Chapter 18: What Do You Plan to Choose?

Li Huan threw the DVD on the ground, feeling his blood pressure rise.

He had assumed the system would directly implant the skills into his mind, but instead, it handed him a DVD to learn from.

"The problem is, there's a zombie crisis outside! Where am I supposed to find a DVD player and a TV to watch this?" he exclaimed.

[You can use a computer to play it—either a desktop or a laptop would work.]

"So where am I supposed to find the time to do that? It would be so much easier if you just uploaded the skills directly into my brain!" Li Huan argued.

[You're naive. Have you ever heard the saying, 'He who does not work shall not eat'? Without hard practice, you won't grasp the depth of these skills if you keep looking for shortcuts!]

"The problem is, I need these skills right now! I don't have time to play around with this!" Li Huan sighed in frustration.

[Sorry, you have to go through this process. That's the nature of a gag item.]

"Damn it!"

Outside, Tom, who was on lookout duty, occasionally peeked inside at his master, who was throwing a tantrum. He quickly looked away, pretending he hadn't seen anything, whistling to himself.

Li Huan slumped into a chair, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He tugged at his collar, feeling thirsty after all his shouting, but there wasn't even any water around. It was maddening.

"Forget it. I'll figure out how to find a place to watch the disc later," he muttered, feeling discouraged. "All I wanted was to make myself a bit tougher, and yet, I get stuck with this nonsense."

[It's not nonsense. Most gag items work like this. They may seem ridiculously powerful, but they adhere to their own bizarre rules—rules that, no matter how nonsensical, you have to follow.]

"Tch, what a hassle…" Li Huan groaned, feeling overwhelmed.

"Ugh... Mm..."

A faint moan interrupted his thoughts. Li Huan turned to look at Kiana, who was lying on the ground. She had probably been disturbed by the commotion, waking from her unconscious state.

As he saw Kiana waking up, Li Huan temporarily set aside his anger. Now the real trouble was about to begin.

"Ugh… my head hurts…"

Kiana slowly regained consciousness, instinctively trying to touch her head, but the sensation of being tied up jolted her fully awake.

"You're awake," Li Huan said calmly.

Hearing the familiar voice, Kiana looked up to see Li Huan and Tom smiling kindly at her.

"This time, you didn't sleep for a hundred years, just half an hour. Are you ready to continue paying off your debt?" Li Huan teased.

"You… you scoundrel! Let me go!" Kiana demanded.

Seeing Li Huan's face brought back memories of what had happened earlier. She started struggling, rolling around, trying to free herself from the ropes.

However, her efforts only made her look like a wriggling caterpillar, accomplishing nothing.

"Stop struggling. You won't be able to free yourself," Li Huan said, looking down at her from his chair. "Instead of wasting energy, why don't we have a proper talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about with you, you despicable coward! You ambushed me with dirty tricks!" Kiana spat back.

Li Huan responded calmly, "If Tom hadn't ambushed you, you would've shot me."

Kiana shook her head angrily, "Nonsense! I would never shoot someone so recklessly. Don't accuse me like that!"

Li Huan shrugged, "Okay, let's say you're right. But I still can't trust someone who points a gun at me, even if she's a cute girl."

"You!"

Li Huan cut her off, looking annoyed, "Don't 'you, you, you' me. You did the same thing to me earlier. To show my trust, I let you get close, but you still didn't trust me. So I had no choice but to tie you up."

"Hmph, and you're not hiding something yourself?" Kiana retorted.

After calming down a bit, she added, "That cat of yours, sneaking up behind me without me noticing until you spoke… you two aren't normal, either."

Raising his hand, Li Huan stated, "Let me clarify: I didn't lie. I really am just an ordinary person. I only got here today, and I was dragged into this by accident…"

"But," he continued, "I never said my cat was ordinary, did I?"

"Ugh, just untie me already!" Kiana demanded, growing more frustrated. "Let me go, and I'll fight you two fair and square!"

"At this point, you still don't get it, do you?" Li Huan sighed, disappointed. "If I really wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have bothered knocking you out. You wouldn't even have the chance to be angry at me."

Hearing this, Kiana stopped struggling and stared directly at Li Huan. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'll untie you soon," Li Huan said bluntly. "Not only that, but I'll also return all your equipment."

"In return, I want you to join forces with me."

"What?" Kiana looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I need you to team up with me," Li Huan explained, leaning back in his chair. "You have a gun, and it's clear you're very skilled. With you around, I'll have a better chance of surviving this crisis."

"In return, you'll gain two helpers. I can promise you that Tom and I won't hold you back."

"My only condition is that most of the time, we follow my lead. But if something urgent comes up, we'll follow yours."

Li Huan spread his hands and smiled, "See? It's a win-win situation."

Hearing this, Kiana fell into deep thought.

Li Huan didn't press her further, waiting quietly for her answer.

After a while, Kiana finally spoke up, "It's not impossible…"

"So you want to cooperate with me? Basically follow your lead, but what if I choose not to?"

"I'll still untie you and return your weapons. Then we'll part ways and go our separate paths, not interfering with each other," Li Huan replied.

He added, "Of course, I won't untie you immediately. I'll set it up so that the ropes will loosen five or six minutes after we leave."

"That's all I have to say. What's your decision?"

Kiana fell silent, contemplating her options.

After about five minutes, she finally said, "I agree."