Chapter 106 Gu Yanxi’s Gift

Before Chen Zixuan could voice his doubts, Gu Yanxi seemed to be wrestling with a difficult decision. After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly shoved the paper bag she had been carrying into Chen Zixuan’s arms.

“A gift for you—just consider it… a thank-you for keeping me company while shopping today.”

“What?”

Although he’d already had a hunch, Chen Zixuan still opened the paper bag for a look.

Inside was a pure white cotton minidress, with two tiny shoulder straps and a hem adorned with cute lace—exactly the dress Gu Yanxi had bought at that clothing store at noon.

Yes, it was a dress.

But why would Gu Yanxi want to give me a dress…

Could it be that my recent changes have already become so obvious?

“I tried it on just now, but the size wasn’t quite right, so I’m giving it to you. It wasn’t particularly expensive anyway, and I’m too lazy to go buy a new one.”

She blurted out everything in a single breath. Maybe thinking it still sounded wrong, Gu Yanxi added, her face tinged with red,

“Take it if you want, if not, forget it—it’s up to you.”

He had initially wanted to refuse, but just then, Chen Zixuan remembered he was planning to buy some backup women’s clothing online anyway.

And considering that Gu Yanxi might have worn this dress, the refusal got stuck in his throat and he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Thank you. I’ll keep it… as a memento.”

Gu Yanxi turned away, avoiding Chen Zixuan’s somewhat awkward gaze, and said, feigning annoyance, “What are you thanking me for? I don’t need it anyway, but it’d be a waste to throw it out. If you want to keep it, that’s your business. If not, just help me toss it…”

Just the thought that Gu Yanxi might have tried it on made Chen Zixuan unwilling to throw away the dress—it would be far too much of a pity.

So he responded firmly, “No. I will absolutely keep it safe.”

“It’s yours now. What you do with it is none of my business—do as you please.”

Gu Yanxi’s cheeks grew even redder as she tossed those final words behind her and turned, heading back into her own apartment next door.

Watching Gu Yanxi until she was inside, Chen Zixuan glanced into the paper bag again, as if he could catch a faint whiff of the girl’s gentle fragrance lingering on the garment.

He closed the door and returned to his room, carefully stowing the paper bag deep in the back of his closet. At the same time, he silently prayed that he would never need to actually use it.

Afterward, Chen Zixuan picked up his phone and opened the Legend of Kaloran forum.

If possible, he did want to spend more time with Gu Yanxi, but time was tight now.

The thought of turning into a girl, and that this planet would face invasion from otherworldly gods in just a year, made Chen Zixuan anxious. All he could do was find a way to push himself forward in a short period.

As long as he could kill the D-ranked world boss this time, he wouldn’t be stuck at level 8 anymore—he might even be able to jump directly to level 10.

Then, he could visit Aesther to learn the level 10 ultimate skill. Handling several Sawtooth Crocodiles on his own should no longer be difficult.

Earlier, Chen Zixuan had spotted in the skill list that the level 10 ultimate skill for the Vampire Prince class was called [Blood Prison Echo]. Its effect was precisely the kind of large-area AOE spell he was currently lacking.

If he could master this skill, the road to further leveling up would become significantly easier.

Opening the forum, he saw that the hottest topic among players was, of course, the newly revealed D-ranked world boss—the [Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile].

Second only to that was discussion about [Cecilia]’s true identity. In less than half a day, that thread’s replies had soared past 30,000 and were about to hit 40,000, trailing only behind the world boss discussion.

News about the Sawtooth Crocodile was everywhere. Priests, mages, and warlocks were enjoying unprecedented status at the moment, yet, so far, no player had actually encountered the boss in person.

Without expert players stepping in, most teams couldn’t even handle the minor monsters.

Finally, by 3 p.m., many top-tier teams could no longer wait and began advancing deeper into the Mutant Jungle.

For the glory of a server announcement and the first-kill rewards for a world-class boss, they went all out—even at great expense, aggressively purchasing blue rare-grade weapons and equipment at premium prices.

Market rates surged to all-time highs.

Moreover, to capitalize on the boss’s hype and boost their team’s fame, many guild teams started livestreams on streaming platforms. Each stream had audiences of several hundred thousand.

While those figures were somewhat inflated, it still reflected just how seriously players were taking the world boss.

However, within less than an hour, without exception, every team suffered abject defeat. None even managed to catch a glimpse of the boss—they were wiped out by hordes of minor monsters in minutes.

Chen Zixuan wasn’t the least bit surprised by these results.

After all, this was a world-class boss—and the first D-level one to appear since launch. Rewards were bound to be better, but the difficulty wouldn’t be what it used to be.

Even Cecilia, currently number one in the world in level rankings and decked out in full epic gear, hadn’t managed to defeat the minor monsters there. For average level 4 or 5 players, going in was no different from suicide.

Chen Zixuan estimated that clearing this wild area would require at least ten players averaging level 20, all equipped with blue-grade sets, including at least five high magic damage dealers—and only with ample supplies and perfect teamwork would there be a slim chance of facing the final boss.

Of course, to truly excel at Legend of Kaloran, rich personal combat experience was also necessary.

After all, fighting with keyboard and mouse was completely different from facing monsters in person.

In this sense, players with real-world fighting experience or those who practiced special skills—like archery, fencing, and similar sports—would have a significant advantage.

Although Chen Zixuan had never systematically studied these, his real-world fighting experience since childhood was considerable; he knew what it took to intimidate an opponent and which body parts to target for maximum damage.

In the early stages of the game, knowing this was more than enough.

At this moment, Chen Zixuan had a sudden thought.

Maybe I should sign up for some martial arts classes or something?

But within a few seconds, he dismissed the idea.

In-game, his avatar’s muscles seemed to possess innate, heightened combat memory—there was no need to waste money learning more.

If anything, learning could actually make things worse—like gilding the lily.

He had to admit, the new phone was much faster than the old one—it had its perks for the higher price; browsing the forum was smooth with no lag.

Having eaten only a pack of instant noodles all day, Chen Zixuan felt a little hungry and opened a food delivery app.

Staring at the still-open Lin Family Pickled Fish restaurant, he hesitated for a long time before deciding to order somewhere else.

He wasn’t very socially adept, but he understood at least this much: in future, it was best to keep some distance from Lin Wei.

—

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep