Looking at the last line, Wen Nan laughed. Waiting for him here? He really wasn’t surprised at all. The little servant, using the instance to line his pockets again. Not afraid of being punished by the system? But last time in the instance, the system noticed someone was messing around, and not only didn’t suspect Yu Shujun, but even appointed him as an investigator. It seems Yu Shujun is a player who’s very good at manipulating the game system. Who knows if there’s any shady dealings with that androgynous game god. Just thinking about it, in his mind, six screens simultaneously displayed new system alerts— [Congratulations, contestant! Main quest 1 is officially complete!] [Please, contestant Ye Jiu, proceed with identity verification] Six Wen Nans simultaneously raised their hands and slapped the [Confirm] button. Shortly after, the results appeared on the light screen— [Contestant Ye Jiu, the settlement for this main quest is as follows: Completion status: Completed; Additional reward: money; Live stream heat settlement: 98,192 Gold Coins; Live stream betting settlement: -> Betting 1. Who is the Guardian: Pending closure; -> Betting 2. Choose who: 302,693 Gold Coins; Live stream tips settlement: 66,142 Gold Coins; Account balance: 2,620,078 Gold Coins.] On six refreshed screens, the exact same settlement results were displayed. And obviously, Wen Nan received different scores and ratings in the six characters, but as the same player, the system required him to output the same result, so he once again broke the settlement system, and it gave him three "money". It makes sense, losing the lottery chance of the main quest doesn’t matter much, as long as it doesn’t affect his final experience points settlement. As for the Gold Coins, Wen Nan sensed that as the instance level he’s entering now gets higher, the level of the live stream audience increases too, and their desire to participate in the pig-slaughtering game, oops, entertainment game he designs decreases. So, previously where Wen Nan could take the primary share in betting, recently he kept hitting walls. But fortunately, this time, regarding the topic of "choose who," he deliberately blurred the last option of "wanting all," so if the audience couldn’t recall Wen Nan previously choosing "master of cheating" immediately, it would be easy to forget he’s a player who would strive to get everything. With this, Wen Nan earned 300,000 Gold Coins, making a tidy little profit; not bad. As he pondered this, above his head, six light screens simultaneously switched— [Congratulations, contestants! Main quest 1 is officially over!] [Now entering the countdown to the start of main quest 2—] [The new contestant task has been delivered, please check!] [Main quest 2: Live a harmonious cohabitation life with TA!] [Task description: Every girl who lacks love and desperately longs for love has a yandere side deep down. Many people would choose to avoid such girls, but you are different—you choose to knowingly charge into danger, even successfully climbing six peaks, advancing into six lairs! You are the master of cheating, you are the master of time management, you are the unparalleled master of madness in this game! In the next task, you are believed to maintain this excellent quality, navigating between different characters, spending one unique cohabitation night after another with TA. Please note: In this main quest, you must ensure the harmony of the cohabitation life. During the task, any triggering of the yandere attribute in the strategy character will lower your task score and rating, and even cause your task to fail, so please choose wisely every time!] [Then what are you waiting for, enjoy your cohabitation life now!] [Now entering task countdown—] Reading this task description, Wen Nan raised an eyebrow slightly. This time’s main quest seems a bit too easy. Just not letting them reveal their yandere attributes and spending three cohabitation nights with them separately? This is too simple. For a player like Wen Nan, who has already been negotiating with several characters in the first trial map, this is practically a giveaway. With the key in hand, Wen Nan hummed a little tune and walked out of the cramped storage room. Yu Shujun leaned against the wall by the storage room door, seeing Wen Nan come out, immediately asked, "All done?" Wen Nan nodded, "Easily sorted." Twenty minutes later, Wen Nan and Yu Shujun together returned to the first floor of Zhuang Yichen’s villa, beside the floor tile the dachshund had scratched before in the storage room. The tile still displayed the previous prompt. Wen Nan leaned over, completed facial recognition, then saw the prompt change— [Performing identity authentication... ] [Confirmed, you have successfully bound the key item with Zhuang Yichen, and have successfully obtained the male owner’s identity... ] [This villa is pre-marital property of Zhuang Yichen. If you wish to obtain usage rights of the villa, please sign a new marriage property sharing agreement. Would you like to sign now?] He and Zhuang Yichen are only a married couple in name for the agreement. Signing this sharing agreement is essentially agreeing that he can use Zhuang Yichen’s property, and likewise, Zhuang Yichen would have rights to his property. After pondering briefly, Wen Nan clicked confirm. Quickly, the prompt changed— [Your marriage property sharing agreement with Zhuang Yichen is established, during the continuance of your marriage, both parties will have property usage rights with each other.] [Your identity verification is complete!] [Now unlocking the hidden basement door for you, please wait a moment.] [The door has been unlocked, welcome in!] After the prompt, a "click" sounded, and the floor opened directly. A deep passage leading underground appeared in front. Wen Nan turned, looking at Yu Shujun. Yu Shujun nodded, signaling the other to go in first. As Wen Nan stepped onto the stairs descending, Yu Shujun drew a circle near the ground entrance with the golden light of Root Breaking Slash, then quickly followed. Passing through that passageway, a sealed darkroom appeared. In the center of the darkroom was an old black wooden chest. "Is this... the treasure chest?" Wen Nan asked softly. Yu Shujun nodded, "Yes." In the previous treasure hunt’s advanced instance, although Yu Shujun left midway due to the Divine Staff Sheath, his guild member persisted under pressure till the end, reaching the treasure chest. So, Yu Shujun recognized it without a doubt; this was Yu Shoushisan’s treasure chest. Understanding, Wen Nan solemnly walked to the chest, retrieved the rusty key from his equipment spare slot, and was about to insert it into the lock when he paused, turned back, and looked at the person behind him, "If I open the treasure chest, you won’t... trigger the yandere attribute, will you?" Wen Nan wasn’t afraid Yu Shujun would turn yandere now, knowing even if he did, he wouldn’t harm him, but it would affect his second main quest’s score and rating, so Wen Nan thought it’d be safer to ask first. Thus, he received a cold glare from Yu Shujun. Seems like it won’t trigger. Relaxed, Wen Nan turned back and bent down. The key inserted, and the chest opened smoothly. Expecting some identity verification popup, nothing came; the wooden box’s lid simply lifted easily. A blinding golden light shot out of the chest. Wen Nan was forced to close his eyes for a moment to adjust. When the golden light faded, Wen Nan fully opened the lid and peeked inside, only to find the box empty. Yu Shujun also leaned over to look with Wen Nan, then furrowed his brows, "Empty?" "The item was already taken?" Wen Nan guessed. Yu Shujun shook his head, "Without this key, no player could open this chest." "What if it’s... the person you’re looking for?" Wen Nan pressed on. Yu Shujun furrowed his brows slightly, pondered briefly, then shook his head, "She shouldn’t be able to either." Shouldn’t? Not ruling out the possibility? Wen Nan turned back, examining the wooden box again, tapping here and there to check for hidden mechanisms. The system had scanned every corner, still no trigger for any mechanism prompt. It seemed the item had indeed been taken, and this wooden box being intact ruled out forceful destruction. "Is it possible this box was always empty?" Creating a so-called treasure chest to mislead, making others believe it contained the Divine Staff Fragment, but it was empty from the start, just to divert attention and create chaos? Yu Shujun understood Wen Nan’s implication but shook his head, denying the speculation. This treasure chest and the key were placed at the center of the map as the final rewards in the previous battle royale advanced instance. Though the instance system might occasionally encounter algorithmic errors, it never deliberately deceives players into mutual killing — not out of kindness, but from disdain. If it intends players to kill each other, it’d be clearly stated in the rules. Since the instance system declared the final reward as Yu Shoushisan’s treasure chest, it wouldn’t offer an empty promise. After obtaining this key, Yu Shujun had kept it intact in his equipment spare slot, never allowing any other player to touch it, eliminating the possibility of it being stolen midway. Seeing Yu Shujun’s firm denial, Wen Nan didn’t press further. He trusts that a Gold-tier player has sufficient judgment ability. If none of those scenarios fits, why is the chest empty? Where did the Divine Staff Fragment go? Wen Nan didn’t have the time to think through this question now. His time was running short. The lending period for that Matthew Fragment was about to end. "Take the chest with us first?" Wen Nan suggested, opening the equipment spare slot. Yu Shujun shook his head, "The chest isn’t equipment or an item, it’s probably now bound with this villa and can’t be carried around by players." As the words fell, Wen Nan indeed received a system prompt in his mind, saying he couldn’t acquire this item. Looks like the empty chest will have to stay here. Wen Nan stood up and closed the lid. A sliver of golden light once again shot from the chest, causing Wen Nan to briefly close his eyes. Reopening his eyes, Wen Nan turned to Yu Shujun standing beside him. Yu Shujun gripped the light sword tightly, saying, "I will guard this basement well, rest assured, master." Even if it’s just an empty box, given it’s something Yu Shoushisan left behind, guarding it might help them find clues about Yu Shoushisan. Thus, Wen Nan nodded without objection. At this time, a dull thud was heard overhead, sounding like furniture falling to the ground. Immediately afterward, Aunt Zhang’s scream echoed— "Aaaah, someone’s dead!"