Candy

Inside a pure white space.

Shi Mo felt the level barrier of 'telepathic communication'. Just as the system had said before, upgrading A-level skills required energy infusion from higher-level dungeons, and the wish energy from this F-level dungeon was far from enough.

"Upgrade 'Weak Hypnosis'." Without hesitation, he chose the D-rank skill he had almost forgotten.

As energy surged in, the skill mark representing "weak hypnosis" glowed slightly, its structure becoming a little more complex, and it was upgraded from rank D to rank C.

The effect has been improved from "weak psychological suggestion" to "being able to apply clearer hypnotic suggestions to individuals with lower mental resistance, guiding them to become sleepy, relaxed, or to execute simple instructions (such as 'forget what just happened'), with an improved success rate".

A minor upgrade, better than nothing. Shi Mo's expression remained unchanged as he stepped out of the pure white gate.

Back in his room at Bai Xu Villa, Shi Mo took out a bottle of Grade B [High-Efficiency Repair Potion] from his system space, uncorked it, and poured the green liquid onto the shallow cut on his back made by the headmaster's scissors. A cool sensation followed, and the wound healed at a visible speed, leaving no scar in no time.

"Host, with your current physical condition, those superficial injuries should heal on their own in a day or two," the system couldn't help but say. "The strangeness of F-rank dungeons... even if you had to fight them head-on, you should be able to handle most of them by now."

Shi Mo tossed the empty bottle into the trash can, his tone indifferent: "Let's try the potion's effects. Besides, why waste energy if we can solve it with rules and tricks?" He enjoyed the process of deciphering and controlling the situation, not simply violent destruction.

System: [...] Okay, whatever makes the boss happy.

[Host, just a reminder, three days have passed since the last lottery draw, and you have three daily lottery draw chances that you haven't used.] The system quickly reported, trying to change the subject.

"Let's smoke it," Shi Mo said listlessly.

The virtual roulette wheel spun rapidly in my mind.

[Ding! Lottery complete! Congratulations, host, you have received: 1 attribute point!]

[Ding! Lottery complete! Congratulations, host, you have received: 1 attribute point!]

[Ding! Lottery complete! Congratulations, host, you have won: 1 Fruit Candy!]

When the last prize materialized, Shi Mo and the system fell silent simultaneously.

It was a fruit candy with ordinary packaging, even somewhat similar to the one Lingling had given her, quietly floating in the sea of ​​consciousness.

Shi Mo rubbed his temples, feeling somewhat speechless. He could even feel the embarrassingly chaotic flow of code coming from the system.

[Host... this...] The system tried to explain, [The prize pool does indeed contain some everyday items, although the probability is extremely low...]

"Alright," Shi Mo interrupted, "Let's see how many attribute points we have now."

[Adding the 5 points from clearing dungeons and hidden quests, and the 2 points you just drew, you now have a total of 7 attribute points!]

Without much thought, Shi Mo allocated the points: "Three points to Strength, three points to Spirit, and one point to Agility."

A warm current surged again, and the attribute panel was updated:

[Host Attribute Panel]

Strength: 13

Agility: 9

Physical condition: 7

Spirit: 13

Feeling his physical and mental strength increase again, Shi Mo was slightly satisfied. He got up and left the room.

……

The atmosphere in the core conference room of the seventh sequence was somewhat heavy.

Bai Xu, Hong Yuan, You Ying, Lin Chen, Tie Quan, and others are analyzing the data of the "Happy Kindergarten" instance, focusing on the hidden quest completed by Shi Mo.

"...Energy absorption mode, soul imprisonment, rule disguise...the core mechanism of this F-rank dungeon is quite insidious." Lin Chen pushed up his glasses and looked at the analysis report on the screen.

"How did Shi Mo manage to dig up so many things in just three days?" Hong Yuan asked, arms crossed, her tone a mixture of admiration and bewilderment.

"Hmph, just lucky." Iron Fist was still somewhat unconvinced.

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and Shi Mo walked in. His appearance brought the discussion to an abrupt halt.

Bai Xu raised his head and looked at him: "Is there something you need?" He noticed that Shi Mo's aura seemed to be more concentrated than before.

"It's nothing." Shi Mo walked to the conference table, naturally pulled over an empty chair and sat down, glancing at the data on the screen. "I'm just bored."

His attitude was as casual as if he were in his own living room. Iron Fist frowned, but said nothing.

Shi Mo seemed to suddenly remember something, took out the fruit candy he had just won in the lottery from his pocket (actually from the system space), and casually tossed it to Bai Xu across the table.

"Here, it's for you."

This move stunned everyone.

Iron Fist was the first to react, almost reflexively yelling, "Hey! Our captain doesn't eat things given to him by strangers! Who knows if this candy is even clean!"

Bai Xu has a slight obsession with cleanliness and is wary of unfamiliar foods, which is no secret in the seventh sequence.

However, to everyone's slight surprise, Bai Xu looked at the ordinary fruit candy in his hand, his green eyes seemed to daze for a moment, and then he actually... actually took action to unwrap the candy wrapper, and under Iron Fist's dumbfounded gaze, put the orange-yellow candy into his mouth.

He chewed twice, swallowed, then looked at Shi Mo, nodded, and said in a surprisingly calm tone, "Hmm, thank you. It tastes pretty good."

The conference room was deathly silent.

Iron Fist gaped, his mouth agape as if he could fit an egg inside. He pointed at Bai Xu, then at Shi Mo, unable to utter a single word for a long time: "Captain, Captain, you...I...he..."

"Pfft—" Hong Yuan was the first to burst out laughing. She slapped the table, tears welling in her eyes. "Hahaha! Iron Fist! You got slapped in the face! The captain actually ate it! Hahaha!"

Youying was also suppressing a laugh, her shoulders swaying. Lin Chen pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses filled with curiosity and inquiry.

Shi Mo looked at Bai Xu, a faint hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, which quickly turned into amusement. He hadn't expected Bai Xu to actually eat it.

This guy... is interesting.

Bai Xu seemed to realize that his behavior just now was a bit unusual. He coughed lightly, his ears turning slightly red, but he remained calm and changed the subject, saying, "...Let's continue analyzing the data. Shi Mo, if you have any insights into the dungeon mechanics, you can share them."

The meeting continued in a somewhat awkward atmosphere.

Iron Fist was still agonizing over the candy, Red Kite occasionally let out suppressed laughter, while Shi Mo would occasionally chime in with a few words, accurately pointing out the key contradictions in the dungeon rules, which greatly benefited Lin Chen and the others.

Only Bai Xu would occasionally unconsciously press the tip of her tongue against the inside of her mouth, where a trace of sweet and sour fruit candy flavor seemed to linger.