Since the arrangements were perfectly reasonable, Li Ke settled in and contentedly bided his time within the caravan.
As for his original plan—constantly sleeping with Tangji to rapidly farm Energy points, jump back into the 7 Days to Die world, and save Lux—he honestly wanted to. The problem was, Tangji had things to do.
It wasn't business regarding the shop either. It was something else entirely, something Li Ke couldn't manage to pry out of her. After their meeting last night, she had flatly demanded that Li Ke not look for her for the next half month. Otherwise, Li Ke would have absolutely dragged himself back to the 7 Days to Die world to get Lux to safety first.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he questioned her, Tangji refused to disclose where she was going or what she was doing. She hadn't even shown her face today; if she had, Ruohua wouldn't have been the one knocking directly on his door.
Left with no choice, Li Ke had to drop the matter for now. His only option was to look for other targets—specifically, exceptional women with strong capabilities.
After all, he had already tested his theory on Miss Yellow Rose. Women who lacked raw power and held no genuine affection for him only yielded single-digit Energy points, no matter how many times they did the deed.
Ruohua wasn't a woman of many words. While sitting on the roadside waiting for the caravan to set off, she seamlessly slipped into a state of meditation right then and there.
Roche was doing much the same, completely absorbed in a notebook filled to the brim with intricate magic circles and spell formulae. Li Ke couldn't make heads or tails of the symbols, but that didn't stop him from pulling out his own purchased language textbooks and notes to continue studying the written script of this world.
Learning it proved to be quite a chore for him. It wasn't an issue with his memory; rather, it was because this world was entirely fresh and novel to him. Just squatting by the street watching the small-time vendors was fascinating. Whenever an unfamiliar animal trotted past, he would even channel his inner amateur artist, sketching the creature's likeness onto a blank page in his notebook.
At the end of the day, Dungeon & Fighter was just a pixel game. There was only so much of the world it could actually showcase. The real, breathing world possessed countless things the game had never depicted, and every single one of these novelties captivated Li Ke.
Under these circumstances, his study session naturally devolved into the classic mentality of: Study? Study my foot.
But right as he was staring with deep amusement at a pack beast with an incredibly goofy facial expression, Ruohua's voice rang out by his ear once more.
"If you cannot maintain focus when doing a task, you will never be able to reach the pinnacle of any field."
Her voice was as stern and full of character as ever—strictly business, matching her rigid cadence.
Only then did Li Ke realize the caravan had already begun to move. He hastily grabbed Roche by the collar, hoisted her up to rest across his shoulder, and casually replied to Ruohua.
"That's true, but a boring life always needs a little spice. Besides, I'm actually picking up the language pretty quickly."
To prove his point, Li Ke opened his mouth and repeated a phrase he had just overheard from a nearby mercenary, delivering it like a joke.
"For instance, phrases like 'That guy over there is richer,' 'I've got powerful backing,' or 'Have mercy, brave hero!'—I can memorize those the very first time I hear them."
Yet, after he finished speaking, he didn't see even a hint of amusement on Ruohua's face. She merely stared at him, shaking her head with a look of helpless disapproval.
"I believe it is imperative that you learn actually useful vocabulary. Street thug slang like that is entirely beneath the necessity of learning."
Li Ke felt a wave of awkwardness wash over him. The absolute worst audience for a joke was always someone this rigidly serious.
"Uh, surely words for begging for mercy are somewhat necessary?"
"Begging a monster for mercy is utterly pointless. It is equally meaningless against those who genuinely intend to kill you. Even against common street thugs, begging does no good. Furthermore, if you always walk the righteous path, upright people will not attack you. Therefore, phrases for pleading are the most useless things of all."
"..."
Li Ke stared at her, contrasting her strictly textbook, upright words against her incredibly voluptuous body. A profound sense of cognitive dissonance washed over him. He realized that this female Fighter wasn't the type who could be easily seduced. She was bound to be quite troublesome, yet if a guy managed to fit her exact tastes, she would practically fall into his lap for free.
This archetype was what one might call the "Ordinary Type."
Yes—ordinary personality, ordinary worldview and values, ordinary mindset.
However—
It was precisely this excessive ordinariness that made her completely extraordinary!
Everyone has their own quirks; even a rigidly serious person couldn't be described as absolutely generic. Yet, the woman beside him was the absolute baseline of normal!
Especially in a high-fantasy world like this, such an ordinary, straight-laced personality was practically the rarest of rare character tropes!
If she were to say that she wasn't a genius, and had only achieved her current strength through sheer hard work, she would perfectly embody the most classic, textbook definition of standard!
This kind of woman wouldn't pull any tsundere antics, wouldn't play feminist cards, and certainly wouldn't fuel any toxic gender wars or demand special treatment. She would simply view men as men, and herself as an ordinary woman. She wouldn't think herself noble just because she was a female, nor would she expect men to constantly cater to her. Yet, she could still objectively view the differences between the sexes. She would willingly make sacrifices for her family, and if household expenses got too high, she would proactively cut back on her own needs or take up a part-time job. She lacked any messy psychological baggage. She only bought essentials, though she might purchase musical instruments or sports gear out of genuine passion. She would even seriously engage in romantic intimacy, even if she didn't fully comprehend it—
When she committed to a task, she wouldn't allow herself to be distracted. And when dating a man, she wouldn't care about power, status, or wealth—she would look purely at his baseline morals and character!
Most importantly, her words and actions would always be the most logical, correct options based on the information available to her.
"Therefore, focus and diligence are mandatory. Look at me, for instance. I was weak and sickly since childhood, and it was entirely through my focus and hard work that I forged this strength. If you wish to better experience this world and appreciate things you have never seen before, shouldn't you be focusing heavily on learning the language and script? That is why you should focus on your studies, rather than letting your mind wander and disrupting your linguistic progress."
Ruohua spoke up once more. Judging by her earnest expression and tone, she genuinely, wholeheartedly believed every word she said.
Li Ke paused to reflect.
She's entirely right.
Yabai—
Li Ke was so internally thrilled that he accidentally defaulted to Japanese mental slang.
What is up with this woman?!
She is way too straight-laced!
He stared at Ruohua. Reason told him that if he could actually win her over, she would make a flawless wife, and the Energy output she generated would absolutely break the charts.
Yet, his reason also gave him a harsh reality check.
Though this older sister was so basic that she couldn't be any more "ordinary"...
Trying to actually make a move on her?
The difficulty level was straight up Hell.