Chapter 45: I’m Not Worthy
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“This hat!”
After Meng Fan saw the function of the hat, the first thing that came to mind wasn’t the subtle Tetsuya Kuroko, but another character from a different anime. In this anime, the goldfinger had also been a hat that could make one’s sense of validation disappear. After putting it on, one could become…
Wait, that was an erotic manga!
It seemed like the system was a gentleman.
Of course, this hat only made his sense of ‘validation’ disappear, not his entire existence. He wouldn’t become an invisible man, but at least it would make people notice him less. Meng Fan’s chances of being noticed were reduced to zero, but if he spoke, or if there was an “action” connected to Meng Fan, then he would be discovered for sure.
For example, Kuroko Tetsuya in ‘Kuroko no Basuke’ also had a weak presence, but once someone pa.s.ses the ball to him, the action of the ball would connect, and people would begin to notice him.
The effect of the hat was even more exaggerated than the one Kuroko had.
Before the +2 validation was added, all kinds of situations had come cras.h.i.+ng onto Meng Fan, both good and bad. After suddenly earning 6 validation points at once, Meng Fan couldn’t imagine what catastrophes were waiting to happen. This hat had appeared at just the right time; he could wear it whenever he wanted to avoid trouble.
The running shoes, headband, earbuds, and pen were all black magic products. However, the hat was in a category of its own. A metaphysical product!
Good stuff!
Only… the points required for the hat were not high—only 1000 points—but there was a premise. Meng Fan had to complete task Phase 1 of [Real • Adoration Fever] before he could redeem it.
In other words, if he wanted to get this whimsical equipment, he had to get another 5 million likes… no, 4 million now.
Because after the task upgrade, the 1 million likes from [Adoration Fever] still acc.u.mulated into mission progress.
Even so, Meng Fan was burnt out!
He was prepared to bid farewell to Miss w.a.n.g and the minister, but it seemed now, he had to finish the stupid ‘thumbs up’ dance.
When will this end!?
Should I not buy the hat?
No way!
Before, Meng Fan only thought about collecting points. But the emergence of the ‘hat’ became the only priority in his mind.
The hat that could make his sense of ‘validation’ disappear and avoid some troubles under the public eye. No matter what cla.s.s he skipped, the teacher wouldn’t remember his name during attendance, right? Most importantly, even if the hat isn’t as well made as the one from that erotic manga, it should still be a gentleman… a life artifact!
Meng Fan wasn’t courageous, but some bold ideas in his mind came out uncontrollably.
“Young n.o.ble.”
The military-like family members were engrossed in their characters. After Meng Fan finished his ‘thumbs up’ dance he was escorted down the stairs by them again. Their expressions were full of concern. “Young n.o.ble, you weren’t performing so well today, are you bothered by something? Or tired?”
Because of the appearance of the task [Real • Adoration Fever], Meng Fan was indeed feeling under the weather during his performance. However, although he didn’t gesture as much, the number of likes didn’t decrease. He still gained over 200,000 likes.
Meng Fan believed that this must be related to his +6 validation points. The crowd below had all looked towards him, even the ones who were just pa.s.sing by.
[Real • Adoration Fever] Task phase one: 1.12 million/5 million.
“I am a little tired.”
“Then, will you come again tomorrow?”
“I’ll see.”
The family members were a bit startled at his answer. After escorting Meng Fan’s colossal ma.s.s off the city wall, they ran to break the news to the minister.
“Is the chubby man tired from dancing and doesn’t want to do it anymore?”
“Do you think, when the chubby boy comes tomorrow, we should give him some sort of incentive? We can’t make him work for free.”
“If anything, we should cover his entrance ticket.”
…
Although the added hat that could mask his ‘presence’ was his motivation, Meng Fan was done praising people for the day.
Even without his outstretched thumbs, he could still feel eyes on him from the crowd. After the +6 validation, he could really feel the metaphysical power of existence.
Meng Fan entered autopilot mode.
When he got on the bus, he didn’t give out any ‘thumbs up’ but received a bunch, even making a trip to the police station.
This still had something to do with his ‘validation’.
After the six-point increase, Meng Fan had attracted the oh so rare bus thief, and immediately after the thief had tried to act, Meng Fan didn’t even have time to react when a pa.s.senger who had been silently watching Meng Fan pointed it out.
When a confused Meng Fan heard the warning, he looked at the thief who had been glaring at the kind pa.s.senger, then proceeded to sit on the thief, crus.h.i.+ng him to the ground.
This many people on a bus and this guy had chosen Meng Fan as a target. If he wasn’t dumb, he was probably turned dumb by Meng Fan’s increased ‘validation’.
The power of metaphysics!
In this city, n.o.body took from the charity ‘fridge’ with cold drinks that were set aside for roadside cleaners, delivery men and women, traffic police and reinforcements and other outdoor professionals. Sometimes, fruits and other items could be seen there too, untouched, so how could something like this happen?
“To the police station!”
The bus driver screamed. The entire bus chimed in agreement, filled with indignation and enthusiasm as they drove to the nearby police station.
The thief himself had gone crazy.
Once they arrived at the station, the thug crawled out from under Meng Fan’s bottom under the watchful eye of the pa.s.sengers. He gave a sigh of relief.
This… Meng Fan was curious why there wasn’t a task of ‘righteousness’ for him to trigger. Maybe it was because he was the victim, or because the system had three times the charm rule. Or there was just no such thing as a courageous setting?
The thought of the setting that gave him a hat that could mask his presence was still amazing. At least he still had that.
After the commotion, Meng Fan was late to his afternoon cla.s.s. What a coincidence, it’s comrade Ma’s cla.s.s!
Under the glaring eyes of comrade Ma, Meng Fan sourly entered the cla.s.sroom and took his spot in two seats.
“Professor Ma, you won’t believe me, but I was late because I was helping catch a bad guy!”
Meng fan quickly explained when cla.s.s was over. After all, he had just submitted a guarantee letter.
Mr. Ma did not change his expression. “I know, you were catching heartbreakers, right? ”
Meng Fan almost spat blood. F ine, if you don’t believe me then don’t, but it’s not okay to hurt me like this!
“I didn’t think professor Ma would be so humorous.”
The students who had been eavesdropping suppressed their laughter. The joke of “The iron hero tackling a heartbreaker” had spread through the school alongside Meng Fan’s thumbs up dance. The students didn’t have to say it, as the faculty and staff basically all knew. As he was Meng Fan’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Ma was no exception.
Chen Da Qiang stifled a laugh and asked Meng Fan, “Fatty, I just called you, why didn’t you answer? Mr. Ma took attendance as soon as he arrived, so strange, he really does have his eye on you.”
“It’s more complicated than that!”
Meng Fan was really at a loss for words. As for catching the thug, he didn’t want to bother explaining.
Zhang Zhou Wei completely shut down his idiom. “More complicated? You’re hiding an unspeakable secret, aren’t you?”
Xing Ta Ge asked in all seriousness, “Are you saying it’s something that’s hard to talk about? Or just something hard? ”
Zhang Zhou Wei heard this and began to chide, breaking into a song. “I know you always had a hidden…”
After seeing w.a.n.g Ya Nan collecting her things and heading over them, Zhang Zhou Wei immediately stopped. He didn’t dare to continue, so he shut his mouth, pretending as if nothing happened just now.
Chen Da Qiang slammed his elbow into Zhang Zhou Wei, asking him seriously, “It doesn’t feel so good to swallow your words does it?”
“Get lost!”
Zhang Zhou Wei uttered the words through his gritted teeth.
Meng Fan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His face twitched and formed a weird smile. “How was I, Meng Fan, so worthy that I got you three as my roommates?”