Side Quest

Shen Nian hadn’t eaten yet, so on the way back to the neighborhood, he treated Xia Yanchun to a meal.

No particular reason—just that a sudden wind had blown a thousand bucks his way, and not spending a bit of it felt wrong.

He wondered about the purchasing power of a thousand gold coins in the other world. Here, a thousand gold coins had been converted into a thousand RMB, which wasn’t bad at all. A couple more quests, and he could easily afford luxury items like watches or handbags.

"You’ve really changed. You actually treated me to a meal," Xia Yanchun said, still a little disbelieving.

"Buddy’s got money now."

Xia Yanchun eyed him skeptically. "What did you do?"

"The wind blew it to me."

"......"

After dinner, Shen Nian swung by "Shanghai Lady" to grab some milk tea, getting a cup for Xia Yanchun too.

"You should be secretly thrilled to have a friend like me."

"As if I’ve never treated you before."

Bantering back and forth, Shen Nian soon arrived at the entrance of his apartment complex.

The neighborhood was on the older side, nowhere near as upscale as high-end complexes. Security consisted of an elderly guard, and the booth often reeked of cigarette smoke. No one complained, though. No one expected the old man to keep the place safe, but he did his job watching the gate well enough.

"Sniff…"

A little girl sat slumped on a bench, rubbing her teary eyes. Shen Nian walked ahead, glanced around, and seeing no adults nearby, approached her.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"Seriously? Who talks to people like that?" Xia Yanchun facepalmed, gently nudging Shen Nian aside before crouching down and speaking softly to the girl. "Sweetie, why are you here alone? Where are your parents?"

"Mom and Dad aren’t back yet… I came down to play with the kitty, but now the kitty’s gone. Sniff…"

"The white one?"

"Yeah… I always find it, but this time I looked everywhere and couldn’t. Did it run into the road…?"

The more she spoke, the more upset she got. At six or seven years old, she looked utterly heartbroken at the thought of something happening to the cat.

There was a stray cat in the neighborhood—people occasionally fed it, but no one had adopted it, and it was already quite old.

Shen Nian was about to comfort her like a big brother when the system panel abruptly popped up.

[Side Quest Triggered: Find the Adorable Kitty. Reward: 1,000 gold coins.]

Bam! There it was!

The quintessential RPG fetch quest—finding a cat!

Was there any RPG that didn’t have a damn cat-finding mission?

Shen Nian wasn’t particularly interested in stray animals. He’d planned to console the girl and send her home—it wasn’t safe for a kid to be out alone, even in the neighborhood. But now, he had no choice but to help find the cat.

Who would say no to a thousand bucks?

"Alright, I’ll help you look!" Shen Nian set his milk tea down, told Xia Yanchun to keep an eye on the girl, and dashed off.

Xia Yanchun blinked her almond-shaped eyes, sensing something different about Shen Nian today—though he still had that same cheeky vibe.

This was Shen Nian’s first time searching for a cat. He didn’t own one, had never even petted one. He’d made the offer confidently, but now that he was actually looking, he was stumped.

Luckily, the neighborhood wasn’t huge. After circling around, he finally spotted the cat lounging under a car.

"Pspspsps."

"Here, kitty."

"Meow."

Wow, really? No respect for this rookie adventurer?

Listen here, cat—you’re making a bad call. Watch out, or one day a certain greenhorn adventurer might wake you up in the middle of your nap just to mess with you.

"What kind of weird squat is that? Why are you sticking your butt out like that?"

Xia Yanchun had somehow shown up with the little girl in tow, staring at him like he was an idiot.

"Looking for the cat. Found it."

"Kitty!" The girl’s eyes lit up as she pulled a sausage from her pocket. The cat caught the scent and trotted over.

[Side Quest: Find the Adorable Kitty! (Completed). Reward: 1,000 gold coins.]

His phone buzzed—his bank balance had just jumped from a thousand to two thousand RMB.

"Thank you, big brother and sister! You’re the best!" The girl was polite.

"Hold up, I’m the one who found the cat. Next time, just thank me, okay?"

Xia Yanchun: "......"

Too lazy to argue. Honestly, no one but Shen Nian would care about something like that.

Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun headed upstairs together, parting ways without much chatter. Shen Nian delivered the milk tea, then got ready to shower—only for Shen Yue to stop him.

"Stay right there." Shen Yue circled him, muttering to herself.

Her little brother seemed… different. He used to have that tired, homebody vibe, but now there was a bit more youthful energy to him.

"Did I get handsomer?"

Shen Yue studied his face for a long moment before shaking her head. "Meh."

"Then why’d you stop me? I’m gonna shower."

"Go ahead."

School officially started tomorrow—senior year of high school. After pulling an all-nighter, Shen Nian planned to sleep early to reset his schedule.

Post-shower, he checked himself in the mirror. Huh. He couldn’t spot any changes either.

What’s the point of +1 Charm, huh? System, I swear, if this isn’t on a ten-point scale but a hundred-point one…

Cross-legged, he pulled up the system interface.

The main quest was still there:

[Main Quest: Courage is the Ode of Humanity!

Defeat a low-level monster for the first time. Reward: 1,000 gold coins.]

Shen Nian stood at 182 cm and weighed 75 kg. He’d never played sports, didn’t have superhuman lung capacity, and hadn’t built any impressive muscles.

Right…

So you’re telling me—an average guy—to go fight a monster?

Bravo, system. Not even pretending anymore.

Then again, considering his sister was a "Saintess" and yogurt was "holy water," the system’s idea of a "monster" was probably… unconventional.

The problem was, without knowing what counted as a monster, there was no way to hunt one.

And how was "defeat" defined? Did he have to land the killing blow himself?

If the system classified livestock like pigs, cows, or sheep as monsters, it might be doable. But if it went nuts and labeled aggressive, hard-to-find animals like tigers, lions, or crocodiles as monsters…

Welp. Game over. Trash system, don’t screw with me. I play Naruto—mess around and I’ll hit you with the "Mother-Extraction Jutsu."

Still, he’d made two grand today. The rewards weren’t life-changing, but at least he wouldn’t have to stress over pocket money during senior year.

The next day, Monday.

Shen Nian woke up early and rode the elevator down with Xia Yanchun.

"Didn’t sleep well. Got too used to lazing around during break. Now we have to leave by six every morning…" Xia Yanchun yawned, her backpack sagging to her butt.

"Tell me, why do we get up so early every day…?"

"To prep for our future lives as corporate drones," Shen Nian answered.

Xia Yanchun scoffed. "I could score 650 with my feet. You bust your ass for 500. Clearly, you’re the one destined for wage slavery."

"Oh yeah? Well, just you wait. Once I get serious, I’m gonna surpass you—hard."

"Is that sexual harassment?"

"Password-protected Xia Yanchun, you're such a shrimp-head, with such a filthy mind!"

Shen Nian couldn't hold back—who was the narcissistic one here? Did they even have the looks of a boundary-pushing Xu Sheng to be this full of themselves?

Xia Yanchun didn’t take the insult to heart. Since Shen Nian had treated her to a meal and bubble tea the day before, she returned the favor by buying him breakfast.

Pork and egg rice noodle rolls + two shumai + two tea eggs + a serving of xiaolongbao.

"Are you a pig? Eating that much." Xia Yanchun felt full just looking at it.

Shen Nian stayed silent, devouring everything as he walked, shoveling food into his mouth. Once he finished, he started rambling again.

"Hey, do you think there’ll be any transfer students in our grade this year?"

"Maybe. Who knows?"

"Heh, what if a blonde rich girl transfers in and becomes my new desk mate? Sounds interesting."

"Idiot."

Shen Nian wanted to snap back, but the words died in his throat. Instead, his lips curled into a smug, devil-may-care grin.

Xia Yanchun felt a chill down her spine.

Getting scolded and still happy about it? A... a masochist?

God, after two months apart, had Shen Nian mutated or something?

But Shen Nian wasn’t happy about being insulted—it was just that another side quest had triggered.

[Side Quest Activated: Fully Prepared Before Departure!

As you embark on your journey, you’ll face bloodthirsty monsters and the darkness of human nature. Head to the weapon shop and gear up. Reward: 1,000 gold.]

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