"Boss?"
Chao Musheng turned around to see Mr. Su standing at the corridor corner, dressed in a light silver-gray shirt, the diamond on his tie clip glinting brilliantly.
The boss sure has a lot of tie clips, and they’re all so flashy.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Su."
"Good afternoon, Xiao Chao." Su Chenzhu walked up to Chao Musheng and glanced at the transfer request form in his hand. "The software development team lead spent a long time in my office today, insisting on transferring you to his team."
"However, your own preference takes priority." Su Chenzhu opened his palm, revealing a lollipop inside.
Wrapped in orange packaging with a chubby little cat printed on it, this was the exact type of candy Chao Musheng loved to crunch between his teeth whenever he felt stressed from studying.
Chao Musheng glanced at the candy in Su Chenzhu’s palm, then at the man’s gentle eyes, before taking it and slipping it into his pocket. "Thank you, Mr. Su."
He was a mature university student now—it wouldn’t be proper to munch on candy in front of the company’s CEO and his secretary.
Seeing Chao Musheng pocket the candy, Mr. Su withdrew his hand and slowly lowered his eyelids. "There’s a dinner gathering tonight. The software development team lead will be there too. You should come along and share your thoughts with him in advance."
A dinner even the CEO would attend must be a high-level Kunlun Management gathering. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for a mere intern like him to tag along?
Before Chao Musheng could decide whether to decline, Secretary Liu cut in first. "It’ll be great if you come, Xiao Chao! Every time we have these gatherings, I have to listen to them brag about the talents they’ve scouted—it’s enough to make my ears bleed. With you there, the tables will turn. I’ll finally have someone to show off!"
Hearing this, Chao Musheng turned to Su Chenzhu. So this is how Kunlun’s top management behaves?
"Mm." A faint smile surfaced in Su Chenzhu’s eyes. "I’m not much of a talker. With you around, Secretary Liu can relax a little."
"Exactly!" Secretary Liu nodded vigorously.
Not much of a talker? Please. You’re usually never even at these gatherings.
"In that case, I’ll take the liberty of joining." At this point, refusing would be impolite.
"No liberty taken!" Secretary Liu opened the executive elevator, stepping aside for Su Chenzhu and Chao Musheng before pressing the button for the third basement level. "Boss, I’ll notify Brother Ma to bring the car around."
"He’s on leave today. Assign another driver." Su Chenzhu adjusted the glove on his left hand while watching their reflections in the elevator’s polished surface.
Secretary Liu: "Understood, Boss."
An hour ago, I saw Old Ma hiding in the restroom playing games. Since when is he on leave?
Chao Musheng discreetly studied the executive elevator. Though the decor wasn’t much different from the regular employee elevator, the walls were polished to a mirror-like sheen, and a faint, pleasant fragrance lingered in the air—somehow elevating the entire space into something more luxurious.
Power and money really are potent enhancers. Even an elevator gains an aura.
When the doors opened, a middle-aged man in a suit stood waiting outside. "Boss, Secretary Liu."
His gaze flickered to the unfamiliar young man behind Su Chenzhu, unsure of his identity.
Before Secretary Liu could introduce him, the boss spoke first.
"This is Chao Musheng, a top talent we invited from Jinghua University." Su Chenzhu gently guided Chao Musheng forward with a hand on his back, ensuring he stood beside him rather than behind. "From now on, you’ll address him as Mr. Chao."
The man immediately corrected himself. "Good evening, Mr. Chao."
"Good evening." Chao Musheng smiled, cheeks warming. Ah, Mr. Su is really hyping me up.
Secretary Liu dutifully opened the rear door, waiting for the boss and Xiao Chao to get in.
Once Su Chenzhu was seated, Chao Musheng whispered, "Brother Liu, maybe I should sit in the front?"
"Doesn’t matter where you sit. I always prefer the passenger seat anyway." Secretary Liu tilted his chin up, catching the boss’s glance, and promptly nudged Chao Musheng into the car.
"Have some water." A slender, well-defined hand passed a bottle to Chao Musheng.
"Thank you, Mr. Su." He accepted it—Kunlun Enterprises’ own premium bottled water, the kind rumored to be marketed exclusively for the wealthy.
It reminded him of the free bottled water Kunlun’s branch had sponsored for his village’s Dragon Boat Festival celebration.
"A few months ago, when I went back to my hometown for the festival, Kunlun’s rural support division provided free water for the village’s cultural performance." Chao Musheng twisted open the cap—the bottle was still sealed.
"Oh? Really?" Secretary Liu turned around with a grin. "See? This just proves you and Kunlun were fated to cross paths, Xiao Chao."
Chao Musheng chuckled and nodded. "Brother Liu makes a good point."
There really does seem to be some kind of destiny at play here.
As the car passed through the dimly lit underground tunnel, scattered lights flickered across Su Chenzhu’s eyes, illuminating a quiet glow within.
Stuck in traffic, Su Chenzhu noticed Chao Musheng tapping his phone twice. "Xiao Chao, we’re dining at Sihai Lou tonight. You should call your family to let them know you’ll be back late, so they don’t worry."
"Right, Boss." Chao Musheng pulled out his phone and dialed Father Chao.
Mr. Su is such a thoughtful boss.
Sihai Lou.
The senior management had been notified by Secretary Liu in advance—the boss would be attending tonight’s gathering.
Upon hearing this, their first reaction was that Secretary Liu must be joking. After all, aside from the annual company banquet, the boss never participated in any informal employee gatherings.
If you asked them, all those business tycoons who draped themselves in prayer beads and styled themselves as "Buddha’s chosen" were just putting on airs. The real ascetic was their boss—no parties, no appearances at entertainment venues, no men or women by his side, not even a pet in sight.
But when Secretary Liu opened the door and the boss actually stepped inside, the executives all shot Secretary Liu incredulous looks. You weren’t kidding?!
Being seasoned professionals, they quickly adjusted, warmly welcoming the boss to the table while maintaining a pleasant yet restrained atmosphere.
Every word and gesture from Chao Musheng was met with the most enthusiastic responses from the table. If not for the fact that this was their first meeting, he might’ve mistaken them for old friends.
"It’s all the software team’s fault for shamelessly pestering the boss. Otherwise, I’d have tried to recruit Xiao Chao for my department too," one manager lamented, though not without a hint of schadenfreude. "This morning, the gaming team was bragging about landing some genius who solved a major issue. Serves them right—now their ‘genius’ got snatched away."
"They brought it on themselves by being so loud about it."
"Credit goes to the boss for recognizing talent. The gaming team just got lucky Xiao Chao joined us."
Chao Musheng was seated between Su Chenzhu on his left and the software development team lead on his right.
Compared to the other managers, the team lead wasn’t much of a talker. But his determination to bring Chao Musheng into his team was unwavering—before the meal was even over, he had refilled Chao Musheng’s juice three times, outpacing even the waitstaff.
Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was speaking with Mr. Su, Chao Musheng got up to use the restroom.
The Sihai Lou was designed in an antique architectural style. Standing in the corridor, one could see the artificial mountains and streams in the courtyard below. To enhance the immersive experience for guests, even the waitstaff wore costumes from different dynasties, weaving their way along the cobblestone paths.
A few servers passed by the rockery, and Chao Musheng noticed two vaguely familiar faces.
His memory had always been sharp, and he quickly recalled that these two were interns who had entered Kunlun alongside him.
But Sihai Lou was a high-end establishment—would they really hire temporary servers?
And why were they men dressed in women’s attire? Was this some kind of themed service?
The tastes of the wealthy… he couldn’t quite comprehend.
“What are you looking at?” Su Chenzhu approached him, the silver chain on his glasses swaying slightly with his movements.
“I saw two servers who looked familiar,” Chao Musheng replied, his tone slightly less guarded than before. “They might be interns from Kunlun.”
“Servers at Sihai Lou undergo extensive training before they’re allowed to work,” Su Chenzhu said. “If they were Kunlun interns, they wouldn’t be here as waitstaff.”
“Maybe I was mistaken,” Chao Musheng mused. Could it just be two people who happened to look alike?
Su Chenzhu summoned the head server in charge of their private room and relayed the matter to her.
Once she left, Su Chenzhu turned to Chao Musheng. “With your memory, I doubt you’d make an error.”
“Brother Bing, the target’s private room is just ahead,” whispered one of the disguised players, eyeing the navigation tool hovering outside the door. He exchanged a glance with his companion.
Their daily mission was simple: eliminate the rival company’s representatives, then frame Kunlun for it. Even if the police later cleared Kunlun’s name, the damage to their reputation would be irreparable.
Corporate warfare in this dungeon world was brutal—straight-up lethal.
Back in their own world, the worst they’d seen was sabotaging lucky trees, spying on production lines, or causing car accidents during bidding wars.
The two men kept their heads down as they pushed open the door to the private room, carrying trays of drinks as they edged closer to the man seated at the head of the table.
“Who are you two?” The head server’s voice cracked in shock as she took in the unfamiliar faces—two burly men in women’s dresses. Despite her alarm, she instinctively shielded the guests behind her. “Call the police!”
The other servers reacted swiftly, pressing the alarm while brandishing carving knives at the intruders. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The two players were more stunned than the NPCs. “How did you see through us?”
The servers and guests stared at their muscular arms, thick stubble, rough and sun-darkened faces, and cheap wigs, their expressions a mix of disbelief and exasperation.
With appearances like that, how could they even ask?
Anyone with eyes could tell.
Security arrived swiftly, and before the players could react, they were pinned to the ground by uniformed guards.
The manager, hearing that attackers had disguised themselves as servers to assault guests, rushed over in a panic to apologize. But when he arrived, he heard laughter from inside the room—no sign of distress whatsoever.
“Thank you, Secretary Liu. Thanks to your timely warning, security was able to subdue these criminals so quickly.”
“Our deepest gratitude. Please extend our regards to President Su.”
The manager quietly retreated, lingering outside the door to avoid interrupting.
He glanced at the two would-be assailants being hauled away in the courtyard and suppressed a twitch in his eye. Were hitmen outsourcing their jobs these days?
How else could they be so inept as to think cross-dressing would fool anyone?
The players still couldn’t figure it out, even as they were shoved into a police car.
No one had noticed anything amiss at first—so why had their disguise failed the moment they entered the room?
That was an S-tier illusion item, capable of deceiving even dungeon bosses. How could ordinary NPCs see through it?
[Ding! Regrettably, both players have failed their mission after being exposed by the dungeon world. Elimination confirmed.]
Xiaojuan had just finished washing up and was settling into bed when the system notification arrived—two more players eliminated.
She opened the group chat for this dungeon’s players. Originally, there had been twenty-five members. Now, only fifteen remained.
The mood in the group was tense, with everyone voicing their fears.
Under extreme stress, people lost their rationality.
[I want to go home.]
Xiaojuan scoffed at the message and tossed her phone aside, pulling the covers over herself.
A knock sounded at her door. She got up and yanked it open. “What now?”
“I bought snacks. Half for you.” Ze shoved an armful of treats into her hands. Ever since discovering that eating in this dungeon didn’t deduct HP, he’d gone wild, craving everything in sight.
Xiaojuan plopped onto the living room couch and turned on the TV. A horror movie was playing.
She switched to a live news broadcast, where two pixelated but still recognizable faces filled the screen.
“According to eyewitnesses, these two men disguised themselves as women in an attempt to assault guests. However, their disguises were so poorly executed that they failed to deceive anyone.”
“Aren’t those players?” Ze crunched on potato chips. “Why didn’t they use their items?”
The news anchor treated the incident as a joke, but Xiaojuan sensed something off.
Even someone as slow as Ze knew to prepare a proper disguise. How could these players have been so careless?
A chilling suspicion took root in her mind.
The system’s reward items… might be malfunctioning in this dungeon.
A few days ago, the system had tasked her with helping Sister Jia’s parents. Instead, she’d used an item to trip up Sister Jia’s useless father—and it had worked perfectly. So what had gone wrong for these two?
After the gathering, Su Chenzhu insisted on driving Chao Musheng home.
“Xiao Chao, so this is where you live.” Secretary Liu’s voice held a note of envy. “The surroundings are lovely.”
And the property prices were undoubtedly sky-high.
Thinking of his own unpaid mortgage, Secretary Liu sighed inwardly.
“It’s my parents’ place. I’m still mooching off them, unlike you, Secretary Liu—you bought your own home in Jing City.” Chao Musheng opened the car door and leaned down to address Su Chenzhu. “Thank you for the ride, Mr. Su.”
“No need for thanks.” Su Chenzhu glanced at the darkening sky. “Get inside soon. It’s about to rain.”
“Got it. See you.” Chao Musheng waved at Secretary Liu as well before jogging toward the residential complex.
“Ah, youth.” Secretary Liu watched his retreating figure. “Even his running posture radiates energy.”
Unlike him, a wage slave who, at barely thirty, already felt worn out.
“Secretary Liu.” Su Chenzhu spoke suddenly. “If someone stops addressing you formally and starts using casual speech, does that mean they’ve grown closer to you?”
“I—I suppose so?” Secretary Liu answered uncertainly.
“I see.” Su Chenzhu looked up at the sky, where the drifting clouds abruptly stilled.
Secretary Liu didn’t understand, but he chose silence.
As an employee, you just do what the boss says—whether it makes sense or not doesn’t matter.
Chao Musheng had barely stepped through the front door when the downpour began. He pressed himself against the window, watching as raindrops the size of beans pelted the glass, turning the outside world into a blur.
"Good thing you made it home before this storm hit," Father Chao handed him a towel. "Go take a shower."
"Dad, tomorrow’s the weekend. I’m off," Chao Musheng took the towel. "Don’t wake me up in the morning—I’m sleeping in."
"Fine. I’ll buy a chicken tomorrow and make soup for you to have when you get up at noon."
"Even weekends come with daily tasks. Why can’t they just follow Kunlun Corp’s example and give interns a proper two-day break?" Ze grumbled as he read today’s assignment: post negative online comments about Kunlun under the guise of an intern.
Ze pulled out his phone and started typing furiously.
[Because the food at Kunlun’s employee cafeteria is too delicious, I gained five pounds in a week. Now my boss scolds me every day, saying I’m not focused on work. I seriously suspect the cafeteria is deliberately fattening me up so I’ll fail the internship evaluation.]
The system seemed to lag for a few seconds after he posted the comment before finally marking his task as complete.
As for how many netizens would roast him in the replies, Ze couldn’t care less.
He genuinely believed the Kunlun cafeteria was at fault. What kind of company serves food so tasty? If it were just a little worse, he wouldn’t have eaten so much. If he hadn’t eaten so much, his boss wouldn’t have noticed and chewed him out every day.
So yes, it was all the cafeteria’s doing.
"Sis, what’s your daily task today?" Ze asked Xiaojuan curiously after finishing his own. "Don’t tell me it’s another ‘helping’ mission?"
"Nope," Xiaojuan stared at the task panel. Today, she was supposed to buy a free-range chicken from the supermarket.
How was anyone supposed to tell how a plucked chicken had been raised before it died?
What did this have to do with the main storyline?
She suspected this was the system’s petty revenge for her failed task last Tuesday.
Half an hour later, Xiaojuan stood in the supermarket’s meat section, staring blankly at rows of naked chicken carcasses, her eyes devoid of all hope.
"Little miss, all our chickens here are free-range, top quality. You can buy with confidence," the salesperson assured her.
Ze: "Really?"
Xiaojuan: "…"
If not for the blatant "Liar" tag floating above the salesperson’s head—courtesy of her A-grade lie-detection item—she might’ve actually believed it.
If the players she’d defeated in the Infinite World found out she’d used a high-tier truth-detection tool just to buy a free-range chicken, they’d laugh her out of existence.
"Get this one. Short legs, sturdy body, and long back toes," Father Chao pointed at an unremarkable chicken in the corner.
Xiaojuan turned and saw Father Chao standing beside a strikingly beautiful woman.
The woman had rosy skin and eyes that resembled Chao Musheng’s. Xiaojuan immediately guessed who she was. "Hello, Uncle Chao. Hello, Auntie."
Ze followed suit, stealing glances at Chao Yin. Wow, Brother Chao’s mom was gorgeous.
Chao Yin chuckled at Xiaojuan’s greeting. "Hello. You’re Sheng’s colleagues, right?"
In just a week, she’d seen these two kids several times—either waiting for Sheng at the neighborhood gate in the morning or getting off the bus with him in the evening.
Xiaojuan nodded and picked up the chicken Father Chao had indicated.
Chao Yin reached for some chicken wings nearby, but Father Chao stopped her. "Don’t dirty your clothes. I’ll get them."
Holding the cold chicken, Xiaojuan found herself mesmerized by the couple’s effortless dynamic.
"Since we’re cooking lunch today, why don’t you two join us?" Chao Yin suggested. "The more, the merrier."
Surrounded by her soothing fragrance, gentle voice, and smiling eyes, Xiaojuan nodded dazedly.
Ze’s pupils trembled in shock. Sis… what are you doing, sis?!
That was clearly just polite small talk—you can’t actually take it seriously! Have you lost your mind?!
