Xiaojuan felt a tremendous sense of crisis rising in her heart—this guy was undoubtedly her biggest competitor in this dungeon.
"Xiaojuan, the food on his plate looks really delicious, and he’s already taken seven or eight bites without any issues," Ze said, unable to tear his eyes away from the meat in Chao Musheng’s bowl. "I really want to eat meat too."
"You’ve been staring at him for so long just to count how many bites of meat he’s eaten?" Xiaojuan hadn’t been this exasperated in a long time. She took a deep breath. "Stop talking. I need some peace and quiet."
This guy was the biggest threat in this dungeon!
"Oh."
Ze thought to himself, the company cafeteria was already pretty noisy—how much quieter could it get?
But the grim look on Xiaojuan’s face made him hesitate to say anything more.
Before long, the entire cafeteria actually fell silent for a brief moment.
Ze’s eyes widened. Was Xiaojuan so powerful that her words could command reality?
Seeing Ze about to speak again, Xiaojuan immediately covered his mouth and glared at him to keep quiet.
Her gaze shifted to the men and women entering through the cafeteria doors. The moment she activated her special skill, what she saw sent a cold sweat running down her spine.
Something was wrong. How could there be so many gold-tier NPCs in a single dungeon? What kind of exploration dungeon was this?
Only dungeons with an A-rank difficulty or higher would occasionally spawn gold-tier bosses. In such cases, players usually opted for strategy, avoiding direct confrontation at all costs.
And when she checked the levels of the other employees dining around them, nearly all were high-tier NPCs—even the janitors clearing the tables were high-risk, blue-leaning-purple threats.
Among these terrifying employees, the players were nothing more than pitiful gray specks. If these NPCs decided to target them, she was certain not a single player would make it out alive.
This wasn’t a company—it was a graveyard where players came but never left.
"Why are the elites from the executive office eating in the employee cafeteria today?"
"Who knows? Maybe the big boss is at headquarters today."
Elites from the executive office?
Xiaojuan caught the keywords from the nearby employees’ conversation. So these gold-tier NPCs were all from the executive office.
"Xiaojuan, why are you sweating so much?" Ze noticed how pale she’d turned after seeing the executive office elites and whispered reassuringly, "Don’t be scared. The skill I drew when I entered the infinite space lets me see NPCs’ stance toward players. Right now, all these employees are yellow-neutral toward us—they won’t attack us unprovoked."
Earlier today, his supervisor in customer service had yelled at him for a full hour, and even then, their stance had only been yellow with a hint of green—neutral leaning friendly.
These strangers had even less reason to suddenly turn hostile.
Xiaojuan: "..."
What kind of player would reveal their skill to others in a dungeon?
Could he at least use his brain and show some caution?
She wanted to say something, but given his intelligence, she doubted he’d understand.
Unaware of her thoughts, Ze studied the impeccably dressed elites. When he saw one of them approaching Chao Musheng, he muttered, "Xiaojuan, why is someone walking over to that guy?"
Secretary Liu admired Chao Musheng’s abilities. Spotting him sitting with the tech department staff, he made a detour to their table and handed Chao Musheng his business card. "Xiao Chao, I was in a hurry last time and forgot to exchange contact info with you."
"Secretary Liu, you know Xiao Chao?" The Team Leader glanced at the card in Chao Musheng’s hand and politely gestured for Secretary Liu to sit.
To everyone’s surprise, Secretary Liu actually took a seat right next to Chao Musheng.
"Last time, when the boss and I attended the Jinghua University anniversary event, Xiao Chao was the one who received us," Secretary Liu said with a smile, taking a sip of his drink. "Xiao Chao is exceptionally talented. I even called the school twice because I was worried he wouldn’t accept our summer internship offer."
Hearing this, the Team Leader understood—Secretary Liu was here to show his support, ensuring the tech department treated Chao Musheng well.
"So you’re the one who recognized his talent," a colleague chimed in cheerfully. "Thank goodness you brought Xiao Chao to our company. Otherwise, the problem I’ve been stuck on for a week still wouldn’t be solved."
"It was just luck," Chao Musheng said modestly. "All of you are Kunlun’s top tech experts. I’ve only been here half a day, and I’ve already learned so much."
No more praise, please—it’s getting embarrassing.
"Come on, Xiao Chao, no need to be so humble."
"Xiao Chao, even if you keep downplaying it, you can’t escape the workload the art department just handed over," another colleague teased, his gaze lingering on Chao Musheng’s head.
Such thick, enviable hair.
Brother Li, sitting on Chao Musheng’s other side, slung an arm over his shoulder. "Team Leader, since Xiao Chao just joined our department today, shouldn’t you treat everyone to celebrate?"
The others joined in: "You’re even his senior—you can’t skip out on this."
Seeing how quickly the tech department had embraced Chao Musheng as one of their own, Secretary Liu felt a bit out of place.
"Fine, after work tonight, I’ll treat everyone to skewers," the Team Leader said, turning to Secretary Liu. "Secretary Liu, care to join?"
Secretary Liu’s expression was complicated. At least someone remembered he was still sitting there. "Sorry, I have other plans tonight. But I hope you all enjoy the gathering."
"What a shame," the Team Leader said with a grin.
What a relief—who’d want to eat with someone from the executive office?
After the meal, Chao Musheng walked Secretary Liu out of the cafeteria. "Secretary Liu, thank you for today."
The executive office staff had come down to the employee cafeteria, but only Secretary Liu had made a point to sit with the tech department. Even if Chao Musheng were oblivious, he’d know this was done for his sake.
"Don’t mention it. You’re the talent I invited here—it’s only natural I’d check in on your first day." Secretary Liu pointed to his phone. "Add my contact info when you get back. If anyone gives you trouble, just let me know."
"Thanks, Brother Liu." Chao Musheng grinned. "Though I might not even need to tell you directly. If I just mention that Secretary Liu from the executive office is my ‘brother,’ who’d dare mess with me?"
Secretary Liu laughed. "It’s not just me. The boss is also concerned about you. After he left your office this morning, he asked me to check if you were settling in okay."
Chao Musheng was surprised. He studied Secretary Liu’s smiling face. "Thank Mr. Su for his concern. The allergy medicine he gave me last time worked wonders. Please pass along my gratitude."
Was Mr. Su avoiding him at work to prevent colleagues from suspecting favoritism, hence sending Secretary Liu to show concern instead?
He hadn’t expected Mr. Su to be so considerate—even for a student he’d only met once.
After seeing Secretary Liu off, Chao Musheng glanced back at the person peeking around the cafeteria door.
"Bro." Seeing that Chao Musheng had noticed him, Ze put on a flattering smile and sidled up to him. "You're amazing—how did you manage to get the people from the CEO's office to treat you so kindly?"
Huh?
Chao Musheng was stunned by the other's bluntness. How could someone be so straightforward?
Noticing that others from the CEO's office had also stepped out, Ze pulled Chao Musheng into a dimly lit corner of the fire escape stairwell, whispering conspiratorially, "Hey, man, do you have some special..."
Swish, swish, swish.
An eerie rustling sound echoed in the silent hallway. Ze froze, his trembling gaze fixed on the stairs below. "B-Bro, you go first," he stammered.
Clap!
Chao Musheng brought his hands together sharply, and the motion-activated lights flickered on.
He glanced at the janitor sweeping the stairwell, then at Ze, whose legs were shaking with fear. "Next time you're scared of the dark in the fire escape, just stomp your feet a little harder. No need to save the company's electricity."
Ze: "..."
Oh. So it was just a yellow-named janitor, not some ghost haunting the stairwell.
Under the overhead light, Ze finally got a clear look at the ID badge on Chao Musheng's chest.
Name: Chao Musheng
Department: Tech Department, Game Team 3
Employee ID: 001015
Wait—that wasn’t right!
Ze’s face instantly turned paler than the light above. Why did Chao Musheng have an employee number?
On his and other players' badges, the ID field only said "Intern"—no numerical code.
Just who was this impossibly good-looking Chao Musheng? A player… or an NPC from this instance?
Seeing how terrified the other looked, Chao Musheng sighed and dragged the stiff-limbed Ze out of the stairwell.
Scared of the dark, yet still running into dark corners. All guts, no skill.
"Xiao Chao." Team 3 colleagues spotted Chao Musheng emerging from the fire escape with an unfamiliar young man. "Who's this?"
Under the collective gaze of a group of yellow-named NPCs, the already frightened Ze didn’t dare make a sound.
Chao Musheng: "A fellow intern who came with me today."
"Ah, a newbie from Customer Service." Brother Li glanced at Ze’s badge and, out of respect for Chao Musheng, offered a polite greeting. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Ze forced a stiff smile, barely daring to breathe too loudly. "I—I should get going. See you later."
Without waiting for a response, he bolted.
Aaaaahhh!
Why had no one told him that someone without stats could also be a native of the instance?!
"Why’d he run off like that?" Brother Li looked baffled.
Chao Musheng didn’t mention the fear of darkness, simply smiling as he explained, "Probably nervous about being late on his first day. Doesn’t want to make a bad impression on his team."
"Oh." Brother Li nodded in understanding. "Customer Service must be strict. Xiao Chao, our Tech Department doesn’t have so many rules. Don’t pick up his habits."
The other colleagues nodded in agreement.
Exactly. The Tech Department only respected skill. New or not, as long as you could lighten their workload, you were their dearest comrade.
Secretary Liu returned to the office and noticed a new document on his desk. "Which department sent this?"
"HR," a colleague replied. "Probably the list of new interns for today."
Secretary Liu opened it. "Why did Customer Service hire so many interns?"
"No idea." The colleague was equally puzzled. "Secretary Wang used to handle HR communications. Maybe something went wrong in their coordination?"
"Him?" Secretary Liu closed the folder, his tone laced with scorn. "Then I’m not surprised."
A man who dared to sell company secrets—no blunder was too big for him.
The intercom on the desk buzzed. Secretary Liu stepped into the innermost office. "Boss, you needed me?"
Mr. Su: "How’s the food in the employee cafeteria?"
"Sir, I inspected it at lunch with a few colleagues. The catering department isn’t cutting corners on ingredients." Secretary Liu tidied the documents on the desk, noting his boss’s neutral expression. "I actually ran into Xiao Chao there earlier."
Mr. Su capped his pen, signaling him to continue.
"As expected of Xiao Chao, he adapts quickly wherever he goes." Knowing his boss admired Chao Musheng’s competence, Secretary Liu added a few details about how well he got along with the Tech team. "They even planned a barbecue tonight to welcome him."
When the boss remained silent, Secretary Liu wondered if he’d misread the situation. He shifted topics to ease the awkwardness. "Customer Service over-hired interns. Should we have HR adjust the numbers?"
Mr. Su pulled up the intern assignment list on his computer, lingering on the name "Chao Musheng" for a few extra seconds. "Leave it."
"Understood, sir."
After all, Kunlun had strict evaluations. Getting in didn’t guarantee staying.
Even if the interns didn’t last, a Kunlun-stamped internship certificate was still valuable.
"Did Chao Musheng mention any difficulties on his first day?"
At this question, Secretary Liu paused.
So he hadn’t misread things—his boss was just hard to read.
Of course. As the boss’s most trusted secretary, how could he misjudge?
The boss must share his admiration for Xiao Chao’s talents.
"Xiao Chao adjusted well. He asked me to thank you for the ointment you gave him last time—said it worked wonders." A notification chimed on Secretary Liu’s phone. "Boss, Xiao Chao just sent me a friend request."
Mr. Su glanced at him. "Noted."
Once Secretary Liu left, he opened his phone, navigating with practiced ease to the pinned chat at the top of his messaging app. He clicked into the profile and scrolled to the latest post.
Dawn to Dusk: First day at work, received a lucky red packet! Grateful to the boss—wishing him endless prosperity!
A faint smile curved his lips as he carefully tapped the "like" button.
After lunch, Kunlun employees had an hour to rest.
Chao Musheng leaned back in his chair, drifting into a hazy dream.
Winding stairs. Sinister green vines creeping up the steps. From the pitch-black depths below, something like a beast’s whimper echoed.
The vines writhed menacingly; the staircase spiraled endlessly.
Chao Musheng paused, peering down into the abyss—and spotted a pair of enormous, hollow eyes.
No pupils, just faint golden light flickering within the sockets.
"Hiss."
The vine’s razor-sharp leaves brushed his hand. Tiny insects crawled over its surface.
Disgusting.
Chao Musheng leapt back three feet, inexplicably furious. He stomped down hard on the vine.
Not satisfied, he grabbed a nearby hatchet and hacked the vine to pieces, even splitting its leaves in two before finally letting the mangled foliage lie.
This damn plant is so rude and uncultured—how dare something so disgusting invade someone else's home? Shameless trash!
If he had a lighter in hand, he’d burn this revolting thing to ashes and scatter them to the wind.
Click. A lighter landed perfectly in Chao Musheng’s palm.
As expected of his dream—whatever he wanted, it delivered.
He bent down and lit the pile of soggy leaves. To his surprise, they caught fire instantly, burning to nothing in the blink of an eye.
Chao Musheng kicked the ashes into the abyss, a wicked villainous smile spreading across his face.
His world, his rules. In his dreams, he was the king of this realm!
Somewhere in the distant void, a massive black sphere covered in writhing roots trembled violently.
[Alert: Under attack by unknown force. Synchronization of new multi-instance dimensions failed.]
"Ow, ow, ow—!"
The moment Chao Musheng opened his eyes, pain shot through his neck, wrists, and practically every part of his body.
"Young and inexperienced, huh?" His senior colleague walked over, a neck brace hanging around his shoulders. "Next time, recline your chair and cover your stomach with a blanket when you nap."
"I just wanted to rest sitting up. Didn’t expect to fall asleep." Rubbing his sore neck, Chao Musheng stood and poured himself a glass of water. "A short nap feels more exhausting than running two kilometers."
"That’s because you’re not used to it yet. Unlike us—we can sleep anywhere." The senior patted his slightly thinning hair, avoiding Chao Musheng’s gaze. "Now that you’re awake, let’s get to work. Maybe we can clock out early tonight."
In their tech department, everyone—men and women alike—were just overworked beasts of burden.
Their junior was still young, with a full head of hair. Surely, he’d understand.
With Chao Musheng’s help, Team Three—who had been pulling all-nighters for a week straight—finally left the office before seven.
As they stepped out of the building, the colleagues formed a protective circle around Chao Musheng, as if shielding their star player from any reckless passerby.
Without Xiao Chao, who else could lighten their workload?
"Boss, we should’ve insisted on inviting Secretary Liu to join us for barbecue at lunch," Brother Li slung an arm around the Team Leader’s shoulders. "He’s the one who scouted such a talent for Team Three. Not treating him to a meal would weigh on our conscience."
Team Leader: "…"
That’s not what any of you were saying at noon.
A black car emerged from the garage, slowing slightly as it passed Team Three. Only after the group crossed the street and disappeared into a narrow alley did the car finally drive off.
"Xiao Chao, listen—this barbecue stall might look unassuming, but the flavors are incredible. Ten times better than those fancy, well-decorated joints." The colleagues led him deeper into the alley. "The owner works like a martial arts master disguised as a street sweeper—effortlessly skilled."
Chao Musheng stared at the figure ahead, deftly flipping a row of skewers while sprinkling seasoning with practiced ease. His expression turned complicated. "Senior… is this the stall you were talking about?"
The barbecue vendor looked up, ready to greet his regulars, only to freeze when he spotted an unexpected face among them.
"Chao Musheng?"
How the hell did he run into him at a night market stall?
He’d said it before—he hated good-looking men.
"Classmate Wan You." Chao Musheng waved cheerfully. "Fancy meeting you here. What a coincidence."
Wan You: "…"
It didn’t have to be this coincidental.
He glanced back at the four girls helping clean up and serve customers. "Take a seat."
Then he shoved the menu into Chao Musheng’s hands. "Order whatever. Forty percent off tonight."
"Many thanks, Boss Wan. Generous as always." Chao Musheng grinned, passing the menu to his senior.
"Xiao Chao, you know Boss Wan?" The senior sounded surprised.
Chao Musheng: "Boss Wan is also our alumnus."
Wan You’s hand paused mid-sprinkle. He was still just an auditing student—hardly counted as an alumnus.
The girls tidying up turned at the commotion, ready to greet the new customers. But when they saw Chao Musheng, they blinked, wondering if their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Since when did NPCs from the campus dungeon start appearing outside the instance?
