Chapter 51: Using Love Charm To Save My Skin
"This guy can’t seriously be receiving special treatment from the dungeon, right?"
"I’m beginning to understand why the officials chose him."
"Even if his talent is only E-rank, his dungeon-clearing speed isn’t slow at all."
"This kid is a genius."
The comments continued to flood the livestream.
Inside the Joi City Safety Defense Department, both Ho Yong and Lu Xian watched the screen with visible excitement.
"Maybe... maybe this kid can actually make it out alive."
Ho Yong clenched his fist in excitement.
But when his gaze shifted from Shen Yu’s first-person perspective to Yuji’s, his expression suddenly stiffened.
Yuji had already left the elevator and returned to the ward.
He sat silently on his bed, glaring coldly at the doorway.
"...This isn’t good."
"Shen Yu is about to come back."
Ho Yong’s excitement quickly turned into worry.
Now Shen Yu not only had to figure out how to enter the Third Space, but also how to deal with Yuji.
Once Yuji realized Shen Yu had become the greatest threat to clearing the instance, he would never let him go.
If Yuji activated Request Soul at a critical moment, Shen Yu could lose everything.
The irony wasn’t lost on Ho Yong.
Earlier, everyone had wanted Shen Yu dead so he wouldn’t interfere with Yuji’s chances.
Now, the situation had completely reversed.
For the first time, Ho Yong found himself hoping something would happen to Yuji instead.
"Tsk."
"You’ve been watching for so long..."
"Aren’t you worried about Shen Yu?"
Beside him, Lu Xian smiled teasingly.
"What do you mean?"
"You’ll figure it out."
She folded her arms and continued.
"During the period when Shen Yu’s livestream went black, do you really think he was doing nothing?"
"When the stream came back, he’d already obtained the dungeon item."
"I have every reason to believe..."
"...he completely charmed that head nurse."
She smiled knowingly.
"If someone dares to flirt with a ghost nurse, do you really think he’d be afraid of Yuji?"
"Or do you think Shen Yu never considered that Yuji would try to use Request Soul on him?"
"No."
"He’s already planning against Yuji."
"It’s just..."
"...the time hasn’t come yet."
Ho Yong stared blankly at the screen.
"An E-rank talent..."
"...scheming against an S-rank talent?"
He simply couldn’t believe it.
Qing Shan Psychiatric Hospital — Patient Ward
The moment Shen Yu stepped back into the ward, his body suddenly felt unbearably heavy.
It was as if molten lead had filled his limbs.
The instant he met Yuji’s gaze, dizziness overwhelmed him.
Request Soul.
Yuji had already activated his talent.
Looking at Shen Yu with icy confidence, Yuji smiled.
"For an E-rank talent..."
"...surviving this long is already impressive."
"But I’ve said it before."
"Low-rank talents exist only to prove the strength of high-rank ones."
"You didn’t think I was unconscious in the elevator, did you?"
"When I activate Request Soul, my body is possessed by the soul of that inverted corpse..."
"...but my own soul remains awake."
"I watched everything you did."
"I know that inverted corpse’s memories."
"You avoided the elevator."
"You took the stairs to the morgue."
His smile widened.
"Judging from your headband..."
"...you entered the warehouse."
"And judging by the timing..."
"...you used your Rationality Potion."
He laughed softly.
"Good."
"If I don’t force you to use it, you’ll save it forever."
"After all..."
"...everything you obtain belongs to me."
"So tell me."
"What did you find in the warehouse?"
As Yuji’s eyes locked onto him, Shen Yu felt his consciousness slowly being dragged out of his body.
His soul was beginning to separate.
His body swayed uncontrollably.
Yet...
A faint smile appeared on Shen Yu’s lips.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Rapid footsteps echoed from outside the ward.
The door opened.
Wearing her pristine white nurse’s uniform, Yang Jin walked inside with her usual cold expression.
Yuji’s confident smile instantly froze.
"You..."
"How are you here?"
His body stiffened.
The moment Yang Jin appeared, Request Soul was forcibly interrupted.
Yuji immediately opened his eyes, staring at her in disbelief.
He didn’t dare continue.
He couldn’t risk it.
If he successfully controlled Shen Yu while Yang Jin was present...
...what if she retaliated against his real body?
"Tsk."
Shen Yu calmly returned to his bed.
He had expected this all along.
Knowing Yuji’s personality, he had been certain Yuji would attack the moment he returned.
So while walking back from the warehouse...
...Shen Yu had quietly contacted the nurse’s station and requested an examination.
"Damn you."
Yuji gritted his teeth.
"If you’ve got the guts, rely on this femme fatale for the rest of your life."
"Just don’t let me catch you alone."
"Otherwise, with trash like—"
"Quiet."
Yang Jin frowned slightly.
Yuji instantly swallowed the rest of his words and obediently lay back down.
Not another sound escaped his mouth.
Yang Jin walked over to Shen Yu’s bedside.
"What examination did you request?"
Shen Yu smiled and gently patted the edge of the bed.
"I’d like to have my heart examined."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"It starts beating too fast whenever I see you."
Yang Jin’s ears immediately turned crimson.
She shot him a look of disdain.
Yet despite her expression...
...her body didn’t resist.
She quietly sat beside him, leaning stiffly against his shoulder.
"Yang Jin..."
"Has anyone ever told you..."
"...that you’re rather strange?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Strangely beautiful."
Ding.
Yang Jin’s Favorability +1
Current Favorability: 76
"Yang Jin, do you know what zodiac sign I was born under?"
She glanced at him curiously.
"The Year of the Tiger."
Shen Yu smiled and pointed toward Yuji, who was lying stiffly on the neighboring bed.
"That guy over there is a snake."
"And you?"
"The Year of the Rabbit."
Shen Yu grinned.
"That’s not true."
"You belong to me."
Another shameless pickup line.
Yang Jin raised an eyebrow, clearly pretending to be annoyed.
Yet the corners of her lips betrayed her, curling upward despite herself.
She leaned ever so slightly against Shen Yu, her body trembling faintly.
On the bed next door, Yuji listened to every word.
His scalp tingled with irritation.
"Enough... enough..."
"Are you two seriously here to fall in love?"
He gritted his teeth and silently endured it.
Soon enough, Yang Jin would have to leave.
Once she did...
...he would have his chance.
Sure enough.
After Shen Yu delivered his sixth ridiculous pickup line, Yang Jin shyly fidgeted with her thighs before standing up from his embrace.
Her expression instantly returned to its usual icy calm.
"Visiting time is over."
"Get some proper rest."
She turned to leave.
Ding-dong.
Shen Yu shamelessly pressed the nurse call button.
Yang Jin stopped and looked back.
"Nurse."
"I think there’s still something wrong with me."
"What symptoms?"
"I’ve come down with lovesickness."
"If I can’t see you..."
"...I lose my appetite."
Ding.
Yang Jin’s Favorability +1
Current Favorability: 77
Yang Jin silently stared at him.
Her face remained cold, but her ears slowly turned pink.
After standing there for a long moment, she prepared to leave once more.
Just as she reached the doorway—
Ding-dong.
The nurse bell rang again.
Yang Jin paused.
"What is it this time?"
Shen Yu looked at her with complete sincerity.
"Nurse..."
"I can’t sleep without you here."
Before Yang Jin could respond—
Bang!
Yuji finally snapped.
"Enough!"
He jumped off his bed, glaring murderously at Shen Yu.
Without another word, he stormed out of the ward.
The moment his footsteps disappeared down the corridor, silence filled the room.
Yang Jin stood motionless.
She looked at Shen Yu’s quilt.
After a brief hesitation...
...she quietly walked back.
She sat beside him, curled herself up beneath the blanket, and silently stayed at his side.
The livestream exploded.
"666!"
"This kid’s techniques are unbelievable!"
"He’s actually abusing the fact that the head nurse likes him!"
"This is the highest realm of living off someone else’s protection."
"Imagine saying, ’Hit me again and I’ll call my wife.’"
"Honestly, that’s a skill."
"If anyone else kept pressing the nurse bell like this, they’d have been dead ten times already."
The barrage flooded the screen faster than ever.
Inside the Joi City Safety Defense Department, Ho Yong watched in stunned disbelief.
"...An E-rank talent..."
"...actually outplayed an S-rank talent."
"Shen Yu really is a strange person."
Beside him, Lu Xian smiled knowingly and shook her head.
"I don’t think it’s that simple."
"He isn’t merely using Yang Jin’s affection."
"He’s making Yuji afraid."
"As long as Yang Jin stays by his side, Yuji can’t safely use Request Soul."
"What Shen Yu is creating..."
"...is deterrence."
The night passed quietly.
Without another word spoken between them, Yang Jin remained beside Shen Yu.
After he shamelessly pressed the nurse bell more than a dozen times throughout the evening, she eventually gave up trying to leave altogether.
Instead, she simply stayed in the ward...
...keeping him company until morning.
