After climbing past the croc’s carcass, Laughing Soul and Xiao Tan continued their journey. Because they had taken this path before, when they took it again, they moved faster. Several minutes later, they reached the part where they first encountered the monster. After walking for a while, the sight before them opened up. The tunnel that was widening eventually reached a stone cave that was incredibly large. The ground and roof were filled with stalactite and stalagmite. With the sun filtering through, those stones glistened and shone like jewels. The spectacle was impressive. Due to the irregularity of the walls and the crisscrossing of rocks, it was hard to see the entirety of the cave at one glance.
“We’ll split up… Try to find a path that leads out of there,” Laughing Soul said.
Xiao Tan nodded and pointed at his side. “I’ll go this way.”
Each of them had their own lighting devices, and the cave had good acoustics. As long as they did not run into any splits, they should not be worried about getting separated. Therefore, Laughing Soul did not dawdle and headed in the other direction.
Unfortunately, Laughing Soul was unlucky. The path that she picked soon reached a dead end. After walking through a wet patch of land, a larger pool blocked her way. The size was about the same as the one they had fallen into earlier, but the top of this pool was sealed, and the rock wall that surrounded the pool was a sign that this way was a dead end.
She turned back and soon reached the spot where she parted from Xiao Tan. Then she headed in Xiao Tan’s direction. It did not take long for her to see Xiao Tan’s light and his elongated shadow next to a boulder. Xiao Tan heard her approaching footsteps, so he poked his head out from the turn in the cave. “What did you find over there?”
“It was a dead end,” Laughing Soul answered. “What about you? What are you doing standing there?”
“I seem to have found a door.”
“Oh?” Laughing Soul reached Xiao Tan’s side while she spoke. She also saw the ’door’. It was an octagonal shape, and the surface had a metallic feel to it. It was larger than a fridge and blocked what looked like a tunnel. The device was facing them, and in the center of it was a patch with a conspicuously different color. When touching it, the game menu appeared before the players. That confirmed that this was a game feature and had nothing to do with the world building.
“Is it a puzzle?” Laughing Soul asked.
“Use your hand and touch that spot.” Xiao Tan pointed at the patch with a different color. Laughing Soul looked at him and then took a step forward to use the tip of her finger to touch the spot that Xiao Tan referred to.
“Oh! So, it’s this kind of puzzle…” When she saw the question that appeared, she instantly put on a relaxed expression, and she sounded somewhat prideful.
“Ah yes, it’s that kind of puzzle.”
“Have you been standing here solving this?” Laughing Soul asked.
“But once you came over to talk to me, I forgot all that I’ve counted…” Xiao Tan sighed.
“The answer is seventy-five,” Laughing Soul said as she used her finger to trace out those two Arabic numbers on the piece of metal. The next second, the piece that was different colored turned the same as elsewhere.
Like a flower, the octagon started to bloom. The pieces of metal turned and spread out on the walls and floor of the cave, allowing them to pass through. In the middle of this octagon was a piece of equipment sitting as if waiting for them.
Xiao Tan gasped. “You calculated it so quickly?”
“That was a small case.” Laughing Soul lifted her head to look at him. “The problems that I solve during my past time are hander than this.”
The puzzle was actually a nine by nine sudoku. It had already provided plenty of numbers, and it was relatively simple. The menu also said that the players did not need to complete all the boxes, only the few specific ones just to prove that they knew how to count. This was a puzzle that even a primary school student could answer, but without the aid of pen and paper, it took longer. To put it simply, it was a short-term memory, arithmetic, and logical test. It did not involve anything else, and this was exactly what Laughing Soul was good at.
“Your usual past time is scary… Are you a mathematician in real life?” Xiao Tan asked.
“I’m just good in that subject,” Laughing Soul said. “Plus… where are you going to find such a young mathematician? I just graduated two months ago.”
“Is that so? It seems like you’re good at science subjects then. That’s surprising,” Xiao Tan said.
Laughing Soul huffed and retorted, “I am the one who thinks you do not look like one who studies medicine. You’re as easily scared as a mouse.”
Xiao Tan merely smiled and did not say anything. He walked forward to study the equipment inside the octagon. “You should pick this up in case it’s bound equipment.”
“It’s clear that I don’t need this. If it’s bound, then I’ll most likely sell it at the storage,” Laughing Soul said. “You pick it up.”
She was not wrong because the item on the ground looked like boxing gloves. A shooting specialist would have a hard time pulling the trigger wearing those, so it was pointless. Xiao Tan heard that, so he went to pick it up.
———
Name: Vending Machine Hitter
Item Type: Weapon
Quality: Excellent
Offense Point: Slightly Weak
Element: None
Special Effect: One percent chance to trigger ’the Hitter’s persistence’.
Equip Requirement: Level above 25, Fighting or General Ability C
Remark: Have you experienced vending machines eating your coins? If you have, you should know that hitting them lightly is pointless. Only a hit right on the weak spot will make the machine operate like normal again.
PS. Yes, I have once made a man-eating demon cough up his own pancreas.
———
Xiao Tan looked at it and passed it to Laughing Soul for her to see the attributes. “Thankfully, it’s not bound. This weapon is not for me at all, and I need another eight levels before I can use it.”
“This weapon will be powerful on a fast player that specializes in fist fights.” Laughing Soul studied the item and suggested, “You should put it up for auction. It might sell for a good price.”
“Hmm… I’ll see after this scenario is over.” Xiao Tan took the item back and placed it inside his inventory.
They continued their journey and walked through the unlocked path. They moved down a newly opened tunnel. They walked for several steps, and Laughing Soul was reminded of something. “By the way, you are not lacking game coins, right? How about you gift the equipment to the leader? That will be equal to giving him six digits in game coins.”
“Brother Jue wouldn’t want it,” Xiao Tan answered readily. “Be it in real life or in-game, giving him money directly or indirectly will be rejected.”
“Sigh… A man’s twisted pride…” Laughing Soul dragged out her tone.
“You can’t put it that way. This is not just the matter of pride.” Xiao Tan denied Laughing Soul’s statement seriously. “For two friends who have a great gulf in their economic status, if they want to maintain a friendship, the most important thing is not having constant and uneven interactions in matters of money. Or else, once this drags on, the basic trust and equality between the two will be lost.”
Laughing Soul looked at him silently for several seconds and then smiled. “Based on what you said… are you a rich young master?”
“Er…” Xiao Tan hesitated before answering. “I suppose so…”
“Yes is yes; no is no. It’s nothing embarrassing. Are you afraid of admitting you come from money?” Laughing Soul challenged.
Xiao Tan indeed had his reservations. Since he was young, other than the issue of friendship he talked about, the other problem that had harangued him was… All the girlfriends he had came for his money, or their attitude changed once they knew he was loaded. Xiao Tan was the kind of person who would still think the other person had their reasons for acting a certain way even after he knew he was being lied to. If not for his close friends—Feng Bujue and Master Bao—helping him, Wang Tanzhi’s name would have become equivalent to easy prey a long time ago.
Xiao Tan turned around and wanted to explain it. “Ha ha… Actually, it’s not that. I’m also not as rich as…”
Before he could finish, he was cut off.
“Don’t worry.” Laughing Soul stood on her tiptoes to pat Xiao Tan’s head like a pet. “Even if I know your family is very rich, my treatment of you wouldn’t change.”
The sadistic glow in her eyes were showing. “Because my family is definitely richer than yours, so in my eyes, you are nothing but a poor person.”
What kind of confidence is that? Is your father one of the richest men in the world? Xiao Tan thought but did not voice that out loud. Instead, he said, “Hmm… This is the first time I’ve been called poor in my life, but how come it feels quite nice?”
“That’s because you’re an M,” Laughing Soul answered easily. She was not banned from saying that because probably the system agreed with her.
The two chatted and soon reached a junction in the tunnel. The three tunnels looked the same from where they stood. There was nothing special about each of them, and there was nothing like a road sign to tell them what to expect.
“Which one shall we take?” Laughing Soul asked.
“Huh? Shouldn’t that be my question?” Xiao Tan asked. “Haven’t you been making all the decisions?”
“For this kind of meaningless choice, you should be the one doing it.” Laughing Soul shrugged. If Feng Bujue was there, he would make the same choice. Those who interacted with Xiao Tan once would understand how lucky the man was.
“Er… Then…” Xiao Tan’s miner hat turned left and right before the man finally said, “We’ll take the middle one then.”