Chapter 448

However, the matter has come to this, and it's a busy season; any noble offspring who still has the heart to wander around and play aimlessly actually has nothing to do with serious affairs.

After all, although the Sun King previously avoided revealing any clues by deliberately not personally attending the press conference and instead hiding while only letting his voice be heard.

But the king, who usually loves to show off and pick up women, actually didn't enjoy himself in his favorite setting, which in itself is already a sign worth being wary of.

Therefore all the princes and princesses, or more bluntly, all royal offspring qualified to compete for the throne, have already eagerly begun their own maneuvers, basically having no time to attend such meaningless leisure banquets.

This even includes Alinuo, although her fief isn't that great, but at least it's a piece of land, so after completing the handover formalities that night, she rushed over to start practicing the governance knowledge she had learned.

Of course, if it were only her, it definitely wouldn't work, so Archbishop Tenisi flew over with them, just like those earnest parents who rent expensive school district houses near key high schools just so their kids can eat well and sleep well.

In other words, in today's Guanghui Capital, Ji Ming is truly a lone soul.

But his enthusiastic and diligent good students, who come to every class without fail, won't let him…… uh, won't leave the teacher alone to spend the night in solitude.

Therefore, starting from the day after the press conference, Ji Ming began receiving a large number of banquet invitations, from both men and women, even including students' parents.

At that time, Ji Ming didn't know what would happen next, thinking he might as well rest for a night and also get a free meal, so he gladly went.

The result……

To be frank, Ji Ming knew they would surely invite people to play poker aggressively, but they play theirs and we play ours, no overlap, the innocent are self‑clear, and that's that.

But who would have thought? It wasn't even midnight yet; at ten o'clock he had just finished three steaks, and the guests were already beginning to organize themselves on a large scale.

"Isn't that going too far?"

Wiping the bean‑sized sweat from his forehead, Ji Ming found an acquaintance‑level Marquis, gave him the excuse "I still have something to do, I'll probably have to leave early," and prepared to look for a suitable moment to slip away.

But sometimes having a high wisdom stat isn't a good thing, because he was almost at the door when he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice.

It wasn't really an acquaintance, just a fairly active female student in class, so Ji Ming originally didn't want to bother, but who knew her words would be utterly shocking.

Gee, prepare to set up a table where everyone except her are rebels, and she alone is the lord's eight‑person game?

Is this something a person could actually do!!

Ji Ming was so frightened his hands started shaking, and he hurriedly ducked into the nearby restroom.

Without a word, he pulled up the Player Forum, logged into an anonymous account, and opened a section marked with a red icon.

【Welcome to use Didi Da Ren, please enter your request and bounty amount】

【Under review】

【Bounty posted, please wait】

【Ding! Hitman accepted the order】

【Ding! Hitman accepted the order】

……

Because the starting price was indeed high, the mission target wasn't considered excessive.

In less than thirty seconds, several groups and individuals, including Diamond‑rank hunters, all expressed their willingness to accept the task to relieve the employer's worries.

【Brothers, we've already reached the manor's gate, just take a look!】

"That fast?"

Ji Ming had originally wanted to leave leisurely, but seeing the situation he had to resort to a traditional skill, leaping over the restroom window and running away.

Moreover, thanks to his speed, in less than two minutes the banquet hall was lit up by the players' flashbangs to the point where it could power a year's worth of Genshin Impact.

Moreover, the hitmen who accepted the job were truly many, from the main gate to the second floor and then to the roof, they literally threw barrage after barrage for three full rounds before barely subduing the commotion.

Hey, this isn't because the flashbangs ran out, but because the system notified that the bounty had already been snatched by someone else.

"Hey hey, we just wasted effort again, brothers, let's quickly grab another order."

"Damn, the game is even more cut‑throat than reality, and I'm a professional!"

"Alright, stop nagging, buddy, half a year ago you were still holding an AR on the Russian battlefield filling trenches—money's hard to earn and shit's hard to eat."

However, the players' personal little worries are no longer Ji Ming's concern; he only needs to receive the system's prompt messages.

【Ding! Mission completed】

【The full set of videos has been sent to the email you filled in; please rate the hitman's service】

【Thank you for your positive review; Didi Da Ren wholeheartedly serves you, looking forward to your next use】

He glanced at the noble manor still in chaos with continual shouts even now, and Ji Ming nodded in satisfaction.

It must be said that the player who invented this flashbang tactic is a genius—truly low in damage but extremely high in humiliation.

At least tonight they can only shed tears in silence; they definitely have no mood to play poker anymore, and can only go home each to their own mother.

But even if Ji Ming, as the behind‑the‑scenes mastermind, has enough confidence to issue more high‑value bounties to bring smiles to the dear nobles of the Royal Capital,

The hitmen also couldn't possibly smash the nobles' social venues every night, after all that would be too impolite and would get them internally purged by the true big shots among the players.

So Ji Ming simply put up a "do not disturb" sign, telling everyone regardless of what they said that he had to work overtime tonight, thereby avoiding all the banquet invitations.

But after thinking it over, he realized that although he is a teacher whose duty is to educate, and although he doesn't have many professional obligations in the Yangyue World's environment, he still bears the responsibility of guiding young people to explore a healthy lifestyle.

Thus, seeing his classmates growing thinner by the day and struggling to focus, he brought out his peerless good medicine as an expert in pharmacology.

"It's clearly still morning, why do you all look so exhausted? Come on, everyone take two sips."

No one can resist the allure of SpiritGathering Liquid, so with a gulp they swallowed it down; in less than a moment the students were like they'd drunk a sports drink, each and every one of them fully recovered.

And what tier is SpiritGathering Liquid anyway? It can even go head‑to‑head with the Sun King's near‑total Dragon King curse, wiping off its influence on them is hardly a problem.

Now that's good—those who have broken free of the curse and fatigue each have attendance, focus, and interaction enthusiasm.

The grades and discipline of the several classes taught by Teacher Ji have risen against the version all the way, directly advancing to become the model class collective of Saint Valentine Magic Academy, and indeed of the entire Royal Capital.

The school administrators hearing this would surely be pleased—originally the worst‑rated among the several colleges was Saint Valentine, but now producing such a class really gives the old folks a lot of face!

Without a word, as soon as the monthly exam results came out they directly printed award certificates for the kids, and additionally gave Teacher Ji a bonus that exceeded the usual limits.

Seeing the report cards and award certificates, the students' parents were also pleased—Gee, over the past half month their children not only stopped hanging out with those troublemakers to climb the tower and sneak into alleys, but even started coming home early, closing the door to study hard.

There's not much to say—Teacher Ji has worked hard, so let's quickly send him a small gift, not too much, just a token of a couple of catties of gold bars.

Besides these, the teachers who followed Ji Ming and shared in the glory, as well as the great nobles of the Royal Capital who finally saw someone respond to their call, all sent representatives—or came in person—to express thanks and give rewards.

It sounds like it would be great, and objectively it really is great, but subjectively, Ji Ming himself is not happy at all.

The party invitations from students have ended, but the invitations from single parents, widowed nobles, and young teachers have started again.

Ji Ming also considered whether to grit his teeth, give himself a couple more blows, explode a pool of SpiritGathering Liquid, and completely ruin the Dragon King curses of all the city's nobles.

But on second thought, if he did that just for this, the overly effective SpiritGathering Liquid would spread, which is certainly not a good thing, so he gave up.

—Damn, at worst I can just be a head‑shaking robot.

As long as I keep my belt tight and stay pure, no one can take me down!

Holding onto pure love for day 10,425, check‑in!

Moreover, as time passes, the situation and the broader environment are quietly changing.

The good news is that after June began, the frenzy of parties among Royal Capital nobles finally subsided, and the exhausted crowd collectively entered the Sage Time.

The bad news is that when Ji Ming was about to resume a happy normal life, he found that the Royal Capital seemed to have spawned a new strange trend.

At first, it was a duke's daughter who originally came to take him down but gradually began seriously studying alchemy.

For some reason, today when she sat in the front row of the lecture hall, she kept occasionally swapping the order of her crossed legs, looking rather suspicious.

……

But Ji Ming was too lazy to bother with this likely‑just‑show‑off‑leg display, so he pretended not to notice until he heard a low shout from behind.

"Wow, Lei Ni, what are you wearing on your leg? So pretty, shows off your figure!"

"Please, can I touch it? … Wow, so slippery!"

Ji Ming: ……

Crap, I have an ominous feeling!

To verify this suspicion, he took a careful look under the cover of the Suggestion Technique, then painfully closed his eyes.

Although he brought this advanced technique to Sun Month, when he was still rolling around in the big dump of Sunlight City, he even considered selling it to get rich.

But as a proper savior, making a living by selling such things…

That would be way too perverse and would damage his glorious image and the personal IP he's gradually marketing.

So after he finally got ahead, he pushed the matter to the back of his mind and only gave it as a special little gift to a few people.

He knows exactly who those few people are, so this certainly cannot include the Lei Ni in front of him.

Then where did the black stockings on her leg come from?

Did they drop from a spider spirit that is especially good at weaving?

Since such incidents always involve players, Ji Ming opened the Player Forum after class and searched for terms related to black stockings.

Honestly, because the XP is truly bizarre, Ji Ming admits he's a rather odd being.

But the world is full of oddities; among the strong there are stronger, and there must be a freak even more twisted than him.

So since he can see the vast potential of talisman materials in close‑fit clothing, it's impossible that others would never think of it.

However, just as he was prepared for the thought, "Ji Ming has worked diligently for years, only to have a player pick the peach, it's hard to accept," the search results left him stunned.

In the earlier posts and replies, players were wailing, demanding the game quickly add all kinds of stockings, or else cater to men, women, humans, beasts, Hideyoshi, Baratan aliens… basically a shameful act to benefit my rival!

But the newer content is quite different, because these server coordinates are all in Qixia City among high‑level players, who, like a flock, are posting very low‑brow stuff.

【Gui Gui, I went to the Sistine Academy today to steal something and found this thing hanging on a dormitory balcony?】

【(Edited three hours ago) No, don't spread rumors, I was there to steal magical manuals, damn! I really didn't!】

【Just got hired as security at Raymond Castle, and discovered a long‑awaited thing on my boss's leg!】

【(Edited two hours ago) It was discovered by accident, thanks, mainly to cooperate with the guild's upcoming operation, please don't report me】

【According to the OP's personal stats, the Royal Capital currently has 37 black stockings, and the number keeps rising】

【What? Clarification? Damn, I don't care about face! Screenshots all collected and continuously updated, bitter friends boldly go in!】

…Damn, what do I do, I want to ban his account.

Although Ji Ming was sweating after reading it, these also indirectly corroborated something.

—This thing really wasn't sold by a player.

At least on the surface it isn't, otherwise guilds or small groups would have already been bragging about it.

So, who promoted this magical fabric destined to build a commercial empire?

First, he must be a player who has the opportunity to study talismans peacefully.

Second, he must be smart, diligent, and perverse enough to link talismans with this stuff and put it into practice.

Finally, he must have enough power to quietly spread this in the Guanghui Capital's noble‑lady circles.

Of course, there's also the one‑step possibility: he's an old dog who's been playing since Code: Sun Month.

He may not only know Ji Ming, but also have handled his personally custom‑made black close‑fit leg armor.

So, who could this "him" be?

…

【Aurora Dance, is this your doing? (sweaty soybeans)】

Replied instantly.

【No】

Immediately.

【Your friend retracted a message】

Then.

【Maybe】

Wai Bozi Shu: 【……】