Chapter 25 The End of a Profession

She only pondered the question in her mind, but Kenji Hagiwara seemed to have guessed what she was thinking. He gripped the steering wheel with his long fingers and stared ahead: "Kaze-chan! Although we failed today, I'm not sad. On the contrary, I'm full of energy."

Because my reasoning about time and roads is correct, the only mistake is a more precise calculation method. Once I get out, I can reverse slightly in place and reach the destination at the desired time.

In this way, no matter the time lost with family and friends, or whatever happened to Xiaozhenping, I will have the opportunity to do something about it, so I don't feel disappointed or lost at all, but only at ease!

“But…” Feng Xingshou didn’t want to dampen someone’s enthusiasm, but she didn’t want Hagiwara to experience the pain of being disappointed after having high hopes.

I couldn't help but remind him, "Even if the timing is right, you might not be able to enter the instance with Matsuda-san, right? There might be other instances at the same time?"

"Don't forget what we're here for? As members of the □□ disposal team, the only kind of accident we'll encounter is the most devastating annihilation!" Even Kenji Hagiwara couldn't help but smile bitterly as he said this.

"..." Feng Xingshou was stunned after hearing this. The implied meaning in his words made her realize the severity of what he meant. Yes! Other professions were okay, but the □□ handling team was an extremely dangerous job.

Once they encounter bombs made by extremist criminals, their survival rate is too low, and the horrific scene of such an explosion is also the most suitable place to form a game instance...

I can't help but think of the same feelings I have every time I see reports of firefighters sacrificing their lives in China! Even if we are of different nationalities, there are always some people in the world who carry the burden of protecting the lives of others.

She was somewhat speechless, but worried that his expectations would be dashed, so she couldn't help but remind him: "Don't be too optimistic. Although I don't know why these three instances all involve events that cause Japan to collapse."

However, if the game does indeed choose to create dungeons based on devastating events or incidents as you speculate, future daily dungeons will likely include those from other countries. Therefore, even if you calculate the timing correctly, the dungeon you enter might not be the one you actually want.

“I know.” As soon as the countdown ended, Kenji Hagiwara stepped on the gas and, while driving and participating in the driving skills competition, reminded her: “This road survival game does not communicate with the player.”

But it has been operating under unknown rules, and perhaps the fact that all three instances appeared in Japan is one of those rules, just like the disaster theme mentioned in the announcement for each season.

There might be something else the announcement didn't mention: each season has a theme, and coincidentally, Japan was the first one chosen! After all, Japan's crime rate was already approaching that of the United States in 2007, so a 25-year crime rate is probably quite considerable!

"Cough cough..." When Feng Xingshou heard him say that, she felt that he really knew a lot about Japan. She almost blurted out that it was not only considerable, but that even their former prime minister could die tragically in the streets. However, in order to let Hagiwara concentrate on driving, she quickly swallowed those words.

After marveling at Japan's crime rate over the past 25 years, she realized that Kenji Hagiwara's tone just now clearly indicated that he had already considered the possibility that everyday scenarios were all about the destruction of Japan, and had deduced the most reasonable answer.

This made her realize the difference in intelligence once again. She had never thought about this issue before today, and only realized it in the heat of the moment. She didn't expect that the other person had thought of it long ago. Sigh...

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[Congratulations to the survivor for winning second place in this driving skills competition and receiving a Bronze Treasure Chest.]

She snapped out of her daze at the game's visual cue, and waited for the car to...

The person was teleported back to the highway and couldn't help but praise, "If you want second place, you won't get any other ranking. Your driving skills are practically cheat code! I'm so envious."

"Well! I should say that there aren't any particularly outstanding or powerful racers in this area, otherwise things wouldn't have gone so smoothly. My driving skills are still somewhat inferior to those of real racers," Kenji Hagiwara said, whether out of modesty or honesty.

Then he continued, "Instead of praising my driving skills, you should be more interested in what the reward is. I bet it's upgrade blueprints for the car body. Open them and take a look!"

"Oh! Why the car body?" Feng Xingshou nodded as he opened the bronze treasure chest he had just been rewarded with a crowbar, and asked casually.

She asked casually, but Kenji Hagiwara's answer was anything but perfunctory: "There are two reasons. One is that in the real world, the engine and body configuration of a typical vehicle account for about 15% of the total value of the car, which is almost the same price."

The second reward is also a bronze treasure chest. Given that it's a bronze treasure chest, even if there's a difference in value compared to the previous first-place reward, since the main reward is related to cars, the difference in value shouldn't be significant…”

Just as his deduction was confirmed, as the bronze treasure chest was opened, a familiar light screen appeared in front of the two of them.

[Congratulations to the survivor for obtaining one Level 1 vehicle body upgrade blueprint, 100 units of gasoline, 1000 grams of red oil ear threads, 1000 grams of yellow peaches, two 10-inch seafood pizzas, 10 units of black iron, 10 units of car paint, 10 units of plastic, 10 units of electronic components, and 10 units of bronze!]

"You were absolutely right! I wonder if we have enough materials this time to use this function! If we do, let's upgrade this vehicle body as soon as possible! I wonder what a level one vehicle body looks like?"

"Could you expand the size and comfort of the cockpit as well? The rear compartment is more spacious, but the front is still so narrow. It feels like it's going to drive people with OCD crazy!" Feng Xingshou saw the reward menu and couldn't wait to use the blueprint.

The factory for upgrading the vehicle body to level 1 displays the required materials. The materials obtained from opening the treasure chest earlier are not enough, plus the remaining plastic and the plastic units obtained from dismantling plastic items earlier.

With the other materials, there was enough to upgrade the fuel tank. He immediately said to Hagiwara with delight, "Kenji, the materials we've collected are not only enough to upgrade the car body, but also enough for the fuel tank! That's great!"

"Heh...looks like we're in luck. Oh, right, I remember there was a trunk expansion blueprint last night. If we have enough materials, let's upgrade all of these at once! Upgrading these items together will definitely improve the car's performance significantly." After saying that, Kenji Hagiwara unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, waiting for the upgrade to be completed.

"Hmm! There are enough materials, don't worry!" After last night's expansion of the carriage, Feng Xingshou was also very much looking forward to the upgraded vehicle, so he got off the vehicle and took all the materials out of his backpack.

She then started working on the processing plant page, but after clicking on a few items, she got a little lost and couldn't help but ask Hagiwara for help: "Huh! This page lets us choose the paint color and body exterior, but I don't understand this. What do you think we should choose?"

Kenji Hagiwara was right behind her, looking at the menu items at the processing plant. Seeing that she didn't know what to choose, he simply suggested, "Just choose whatever color you usually like for your car paint."

As for the car models, these are all classic designs from a few years ago, each with its own advantages. So, as always, just choose the one you like.

"What you're saying is as good as saying nothing at all. If I could choose for myself, would I need your help?" Feng Xingshou said, hearing his words.

She immediately rolled her eyes at him, complaining with a hint of frustration, "I don't know anything about cars. If you ask me to choose, I have no idea how to choose."

Even if I force myself to choose it, I'll constantly be worried about whether I made the right choice, and whether there will be any problems later. Besides... you're the driver of this car. Until I learn to drive, it's most important that you're comfortable driving it.

“That’s right! Let’s choose a Mazda for the car! Hmm! Color…” He looked into Feng Xingshou’s dark, bright eyes and continued casually, “Let’s use black paint. Black is more understated.”

"Okay!" After hearing his choice, Feng Xingshou readily selected black paint. However, when it came to choosing the car body, she looked at the options blankly and asked him, "Which model is Mazda? It's not listed here!"

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"Heh... this is it." Hagiwara stretched out his long arm from behind her and pointed to one of the various vehicle body options, close to her cheek.

Feng Xingshou looked at the strong arm right next to his cheek, and could even feel the warm skin touching him. The man's arm was the same length as his height, but longer than his own.

The skin peeking out from under his shirt sleeves was a bit darker than his own, but still lighter than most men's. And his fingers were so long! I've heard that people with long fingers are good at playing the piano. If he studied piano, would he become an outstanding musician...?

A strange feeling and distracting thoughts made it impossible for her to concentrate on what the arm's owner was saying. So, she swallowed hard and followed his finger to click on the option...

After making her choice, she nervously thought, "Surely he'll pull his arm away from me now?" Well... he did pull that arm away, but his other arm seemed completely oblivious to any attempt to avoid suspicion.

He actually put his arm around her shoulder in a friendly manner, and while leading her back a few steps, he said, "Feng-chan, when the car is being repaired, you should back up a bit further away, be careful not to get hurt."

"Okay! I understand." Feng Xingshou agreed repeatedly while trying to break free from him. No way! Hagiwara is not only an overly friendly social butterfly, but also very good at flirting.

If she let him continue flirting like this, she might really be deluding herself. Unfortunately, no matter how subtly she struggled, it was to no avail unless she directly asked him to let go.

Ahem! How am I supposed to bring this up? I feel like if I do, it'll seem like he doesn't care at all that I'm of the opposite sex, treating me like someone he doesn't need to avoid, while I'm the one who cares about him so much that I'm so sensitive to his touch? That's just too embarrassing!

So, Feng, who was very concerned about saving face, could only pretend not to care and try to distract himself by looking in the direction of the car upgrade, trying not to think about whose hand was on his shoulder or whose faint warmth was behind him...

Kenji Hagiwara: Plans are complete √o(*￣︶￣*)o

Then, very quickly, in less than three minutes, a brand-new vehicle appeared in front of the two of them. The body was much taller and wider than before, with stylish headlights and doors. The black-painted Mazda model appeared in front of them.

"100 vehicle defense, 100-liter fuel tank, interior and exterior lights... I remember the initial vehicle's defense was only 50 before the upgrade, and the fuel tank capacity has doubled. It seems like the upgrade is quite effective." Looking at this familiar vehicle model, memories of police academy with Xiaozhenping and his friends flooded back.

Kenji Hagiwara's gaze involuntarily drifted to the back of the car, as if Jinpei would, just like before, emerge from there like a cat, yawning and chatting with him. He just hoped this car wouldn't suffer the same fate as Instructor Onizuka's car...