Ren Yuanhao felt a headache coming on.
"What the heck, the mysterious shop is opening now, are they sure they aren't scamming me? What can I even buy with my meager points?"
"Then you can earn points right away. It's actually quite easy to earn points in such a mixed bag of a place?"
"It is easy, but it's also easy to step on a landmine!"
The system's voice became extremely dark-humored, "I can't help it. As you know, the mysterious shop has only opened once before, and I don't even know when it will open next."
—Holy cow? What kind of damn shop is this? It's completely on a whim, might as well shut down early!
"Okay, okay, since it's just getting dark, Miss, could you look for some big orders?"
"Yes, I didn't expect that in a place like this, the demand for finding a partner is so high. Let me show you how many orders there are for this afternoon."
The system displayed the background tasks for the first time, placing them before Ren Yuanhao.
Ren Yuanhao looked up and saw more than ten lines of information in various colors scrolling by.
"Miss, what do the colors of the tasks represent?"
"Didn't I tell you before? The system judges the danger index based on the client's information. White is relatively stable, red indicates some risk, and dark gold means it's best not to touch it, as there's a high probability of stepping on a landmine."
Ren Yuanhao scanned the tasks. The lowest danger index was still over thirty percent, meaning Yu Yue's order was considered the lowest.
—Holy cow, even with the lowest risk task, I was almost killed by that Welsh guy. Wouldn't the thirty percent ones be even more likely to kick the bucket?
"The system has selected tasks that you can do at this time, approximately three of them: a female weapons forger, a barmaid, and a female failed mandara gene vivisection experiment victim~"
The system's miss highlighted the difficulty coefficients.
"The difficulties are three stars, four stars, and five stars respectively, with risk indices of forty, forty, and eighty~ This last one is definitely a trap!"
"Of course. As a newcomer, if you were to interact with such a person so early, it would naturally arouse suspicion."
Ren Yuanhao actually wanted to choose the trap, as he figured women like that were just living day by day. Having a boyfriend to accompany her through her final moments might be her last wish, and even if it were an illusion, she would be content. Such a task seemed rather desperate.
"I suggest you choose the first one. It's safer, and you might even uncover some of Grey Wolf's secrets. Also, do you see the golden box icon in the lower right corner of the order task?"
Ren Yuanhao's gaze shifted to where the system's miss was pointing, and indeed, he saw a golden box icon.
"That signifies the possibility of obtaining an unknown item."
—Holy cow, does this even have random item drops?
"In any case, you absolutely must not miss the mysterious shop. It might have pills to resolve your three-attribute true qi, or perhaps secret manuals, and it might even have divine objects like Mermaid's Tears or Xuanhuang Pearls!"
Ren Yuanhao trembled all over. If he could obtain a container that could accommodate gold or wood attribute true qi from it, his physical condition would greatly improve.
However, he suddenly recalled what the old senior in the alley in Xiling City had said: the human limit was to only absorb three types of true qi, unless one could unlock telepathy or higher levels of Alaya consciousness. Yet, even with his cultivation, he had been stuck above three attributes his entire life, with no progress at all.
Thinking of this, Ren Yuanhao suddenly thought of a terrifying question!
"Miss, can you resolve my doubt?"
"What doubt?"
"Since there exist five-attribute true qi containers in this world, it means there are far more than the two in my body, right?"
"That's right. However, aside from the old beggar you mentioned, I haven't encountered anyone else yet."
Ren Yuanhao's face turned pale, and he added, "If someone has悟 out telepathy and Alaya consciousness, wouldn't they then go around plundering those with the other two containers?"
"You mean, if that old beggar achieved enlightenment, he would definitely come to seize the containers within your body?"
Ren Yuanhao nodded, "After all, the allure of five-attribute true qi is too great. The temptation of power is enough to make people lose their minds, isn't it?"
"You're overthinking it. Those containers are different from the ability cores within an esper's body. They absolutely cannot be stripped away, unless they naturally die and separate from the body."
"Hearing you say that, I feel a bit more at ease. Alright, I'll listen to you and choose that weapons forger woman."
...
Ren Yuanhao had never had the luxury of choosing order tasks before. The moment he selected a task, the woman who was drinking alone in the bar at that time also received the message feedback.
The woman swirled the red wine in her glass and looked at the text message notification on her phone—DiDi Partner Finder service representative Long Xiaotian is on his way. Wishing you a pleasant partner-finding experience. Reply 'td' to unsubscribe.
"What kind of bullsh*t partner-finding system is this? Are they trying to fool me?"
The woman continued to drink her red wine. Alcohol could numb her mind while also allowing her inspiration to flow.
"Here's to us!"
The woman raised her wine glass and clinked it with the three men around her who were also wearing work uniforms.
"It, it looks like the boss lady is really, really in trouble this time."
The man whose hair had not been styled for at least a week was already drunk beyond recognition. Before his wine glass could touch the woman's, he toppled forward.
"Get up and drink~ Marno, you coward, you can't even outdrink a woman!" The woman grabbed the man by his collar and poured the remaining half glass into his throat.
The man named Marno frowned in discomfort, his entire body curling up like a cooked shrimp. Not only did he vomit out the half glass of red wine, but he even regurgitated the vegetables he had eaten for lunch.
"Holy heck, it's not that bad!"
The woman shook her wine glass, laughing wildly. Some of the bar patrons gathered around like they were watching a show, joining in the laughter.
Just then, the woman suddenly felt her golden ponytail being yanked from behind!
As she was surprised, she prepared to elbow whoever it was. However, as she turned, she saw three burly men holding fists larger than her face.
"Damn woman, we finally caught you!"
"Hey, hey, hey, the three of you, do I know you?" The woman's face appeared exceptionally pale under the dance floor lights. It wasn't because she was scared, but because she was a Caucasian.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know us. You must recognize the weapons you manufactured, right?"
The man in the lead threw a piece of protective clothing, torn by sharp objects, in front of her and said coldly, "Do you know how many of our brothers and sisters your creations have harmed?"