What a day for moving forward. Who says autumn is lonely?
Eldest Miss Wen had clearly committed Expert Fu's advice to memory, word for word.
Considering she still had to prepare for her long journey, Fu Qian didn't overstay his welcome and quickly took his leave.
This trip to West Plain had yielded far more than he had imagined.
He and Chief Yuan had undoubtedly reached a tacit understanding regarding the follow-up to the Meteor Shower Incident.
Though getting Su Gao as a teammate had been somewhat abrupt, the current arrangement was the most suitable way to handle it.
Wen Li had even brought him an interesting piece of information regarding the Laria Royal Family.
All in all, no one was happier about this entire situation than Chief Yuan.
If the person in charge were anyone other than Su Gao, traveling together would have been somewhat awkward. Besides, Yuan Shan probably had zero confidence in her ability to order him around.
According to their agreement, all he needed to do next was wait for his teammate to arrive. Then they would kick off a lively new chapter at the Academy together.
Knowing Su Gao, Fu Qian believed it wouldn't take long. He just needed to keep the shop open for business here for a little while.
Since that was the case—
Upon returning to The Bookstore, Fu Qian watched the people bustling about outside. The once-quiet alley was now completely lively. He took a moment to appreciate the vibrant energy before casually pulling the Emissary off his face.
[Warning: Containment breach.]
...
The Warehouse was still waiting.
And the way Fu Qian saw it, there was clearly no need to drag things out until midnight to trigger the mandatory protocol this time.
After all, he had just injected a massive sum of liquid funds into The Bookstore through misappropriation.
With their business performance hitting another peak, operations here could slow down for a bit to consolidate the foundation and build up internal strength.
[Name: All Fools' Day, Number: 3-0205]
[Today's tasks have been updated. Enter containment scenario 3-0205 and complete the re-containment.]
Faced with an employee who had finally regained his work ethic, the Warehouse was able to list out the day's tasks.
The difficulty indicated by the serial number was even pleasantly low, showing no signs of any ill will.
A rank-3 task, and with a name like that...
Studying the image that appeared before his eyes, Fu Qian looked thoughtful.
Mainly because it wasn't as ethereal as the previous ones, and its appearance was truly bizarre.
It was a dark cube, somewhat resembling a large magician's box, with a head slathered in greasepaint poking out from the dead center of its top.
The multicolored face looked somewhat human, yet it rotated clockwise at a steady, inhuman speed. It was both grotesque and fascinating.
[Consume 1 SAN Value to begin?]
[Yes]
While silently evaluating it, Fu Qian casually confirmed.
[Entering containment scenario 3-0205.]
[Current SAN Value: 106, current inspiration: 99]
[...8%... 13%... 21%... 34%... 55%... 89%... 100%. Containment scenario loaded.]
Amid the silky-smooth prompts, the task officially began.
[Your name is Wolf. You are a young man just four months shy of adulthood.
Yet, your friends frequently honor you with the title "Mister Wolf."
As for the reason, it might be a compliment for the calm wisdom you always maintain, or perhaps a nod to your reading habits.
But obviously, it isn't purely a compliment, because these traits make you an outcast among your peers. You know this well, but you don't care.
You know exactly how best to interact with them, assuming you don't intend to become a complete loner.
Of course, this doesn't mean you have any interest in attending the parties they love so much, especially not on All Fools' Day.
However, just as you were enjoying some quiet time alone, you received a phone call from one of your closest friends, Butters.
On the other end of the line, he was anxious and terrified, begging you to come over no matter what.
It didn't sound like a simple matter. After a brief moment of thought, you decided to brave the freezing weather and go join this doubly foolish spectacle.]
Mister Wolf?
It sounded quite imposing, and the character setting seemed rather unusual. But...
Even while the mission briefing was ongoing, Fu Qian's mind was already racing with speculations.
Honestly, out of all the tasks he had done, this was easily one of the most proper briefings he had ever received.
The holiday, the background, the names, and even the names of relevant individuals.
It sounded obvious enough: this Butters had stirred up some kind of trouble, and as his aloof but invariably reliable good friend, he was the first person called for help.
Of course, that was just how it sounded.
Although the date didn't seem to line up, Fu Qian knew very well that All Fools' Day was just another name for April Fools' Day.
Considering he had even seen the Bat Chariot at the Unseen Hill, a conceptual symbol like April Fools' Day making its way to this world was truly nothing out of the ordinary.
So, there could perfectly well be another explanation for that phone call, one much more fitting for the holiday theme.
Namely, thinking of someone who had no interest in such things, the happily partying youths felt slighted and decided to do something about it, resulting in that phone call.
Come to think of it, hadn't there been an awful lot of times lately where a casual remark proved prophetic?
During his last task involving Virtue, he had mocked a group of young people for not enjoying proper summer socializing and wild parties, opting instead to run off into the wilderness for cheap thrills.
And now, a real party had come right to him.
...
Amid his silent grumbling, his vision quickly recovered.
A cramped space, a rather hard seat beneath him, and a slick steering wheel.
While he wasn't sure if minors were allowed to get driver's licenses here, there was no doubt he was sitting inside an older car.
Unsurprisingly, the light outside was dim. It wasn't just because it was late; the weather was equally terrible.
Through the somewhat blurry windshield, he could see cotton-like flakes drifting down from the sky, already accumulating a thin white layer on the ground.
If this was the Bookstore World, considering he hadn't heard of it while synced up, this holiday probably wasn't very widespread, likely confined only to certain regions.
Smelling the heavy scent of gasoline, Fu Qian casually gave it a try. After confirming the car wouldn't start, he spent a bit of effort yanking the handbrake up.
The next moment, he opened his palm and examined a yellow sticky note resting there.
The note only contained an address, which clearly matched a brown street sign by the road.
This was likely what his "good friend" Butters had left him over the phone.
And although the car had broken down, it looked like he was already very close to the destination.
Next, it seemed all he needed to do was get out of the car, walk over, find that place of joy, and see exactly what these kids were up to.
Except—
Fu Qian flexed his fingers, feeling their slight stiffness from the low temperatures.
His skills and items had actually all been restricted.
In a rank-3 task, no less. (End of Chapter)
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