Chapter 879: Chapter 843: I Like It Here, So Could You Please Leave My House Now?
After finishing his explanation, the scorer flipped his notebook from front to back, ensuring nothing was omitted, then he raised his head to look at Gu Mian and the others in the center of the hall: "The rules have all been explained, does anyone have any questions?"
"I have a question." At this moment, Gu Mian suddenly raised his hand.
Seeing Gu Mian raise his hand, the scorer wiped sweat off his forehead: "This ..."
He seemed unsure how to address Gu Mian, finally forcing out the word "person."
"This person, what question do you have?"
"Is Coach Che here?"
The scorer had mentally prepared himself to handle questions like "Can I saw off your neck?" or "I like it here, can you leave my house now?"
Unexpectedly, Gu Mian asked about Coach Che.
Of course, the scorer knew who Coach Che was, a renowned figure within the instance!
Coach Che used to be a nobody; the scorer had heard through other NPCs that he was a pitiful person whose instance was sabotaged by Gu Mian.
After his instance was sabotaged by Gu Mian, Coach Che had to wander, working in various instances to earn money to repair his own.
Initially upon hearing this, the scorer had felt deeply sympathetic for him.
But later, as Gu Mian caused more and more havoc, Coach Che’s reputation also gained momentum.
People gradually discovered that wherever Coach Che went, Gu Mian would follow.
Gradually, rumors spread among the NPCs that Coach Che was an insider sent by Gu Mian.
Everyone started avoiding him, even though he charged cheap prices and worked diligently.
Of course, some didn’t believe the "insider theory" and insisted on hiring Coach Che— the scorer thought these people probably valued Coach Che’s low prices.
Those who didn’t believe the "insider theory" all paid dearly for it, lucky enough to witness Gu the Superstar’s world tour within the instance.
Over time, the names of Coach Che and Gu Mian became taboo subjects among NPCs, fearing that talking about Coach Che might summon him.
When people mention Coach Che and Gu Mian, they typically replace their names with "the treacherous fiend slapped into the earth and spiraling to the heavens" and "that person."
But obviously Coach Che hadn’t come here, nor had the scorer ever mentioned his name, so how did Gu Mian sniff him out?
The scorer’s mind froze for a moment, then he realized something.
"It must be the wicked Coach Che who told Gu Mian something and encouraged him to come here to steal from this poor NPC me."
Thinking this made the scorer grind his teeth with resentment towards Coach Che.
Although he felt resentful, outwardly he still had to respond harmoniously to Gu Mian’s question.
"Haha, it’s just me here, there’s no Coach Che."
The scorer tried to lift both corners of his mouth, making himself appear more friendly and welcoming. He was afraid if his expression slipped, Gu Mian might pull...
Eh? He seemed to have forgotten the item he usually uses to reason with people today.
Realizing this, the scorer instinctively straightened his back, regaining some confidence.
But then his straightened back quickly bent down again, because he saw Gu Mian furrowing his brow, appearing angry.
At this moment, Gu Mian was pondering in his heart, he had wished to encounter Coach Che in the instance, but it seemed this wish wasn’t granted. Oh well, he didn’t really hope a random wish would come true after all.
Instead, the scorer’s facial expression just now was ever-changing, a moment of fear, a moment of anxiety, a moment of wrath, who knows what evil plans he contemplated.
Gu Mian stared at the scorer on stage for a while, watching until the other person buried his head deeply, almost down onto the desk.
"Does anyone else have any questions?" the scorer, almost burying his head into the desk, spoke in a very small voice from the stage.
There was no response.
The scorer continued his one-man show on stage: "It seems everyone has no questions, then please come up to the stage to collect your seeds."
As he spoke, he naturally crouched down, seemingly searching for something under the desk.
The remaining few walked up on stage, seeing the scorer holding five packages wrapped in cloth, seemingly just retrieved from under the desk.
Each package was palm-sized and puffed up fully.
Gu Mian was at the front, stepping forward first to take one package and opened it for a look.
Inside the bag were seeds the size of peanuts, black in color and identical in appearance, roughly a few hundred per bag.
The other four also took turns stepping forward to take the remaining cloth bags.
"You really can’t tell what kind of ghost these seeds will grow into," Fatty said as he held one of the seeds from the bag up for inspection. "They all look the same."
The evaluator cleared his throat, "Once they sprout, you’ll probably be able to tell what kind of ghost they’ll become."
"Seed growth takes time. Before the instance ends, you can stay on the second floor, which is specially prepared for cultivators." Though he said they should stay, the evaluator’s face was full of impatience, as if he couldn’t wait to help them fertilize, sow and even force the seeds to grow quickly.
"Under normal circumstances, how many days does it take for a ghost seed to mature?" 007 asked.
This was something the players were supposed to figure out on their own, but the evaluator, eager to give them more information so they would leave soon, generously explained, "That depends on the cultivation method. Seeds with low cultivation difficulty might mature in just two or three days, while those with high difficulty would take a few more days."
"For seeds with low cultivation difficulty, you only need to water them every 7 hours, and as long as you water them on time, they will grow quickly. But some seeds dislike water and only need watering once every ten hours. If you encounter a seed you’re unsure how to cultivate, you can come to me and I’ll help you. Do you need me to help you plant your seeds now?"
The evaluator looked eagerly at the seed bag in 007’s hand, his eyes ablaze with excitement, as if he couldn’t wait to snatch it and plant them himself.
clutched the seed bag and took a step back. "No, thank you."
The evaluator showed a disappointed look and pointed listlessly at the humanoid doors in the hall. "Over there are the greenhouses for growing seeds. Each greenhouse gives different bonuses to seeds. The introductions are written next to the door. Each of you gets one greenhouse and you can choose the one you want based on the bonuses."
Gu Mian walked through the hall of towering evil ghost models, stopping in front of the nearest door.
Although the doors of these five greenhouses were all humanoid, upon closer inspection, each was different.
The door roughly depicted lines of a human’s limbs. The door before him showed hands clasped in a praying gesture.
Gu Mian looked down at the sign next to the door, which described the greenhouse.
[Sleeping Room]
[The cultivation difficulty of ghost seeds is increased here, but the danger is reduced, and the exhibition conditions are reduced by 50%.]
"Sleeping Room?" Fatty was curious about the name. "Does it mean lying low and bearing hardships? It’s a strange name for a greenhouse. I thought it would be named something like ’Springtime Greenhouse’ or ’Summer Watermelon Greenhouse’."
Keke paid more attention to the greenhouse bonus: "Exhibition conditions reduced by 50%, meaning if the Rock Paper Scissors Ghost seed is here, it only needs to win five consecutive matches to go on display."
Winning five in a row is certainly easier than ten, but still not that much easier.
Gu Mian continued forward to check out the other greenhouses.
Next, they arrived at another humanoid door, shaped like a climbing figure, with a sign beside it.
[Danger Room]
[Here, the cultivation difficulty of ghost seeds is reduced, but the danger is significantly increased, and the exhibition conditions are reduced by 50%.]
"Danger level—significantly increased," Fatty dragged out the word "significantly" as he spoke, "seems quite dangerous, not surprising it’s called the risk-taking room."
"It’s called the Danger Room, not the Braving Room," Gu Mian’s eyebrow twitched.
They continued past the remaining three doors, which were marked as "Prayer Room," "Detachment Room," and "Jinche Room."
The Prayer Room had no changes in cultivation difficulty, danger level, or exhibition conditions, meaning no bonuses, but no side effects either.
The Detachment Room had reduced cultivation difficulty, reduced danger, and 50% reduced exhibition conditions. It was the best bonus greenhouse, so advantageous that Gu Mian suspected there must be a ghost inside.
Lastly, the Jinche Room had significantly increased cultivation difficulty, danger, and exhibition conditions. Additionally, it was easier to cultivate rare ghost species there.
Seeing three instances of "significantly increased," Fatty thought his eyes were deceiving him.
"All significantly increased, yet it’s easier to cultivate rare and more dangerous ghosts. There’s no benefit at all here," Fatty retreated three big steps, as if afraid a rare ghost would suddenly jump out of the Jinche Room and tear him in half.
After reviewing the greenhouse descriptions, everyone began discussing the allocation.
Under normal circumstances, each of the five players would take one greenhouse, with the best conditions in the Detachment Room making it the hot favorite, with everyone wanting it.
But the current situation was not normal.
"There’s a doctor here anyway, so the NPC won’t dare to say anything. We might as well all go into the best Detachment Room to plant the seeds," Fatty suggested.
"It’s the Detachment Room," 007 corrected him.
"That Detach-whatever Room name is such a tongue-twister," Fatty scratched his head. "I can never remember it."
"Don’t you think the conditions in the Detachment Room are too good?" Keke suddenly spoke up. "After so many instances, I always feel that the safest-looking places hide the greatest danger. The Detachment Room conditions are so good it feels like a trap."
"Then we can let the doctor go in first and clear out any danger, and then we’ll go in," Fatty suggested again.
Keke was momentarily speechless.
In theory, Fatty wasn’t wrong. In a place without Gu Mian, the ghost is the greatest threat. But in a place with Gu Mian, Gu Mian is the greatest threat.
