Chapter 17 Bouncing Back and Forth! (Part 1)

The speculation was entirely correct.

Chen Yu wished he could hug the slightly overweight otaku girl in front of him and fiercely kiss her a few times.

The "title" above his head truly had another use!

Now, it was clear.

The "title" that changed monthly above his head was actually his "task target" for the month.

As long as he found someone whose title was an exact match to his of the month, he had a chance to copy and acquire their abilities.

For example, if his title for the month was [Trash Otaku], then he needed to find a target with the same [Trash Otaku] title to make his move.

The method to make his move... was to "alter" the correct title.

By any means necessary.

Intimidation worked (like with the hefty neighbor), as did deception (like with the otaku girl).

As soon as the other person's "title" changed, it was time for him to harvest his gains...

'With this development, I might eventually have the chance to gain the abilities of individuals with special powers.'

Thinking back to the awesomely powerful individual he encountered in the hospital, Chen Yu felt his "anticipation" nearly spilling out of him.

Suppressing his excitement, he didn't forget the task at hand and immediately announced to the slightly overweight otaku girl: "Congratulations, you've also answered the third question correctly. Now give me the one hundred thousand for the tax and I'll scan you for the million-dollar prize."

"Thank you, thank you!" The slightly overweight otaku girl, crying tears of joy, shook hands vigorously with Chen Yu and then excitedly transferred him one hundred thousand yuan: "I love Qingcheng TV Station, I love your show's crew."

"Good. We love you too." Seeing that the one hundred thousand yuan had been transferred, Chen Yu patted her shoulder and turned to leave.

"Huh?" The slightly overweight otaku girl was stunned, watching Chen Yu walk away for quite a distance before suddenly coming to her senses. She lunged forward, charging like a bull, her slippers flying off: "Hey hey hey? What about the money? The prize money hasn't been given yet?"

"What money?" Chen Yu turned around, his face full of confusion.

"The million-dollar prize!" The slightly overweight otaku girl's eyes widened: "You... you said you would scan me for a million!"

"Give you a million?" Chen Yu's eyes widened as well.

"Yes!" The otaku girl nodded vigorously.

Chen Yu: "Am I sick?"

Otaku girl: "..."

"Why on earth should I give you a million? Because you're good-looking?" Chen Yu felt utterly perplexed.

"You... you weren't giving it to me... Your show's crew posed the questions, I answered all three correctly! You promised me a one million prize!"

"But you didn't answer them correctly." Ignoring her, Chen Yu turned and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the 12th floor: "The protagonist of 'Naruto' is a Ninja, the protagonist of 'Detective Conan' is a detective. These are answers a person could come up with? And you call yourself an otaku? You wouldn't even pass the Bilibili exam."

"Ding—"

The elevator doors slowly closed.

Leaving behind the dumbfounded, dazed, slightly overweight otaku girl outside...

...

Both were [Trash Otaku].

Certainly, the otaku girl downstairs could not compete with the hefty neighbor in terms of physical abilities.

So, Chen Yu decided to come back and copy the neighbor's "abilities" and take the chance to experiment.

"Clack."

He turned the lock, pushed open the door, and at a glance, saw the neighbor who was tightly tied up with a bedsheet, still lying in the living room unmoving.

After closing the door, Chen Yu picked up a bone-chopping knife and slowly walked inside.

The "bedsheet" heard the footsteps and started to shiver.

Approaching, Chen Yu stopped and silently observed for a few seconds. Suddenly, he raised his arm and brought the knife down!

"Swoosh—"

He slit open the bedsheet.

With a fierce tear.

"Rip—"

The bedsheet was torn in half, revealing the petrified hefty neighbor inside.

"Hello." Putting down the knife, Chen Yu greeted the neighbor amiably.

"You… You killed her?" the hefty neighbor's teeth chattered.

Chen Yu didn't answer but instead carefully observed the various "skills" that were possible to copy from the neighbor's body.

Soon.

He noticed something strange.

Parts like the neighbor's neck, head, abdomen, right thigh, and right wrist all had ability labels that could be copied.

But the left leg, left arm, chest, and back were completely bare.

Could it mean that those "body parts" of the other party were completely useless?

Clearly impossible.

After all, the neighbor did have "F-level" synovitis on the right leg.

Even a leg with an illness was eligible for copying, so it made no sense that a healthy left leg would lack the "qualification" for replication.

"So..." Chen Yu, touching his bald chin, narrowed his eyes slightly.

There was only one truth!

The abilities available for copying appeared randomly!

Each time you "choose," the location would be different.

For instance, if the first time you "chose" the ability for the right leg, the second time you might "choose" the ability for the left leg.

It was like drawing cards.

You'd get "four" to "five" skills each time.

Which ones you could "choose" all depended on luck.

'Or perhaps the more powerful the ability, the harder it is to come by.'

With this thought, Chen Yu's gaze toward his neighbor became more and more intense.

'Can I possibly...'

'Repeatedly refresh abilities?'

'Like changing his title back to "Useless Otaku" and then change it once more.'

'Logically, after the title change, a new set of copyable abilities should emerge, right?'

After briefly pondering and determining it was feasible, Chen Yu immediately put his plan into action. His expression changed in a flash, and he revealed a kind, friendly, docile smile to the chubby neighbor.

"Bro, that must've been tough on you?" Chen Yu squatted down, eagerly helping his neighbor to untie the ropes: "Here, let me loosen these for you."

"You... you... what are you going to do?" The chubby neighbor, more terrified, struggled to prevent Chen Yu from touching the ropes: "Don't do this, big brother! I don't want to die..."

"What are you talking about?" Chen Yu threw a flirtatious look: "You're my bro, my old neighbor, better a near neighbor than a distant relative. How could I kill you?"

"Don't! Don't touch me, ahh—"

The chubby neighbor, screaming, was untied by Chen Yu and immediately scurried into the corner of the living room, snot and tears streaming down his face: "Big brother, don't kill me! I was wrong! I really was, big brother!"

"Bro, calm down a bit," Chen Yu took a few steps back, raising his hands, trying to explain: "Think about it, if I wanted to kill you, would I untie you? Even pigs know it's easier to kill them when they're tied up."

Watching Chen Yu retreat further away, the neighbor grew a bit bolder but still inched towards the kitchen, seemingly looking for a weapon to defend himself.

Chen Yu, ever considerate, casually tossed his bone-chopping knife in the direction of his neighbor: "Is this what you're after? Here, it's all yours."

"Clang."

The sound of the knife's blade hitting the floor startled the neighbor for a moment before he hurriedly pounced to pick up the bone-chopper, gripping it tightly in his hands.

"There, bro, feel safer now?" Chen Yu asked with a smile.

"What... what exactly do you want!" Now that he had a weapon, the chubby neighbor had regained some courage, pointing the knife at Chen Yu: "Get out! Get out of my house!"

"Actually, I just got out of prison today, and I was pretty happy, so I thought I'd play a joke on you, lighten the mood," Chen Yu retreated to the front door, taking out his phone: "But I didn't mean to scare you, bro, I'm really sorry."

"Get out! Just get out!" the chubby neighbor barked, fear still lingering beneath his bravado, waving the bone-chopping knife, seeming to drive Chen Yu away. But after taking just two steps forward, he retreated again: "Get out!"

"Bro, look how scared you got. To apologize, how about I compensate you with ten thousand yuan?" Chen Yu shook his phone: "Open up your payment code, and I'll scan it right now."

"I don't need it! Just go far away! Or I'm going to call the cops!"

"Twenty thousand! Thirty thousand, will thirty thousand do?" Chen Yu raised his hands high: "I won't feel right without compensating you. Just accept this thirty thousand, and we'll get along as neighbors."

"...Thirty thousand?" The chubby neighbor fell silent for a while, completely calmed down, and asked tentatively: "You'll really give it to me?"

"Right now!" Chen Yu said joyously: "Hurry and get your phone, I'll scan the code. Then I'll be on my way."

Staring intently at Chen Yu for a good while. Perhaps wanting Chen Yu to leave quickly, or maybe truly subdued by the money, the chubby neighbor, after some hesitation, cautiously made his way to the sofa and picked up his phone. Still wielding the knife, keeping an eye on Chen Yu, he unlocked his phone with trembling hands, and opened the payment code.

"Great! Bro, don't come any closer, just show the code to me."

Upon hearing this, the chubby neighbor hesitantly held up the phone.

Chen Yu, without further ado, transferred thirty thousand yuan on the spot.

"Ding!"

Seeing the "substantial" sum of money enter his account, the chubby neighbor froze on the spot: "You... really paid?"

"Of course, it's compensation. I'm really sorry for scaring you like that," Chen Yu said with a wry smile.

"...Alright then," the chubby neighbor's expression eased a bit, his tone less shaky, putting down the phone: "You can go. Let's call this matter settled."

And at that moment, the title above his head "Utterly Terrified Useless Otaku" started to fade in color.

Soon, it reverted to the original "Useless Otaku".

And the floating text boxes around his neck, right leg, abdomen, and other parts of his body also disappeared in unison.

"Bro, I'm off then," seeing the changes on the neighbor's body, exactly as he had anticipated, Chen Yu suppressed his delight, turned around, opened the door, and left.

"Lunatic." The chubby neighbor muttered under his breath, proceeding to close the door.

But just as he reached the door, Chen Yu suddenly reappeared, snatched away his bone-chopping knife, and placed the sharp blade against his neck!

"You'll just take the money I give you?" Chen Yu growled menacingly: "You've got some nerve, huh?"

The chubby neighbor: "..."

...