All my teammates online are my girlfriends

Before she could react, she was picked up and a tired, listless voice sounded in her ear—

"What are you thinking about, Chie? Why are you here all alone? Where's Lin Qiu?"

"Dad! What are you doing here?!"

Turning around, Qianhui saw Lin Yichuan's face, which was clearly showing signs of staying up too late, and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"I was off work and thought you might still be here, so I came to check, and you are still here. Where's Lin Qiu? Did he go back to play games and leave you here alone?"

Lin Yichuan affectionately pinched Qianhui's little face, put her back on the ground, and asked again.

I was planning to go out with Lao Qin after get off work today, but he got a phone call and left in a hurry, so I had to come back early.

Luckily, my wife isn't home, otherwise I would definitely get a scolding for being like this!

"Brother Lin Qiu went to get something, and he's just back now."

The sharp-eyed Chie immediately spotted Lin Qiu returning with a large bag on his back.

"Huh? Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by after get off work, so I left. I'm going home right away. I'm starving and I'm looking forward to enjoying Chie's cooking."

Lin Yichuan greeted them, not paying too much attention to the bag's origin.

Chie, on the other hand, twitched her little nose and smelled a woman's fragrance emanating from the bag...

033 - The Fish-Stealing Cat's Growing Psychological Imbalance

"Ugh—it's even more tiring than listening to school leaders speak."

Muttering listlessly, Lin Qiu sank deep into the sofa.

"What, were you dragged to do chores by your parents over the weekend?"

The fish-stealing cat, who was sitting to the side drinking fruit tea, casually asked a question.

"No, it's not that. It's other kinds of trouble. Never mind, I'm not going to talk about it. It gives me a headache just thinking about it."

Recalling Ji Ruoyun's strange gaze, Lin Qiu felt a chill run down his spine.

Hopefully, Qianqiu won't get too involved with the other party, otherwise it will really affect his gaming!

"Hmm - you seem pretty troubled. Well, I had a pretty good day."

Seeing the guy's big head, the fish-stealing cat's mood immediately improved.

"Why isn't Qingyuan online yet? Is she going to work on the weekend?"

"He probably went to be with his sister."

Lin Qiu glanced at the empty seat next to him and said casually.

No matter how busy he is, he still goes online every day, so there's no need to worry too much about that.

Instead, I'd rather think about where to farm materials today!

"Oh ha - I'm back."

Not long after the room fell silent, the figure of the fermented rice balls suddenly appeared in the living room.

The weathered-looking man wore a smile, clearly indicating that something good had happened.

"Yuanzi's been up pretty late today too. You're smiling so happily, is business particularly good at the bar today?"

"It's alright. I played cards with an old friend and won all of his wine collection. It was a huge win."

Yuanzi explained with a cheerful smile, already calculating in her mind how many days she would have to drink all that red wine.

Lin Qiu and the Fish-Stealing Cat looked at each other, not paying too much attention to how much the guy had won. Instead, they imagined him as a delinquent uncle in real life.

Opening a bar, gambling, drinking... definitely a delinquent!

"Sorry, I'm late."

Following Yuanzi, Qingyuan has finally made her debut.

In stark contrast to Yuanzi, her face was filled with a helpless and frustrated expression.

"Wow, your expression is just like when Huiyuan first came online. Did you get tortured over the weekend?"

Looking at Qingyuan's expression, the Fish-Stealing Cat couldn't help but complain, "You two aren't both tormented by the same thing, are you?"

"It's just something to do with my family, nothing serious. Where do I plan to go today?"

Qingyuan shook her head, not intending to elaborate on the matter further; if she continued, she would almost have a heart attack!

"After I sold the information about the Edge Ruins, there are a lot of people there now. If you don't want to squeeze in, come with me to do a team mission."

After thinking for a moment, the fish-stealing cat said that he had recently obtained some mission information, but the specific details still needed to be verified. He would go and take a look today.

Upon hearing that there was a mission, Lin Qiu and Qing Yuan's eyes immediately lit up—

"Hidden mission?"

"No, it's just that the process of this mission is said to be a bit strange, and the players didn't dare to continue, so they asked me to check it out."

The fish-stealing cat frowned and said that when that player found him, he looked quite flustered.

I happened to be free at the time, so I took it on. Today, two expert players, Huiyuan and Qingyuan, are both here. It's just a task, I should be able to complete it, right?

"Weird?"

Lin Qiu scratched his head, somewhat confused. Shouldn't the problem with the mission be with the GM customer service?

Maybe it's a bug?

"He didn't say much about the specifics, but we'll find out when we go and see for ourselves."

The cat who stole the fish called out, and with a few light taps in the air, a scroll suddenly appeared on the table.

The three of them peered over and saw that the scroll was made of ordinary sheepskin. Apart from the information about the mission, it only had the symbol of a city-state drawn on it, and there was nothing special about it.

"Let me see... The Knights of Shutrinia have issued a quest. Recently, a band of thieves has been gathering outside the city, seemingly plotting to attack. They are recruiting adventurers to thwart their scheme, limited to teams of four or fewer... The reward looks good!"

Looking at the marked rewards, Lin Qiu became very excited.

Although it's not a main quest, the rewards are far more generous than all the main quests I can do right now combined!

"Right? With such generous rewards, the task can only be found by searching. Logically, once a player finds it, their first thought should be to complete it themselves before sharing it with others."

The cat who stole the fish narrowed its eyes slightly, and its voice involuntarily lowered—

"But so far, all the players who accepted the mission have chosen to give up at the beginning of the mission. Even if they reported the problem to customer service, the answer they received was the same: there is no problem."

"What could be the problem? All the current tasks are well-organized."

Sweet Fermented Rice Balls felt a little uneasy; the other party hadn't even revealed this crucial information.

Could this be a trap set by a player?

"Anyway, with Qingyuan and the cunning merchant around, there's no mission we can't overcome."

FishCat holds these two expert players in very high regard.

In terms of combat power, Qingyuan is definitely the ceiling of "Sky Realm", so terrifying that even equipment and level can be ignored to a certain extent.

As for Lin Zhonghuiyuan... he's rich! He's probably the richest and most central character in "Karakuri".

Even if you can't complete the quest, you can just throw out some alchemy potions and gold coins, and a bunch of players will definitely help you solve the problem.

Besides, his gaming skills are second only to Qingyuan's. If the two of them team up, no one can stop them.

"Hey - I know Qingyuan, but I didn't expect Huiyuan to be so amazing too."

The sweet fermented rice balls smacked their lips, looking at Lin Qiu with some surprise.

Previously in the Edge Ruins, this guy only showed the level of a normal player and the efficiency of sacrificing teammates, but he hid his other aspects quite well.

"This guy likes to slack off, so unless you're very close to him, you really wouldn't know."

Speaking of this, FishStealingCat glared at him with annoyance. If he hadn't been randomly matched with this guy in the arena and been thoroughly humiliated, he would never have known that this guy was so ruthless!

Because of this thing, I didn't dare to go to the arena for a whole week!

"Hey—Huiyuan, shall we go to the arena to practice together next time?"

"Sure, you can choose the mode then."

"Alright, that's enough for now. Let's get ready and head over to Shutlina's place in a bit."

After the two made their appointment, the fish-stealing cat also told them to put the scroll away.

"Wait a moment, I'll go to my room to recover my stamina and health. I logged off in a hurry earlier and didn't have time to replenish them."

"I'll go down too, you guys sit for a while."

Watching Lin Qiu and Qing Yuan go upstairs, the Fish-Stealing Cat suddenly felt that his friendship had cracked open.

There's a room upstairs that should have been his, you bastard!

034-Lin Qiu's ill-fated relationship with the Knights' Hall

The magnificent, pure white palace, like a wild beast, sits on the east side of the square. Even with its doors wide open without any regard for safety, it still inspires awe and makes people dare not approach.

The knights guarding the gate were all dressed in heavy silver armor, their sharp eyes scanning the passersby.

The faint, bloody aura emanating from them was chilling, as if they had already taken many lives. Many of the knights even had scars on their faces, adding to their menacing presence.

Of course, these things pose no threat to adventurers. For them, who are constantly running back and forth to accept quests, this place is just like home.

This is the Knights' Hall of Shutrinia, which usually provides adventurers with various commissions to help them deal with the Empire's troubles.

Lin Qiu is also a very special regular here.

Looking up at the familiar hall, the sweet rice ball standing to the side clearly showed the pain in his face.

"what happened to him?"

Yuanzi asked the fish-stealing cat out of curiosity, her intuition telling her that there was probably a story behind it!

However, the fish-stealing cat didn't answer immediately. Instead, it asked a meaningful question—

Do you think this hall is beautiful?

"It's beautiful! This must be the most magnificent building in Shutrinia besides the Imperial Palace, right? But what does it have to do with Huiyuan...?"

"He invested in the reconstruction."

"..."

Hearing the fish-stealing cat's nonchalant reply, Jiu Niang Yuanzi's words were stuck in her throat before she could finish speaking.

He gazed deeply at Lin Qiu, who was looking on with a sigh, and for a moment he didn't know where to begin his rant.

Dude, did you own the bank in this game?!

"Are alchemical potions really this profitable?!"

"There's no way around it, one of the features of this game is those coveted hidden skills."

The fish-stealing cat shrugged helplessly. If he could, he would even trade all his possessions for the shady merchant's skills.

"Although alchemy doesn't offer direct combat assistance, it's definitely at the pinnacle of life skills."

“Qingyuan also has hidden skills. In a one-on-one fight, Huiyuan would definitely be the one getting beaten up. But as long as he uses some potions as payment, he can definitely bring a bunch of people to overwhelm Qingyuan.”

"Isn't eye-type skill one of the hidden skills? I remember you mentioned it before."

Sweet Fermented Rice Balls blinked, glancing enviously at Lin Qiu and Qing Yuan, wishing they had that kind of skill too.

"Pretty much, but hidden skills are also graded. Skills like eye-type skills, which can be obtained by multiple people, are considered pseudo-hidden skills. Huiyuan's alchemy is a true hidden skill; only he has it in the entire game."

"Oh—then he's struck it rich!"

"That's how it is now, but the future is uncertain. Every game update adds a lot of hidden skills, and it's not impossible that future updates will add skills similar to alchemy."

The fish-stealing cat glanced at the guy, thinking that one day it would also get a similar skill and see how the guy could fight it!

Sweet Rice Balls nodded thoughtfully, their desire for hidden skills growing stronger.

"But even if he's rich, why is he able to invest in rebuilding the Temple of Knights?"

Of course, Yuanzi didn't ask about the important matter, but couldn't help asking a question.