Only Counts as a Green Player

Xia Yanchun playfully showed her disgust.

The "defeat CG" was already playing in her head. Anyone who didn't know better would think Shen Nian hadn't woken up yet and was still daydreaming.

Regardless of whose defeat CG it was, Shen Nian was clearly the one taking advantage of the situation.

In the afternoon, the concrete ground was scorched by the sun, radiating waves of heat.

Shen Nian could hardly stand it. He didn't dare to imagine how hot it would be without air conditioning; he'd probably be drenched in sweat just from moving around.

It really was getting hotter every year. That was just how summers in the south were.

Thank goodness the break rooms at the breeding farm were equipped with AC. Given the environment there, it would be incredibly hard to get any work done without air conditioning and a place to rest.

Blowing the AC in such sweltering weather made it so easy to feel sleepy. Just a moment ago, Xia Yanchun had been playfully fighting him off and complaining about his clinginess, but after messing around, she was already drowsy.

"Go to sleep if you're tired."

"Then I'll nap for a bit. Wake me up before four o'clock."

"Alright. By the way, isn't today Sunday? Why isn't your dad home?"

"He doesn't have work, but a friend dragged him out for tea over near the middle school."

"Oh."

That darn Uncle Xia actually went out to drink tea with a friend on the day Haji-chun got her exam results, completely ignoring my Haji-chun.

Shen Nian couldn't swallow this grievance and decided to take revenge on Uncle Xia's daughter. Hehehe, this was the price Uncle Xia had to pay for neglecting my Haji-chun.

So, he planted a loud kiss on Xia Yanchun's cheek.

Xia Yanchun didn't mind it at all, simply rubbing the spot he had kissed against Shen Nian's pillow.

It didn't take long for Xia Yanchun's breathing to gradually slow down. It was faint and light, and the sleeping girl looked like a soft, fluffy little sparrow.

The air conditioner hummed quietly.

As Shen Nian stared at Xia Yanchun's lightly sleeping face, he checked the system main quest that had recently been settled.

The main quest had been completed the moment he checked his scores on the website, but Shen Nian hadn't looked at it until now. Only after the recent commotion had died down did he finally have the peace of mind to check.

[Main Quest: The Source of All Calamity (Completed)

Reward: 100,000 Gold Coins, Title: Hero (Charisma +5, Stamina +5, Agility +5)]

The [Hero] title was the highest tier of the [Adventurer] title, directly replacing the [Legendary Adventurer] slot, providing a boost to Charisma, Stamina, and Agility.

Shen Nian didn't actually feel like he had gotten much stronger. He couldn't clearly feel the extra few attribute points; it was only when he first got Agility +3 that he had distinctly noticed a change in himself.

Hero... that was pretty good.

Shen Nian had thought that becoming the top scorer in the exams would unlock some hidden achievement or something, but it seemed he was overthinking it.

After the main quest was completed, aside from the reward settlement, there was another pop-up window, which Shen Nian checked as well.

[You have completed your adventure, repelled the world's calamity, and slain the Demon King, achieving the illustrious name of the Hero. From now on, you will be known to everyone across the world.

The purpose of the Hero drawing their sword has never been to end the darkness, but to light the lamps of the human realm. May the years to come be free of disaster and hardship, may people's hearts hold light, and may the path ahead be smooth. May all bravery and kindness be treated gently by the world.

The Demon King is never truly defeated. Perhaps in a hundred years, or fifty, ten, or even less, the Demon King will still make a comeback through the resentment and sorrow of all things in the world.

You, who have achieved the name of the Hero, have already illuminated the path for the generations to come.]

[Main Quest, Complete.]

"..."

Shen Nian read it word by word. It really had the flavor of an old-school classic game.

The Hero only slew the current Demon King, and years later, the Demon King would still return. The Hero of the past would be like a flickering candle, no longer burning brightly, but having pointed the way for their successors and countless aspiring heroes.

The "Hero" vibe was incredibly strong, no need to say more.

Did him distributing his study documents for free count as pointing the way for the younger generations?

Although the original intention of the study documents was to improve the competitiveness of his livestream, regardless of the reason, it had indeed helped a portion of the students.

Thinking about it this way, he felt he had lived up to the name of the Hero.

At the very least, until he became a black-hearted capitalist, this title was still quite fitting.

Just as Shen Nian was muttering to himself in his heart, a system pop-up appeared.

[Epilogue (1): The seniors in the nursing home have taught you a great deal of knowledge. Pick a good time to go and visit them.

Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.]

Wow, there were even epilogue quests.

This was definitely beyond Shen Nian's expectations.

It was just that the rewards weren't very generous. If this were a quest in a game, it would probably be designed to let the player learn about the NPCs' past experiences, flesh them out, and serve as the final piece to round out the world-building.

In reality... it just meant going back to visit his teachers.

Shen Nian was planning to go back to school to give his teachers some large prawns anyway, so it was already on his itinerary. It would be easy enough to do along the way.

Pretty good.

Shen Nian moved stealthily, trying his best not to make a sound, and glanced at his phone. The system's 100,000 gold coins had also arrived in his account.

This was the final ripple of Haji-system. Haji-system, you rascal, I won't call you Haji-system anymore.

It felt pretty satisfying.

Shen Nian carefully counted his abilities.

Just in terms of titles, he had four: [Glimmering Trial], [Lucky Star], [Blazing Vanguard], and [Hero].

As for survival skills, he had three: [Fishing Mastery], [Cooking Mastery], and [Breeding Mastery]. All three were heavyweights.

[High Spirits], [Miraculous Healer], [Critical Strike]... His passive skills were even more overpowered.

But this could only be considered a "green player" playing fair.

Because using big hacks counts as using small hacks, and using small hacks counts as not hacking at all.

If anyone thought he wasn't playing fair, they just had to look at Li Shiyan—getting her Alipay orders comped and scoring 25-minus-20 god-tier coupons on Meituan. If that wasn't hacking, what was?

What Shen Nian cared more about was whether Cinan Second High School would issue a scholarship to a graduate like him.

After all, he had brought glory to the school. When the new semester started, the school would definitely use the fact that he and Xia Yanchun were "double supreme scholars" as marketing material to brag to high heavens. It wouldn't make sense if they didn't give him a little something.

Aside from the school, there would also be various miscellaneous bonuses from the town, the city, and certain enterprises. All of these could be counted as his top scorer rewards.

Having achieved top honors, Shen Nian was already thinking about how to allocate his prize money.

Giving back to his family was one part. Shen Nian also wanted to set aside a sum of money to rent one of his family's prawn ponds. He would still let the breeding farm employees manage the pond for him; he'd just need to find time to come back and trigger his [Breeding Mastery]. When the time came, all the profits from that pond would be his—a perfectly justifiable way to make money generate more money. Once he had more funds, he could consider future developments.

Shen Nian felt this was totally viable.

As expected of me, my business acumen completely crushes 99.99% of my peers.

"Mhm..."

The little person in his arms shifted. Shen Nian froze for a second, then quickly and gently patted Xia Yanchun's back.

He had gotten too excited and his movements had been too large, almost waking up his precious Chun-bao.

Watching Xia Yanchun sleeping so soundly, he uncharacteristically started to feel sleepy as well.

Making money generate more money and all that was still too far off and abstract right now. There were too many things to consider. He temporarily tossed the idea of making money to the back of his mind, hugged his sweet-smelling Chun-bao, and closed his eyes.