Chapter 33
Just a door away
[System 233: Actually...]
Led by Xiao Dong, Wei Jiangxue arrived at the live-streaming area, then glanced at 233 and asked, "What's wrong?"
[System 233: The moment I finished speaking, a random task was generated. It requires the host to change the protagonist's usual perfume... to one that smells like the host's pheromones. Bonus point—spray the perfume on Mi Rui'an's clothes.]
What kind of bizarre task is this? They even have a bonus point system, but what kind of bonus points are they? Wei Jiangxue wrinkled her nose, unable to understand this kind of thing that seemed to have been come up with on a whim.
[System 233: Hey, don't rush, don't rush. Let me check. Something's strange. You just marked Mi Rui'an, so she's bound to develop some dependence on your pheromones. The mission objective of making her hate you doesn't make sense, and assisting the protagonist is even more unrelated to the main storyline...]
But System 233 returned quickly, bringing with it the message that the task assignment was correct!
Both the system and the host fell silent. Wei Jiangxue reluctantly conceded: "Since that's the case, then let's do it."
Given Wei Jiangxue's thought process, she would at most assume that this task was a desperate counterattack by the cannon fodder role-player. It was as if she was proving that her role was still cannon fodder, without considering any realistic factors.
Leaving a scent that matches your pheromones feels like a provocation, but changing your perfume seems ambiguous.
She agreed, but after 233 quieted down, Wei Jiangxue couldn't help but close her eyes tightly and gently press her brow with the knuckle of her bent index finger.
Was it her imagination? She felt that the mission was different from the previous ones... The content was much more detailed, and every action Wei Jiangxue had to take was strictly limited. In the past, at least some room for improvisation would be given. For example, if she was to destroy Mi Rui'an's things, Wei Jiangxue never thought that she could break Mi Rui'an's lips.
As System 233 previously stated, many of the limitations imposed on the host by the small world depend on Mi Rui'an's attitude. In other words, if Mi Rui'an gives her a high score, the world's consciousness will not impose many restrictions on Wei Jiangxue or suppress her strength. However, if Mi Rui'an has a bad impression of her, then Wei Jiangxue will become a veritable cannon fodder and a weakling.
Is she considered weak now? Wei Jiangxue wasn't sure.
233 also mentioned that Mi Rui'an, being an Omega, possessed pheromones capable of suppressing many superior Alphas, making her extremely dangerous. However… Wei Jiangxue didn't sense it. Even with many missing memories of her fertile window, Wei Jiangxue could vaguely sense that she hadn't been attacked during those periods. Even after regaining consciousness, what Wei Jiangxue smelled was still the same rose scent as usual. It was as if Mi Rui'an had never concealed it from her.
Why didn't the protagonist's Omeg pheromones, which could be considered a weapon, show any aggression when they were in front of her? If what 233 said is true, how could Wei Jiangxue have successfully marked Mi Rui'an temporarily? She should have been beaten down by Mi Rui'an long ago... And why is Mi Rui'an so tolerant of her? Is it because he sees many suspicious things about her?
Wei Jiangxue gasped. Could these unusual occurrences be related to the anomalies of this mission?
Is she just being too sensitive and overthinking things? Or is it...?
"Master Xiaoxue, is there anything else Xiaodong needs to do? You've been spacing out for more than five minutes, and Xiaodong is worried~" Xiaodong's voice suddenly interrupted Wei Jiangxue's thoughts, and the latter simply shook her head, pausing to think about these things.
Sometimes, not finding the answer is one thing, but it can also create more trouble for oneself. Let's take it one step at a time. Wei Jiangxue didn't believe that if she followed the task process diligently, she could possibly mess it up.
After regaining her composure, Wei Jiangxue called 233 to help her handle the private messages on her live stream account. At the same time, she posted an explanation and apology on her homepage for her sudden disappearance during this period, stating that she would be live streaming normally tonight.
She then specifically contacted Mi via private message. Mi had inquired about her situation over the past few days and sent a new message every other day. The tone gradually shifted from initial confusion upon discovering Wei Jiangxue wasn't replying to panic upon realizing she was out of contact. And today, Mi said that if Wei Jiangxue didn't reply soon, she would report her missing.
Wei Jiangxue felt a warmth in her heart and immediately replied to her message: 【Sorry, sorry, I'm back! I'm so sorry to have worried you for so long!】
Mi didn't reply immediately, but Wei Jiangxue wasn't in a hurry. She simply wrote a short essay explaining why she had lost contact. Of course, Wei Jiangxue couldn't directly say that she had spent her fertile period with her roommate, an Omega. So she had to make up a lie, saying that her eye condition had worsened and she had been forced to stay in the hospital to rest.
After sending the message, Wei Jiangxue felt a strange sense of guilt. The other party was clearly a major client, showing such concern, yet she couldn't tell the truth… She should thank Mi more often in the future!
[System 233: Your private messages are completely exploding... Hey, Mi only sent you six messages? One a day, that's rather even.]
233 complained that the message bar in the backend was so full it was making her want to vomit, and took a moment to check Wei Jiangxue's status, and was immediately surprised: [I thought she would send you at least five or six messages a day, why so few?]
Wei Jiangxue said helplessly, "How can you talk about your sugar daddy like that? He's very busy, okay? He must have only taken a little time to pay attention to me. It's already very kind of him."
[System 233: Okay, I was just saying. By the way, when are you going to do a new task?]
Wei Jiangxue confirmed that it had finished processing the private messages on her livestream account, and after thinking for a moment: 【Now.】
*
The morning light was so delicate it seemed like gold dust floating in the air. A fair hand landed on the doorknob, which was warmed by the sunlight, and then gently pressed down.
Xiao Dong was originally following behind Wei Jiangxue, but Xiao Dong's voice function was too easy to give away, so Wei Jiangxue forced her to rest and pushed her into the room to charge. As for the guide, Wei Jiangxue had her own choice. After all, she had worked with 233 for so long, and their tacit understanding was naturally better than with Xiao Dong.
233 This mission requires us to do it when Mi Rui'an isn't around. Knowing that the other party already knows too many of her secrets, Wei Jiangxue can't possibly go out of her way to make her presence known.
So she had to sneak in secretly, first sneaking into Mi Rui'an's bedroom, then sneaking into the dressing room to put a perfume with the same scent as her own pheromones into Mi Rui'an's dressing room, and finally successfully making her escape.
The sound of running water filled the bathroom; it seemed Mi Rui'an was still taking a shower, but the noise only made the bedroom seem quieter. Wei Jiangxue tiptoed into the room, closed the door, and held in her other hand the perfume—the quest item 233 had just given her.
Changing perfume and adding bonus points—it all sounds like dancing on people's sore spots. How will Mi Rui'an react when she finds out?
As Wei Jiangxue walked towards Mi Rui'an's dressing room, she imagined Mi Rui'an's astonishment when she sprayed her usual fragrance and realized the scent was off. As for 233's claim that omegas develop a pheromone dependence on the alpha who marks them, Wei Jiangxue didn't quite believe it.
As the protagonist, shouldn't Mi Rui'an be like that? According to the popular tropes, such a protagonist should be unmoved by external things, say "NO" to all temptations, and have only their career in mind.
Therefore, the protagonist will get through her heat cycle on her own and resist all people who approach her with impure motives, including Wei Jiangxue.
The result is obvious: after smelling Wei Jiangxue's pheromones, Mi Rui'an may show concern, and then try her best to restrain herself from being led by her physiological instincts, successfully overcoming her animalistic nature.
Wei Jiangxue was very satisfied with her imagination. When she heard the sound of water in the bathroom suddenly stop, she quickly stopped, held her breath, and like a slippery fish, entered Mi Rui'an's dressing room at lightning speed.
233 worked together seamlessly. After Wei Jiangxue sprayed perfume haphazardly on the clothes in several cubicles, they pointed out the location of the perfume cabinet and had Wei Jiangxue use the props in her hand to replace a bottle of perfume that looked exactly the same with it.
She completed the switcheroo task and even hit the bonus point! But the notification sound wasn't triggered. Was there something she didn't do well enough?
Just as she was wondering, the damp steam wafted out with the sound of the bathroom door opening, and the rich scent of roses instantly filled the entire room. Wei Jiangxue couldn't help but feel glad that she had specifically asked 233 to use technology to remove her own pheromone scent before she came; otherwise, Mi Rui'an would have discovered her long ago.
However, the perfume she brought was also very strong... Wei Jiangxue concluded that Mi Rui'an had already discovered that someone had broken into the room, not only because omegas, like alphas, have more acute senses than betas, but also because she heard Mi Rui'an's footsteps pause briefly before turning and heading towards the dressing room.
Now it was too late for Wei Jiangxue to get out. She looked around blankly, and urged by 233, she gritted her teeth and resignedly crawled into Mi Rui'an's wardrobe. Fortunately, 233 assured her that it had thoroughly removed Wei Jiangxue's scent, and Mi Rui'an would have no way of knowing where Wei Jiangxue was by smell.
Wei Jiangxue heard Mi Rui'an walk to the perfume cabinet with trepidation. With a creak, the cabinet door was pulled open forcefully, and Mi Rui'an picked up the glass bottle.
According to 233's live broadcast, Wei Jiangxue knew that the other party had taken the bottle she had just put in.
Then, a soft pressing sound broke the unusual silence.
A soft, hissing chuckle came from outside the wardrobe door. It was Mi Rui'an using the perfume Wei Jiangxue had just switched; the cool, freesia scent seeped into the wardrobe through the louvered door.
Finally, the notification sound indicating that the mission was complete rang out.
But Wei Jiangxue couldn't care less about that; outside the cabinet door were footsteps that terrified her—Mi Rui'an was only one door away from her.
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