Chapter 1272: Time Deduction

*c「How should I complete the mission... 」

In the quiet room, the bright noon sunlight streamed in through the window.

Standing behind the girl, with a tasseled shawl draped over his arm like a servant, Lin An frowned slightly, watching the girl carefully select her hunting gear.

He had been in the instance for over twenty minutes, yet he hadn't made any progress on the mission.

Even like Xiong Hanzi, he had two points deducted.

Well, Zhang Tie probably had about four points deducted.

One and a half hours, this means that if he continues at this pace, there won't even be enough time to increase his strength or master his abilities. Lin An even doubts he'll last a full day before being kicked out by the system.

To be frank, he who is used to completing high-difficulty tasks perfectly has never been in such a sorry state...

He had no idea what to do.

This instance is so simple it feels like just following the plot—the better the performance, the higher the completion rate. Only his mission objective seems problematic.

Watching the girl compare her hunting gear in front of the mirror, Lin An couldn't help but feel a chill.

A full twenty minutes of time were wasted; although during that time he could still operate the Disaster-altering Power...

... but with the girl constantly interrupting him, his efficiency wasn't high.

Moreover, he needed some space to practice his abilities—Zhang Tie included.

The optimal solution was to simply finish the instance objective, set it aside, and focus on strengthening his power.

For him, he could do many things to buy time for the mission, even acts that partly violate humanity.

But...

"Bring my deer-skin boots over, the brown pair."

"What are you spacing out about?"

She spoke in a cold, clear tone.

Turning around, the girl looked down at him haughtily; though her words weren't insulting, Lin An could clearly feel she regarded him merely as a "servant," a tool. That innate arrogance and aloofness made it seem as if they belonged to two different worlds.

For Lin An to serve her was a great honor.

That is, the education the girl received kept her always elegant; otherwise Lin An suspected she would, out of dissatisfaction, call him a lowly servant, blind, and drag him out to feed the dogs.

The reason was simple.

Zhang Tie was scolded in exactly that way.

In just twenty minutes, poor Xiong Hanzi had already been whipped seventy-some times with a leather lash, cursed with over sixty "lowly dog" remarks, and kicked a few times.

It's hard to imagine that an elegant noblewoman in public is, in private, a violent, spiteful woman who seems to enjoy tormenting others for fun.

In the team channel, Zhang Tie was nearly driven mute by the scolding, almost unable to resist slapping his mission target to death.

Being scolded was bad enough, but his favorability kept dropping.

Who could stand that?

"Didn't you hear me!"

"Boots, bring them over, put them on for me."

Say it again.

Shen Yan gave Lin An a cold look, a flicker of impatience flashing in her eyes. In her view, the guard who had once been utterly respectful, like a loyal dog, now seemed foolish, constantly needing her to repeat orders.

If this continued, she would consider revoking Lin An's honor of serving her.

In the silence, Lin An's eyes flashed with a strange hue, but he ultimately chose to go fetch the boots.

In fact, he wasn't rigid and unable to adapt; picking up girls was something he was actually good at. Or rather, the trials the Second Will had gone through provided plenty of memory fragments for him to choose from.

Moreover, when it came to human emotions, with his current cognitive ability he could almost instantly find the optimal solution without thinking.

So-called liking, love, feelings—these are merely different psychological and physiological pathways.

The suspension-bridge effect, contrast, sensory stimulation, anti-slavery training...

He knows exactly how to do all of these.

In other words, Lin An, already at the peak of human intellect, could at any moment become an expert in any field.

Even things like PUA aren't that simple.

It's just that he, who hasn't needed to consider human emotions for a long time, is now somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Or put another way, he, Lin An, doesn't need to curry favor or win the affection of any human being.

A few seconds later, holding a pair of exquisite deer-skin boots, Lin An walked silently up to the girl.

At this distance, he could already smell the girl's faint fragrance.

It must be said that when close enough, the girl's exquisite looks truly possess a strong allure.

"What are you standing there for?"

"Serve me by putting on my shoes."

Extending her ankle, Shen Yan spoke coldly, accustomed to being served; putting on shoes is something someone of her stature doesn't need to do herself.

He stood still.

Lin An's brows furrowed slightly; after a moment he felt that if he didn't keep acting, his favorability would be deducted again. Under the girl's growing impatience, he silently took off her shoes.

The next second, a delicate jade foot appeared before him.

Round and translucent, each toe like a work of art, the pale dorsum revealing faint blue veins; with near-perfect proportions, the arch and dorsum displayed an enticing curve.

Small and exquisite, like a jade carving.

If a foot fetishist were present, they would likely react as if seeing the world's most tempting being, wanting to embrace and lick it fervently, devoutly playing with it.

Slowly reaching out, half-kneeling on the ground, the instant Lin An's right hand grasped the girl's ankle, a surge of heat burst in his chest.

The delicate sensation was like touching smooth silk.

Such bodily contact made it impossible not to feel an urge to violate.

No...

Gripping her ankle, Lin An's heart stalled.

He admitted that the girl before him was indeed beautiful, but not enough to stir any impulse; under his hyper‑calm mindset, besides becoming stronger, nothing else was likely to affect him.

Don't even mention slight bodily contact; normally, even if a more beautiful woman stripped naked and lay before him, he wouldn't even bother to look.

But at this moment..

Is the instance abnormal?

Forced to stir emotions? Desire? Or what?

Accustomed to constantly monitoring his emotional fluctuations, Lin An, without changing expression, tried to minimize contact, quickly and neatly putting boots on the girl.

In a moment, the girl, now dressed in a hunting outfit, exuded a bit more heroic vigor, standing before him.

Under the finely tailored hunting outfit, the girl's body seemed as perfect as a curve.

At her slender calves, the exposed half of skin was like a poison attracting the gaze.

Her pert upper body makes one imagine how alluring the bud wrapped in her leather pouch must be.

While Lin An pondered what the instance really meant, the girl, having changed into her hunting outfit, looked at the silent Lin An with some suspicion and dissatisfaction.

"You just..."

"Are you deliberately avoiding me?"

Her gaze was cold.

She could sense that Lin An just now was deliberately avoiding bodily contact.

As if, unwilling to touch her.

Strangely, she actually felt this was a kind of 'humiliation'.

In her eyes, attendants are not of the same kind; this lowly existence, like a machine, follows her orders. A servant 'disdaining' her?

"Ding, favorability decreased."

"Current remaining time: 21 hours 29 minutes."