119: Chapter 119 I can't send it out!

Early the next morning, Su Wan got up.

She sat on the edge of the bed in silence for a few seconds, then finally got up to change her clothes, grabbed her terminal, and went out.

The morning market in the residential area around the academy opened very early. Rows of vegetable stalls were lit with soft lights, and preservative mist drifted gently above the refrigerated cabinets.

Su Wan pushed her cart from the vegetable section to the meat section, picking up some eggs, green vegetables, carrots, corn kernels, and a small piece of pre-processed beast meat.

She often lived alone, so making some simple meals wasn't a problem for her.

If she were asked to kill, practice sword fighting, or break through a realm, she wouldn't even blink.

But now, being asked to make a love bento…

Su Wan stood before the seasoning section, her face going numb for a moment…

After returning to the dormitory, she put away the groceries, washed the rice, chopped the vegetables, and heated the pan; her movements were quite efficient.

After the rice was steaming, she opened her terminal, which contained her search history from yesterday.

Rabbit sausages. Teddy bear rice balls. Heart-shaped fried eggs. Octopus-style sausages. Carrot carvings. Seaweed smiley faces. And various tutorials on pressing rice into heart, star, and cat-paw shapes…

Su Wan stared at the holographic screen, her brows knitting together bit by bit.

"Why do love bentos have so many weird shapes!!!"

She couldn't keep her voice down.

The room was silent for two seconds, and the terminal thoughtfully recommended more options below.

[Sweet confession bento that even beginners can learn]

[Make these for the first time you give a bento to someone you like, and you'll definitely win him over!]

[Ten bento combinations that will make guys' hearts flutter!]

Su Wan slapped the holographic screen off.

Her ears turned red.

"Pah!"

[Please complete the punishment mission seriously, Host.]

Su Wan took a deep breath and reopened the holographic screen.

Make it. Fine, she'd make it.

For the next half hour, faint sounds continued to come from the kitchen.

After the rice was cooked, she used a mold for a long time, pressing out two lopsided, heart-shaped rice balls.

She had intended to make the fried egg heart-shaped, but the edges burned, and it ended up looking like a deformed, fat peach.

After slicing and frying the sausages, the cute octopus legs from the tutorial didn't flare out at all; instead, they curled into a ball, looking just like a startled monster.

Su Wan stood in front of the kitchen counter, looking at the bento box with an expressionless face. She closed her eyes for a moment, then finally closed the lid.

Fine. At least it's edible… The taste is definitely fine; she had already taste-tested it, it was just the presentation that was lacking.

The system didn't say it had to look perfect!

So now the problem arose again. How was she supposed to give this bento away…

Su Wan sat at the table holding the lunch box, her whole body stiff.

Giving this thing away directly… wouldn't that be the same as a confession?!

A scene flashed through her mind almost instantly.

Herself standing in front of Lu Cheng with the lunch box, handing it over with a cold face.

Lu Cheng looking down. Heart-shaped rice balls. Heart-shaped fried eggs. And a bunch of weird shapes.

Then he looks up, raises an eyebrow, curls the corner of his lip, and says… "Su Wan, have you taken a fancy to me?"

"…" Just thinking about it made Su Wan's fists clench.

"What is this system doing!!!"

She gritted her teeth, so angry she wanted to freeze the table over with a layer of ice.

The system in her mind felt absolutely no guilt. [Please complete the mission as soon as possible, Host.]

Su Wan was so angry her temples were throbbing. She raised a hand to press against her brow, her gaze falling on the necklace at her chest.

She reached out and pinched the crystal, her fingertips feeling slightly cool. Her mother had told her before that this thing had been passed down through generations by her grandmother.

It was thanks to this thing that she had been reborn, and the system was also its doing…

"What on earth is this thing thinking…" she muttered softly, her mind in a complete mess.

For the rest of the day, Su Wan looked for an opportunity.

In the morning, she put the bento into an insulated bag and carried it to the vicinity of the training hall, where she saw Lu Cheng talking with members of the Shengwu Society from afar. There were too many people around; as soon as she stopped walking, a bunch of scenes automatically flashed through her mind… What if Lu Cheng opened it in public? What if someone saw the heart-shaped rice balls inside? Su Wan stood there for a few seconds, then turned and left.

At noon, she went outside the theory classroom again. But before she could go in, she saw a few girls coming out with materials, chatting as they walked. "Lu Cheng was called away by a mentor again today, right?" "He's so famous now." "I heard the threshold at the Shengwu Society is about to be trampled flat." Su Wan stood at the corner of the corridor, holding the bento, and silently retreated.

In the afternoon, she even considered just leaving the lunch box at the door of Lu Cheng's villa. But as soon as this thought popped up, she strangled it herself… The place where Lu Cheng lived had special surveillance; if he saw that she had just left a love bento at his door… Aaaaah!!!

She had a headache all day, failing to find a suitable opportunity to give it away. By the evening, Su Wan sat in her dormitory, staring at the bento box on the table, feeling completely numb.

She couldn't even give away the first meal… and there were six more days to go. She couldn't keep torturing herself like this every day, could she?

Just then, her terminal suddenly vibrated. Someone was chatting in the Shengwu Society's internal channel.

[Lin Yifang: Lu Cheng accepted a mission?]

[Bai Zhou: Yeah, just went to the mission center.]

[Chen Zhanfeng: What mission?]

[Bai Zhou: Catching a wanted criminal, C-rank, just picking up some extra credits.]

Su Wan, who had been leaning back in her chair in a daze, saw these lines, and her eyes lit up immediately. A mission?

She immediately opened the mission center interface and searched for the number mentioned in the channel. The next second, the mission details popped up.

Capture a wanted criminal. Target strength: Peak of the Source Gathering Realm. Status: Suspected serious injury, on the run. Mission rank: C-rank. Mission reward: Ten points, ten credits.

Su Wan looked at the holographic screen, and an extremely smooth idea suddenly popped into her head! A great idea!

She sat up straight. Giving a bento alone in the academy was too strange, but going on a mission was different. As long as she prepared the love bento in advance, and then when food was needed, she could say… "I have extra food, let's just eat together."

In that case, the hearts and such inside were actually prepared for herself. She just had some little personal quirks… then it wouldn't have anything to do with him!

The more Su Wan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, so she got up and headed out right away.

The mission center was not far from the teaching area, and there were quite a few people there in the evening. In the hall, rows of mission holographic screens were suspended in mid-air, students were coming and going, and terminal notification sounds and mission acceptance confirmations were echoing one after another.

Su Wan walked quickly to the self-service acceptance area, entered the mission number, and pulled up the details. The mission Lu Cheng had accepted was not yet full.

The mission requirements were to form a team randomly within twenty-four hours; once the time was up, even if the team wasn't full, they could depart, with a maximum of four people. The current number of people was three. Su Wan was exactly the last one.

Her finger paused on the confirm button for a moment, then she pressed it.

[Ding.] [Mission accepted successfully.] [Current number: 4 / 4]

She looked at the confirmation message that popped up on the screen and breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally made it in time.

However, in the next second, she frowned again. C-rank mission, ten points, ten credits. The reward wasn't high. With Lu Cheng's current strength, he could completely take on higher-level missions with better rewards. Yet, he chose this job of catching a wanted criminal.

Su Wan stared at the mission details, her mind racing. "Did Lu Cheng take this to practice?" She thought about it, but couldn't come up with an answer.

Just then, her terminal vibrated again. A pink-haired virtual girl popped out of the screen with a standard business smile on her face.

"Student Su Wan, you have joined the C-rank capture mission squad." "According to the academy's mission procedures, please head to the 102 Data Room within fifteen minutes to meet with the other team members, get to know each other, and review the target's information." "The location of the data room has been sent, please head there in time."

Su Wan opened the map, glanced at the route, and turned to leave.

Halfway there, her steps suddenly faltered. Su Wan looked down at the insulated bag she was carrying, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly… Forget it. She'd just muddle through for now. It wasn't time to eat yet anyway.

She hid the insulated bag behind her back and continued along the corridor.

The academy's data area was behind the mission hall. The passage was very quiet, with cold gray alloy panels on the walls and overhead lights shining with white light one after another. The further inside she went, the fewer people there were, and the air had a dry smell of paper files mixed with electronic equipment.

The 102 Data Room was at the end of the corridor. The door was translucent, and she could see the lights were already on inside.

Su Wan walked to the door, took a deep breath, and raised her hand to push it open.

The moment the door slid open, the first person she saw was Lu Cheng. He was leaning against the long table, holding an electronic file in his hand. Hearing the door open, he looked up.

As those eyes fell on her, Su Wan's heart tightened inexplicably. Immediately after, she saw two other people. A man and a woman; the man wore glasses, and the girl had short hair and a lithe figure. They were likely her teammates for this mission.

Lu Cheng was clearly taken aback when he saw Su Wan. "You accepted it too?"

Su Wan quickly regained her composure and nodded. "Yeah." She paused, then added, "Just happened to see it and accepted it on the fly."

Lu Cheng let out an "Oh," but didn't ask further. "Everyone's here, let's look at the mission first."

Su Wan walked over and placed the insulated bag gently by her feet, moving very carefully.

In the center of the long table, a holographic screen had already unfolded. The wanted criminal's photo hung in mid-air. It was a man in his thirties with sunken cheeks, an old scar on the corner of his left eye, and a gloomy expression. A string of basic information was listed next to the file.

[Target: Wei Heng] [Realm: Peak of the Source Gathering Realm] [Status: Suspected serious injury] [Danger Level: Medium] [Mission Content: Capture Wei Heng and deliver him directly to the local security office. If resistance is met, he may be killed on the spot.]

Su Wan's gaze swept over the information, and her expression turned serious. C-rank mission. Ten points, ten credits. The reward wasn't high, but Lu Cheng must have his reasons for choosing this.

Just as she thought of this, Avril's voice sounded in the data room again. "The mission squad has fully assembled." "Please complete the sharing of basic information before departure and confirm the temporary coordination order." "I wish you all a successful mission."

The holographic screen flickered gently, and more target information began to expand downward.