Rules of the Strange: I Can See Through All the Weird

"Hmm... It's said that the founder of the second-ranked guild never expected to climb to its current position. He just randomly created a guild and named it after his team."

At this point, Xu Ning's eyes lit up.

"How about we start a guild and have some fun? I heard top-ranked guilds offer generous rewards. We can enter dungeons only with guild members to increase our success rate."

Qi Tong shook her head: "That would create more entanglements in the strange world."

"Too......"

Seeing Qi Tong's lack of interest, Xu Ning felt a little anxious.

She is an introverted and sensitive person, and she is always the first to notice when anyone around her is acting strangely.

Qi Tong seems to have been listless ever since she cleared the third dungeon.

However, she cannot draw any conclusions prematurely.

"Oh right! I got an S score in the last dungeon, and I'm sure I'll be on the newbie leaderboard next week!"

Xu Ning said excitedly, "I wonder what reward items I'll get!"

"Congratulations! The props that Chen Jie was able to influence the live stream were probably the newcomer ranking reward props, and yours will definitely be just as good."

Seeing that Qi Tong's emotions were still not very turbulent, Xu Ning could finally be sure that something was wrong with Qi Tong.

Xu Ning never kept secrets from her friends, so she thought about it and asked.

Qi Tong didn't try to hide anything and silently poured out her inexplicable emotions.

Xu Ning stated that she did not have such thoughts.

"I've always treated this like a game, never thinking about it or empathizing with it. Otherwise, given my personality, I would have been so internally drained that I couldn't sleep."

"I understand these principles, and I have compassion, but I also know that I can't help many people with my abilities, and the same is true in the real world."

"But I don't know why, as I helped them eliminate their obsessions and recall their stories in the dungeon, I felt my emotions amplified infinitely and repeatedly eroded me."

After listening to Qi Tong's words, Xu Ning lowered her eyes and pondered.

After a moment, she looked up at Qi Tong and said seriously, "Could it be because of your status as the Chosen One?"

Then she shook her head. "No, it shouldn't be like that. Isn't your system a dating system?"

Qi Tong, who had been silent all along, interrupted her.

"Maybe...it really is true."

Qi Tong told Xu Ning about the evolution of System 666 and the announcement at the end of the dungeon.

"Emotional intervention?! Isn't that like having a cheat code?"

As Xu Ning said this, she hugged the cushion to her chest, her eyes widening to a point larger than the rim of a coffee cup.

"It's not that time yet. The six need to be upgraded to 100%; right now it's just emotional analysis."

"The emotional analysis is amazing! The condition for clearing the level is to uncover the secrets of the dungeon, and the emotions are all transparently laid out in front of you..."

Qi Tong shook his head.

"That's true. But I also experienced side effects."

Xu Ning fell silent. She put the cushion she was holding aside, sat up straight, and looked at Qi Tong.

"Indeed, then we can draw a conclusion. Because you perceive too many emotions and feelings, these things are amplified infinitely within you, absorbing too much negative energy, which is why you are like this now."

Qi Tong didn't speak, but the fingers that were tightly gripping the teacup loosened, and the pad of her finger traced half a circle along the rim of the cup.

"Do you know why I don't allow myself to empathize? It's not because I don't care. It's because I know that once I start thinking about it, I can't stop."

She looked up at Qi Tong. "I just kept those things you were thinking of out of reach. But you always went in. That's not weakness. It's proof that you're braver than anyone else."

Qi Tong looked down at the teacup in her hand.

The flower tea had gone cold; the rose petals had sunk to the bottom of the cup, their color fading from deep red to light pink.

She thought for a long time before speaking, her voice very soft.

"I'm not actually afraid of being tired. What I'm afraid of is getting used to it. I'm afraid that after completing twelve dungeons, I'll become numb and feel nothing when I see these tragedies again."

"At that time, could I still be considered a 'human being' in the true sense?"

"You won't."

Xu Ning said with certainty.

"Although I've only played through two dungeons with you, I know that you will never become the kind of person you describe—someone who lets his wife come in to take revenge in a library, someone who gets the completion item in a mental hospital but doesn't choose to complete the game."

"Xu Ning".

"Um?"

"What should we have for dinner?"

Xu Ning looked at her, then stood up and picked up her phone from the coffee table.

"A new barbecue restaurant just opened in Wanwu City. My treat."

"Should we call him Qin Yu?"

"He'll most likely just reply with a period."

"hair."

Xu Ning posted it. A few seconds later, the screen lit up.

Qin Yu replied with a single word, "Okay."

"...He didn't use a period this time."

"Perhaps the barbecue is more appealing."

Qi Tong chuckled. She stood up, folded the blanket, placed it on the sofa armrest, and went into the bathroom to dry her hair.

My hair had just been dried when my phone, which was lying on the sofa, rang.

Qi Tong opened her phone and saw a friend request from "Night Walker" on the forum.

At the same time, Xu Ning's phone vibrated.

"Chen Jie has added me as a friend."

"Me too."

"Get Rich Quick 666" has accepted your friend request.

Half a Lemon Tree has accepted your friend request.

Dark Night Walker has invited "Half a Lemon Tree, Get Rich Nonstop 666" to join the group chat.

Night Walker: Are you all free tonight? I'd like to treat you all to dinner as an apology.

Night Walker: Do you have Qin Yu's contact information? Let's bring him in too; he was one of my revenge targets at first.

Night Walker: Is anyone there?

Night Walker: You can eat whatever you want, order whatever you like, it's on me.

Qi Tong stared at the line on her phone screen: "The Night Walker has started a group chat: If you're here, type 1".

Her freshly dried hair was still loosely draped over her shoulders as she leaned against the sofa armrest, her lips twitching slightly.

"Is he organizing a team-building activity?"

She muttered something to herself and typed "1" on the screen.

After sending it, she stared at the line "Get rich quick 666" for a while, then added, "Barbecue. Your treat."

The group chat was quiet for a moment.

Then Nightwalker sent a message: "Received. What time? Where?"

Xu Ning also typed "1" in the group and casually forwarded the address of the barbecue restaurant.

Qin Yu hadn't replied yet after being added to the group, but his avatar was lit up, indicating that he was reading the group messages and was probably debating whether to put a period at the end.

Qi Tong placed her phone on the coffee table, and suddenly the "666" voice in her mind popped up: [Host, Chen Jie's favorability towards you has increased again. His favorability towards you is now higher than his hatred.]

"How much is it now?"

[My hatred level dropped to 20 in the dungeon, and now it's only 5. As for favorability... well, I'm a little embarrassed to say.]

"explain."

[Fifty. But not that kind of affection! It's more like, he sees the host as someone he can trust. Like how the host feels about Xu Ning, but not that kind of...]

"Alright, stop explaining, I know what it is."

She changed her clothes and picked up her phone.

Qin Yu finally replied, with just one word: "Okay".

In the group chat, Chen Jie sent another message: "Qin Yu is coming too? Then I'll order an extra serving of beef tongue. I remember he mentioned during his previous live stream that he likes beef tongue."

Qi Tong stared at the message for a moment.

Chen Jie had watched Qin Yu's live stream.

Chen Jie knew what Qin Yu liked to eat.

How much preparation did this person do for revenge?

Now all of this homework has become reference material for inviting people over for dinner.