Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?
Chapter 128 - 125 The Truth at the Bottom of the Heart

Yang Mingzhong still smiled as usual, walked to the other side, and helped Wen Nan pull out the chair, "I finished the scan task early, thinking there was still plenty of time and nothing to do, so I came over to have a cup of coffee to pass the time."

Wen Nan nodded, and after a moment, a voice almost indistinguishable from reality in his mind, that of a middle-aged man, came through—

'I'm not young anymore, and I can't chat with the few young ones in the guild. Once the task is done, rather than returning to the refresh point early or chatting in the group, it's better to wander around the map alone, which is more relaxed.'

Wen Nan glanced at the small square table by the window in front of him, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.

Could it really... just be because of this?

"Guild Leader?" Yang Mingzhong raised his hand and waved it in front of Wen Nan, "Is there any problem?"

Wen Nan came back to his senses, "Nothing, what did you just ask?"

Yang Mingzhong smiled again, "I asked what you'd like to drink; it's on me?"

This store is included in the player's map exploration range. Spending here uses the map's currency and doesn't consume the Gold Coins in the player's account.

Wen Nan didn't hesitate, sat down opposite, and casually ordered a freshly introduced duck shit aroma hand-mixed lemon tea.

While waiting for the drink to be made, Wen Nan seemingly said casually, "Mr. Yang, the efficiency of your map scanning is high. In such a short time, you've found more items than the other players combined."

"Just call me Mingzhong," Yang Mingzhong smiled awkwardly, touched his shiny forehead, "If Gu Jinxing and Hu Jiayao didn't have trouble, they definitely would've found more than me."

'I'm just a bit more experienced.'

Wen Nan waited for a while, but besides this final inner voice, he heard nothing more.

Wen Nan had to follow the other's words and continue asking, "Are you quite familiar with this map? I saw last time, under the table over there, you managed to dig out the rose prop from such a tricky position."

"Oh, that was just luck, I happened to bump into it," Yang Mingzhong said, laughing twice.

Wen Nan went silent again, but after waiting for a while, he still didn't hear any inner voice.

This Yang Mingzhong... his mental activities are even more silent than he appears on the outside.

Wen Nan smiled and said, "I thought you had been to this map before."

"Hehe, Guild Leader, you're joking." Yang Mingzhong picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.

'Why hasn't this lemon tea come yet?'

'Can it be faster to ease this awkwardness?'

'Ah, finally, here it comes, great.'

The NPC server came over with a tray and placed an iced lemon tea and a straw with napkins in front of Wen Nan, "Sir, here is your duck shit aroma hand-mixed lemon tea, please enjoy."

Wen Nan glanced at the system—

9527: [Your skill Mind Reading Technique, remaining effective time: 14:32—]

The remaining effective time of the Mind Reading Technique, in the blink of an eye, was already less than half.

After the server left, Wen Nan quickly returned to the main topic, "Thank you for that rose last time, it was quite useful."

"You're welcome, it's what I should do."

'Didn't help much, from what I could see, after sending out that rose, the strategy progression hardly increased.'

"Before coming to this beginner instance, which other maps have you been to?"

"I've only passed a trial map. It had an amusement park theme, much simpler than this map, and had very few characters, so it was cleared quickly."

Wen Nan silently looked at the other, and in his mind, it was quiet; he heard nothing.

"Only one map?" Wen Nan pursued.

"Yes, after all, this is just a beginner instance," Yang Mingzhong said, looking at Wen Nan, and then asked, "Guild Leader, have you already passed many instances?"

'As expected, being able to afford a guild slot, such wealthy players must have cleared quite a few maps.'

9527: [Your skill Mind Reading Technique, remaining effective time: 6:47—]

In this pointless tug-of-war, the duration of the Mind Reading Technique was about to run out.

Wen Nan didn't answer the other's question but instead said in a somewhat serious tone, "Mingzhong, you are now a member of the [Wenna] guild, and as the Guild Leader, I think it's necessary for me to learn more about new members who have recently joined."

Yang Mingzhong nodded vigorously, "Understood," then said, "What does the Guild Leader need to know?"

"Are you an old player, starting over after deleting an account?"

Wen Nan went straight to the point and looked closely at Yang Mingzhong's face.

Yang Mingzhong was taken aback for a moment, then smirked and shook his head, "Guild Leader, don't joke. That's something very advanced players can do, right? Someone like me, a newbie, how could I have the chance to start over?"

Speaking, he gazed steadily back at Wen Nan, showing no surprise, wavering, or fear in his eyes.

That slightly rough middle-aged man's voice echoed in Wen Nan's mind—

'I heard rumors in the game lobby earlier that Jiu cilang is a new connection of some legendary big shot, specially coming to blow up the fishpond; is that true or false?'

9527: [Your skill Mind Reading Technique has ended, now entering cooldown.]

A 30-minute conversation revealed nothing.

But this time, Wen Nan did not complain about the short duration of the Mind Reading Technique; on the contrary, he even regretted using his skills and the Flower's Tear on the other.

Because Wen Nan is now certain that no matter how many questions he asks, he won't find the answers he wants from the other's inner voice—

Yang Mingzhong is deliberately controlling his thoughts.

The inner voice Wen Nan read was also fake.

This is almost impossible for ordinary people, but if someone has strong mental resilience and has undergone some special training, Wen Nan guesses, it shouldn't be difficult.

Obviously, Yang Mingzhong guessed that Wen Nan activated the Mind Reading Technique when he came over and knew that Wen Nan was suspicious of him.

Did he accompany him in acting for half an hour?

Wen Nan let out a soft chuckle.

This man is much more difficult to deal with than his simple-minded boss.

Just thinking, Yang Mingzhong preemptively asked, "Guild Leader, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Wen Nan smiled, calmly picked up the lemon tea, and took a sip, frowning, "This tea is really sour, bitter, and astringent…"

Seeing this, Yang Mingzhong laughed, "Hand-mixed lemon tea without sugar is indeed like this, it's normal not to like it on the first try."

Wen Nan raised his hand, touched the rim of the other's cup with his fingertips, "What did you order?"

Yang Mingzhong: "Their signature premium coffee, tastes good, Guild Leader, should I order you another cup to try?"

Wen Nan shook his head, "Forget it, it's too late, drinking coffee I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at night."

Hearing this, Yang Mingzhong pushed the menu towards Wen Nan, "Then shall we order something without caffeine?"

"Sure." Wen Nan lowered his head and seriously studied the menu.

Yang Mingzhong, feeling idle, picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.

9527: [Detected that you have used an item—Truth Serum—on another player, Yang Mingzhong.]

9527: [The item is taking effect, please wait…]

9527: [Item used successfully!]

Elbows on the table, Wen Nan leaned closer to the other and asked, "Yang Mingzhong, why did you delete and start over?"

Yang Mingzhong's fingers tightly grasped the coffee cup, his expression instantly turning dark, and in a low, husky voice, he began:

"In the southeastern corner of this map, at the very edge, there's a place that's been locked for years…"