Chapter 142: [Passing the Imperial Examination] Large-Scale Instance
Before Bai Cha could say anything, Shen Qingchen had already straightened her back and withdrawn her hand.
The other woman was taller than her, standing at about one-hundred seventy-six centimeters with high heels included.
“Let’s go eat. Is there anything you feel like having?”
“Something light, please,” Bai Cha said, looking at her once more.
Honestly, she couldn’t tell if Shen Qingchen was lying.
However, given the other woman’s capabilities—if she possessed a power similar to her own—it wasn’t necessarily impossible.
Shen Qingchen interrupted her with a warm smile. “Then let me take you to the noodle shop just up ahead.”
She pulled out her phone at the same time.
“Let’s add each other on WeChat. We can find a chance to chat more later.”
Neither of them brought up that topic again after that.
Shen Qingchen asked her a few questions about her life in reality instead.
“Are your family’s finances tight?”
“No… it’s mostly just that my parents are no longer around.” Eating her bowl of plain noodle soup, Bai Cha felt strangely constrained in front of Shen Qingchen for some reason.
Shen Qingchen looked at her, a faint crease forming between her brows as something occurred to her.
“I looked you up in the game yesterday, so I already knew that about you as well.”
They were both players, so chatting about it wasn’t a problem; as long as they didn’t explicitly spell out key terms, anyone else would assume they were referring to some game in the real world.
Especially given that Shen Qingchen was the general manager of a game development company.
“You don’t need to be worried—I don’t mean any harm. But you really stand out, you know that?”
Shen Qingchen elaborated, “It’s just… how should I put it? One look at you, and you can tell you’re the type destined to end up in the game.”
Bai Cha raised her eyes. “Why?”
Shen Qingchen set down her chopsticks, resting her chin on one hand as she evaluated her attentively.
“I can’t put my finger on it exactly… but a lot of players are somewhat detached from reality. I mean in terms of interpersonal relationships—including parents, friends, romantic partners, all of that.”
“Either they don’t have close bonds, or things happen to land at just the right point of disconnect. Do you catch my drift?”
Bai Cha understood after a brief moment of thought.
“Which makes them immerse themselves in the game.”
Shen Qingchen smiled and nodded.
“It’s great that you can realize this so early on. We can chat more another day. Just be careful out there. I checked your clear logs and looked into the instances you’ve cleared…”
She gave her a deep, meaningful look.
“You’re truly remarkable—far more impressive than I was back in the day. But the tallest tree in the forest takes the brunt of the wind.”
She suddenly lowered her voice.
“Besides, you haven’t even grown into a full tree yet, have you?”
A flash of sharpness passed through Bai Cha’s eyes—a sharp defense raised by sheer instinct.
Shen Qingchen instantly let out a light laugh and shook her head.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. Let’s eat. If you run into any issues at work, just ask Little Wu, the guy training you. His skills are top-notch; he’s just a bit introverted, but he should suit you perfectly.”
Indeed, he didn’t talk much, was highly capable, and answered whenever asked.
The Number One player truly lived up to her title; from their first formal interaction, she had already gauged Bai Cha’s personality down to a science.
Or perhaps Bai Cha had simply been unusually reserved around her.
She rarely felt that way—if ever.
Shen Qingchen didn’t reach out to chat with her again after that, seemingly quite busy, and Bai Cha didn’t seek her out either.
The work environment was fairly pleasant. Having just started, Bai Cha had yet to experience the soul-crushing misery of corporate life.
However, her next instance was already upon her.
Once again, in the dead of night.
[Welcome to the large-scale B5-rank horror instance “Passing the Imperial Examination with Flying Colors”!]
[Number of participants in this instance: 58 players.]
[Instance mode: Roleplay + Competitive Mode.]
[Competitive Objective: Who can become the pride of their family and satisfy their mom and dad? Whoever turns in an exam paper that satisfies their parents the most will be the final winner!]
[Note: Only when your mom and dad are satisfied can you clear the instance. Otherwise, you’ll have to repeat a year~]
[Instance time limit: 30 days. Don’t worry, time flows at double speed inside the game, so you only need two weeks in real time~]
[The following is the instance introduction: There are only thirty days left until the college entrance exam! Learning admits no delay—as long as you haven’t studied yourself to death, keep studying like your life depends on it!]
[Wishing everyone a pleasant game! Work hard to get a good score as soon as possible~]
By the time the notification chimes sounded, Bai Cha was already inside the instance.
It was late at night here too, and she sat before a desk.
The bedside lamp on the desk cast a warm yellow glow, providing ample light to write test papers.
She noticed everything around her was frozen in place, likely because the instance hadn’t officially begun. Taking a rapid scan of her surroundings, she saw a woman standing right beside her.
Presumably her mother, holding a bowl of traditional Chinese medicine in her hands.
A pungent, metallic reek of blood immediately surged into her nostrils.
Without a second thought, while the system prompt was still drawing to a close, Bai Cha opened the system shop and searched for sponges.
There were many types of sponges available.
[Instantly absorbs all liquids.]
Price: 10 points per piece.
Bai Cha redeemed ten pieces in one go.
Before she even had time to pull them out of her inventory backpack, the system notification chimed its final note.
Almost instantaneously, she picked up her pen and wrote a “Solution:” on the paper before her.
The woman beside her began to move as well.
She set the bowl of black medicine down on the desk.
“Yingying, come, drink up this bowl of medicine.”
Bai Cha stole a calm glance at her and casually wrote down an $f(x)$ on the problem, saying at the same time, “I’m working through a problem.”
She couldn’t quite grasp the exact personality of the character she was supposed to play yet. Unlike the previous instance, where she could directly review chat logs and was granted ample time before interacting with NPCs, this one thrown an NPC right beside her from the very start.
Therefore, she refrained from asking questions as much as possible while keeping an eye on her tone of voice. Keeping the main focus on her studies was bound to be the safest approach.
“It’s fine, you can write after you drink it. This is good stuff your mother specially prepared for you!”
The woman beside her lowered her voice, a flicker of fanatic excitement gleaming in her eyes.
She looked emaciated, thin as a paper cutout.
Her face was gaunt and drained.
She pushed the bowl closer to Bai Cha. Bai Cha glanced at her hands—they were rough, with swollen, enlarged finger joints, clearly weathered by years of hard labor.
Evidently, this character’s family background was far from well-off.
“What is this for?”
Based on what the woman had just said, this should be her first time drinking this medicine.
So Bai Cha asked the question outright. Meanwhile, as the bowl moved closer, the smell proved truly foul, making her brows furrow despite herself.
“It’s to boost your brain! It’s full of good things. Drink it up and you’re guaranteed to get a great score! Hurry up and drink!”
While taking the medicine bowl with a look of visible reluctance, Bai Cha leaned in slightly to take a whiff and couldn’t help dry-heaving once.
“It smells way too awful. I don’t want to drink it.”
“You must drink it! What are we going to do if you can’t get into a good university?” The woman glared at her with wide eyes. Her overly gaunt cheeks made her eyes look unnaturally large, appearing rather terrifying in the dim lighting, her gaze tinged with a hint of neurosis.
“But…”
“No buts! Drink it right now!” Her voice spiked shrilly.
“Fine… Then let me finish writing this problem first. It’s a bit too hot anyway; once it cools down, I can gulp it down in one go. Why don’t you go pour me a glass of water while you’re at it?” Bai Cha nodded reluctantly.
A smile instantly broke across the woman’s face, her tone softening immediately.
“Alright, you write your problem first. No rush, studying comes first. Mom will go pour you a glass of water.”
She tiptoed out of the room. Only then did Bai Cha notice she wasn’t even wearing shoes, walking on her tiptoes to avoid making any sound.
Evidently, pleasing this mother was going to be no easy task.
Bai Cha casually retrieved the sponges from her inventory. Sure enough, as she had anticipated, the sponges were small; it took two of them to absorb all the liquid in the bowl completely.
On the bright side, they absorbed everything extraordinarily fast and left the bowl completely clean.
However, the sponges that had absorbed the medicine could no longer be stored back into the system inventory.
