Chapter 6: A Dashing Young Man Passes By

When it comes to the most unreliable golden finger in history, this "CF Mall" easily ranks among the top three.

Not only does it lack any simple, user-friendly voice prompts and any semblance of intelligence or sophistication, but it also tells you special training is required without a hint as to where or how, dumps you in the middle of nowhere, and leaves you to your own devices for the rest.

It is, in short, as exasperating as it gets.

"So I have to figure everything out myself? Fine, you win, I'll do it on my own."

Xing Xiaolong was at his wit's end, feeling the urge to lash out. But then he remembered: if he failed the special training, this golden finger—won after a lifetime of luck—would unbind from him, and he'd again be thrown to the wolves. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and find a solution himself.

The first thing to do, obviously, was to figure out where the CF Mall was and what exactly it was.

From years of reading web novels, Xing Xiaolong deduced that since the CF Mall couldn't talk, had no voice communication, and now there were two mysterious rings—one gold on his left index finger and one silver on his right—he could rule out systems with interactive AI, system administrators, or any "main god space."

Only one kind of possibility remained: a super app with special powers but no consciousness or smart interface, only running according to fixed protocols or basic settings, and with its own "shell."

Having clarified this, the next step was to find out how to activate this "CF Mall" app.

Standing dumbly in the middle of the street was out of the question—regardless of whether this world was real, being mistaken for a fool by passersby would be unbearable for Xing Xiaolong.

It was simply too humiliating!

So, he left the main street, walked for nearly ten minutes, turned a corner, and slipped into a deserted alley beside a small plaza.

Xing Xiaolong wasn't sure whether the CF Mall was in the gold ring on his left hand, the silver ring on his right, or if both were carriers. He decided to use both hands just in case.

He positioned the rings on both index fingers just below his mouth.

"Let’s try voice activation first."

That was the go-to move in novels. After gathering his thoughts, he called out in clear standard Mandarin, "Open CF Mall."

He waited a few seconds.

No response from either ring.

"Maybe the password is wrong?"

He searched his memory, organized his thoughts, and tried a phrase he thought sounded natural and reasonable:

"Player, Sniper God of Red Star Street, requesting deployment!"

Nothing.

"Open the mall, launch CrossFire game."

Still nothing.

"Open sesame, watermelon magic!"

Xing Xiaolong was getting aggravated.

"By the order of the host, I command you to come out right now!"

Now he was outright furious, but it was useless.

"Start special training, damn it, come out already! Damn you!"

Xing Xiaolong was so angry he started cursing in Cantonese.

At that moment...

A young man strutted past the alley, dressed in flamboyant clothes, a hip-hop patterned headscarf, oversized sunglasses, several chunky necklaces, and a large backpack. He ran his fingers through his carefully styled bangs, hands in his pockets, shoulders swaying as he swaggered along with an air of bravado.

"Hey, that’s a cool look," the young man muttered, pushing his sunglasses down to peer into the alley at the camo-clad giant standing with his back to him. He seemed intrigued.

But when he saw the big guy muttering and swearing at his own hands, the flashy youth was startled, thinking he'd bumped into a lunatic.

Clamping the cigarette that nearly fell from his lips, he hurried away, muttering to himself, "Strange things happen every year, but there sure are more crazies this year. A big crazy fool like that—someone like me can’t afford to mess with him.

Better get to my stall early, trick a few suckers into popping balloons, earn today’s money for smokes and booze, and maybe even hook up with a girl for a bit of luck. Heh heh."

He had no idea that his story with this "crazy" giant was only just beginning.

...

Xing Xiaolong, having failed at every voice command, was so angry he nearly burst a blood vessel. He didn't even notice the flashy guy who'd passed by and mistaken him for a madman.

He took five deep breaths.

Once he'd calmed down, he tried a second method—physical contact—to activate the CF Mall.

First attempt: the Aladdin’s lamp approach—rub it and the genie appears.

He used his left index finger and thumb to touch the gold ring on his right index finger, gently caressing it with affection.

No effect.

He switched to his right index finger and thumb, repeating the process on the silver ring on his left.

Still nothing.

"What the hell? Talking doesn’t work, rubbing doesn’t work—am I supposed to draw blood every time? If it needs a blood sacrifice every time, I’ll be a dried-up corpse before long!"

He remembered how the silver ring had glowed during his earlier fight with the giant wolf, after being stained with blood. Whether it worked or not, his instincts rebelled at the idea.

Blood sacrifices were just too much.

"If talking and rubbing don’t work, and I’m not using blood, then what am I supposed to do? This is ridiculous!"

He slumped to the ground, unconsciously rubbing his right thumb against his index finger.

Everyone has their little habits—whenever Xing Xiaolong was thinking or distracted, his right thumb would automatically rub his index finger.

This unintentional gesture proved the old saying: “You plant flowers with care and none bloom; willows grow of themselves without intention.”

Whoosh—

Xing Xiaolong’s vision blurred.

The previously vanished translucent interface reappeared before him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the CF Mall interface, but a small silver window with a line of glaring red text:

[Player is currently on a CF Mall authorized mission. Unable to activate the silver ring.]

"Activate the silver ring?"

Xing Xiaolong wasn’t sure what that meant, but recalling his recent actions and the message, he quickly pieced it together.

He pressed his left thumb on the gold ring of his index finger and rubbed it a few times.

Whoosh—

The scene changed. The CF Mall interface appeared, this time with several new windows.

Among them was the answer Xing Xiaolong had been searching for.