Seth encountered, of course, the expert in slacking off and loafing around, Qingque, an average Diviner of the Divination Commission on the Xianzhou Luofu, and a librarian. She never slacks off when it comes to slacking off and is about to be demoted to a "door guardian."
Unfortunately, the so-called acquaintance meant he knew her, but she didn't know him.
Out of curiosity about the game character, Seth approached, intending to take a look.
The player who had just lost the hand looked depressed as he took out his jade token.
"Qingque, your luck today is just too good."
Qingque proudly lifted her head, hands on her hips.
"Of course! When I went out today, I divined a fortune for myself, and the hexagram showed that today I'm 'blessed with great luck'!"
Another player teased:
"Qingque, using divination for this—aren't you afraid Master Fu will come after you?"
Qingque waved her hand dismissively, unconcerned.
"Master Fu is busy with a myriad of affairs; where would she find the time to come watch us play?"
Seeing the losing player start to pack up his personal items, Qingque quickly stopped him.
"Why are you preparing to leave so early today?"
The player spread his hands in frustration.
"I've lost all the money I brought today to you. If I don't go, I'll even lose my underwear to you."
"Uh~ Alright, see you tomorrow."
Qingque was smart enough to understand the principle of sustainable fishing without draining the pond.
So, that player fled the scene as if escaping a disaster.
"It's still early; shall we continue?"
Qingque looked at the other two players.
"I've got soup simmering at home; let's continue another day, another day."
"My great-aunt's second cousin's brother-in-law's wife is giving birth; I have to rush to the Alchemy Commissionto check."
Seeing Qingque's hot streak today, the other two players quickly raised their exemption flags, making up random excuses to flee the scene.
"Hey! Don't all leave!"
The game disbanded on the spot, leaving only a depressed Qingque at the table.
At that moment, Qingque noticed Seth watching from the side, her eyes lighting up.
"Brother, want to play a round of Celestial Jade?"
Seth quickly waved his hand, refusing without hesitation.
"Sorry, I don't like playing board games."
Before crossing over, Seth had witnessed a relative ruin his family through gambling, leading to bankruptcy and a broken home. From then on, Seth steered clear of gambling.
Seeing Seth's firm attitude, Qingque didn't press further and ran off to find other partners. After all, in this area, there were plenty of idle Xianzhou people; if you don't play, someone else will.
Seth had approached only out of curiosity about Qingque. Seeing her addicted to gambling like this, he suddenly felt it was boring.
Watching others playing games wasn't as good as going home to continue simulating.
Seth turned and left.
…
Back at his residence, Seth immediately found a comfortable position to lie down and opened the simulation page.
Due to the high difficulty of Jingliu's intermediate script, which caused him to get stuck, Seth could only start a brand new script.
It was the familiar gacha-draw-like effect, and a scroll fell into Seth's hand.
A green dress, a smile brimming with youth and vitality, one hand holding up a tiles high...
Seth raised an eyebrow, a strange smile appearing on his face.
"What a coincidence~"
That's right, the second associated character Seth drew was none other than Qingque, whom he had just met briefly!
Compared to Jingliu's legendary resume, Qingque's was much simpler.
In simple terms, she was just an ordinary Diviner of the Divination Commission on the Xianzhou Luofu who liked to slack off and loaf around.
Of course, that was just the view of most uninformed people.
In reality, she had exceptional talent in divination, highly valued by the Divination Commission's head, Fu Xuan. If nothing went wrong, Qingque was Fu Xuan's designated successor as the next Master Diviner.
However, just as Jing Yuan liked to dangle tempering as a big pie in front of Fu Xuan, Fu Xuan often threw heavy responsibilities at Qingque.
[Choose this script for simulation? (Script difficulty: Basic)(Yes/No)]
Seth didn't hesitate and directly chose 'Yes'.
Just like last time, the system popped up an interface.
[Please select two initial traits. After the script simulation ends, you may retain one for free as an inherent trait.]
The slight difference was that Seth now already had one trait and was no longer a blank slate.
Soon, the system displayed several options.
[Gambling God (Gold): Your gambling skills have reached a transcendent level. Whether it's poker, mahjong, dice, or any other gambling tool, in your hands, they're like toys. At the gambling table, you are an invincible god! (Comes with exclusive Gambling God BGM)] (This trait is a Basic difficulty perk and cannot be selected at settlement.)
[Born Villain (Green): Your success rate slightly increases when committing evil acts.]
[Alcohol Addict (White): You love drinking and have an excellent tolerance. Paired with 'Drunk' series traits, it slightly enhances effects.]
[Handsome Appearance (White): You have a handsome appearance, making it easy to gain others' favor.]
[Focused (White): You maintain high concentration in anything you do.]
The mandatory gold 'Gambling God' went without saying; Seth directly focused on the other traits.
When he saw the second trait, he was instantly stunned.
This system was determined to sabotage him.
Seth quickly looked at the third trait.
The front part of the third trait seemed normal, but the back was a bit strange.
Seth then clicked on the detailed description to understand: the so-called 'Drunk' series traits referred to things like Drunken Fist, Drunken Spear, Drunken Sword, etc., belonging to martial arts styles.
Although it seemed interesting, martial arts styles were only effective in the early stages, just for bullying ordinary people.
In the Star Rail world, Destiny Paths were fundamental; other methods were minor paths.
Understanding this, Seth mentally excluded this trait.
Seth then looked at the fourth trait.
It had to be said, in any world, it's a looks-based society; an outstanding appearance is a huge bonus.
However, Seth himself was already very handsome, and this was just a white trait with unremarkable effects, so this one was also excluded.
Seth looked at the last trait.
After reading the description, Seth hesitated.
If there were no 'Born Villain', he would unhesitatingly choose 'Focused'.
But considering this damn system's nature... After much hesitation, Seth still chose 'Born Villain'.
As for the other trait, despite his aversion to gambling, Seth unhesitatingly chose 'Gambling God (Gold)'.
From the previous two Jingliu scripts, Seth could basically conclude that this gold trait was custom-tailored for Basic scripts, perfectly fitting the script, and its role was to greatly reduce the simulation difficulty.
In the early stages, he was penniless and blank; to smoothly pass the script, this custom trait was almost mandatory.
After selecting, Seth couldn't help but complain inwardly.
This damn system is really screwing me over...
If that's the case, I guess I have no choice but to reluctantly be a villain.
As he complained, the simulation had already begun.