Chapter Thirty: Of Course, It Must Be Set Right

In the days that followed, Fang Nian embarked on his professional journey. As a novice in the field of hunting ground construction, Xia Moyan naturally assigned him to the grassroots research and development department.

Yet, owing to Fang Nian's special status, none of the staff dared treat him as a mere newcomer; whenever he raised a question, they answered with utmost thoroughness. With the help of his colleagues and his own diligence, Fang Nian soon grasped the entire process of hunting ground construction within a matter of days.

At the same time, his relationship with Xia Moyan grew considerably closer. Apart from sleep, the two spent nearly eighty percent of their day together—at work, after work, during overtime, at lunch. To outsiders, they appeared as a loving couple.

But only the two of them knew the true reason. Each day, Xia Moyan would consult Fang Nian about the philosophies and ideas behind hunting grounds, while Fang Nian sought her guidance on foundational construction knowledge, preparing himself to independently build hunting grounds in the future.

One noon, as the construction of "Class Three, Senior Year" reached its critical phase, Xia Moyan was so busy she had no time even to eat.

Fang Nian fetched two meals from the R&D center cafeteria and brought them straight to her office. Xia Moyan was sitting on the sofa, gazing anxiously at the design drawings that covered the entire table.

"No matter how busy you are, you need to eat," Fang Nian said, placing the food on her desk. Xia Moyan came back to herself, sighing deeply.

"You’re here... Ah, the hunting tournament is only a few days away, yet our hunting ground has hit a bottleneck. How can I have the heart to eat?"

"Now, that's not quite right," Fang Nian replied. "As the saying goes, people are made of iron and rice is steel—skip a meal and you’ll be faint with hunger. Besides, according to ergonomic theory, only after you’re well-fed can your brain function properly. Maybe the problems you can’t solve now will clear up after a bowl of rice. Remember, there are many people in this world who still go hungry. Here you are, with delicious food before you, and you ignore it—surely that’s not good?"

Xia Moyan was left speechless by Fang Nian’s reasoning, as if not eating the meal before her was somehow inhumane.

"You really do have a way with words. Fine... I'll eat," she said, stretching lazily before sitting at her desk to eat. Fang Nian, acting like a secretary, began to tidy up the scattered drawings and documents on the floor.

Just then, Fang Nian picked up a sketch from the floor and turned to Xia Moyan.

"Is this the school building you’re planning to design?"

Xia Moyan glanced at it and nodded helplessly.

"Yes. Does it seem a bit unconventional?"

---

Fang Nian’s heart raced with excitement.

"Exactly! Why didn’t I think of this before? Right now, I don’t have the ability to independently construct ‘The Horror Platform.’ What if I merge ‘The Horror Platform’ and ‘Class Three, Senior Year’ together? That would surely create a terrifying hybrid. If so, the system task could proceed, couldn’t it?"

With that thought, Fang Nian decisively opened the system menu and found the hunting ground template interface.

Hunting Ground Templates:

The Horror Platform (Human Nature Template): The weakness of human nature is greed, selfishness, complaints, and vanity. Build the hunting ground’s cage upon the ugly personal desires of human nature, destroying the hunter’s last remnants of humanity. (Can be unlocked at beginner level, construction budget: 5,000 Hope Coins)

Mirage City (Brain Teaser Template): Under the butterfly effect, the hunter’s life trajectory changes unpredictably. Want to return to the original path and complete your mission? Impossible. As the designer, can you break the hunter’s mind, or will the death loop break through their last psychological defenses? (Can be unlocked at entry level, 30,000 Hope Coins)

"Xiao Xi, Xiao Xi, how do I buy this template? Can I use a card?"

"Please click directly on the template name you wish to purchase. The construction budget will be automatically deducted from your joint card."

"Alright, click to purchase."

"Purchase complete. Congratulations on acquiring the hunting ground template ‘The Horror Platform.’"

The moment the purchase was completed, a flood of information surged into Fang Nian’s mind: the entire storyline of the hunting ground, mechanisms, props, materials, construction methods, trap solutions, and all kinds of intricate design details—an impeccably comprehensive hunting ground.

Based on his previous experience, Fang Nian gave "The Horror Platform" a rating. Though the design was excellent, innovative and detailed, as a hunting ground it was rather ordinary; its rating would likely not exceed F+. If presented alone, it would never succeed at the hunting tournament.

But if he fused the two themes as he had just imagined...

The thought thrilled Fang Nian, but before he started preparations, he needed to accept a task.

Mediocre Difficulty: Complete a hunting ground background construction rated F- or above.

Mortal Difficulty: Participate in constructing a hunting ground rated F or above, with a personal design contribution exceeding 30%.

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Hell Difficulty: (Does its existence pressure you? Keep searching for its traces.) Use "Invasion" to enter a hunting ground rated F+ or higher, independently participate in its design, attempt to communicate with it, with hunter clearance rate not exceeding 5%. (Special task reward)

Nightmare Difficulty: Temporarily unavailable.

"Click to accept the Mortal Difficulty task. Meeting that contribution ratio shouldn’t be a problem."

Finishing the operation on the system interface, Fang Nian spread out some organized drawings before Xia Moyan.

"Moyan, listen to me while you eat. Your design for ‘Class Three, Senior Year’ is based on... This design is a bit too feminine, which will put you at a disadvantage in the hunting tournament. So I want to build upon your original design like this..."

Fang Nian took considerable time to explain his ideas to Xia Moyan in detail. At first, she felt Fang Nian’s overturning of her design concept was wrong, but gradually she was stunned—she hadn’t expected his thinking to be so agile.

She had to admit, the bottleneck she faced was broken by the person before her. She was certain that if this hunting ground could be successfully developed, it would cause a sensation in North City and even all sixteen districts.

Hearing this, the exquisite beauty of Xia Moyan’s face finally bloomed with a long-lost smile. She was so excited she could hardly eat, grabbing Fang Nian’s arm and shaking it enthusiastically, then smoothing her cascading hair as she pointed to an original design.

"It’s really possible! If this problem can be solved, then ‘Class Three, Senior Year’ will definitely be a hit. I guarantee the rating will surpass F+, maybe even leap to E-, becoming an E-level hunting ground. Since my mother passed away, the Xia family hasn’t produced an E-level hunting ground in years."

Seeing her smile, Fang Nian was naturally delighted.

"Shall we do it, then?"

Normally, Xia Moyan spoke with elegance, but after spending so much time with Fang Nian, she had indeed picked up a bit of a rustic air.

So she replied with gusto,

"Of course! Let’s do it!"