Chapter 39

Emergency

"I don't remember what you're talking about."

Number 2 put down his chopsticks, his tone cold: "You don't have to help, but don't interfere with what I'm going to do."

After speaking, he picked up his untouched tray and got up to leave.

"There's still so much meat on the plate, he's not eating it?" Ah Ze looked at the food taken away by Number 2, his face full of distress: "If my grandma saw someone wasting food like this, she could nag for a day and a night."

Mentioning his grandma, his mood became low. He missed his mom and grandma.

Xiao Juan glanced at his lowered eyes, then lowered her head and took a few big bites of rice: "Live well in the instance, and there will be a day when you go back."

Since the system created by the main god is not indestructible, it means that the infinite main god is not invincible.

Number 2 walked out of the cafeteria. He hadn't eaten in the morning and his stomach was empty. Smelling the aroma of food drifting from the cafeteria, he recalled the third time he entered an instance, where the food on the tray turned into the bloody heads of his teammates.

His teammate stared with dull eyes, as if asking him why he was eating him, why he didn't save him.

Later, under the boss's gaze, did he move his chopsticks?

He forgot.

He only remembered those eyes that were filled with terror even in death.

"Ugh!" Number 2 clutched his stomach and hurriedly hid in the nearby fire escape to cover up his wretched state.

"Young man, did you eat something bad?"

The voice-activated light in the fire escape flickered on and off. A woman in a cleaner's uniform stood under the light.

Number 2 looked towards the sound and saw that her left eye socket was pitch black; there was nothing inside.

He staggered two steps and fell to the ground.

He remembered, in order to survive...

Seeing the young man frightened by her, the cleaning lady covered her empty left eye, turned around, and went downstairs, disappearing into the darkness.

Her prosthetic eye had just fallen out, and she forgot to put it back.

She put the prosthetic eye into the empty socket and went back to comfort the frightened young man, but he had already left.

Since he could leave on his own, he probably wasn't scared too badly?

Number 2 walked into the elevator in a daze. As the floor number slowly rose, he suddenly noticed that this elevator could reach the 52nd floor.

He hadn't paid attention just now and had entered the exclusive elevator for the president's office.

52nd floor.

He stared at the number 52, hesitating to reach out his hand.

The elevator suddenly stopped. Number 2 was startled back to reality and looked up at the electronic surveillance camera hanging above the elevator.

"Which department are you from?" Secretary Liu looked at the young man in the elevator, frowning.

"Sorry, I took the wrong elevator." Number 2 apologized repeatedly. When he walked out of the elevator, even his shoulders were trembling.

Seeing the young man's timid and frightened appearance, Secretary Liu said: "Intern assistant from the Film and Television Department?"

He had seen the profiles of all the interns and had a slight impression of this young man.

"Yes." Number 2 lowered his head, not expecting to be recognized.

"I've seen the profiles of all the interns in your batch." Secretary Liu seemed to know what he was thinking. If he didn't have extraordinary abilities, how could he be qualified to be the secretary of Kunlun's boss?

Just by looking at them, he could memorize the faces of all the interns?

Number 2 was somewhat glad that he hadn't pressed the button for the 52nd floor just now, otherwise he would have failed the clearance by now.

"Go back to your own department." Secretary Liu looked Number 2 up and down, implying: "Unauthorized personnel entering restricted areas will be considered commercial spies."

Number 2 felt a chill in his heart. He wanted to defend himself, but the man in the suit entered the elevator without looking back. The other party didn't care what he wanted to say at all.

So he was an elite from the president's office, no wonder he was so arrogant.

He looked back at the floor he was standing on. Compared to the Film and Television Department, the employees in the corridor here dressed much more casually. Regardless of gender, they basically wore T-shirts and long pants.

He glanced at the sign on the wall: Game Development Team Office Area.

Several men and women passed by him. They looked haggard, and no one gave Number 2 a second look.

"Boss, will Brother Chao come over this noon?"

"I didn't receive a message from him. He should be staying on the 52nd floor for lunch today and won't come down."

Brother Chao?

Number 2 subconsciously felt that the person they mentioned was Chao Musheng.

"This morning I met the team leader of the 52nd floor project team in the underground parking lot. His expression was solemn. I wonder if something big happened."

"Cough, cough, cough." The team leader looked around. "Discuss less about the 52nd floor."

Something big happened on the 52nd floor?

Number 2 watched these game team employees walk into the elevator, followed them in, and pressed the button for the Film and Television Department floor.

Unfortunately, after these people saw the floor he pressed, they stopped talking. Until he left the elevator, he didn't hear any more useful information.

"Why is someone from the Film and Television Department running over to our game team?" Lao Li asked his colleague: "Do you know that person just now?"

"Don't know him." The team leader shook his head. The last time they dealt with the Film and Television Department was when a fan of an artist said that a certain game under the company would rather let an outsider be the spokesperson than hire their own artist, and then cursed over ten thousand times in the comment section of the game's official account.

Because of this, at last year's annual meeting, the head of the Film and Television Department came to the Game Department to propose a toast.

There was no way around it. Who told their Game Department to make money for the company, while the Film and Television Department needed the company to lose money to support it?

The mood of the software R&D team leader was indeed very low because there were only two days left in Chao Musheng's summer internship.

Even the big meal sent by the president's office couldn't soothe the pain in his heart.

Chao Musheng's scalp went numb from the team leader's stare. He squeezed closer to Lao Mo: "Team leader, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't look at me like that, I'm scared."

"Xiao Chao." The team leader put down his chopsticks: "Our software R&D team has a channel to apply for aid consultants. Do you want to consider signing an aid agreement with the company? I can apply for a high salary for you from the boss."

If the boss isn't willing to give it, he'll squat at the door of the boss's office and won't leave.

"Oh right, our team has a consultant quota that hasn't been used." After the team leader mentioned it, Lao Mo also remembered that their department had this quota, but because the R&D team involved a lot of commercial secrets, the R&D team didn't dare to use this quota easily.

"Xiao Chao, come, come, let me show you the benefits of the aid consultant." The team leader dug out the aid consultant agreement that had never been used and put it in front of Chao Musheng: "Xiao Chao, you must consider it carefully. Our boss is rich, you can't go against money."

Chao Musheng glanced at the general content. This agreement had lenient requirements for technical consultants, but the benefits were very high. No wonder the R&D department didn't dare to take it out easily.

"You must consider it carefully." The team leader was afraid that Chao Musheng wouldn't be moved, so he stuffed the agreement into Chao Musheng's arms: "It's a waste not to earn this money, right?"

Anyway, the boss is paying, he doesn't feel the pinch.

"But next month the company arranged for me to stay in the president's office for a month..." Chao Musheng avoided the team leader's burning gaze, inexplicably feeling like a scumbag who had let down a devoted lover.

"It doesn't matter." The team leader gritted his teeth: "I can wait for you to come and serve as our R&D team's consultant the month after next."

No wonder the president's office has been sending big meals to their R&D department every day recently. It turns out they had their eyes on Xiao Chao and wanted to snatch him from them.

He knew that the people in the president's office had more schemes than a honeycomb coal briquette, and there weren't two good people among them.

Shameless, what talent are the management snatching from their technical department?!

Fortunately, their technical department has the right to hire special technical talents, otherwise there would really be no chance to work with Xiao Chao in the future.

The team leader was a little proud. So what if the people from the president's office hung around in front of the boss every day? The boss still valued their R&D department the most.

"Then I'll go back and think about it, and give you an answer next week." Chao Musheng put away the agreement and didn't refuse the team leader's kindness.

Due to the strict investigation by the higher-ups, the originally bustling Film and Television Department became exceptionally quiet. Occasionally, agents and artists passed by, walking hurriedly and keeping a low profile, no longer having the pomp of the past.

Since Manager Wang was fired and Lin Hui was suspended from all work, Number 2 hadn't been assigned a new work target. Apart from clocking in on time every day, he spent his time in the assistant's office. The assistants of other artists treated him as if he didn't exist.

The empty eye socket he saw in the fire escape always lingered before his eyes, giving him no peace.

He held his head and walked around the lounge again and again, his expression gradually becoming ferocious.

If Number 1 hadn't brought up the past, he wouldn't have remembered those long-ago things at all!

He pulled open the door of the lounge and strode out. When the people in the corridor saw him coming out, they stopped and avoided him, as if afraid of being associated with him.

People in the circle are quite superstitious. Everyone said that this intern assistant had a tough fate. Within a month of working, he had caused Lin Hui and Manager Wang to become notorious, so now no artist in the department dared to want this assistant.

Number 2 looked up and met these flickering gazes, smiling mockingly.

Clearly, it was Manager Wang and Lin Hui who were stupid and did wrong things themselves, yet these people were afraid of him.

For a moment, he couldn't tell if this was the malice of the instance towards the players, or if human nature was just this ugly.

Irritably walking out of the company gate, he wandered aimlessly downstairs. Anyway, no one cared about him now.

"Handsome guy, could you trouble you to take a picture for us?"

A mother holding a child stopped him. They were wearing sun-protective jackets and carrying bags, looking like tourists from out of town.

Number 2 took the phone blankly. At the moment the mother put her arm around the child's shoulder, he bent his knees and took a picture for them.

"Thank you, brother, the picture you took is really beautiful." The child took the phone, looked at the picture inside, and happily held his mother's hand, jumping up and down: "Mom, look at the picture brother took for us."

"Thank you." The mother bent down and hugged the child to thank Number 2: "Are you a professional photographer?"

Number 2 shook his head slowly, turned around and continued walking forward. The conversation between the mother and child could still be heard behind him.

"Mom, Kunlun is so big and beautiful. I want to work here too in the future."

"Okay, you have to work hard."

Crunch.

He stepped on a mineral water bottle that someone had thrown on the ground, with the Kunlun trademark printed on it.

Number 2 stopped, stared at the mineral water for a long time, bent down to pick it up, and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"Young man, where are you going in this hot weather?" An old lady wearing a red armband walked out of the flowerbed nearby, holding a few trimmed flowers in her hand: "There's a river ahead. It's especially hot by the river at noon, don't go there."

Number 2 ignored her and continued walking forward. What did these roadside NPCs have to do with him?

"Hey, young man." The old lady took off her sun hat and blocked his way. Seeing the work badge on his chest, the old lady said with appreciation: "You're actually an employee of Kunlun, very impressive."

Number 2 stopped and looked at the old lady in front of him: "Is there something you need?"

"Nothing, what could I need?" The old lady stuffed the flowers in her hand into his hand: "It's not easy for young people to find such a decent job nowadays. Hurry back to work, don't wander around outside."

Number 2 suppressed the annoyance in his heart and took the flowers.

[Ding! Congratulations player for receiving a gift from the Environment Guardian, Luck +1 within 24 hours]

He looked up at the old lady who kept urging him to return to the company, his throat moving: "Thank you."

Turning back, the old lady followed him all the way, constantly talking about how good it is to be young, how decent it is to work at Kunlun, and how her own children couldn't compare to his capability, and so on.

It wasn't until he stepped into the company gate that the nagging old lady quieted down. When he turned around to look back, the old lady had already put on her sun hat and disappeared into the roadside flowerbed.

Through the gate of Kunlun, he faintly saw a corner of the old lady's red armband.

He looked down at the flowers in his hand, unable to understand why this NPC was following him.

Two young people wearing milk tea shop uniforms walked into the lobby carrying a very large bag: "Hello, this is the milk tea ordered by the 52nd floor of your company. Please contact them for me."

"Okay, please wait a moment." Hearing it was milk tea for the 52nd floor, the receptionist immediately dialed the internal line.

"Have a glass of water first, someone will come down soon." Another receptionist poured water for the two.

"Thank you." The milk tea shop employees were probably familiar with the receptionist, drinking water while saying: "It's really hot enough to kill someone today."

Kill?

Hearing this conversation, Number 2 suddenly realized something. He jerked his head down to look at the flowers in his hand.

These flowers looked a bit listless after being exposed to the sun.

They weren't trimmed carefully either; it was just that the person pruning the branches saw they were blooming well and kept them.

Could it be that the old lady was worried he would do something foolish, so she didn't let him go towards the river?

Was all that nagging and superficial praise not a tactic by the NPC against the player, but a clumsy attempt at guidance by an old person?

So this really was a gift from the Environment Guardian.

Number 2 walked to the door in a daze. The old lady's figure had long since disappeared without a trace.

"Thank you for delivering the milk tea, sorry for the trouble."

Hearing a familiar voice, Number 2 looked back at the person coming, carefully put the flowers in his hand into his pocket, and strode towards him: "Brother Chao, so much milk tea, let me help you carry it."

"Are you Xiao Juan's friend?" Chao Musheng recognized Number 2. He signed the milk tea shop's order and said to Number 2: "It's okay, my colleague will come down to help in a while."

Number 2 withdrew the hand that had already reached for the bag.

Chao Musheng smiled gently: "I don't know how to address you?"

Number 2 was a bit lost in thought. He hadn't seen such a clean smile for a long time.

Players in the infinite space were controlled by the main god and had no freedom. Even their smiles were distorted. The NPCs in the instances smiled more like something eerie, without a trace of human vitality.

"My name is... Xiao Er." Number 2 came back to his senses: "Brother Chao, you can just call me Xiao Er."

"What a coincidence, I know a friend named Zhang San." Chao Musheng didn't mention Chen Er, that unlucky thing who engaged in school bullying: "You both use numbers as names."

Zhang San?

Number 2's pupils trembled. Zhang San?!

"I also know a friend named Zhang San. He has a baby face and two dimples when he smiles." Number 2 tried his best to hide his strangeness. Was the Zhang San Chao Musheng spoke of the same Zhang San he knew?

"Eh?" Chao Musheng was surprised: "The Zhang San I know also has a baby face. Maybe we're talking about the same person."

Number 2's teeth were chattering: "Where did Zhang San go later?"

He remembered very clearly that Zhang San was already dead, and Zhao Shang, who went into the instance with him, was also dead.

Now the NPC in this instance said he knew Zhang San. What did this mean?

It meant that Chao Musheng was also in the instance where Zhang San lost his life.

But how could an NPC in an instance remember a player who failed to clear the level and was erased by the system?

"I sent him back to his hometown." Chao Musheng asked: "Are you looking for him?"

"No, I... just asking casually." Number 2 felt cold all over, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

So Zhang San perished at Chao Musheng's hands.

"Xiao Chao." Lao Mo hurriedly walked out of the president's office elevator and lifted a corner of the bag: "Let's go."

Chao Musheng nodded to Number 2, and Number 2 quickly squeezed out a smile in response.

After the two figures disappeared into the elevator, Number 2 walked into the employee elevator as if waking from a dream.

Leaning against the cold elevator wall, he began to doubt his own deduction.

Maybe Chao Musheng wasn't the key to helping players clear the level, but a death warrant accelerating players towards death.

Returning to the empty lounge again, Number 2 couldn't wait to activate the Clairaudience Ear item. Just now, when pretending to help Chao Musheng carry the bag, he took the opportunity to throw the Clairaudience Ear into the bag.

"How many cups of milk tea did the team leader buy?" Lao Mo put down the milk tea bag and waited for the security personnel to check the food bag with a metal detector.

"Next time let them come down to get it, we two can sit in the office and wait." Lao Mo watched the security personnel take out the milk tea cup by cup and put them into a special food cart: "Or we can drink it after work."

"What is this?" The security personnel took out all the milk tea and found a piece of paper lying at the bottom of the bag. A crooked ear was drawn on the paper, and the words "Clairaudience Ear" were marked next to it with a pen.

"It's drawn so ugly." Lao Mo picked up the paper and glanced at it, then handed it to Chao Musheng. Chao Musheng crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the nearby trash can.

In the lounge, Number 2 groaned, and bright red blood flowed from his left ear.

The Clairaudience Ear item was destroyed.

He sat up from the sofa with a pale face and wiped the blood flowing down his cheek.

[Ding, player attacked by unknown force, HP -10]

Was the item discovered by Chao Musheng?

The sky gradually darkened. Number 2 hid quietly in the corner of the restroom, put on the invisibility cloak, and waited for the night to come.

"If there were superpowers in the world, would you choose invisibility or flight?"

The software release was imminent, and no one in the R&D department could think of leaving work early. However, even if Lao Mo typed on the keyboard until sparks flew, his mouth wouldn't stop.

Colleague A: "Flying is fun but I wouldn't dare use it. There are satellite monitors everywhere now. As soon as you leave the ground, you'll be caught."

Colleague B: "Invisibility is still stronger. No one will notice whatever you do."

"But if an accident happens while invisible, no one will notice either. Wouldn't you just have to wait for death helplessly?" Chao Musheng had a lollipop in his mouth, speaking somewhat indistinctly: "This kind of special ability is still not good enough."

"I just hope my computer can be more mature and automatically finish writing all the code for me." The team leader looked up: "Or make all of you shut up and finish tonight's work as quickly as possible."

As soon as the voice fell, an alarm suddenly sounded on the computer terminal.

"Someone is maliciously attacking our computer system!"

"Activate the trap system."

"Captured the intrusion sources, all from abroad."

Chao Musheng stared at the attack dynamics on the computer, directly opened the defense system, and started information tracking.

"Holy crap, fortunately Xiao Chao strengthened the network defense measures in advance, otherwise this kind of large-scale traffic attack could really cause us trouble." Lao Mo rejoiced: "I hate this kind of large traffic attack the most, it's like a rogue."

"The software is about to be released publicly, competitors will definitely be anxious." Chao Musheng crunched the candy loudly: "How is the network security department doing?"

"Don't worry, they are on duty 24 hours a day. The number of cyber attacks they handle every day is more than the meals we eat." The team leader yawned, "I'm going out for a smoke to wake up."

The team leader took out a cigarette from the drawer and walked to the corridor outside. He saw the elevator door suddenly open, but there was no one inside.

His hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly, and his brain involuntarily recalled various ghost stories told by Lao Mo.

"Team leader, what are you looking at?" A hand landed on his shoulder, scaring him so much that he dropped the cigarette in his hand.

"Xiao Chao." The team leader turned around and saw who it was, swallowing his saliva: "Look, is there no one in the elevator?"

"There is no one, what's wrong?" Chao Musheng glanced at the empty elevator, sensed that the team leader's expression was wrong, and opened his phone to send a message to Secretary Liu.

"If there's no one, how did it come up?"

Could it be haunted?

Chao Musheng just poked his head out when he was grabbed by the team leader: "Don't go over there." He waved to the security personnel, signaling them to be vigilant.

Number 2 hid behind a potted plant, watching the security personnel getting closer and closer to him, holding his breath.

"No one." The security guard stopped by his feet and turned on the walkie-talkie: "Emergency call, anomaly found on the 52nd floor, requesting use of infrared thermal imager."

"Activate emergency state, seal the R&D department gate."

"Infrared thermal imager?" Chao Musheng pulled the team leader to stand in the corner: "Really afraid someone invisible came in?"

Times are progressing, technology is developing. Even if there really is an invisibility technique, it's useless, because as long as it's a living person, they will have body temperature.

Rapid footsteps came from the fire escape entrance. Someone was rushing upstairs.