Chapter 105: The Tool Man’s Awakening
On the dark sports field, under the dim lights, An Han crouched beside Wang Sheng and tied their left and right legs together with a silk scarf.
He had always gotten along well with Wang Sheng. After all, they were roommates with bunk beds, often sitting side by side playing on their computers. And since Wang Sheng had a gentle, easy-going personality, An Han never really felt like teasing or bullying him.
He preferred to tease people like Wu Dongming, those who gave strong reactions.
“All done!”
Their legs were now firmly tied together. An Han stood up and turned to look at Wang Sheng’s slightly red face.
Why the heck are you blushing?
Feeling a little annoyed, he ignored Wang Sheng’s expression and said, “Three, two, one, start, go slow first.”
“Okay.”
The two of them started walking awkwardly in sync. Wang Sheng carefully watched An Han’s steps, moving when he moved. At first, their walking coordination was pretty good.
“Let’s jog a little.”
After just a few steps, An Han’s leg got pulled, and he fell straight to the ground.
“I—I was too slow, are you hurt?” Wang Sheng asked in a panic.
“I’m fine. Let’s try again.”
Less than thirty seconds later, An Han fell again.
It wasn’t a hard fall, but he turned to Wang Sheng with a puzzled look. Their legs were about the same length, so their stride should’ve matched. Then why did he keep getting pulled off balance and falling every time they ran?
Wang Sheng scratched his head, embarrassed. “Maybe you should find someone else? Dongming from next door?”
“Dongming? Forget it.” An Han patted the dust off his pants and stood up. “Let’s keep going.”
After about half an hour, An Han finally realized, with despair, that Wang Sheng might really have zero athletic ability.
After seven or eight falls, An Han sat on the grass, covering his face, looking completely defeated. He let out a few long sighs.
Wang Sheng nervously glanced at him, trying to guess his mood.
“It’s fine,” An Han suddenly lifted his head and said with a comforting smile, “I’m just joining the sports meet. Winning doesn’t matter that much. It’s the participation that counts, right? We can just walk to the finish line.”
“That’d be too embarrassing…”
“This is the safest plan, okay?”
If An Kexin hadn’t already submitted the list of participants for the sports meet, making it impossible to change, An Han would’ve switched to a solo event long ago.
“Anyway, there are still two days left. If we practice for half an hour every night, we’ll definitely improve.”
He hid his frustration deep inside and gave Wang Sheng his brightest, most confident smile.
[Wang Sheng’s favorability +5]
So now his favorability is at sixty.
An Han wasn’t surprised. No matter which guy he spent a long time with in close contact, that guy’s favorability toward him would always go up.
Two more days of training. If it only increased by less than ten points each day, that was still manageable.
Still, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was digging his own grave deeper and deeper.
If the favorability went over eighty…
An Han looked down, untied the silk scarf around their legs, and stuffed it into his pocket.
The first obstacle in his plan to “go against the system’s task” was barely cleared. But he couldn’t relax yet, he took out his phone and checked Wednesday’s weather.
No typhoon, no heavy rain, no extreme heat.
So the sports meet was definitely not going to be canceled.
“Why are you staring at me? Aren’t you going back to play your game?”
An Han looked up and found Wang Sheng still standing quietly beside him.
Wang Sheng lowered his head and said hesitantly, “Maybe you should still team up with Su Peng? Or maybe Brother Long or Junjie…”
He had seen the bruises on An Han’s arm from all the falls and felt really guilty about it.
An Han, still determined to join the sports meet, waved his hand casually. “It’s fine, I just need more practice.”
“Did you have a fight with Su Peng?”
An Han froze for a moment, frowned, and said with some irritation, “Who knows what’s wrong with him? He suddenly said he’s not joining anymore.”
Though most likely, he just meant not joining with me. Su Peng probably still planned to run his own 3000-meter race.
An Han really couldn’t figure out what had made Su Peng upset, or maybe Su Peng simply didn’t want to do the three-legged race.
Or worse, maybe the system had messed with his mind! That damn system totally could’ve done something like that!
“I can go ask him for you?”
“Up to you.”
When Wang Sheng left, An Han lay flat on the grass, staring up at the dark night sky.
There was still about an hour before lights-out, and he needed that time to sort things out in his head.
The mission’s original requirement was not to participate in the sports meet, the hardest mission, which meant it couldn’t possibly be as simple as it looked.
But now that he was going to participate, in theory, the difficulty shouldn’t have anything to do with him anymore. So the challenge must come from the system’s forced interference…
Would it use “coincidences” to stop him from joining? Or directly take control of his body and mind to make him refuse?
While he was lost in thought, a dark figure suddenly sat down beside him.
He turned his head and saw Su Peng sitting next to him, though he hadn’t even noticed when he arrived.
“Huh?”
But wait, Wang Sheng had gone back to the dorm to find Su Peng… yet Su Peng was already here?
An Han wanted to ask what Su Peng was thinking, but when he looked at his face, he didn’t know how to start.
“Wang Sheng… you asked him to replace you?”
“Yeah. Why not? You said you’re not joining, right? Or do you plan to skip your 3000-meter run too?”
He suddenly realized his tone sounded a bit angry and sarcastic, even though he didn’t feel upset.
“……”
“You just don’t want to run with me, right?” An Han couldn’t hold back the frustration in his voice.
Su Peng suddenly laughed. “Aren’t you the one who always acts like this?”
“Me? When have I ever—?!”
“During National Day, weren’t you the one who insisted I stay with you? And later, weren’t you the one who told me to get lost?”
“I didn’t—…” An Han quickly looked away, feeling guilty.
That was because the chest binder made your favorability toward me shoot up! I was just trying to protect myself!
“After the holiday, you started being hot and cold again. Sometimes you’d stick to me every day, and sometimes when I came to find you, you couldn’t even be bothered to talk.”
“And a few nights ago, didn’t you make me stay up all night eating and playing games with you, then ignore me the next day?”
An Han lowered his head, nervously fiddling with the fake grass beneath his fingers.
It was only now that he realized, he didn’t really treat Su Peng as a friend.
To him, Su Peng was more like a potentially dangerous stalker… and a convenient tool to complete his missions.
Crap.
The mission’s tool man has awakened! He’s aware now and he’s fighting back!
His mind raced, but he couldn’t think of any reasonable excuse to respond. Finally, he mumbled softly, “Sometimes I’m just in a bad mood… so I don’t really feel like talking to people.”
“But I’ve seen you laughing and having fun with others. You’re only in a bad mood with me?”
“I won’t do it again!”
For the sake of the mission, An Han could only promise that with full conviction.