The Distinctiveness of Sun Li

Su Man successfully completed the mission and received a reward. However, the amount she received was still less than the money Kang Fu had given her. Originally, Kang Fu had said he would give her the remaining money after they got married, but perhaps because she saved him again this time, he readily handed over all the leftover money to her.

Suddenly, Su Man became quite wealthy.

Kang Fu had initially planned to invite Su Man to their wedding, but she didn’t have the time. After finishing her mission, she was about to leave immediately. Yet, she didn’t completely close the door on the idea; she took the invitation card Kang Fu gave her and said that if she couldn’t attend, she might send someone in her place to offer congratulations.

Kang Fu was naturally pleased.

With Kang Fu handling the aftermath, Su Man had no further concerns. The surrounding scenery gradually blurred, and she found herself back inside the villa. However, upon returning, she realized that Sun Li was nowhere to be found.

Curious, she asked the holographic interface, which informed her that Sun Li had gone to a snack bar.

“Is he free to roam around?” she asked, somewhat surprised.

“Of course,” the interface replied.

“But didn’t you tell me earlier that he wasn’t supposed to move about freely? That this world is dangerous?”

“Yes,” the hologram answered immediately, then before she could say more, added, “He is different from you.”

“How so?”

“Players need to discover the differences themselves.”

That was as helpful as saying nothing.

Yet Su Man was quick to accept it. The fact that Sun Li had managed to cling to her and follow her here was already unusual. Exactly how he was different, she hadn’t figured out yet.

“If you don’t trust him, I can pull up his movement track for you to check.”

Before Su Man could respond, the interface presented a concise tracking report.

She glanced over it.

“08:00 AM—left the villa. 08:01 AM—arrived at the snack bar. Since then, he has remained there.”

“He got to the snack bar in just one minute?” Su Man hadn’t really wanted to care about Sun Li’s whereabouts, but that timing was absurdly fast. She couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes.”

“How did he get there?”

“Unknown. Players need to explore on their own.”

Su Man was too lazy to push for more answers. Instead, she turned to communicate with Jing Zhongpeng, who remained at the snack bar.

She asked Jing Zhongpeng to pass a message to Sun Li, and while she managed to get in touch with him, Sun Li couldn’t explain how he got there.

After a moment, Jing Zhongpeng relayed, “He said he’ll demonstrate it to you.”

Before Su Man could ask how he planned to demonstrate it, Sun Li pushed open the villa door and came back in.

“Su Man, you were looking for me? I really don’t know how I got there, but I can show you.”

Without wasting words, he took a couple of steps and then vanished right before her eyes.

Immediately, Jing Zhongpeng messaged her again, “He’s back at the snack bar.”

Su Man said, “...Tell him to come back.”

Ten seconds later, Sun Li pushed open the villa door again and returned.

“Su Man, do you understand what’s going on now?” Sun Li asked, looking at her innocently, clearly as curious as she was.

“Sort of.” Su Man nodded, having some clues but still uncertain, guessing aloud, “Did you ever think about going to the snack bar before?”

Sun Li nodded. “I was bored here by myself. I thought of Youyou and Dashan and Xiaoshan. Then I realized I could go.”

Su Man hummed in acknowledgment. “That’s probably it. Your willpower is very strong, so you have this ability. It’s your blessing.”

“Is that so?” Sun Li’s eyes brightened. “So, if you’re not around and I want to see you, can I come find you?”

“You can try,” Su Man said, not denying it, though inwardly she knew it was just a polite response. Honestly, she didn’t really understand what was going on with Sun Li, but it didn’t affect her much. On the contrary, it was somewhat convenient.

Originally, she had thought of letting Youyou try attending Kang Fu’s wedding on her behalf, but now that wasn’t necessary. She directly gave the invitation to Sun Li.

“Tomorrow, please go to the wedding for me. It’s... a friend’s wedding.”

“Me, myself?” Sun Li held the invitation, incredulous and a little uneasy. “Can I really go? I might mess it up.”

He spoke quietly. “Youyou says I’m a big fool. Others don’t say it outright, but I know they think I’m silly.”

“You don’t need to listen to any of that,” Su Man said sincerely, not just humoring him. “You belong to me. Just listen to me—that’s enough. I say I trust you, so you can do this.”

Sun Li’s mental state was indeed problematic, Su Man knew that well. But that didn’t mean he only caused trouble. He needed good guidance.

After hearing her words, Sun Li’s eyes sparkled. He carefully kept the invitation close, “I promise to complete the mission!”

“Good. Just think of it as going to have some fun. Don’t be too nervous. If you really can go, say hi for me and Kang Fu, and wish them a lifetime of happiness.” Su Man pointed to the photo on the invitation. “Those two on the card are my friends. When you’re at their wedding, you don’t need to do anything special. Don’t listen to others’ instructions. If it’s interesting, stay and play a bit longer. If it’s boring, just come back early.”

She didn’t give many details because whether Sun Li could actually get there tomorrow was still uncertain.

Later, Su Man paid some management fees to the holographic interface as usual. The interface updated her on the process. On the parchment map, the Rose Hotel now bore her hidden flag.

Su Man asked, somewhat out of curiosity, whether places like the Rose Hotel could be converted into special territories to make money.

The hologram’s answer was negative.

In plain terms, such places could only serve as game bases, earning only participation fees. To operate externally for profit, one had to occupy special territories.

However, Su Man noticed the hologram made a cryptic remark while explaining this.

Its exact words were, “If you want that to happen, everything must first settle. But that’s still a long way off for you. Don’t think about it.”

Although she pressed for more details, the hologram remained silent. Su Man guessed that “everything settling” probably meant waiting until the true king emerges.

She recalled the property manager Xiao Liang she met in the first game base, who said she was the most likely to make it all the way to the end.

Shaking off the thought, she told herself it was too early to worry about such things.

If the future were already fixed, that would be dull. Living in the moment was what she should focus on.

Nothing could succeed without a solid foundation.

Before the holographic interface urged her to move on to the next map, she summoned Zhou Miaomiao.

Since joining that company, Zhou Miaomiao had become elusive and appeared suddenly.

In the blink of an eye, she was outside Su Man’s villa.

The two sat on the sofa as Su Man brought up the issue with her dagger, focusing especially on the strange negative energy it had absorbed while on Li Xing.