Chapter 312: Harsh Conditions
Just as he reached the elevator, Chen Mo suddenly realized a very serious problem.
No, he couldn’t take the elevator!
If the elevator suddenly malfunctioned and got stuck, it would take a long time for rescue personnel to arrive, and by then everything would be too late.
Chen Mo quickly slammed on the brakes and sprinted toward the fire escape stairs.
Fortunately, nothing else went wrong while he descended the fire stairs to the first floor, aside from nearly slipping and tumbling down the stairs twice.
Chen Mo jogged all the way to the first-floor lobby of the experience store, drawing stares from everyone around. They were all wondering, what’s gotten into the store manager today? Why is he so flustered?
Could it be… he choked on too much dog food?
Chen Mo glanced at the time on his wristband. Good, he had successfully completed the task with the last 30 seconds to spare.
[System Task (1/5): Arrive at the first-floor lobby of the experience store. Completed.]
[System Task (2/5): Complete a premade team game in *League of Legends*. Time limit: 1 hour.]
Chen Mo was stunned. That’s it? Just play a game with a premade team? It didn’t seem that difficult.
Unless the experience store suddenly lost power? The computer crashed? The mouse malfunctioned? The keyboard leaked electricity?
That shouldn’t happen, because the computers, mice, and keyboards in Chen Mo’s experience store were all of good quality. As for a power outage or internet disconnection… that would be too much, right?
The front desk girl asked, “Store manager, would you like something to drink?”
Chen Mo replied irritably, “No! I called you so many times just now, why didn’t you pick up?”
The front desk girl was taken aback. “Huh? I didn’t get any calls just now?”
Chen Mo: “…”
It seemed like the bad luck curse was at work again. In any case, Chen Mo decided not to dwell on it. The first task was done, and now it was time for the second.
But who should he team up with?
Just as Chen Mo was thinking, someone called out from the store entrance, “Store manager!”
Chen Mo looked up and saw Jia Peng, Chang Xiuya, and a girl he hadn’t met before walking into the store.
Chen Mo was surprised. “You guys… haven’t gone home yet?”
Jia Peng said, “No, we just started our break today. Our train tickets are for tomorrow, so we came to play at the store for a while.”
“Coming to play games at the store today—you’re all true fans,” Chen Mo remarked.
Chang Xiuya introduced, “Store manager, this girl is our junior, Li Jingsi. She’s a junior this year. Jingsi, this is the store manager I’m always telling you about, Chen Mo.”
Li Jingsi was slightly taller than Chang Xiuya, about 1.67 meters, with a very neat short haircut that gave her a uniquely cute vibe. She was very attractive, probably on par with Wen Lingwei, the kind of person who would draw attention wherever she went. But unlike Wen Lingwei, Li Jingsi gave off a very gentle impression, not at all overbearing.
Moreover, Li Jingsi’s smile was very relaxed, the epitome of a healing type.
Li Jingsi smiled and nodded at Chen Mo. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Chen Mo nodded back. “Welcome, welcome. Jia Peng, you two have brought me another new customer. I’m so grateful; I should give you a lifetime achievement award.”
Jia Peng said, “Store manager, don’t give me all that fluff. Just give me a set of SSR cards in *Onmyoji*—that’s way more practical.”
Li Jingsi kept observing Chen Mo, but not in a rude or aggressive way. It was more out of curiosity.
Chen Mo didn’t mind, since he had bigger things to worry about, like being plagued by bad luck.
Jia Peng checked the time. “Let’s head in. Oh, store manager, do you want to play a couple of rounds with us? I’m struggling a bit to carry two girls on my own…”
Chen Mo was a bit speechless. “Aren’t you going to sit in the lobby for a while and chat? You came all the way to the store on a day like this just to play premade games?”
Jia Peng coughed dryly. “Store manager, if you keep talking like that, we’ll just be hurting each other. Can’t we just have an unspoken understanding…”
“…Yeah, I had a brain fart just now. Don’t mind me,” Chen Mo said. “Alright, I’ll play a couple of rounds with you today. Go find seats first, and I’ll grab some milk tea.”
“Great!” Chang Xiuya was very happy. She had been a bit unsure earlier, thinking Jia Peng couldn’t carry both girls on his own, but hearing that Chen Mo was joining in, it probably meant an easy win.
Jia Peng led the two girls to a set of four seats together. Since it was almost New Year’s, the store’s customer traffic had dropped, so finding empty seats wasn’t hard.
Chen Mo hadn’t arrived yet; he was probably still waiting for the milk tea.
Chang Xiuya quietly asked Li Jingsi, “So, how do you feel meeting the S-God?”
Li Jingsi smiled. “Aside from thinking he’s really young, nothing special. Is he really that good at games?”
Jia Peng said, “Absolutely. Those top players on the *Warcraft* ladder—he’s beaten every single one of them. What do you think?”
Li Jingsi sounded a bit regretful. “Too bad I started playing *Warcraft* too late. I missed the chance to face him, but I’ve heard a lot about him from Goph and the others. I heard that famous Wind Rider strategy was his invention.”
“No worries, there’s still a chance. After we finish *League of Legends*, you can ask him to play a couple of rounds of *Warcraft*. He’ll probably agree,” Jia Peng said.
As they were chatting, Chen Mo arrived.
Handing out the milk tea to everyone, Chen Mo noticed that the others had left him the middle seat, between Jia Peng and Li Jingsi.
Jia Peng explained, “Store manager, you sit in the middle so you can command us easily.”
“Alright.” Chen Mo sat down, but he felt a bit uneasy.
Before, carrying these people in a normal match would have been no different from playing against bots—even a 1v5 would have been fine. But now, with the bad luck curse hanging over him, if every word he said turned into a jinx, commanding would be a disaster.
He opened the *League of Legends* client and entered the game.
Chen Mo used the same ID as before, Silent, and had already played a few matches during the beta test. His account was now level 5, enough for normal matches.
Li Jingsi had clearly played before too; her account was just level 3, barely enough for normal matches.
Jia Peng had the highest level, already at level 10.
Jia Peng invited the three to form a party. Since they couldn’t make a full five-person premade, they’d have to queue with one random player.
As they entered the queue, Chen Mo glanced at the virtual screen on his wristband. On this display, visible only to him, the tasks had refreshed again.
[System Task (2/5): Complete a premade team game in *League of Legends*. Time limit: 1 hour.]
[System Task (3/5): Choose a hero that relies on luck in the match.]
[System Task (4/5): Trigger 100 bad luck events during the match.]
[System Task (5/5): Win the match with a 0-8 score.]
All the tasks had appeared at once, but the later ones had to be completed during this match.
Chen Mo’s mouth twitched slightly. So many restrictions?
Complete the match within 1 hour, choose a luck-based hero, trigger 100 bad luck events, and win with a 0-8 score?
This… this was asking him to go 0-8 and still win by being carried!