The system notification updating his quest didn't come as any surprise to Greg.
Because the Hundred Academy Exchange was held in the Imperial Capital, and right beneath the capital lay one of the massive Five Great Dungeons.
He had already prepared a contingency plan: if the system updated to Phase Three of his quest, he would simply conquer the Imperial Capital Dungeon to complete it.
After all, for the sake of his future happiness, he was absolutely going to attend this exchange.
The only difference was the change in the number of targets he needed to defeat.
In the Academy Dungeon, he only needed to defeat the Floor Boss of the third layer to complete the quest.
In the Imperial Capital Dungeon, however, he would have to defeat all three Floor Bosses from the first to the third layers in order.
At first glance, the difficulty seemed to have skyrocketed, but for him, this actually made things easier.
This was because the Empire Dungeon didn't have restrictions at its entrance like the Academy Dungeon did.
This meant he could bring along his ultimate muscle, Allie, to conquer it with him!
With a partner whose swordsmanship was practically divine backing him up, let alone the third-layer boss, he could even give the fourth layer a shot.
Thus, the Phase Three quest would pose no real difficulty for him.
However, another matter caught him completely off guard.
He remembered clearly that in all the routes and branches of the original game, there was no such setup as "Alice serving as Victoria's mentor."
There shouldn't have been any direct mentor-disciple relationship between the timid, research-obsessed purple-haired mentor and the stubborn commoner gray-haired girl.
So, when Victoria appeared before him as his junior sister, Greg was genuinely surprised.
He quickly made up an excuse for the disciples to get to know each other and pulled Victoria over to a relatively quiet corner at the edge of the Arena.
The high walls blocked the afternoon sun, casting a cool shadow that isolated them from the noisy crowd nearby.
“Little Gray.”
Greg crossed his arms, tilted his head slightly, and scrutinized the gray-haired girl before him.
“Out with it. Why did you become Alice's disciple? Don't tell me you have a secret crush on me, so you deliberately chose her as your mentor?”
Hearing this, Victoria froze for a second. Then, as if she had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world, she raised her head in disdain, her long gray hair swaying gently. Her gray eyes were filled with undisguised disgust.
“Have a crush on a scumbag like you? Don't make me laugh!”
Victoria placed her hands on her hips, her tone dripping with merciless sarcasm. “I didn't even get a chance to choose a mentor before I was directly assigned here, okay?! If I had known I'd end up with the same mentor as you, I would've rather died than agree!”
Directly assigned?
Greg's brow twitched.
He recalled that in the original game, students could apply to mentors they preferred based on their exam results.
Yet now, she had been assigned to Alice...
Could this also be a butterfly effect caused by his previous actions?
He fell into deep thought.
While Greg was pondering, Victoria suddenly went quiet.
Her gray eyes narrowed slightly, as if she had noticed something unusual. Her gaze swept back and forth across Greg's body.
She sized up his overall physique, her eyes moving from his shoulders to his waistline, and then to the contours of his arms.
Then, before Greg could even react, she suddenly took a step forward, reached out, and pinched the muscle on his arm without any hesitation.
Her fingertips lingered on the firm muscle for two seconds, as if confirming something, before she stepped back.
Her expression quickly shifted from confusion to gravity.
“Greg.”
Her voice suddenly dropped, carrying a solemnity akin to a trial. Her gray eyes stared straight at him like two cold coins.
“Kneel down first. I have a question for you.”
“?”
Greg was taken aback at first, then let out a frustrated laugh. “Heh, Little Gray, who do you think you are? You actually want me to—”
“Did you sneak off to conquer the dungeon again after getting that item last time, without telling me?”
Victoria's voice was calm, but her words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.
Greg's voice cut off instantly.
The smile on his face froze for half a second. Then, with an incredibly natural and fluid motion, his knees bent, and he dropped obediently to his knees, plastering a slightly flattering smile on his face.
“Hehehe, my dear junior sister, why bring that up? We're not strangers! Think about our relationship, right—”
Victoria continued to stare at him, her gray eyes unwavering. “Did you secretly get stronger behind my back again?”
Greg's gaze drifted as he tried to change the subject. “Ah, look over there, those potato chips seem to be on sale. Let's—”
Victoria didn't give him any room to escape.
She raised a foot, stepped right onto Greg's thigh, and leaned down, looking down on him.
This posture caused her gray hair to fall forward, forming a hazy curtain between them. Her voice carried a suppressed anger, each word driving into Greg's ears like nails:
“You're pretty bold, Greg. Using the item we got together to hog all the action for yourself?”
Greg instantly surrendered, his tone so humble it was a textbook-level slide-and-kneel:
“I'm sorry, I was wrong! I'll definitely make it up to you guys later! Please forgive this ordinary scumbag!!!”
“Eh—Victoria? What are you doing with Senior Greg?”
A soft voice suddenly rang out from the side, carrying a hint of surprise and confusion.
Both of them turned their heads at the same time, and a familiar splash of pink caught their eyes.
Silvia stood there, her hands gently clasped in front of her, her head tilted. Her warm eyes were filled with confusion as she took in this bizarre scene—a gray-haired girl stepping on a blonde boy's thigh, looking down on him, while the one being stepped on knelt on the ground without a shred of dignity, a flattering smile plastered across his face.
She began to seriously ponder: Could it be that Senior Greg prefers this kind of treatment?
“Silvia!”
Greg practically shouted, a light of seeing a savior bursting from his eyes. “Quick, help me talk some sense into her—”
Victoria withdrew her foot, stood up straight, walked over to Silvia in a few steps, and placed her hands on her hips.
“Listen to me, Silvia. This guy Greg actually used the item we got together to hog all the action! He secretly got stronger and didn't say a word!”
“I-Is that so...”
Silvia blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. She looked at Greg, who looked completely wronged, and then at the fuming Victoria.
Then, she stepped forward, gently took Victoria's arm, and coaxed her softly:
“But Senior Greg must have a reason for doing this, right? Besides, didn't he say he would definitely make it up to us? So, why don't you forgive him just this once?”
Victoria snorted, but her tone had clearly softened. “I know Greg must have his reasons... but...”
She shot a disgruntled glare at Greg, who was still kneeling on the ground, a lingering trace of suspicion in her gray eyes.
“I always get the feeling that this isn't the first time he's hogged all the action behind my back.”
Rate on N.U.
