Chapter 61: The Benefits of Flattering a Beautiful Woman

A round trip took Li Xin twenty-four minutes. The six minutes remaining were clearly not enough.
Natasha’s smile reappeared, but in Li Xin’s eyes, it was no longer sincere or kind—rather, it seemed sly and mocking. So, foreign NPCs even assign quests based on a player’s nationality, distinguishing between higher and lower status.
Li Xin couldn’t help but feel indignant. This was a game developed together by everyone, yet national and ethnic discrimination was embedded in it—it was truly infuriating.
“Sir, you have five minutes left,” Natasha reminded him again, her tone now sounding more like ridicule. NPCs nearby began to snicker in unison. Players who failed to complete their tasks lost credibility and favor with NPCs, making it much harder to get good quests in the future.
“Just you wait, pretty lady,” Li Xin gritted his teeth, stood up, and dashed out.
He vaguely heard Natasha’s voice behind him: “Another incompetent failure.”
Failure? You must be joking! Attribute panel!
The scene before his eyes flashed and the mechanical interface appeared. Li Xin immediately added ten more points to his speed stat.
Whoosh!
He shot out even faster. The NPCs on either side only saw a blur—some black shadow streaked past before they could react.
If Li Xin’s previous speed was like a Ferrari supercar with a 5.0L V6 engine, now he was a Dodge Challenger Hellcat with a 6.2L V8—faster, more powerful. The leap wasn’t simply a matter of moving from forty to fifty attribute points, or a mere twenty percent increase.
Such was the perverse beauty of King of Games: there was always stronger, never strongest.
Two minutes—Li Xin reached the store.
One minute—helped by the salesgirl, he bought the correct ABC ultra-thin pads.
Two minutes—Li Xin returned to the ticket counter.
One minute left, and there were still three customers ahead of him. At the rate of one ticket per minute, he was out of time. Natasha was busy; the previous customers had already gone, so no one noticed him.
“What should I do?” Li Xin frowned, thinking quickly.
Cutting in line: definitely not, everyone here was a civilized citizen and such tricks might even provoke NPC hostility. Pass!
Asking for help: possible, but talking to all three would easily take longer than a minute. Pass!
Bribery: Yes, that’s the only way.

Li Xin immediately tapped the burly man in front. The man turned to speak but, seeing the cash in Li Xin’s hand, grinned, took the money, and let him cut in line.
The second person was a young girl. This time, Li Xin offered a beautiful hair clip—problem solved!
Where did the hair clip come from?
Hush—he’d just snatched it, quick as lightning, from a passing beauty’s hair…
He swapped places with the girl just as the first person finished their transaction.
“Hello, what do you…” Natasha greeted him with her professional smile, only to freeze in surprise.
The Chinese she thought would fail had returned, smiling triumphantly before her.
“You… how did you…” Natasha covered her lips, staring at him in shock, murmuring to herself.
“Here are your ultra-thin pads,” Li Xin said.
Ding!
Quest complete.
“Reward: 155 merit points, 2 points in Public Favor, 20 combat power.”
Ding!
“Special reward: a set of thoughtful little cotton jackets for women.”
Leaving the stunned NPC saleswoman Natasha behind, Li Xin headed lightly toward the checkpoint. The quest was small, completed just in time, and the rewards weren’t much, but its significance was great. It was his first civilian quest; had he failed, his Public Favor might have dropped from one to negative, and NPCs everywhere would likely start giving him the cold shoulder.
He checked his stats:
Merit points: 15,345 (Comprehensive attributes * 1,000)
Combat Power: 1,520 (Comprehensive attributes * 100)
Public Favor: 3 (Full value: 100, gained randomly upon quest completion)
As long as he kept completing quests to gain merit points and combat power, he’d meet the standards for promotion. A good start, and Li Xin was fairly satisfied. But thinking over the game’s progress and mechanics, he noticed a few bugs.
At the start, everyone began on equal footing, completing similar quests, quickly rising in rank. But as time went on and more quests were completed, everyone’s rank would rise. By then, a hundred thousand players would be a hundred thousand company commanders, a million would be a million generals—how could the five great legions accommodate such numbers?

Odyssey was developed jointly by four major gaming companies, with designers of unquestionable talent and skill—they couldn’t have missed this bug. Clearly, there would be balancing mechanisms in the later stages.
At that point, it would be up to each player’s abilities, resourcefulness, and luck.
While pondering, he’d already reached security. He was about to open his backpack for inspection when a woman’s urgent voice called from behind. He turned—Natasha. Li Xin smiled faintly.
“Hello, Miss Natasha. Is there something you need from me?”
Natasha was out of breath, her smooth forehead beaded with sweat, her chest heaving adorably with every gasp. She realized Li Xin was about to enter the checkpoint and hurried over.
“Mr. Yiran, I want to apologize for what happened earlier.”
He replied with a gentle smile, “My dear lady, you are like the stars in the sky—noble and beautiful. It was I who failed to complete the task you entrusted to me; the fault is mine, not yours. I’m sorry, I must go through security now. If I get another chance, I’d like to treat you to a meal.” Li Xin bowed with impeccable manners.
He’d wanted to praise this NPC beauty with the finest words—didn’t someone once say that in games, you should always flatter the NPCs? Only when they’re happy will you reap the greatest rewards. Unfortunately, Li Xin’s vocabulary and experience were lacking, and his compliments sounded a bit clumsy.
Natasha’s laughter grew brighter, her eyes sparkling with an unusual light. Of course, she knew this man was being deliberately courteous, trying to win her favor. Normally, given her personality, she’d have no fondness for a Chinese man, but when it came to him, she couldn’t muster any dislike—on the contrary, she felt deep curiosity and delight.
“Mr. Yiran, do you always please women like this?”
“No!” Li Xin suddenly became solemn. “I rarely interact with women, and I’ve never praised one before. What I said just now came truly from the heart; it was a sincere compliment.”
The first part was true—he really didn’t spend much time with women; the second, however, might have been stretching the truth!
Natasha laughed even more merrily, and the other NPCs at the checkpoint all turned to admire her beauty. Li Xin knew he’d just won this round.
Sure enough—ding!
“Congratulations! You’ve gained Natasha’s favor. Public Favor +1.”
Ding!
New Quest: Help Natasha deliver a package to her friend in Santiago.