Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?
Chapter 122 - 119 This Date Spot is Really Exciting

This is...

Wen Nan held the ring up to the light coming from the ceiling of the rental apartment, slowly rotating it, carefully deciphering the three rows of characters as fine as a mosquito's legs carved into it—

[F.#\\+`£|＇£|¢ M.¢＂¥£€ W.@/')> S.Y.]

[L.*&|>}!@ Y.+¢|#＂F.]

[F.¥|＜|% J.J.]

Staring at the jumbled characters, Wen Nan squinted his eyes.

This thing is even more convoluted and difficult to understand than those elf and wizard writings from Middle Earth. Could this really be the Lord of the Rings? Should he find a forge and toss the ring in to try it out?

As he was thinking, a system introduction popped up—

9527: [Portable Storage Ring, can store any equipment, items, and objects from instances and the game lobby, ignoring game rules for usage inside the Storage Ring.]

...Ignoring game rules?

Wen Nan: [So, does that mean things normally restricted within instances, which can't be taken out, can be stored in this Storage Ring and taken out?]

9527: [Yes.]

That amazing?

So... can he put his strategy target in the ring and then take them out?

9527: [Your Portable Storage Ring currently has a storage space of a 1cm * 0.5cm * 0.1cm cube; items exceeding this volume cannot be placed inside the ring. Please be informed.]

This storage space... it's even smaller than a fingernail!

What you see is what you get? The ring looks this big, so the storage space inside is only this big? Not even a little bit of extra expansion?

What can fit in such a tiny space?

9527: [This Portable Storage Ring was originally designed to store a loved one's hair as a keepsake, so no additional expansion was designed.]

Originally designed? That's odd, wasn't this thing randomly dropped into a player's equipment spare column?

9527: [This ring was originally designed and created by a certain contestant, and later, due to personal reasons, was put into the game prize pool to enter the cycle. After 3689 rotations, it randomly dropped into this map and was allocated to Yang Mingzhong's equipment spare column, whereupon it was then gifted to you.]

Uh, such a small ring, such a turbulent fate, like a message in a bottle...

As he was thinking, he glimpsed the wall clock, and Wen Nan suddenly realized it was already a quarter past nine in the evening.

Almost time for the date with the CEO.

Thinking of this, Wen Nan stood up from the lazy sofa, stretched his muscles, then walked to the TV cabinet and began rummaging inside.

The cabinet was lined with a row of discs, most were games, with only a few special edition movies. Wen Nan pulled out those movie discs, selecting the only one with a dog on the cover and casually slipped it into the spare equipment slot.

Just as he finished, a vibrational prompt sounded from the system, and a character message popped up—

[She-devil: I'm downstairs at your place]

Wen Nan blinked, glancing at the time, just exactly nine-thirty, not a minute more, not a minute less.

This punctual?

A CEO is truly a CEO; their sense of time is indeed stronger than the average person's.

Thinking so, Wen Nan replied while appreciating: [Be right down, five minutes.]

Straightening his sleeves, Wen Nan walked toward the door, casually mentioning as he passed by the three girls playing intensely:

"I'm heading out for a bit, might come back late."

The three were giggling and feeding each other, and upon hearing Wen Nan's words, only Qiqi responded:

"Bro, go early and come back soon, have fun and stay safe."

A very perfunctory and formulaic response, none of them even sparing Wen Nan an extra glance.

Wen Nan helplessly shrugged, pocketed his hands, and walked out.

Parking was tight downstairs in the community; cars already filled the spaces, but Wen Nan still spotted his target right away—

A black Cadillac XT5 parked by the roadside, and leaning against the driver's side door was a slender figure, dressed in a smart short skirt, with long legs casually crossed, appearing almost glowing white under the night sky.

Just like when they went to the movies last time, Guan Ailin's figure seemed somewhat lonely on the deserted street, her head slightly bowed, eyes blankly staring at her toes, lost in thought.

Noticing Wen Nan approaching, she lifted her eyes, and upon seeing him, the brightness immediately returned to her previously dull eyes.

"Waited long?" Wen Nan asked with a smile.

Guan Ailin shook her head while opening the car door, "No, just got here a bit ago."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Wen Nan took a look around the car. The SUV's space was quite spacious, much more comfortable than expected, though judging by the interior, it was an older model.

Catching Wen Nan's glance, Guan Ailin said: "I bought it the year I came back from studying abroad using a tax exemption for overseas students."

Wen Nan was about to say it was fine when she continued: "It's an old and cheap car, can't compare to a newly bought Maybach, and the shock resistance is much worse."

Wen Nan: ...

Such jealousy, this big?

While thinking, the car stopped at the exit, and Wen Nan glanced at the payment prompt, bewildered.

It displayed a total parking time of 3 hours and 49 minutes, with 30 yuan to be paid.

Wen Nan looked at her incredulously.

A bit embarrassed, Guan Ailin averted her gaze, picked up her phone, and was about to scan the payment code.

"Let me!" Wen Nan hurriedly raised his hand, paying the parking fee before she could.

As the car slowly drove out of the community, Wen Nan hesitated to speak: "You..."

"I just happened to be nearby meeting a client, so I parked at your community." Guan Ailin quickly explained before he could.

"Oh." Wen Nan didn't say anything more.

Crown Cinema was just nearby the company, a short walk away, and only a five-minute drive.

After parking, Guan Ailin, excitedly dragged Wen Nan directly to the rooftop of the mall where the cinema was located.

Her smile froze upon seeing the barrier blocking the cinema entrance and a large notice board beside it.

Written on the notice board was that Crown Cinema would be closed for the next week due to renovation upgrades.

Guan Ailin stared at the short notice for quite a while and finally forced a smile at Wen Nan, "Such bad luck, hitting the closure time."

In fact, Wen Nan wanted to say that even if it weren't closed, their two handwritten movie tickets would definitely not get them in.

Before coming, Wen Nan thought about asking the system to help him reserve tickets for another movie with similar showtimes, but then he figured, knowing how the system worked, if he bought the tickets himself, it might count as a player's independent action, and not part of a side quest.

Thus, Wen Nan had already thought of a solution before leaving home.

"I brought a special edition. I guarantee it's much better than the one currently showing in theaters." He pulled out the disc with the dog cover from the spare equipment slot, "Do you have a projector or a computer with a disc drive at your office?"

Guan Ailin's eyes lit up at the sight of the disc, but she shook her head at the mention of a projector, "No, there are very few places that can play these antique discs..."

Thinking for a moment, her eyes brightened again, "There is a place that should work!"

With those words, she led Wen Nan at top speed back to the Erin Group Headquarters Building, finding a hidden location.

"Here it is!"

Guan Ailin excitedly pointed to a dimly lit room ahead.

Wen Nan stood beside her, dumbfounded.

Isn't this... the secret laboratory?!