He had to maintain appearances—after all, he still needed to boost popularity in front of Source Star people, so a little fan-service was in order.
But the woman had opened with a lie. Fu Songcheng absolutely wouldn’t let her take an item from him. Even if it were the lowest-grade piece of junk, he would never eat that kind of loss.
So he flipped his wrist, and the cold-glinting dagger—enchanted by him and Yu Huaiting with all sorts of attributes—materialized out of thin air, its tip pointing straight at the woman’s throat.
“I refuse to answer your question.”
The composure on the woman’s face froze. She’d watched Fu Songcheng’s combat clips many times on the Source Star livestream, but now, truly facing Fu Songcheng’s will to fight, her heart pounded uncontrollably and her legs couldn’t stop trembling.
She was just a tourist player who’d paid a high price for a ticket to experience the full-immersion offline event and ship her CP up close!
“I concede!”
She sensibly raised her glass in salute to Fu Songcheng, then took a big gulp herself.
This glass, to myself—for spending money to enter an instance and getting threatened face-to-face with a dagger by my idol.
The system notification chimed, judging the duel over.
Seeing this, Fu Songcheng smiled faintly, the frightening pressure reined in completely. He put away the dagger and picked up that half glass of red wine again. After a moment’s thought, he still answered her earlier question in a tone bordering on doting.
“Why am I with Yu Huaiting? Because he’s clever, well-behaved, sensible, kind, and thoughtful.”
The moment these words came out, the woman’s eyes went wide, her expression management failing utterly.
[??????]
[Can someone please check—do any of these words have a single cent’s worth of connection to Yu Huaiting?]
[Right? The filter’s way too thick, Brother Fu! Wake up!]
[How can he spout nonsense with such a straight face hahaha—he praised so earnestly I almost believed it!]
[He won the fight and still answered the question—Brother Fu is so polite! Gentle and refined dagger-wielding thug!]
[There wasn’t even a fight, okay! That was just one-sided physical intimidation!]
[Switch with me—I’m willing to get beaten by Fu Songcheng, point that knife at me hard, gege!]
[To the one above who said clever, well-behaved, kind—please cut to the next-door Yu Huaiting’s perspective! He’s activated his skill and is doing one-time Truth or Dare with everyone in the hall!]
Under the system’s judgment, since Fu Songcheng had won the duel as his Dare, he would randomly draw one item from the woman’s inventory.
Faint light flickered, and the system began settling.
Yet the woman was a Source Star tourist who’d paid to enter the instance to “experience life”—her system backpack was completely empty. Where would an item come from?
[System Notification: Detected that the defeated player’s backpack is empty. Compensation mechanism triggered.]
[Settlement: Player Fu Songcheng obtains points x200.]
Fu Songcheng looked at the extra 200 points in his account. Source Star players were like ATMs—if there were no items, the system would automatically convert it into point compensation.
Having discovered this loophole, the smile in Fu Songcheng’s eyes deepened.
Swift and sharp, he raised his wine glass and clinked it in midair once more against the woman’s nearly-empty champagne.
The second round of Q&A began.
“Will you still participate in instances afterward?”
Fu Songcheng continued seizing the initiative, tossing out his question.
The woman was still immersed in the lingering fear of having a knife pointed at her. She answered instinctively: “Yes.”
Fu Songcheng stared into her eyes. This time he couldn’t tell from her words whether it was true or false, but he felt it likely wasn’t a lie.
Having answered, it was the woman’s turn to ask.
She bit her lip, seemingly unwilling to accept her earlier sorry state, and decided to ask a sharper, more pointed question.
“If there were no wristband to isolate the negative effects of the Bitter Couple title, would you still be with Yu Huaiting?”
The moment this question came out, the livestream’s bullet comments cleared instantly. All Source Star viewers held their breath.
The question CP fans cared about most: Fu Songcheng and Yu Huaiting—was it a binding of interests, or had he truly fallen?
Fu Songcheng’s gaze turned sharp in an instant. “How do you know about my inventory, and the identity between me and my teammate?”
He asked back coldly.
He naturally knew this was because he was under Source Star’s strict surveillance, and viewers knew every move he made—even his panel data.
But he had to ask it anyway.
First, he needed to show he was completely unaware of “Source Star surveillance”; second, he wanted to apply psychological pressure on this Source Star player who didn’t know her place.
Beep—
[Warning: Player Fu Songcheng, please answer your opponent’s question. The current round does not permit asking a question in return.]
The mechanical voice sounded in both their ears at once.
Hearing the system’s warning, the girl instantly gained confidence. She straightened her back with impunity, smiled elegantly, and made a “please” gesture, waiting for Fu Songcheng’s answer.
“Yes. Because the damage-sharing mechanism and the emotional interference module will continue to exist. If we can’t unbind, I’ll maintain a neither-near-nor-far relationship with him, keeping the risk within a controllable range.”
Hearing this extremely rational—even somewhat cold-blooded—answer, the girl visibly deflated.
She was somewhat disappointed. She hadn’t heard the expected heart-touching, life-and-death devotion—but Fu Songcheng was indeed that kind of person.
Before the system had even issued the reward for both telling the truth, Fu Songcheng raised his wine glass for the third time, the crisp clink sounding again.
The third round forcibly began.
Fu Songcheng didn’t care at all what the girl wanted to ask. He directly threw the question the system had interrupted back at her, his tone pressing step by step: “Answer me—how did you know my inventory, and the identity between me and my teammate?”
Just then, the reward for both telling the truth in the previous round was finally issued.
A chess piece landed in Fu Songcheng’s palm.
[Obtained B-rank Item: Go Black Stone.]
[Item Skill: The holder of this stone may launch one round of attack first. Usable only once.]
[Item Description: Black moves first—victory or defeat already decided.]
Fu Songcheng tucked the black stone into his backpack, his gaze still nailed dead on the girl’s face.
Constrained by the game mechanics, the girl had no choice but to answer.
She didn’t dare expose the existence of Source Star and the livestream—that was the bottom line—so she told a lie she thought clever: “I have a special skill that can probe other players’ panels.”
A lie.
“Duel.”
Fu Songcheng spat out two cold words, not even waiting for the girl to ask her question.
“I surrender, I surrender.”
The girl waved her hands repeatedly. Fu Songcheng was an emotionless point-farming machine, constantly triggering Truth or Dare with her—she was afraid that talking too much would expose her.
[System Notification: Settlement complete. Player Fu Songcheng obtains points x200.]
Another 200 points into his account.
The girl didn’t even dare ask another question. Gathering the hem of her evening gown, she stumbled away on her high heels.
She had a strong intuition that Fu Songcheng had seen straight through her from head to toe. Forget it—she’d go check out other players she liked. This hard bone wasn’t one she could gnaw.
Watching the girl’s fleeing back, Fu Songcheng chuckled softly and downed the rest of his red wine in one go.
400 points.
One B-rank item.
He hoped Yu Huaiting’s side had reaped an even richer harvest.
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