That night, when Fu Songcheng went to Source Star, he ran into Shen Ning’s assistant.
“Mr. Fu, good evening.”
The assistant bowed slightly. “President Shen instructed me to remind you to enter the friendship test instance at noon tomorrow.”
“I understand.”
…
At noon the next day, Fu Songcheng and Yu Huaiting entered the instance as agreed.
[Loading instance…]
[Instance Name: Truth or Dare (E-rank)]
[Instance Duration: 2 hours]
[Clear Player Limit: None]
[Current Scene: Dark Night Castle (Players in scene: 200)]
[Instance Rules:
1. When two people meet, they must play one round of ‘Truth or Dare.’
2. Each person must ask the other one question, and the other must answer.
3. Mechanics:
If both answer truthfully: both parties each receive one random item reward.
If one true, one false: the one who lied will forcibly take one random item from the truthful one’s backpack.
If both lie: both parties receive system punishment and each randomly lose one item from their backpack.
4. If you duel your opponent, it may replace the Q&A and count as one Dare. In this case, the winner will randomly obtain one item from the loser’s inventory.**
[“True heart for true heart? I’m a solid good guy.”]
White light flashed.
Fu Songcheng and Yu Huaiting appeared simultaneously on a semi-open balcony of a European-style castle.
The sky was an oppressive dark red. Below the castle stretched an endless black forest, and the wind, passing through, let out a wailing sound.
Yu Huaiting looked around and sneered. With a flip of his wrist, a dagger radiating cold air was already spinning at his fingertips.
He was already itching to go “Dare.”
“Wait.” Fu Songcheng pressed down on his shoulder.
He leaned close to Yu Huaiting’s ear and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, quickly and lowly said a few sentences.
Yu Huaiting first froze, then his eyes flew wide.
“Gege, you’re really… too wicked.” Yu Huaiting licked his canine tooth. “I love it.”
“Let’s begin.”
Fu Songcheng stepped back half a pace and met Yu Huaiting’s eyes.
Yu Huaiting leaned against the balcony, the corner of his mouth curving. “What’s your name?”
Fu Songcheng didn’t even blink, his tone utterly without ripple: “Yu Huaiting.”
Then Fu Songcheng asked in return: “What is 1+1?”
Yu Huaiting blinked and answered: “2.”
Ding—
The system’s mechanical voice sounded in both their ears at once.
[Player Yu Huaiting’s answer: Truth.]
[Player Fu Songcheng’s answer: Lie.]
[Settlement: Player Fu Songcheng has successfully taken one random item from player Yu Huaiting.]
A faint glimmer drifted out from Yu Huaiting’s body and sank into Fu Songcheng’s system backpack.
Fu Songcheng glanced at the backpack—it was one of Yu Huaiting’s own area-of-effect explosive attack items.
Watching his item being taken, Yu Huaiting showed not the slightest reluctance—in fact, he was thrilled.
People always have energy when doing bad things.
The system rules didn’t say how many times you could ask, so the two of them just kept at it—Yu Huaiting telling the truth, Fu Songcheng lying—farming until all the items in Yu Huaiting’s backpack went into Fu Songcheng’s account.
Yu Huaiting asked: “Do you love me?”
“No,” Fu Songcheng immediately tossed out his question, the smile in his eyes deepening: “Do you love me?”
Yu Huaiting: “Yes.”
Ding—
[Player Yu Huaiting’s answer: Truth.]
[Player Fu Songcheng’s answer: Lie.]
[Settlement: Player Fu Songcheng has successfully taken one random item from player Yu Huaiting.]
“Are you a dog?”
“I’m a cat.”
“Is the Earth square?”
“It’s round.”
…
The system’s notification chimes played like a looping single track. One item after another was stripped from Yu Huaiting’s backpack and transferred into Fu Songcheng’s account.
Until the twenty-fifth round.
The system notification sounded again: [Player Fu Songcheng has successfully taken player Yu Huaiting’s item: Breaker of Order (the wristband that isolates Bitter Couple negative effects).]
Fu Songcheng looked at the black wristband in his inventory, and his gaze sank. The smiles on both their faces dissipated.
He looked up at Yu Huaiting.
The instant the wristband was lost, the aura around Yu Huaiting underwent an earth-shaking change—confusion, irritation, revulsion.
They’d also triggered a negative attribute they hadn’t experienced in a long time: suffocation.
“Go on.”
Fu Songcheng turned his back so he wouldn’t have to look at Yu Huaiting, his voice somewhat strange. “Do as I said.”
“Mm.” Yu Huaiting’s voice too had turned hoarse and rough. He left quickly.
Once Yu Huaiting had gone far, Fu Songcheng picked up a bottle of already-decanted red wine from the European-style round table in the balcony corner and poured himself half a glass.
Swirling the wine glass, he leaned leisurely against the balcony’s carved stone railing, gazing at the pitch-black forest below, waiting for the harvest.
Though it was a friendship instance, using the puppy’s skill to skim some profit from Source Star people probably wasn’t too excessive.
On Source Star, he was under Shen Ning’s strict surveillance and could only download information, not upload—which left him unable to effectively interact with anyone except Shen Ning.
But in the friendship instance they’d built, he could openly converse with these “humans.”
And with Fu Songcheng’s popularity, he didn’t need to seek out Source Star people at all. He just had to stand here and wait for the fish to bite.
Before long, the light sound of high heels rang out at the balcony entrance.
Tap, tap, tap.
Fu Songcheng took a light sip of red wine.
“Hello there.”
A bright, candid female voice came.
Fu Songcheng turned around.
A young woman in a dark green evening gown, her hair neatly pinned up, elegant and composed.
She too held a glass of champagne, her posture graceful, as if attending a high-society banquet.
“Hello.”
Fu Songcheng raised his glass slightly, his tone mild.
Their glasses clinked in midair, triggering Truth or Dare.
“You let him out to bite people while you hide here drinking—so heartless.”
The woman swirled her glass and looked straight at Fu Songcheng. Her words were an accusation, but her tone was gloating.
“Truth or Dare.” Fu Songcheng didn’t pick up her thread and spoke first. “How many instances have you been through?”
The woman seemed not to have expected him to be so direct, without even a buffer. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and answered: “Three.”
A lie.
Fu Songcheng made the judgment instantly.
Not because of the system prompt, but because of the state she displayed.
A human player who’d been through three life-and-death instances would at least have some fluctuation when the word “instance” came up.
But this woman, when answering, showed little emotional change. She had no past—in Death Party, she was an empty shell without history.
Having answered Fu Songcheng’s question, it was the woman’s turn to speak. She looked at Fu Songcheng and asked: “Why are you with Yu Huaiting?”
The moment the question came out, Fu Songcheng had his measure taken.
This woman was very likely one of the “CP fans” who made up the largest share of his and Yu Huaiting’s Source Star fanbase.
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