweating heavily, carrying a medical box.

His attitude was eager and attentive.

“There are simply too many wild dogs in the village. Quite a few villagers have been bitten before. But relax—as long as it’s treated in time, nothing will happen.”

After speaking, he took bandages, saline solution, and some strange-looking herbs out of the medical box.

He rolled up Lu Wen's pant leg and took a look, then let out an exclamation. “Yo, this bite is pretty vicious.”

Ning Rong looked over as well. Earlier, in the dim light, it had been hard to see clearly. Now, under the white incandescent lamp, she realized the bite marks on Lu Wen’s ankle were deep. Blood had spread out, soaking through his pant leg. The blood staining the dark fabric carried a somewhat ominous feeling.

Lu Wen was a little embarrassed from being looked at. After Ning Rong noticed, she cooperatively shifted her gaze away.

The village chief first cleaned the wound with saline, then mashed up the herbs and applied them on top. After being crushed, the herbs released a faint fragrance, like fresh grass after rain, but slightly different. It smelled even fresher.

All these herbs were unfamiliar to Ning Rong. They seemed to be plants unique to this game instance.

She asked, “That’s enough?”

Village Chief: “Yes. Apply the herbs, then wrap it with bandages. By tomorrow morning, it’ll be fine.”

The safe period lasted a full twenty-four hours. Even if the wound had not healed by tomorrow morning, there would still be time to deal with it.

So they had plenty of room for trial and error.

For now, Ning Rong chose to trust this village chief.

She remained calm, but the newly arrived viewers were anything but calm.

[Why is this NPC so easy to talk to?]

[I remember this game, Countdown, right? B-rank instance. This should be the seventh run already, right? This village chief has a violent personality, foul mouth, and high combat power. In the previous six runs, quite a few players died at his hands. Has he changed his nature now?]

[No way he changed. If he’s acting this abnormal, then it can only mean this little newcomer has something special.]

Compared to the shock of the new viewers, the old viewers were not much better.

They really wanted to know what kind of initial skill could keep working for this long,

to the point that the violent-tempered village chief had practically become a different person.

After the village chief finished treating Lu Wen’s injury, Ning Rong had also rested enough. After drinking some hot tea and eating a few snacks, the exhaustion from traveling through the night had mostly faded.

She stood up directly and said, “Take us to a room so we can rest.”

The village chief hurriedly said, “There are many people in my family. Right now, there is only one guest room that can be used. You see…”

Since they were already inside an infinite game, Ning Rong was not very particular. As long as there was a place to stay for the night, it was enough.

She had no objections. “Fine.”

The village chief led her and Lu Wen to a room. “The house is a little old, but it gets cleaned often.”

Click.

The room light turned on.

Orange-yellow light spread out.

A room with an obvious sense of age appeared before Ning Rong. Even though the village chief’s home had the best lodging conditions in the village, that was only relative. The moment the door opened, a strong musty smell drifted out. There were even large spiderwebs in the corners. Who knew how long it had been since the bedding had seen sunlight? As soon as one got close, a damp smell rose up.

The village chief awkwardly rubbed his hands and laughed. “Is this okay?”

Ning Rong looked around. She did not find any major problems. “It’s fine. Do you have toiletries?”

“Yes, yes.”

Not long after, the village chief brought Ning Rong a full set of toiletries. Toothbrush, toothpaste, towel—everything was brand new.

“There’s no new washbasin left, but this basin is usually used for mixing flour. It’s clean, don’t worry.”

Not only did Ning Rong get a set—even Lu Wen got one too.

Lu Wen was overwhelmed with gratitude. He was basking in Sister’s light again.

[6.]

[I believe it now. This Sister... really is a bit special.]

[I checked the livestreams of the other four people. They’re all camping outdoors. Only these two got to stay in the village chief’s house.]

After parting with the village chief, Ning Rong glanced at the upper right of the empty air. There was a virtual screen there that only she could see.

[Money Can Make Even Ghosts Push the Millstone] entered its cooldown period from this moment on. She would not be able to use this skill again until twelve hours later.

In other words, from the moment she activated the skill until it had fulfilled all of her objectives, only then was the skill considered fully used.

Treating Lu Wen’s injury, borrowing lodging.

Both of these things had been accomplished through it.

This skill...

was even more powerful and practical than she had imagined.

A hidden identity was indeed extraordinary.

After washing up, Ning Rong lay down on the bed. Lu Wen was very self-aware. He made himself a floor bed beside it and obediently lay down there with excellent tact.

Once things quieted down, Ning Rong finally had time to think about more things. Her fingers brushed over her wallet. She temporarily suppressed the urge to inspect the game black card. For some reason, she felt that now was not the best time to check the bank card.

In the end, she only took out the game invitation letter from the small black bag she carried with her.

The invitation letter was exquisitely designed and compact, with gold thread trimming around the edges.

On the invitation letter, the three words Zhou Yujing were clearly displayed before her.

Fixed team...

Entered instances three times with a female player named Juanjuan...

Had never revealed any information about the game to her...

Zhou Yujing, you really can do it.

You really, really can.

The viewers who saw this scene: !!!

[Zhou Yujing, danger!]

The next day, as soon as Ning Rong woke up, she had Lu Wen check his own wound.

According to the village chief, after one night’s sleep, Lu Wen should be fine.

Lu Wen felt both terrified and expectant inside. He nervously prepared to remove the bandages. As he unwound them layer by layer, he was still tense, but when the last of the bandages came off, he froze.

“Sis... Sis!” His voice trembled slightly.

Ning Rong, “What is it?”

Lu Wen said excitedly, “The wound is completely healed!”

Ning Rong was slightly stunned, then lifted her eyes and looked over. Sure enough, the hideous wound from last night had completely disappeared. Aside from a little blood remaining to prove it had once existed, that patch of skin had returned to a smooth and fair state, as though it had never been injured at all.

Sure enough, after entering the infinite game, many things could no longer be judged by common sense.

Ning Rong had not completely trusted the village chief. She said, “Later, have that player who cleared four times take a look and see whether it’s really fine.”

Lu Wen, “Okay.”

After washing up, the two planned to leave.

Compared to last night’s enthusiasm, today’s village chief could be described as cold-faced.

Forget serving good tea and water—today’s village chief was only one step away from directly driving them out.

[The village chief is back to normal!]

[Back to normal, but not completely back to normal.]

[True. He’s only cold-faced now. Before, when he stared at players with that sinister gaze, it was genuinely creepy. This is nothing more than light rain.]

[So, can the little newcomer’s skill even change an NPC’s initial favorability?]

[Although the village chief isn’t as friendly as he was last night, compared to before, his attitude is still way better!]

[So what exactly is the little newcomer’s skill!?]

Unfortunately, for now, no one could answer that question.

After leaving the village chief’s house, Ning Rong and Lu Wen wandered around a bit.

As the main setting of the game instance, Su Family Village was where players were basically all searching for information.

Sure enough, they very easily spotted that middle-aged male player by the ridge between the fields.

When he saw them again, the middle-aged male player was also slightly stunned.

Yesterday, Lu Wen had given him an extremely ominous feeling, but today, that ominous aura had completely disappeared!

Lu Wen scratched his head. “Um, could you help me take a look? Is there still anything wrong with my wound?”

The middle-aged male player’s initial skill was “Intuition.”

This was the lower-tier version of “Seek Fortune and Avoid Misfortune.”

It was not as advanced as “Seek Fortune and Avoid Misfortune.” It could not let him make the most correct choice every single time, but in certain moments, it could still bring him unexpected surprises.

At the very least, its cooldown period was shorter than “Seek Fortune and Avoid Misfortune”—or rather, it had no cooldown at all—and the activation conditions were much more casual.

That was why last night he had been able to tell at a glance that Lu Wen’s wound was not simple.

After hearing Lu Wen’s question, his tone was much better than last night’s. “Don’t worry. It’s already fine.”

Compared to his earlier indifference, he was clearly much warmer now.

The old viewers had also personally witnessed the change in his attitude.

One viewer sighed with emotion:

[Sure enough, strength is the sharpest weapon for winning others over.]