“Mu Chen.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you offend my uncle?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Otherwise, why would you take on the job of playing the villainous Boss?”

Mingmei, having just experienced the discomfort of the character's body being stirred by a player's casual remark, immediately understood how difficult it was to play this role.

Mingmei, whose own emotional fluctuations weren't usually large and whose experiences were relatively limited, found this sudden, intense, and destructive emotion almost unbearable.

She couldn't even imagine why Mu Chen would play the villainous boss. How long had he been doing this kind of work?

This time, however, Mu Chen didn't answer Mingmei's question.

When did he take on the role of the villainous boss?

If he had to think about it himself, honestly, he couldn't remember exactly how long it had been.

Different escape games, different time flows, sometimes made it difficult for him to tell how much time had passed when he came out of the game pod.

He didn't know how much time he spent shaking off that intense, negative emotional outburst, how long had he been living like this?

Perhaps, it had started as soon as he came to this world?

“Mu Chen.”

“Hmm?”

Sensing Mu Chen's negative emotions, Mingmei tightened her arms around his waist. “Otherwise, why don’t you continue to play the player next time? I’ll just sell my boxed lunches…”

The game hadn't even really started, and Mingmei was already saying she didn't want to have the script of being a big boss in the future.

It was too hard.

Is this how it is when you're a big boss? Sweet at first, then bitter?

“…Okay, unless something unexpected happens.”

After hesitating for a long time, Mu Chen finally gave Mingmei a vague answer.

Mingmei hummed in dissatisfaction and stepped out of his embrace.

She glanced at the washed vegetables on the stove, composed herself, and muttered awkwardly, “Okay, you can cook now, I won’t bother you.”

With that, she turned to leave, but Mu Chen grabbed her hand, and she felt something warm being placed in her palm.

She looked down and saw a small steamed bun wrapped in oil paper.

This was probably the closest thing to a dessert that a top-notch pastry chef would make near mealtime—a jujube paste and red bean paste bun.

·

“I’m still hungry.”

Even though she had eaten a lot of bread, Lu Xiaoyao still felt empty.

The other players present felt the same way.

“Could it really be that bread isn't filling enough?”

Mandison wondered as he poured himself a glass of hot water. Others followed suit, hoping the hot water would cause the bread in their stomachs to swell and fill them up.

Unfortunately, the more they drank, the hungrier they became.

Before nine o'clock in the evening, everyone's stomachs were rumbling loudly.

Lu Xiaoyao couldn't take it anymore and rushed downstairs to the bar, only to find that the "kind-faced" boss was gone. Sitting behind the bar was Mu Chen, who had been in the kitchen the whole time!

“B-Big Bro…”

Without thinking, Lu Xiaoyao blurted out her real-world habit, calling out to Mu Chen. Fortunately, Mu Chen didn't respond naturally, but simply asked with a smile, "Is there anything I can help you with, customer?"

“Uh…”

Facing an NPC who looked exactly like her friend, Lu Xiaoyao could still express her wishes, but facing an NPC who looked like Mu Chen, and remembering the way Mu Chen usually looked at them, she felt like she would be ridiculed if she opened her mouth.

However, she didn't need to speak, her stomach had already voiced her opinion.

Hearing the sound of her stomach rumbling echoing in the hall, Lu Xiaoyao wanted to dig a luxurious tomb with her toes and bury herself in it.

How embarrassing!

“I’ve made boxed lunches here, if you need one…”

“I need one! Of course, I need one!”

Before Mu Chen could finish speaking, Lu Xiaoyao's eyes lit up, and the desire that came out of her mouth made Mingmei, who was resting in the room and watching Lu Xiaoyao's live stream, turn dark.

Well, well…

Lu Xiaoyao was so eager to eat a boxed lunch when she wasn't selling them!?

[Ding—Congratulations to the player for discovering the mysterious merchant. Please seize the opportunity to buy your favorite products~]

Lu Xiaoyao: What?!

Live Stream:

[Good heavens!]

[Holy crap!]

[?? Am I blind? Did the merchant miss turn into a merchant mister?]

[Wow! The game company really knows how to play!]

[Oh my god, suppressing the players' memories is one thing, but they're even guarding against this?!]

[I swear! They found an NPC who looks exactly like the merchant miss to confuse us, and then found an even less likely NPC, this… I'm speechless!]

[Wait a minute, if the merchant miss isn't the merchant miss, then what is she?]

……

The live stream was buzzing, and Lu Xiaoyao was staring at the boxed lunch in front of her as if she could stare a hole through it.

[Vegetable and Tofu Boxed Lunch: 0.5 credit points/portion, one boxed lunch will keep you from being hungry for a day;]

[Stir-fried Pork with Chili Boxed Lunch: 0.5 credit points/portion, it can also maintain your body temperature in the rain~]

Lu Xiaoyao looked at the options for the food and couldn't help but ask, "According to the game's time flow and the ratio to external time, when can I buy it again?"

Compared to Mingmei, who would chat with the players when she played the merchant, Mu Chen really didn't want to say anything extra.

So, all Lu Xiaoyao received in return was a professional fake smile.

Not sincere at all, even a little perfunctory in the smile.

Lu Xiaoyao: "…"

After thinking for a long time, Lu Xiaoyao finally decided to buy more boxed lunches. “T-Then, please give me seven vegetable and tofu boxed lunches, and… and two stir-fried pork with chili boxed lunches.”

She remembered what Mingmei had said before, this rain, this road, would last at least seven days~

Based on the fact that she couldn't get enough bread tonight, she had to buy more.

Anyway, she had gained a lot of credit points in the recent round of the game, so it wasn't too much for her to buy this much, right?

"Okay~"

The expression on Mu Chen's face was much more genuine when he sold the boxed lunches, and he hinted that Lu Xiaoyao could tell the other players to come down and buy them together.

As a result, the boxed lunches sold surprisingly well in this round. Mingmei was silent when Mu Chen told her that he had sold 30 vegetable and tofu boxed lunches and 15 stir-fried pork with chili boxed lunches in one night.

She was questioning her life.

Why wasn't it so easy for her when she was selling boxed lunches?

In one night, the mysterious merchant NPC earned a net profit of 13.5 credit points, which was more than the 10 credit points a player would get for completing a round perfectly!

However, as the boss, Mingmei looked awkwardly at the 0 credit points displayed on her panel. She looked at Mu Chen with some apology, took a deep breath, and said solemnly, "I will definitely earn more credit points for you!"

Looking at Mingmei's serious eyes, Mu Chen couldn't help but think of the tasks he had as the villainous Boss, so he only said, "Don't force yourself, just do what you can and experience it."

"No way, you've earned so many credit points for me, I can't let you get nothing."

Mu Chen: "So, you were planning to end the game with zero points from the start?"

Mingmei: "…"

Oops, I accidentally said what I was thinking.