Chapter 8

【Xia Ke Longjia has completed the initial strategy, and an ambiguous relationship has been established.】

【The player has received the first tier of points reward: 1000 points.】

【The romantic relationship has not yet been established. Please continue to work hard and complete the final strategy as soon as possible to obtain the second tier of rewards.】

【A new side quest "Ten-Man Slash" has been triggered. Please check the task bar in the lower right corner.】

……

Nuoxia grunted, scratching his head, feeling a bit confused.

— He had clearly rejected Xia's advances, and his attitude was firm and left no room for doubt. Why was it still determined by the system that an ambiguous relationship had been established?

Can one-sided affection count as well?

Recalling the scenes from two hours ago on the training ground, from the rejection under the streetlight, to the bet and duel, and then to Xia watching him leave with silent tears streaming down her face...

Nuoxia felt that these scenes, on the surface, might have had some elements of ambiguity, but they were far from what he considered "establishing a relationship."

It seemed that the system's criteria for the initial strategy were much lower than he had expected.

"Perhaps it's good news..."

Nuoxia glanced at the 1000 points that had been credited. Hmm, just a quarter of Belmer's, it seems that as the game rules state, the points rewards for different difficulty targets do indeed have a proportional difference.

Xia is an elite of the main branch, destined to achieve more than most people in this world. For such an excellent girl, establishing an ambiguous relationship only earned him 1000 points.

The rewards from ordinary girls who are easier for Nuoxia to charm would be even lower, as expected.

This made Nuoxia more determined not to use the guise of earning points to cast a wide net and gather as many as possible, lingering among the flowers.

But what is this suddenly refreshed quest?

Looking at the name "Ten-Man Slash," Nuoxia had a vague sense of foreboding. With a last bit of hope, he opened the task bar in the lower right corner and quickly scanned it.

"Side Quest Name: Ten-Man Slash"

"Congratulations on completing two initial strategies, and in one day! WOW, impressive achievement. It seems that love isn't so difficult for you. Perhaps it's time to face a greater challenge!"

"Quest Content: Within ten days, complete the initial strategy for ten Marine soldiers and establish an ambiguous relationship."

"Quest Reward: 100,000 points, 1 S-grade gift box."

……

"Insane."

Nuoxia rolled his eyes, not even bothering to respond, and directly closed the system panel, yawning as he went to take a shower.

Completing ten people in ten days, and they must be colleagues?

Might as well go to bed early and dream about it.

Nuoxia knew that his looks were in a league of their own in the elite camp, making it easy for girls of the same age to develop a liking for him.

But this liking was only at the level of admiration for a handsome young man. Not everyone was like Xia, who fell in love at first sight and had the courage to confess to him.

Expecting to easily pick up points like last night was impossible.

As for taking the initiative?

Let's not even talk about whether he could overcome his own reservations. One Xia was enough to give him a headache. Charming ten more colleagues? Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows. Just thinking about the possible tragic endings made Nuoxia's scalp tingle.

Anyway, there's plenty of time. He was always patient. If a suitable quest comes up next time, he would find a way to complete it and earn points.

……

A good night's sleep.

The next morning at 5:30, the round alarm clock on the bedside table was about to jump up and ring happily.

But a hand reached out from under the covers, swiftly shutting it off before it could even jump, and Nuoxia rolled out of bed.

Looking around, he saw that Shiryu and Roswald were still sound asleep. Nuoxia sighed in relief and went straight to the bathroom, taking out his toiletries and standing in front of the mirror.

The elite camp's assembly time was 7:00, and most people only got up after 6:30. He had long been accustomed to getting up an hour early to train, and over time, this had become a precise and terrifying biological clock.

The only purpose of the alarm clock for Nuoxia was to train his hand speed and help him quickly regain consciousness upon waking.

"Good morning, myself."

The person in the mirror looked bright and energetic. Nuoxia smiled, showing eight white teeth, and then started squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

Waking up, he felt incredibly refreshed from head to toe. The fatigue and weariness from the intense training of the previous day had vanished without a trace.

This was a special constitution he had had since childhood. His endurance and recovery were far beyond the norm. No matter how hard or tiring it was, nothing couldn't be solved by a good meal or a good night's sleep.

If that didn't work, then eat and sleep again!

Nuoxia moved quickly. By the time he finished washing up and left for the training ground, less than fifteen minutes had passed.

Every day for the past year, he had done the same, training for an hour before assembly, leaving enough time for breakfast.

The morning light was faint.

Perhaps because of its proximity to the harbor, Marinford was shrouded in thick fog at this hour.

There were only a few figures on the training ground, all familiar faces from the elite camp. Nuoxia took off his jacket while greeting them, hung it on the wall, and started jogging to warm up.

After warming up, he found a quiet corner and prepared to start with the simplest and most basic "suzuri" to begin his sword training for the day.

Morning sword practice, evening physical training. This was a habit Nuoxia had gradually developed over the past year and what he considered the most reasonable time allocation.

"Swish—"

This should be the sound of the blade being drawn, but in the training camp, to minimize unnecessary wear and injury during training, they used bamboo swords as suggested by Zeff.

Bamboo swords have no sheath, so they don't make a drawing sound. The "swish" was actually the sound Nuoxia made for himself when he gripped his two bamboo swords.

Men are like this, no matter how old they are, when alone and no one is around, they tend to do some inexplicable and childish actions.

Of course, Nuoxia wouldn't easily admit this. He firmly believed it was to create a sense of ceremony before practicing.

Every day was the same, and since no one saw, he didn't feel embarrassed.

Unfortunately, today, it seemed he had miscalculated.

"Hey, not bad, kid."

A voice came from above, startling Nuoxia. He turned around and saw a tall man lying on the wall a few meters away. In the thick fog, his face and expression were unclear, but he could vaguely see him with his legs crossed, yawning lazily.