Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

"I've thought about this question too."

Professor Chen suddenly laughed and said, "Although both of the Mitchell Sindersons can be regarded as benchmarks in terms of appearance, it is not difficult to win their favor... or rather, in terms of difficulty, it is the same as winning the favor of a rich ordinary woman or man."

“They are not short of money or social status, and they have no material desires, so they never pay attention to their benefactors, even the big benefactors.”

"Only looks that surpass their standards can truly attract them. Or... good looks are enough, but you have to be able to provide them with enough emotional value so that they can feel satisfied on a spiritual level... Hmm, this method is still a bit difficult. People like them are probably not lacking in spiritual fulfillment. The only thing that can win them over is probably genetic attraction."

At this point, he sighed slightly, "If you could improve your looks, you might actually win their favor."

"I hope so."

Fan Xiao then asked, "Professor Chen mentioned earlier that I'm not the first player to come to you; many other players have contacted you before... Do you remember what happened to them afterwards?"

"You mean to ask if there are any dangers in this city?" Professor Chen shook his head: "I'm sorry, I can't answer that either. I don't know what happened to those players afterward, maybe I've forgotten? In any case, I haven't seen them again... no, maybe I saw them later, but I probably don't recognize them anymore."

He sighed softly, “There are many anomalies in the City of True Love, but I have only noticed and speculated about them; I do not know the reasons behind them.”

"……All right."

Fan Xiao thought for a moment and said, "One last question... Professor Chen, do you think plastic surgery can allow donors to turn their lives around and obtain the treatment of gene donors?"

“No,” Professor Chen shook his head and said, “A fake is a fake, it can’t become real.”

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiao grinned and said, "Thank you for your answer."

……

After Professor Chen left, Melissa sighed softly, "What an explicit lecture! Does that mean people with average looks can never experience love?"

"You still haven't grasped the essence."

Fan Xiao said, "Isn't it simple to distinguish between dating and true love, and just have a relationship?"

“Take men as an example. For instance, there is a Prince Charming who is liked by many women, but in the end, only one woman can stand out from the competition... Or, this Prince Charming is a master of time management and will choose several women at the same time, juggling multiple relationships.”

Even so, the number of women he can date is still limited. Most of the remaining women, though unwilling, have no choice but to lower their standards and date ordinary men if they don't want to give up experiencing love.

"The difference between the two is that if they can date a prince charming, they will most likely enter a love-struck state, giving to him without considering their own interests and trying to please him; if they date an ordinary guy... well, you know what I mean."

“Why do you always use men as examples?” Melissa said. “Are you discriminating against women?”

"Heh, you're playing this game with me?" Fan Xiao laughed. "Don't let my male body fool you, I'm actually quite something psychologically..."

"A woman?" Melissa pursed her lips. "Psychologically, I'm still male!"

“No, my psychological gender burger!” Fan Xiao said, “What gives you the right to discriminate against burgers? What did burgers do to you? Ha, you think you're so great! You're so high and mighty!”

Melissa: "???"

Knowing she couldn't win the argument with Fan Xiao, Melissa simply changed the subject, saying, "You shouldn't have ended the conversation so quickly. I actually have quite a few questions I'd like to ask Professor Chen."

"It's pointless. In his confused state, where he only knows the anomaly but not its cause, he can't answer our real questions. Besides..."

Fan Xiao suddenly dropped a bombshell, saying, "I have guesses on how to complete the three dungeon missions. All that's left is to verify some details and see if my guesses match. There's no point in continuing to fleece Professor Chen."

"What!?"

Melissa was startled.

Sakura and Elise also perked up their ears, their eyes fixed on Fan Xiao's face, focusing their attention.

"Could it be... the last question you asked Professor Chen?"

Melissa speculated.

One last question—can cosmetic surgery defy fate and change one's destiny?

Of the many questions Fan Xiao asked Professor Chen, apart from this one which was somewhat unexpected, all the other questions were exactly what she wanted to ask.

How can one question lead to the answer to all the doubts?

Fan Xiao chuckled and said, "Your thinking is just like your age, a bit naive."

"In the early stages after entering a dungeon, it is difficult for players to obtain comprehensive information and thus understand the truth of the dungeon."

"Therefore, most of the time, we can only make bold guesses about the underlying tactics based on some details... well, tactics."

"Dungeon games are designed and inevitably follow certain explicit or implicit patterns. Therefore, as long as you make bold assumptions and carefully verify them, you can undoubtedly gain a lot of advantages and improve your evaluation level after clearing the dungeon."

"To be a gamer, you need to have a rich imagination."

"Hmph, who needs you to teach them!"

Melissa gave a soft snort, seemingly a little unconvinced.

While feeling resentful, she silently increased her vigilance.

Would this treacherous guy really be so kind as to share his strategy for clearing the game?

Generally speaking, if a player can make a discovery in a dungeon before others... shouldn't they keep it a secret?

Unless they have ulterior motives and want others to take the fall for them, players are more likely to share information openly.

Melissa looked at Van Shaw with suspicion.

"Your Highness."

A familiar shout rang out.

Everyone looked toward the entrance of the hall and saw Malfoy walking briskly toward them.

As soon as he approached Melissa, Malfoy said, "Your Highness, using disguise tools as offensive weapons to change someone's appearance is a viable method, but... I failed!"

"I used props to change the appearance of that rich kid... Well, I got his permission first, so it wasn't illegal."

“After I made him handsome, his attractiveness in the eyes of others... is strange. His genetic attractiveness did not increase. He is probably still a donor.”

“No improvement…” Melissa frowned. “Didn’t the others notice that his appearance had changed?”

“We’ve found out,” Malfoy said. “Many people have even shown surprise, but… nobody thinks that the rich kid has become more handsome. Everyone thinks his attractiveness level is still the same.”

"Could it be that your aesthetic sense is different from the residents here?" Melissa asked. "Your altered appearance is indeed quite ordinary in their eyes?"

“Aesthetically, there should be no difference,” Malfoy shook his head. “Later, I gave the rich kid a new face according to the handsome standards here, but the result was still the same. Many people were surprised, but not amazed.”

"This is strange..."

Melissa seemed thoughtful, somewhat unable to understand the principle behind it.

Could this be a new form of cognitive interference?

What is its significance?

At this moment, Fan Xiao suddenly said, "Hehe...it really matches up! Things are getting interesting."

Upon hearing this, Melissa and the others turned their attention back to him.

Bathed in these gazes, Fan Xiao asked, "What do you think plastic surgery is?"

"...According to the theoretical framework proposed in the book 'Gene Provider,' cosmetic surgery should be considered a form of gene fraud."

Melissa was the first to respond to Van Shaw's question.

Fan Xiao then asked, "Does plastic surgery work?"

"It should work, right?" Malfoy chimed in, "If it doesn't work, why are so many people messing around with it? Are they torturing themselves?"

"I personally believe it is effective."

Fan Xiao laughed and said, "Perhaps many people can see traces of surgery on this Hextech-sounding face, but there are always some faces that have been successfully altered that don't show any traces."

"However, Professor Chen directly denied this possibility, saying that what is false is false and cannot be true... Well, he really advocates the theory of genetic attraction."

"Of course, everything here is normal, there's nothing unusual, it's just a matter of different personal opinions and views."

"The real anomaly is that—after the residents of the City of True Love have their appearances altered, their attractiveness doesn't increase at all, which is very abnormal! At the same time, it happens to correspond to Professor Chen's claims... Don't you think this is a bit too much of a coincidence?"

"It is somewhat of a coincidence..."

Melissa murmured, "Is this phenomenon what led Professor Chen to this claim?"

"Or... did Professor Chen's proposition create this phenomenon?"

Chapter 596 Melissa: This guy's skin is thicker than a city wall

“This question…sounds a bit like the ‘chicken or the egg’ dilemma?” Elise, sitting next to Melissa, said with a frown.

"Not really."

Fan Xiao denied it, saying, "Perhaps some people think plastic surgery is useless, but certainly not everyone... well, not all normal people think that way. For example, we don't think that way."

"Without a unified understanding, how did Professor Chen summarize the patterns from the phenomena?"

"Considering causality and the factor of replication, it should be that Professor Chen originally believed that plastic surgery was useless, which is why the strange phenomenon of changing one's appearance without effect has appeared in this city... Or to put it another way, Professor Chen's cognition has formed a rule of replication."

"Is it possible that it really is a coincidence?" Malfoy asked.

“Perhaps,” Fan Xiao said, “but just to be on the safe side, we should also think more deeply about directions that are not coincidental.”

"So, Professor Chen is related to the city lord of the City of True Love? Or is he the city lord himself?"

Sakura, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up and analyzed: "According to the history we investigated before, the City of True Love used to be a normal city without so many strange and bizarre phenomena. It only started to become strange after it was renamed the City of True Love."

"And the name of this city comes from the city lord's inner desires... The city lord's desires have made this city abnormal?"

“The residents’ mindset has been altered, mind interference, which sounds like a psychological manipulation technique… Professor Chen happens to have the ability to see through lies, which should also be a kind of psychological manipulation technique, and it fits the bill.”

"Perhaps this is why the residents of this city don't fall for our mental interference?" Melissa added. "Because Professor Chen has already created the maximum level of mental interference, we can't further distort the residents' minds on top of what's already happened?"

"So, Professor Chen is a movie star?"

Élissée recalled the scene of their previous conversation and said, "He doesn't seem to be pretending to be stupid. Could it be... that Professor Chen, or the city lord, has some kind of schizophrenia-like pattern? It's quite common in movies and TV shows."

"In evolution games, there are all sorts of bizarre abilities that allow split personalities to materialize into physical activities, which shouldn't be too difficult to achieve."

“According to this theory… could there be many clones of the city lord in this city?” Malfoy boldly speculated. “Could it be that all the residents are the city lord’s spiritual clones?”

"Your guess is too outrageous!" Elise said speechlessly, "The City of True Love has at least several million people. What level of ability could create millions of spiritual clones and have them piece together a complete society according to different lifestyles... Do you think it was a true god who created the world?"

At this moment, Melissa turned her gaze to Fan Xiao and asked, "Mr. Fan, what do you think Professor Chen's identity is?"

“I don’t know,” Fan Xiao said, “but there’s definitely a problem.”

Melissa: "..."

"We don't need to dwell on Professor Chen's identity for now."

Fan Xiao smiled and said, "The main reason I brought up this anomaly is to tell you about the phenomenon of 'mindset determining rules.' If this city is truly distorted under the city lord's mindset, then wouldn't avoiding the interference of this mindset allow us to restore our appearance to a normal level?"

"Avoid it?" Melissa asked. "How do I avoid it?"

“When we can’t solve the problem, we can deal with the people who created it,” Fan Xiao replied.

"Uh...you mean go and attack the city lord?" Malfoy asked with a troubled expression. "The city lord is someone who sounds like a dungeon boss. We should avoid him as much as possible. To actively attack him...isn't that a bit too reckless?"

"Don't rush, if the first way doesn't work, we can do it the other way around."

Fan Xiao continued, "Although we have the status of residents of the City of True Love, we are treated differently from the local residents. For example, even though our appearance has been forcibly restored, our initial attractiveness is still locked at level 3. What's the point of restoring it?"

"Why are other residents allowed to show their true faces, while we are being treated differently?"

"Professor Chen's theory argues that society is unfair to most people of average appearance, and he is trying to find ways to address this injustice. In this context, however, we are being forced to accept unfairness... Why? Isn't that contradictory?"

"What's there to doubt?" Elise quickly replied, "Our dungeon quest is to attract the opposite sex and obtain the Ring of Love. Giving us low-level appearance at the start is definitely to increase the difficulty of clearing the dungeon. Is there any need to think about it?"

“Of course I know that this is to increase the difficulty.”

Fan Xiao said speechlessly, "What we are discussing now is how to pass this level under such high difficulty."

"Finding a solution requires reasoning through various details to understand the truth behind how the instance works, and then taking corresponding actions, either by avoiding difficulties or by overcoming them head-on, to clear the instance."

"This is the kind of reasoning we're doing, understand?"

Élisabeth: "..."

Okay, she did say something stupid!

Who doesn't know that giving players low initial visual appeal is to increase the difficulty?

To overcome and conquer this, we need to discover it from various details.

That's exactly what they're doing.

“Hmm… According to your line of thinking, this is indeed quite strange.” Melissa nodded: “This instance is likely operating according to Professor Chen’s theory. Professor Chen is trying to overcome injustice, but we have suffered unfair treatment under the instance’s rules… It is indeed contradictory.”

She paused, then guessed, "We also have resident status now, we're all residents, there shouldn't be any differences. The only difference between us and the people here... are we players? No, that can't be changed, no need to consider it. Another difference... right! Our perceptions haven't been interfered with! Our values ​​and the values ​​of this city are very different!"