Chapter 113: The Crux of the Matter

“Fan, why didn’t you go to the Finance Management gathering?”
“What? We have a gathering?” Chen Fan was startled and quickly checked his phone, but there was no notification about it.
“Yes, didn’t the class group send a notice this morning? Didn’t you see it?” Xu Changhui raised his phone, the screen brightly displaying: “Finance Management Grand Gathering at 7 p.m., everyone remember to gather early at Classroom 208 in the teaching building [muah].”
“That’s strange. Could the system have swallowed my message?”
After being bombarded with messages from his department that morning, Chen Fan had put all his group chats on Do Not Disturb. He searched through them one by one but still couldn’t find the class group.
He called out to Xu Changhui, “Try sending a message in the class group; I can’t find where it is.”
“Oh, wait a moment.” Xu Changhui lowered his head, tapped his phone a few times, then looked up. “Done. Did you get any response?”
“Let me see.” Chen Fan glanced at his phone, but the class group still wasn’t pinned to the top.
“Could it be... Changhui, check the class group contacts and see if I’m even in the group.”
“Oh, wait a second. Hey, Fan, when did you become a lost soul? I’ll pull you back.” Xu Changhui skillfully navigated through a few steps and brought Chen Fan back into the class group chat.
“Anyway, the gathering isn’t a big deal. Missing it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Chen Fan leisurely stepped onto the escalator, his mind already scheming a feasible way to reclaim the Knight card.
“Yeah, nothing special, just the spicy dance performance by the dance team that’s somewhat worth watching.”
Chen Fan missed a step and nearly slipped down the escalator, but luckily, his hands caught hold firmly, and he soon regained his balance.
“Why would there be such a performance? We’re not a performing arts major.” Chen Fan sat on his bed, pretending to be calm.
“The captain and vice-captain of this year’s college-level dance team are seniors from Finance Management, and both are class assistants, so we get a little extra benefit.” Xu Changhui smiled brightly, as if savoring the memory.
“Oh, I see. Anyway, I missed it, so it doesn’t matter.” Chen Fan pulled down the bed curtain, unfolded his small desk, and spread out the blank cards neatly on its surface.
“Damn it, how did I miss so many things?”
“Did you lose out? Let me calculate for you. You missed the hot, dynamic dance but gained a crucial explosive clue and an hour and a half ticket to watch the goddess’s back—sounds like a win to me.” The elder, who had been silent for a long time since returning to the hidden space, finally spoke up.

“Now that we know the target and the corresponding card, what’s next? Are there other hidden restrictions in the reclamation process? Like specific keywords or something?” Chen Fan shone his phone’s flashlight, searching through the blank cards until he found the Knight card.
“Of course. The recovery of magical power involves two key elements. First, the host who carries the card must be fully awake and voluntarily agree to transfer the magic for it to take effect. In other words, you can’t tie them up and threaten them, nor can you get them drunk to trick out their magic.”
“Haha, you might as well tell me to die. Those hosts know they possess supernatural powers; no one in their right mind would willingly return the card.”
Chen Fan couldn’t help but sneer. It was already difficult, but when it came to practical operation, it was practically impossible.
The elder comforted him: “Don’t say that. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Some cards have severe side effects. You can start with those. The first step is always the hardest. Once you get past it, the road ahead will be smoother. Now, the second point: before reclaiming, you must recite an incantation.”
“Bring forth the righteous judgment!” Chen Fan blurted out.
“Not that one.”
“Whirlwind charge, tornado?”
“Not that either.”
“Let me honey you?”
“Wrong again.”
“To be or not to be, that is the question?”
“Nope.” The elder held his breath, then said in a low voice, “Remember this exactly: ‘Do you willingly give me your power?’ Not a word more, not a word less.”
“Uh...” Chen Fan’s lips twitched slightly. “You can’t cheat either? That’s just asking for it! Only fools would agree.”
The elder chuckled lightly. “Well, you can trick them. For example, you can set up a long preamble and steer the conversation toward that sentence. As long as the other person says something like ‘I do’ or ‘Okay,’ your reclamation is complete.”
Chen Fan’s broken heart mended instantly. He fiddled with his bangs in celebration. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Looks like this is pretty simple after all. The master deceiver of Abyssal Fish is back in action.”
“But during the Q&A, you can’t lead the other person. Just like the first rule: the host must be lucid, mentally stable, and voluntarily answering. Remember that.” The elder hurriedly added, dousing Chen Fan’s head with a lukewarm splash of water.
“Piece of cake. I’ve fooled plenty in Werewolf games.”
“But did you ever successfully fake a cop jump during your hundred consecutive losses?” The elder delivered a sharp retort.

“Uh... at least I fooled myself.” Chen Fan corrected.
With a clear action plan, Chen Fan’s reclamation task became much simpler. How to approach Wang You? And how to get Wang You to naturally say that sentence? This became the urgent matter before him.
“Become a righteous ally? Fight evil together? Earn his trust and then extract the words?”
“Or become the spokesperson for the underworld, take down this righteous knight, and then reform him with love?”
Plans A and B quickly formed in Chen Fan’s mind. As for feasibility, he had no idea—just knew the task was both hard and not hard.
The elder recalled, “If I’m not mistaken, tomorrow you’ll be doing morning reading with him for the ACCA, right?”
Chen Fan’s memory wasn’t that good. He took out his phone, stared at 999+ unread messages in the discipline department group chat, then went back to the home screen.
“Better top up my data first. I’m afraid if I open it, my phone will get suspended.”
After topping up, Chen Fan nervously opened the group chat and looked for the schedule. “Still ACCA, but I’m checking Class 2 this time, and the two classes are separated by a classroom. What do you mean by ‘together’?”
The elder said mischievously, “Opportunities must be created. Otherwise, where would all those coincidences come from? You have to take initiative to reap rewards.”
“True, but from the way you say it, it sounds a bit... strange.” Chen Fan glanced at the elder, then returned his gaze to the unread messages, afraid of missing any important notifications.
The elder lectured, “Young man, your thoughts need balance. Know when to be scattered and when to focus. Keep that in mind.”
“Okay, okay, I got it. My mind’s full of advanced math already—complicated enough.” Chen Fan lowered his head and continued scrolling through the records. Since they had free time in the evening, everyone was sending short videos. Chen Fan was close to his monthly limit; since he had just topped up 1 GB, he didn’t hesitate to watch.
“Hey? Someone’s calling me?” Chen Fan tapped his screen, switching to the messaging interface.
[Dear customer, your remaining data package this month is less than 50MB...]
Chen Fan: “...”