novelraw Chapter 180 : Be Mentally Prepared
Chapter 180 : Be Mentally Prepared
Volume 4: High School Arc - “I” Come to Find You~
No matter how I thought about it, time still passed as it should.
Although I felt complicated at that moment, I didn't show it on the surface.
Facing Lu Haochen’s attitude, along with my own speculation and over ninety percent certainty of the answer I had deduced, my mood was completely different from when I hadn’t yet confirmed it.
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, it more or less counted as a full meal.
Jiang Yulong kept patting his belly, repeating, “I can’t eat anymore, I can’t eat anymore.”
Shan Xuelin, on the other hand, occasionally picked at the food and didn’t eat too much.
After all, it was his restaurant.
He could eat whenever he wanted, unlike Jiang Yulong.
Xu Han glanced sideways at Jiang Yulong now and then, as if scolding him for being such a glutton.
All the dishes were cleared, and the table was cleaned up. At that moment, a tea table was placed on it, with white tea boiling atop.
“Now that we’ve finished eating and started drinking tea, it’s time to talk about serious matters.”
These people were all good at keeping their composure, each sitting quietly without a word.
Of course, if it was a contest of composure, I could keep up too, but that would be too much trouble.
I just wanted to ask how they all viewed the System upgrade.
Looking at the purple clay teacup in front of me, I raised my head and glanced at the other four seated individuals.
“You all received the upgrade information from the System, right? Brother Shan, do you mind if I speak first?”
In theory, Shan Xuelin was the local manager of the Lucky Alliance, which made him a small leader.
By rights, he should have spoken first.
But I wasn’t in the mood to waste time here, especially since my emotions weren’t nearly as calm as I appeared.
“Of course, Yunyan, say whatever you want.”
Shan Xuelin looked like a bit of a good-natured man, but… don’t forget, this wasn’t some corporate meeting.
It was a gathering of players in a life-and-death game.
No matter how honest Shan Xuelin appeared on the surface, anyone who had survived this long in the game wasn’t ordinary.
“Then I’ll start… Although I don’t know where the APP came from, or what kind of entity created it, at least from the upgrade information, it’s apparent that the APP seems to be evolving—and the source of its evolution appears to be our fear. That part, I don’t quite understand.”
Seeing the four of them listening in silence, I didn’t waste time and directly explained my theory.
“First, what kind of energy is fear that it can be supplied to the APP? Second, where does the APP’s power come from? Of course, these questions aren’t part of our current discussion. I’m only mentioning them so that everyone has a general understanding.”
“Didn’t expect you, Sister Liu, to have the makings of a boss. That whole analysis of yours…”
Jiang Yulong looked at me, his previously serious expression replaced with a playful smile, which immediately earned him a scolding glare from Xu Han.
“Next, let’s talk specifics. On the way here, I sorted out two key points.”
Ignoring Jiang Yulong’s antics, I continued in a calm voice:
“First, the APP’s upgrade clearly outlines a direction. The first is the social system. Based on modern online games, I’ve inferred several possibilities.”
“Second, the upgrade affects how missions are issued. From a literal standpoint, the task release method will change. Combined with the previous wording, I speculate that future gameplay will become even more bizarre, and the task release state even more insane.”
“Let’s start with the first one…”
Seeing that none of the four interrupted and all were listening attentively, I took a deep breath and went on.
“First is the social system. Previously, the APP’s social functions were primitive. Players couldn’t even communicate within the APP. People like us could only interact in the real world, unable to use the APP for that. So I believe, after this upgrade, features like forums, private messages, and group chats may be introduced to promote in-game social interaction. Also, the APP originally had a danger ranking—I think that ranking will become a form of reward. Lastly… I predict that after the system upgrade, player-versus-player combat might be introduced.”
After speaking, I glanced at the four of them. Seeing they still said nothing, I continued:
“That’s the first point. Next is the second point. With the mission system changing, the previous types—Solo, Stationed, Assault, and Group—might undergo some alterations. What exactly those changes will be is hard to say now, but I think they’ll definitely be more bizarre.”
After speaking again, I swept my eyes over the four of them.
Seeing that none of them intended to speak, I pushed both hands out slightly.
“That’s about all I’ve guessed. I wonder if you have any thoughts?”
However… after I finished speaking, all four remained silent.
After a while, just as I was getting impatient and about to leave, Shan Xuelin suddenly said:
“Yunyan, your guesses are pretty solid. At this stage, that’s about all we can infer. I don’t have anything to add.”
Jiang Yulong and Xu Han exchanged a glance and nodded as well.
As for Lu Haochen, he sat there silently, neither commenting nor speaking.
“Actually, I wanted to gather everyone today to discuss the possible implications of the System upgrade. But it seems I didn’t consider things thoroughly. The APP’s existence is too strange, and guessing blindly won’t help. All I can do is share potential outcomes so that you can all be mentally prepared.”
That’s true.
Honestly, I didn’t need to gather them like this.
No matter how we speculated, it was all guesswork.
Only after the System finished upgrading would we know what changes were truly coming.
The System upgrade itself wasn’t the issue—what was frustrating was that the APP store was now closed, and my nine hundred-plus points were suddenly useless.
“Well, since no one has anything to add, I’ll summarize. First, Yunyan’s analysis was great. Everyone can relax a bit recently, but don’t let your guard down. No one knows if the APP will suddenly issue a task after the upgrade. So don’t slack off on physical training.”
Then, the dinner ended under that strange atmosphere.
When it was time to leave, naturally I paid the bill at the door before leaving.
Right behind me was Lu Haochen.
As for Xu Han and Jiang Yulong, they stayed to drink a bit more with Shan Xuelin.
I didn’t know how many games they had gone through, but this rare moment of relaxation made them overly excited.
Maybe they had been under too much pressure?
Now that their nerves finally relaxed, it was natural to want to let loose a little.
I didn’t have much to say about that.
Maybe I hadn’t considered their feelings enough.
In their eyes, this rare break was too precious—bringing up the APP again would only kill the mood.