Why is this happening?
Why is this happening!!!
I clearly just wanted to satisfy my craving and eat some small seafood, so how did my experience points suddenly skyrocket like this?!
It’s not scientific!
This isn’t scientific!
At the clean, neat dining table radiating delicious aromas within the Cangyou Wildcat Team’s base.
“Wow, Boss Su, your cooking is really delicious. Thanks for your hard work.”
“Boss Su, this shrimp meat is great, you should try it.”
“Hey, you guys, don’t put food into Su Sister’s bowl. We’re not using communal chopsticks. Su Sister, here, have mine!”
Having taken off his apron, Su Qi was guided by An Xiaoling and Senior Lin Xue to sit safely at the Cangyou Wildcat Team’s dining table.
In front of him were dishes bursting with color, aroma, and flavor—all prepared by himself.
Sitting to his left and right were two beautiful girls with distinct personalities. In his bowl was a huge, ultra-fresh crab claw that An Xiaoling had carefully placed there.
If this had been any other time, with beauty, gourmet food, and scenery all combined, Su Qi would have definitely enjoyed the moment.
But right now, staring at the experience points flashing incessantly on his ability interface, Su Qi’s mood was complicated.
[ Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully using the Shuxi Bento, healing one human. Ability experience +20 ]
[ Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully using the Shuxi Bento, healing one human. Ability experience +20 ]…
Setting aside the massive 200 experience points he gained the first time he cooked a spirit beast, Su Qi now, upon closer observation, had a new discovery that made him want to cry.
Maybe it was because this Shuxi Bento was made fresh on the spot, or due to the ingredients.
Usually, selling one Shuxi Bento would only grant him 10 ability experience points. But now, every member of the Cangyou Wildcat Team was contributing 20 experience points each—double the usual amount.
Because of these two unexpected situations, Su Qi was surprised to find that his Su Wife Ability level 1 experience had quietly reached 721, just 279 points away from leveling up.
Since awakening the Su Wife Ability, Su Qi had been carefully controlling his experience gains, wearing feminine clothes as little as possible, and only selling bento once a week.
After all, as a boy, Su Qi always felt that increasing his Su Wife Ability might bring some unknown consequences.
But what had just happened far exceeded Su Qi’s expectations, while greatly lowering his margin for error.
Only 279 experience points left—doesn’t that mean… if he sells just two more bentos this weekend, he will level up?
Ugh… feeling complicated and regretful, Su Qi couldn’t help but blame his own mouth. Why did he have to crave that spirit beast shrimp and crab?!
However, thinking that today was his first interview with the Cangyou Wildcat Team.
Though his heart ached, Su Qi didn’t want to dampen the mood for others, so he hid his sorrow and instead turned his pain into appetite, devouring the food wildly.
Still, although he ate with abandon, after one crab claw and a small bowl of rice, compared to the boys still eating, Su Qi’s small stomach unknowingly reached its limit.
Bored waiting for everyone to finish, Su Qi opened his attribute panel to check the buffs granted by this Shuxi Bento.
What surprised Su Qi after opening the panel was astounding.
Take the last time he ate braised beef brisket with persimmons at home, for example—the attribute boosts were about 10% to all stats.
But after this meal, Su Qi was shocked to find that except for Agility, all his attributes, such as Strength and Intelligence, had increased by roughly 20%.
His Agility, originally 40 points, shot up to 50 points.
Seeing these stat boosts, Su Qi realized that the attribute increase was related to the ingredients used.
At that moment, An Xiaoling, sitting beside him eating happily, blinked her big eyes excitedly and said,
“Su Sister, today’s bento you made added more attributes than usual. I feel like I’m full of strength. Hoohoohoo~ When we get to the Saint Ruins, I’m going to show off my skills.”
As she spoke, An Xiaoling waved her delicate white hands in the air a few times.
Seeing her adorable little hands, Su Qi grew curious about one thing.
Hmmmm… could these tiny hands really be that deadly?
While chatting with An Xiaoling,
since they were about to explore the Saint Ruins and no one drank alcohol,
even though the boys could eat more, everyone finished their meals quickly.
Because six people had eight dishes in total, and with Su Qi, An Xiaoling, and Lin Xue being girls, they ate less food.
Even though the boys ate more, plenty of leftovers remained.
Seeing everyone finished, Su Qi instinctively wanted to clear the table.
At that moment, Big Mountain—who looked like a towering mountain—spoke up to stop him, then took several plastic containers from the fridge with a simple, honest tone.
“Boss Su, you don’t have to clean up the food. There’s still plenty left, and we can pack it into bentos to take with us. After all, exploring the Saint Ruins uses a lot of energy. Compared to bread and rations, the food you made is much tastier! As for the bowls, we can just wash them when we return from the exploration.”
Hearing Big Mountain’s words, Su Qi felt a little comforted.
Before he started cooking, he didn’t mind throwing away leftover food.
But thinking about how carefully he had prepared all these ingredients,
it just felt wrong to throw them away.
However, hearing about the Saint Ruins exploration, Su Qi glanced outside at the pitch-black sky and couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
Is it really okay to set off so late at night?
Shouldn’t we be exploring during the day rather than at night?
Perhaps noticing Su Qi’s hesitation, Wei Mian, satisfied after eating his egg-fried rice, volunteered to explain.
“Boss Su, the spirit beasts inside the Saint Ruins mostly follow human activity patterns, except for special cases like Spirit Bats or Night Banquet Fish. They rise with the sun and rest when it sets. So when exploring the Saint Ruins, even though daytime has better visibility, the beasts are more active, making it far more dangerous than at night. That’s why scouting teams usually choose to explore at night.”
Following Wei Mian’s explanation, An Xiaoling beside Su Qi proudly puffed out her nearly nonexistent chest and confidently said,
“Su Sister, I can see just as clearly at night as during the day.”
Right after saying this, as if she suddenly remembered something, An Xiaoling pointed her fair little finger at Wei Mian and added,
“Su Sister, don’t let your guard down just because he’s explaining things to you. His Ability is really evil. You must never be alone with him.”
“Hey, shorty, who are you calling evil!”
“Who’s the shorty!!!”
Watching Wei Mian and An Xiaoling start bickering, Su Qi finally understood why, back in school, despite their seats in Class 18 being worlds apart, the two always found opportunities to quarrel.
As the two argued, Big Mountain finished packing the bentos and neatly placed them on the table.
In the next moment, Su Qi saw the ring in Lin Xue’s hand emit a faint white glow, and the neatly packed bentos vanished into thin air.
Seeing this, Su Qi was surprised.
Although in this world of spiritual energy’s resurgence, space rings and similar items were common,
to be honest, this was the first time Su Qi had seen such an advanced item.
As if feeling Su Qi’s gaze, Lin Xue shook the shining ring in her hand and said,
“Boss Su, this is a Trial of the Holy Ruins reward. Not bad, right? Maybe the new passages we find later will also have such good rewards!”
Listening to Senior Lin Xue speak lightly about the Trial of the Holy Ruins and her future plans,
Su Qi didn’t get excited.
After all, the Saint Ruins were unknown and mysterious.
His own sister, Su Lulu, had been unconscious for two years now and still hadn’t woken up—apparently because of the Trial of the Holy Ruins.
Just thinking about how even her Water Dragon King Ability couldn’t counter the Trial made Su Qi silently pray that they wouldn’t encounter anything too strange.
Seeing Su Qi’s calm expression, showing no greed or expectation,
the Cangyou Wildcat Team members all nodded in quiet agreement.
After all, exploring the Saint Ruins was fraught with danger, where a moment’s carelessness could lead one into traps set by nature, spirit beasts, or the trials themselves.
Compared to their own impulsive and enthusiastic personalities, Su Qi’s calm, mature, and ungreedy “Su Wife” style beauty truly won their favor from all angles!
Considering the attribute buffs were time-limited, after putting away the bentos and placing the dishes in the sink, Su Qi and the Cangyou Wildcat Team left apartment 1501 and prepared to head toward the Saint Ruins.
What surprised Su Qi was that he had thought they would first descend to B1 or B2 floors, then take a vehicle.
But when he boarded the elevator, Lin Xue pressed a button that didn’t go down but instead rose to the top floor, 33.
Watching the elevator slowly ascend, Su Qi wondered if they were going to take a helicopter to the Saint Ruins.
Ding~
The elevator arrived at the 33rd floor.
Following the Cangyou Wildcat Team members out of the elevator,
Su Qi was amazed to find that this 33rd floor was a large hall.
Right now, the hall was noisy and bustling, filled with men and women of all ages dressed in wildly different styles—some scantily clad women, some tattooed gangsters, others with wild ancient-style afro hairdos, and even figures holding glowing swords like characters out of cultivation novels…
Seeing these vivid figures, Su Qi couldn’t help but feel surprised.
Is this what ability-wielding adventurers look like?
It seemed quite free and abstract, with a touch of another world’s vibe.
While Su Qi was marveling at the Adventurers’ Guild hall under the protection of Lin Xue and An Xiaoling,
the doors to the Adventurers’ Guild opened and a team with luxurious equipment entered, instantly igniting the hall’s atmosphere.
“Whoa, it’s the Lin City Lord Strategy Team! Are you really heading to the fourth dimension of the Saint Ruins today? Be careful!”
“Priestess, I… I’m your dog. Thanks for healing me last time.”
“Magical Girl, wow, you’re even more beautiful than in the pictures.”
…
The crowd’s momentum was overwhelming, causing Su Qi to instinctively scan the crowd.
As luck would have it, Su Qi’s eyes met those of a magical girl dressed entirely in pink, as if she had stepped straight out of a two-dimensional world.
The Magical Girl had long, pale blue hair tied into adorable twin tails, looking silky smooth as if sparkling with some special effects.
Her knee-length pink magical girl outfit should have looked tacky, but with her slender figure, it instead perfectly balanced youthful beauty and cuteness.
Paired with a pair of gorgeous pink stockings and cute white shoes with wings, her youthful charm was fully brought out.
At first glance, Su Qi was stunned by the magical girl.
Her sweet aura and glamorous dimensional vibe made her seem almost otherworldly.
But at the same time as his amazement, just like when he watched the news this morning, Su Qi felt a vague sense of familiarity and inexplicable guilt.
Unbeknownst to Su Qi, the magical girl he met eyes with was feeling a similar sensation at that very moment!