"Bro, I don't know whether to call you lucky or unlucky, hahaha..." Zero laughed as he jabbed a fist at Gu Yuan's shoulder.
Gu Yuan was currently seated on a sofa in his living room as he held an invitation in his hand. Zero was casually sprawled beside him with his arms hanging over the back of the seat.
He ignored Zero's mocking remark as he contemplated the first task since his arrival.
[Side Task 1: Attend the gathering. Reward: 50 points]
Gu Yuan was in a level 2 world. As an SS-class host and with his apathetic personality, Zero knew that he would not enjoy this world in the least because there was nothing interesting about it.
Bring his company to the top of the world? Gu Yuan already did that within the first few days after his transmigration. And with the top company came money, so naturally he was also the richest man in the world.
Yet... why the hell did he not get a notification that he'd completed the mission.
Gu Yuan never had the intention to leave after completing the mission because he tended to maximize the profits from each mission world by staying behind to complete any tasks or side missions.
But now he was required by the mission to stay behind, and with his godly intuition he felt a faint sense of foreboding because of that but threw it to the back of his mind.
No matter what came his way, he just had to wave his hand, and everything would run smoothly. That's how everything always was. What concerned him now was how to pass his time in the most entertaining way possible.
As for Zero's casual statement, to Gu Yuan, being stuck in this level 2 world for an entire lifetime was no better than being imprisoned in hell, but he'd been through worse worlds. Gu Yuan would have preferred going into a level 4 or above world, even if the consequence of failing would lead to obliteration.
Zero explained that in order to enforce some form of equality amongst all hosts, veterans would have some points deducted. If the host had over a billion points remaining from previous competitions, they'd start with 5000 points while the other veterans started with 2000. Also, all of the skill points would be reset to 0 (skill points, not skills and skill levels).
Therefore, the consequence for failure of the first mission was inevitably obliteration of the body and soul for the majority of the veterans and all of the new hosts. If he was transmigrated into a more entertaining world higher than level 2 and failed, he would not be able to escape the consequences either.
But, failure?
He didn't even know the word. And if he did, he would never associate it with himself because he'd never lost once in his entire life.
Gu Yuan thought that his life would be more interesting when he first accepted Zero's request to bind with him 1000 years ago. 1000 years of transmigration, the many worlds he could explore. However, everything was "too easy, too boring." By the time he reached B-class, he never spent any more points aside from the occasional room passes. There was no need to spend anything because he could complete the worlds with his ability alone even if he were up against other hosts.
Before he knew it, 1000 years was already over and Zero ran up to him to hug and kiss him all over the face in gratification. They got first place! Of course, Gu Yuan disgustedly shoved the human-turned Zero off onto the ground which made Zero cry injustice.
"You never cared about PDA back then!"
"Back then, you were in my head. There was no PDA."
Gu Yuan would have preferred that Zero had never gained a human body. After all, he knew they would be together for another thousand years...
Thinking about the current world, he leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. It's just one lifetime. Might as well complete it like usual.
On the day of the gathering, Gu Yuan donned a black suit and casually styled his hair to keep up the image he'd built up in this world--an overbearing tycoon whose actions did the talking. Zero had decided that the event would definitely bore him to death, so he went to hang out at a club downtown.
Even though Gu Yuan sat himself in an inconspicuous corner, he still attracted a lot of attention from those looking to make connections with him, but he ignored everyone. Knowing that they wouldn't be gaining anything from their god, most of the men left, leaving behind only the more ambitious women.
After sitting in silence for a few more minutes, the once bustling lounge had suddenly toned down until only subtle gasps and hushed whispers could be heard.
Gu Yuan turned to look in the direction that the rest of the crowd was facing, and he took in a deep breath at the sight.
There was a beautiful woman standing at the entrance in a dazzling red dress that exposed too much but for some reason it did not seem vulgar or improper on her at all. Her head was held high in arrogance with a slight smirk, yet the shining confidence in her eyes was intoxicating.
While all the other men's gazes were locked onto her cleavage, Gu Yuan was immersed in her pair of bright and clever eyes. Just as he was getting curious as to who she was, he heard someone whisper that she was the infamous young miss of the Tian family, Tian Xi.
He remembered her information from the mission details and narrowed his eyes in thought.
She did not seem like the wallflower described in the mission details at all. That temperament of hers resembled that of a queen watching a play.
When Tian Xi opened her pretty lips to speak, her voice was so enchanting that Gu Yuan subconsciously had to swallow down his saliva. Even in the multitude of worlds he'd been through, there had never been a woman like her whose mere presence intrigued him so much.
The NPCs in the various worlds were lifelike, sure, but they were so predictable that Gu Yuan found them boring. Similarly, hosts always had ulterior motives that were easy to grasp. Of course, even then having some playthings were better than none so he didn't deny them of the pleasure.
The woman's casual remarks were so snarky that he found it hard to believe that she was the original Tian Xi.
Such a dumb girl who could allow herself to fall into a sad excuse of a pit like the one Ou WenYan set up could actually have such momentum? The corner of his lip curled upward unknowingly. Then again, whether or not she was a host he planned on devouring her whole.
When she walked away towards the bar, Gu Yuan heard a resounding beep in his mind as he received his next side task.
[Side Task 2: Spike Tian Xi's drink. Reward: 100 points]
The fact that he received this as a task furthered his suspicion on her being a host. Did this not mean that she was not going to be drugged by Ou WenYan tonight? There was also the possibility that the admins of this world simply wanted him to drug her rather than having Ou WenYan do the job.
Either way, this was an opportunity to confirm his suspicions.
When Gu Yuan got there, he immediately intercepted Ou WenYan from the bottle of red wine. However, even someone like him who'd gone through countless worlds imperceptibly twitched his lip when he heard the next task notification ringing abruptly in his mind.
[Side Task 3: Fuck Tian Xi thoroughly. Reward: 250 points]
It was fortunate that he was already planning on doing that from the moment he saw her, so Gu Yuan was actually pleased that he was now getting points for it.
On his way to the bar he purchased a purifying agent as well as a cheap untraceable drug from the system store for 100 points then slipped them both into Tian Xi's glass as he poured it in for her all in one go.
After getting rid of the pebble by the roadside that was Ou WenYan, he kept Tian Xi from leaving him by initiating small talk.
When the drug finally started showing its effect, he pretended to be surprised and distressed because he just found out that the bottle he personally poured for her was drugged by that bastard Ou WenYan.
He was observing her reaction to having been drugged as he supported her in his arms against the counter. When she glared at him and her glass, he found her strangely adorable as he felt a very slight itch in his heart.
When they got to the guest room, he wanted to see more of the strong woman's vulnerability, so he didn't push her down immediately but had her beg him.
Usually, it was always the women who took the initiative with him, but she did not seem to be the type to willingly submit to him without the influence of an aphrodisiac, so he made the most out of the situation.
After eating her whole and filling her up with his seed, Gu Yuan was the most satisfied he had ever been in his extremely long and dull life. In fact, the following six months he was jumping from woman to woman trying to find that sense of satisfaction once again but failed and ended up so irritated that Zero avoided him throughout the rest of this lifetime.
But anyway, the following morning, he encountered a very skilled hacker. With his skills and this world's level of technology he was certain his opponent was a host like himself. The face that popped into his mind was the confidently smirking Tian Xi. He just had to wait and observe to see if she would carry his child in order to confirm her status as a host.
Gu Yuan was infuriated when the hacker managed to break down the first wall and leave undetected, so he cursed and displayed his pettiness for the first time ever by cursing out the hacker.
No one had ever made him feel both irked and exhilarated at the same time before. He had a taste of defeat, but it wasn't entirely detestable. He didn't even realize the corners of his lips rising when he read the other's reply as he pictured Tian Xi's victorious expression in his mind.
When the hacker also ended up hacking Tian Corp, Gu Yuan's suspicion of Tian Xi did not dwindle. In fact, it rose once again when Tian Corporation had an unprecedented rise right after.
Just as he was about to act against her, she came knocking on his door with a very enticing proposal. She also inadvertently deflected his probing, making him consider the possibility of the other host being one of the experts in her team.
The main reasons he took up her collaboration offer was 1. because that way he could confirm his suspicions by closely monitoring her as well as trying his hardest to impregnate her, and 2. he didn't have his fill of her.
When she left after playing with fire, Gu Yuan furiously called his Secretary Wan over to try and stoke it, but he couldn't find release no matter what and threw her out instead.
In the end he returned home and miserably took a 2-hour long cold shower.
Since then, he realized that Tian Xi was never taking the initiative with him, only courting death! So he took the initiative for the first time in his life and was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was to play with her.
When Tian Xi told him that she wouldn't tie him down he helplessly sighed.
Gu Yuan didn't want to bother with anyone else. He didn't even have enough of Tian Xi how could he possibly make time for another woman?
Of course, he still viewed her only as a temporary plaything at this point. If she was an NPC, he would only be dooming himself if he got attached. And if she was a host, this would probably be their only world together and even if it wasn't, he didn't plan on going the extra mile in searching for her later. She would be no different from the other hosts he met before who wanted to cling onto his golden thigh for a free and smooth ride.
However, if she really were an NPC, it would make sense because not only did she not get pregnant after so many times, she seemed to just want him to take responsibility for their wonderful evening at that gathering. It was her first time, after all.
He never considered the possibility of making her fail her mission by leaving her because he knew he'd be the one to suffer what with his current addiction to her.
But the wish he made popped up in his mind, making him think deeply of another possibility.
In any case, the foundation of his feelings for her definitely started in this world.
That's why, when she walked up to his deathbed with the divorce papers in her hand he was half expecting and half in shock because he knew this meant that he would fail a mission world for the first time since he joined the void competition a thousand years ago.
When the hell did she set all this up?
While he was angry, he was also fully hooked by her when he saw her smiling genuinely happily for the first time.
So this is her victorious expression. Not bad.
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[List of Completed Missions and Tasks]
[Level 2 World Main Mission: Bring the family business to the top of the business world. Become the richest person in the world. Reward: 1000 points - FAILURE (-2000 points)]
[Side Task 1: Attend the gathering. Reward: 50 points]
[Side Task 2: Spike Tian Xi's drink. Reward: 100 points]
[Side Task 3: Fuck Tian Xi thoroughly. Reward: 250 points]
[Side Task 4: Host a large and grand wedding. Reward: 150 points]
[Side Task 5: Have sex with Tian Xi every day for the next 100 days. Total Reward: 200 points (2 point/day)]
[Total points earned: 750. Total points deducted: 2100]
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[Host Stats]
System: 000 (Zero)
Name: Gu Yuan
Age: 1034
Class: SS
Cumulative Points: 4,500,000,001+ (+650)
Points: 3650
Skill Points: 0
Skills: ***
Number of Worlds Completed: 1,460,001 (1,460,000 complete, 1 failure)
Stats: INT - 300/100 STR - 300/100AGI - 244/100Charm (CRM) - 300/100 VIT - 225/100 LCK - 72/100
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When Zero got the notification that his host FAILED he laughed so hard that he fell to the floor and had to clench his stomach in pain.
"Bro...Bro Yuan what the hell were you doing hahaha...haha" It was the easiest world that he had taken up after 700 years, AND HE FAILED IT.
He totally lost it when he looked back into Gu Yuan's memories and found that the reason he lost was because of a WOMAN ah! A HOST ah!
Gu Yuan's face was darker than the bottom of a pot, and Zero shut up immediately pasting on an expressionless face characteristic of a robot before turning around. If you looked closely you could see that his shoulders were trembling though...
When they arrived at the void world, he didn't immediately go to the next world like he always did. He had Zero wait outside the D-class lounge while he waited at the C-class lounge.
Before she one-upped him, he didn't care about her being a host or anything. He was ready to just move on and forget about her. However, after she had one over him and he finally confirmed that she was 100% a host, he was inwardly relieved and inexplicably...happy...?
Whatever he felt inside, he wanted to relieve himself of all his doubts by seeing her personally in the void world.
So when he saw her familiar figure he couldn't help wrapping his arms around her slender waist, chuckling contentedly. When she tried to kick him, he felt a sense of doting as he praised her for trying hard.
Unfortunately she left very quickly.
But if his guess was correct...he burst out laughing evilly and followed her into the next world.
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(Zero: BRO YOU FORGOT ME I WANNA MEET SIS-IN-LAW, TOO!! sobs)