Chapter 45 - I’m Not Worthy (1/2)

“This hat!”

After Meng Fan saw the function of the hat, the first thing that came to mind wasn’t the subtle Tetsuya Kuroko, but another character from a different anime. In this anime, the goldfinger had also been a hat that could make one’s sense of validation disappear. After putting it on, one could become…

Wait, that was an erotic manga!

It seemed like the system was a gentleman.

Of course, this hat only made his sense of ‘validation’ disappear, not his entire existence. He wouldn’t become an invisible man, but at least it would make people notice him less. Meng Fan’s chances of being noticed were reduced to zero, but if he spoke, or if there was an “action” connected to Meng Fan, then he would be discovered for sure.

For example, Kuroko Tetsuya in ‘Kuroko no Basuke’ also had a weak presence, but once someone passes the ball to him, the action of the ball would connect, and people would begin to notice him.

The effect of the hat was even more exaggerated than the one Kuroko had.

Before the +2 validation was added, all kinds of situations had come crashing onto Meng Fan, both good and bad. After suddenly earning 6 validation points at once, Meng Fan couldn’t imagine what catastrophes were waiting to happen. This hat had appeared at just the right time; he could wear it whenever he wanted to avoid trouble.

The running shoes, headband, earbuds, and pen were all black magic products. However, the hat was in a category of its own. A metaphysical product!

Good stuff!

Only… the points required for the hat were not high—only 1000 points—but there was a premise. Meng Fan had to complete task Phase 1 of [Real • Adoration Fever] before he could redeem it.

In other words, if he wanted to get this whimsical equipment, he had to get another 5 million likes… no, 4 million now.

Because after the task upgrade, the 1 million likes from [Adoration Fever] still accumulated into mission progress.

Even so, Meng Fan was burnt out!

He was prepared to bid farewell to Miss Wang and the minister, but it seemed now, he had to finish the stupid ‘thumbs up’ dance.

When will this end!?

Should I not buy the hat?

No way!

Before, Meng Fan only thought about collecting points. But the emergence of the ‘hat’ became the only priority in his mind.

The hat that could make his sense of ‘validation’ disappear and avoid some troubles under the public eye. No matter what class he skipped, the teacher wouldn’t remember his name during attendance, right? Most importantly, even if the hat isn’t as well made as the one from that erotic manga, it should still be a gentleman… a life artifact!

Meng Fan wasn’t courageous, but some bold ideas in his mind came out uncontrollably.

“Young Noble.”

The military-like family members were engrossed in their characters. After Meng Fan finished his ‘thumbs up’ dance he was escorted down the stairs by them again. Their expressions were full of concern. “Young Noble, you weren’t performing so well today, are you bothered by something? Or tired?”

Because of the appearance of the task [Real • Adoration Fever], Meng Fan was indeed feeling under the weather during his performance. However, although he didn’t gesture as much, the number of likes didn’t decrease. He still gained over 200,000 likes.

Meng Fan believed that this must be related to his +6 validation points. The crowd below had all looked towards him, even the ones who were just passing by.

[Real • Adoration Fever] Task phase one: 1.12 million/5 million.

“I am a little tired.”

“Then, will you come again tomorrow?”

“I’ll see.”

The family members were a bit startled at his answer. After escorting Meng Fan’s colossal mass off the city wall, they ran to break the news to the minister.

“Is the chubby man tired from dancing and doesn’t want to do it anymore?”

“Do you think, when the chubby boy comes tomorrow, we should give him some sort of incentive? We can’t make him work for free.”

“If anything, we should cover his entrance ticket.”

…

Although the added hat that could mask his ‘presence’ was his motivation, Meng Fan was done praising people for the day.