The System is Abstract, Luckily, So Am I

Chapter 161 : The Adult World is So Complicated

By the time the evening self-study session ended, Lin Li had successfully rested and recuperated, bringing his physical and mental state back up quite a bit.

Because he still had things to do, he headed straight for his bicycle after class. Following the navigation on his phone, he made his way to his destination.

Arrived.

Looking at his target, Lin Li nodded.

*Taste of Love Theme Hotel.*

Lin Li didn't go inside. With a faint smile, he took out the "Flask of Hidden Passions," parked and locked his bike, and then sat down on a nearby bench. He pulled out his phone to continue studying while waiting for willing prey to take the bait.

This was a street famous for its hotels, so there was quite a lot of foot traffic.

Lin Li hadn't been sitting for more than a few minutes when a couple stepped out of a taxi that had just pulled up.

Lin Li directly aimed the "Flask of Hidden Passions." *Integrity, if I call your name, do you dare to answer?*

It answered.

Lin Li appeared to be looking at his phone, but he was actually observing the two out of the corner of his eye.

Then, visibly, both of their expressions changed, and they looked at each other.

Maintaining the mindset of a bystander enjoying the drama, Lin Li activated his *Clairaudience*.

"..."

He didn't hear anything.

It wasn't that *Clairaudience* had failed, but rather that both of them were tacitly maintaining their silence.

"...Babe, have you booked the room yet?" After a long while, the girl finally spoke up.

"...Not yet."

"Then how about... we just forget it for today?"

"Sure! Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Let's just go back and play games? All this romantic stuff is kind of unnecessary, really," the guy nodded rapidly.

"Okay!"

"Driver, take us back." The two turned around in perfect unison and stopped the taxi they had just gotten out of.

The taxi driver, who hadn't left yet: "?"

*Arriving and immediately leaving, taking a cab twice... Are you two just here to boost Xiling Town's GDP?*

Whatever.

*Thank you, you two idiots. This is easy money.*

"Alrighty! Hop in!" The driver, smiling on the outside but laughing at the idiots on the inside, opened the car door.

And Lin Li, who had orchestrated all of this, hid his merit and fame.

Tonight, he had saved over a billion little lives once again.

This was Lin Li's plan.

This was a hotel street, and *Taste of Love* was the highest-rated love hotel in Xiling. Did he even need to think about what men and women coming here at this hour were after?

It certainly couldn't be to look at glow-in-the-dark watches or backflipping kittens.

So, all he needed to do was sit by the entrance and take a quick suck whenever someone walked by.

Of course, he couldn't successfully absorb from every single person. Emotions were hard to control, and not everyone who came here met the requirements of the "Flask of Hidden Passions." But it didn't matter if an absorption failed; there was always the next person.

Admittedly, if he went to a place like a hospital, there would be an endless supply of sorrow and despair to absorb. After all, hospital walls have heard more sincere prayers than churches.

From an emotional standpoint, Lin Li didn't really want to go to a place like that to play with people's emotions. They might actually need that sorrow as a way to vent.

From a rational standpoint, after his experiments during the day, lust was the most efficient desire to absorb.

And the biggest limitation to completing this task wasn't that Lin Li couldn't find suitable negative emotions, but that his mental energy simply couldn't handle the drain.

If he went to a hospital and stood in the ICU for a minute, Lin Li would probably pass out on the spot from mental exhaustion and be rushed right into the ICU himself.

...

The "Flask of Hidden Passions" was full.

He could only say that this place was a feng shui treasure land.

Lin Li even managed to absorb "integrity" from two bros who were walking past the hotel with their arms around each other's shoulders, calling each other "bro."

*You guys had better actually be bros, the thing you're going to do had better be drinking, and that 'integrity' had better be directed at some girls you're meeting up with later.*

Lin Li suddenly recalled the female-oriented romance novels he had read in the past.

Reading female-oriented novels was pretty normal; the writing in them was often quite commendable, and many genres weren't strictly gender-exclusive anyway.

When reading the descriptions of "brotherly bonds" in those books, Lin Li didn't think anything was wrong at first. Even though he felt it was a bit exaggerated, he could still convince himself to accept it.

That was until the "bros" he thought were just bros suddenly started kissing in the book, and his entire worldview instantly collapsed.

It shocked Lin Li for a hundred years.

Most of the time, Lin Li could absorb emotions from both parties.

But sometimes, like with a middle-aged couple that walked by, Lin Li could only absorb emotions from the wife.

When the wife's "integrity" was absorbed by Lin Li and she suggested to her husband that they just call it a night, Lin Li saw the guy look so happy he almost started skipping as they walked away.

*Are middle-aged men... really this miserable?*

A cautionary tale.

And other times, Lin Li couldn't absorb emotions from either party, leaving him wondering what they were even doing at a place like this.

Now, looking at the fully stored flask, Lin Li felt a bit nostalgic—*Bufan, I miss you so much.*

His mental energy could still hold out a bit longer. It would be a pity to leave right now, considering the task progress bar hadn't even reached one-third overall.

Since his bro wasn't here, he could only make himself suffer—actually, Lin Li just wanted to test it out.

"Mmm~~—"

When the emotions inside the flask entered his body following his command, Lin Li violently clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound he subconsciously let out.

*So this is what going into heat feels like.*

Prepared for this, Lin Li gripped the bench tightly with his other hand and began taking deep, continuous breaths.

He opened his eyes.

*Why does the exhaust pipe on that car ahead look so enticing?*

*That little cat next to the car looks pretty cute too, doesn't it?*

The moment these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lin Li slapped himself hard across the face.

He had almost turned himself into a full-blown degenerate.

*Motor control, get a grip!*

*Live-action Catfish Mermaid, project yourself into my brain right now!*

It took several full minutes of enduring it, knowing that the desire would eventually fade, before Lin Li barely managed to calm down.

Curiosity almost killed the cat.

Lin Li felt a lingering fear. Next time the flask was full, he would just randomly gift it to one of the hotel's guests.

...

Lin Li had been sitting there for an hour, and his mental energy was showing clear signs of fatigue.

The "Flask of Hidden Passions" was probably close to its limit again.

Another couple walked over. The woman looked multi-talented, and the man looked multi-billion-ed.

The fat man, who wasn't even as tall as the woman, had a sleazy look on his face and seemed to be saying something.

Lin Li activated *Clairaudience*.

"Babe, later I'm going to make you [Bleep—], and then ruthlessly [Bleep—], and you're definitely going to [Bleep—]"

*Damn, even wild beasts would have to admit this guy is the real animal.*

"Ah~~ I'm looking forward to it so much~~ My lower half is already [Bleep—], I really want to [Bleep—]~~"

*Fuck, a match made in heaven.*

Lin Li took a deep breath and activated the magic artifact!

Then he almost burst out laughing.

The man indeed harbored worldly desires, but he didn't absorb a single drop from the woman.

*So everything you just said was completely against your true feelings, huh.*

*Seriously, and here I thought you could actually stomach it.*

Following Lin Li's activation, the man stopped in his tracks and frowned slightly.

"What's wrong, babe?" the woman asked in confusion.

"This is boring. I don't want to sleep with you anymore. I'm going home, do whatever you want," the man yawned. He felt that the thing he had been looking forward to wasn't actually that appealing anymore. He spoke as if he were dismissing an escort.

"How could you? No way, let's go in."

"I'll still buy you that bag. Stop pulling on me."

"You're the best, babe~~"

Listening to this conversation, and considering that he was just about out of time and energy for the day, Lin Li raised his hand and dumped all the "integrity" inside the flask straight into the woman's body.

*You don't love it? I'll make you love it!*

However, to Lin Li's surprise, the woman simply watched the rich guy drive away, waving at him from where she stood.

She didn't go into heat. Was her self-control really that strong?

Then, Lin Li watched as the woman took out her phone and made a call.

"The room is already booked. The address is the one I sent you. Come find me right now," the woman said the moment the call connected.

"Okay, Sister. Then can you buy me a champagne tower next month?" Because they were close, Lin Li could even hear the voice on the other end of the phone.

"No problem."

"I'll tell my manager I'm going on an out-of-house call right now, Sister."

Lin Li: "..."

*Motherfucker.*

The adult world is so complicated.

Who is keeping who here?

*Forget it, going home to sleep is more important!*

...

Inside the *Taste of Love Theme Hotel*.

The reception desk faced the glass doors directly, so the receptionist could see the flow of people outside.

The receptionist's smile was stiff as hell.

What was going on tonight?

Couple after couple would walk up to the door with great enthusiasm. She would get ready to say her welcome greeting and upsell some add-on products, but then suddenly, one by one, they would enter "sage mode." They would either leave looking completely bored, or walk in and completely ignore whatever she was saying.

They all looked like they wanted to cancel their reservations.

*What are you doing? What are you all doing? Are you all playing an edging challenge with me?!*

Finally. Finally!

A seductively dressed woman walked in, her face flushed with the glow of spring. Now *this* was a normal customer!

Wait, no, this wasn't normal either.

Her male companion had already left. What was she glowing about?

"Welcome to Taste of Love, how may I..."

But the receptionist still had to say her lines according to the rules.

"Stop yapping. Room 4013. Give me one of every single largest-sized toy you have here!" the woman said impatiently. "Oh, and get me some low-temp wax and steel wool too!"

Receptionist: "?"

(End of Chapter)