5: Chapter 5: The first man in the entire server to confess his love in public.

Qingshi Mine, second floor, BOSS room.

The Stone Giant was a stone monster over three meters tall, its entire body composed of gray rock, with red fire glowing in its two eyes. The ground shook with every step it took. It stood in the center of the room, swinging its massive stone fists, smashing them toward the five players in front of it.

"Iron-Head! Earth Tremor is coming! Watch out for the jump!" The captain's voice rang out in the team channel.

The captain's ID was [Gentle Blade], level LV.8, class: Assassin, and it was a female character—though no one knew if the person behind it was actually a woman. She spoke crisply and decisively, and her commands were organized; one could tell at a glance she was a veteran.

Iron-Head Qiang gritted his teeth, gripped his greatsword tightly, and stared at the Stone Giant.

He hadn't dodged the first Earth Tremor, losing a third of his health, and the healer had barely managed to keep him alive. If he took another hit this second time, he would definitely be lying on the ground.

The Stone Giant raised its fists high, and red light spread out beneath its feet—the precursor to Earth Tremor!

"Three—two—one—jump!"

At Gentle Blade's command, the four teammates jumped at the same time.

Iron-Head Qiang jumped too.

But he jumped half a second too early.

By the time he landed, the shockwave of the Earth Tremor arrived right on time. The immense force sent him flying, slamming him heavily against the wall.

"Pfft—"

Iron-Head Qiang's health bottomed out instantly, leaving only a sliver of health.

"Heal me, heal me, heal me!" Iron-Head Qiang shouted.

The healer, [Little Sweetie], frantically cast a Healing Spell on him, bringing his health back to one-third.

"Iron-Head, what's wrong with you! You didn't dodge it again!" Gentle Blade's tone was a bit anxious.

"I... I slipped up..." Iron-Head Qiang's face was beet red.

The Stone Giant had already raised its fists, preparing to launch the next attack. Iron-Head Qiang scrambled up from the ground, knowing he had to seize the opportunity—the BOSS only had 15% health left. As long as he held the aggro, the damage dealers could finish it off after attacking for a while longer.

He took a deep breath, raised his greatsword, and aimed at the Stone Giant's knee—this was the BOSS's weak point, and a critical hit could deal triple damage.

"This strike must hit!"

Iron-Head Qiang roared and brought his greatsword down.

Then—

He missed.

His sword grazed right past the Stone Giant's knee, not even leaving a scratch.

"I..."

The team channel exploded instantly.

"Iron-Head, what are you doing?!"

"You missed again?!"

"It's over, it's over, we're going to wipe..."

"Do you even know how to play?!"

Iron-Head Qiang's face flushed red, and he wished he could crawl into a hole in the ground.

Just then, he remembered the bottle of potion in his backpack.

The regret potion.

"Don't worry about mistakes; just do it again."

That was what that kid had said.

Iron-Head Qiang gritted his teeth, pulled the light blue potion from his backpack, uncorked it, and downed it in one gulp.

Hum—

A blue light erupted from his body, enveloping him completely.

Then—

Time flowed backward.

Everything before Iron-Head Qiang's eyes began to rewind. The Stone Giant's fists returned to their raised position, his teammates' skills returned to their pre-cast stances, and even the flying stone debris on the ground flew back onto the walls.

Five seconds ago.

He was standing in that position again, greatsword raised high, aiming at the Stone Giant's knee.

This time, he steadied himself.

The greatsword struck the Stone Giant's knee weak point precisely—Critical Hit!

"-388!"

A huge red number floated up from the Stone Giant's head.

The Stone Giant let out a pained roar, its knee shattered, and its massive body collapsed with a boom.

"Nice!" Gentle Blade shouted excitedly, "Everyone, output! While it's down!"

The four damage dealers unleashed their attacks crazily, dumping skills onto the Stone Giant as if they were free.

Ten seconds later, the Stone Giant let out one final wail and dissipated into a sky full of rubble.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the BOSS "Stone Giant"!]

[Received EXP x1200]

[Received Item: Stone Giant's Heart x1]

[Received Item: Refined Iron Ore x3]

"Beautiful!" The team channel was full of cheers.

"Iron-Head, that strike was so crucial!"

"That final critical hit was incredibly cool!"

"I almost thought we were going to wipe!"

Iron-Head Qiang stood there, looking at the loot all over the ground, and let out a long sigh of relief.

The potion really worked!

That kid hadn't lied to him!

Just as he was about to celebrate with his teammates, he suddenly felt his mouth was a bit out of control.

Not just a bit.

It was completely out of control.

His mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, and his tongue started moving on its own.

"Actually, I think your commanding is terrible."

Iron-Head Qiang froze.

He didn't want to say that!

He clearly wanted to say "Everyone worked well together," but what his mouth said was completely different!

"What did you say?" Gentle Blade's voice turned cold.

Iron-Head Qiang panicked; he wanted to shut up, but his mouth simply wouldn't listen.

"I said... I said... your positioning just now was clearly problematic. If it hadn't been for my final critical hit, we would have wiped long ago."

It's over, it's over, it's over.

Iron-Head Qiang screamed frantically in his heart: Shut up! Shut up! Please, shut up!

But his mouth continued to output.

"And that hairstyle of yours is really ugly. Who put your outfit together? Pink Assassin armor? It's one thing for a big guy like you to play a female character, but could you not wear something so flashy?"

The team channel went silent instantly.

Deathly silent.

It was silent for a full five seconds.

Then—

"Iron-Head Qiang!!! You explain yourself to me right now!!!" Gentle Blade's roar almost shattered Iron-Head Qiang's eardrums.

"I... I didn't want to say that! I can't control it!" Iron-Head Qiang held his head, but his mouth continued, "And Little Sweetie, your Healing Spell timing is all wrong. You should cast it when my health is below fifty percent, not wait until I'm about to die..."

"You think my healing is slow?!" Little Sweetie exploded too.

"And Old Zhao, your archery aim is too terrible. You're lucky to hit three out of ten arrows..."

"Iron-Head, are you looking to get kicked out today?!"

The team channel was in total chaos.

The five of them were arguing in the dungeon, even more lively than fighting the BOSS.

And what about Iron-Head Qiang? He stood there, his mouth rambling on, while his mind was frantically thinking: What is wrong with me? Why can't I control my own mouth?!

Then he thought of that bottle of potion.

The regret potion.

The one sold by that kid setting up a stall at the village entrance.

"That potion... that potion has a problem!"

Iron-Head Qiang finally shouted this—but what he actually said was: "Actually, that critical hit I just landed wasn't that hard. You just have to find the weak point and strike. The fact that you guys can't even do that is just..."

"Shut up!!!"

The four of them said in unison.

Iron-Head Qiang's mouth finally stopped—not because the side effect had passed, but because Gentle Blade threw a flying dagger, knocking him unconscious.

Attacking teammates in the dungeon doesn't cause health loss, but it does cause a three-second stun.

These three seconds were the quietest three seconds of Iron-Head Qiang's day.

Meanwhile, in the Qingshi Mine dungeon team channel, someone took a screenshot of this conversation and posted it to the world channel.

The reason was simple—when Iron-Head Qiang was speaking his mind, because the team channel and the world channel were linked (he had accidentally pressed the server-wide broadcast), every word he said was seen by players across the entire server.

The world channel exploded instantly.

[World] Passerby A: Hahaha, Iron-Head Qiang, you are truly brave!

[World] Gossipmonger: Did this guy offend someone? Why did he suddenly start telling the truth?

[World] Gentle Blade: Iron-Head Qiang, you just wait! I'm going to kill you when we get out of this dungeon!

[World] Gossipmonger 2: I'm dying of laughter, "Pink Assassin armor," "a big guy like you playing a female character"—this is a public execution!

[World] Passerby B: Wait, didn't you guys notice? Iron-Head Qiang said he couldn't control his mouth and also said "that potion has a problem"—what potion?

[World] Gossipmonger 3: Yeah, didn't he just say "that final critical hit was incredibly cool" before? How did it suddenly...

[World] Detective Xiaoming: I bet fifty cents that Iron-Head Qiang must have drunk some strange potion, and the side effect is speaking your mind!

[World] Passerby C: That makes sense! Where did that potion come from?

[World] Gossipmonger 4: Iron-Head Qiang hung out at the village entrance for a while before entering the dungeon; it looked like he was buying something...

The discussion on the world channel became increasingly heated, quickly escalating from gossip about Iron-Head Qiang to the source of the potion.

Chen Ergou was currently squatting under the big locust tree at the village entrance, watching the messages on the world channel, his face turning pale bit by bit.

"It's over." He muttered to himself.

"I told you so." The system's tone was full of schadenfreude, "Share the blessings, but you take the trouble alone."

"Shut up!"

"I am a system; I don't have a mouth."

Chen Ergou took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Things hadn't reached the worst-case scenario yet. Right now, people on the world channel were just guessing, and no one knew for sure that he was the one who sold the potion. As long as he kept a low profile, packed up his stall, and hid for a while...

[World] Iron-Head Qiang: Brothers! That potion! It was bought at the west village entrance of Novice Village! Sold by a level one alt called Ergous Stall! Five copper coins a bottle! The potion is called regret potion! The effect is to rewind five seconds! But it has a side effect! You won't be able to control yourself from speaking your mind! Everyone, absolutely do not buy it!!!

Chen Ergou: "..."

He slowly closed his eyes.

It's over.

It's completely over.

The world channel was silent for two seconds, then exploded even more crazily.

[World] Gossipmonger 5: Ergous Stall? regret potion? Hahaha, what a ridiculous name!

[World] Passerby D: Rewind five seconds? That effect is too strong! Although the side effect is a pit, it's an artifact when fighting BOSSes!

[World] Gossipmonger 6: Five copper coins a bottle? Where can I buy it? I want one too!

[World] Passerby E: Iron-Head Qiang, are you helping them advertise? Are you sure you're not a shill?

[World] Gentle Blade: Iron-Head Qiang, you're done for! You just wait!

[World] Gossipmonger 7: I'm dying of laughter, the first man in the whole server to confess in public—except the content of the confession was scolding his teammates, hahahaha!

Chen Ergou watched the spamming messages on the world channel, his mood extremely complicated.

On one hand, the effect of his potion had been verified—Iron-Head Qiang's critical hit had indeed turned the tide of the battle, which meant the product had value.

On the other hand, the side effect had also been exposed—although Iron-Head Qiang's description was a bit exaggerated, the "speaking your mind" side effect was indeed quite deadly.

But the most critical thing was—

Someone started asking where to buy it.

Where there is demand, there is a market.

Chen Ergou watched more and more messages on the world channel asking "Where to buy," "I want one too," and "Is five copper coins expensive," and the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.

"System."

"Hmm?"

"Do you think if I raise the price to eight copper coins a bottle now, will I get beaten up?"

"Very likely."

"What about ten copper coins?"

"Even more likely."

"Fifteen copper coins?"

"Why don't you just go rob someone?"

Chen Ergou chuckled, stood up and dusted off his backside, rearranged the four bottles of regret potion on his stall, wiped off the price on the sign, and wrote a new number.

[regret potion—Don't worry about mistakes; just do it again!]

[Server Exclusive! Limited Quantity! First come, first served!]

[Special Price: 8 copper coins/bottle! (Today only)]

After writing it, he sat back behind the stall, crossed his legs, and watched the coming and going players with a smile.

On the world channel, messages were still spamming crazily.

But among them, there was one that made Chen Ergou's smile freeze slightly.

[World] ???: regret potion... interesting. This "Ergous Stall" is worth paying attention to.

This message had no ID, only a question mark.

Chen Ergou stared at this message for several seconds, always feeling like something wasn't quite right.

"System, what's up with this message? No ID?"

"I don't know." The system's tone became rarely serious, "But anyone who can hide their ID and send messages on the world channel is either a GM or..."

"Or what?"

"Or a higher existence than this system of yours."

Chen Ergou shivered.

Forget it, don't think about it.

Everything will work out in the end.

The only thing he needed to think about now was—

How to sell the remaining four bottles of potion for a good price.

In the distance, several players were already running toward the village entrance.

Chen Ergou took a deep breath, and his face put on that enthusiastic smile again.

In business, everyone who comes is a guest.

As for whether those who bought the potion would speak their minds in public...

That was their own business.

He, Chen Ergou, was just a down-to-earth little merchant.

Really.