Chapter 189: Playing Against Oneself

“Clara will bring you food every other day from now on. You can also hunt some game or something yourself.”

“I’m heading back to town tomorrow. I’ll probably be back in three or four days, and I’ll come find you then.”

“If you run into danger, don’t try to be a hero. Run when you have to.”

Soon, after giving Furen a few more words of caution, Lu Wei and Clara left the Bear Cave, heading back toward Dome Pillar the way they came.

Along the way, Clara kept looking back, her expression filled with worry.

Lu Wei, however, was much calmer, as if he wasn’t worried about Furen’s safety at all.

“Don’t worry.”

He glanced at Clara and casually reassured her, “Furen has plenty of Experience now. Besides, we’ve already cleared out the monsters in this area. He’ll be fine.”

“I hope so… What if I stay behind with him?”

Clara suddenly proposed, “I may not be able to fight, but I can take care of him.”

‘Is she talking about the respectable kind of caretaking?’

“If you want to stay, I have no objection.”

Lu Wei shook his head. “But you have to realize, this is the forest, not Heitai Town. If there’s danger, not only will you be unable to help, you’ll end up dragging Furen down.”

“That makes sense.”

Clara’s resolve was hardly firm; as soon as she heard him say that, she immediately gave up the idea of staying.

“Then forget it. I’ll just stay at the grocery store and help you mind the shop.”

“Huh?”

Lu Wei was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. “You’re willing to work for me?”

“Of course. It’s not like I can earn a salary this high anywhere else in town.”

Clara nodded. “Besides, you’ve been such a huge help to Furen and me. I should repay you.”

“Don’t mention it. I always treat my employees like family. Whenever they need help, I do everything in my power to lend them a hand.”

Lu Wei shamelessly sang his own praises. “Take Anna and Zovir, for example. In my eyes, they’re like my daughter and my younger brother.”

“Eh? Why a daughter and a younger brother?”

Clara asked, a little confused, “Shouldn’t it be a younger sister and a younger brother, or a daughter and a son?”

“That’s not important. What’s important is my meticulous care for my employees.”

Lu Wei said with a straight face, “To be honest, good bosses like me are hard to come by these days.”

Indeed, they were rare.

But was he really a *good* boss?

“Haven’t you heard the rumors around town about the grocery store?”

Clara said suspiciously, “They say you’re a Crafty Merchant, that the grocery store is a crooked shop, and that it offers ‘special services’… Let me be clear right now, I’m only here to sell things. I won’t be doing any other kind of work!”

“Er…”

The smile on Lu Wei’s face froze instantly. He got angry just thinking about it.

“Don’t listen to their nonsense! I’m no Crafty Merchant, and the Golden Sword Hu Grocery Store is certainly not some crooked shop!”

A moment later, he muttered through gritted teeth, “It’s all slander from jealous people trying to ruin the grocery store’s reputation!”

Clara’s eyes widened. “So the part about special services is true?!”

“No! I mean, yes, we do have special services, but not the kind you’re thinking of…”

“…”

The dense canopy of leaves blotted out the night sky. As the night wore on, a damp mist began to drift through the forest like a transparent veil, making the surroundings appear shadowy and indistinct.

The profound, expansive silence unique to a primeval forest descended, yet it was filled with countless subtle sounds brimming with life, swallowing the sound of their fading footsteps.

“THUD!”

Inside the Bear Cave, Furen set the last stone in place, completing a wall that blocked three-quarters of the entrance.

Of course, the defensive capability of such a “makeshift stone wall” was extremely limited.

But Furen wasn’t expecting it to repel a monster’s attack anyway.

Its main purpose was to serve as an early warning system.

If a monster tried to tear down the wall, he would have enough time to wake up and prepare for a fight.

‘Sigh, I wonder how long I’ll have to hide here.’

With a sigh, Furen plopped down on the ground and sprinkled some Smoke-removal Powder into the campfire.

Perhaps because he’d slept too much during the day, he wasn’t tired at all now and felt the need to find something to kill time.

He picked up the box of Dwarf Three-row Chess, set up the pieces, and played a game against himself for a while. Unsurprisingly, it ended in a draw.

‘So boring…’

To be honest, Furen didn’t find playing chess against himself to be all that interesting.

But since there was nothing else to do, he could only silently reset the pieces and begin a second game.

At first, he simply played according to a normal strategy.

Gradually, however, as if to make things more interesting, he began to deliberately alter one side’s strategy, intentionally making unconventional moves.

At the same time, the time he spent thinking about each move grew longer and longer.

From a few seconds at the start, it grew to ten-odd seconds, then dozens… until eventually, it took him several minutes to make a single move.

Outside the cave, the forest mist grew thicker, until even the babbling of the nearby stream became muffled and indistinct.

Inside the cave, the pieces moved with decreasing frequency. Furen’s brows were tightly knitted as his mind worked furiously; the battle against himself had reached a fever pitch.

After what felt like an eternity, the second game finally ended.

The outcome was never in doubt—

He had defeated himself, and he had also lost to himself.

Staring at the board with a mix of joy and regret, Furen suddenly froze. He seemed to have faintly grasped some sort of Enlightenment.

But the feeling was fleeting, vanishing without a trace in the next instant.

‘What a strange feeling.’

‘Whatever. I’ll play another round.’

‘This is actually kind of fun.’

…

…

[I swear upon my honor and the reputation of the Delaroca Clan to repay the total sum of 100 Gold Coins, principal and interest included, within three months…]

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the grocery store.

While Furen was silently playing chess in the cave, Lu Wei was lying in his sleeping bag, staring at the IOU and lost in thought.

The question on his mind was, naturally—

How could he cash in on this IOU?

Obviously, counting on Furen was impossible.

Putting aside the question of whether he was shameless enough to do so…

…even if he did decide to play hardball, Furen would never be able to produce 100 Gold Coins.

That meant he had to figure out a way to get it from Freya.

‘Maybe that woman would be willing to pay off Furen’s debt. You never know.’

‘She’s a noble, after all. She should be able to cough up 100 gold coins.’

‘Huh? Why does this feel a lot like blackmail and extortion?’

Lu Wei suddenly paused, realizing the current situation was a lot like he’d kidnapped Furen and was now demanding a ransom from Freya.

And if he were to embrace the role of “kidnapper,” if Freya really paid up, would he “release the hostage”?

Hmm…

If he really handed Furen over, he’d be no different from Mirana.

But if he didn’t, he would make a mortal enemy of Freya, and maybe even the Skeleton Viscount himself.

‘Forget it. I’ll just get the money first and figure out the rest later.’

After mulling it over for a bit, Lu Wei couldn’t be bothered to think about it anymore. He carefully tucked the IOU away, closed his eyes, and went to sleep, planning to head back to town first thing in the morning.

Even though he hadn’t managed to get that bag of ears, this trip into the forest had been incredibly fruitful.

Putting the IOU aside for now… after all, he still didn’t know if he could actually cash it in.

But in cash alone, he had earned another 10 gold and 3 silver.

There was the 6 gold and 5 silver from Gante, plus the 3 gold and 8 silver from Furen.

And his quest progress had reached (65.7/100).

Only about 35 gold to go.

‘I wonder what the final condition for promotion is.’

‘I hope it’s something simple.’

‘It’s been two months since I transmigrated, and I’m still Level 0.’

‘I’m such a disgrace to all Transmigrators…’