The first thing Chief Beauty Officer said was, "Are you crazy? Using such a precious location card just like that? A couple of days ago, Cyclone Boss was offering a high price for one and couldn’t even get it!"
Of course, Chief Beauty Officer’s girlfriend blew up.
"All you care about is your precious Cyclone Boss! Do you even have me in your eyes at all?"
And so... the morning passed in complete chaos.
Chief Beauty Officer didn’t start seriously working on the mileage challenge until the afternoon. By the time they finished at 9 PM, he and his girlfriend had barely completed the 20-kilometer requirement. As for the leaderboard? They didn’t even dare think about it.
By now, everyone had lost patience with Chief Beauty Officer and found the whole situation ridiculous...
They hadn’t noticed it before, but now it was clear—this guy and his girlfriend seemed a bit... not all there.
Qi Xu hesitated before speaking up. "This is a survival game. The game isn’t the focus—survival is. The way you and your girlfriend are treating this game right now is a surefire way to crash and burn. I’ll only remind you this once."
If there ever came a time when Qi Xu had to remind them again, that would be the end of it. Even though they’d been getting along well so far, Qi Xu was inherently guarded, wary of any discomfort and unwilling to tolerate uncertainty.
Hearing about Chief Beauty Officer and his girlfriend’s antics had already soured Qi Xu’s impression of him. After all, birds of a feather flock together.
At a time like this, still caught up in romance? In Qi Xu’s eyes, stupidity was even more disgusting than malice.
This group’s existence was, in itself, a resource and convenience for its members.
Qi Xu wouldn’t allow freeloaders—it wouldn’t be fair to the others.
Chief Beauty Officer just laughed it off. The big boss was all bark and no bite, right? He casually brushed it aside. "Yeah, yeah, I got it!"
Originally, he’d planned to ask Invincible Black Cyclone today if he could invite his girlfriend into the group—there was still one spot left...
But now, he was too embarrassed to even bring it up. And even if he did, he’d probably get rejected. Cyclone Boss wasn’t as easygoing as he’d imagined.
In the main chat, players were all excitedly showing off their rewards—everyone had received a full hotpot set. They were happily eating and bragging, having the time of their lives.
Qi Xu posted a picture too, since he had to keep working on his flexing stats...
So he put a little thought into it—like making sure the photo clearly showed enough for two people... along with a bottle of plum wine and a side of chilled tomatoes.
Loves Junk Food: "666, the boss’s haul is way better than ours!"
Handsome Indeed: "Obviously! He’s number one!"
Bright Light Fills Tomorrow: "@Invincible Black Cyclone, you stole my reward, didn’t you? No wonder you have two portions! Give me back what’s mine! Why are you targeting me like this?"
Invincible Black Cyclone: "What are you talking about??"
After that, Qi Xu didn’t even need to step in. Everyone else ganged up on Bright Light Fills Tomorrow, leaving him speechless.
Blessed by Luck: "Never seen such a shameless dog before. What breed even are you? Biting anyone in sight—if you haven’t gotten your shots, go get them. Stop popping up to annoy people."
Cursed by Luck: "Can we get a player-wide vote to mute Bright Light Fills Tomorrow? Seriously, enough already."
Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly: "Agreed. Why isn’t there a feature like that?"
Bright Light Fills Tomorrow: "You’re the dogs! A bunch of bootlickers, groveling for red packets without a shred of dignity! My reward’s gone! I was fifth place! All of it—gone!"
Player 0618: "What kind of dog language is this guy speaking? All I see is gibberish."
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "Hey now, that’s not cool. Dogs are adorable creatures. As a dog lover, I can’t stand you insulting them like this."
Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly: "Yeah, what did dogs ever do to you..."
Bright Light Fills Tomorrow gritted his teeth, kicking and punching wildly in his car. After working so hard all day, he had nothing to show for it—and there was nothing he could do about it!
Then he accidentally kicked over a golden supply crate, releasing a monster. Bright Light Fills Tomorrow scrambled to pull out his weapon and fight back.
In the end, he barely survived—but only after shattering a crucial life-saving item.
Poisoned, injured, he had to use up all his antidote pills and bandages just to stay alive...
But... all his frustration and despair vanished the moment he saw what was inside the golden crate.
"Invincible Black Cyclone! Just you wait!"
Bright Light Fills Tomorrow was as thrilled as if he’d won the lottery, eagerly getting to work.
Not long after, all players heard another server-wide announcement.
[Attention, players! A special dungeon has been successfully triggered and will begin tomorrow at 8 AM! We encourage all players to sign up!]
Player 1218: "Damn, that’s a lot of announcements today!"
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "Another dungeon? Why isn’t it saying what star rating this one is?"
Qi Xu’s brow lifted slightly. A special dungeon... not announced at midnight? Either it was a lucky bonus event—or a trap.
Qi Xu hesitated for a long time over the sign-up prompt.
If it was a bonus event, someone would’ve said something. No one keeps good news a secret.
After checking the main chat, where everyone was discussing the special dungeon but no one mentioned it being a bonus, Qi Xu decisively clicked "No."
The group chat buzzed—Old White Dragon in the Waves was speaking.
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "Doesn’t this dungeon feel off? Not only was it announced outside midnight, but there’s no star rating either—just ‘special.’ How special? Are we signing up?"
Chinese Master Chef: "Let’s see what the boss says. I don’t wanna sign up. If I do, I’ll miss at least two good meals."
Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt: "Agreed. But dungeon rewards are pretty good. Isn’t skipping it a waste?"
Retired Magical Boy was baffled. "This is about missing meals?"
Qi Xu cut in: "I’m not signing up. Feels sketchy. You can all decide for yourselves."
Chinese Master Chef: "Heh, then I won’t either."
Old White Dragon in the Waves: "Same. Too weird."
Bubbly Girl Guo Degang: "OK, skipping."
Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt: "Then I won’t go either."
After a while, Qi Xu checked the group chat. Aside from Chief Beauty Officer, everyone had decided not to sign up.
Qi Xu considered making a new group. Another large group chat card had just appeared. The current small group was fine, but it was too limited.
He needed to slowly gather more like-minded friends he could rely on.
After creating the new group, Qi Xu invited "Blessed by Luck," "Non-Chief," "Player 0618," "Player 1219," "Twinkling Star," and "A Swimming & Fitness Coach Chen" to join.
Qi Xu didn’t usually linger much in the chat lobby, so he didn’t know many people. He simply added those who left a decent impression in the group—players who seemed reliable and relatively stronger.
The core team Qi Xu wanted to build would definitely be in the smaller group. This larger one was mainly for connecting with more people.
Given the chance to start over, now that he knew the right answers, Qi Xu had no intention of staying comfortably within his limits. He was making every effort to prepare for the future.
........
