Encounter

After idly playing with the Fine Grade Handgun with its silver-white casing for a while, Wang Zhifan tossed it into his Personal Space.

He then wrapped the Rare Grade black Iron Mountain Belt around his waist and found that it fit quite well. It looked like a somewhat narrower belt and did not draw attention at all, so he quickly decided to wear this piece of physical damage reduction equipment in his daily life as well.

Finally, he picked up the yellow gemstone ring—the Fine Grade Unyielding Ring—and tried it on. He soon discovered that it had a certain adaptive quality; it fit on any of his fingers without issue.

"This ring looks a bit too conspicuous. I'd better not wear it normally and only take it out when I'm injured someday."

After thinking it over, Wang Zhifan decided to keep as low a profile as possible and not wear the yellow gemstone ring in daily life, so he tossed it into his Personal Space as well.

Once he had dealt with his newly acquired rewards, he began pondering a question that had left him somewhat confused: why had he been forcibly thrown into a Punishment Round in the Dungeon earlier? Moreover, the opponents in that Punishment Round had not been weak, which meant that the unknown great existence that created these Dungeons considered his violation rather serious.

"First, my punishment definitely had nothing to do with that short, fat teammate with Glasses who died first. He got trampled to death by the wild boar entirely because he suddenly ran away and triggered the Dungeon mechanism himself."

"Then it probably wasn't because I chopped off the Windbreaker Youth's hand either. Before I chopped that guy, he was already threatening me with a gun. That was absolutely self-defense."

"Putting it all together, the most likely reason I was punished was because I deliberately stood beside the handless Windbreaker Youth and lured the wild boar into trampling him to death? Did I violate the rule against deliberately harming teammates? But by then, the two of us were already hostile toward each other. Was setting him up once really that serious? This Dungeon is way too strict about player behavior... Looks like if I fall out with any teammate in the future, I should just kill them with one slash when they make a move, so I don't accidentally end up in a Punishment Round later."

Some mechanisms of player Dungeons were stated clearly within the Dungeons, while others had to be explored and summarized by the players themselves. Even though Wang Zhifan possessed all of the original owner's memories of lurking on the Player Forum, he had still made some mistakes. But a lesson learned was a lesson earned; in the future, he definitely would not violate the rules so casually and send himself into a Punishment Round to suffer.

After roughly reviewing the lessons from the previous Dungeon, Wang Zhifan planned to relax by using his laptop for a while, then head out for lunch at noon.

But not long after he turned on his computer and browsed the Player Forum, he suddenly noticed that it was already past ten in the morning. The time reminded him of the interview he had scheduled yesterday.

"Crap, I almost forgot I have an interview at eleven. That place isn't close—I need to leave now."

Thus, eager to find a stable job to solve his financial problems, Wang Zhifan soon rushed out of his shabby Rental House and took a bus.

About an hour later, a few minutes past eleven, he finally arrived at an inconspicuous place on the western outskirts of Dongjiang City. In a small industrial park there, he found his destination: a game company located on the seventh floor of an old building.

Just as Wang Zhifan had expected, the game company was very small. It gave off the feeling of a tiny studio overall, and the pay it offered was rather low. Probably only someone like him, who was in a hurry to find work, would consider it.

However, what Wang Zhifan had not expected was that while he felt he was lowering himself by coming to this company, the company did not see it that way. After he arrived, they made him wait nearly half an hour on the excuse that the boss was in a meeting. Only then did they send out an HR representative to halfheartedly chat with him, ask a bunch of miscellaneous questions, and finally tell him to go home and wait for notification.

"Damn it, this little company isn't in any hurry to hire anyone. They called me here just to mess with me. That HR probably wanted to pad their work records."

The moment he left the industrial park, Wang Zhifan could not help grumbling internally. Before being transported here, he had been a working adult with some life experience, so he knew that this interview was almost certainly a bust. He had wasted several hours of time and energy for nothing.

Feeling rather speechless, he continued walking along the street outside the industrial park toward the nearest bus stop. At the same time, he considered whether he truly needed to keep applying everywhere. Perhaps selling some equipment now and then, like when he had sold bullets on Tianhua Street before, would be enough to get by.

"Someone should be willing to buy the Common Grade Handgun in my Personal Space, but something like that definitely won't fetch much... None of the other equipment can be sold for now."

As he considered how to make a little money, Wang Zhifan reached the sign where people waited for the bus. It was an utterly inconspicuous little stop on the western outskirts of Dongjiang City, and aside from him, only one or two people were waiting there.

The bus had not arrived yet, so, feeling a little bored, he lowered his head and started playing on his phone. But a short while later, he sensed someone pulling a suitcase in his direction and drawing closer and closer, so he looked up.

"It really is you. I thought I might have mistaken someone else for you just now."

Standing beside Wang Zhifan was a girl wearing a white baseball cap, with neat, light brown hair cut short to her ears. Her features were exceptionally delicate and beautiful, and paired with her white short-sleeved top and teal-blue jeans, she looked stylish and energetic. As she pulled her suitcase, she spoke to Wang Zhifan with a somewhat surprised expression.

"Chu Wei?"

Wang Zhifan was somewhat surprised as well, and he could not help calling out her name. After all, he and this girl had joined forces against a Gray Domain Monster on a bus yesterday, then later been taken to the station together. He had not expected to run into her again so soon.

"Yes. You're Wang Zhifan, right?"

Seeing that the young man before her recognized her, the girl raised her chin slightly and looked at him. Her bright eyes blinked beneath the white brim of her cap.

"Yeah... Where are you headed?"

Wang Zhifan then asked why she was pulling a suitcase.

"I'm moving. I'm moving into the dorms today."

The girl named Chu Wei immediately explained.

"You joined the Bureau of Management that quickly?"

Wang Zhifan reflexively asked back. He remembered that when he left the station yesterday, she had apparently been in an interview.

"Yes."

Chu Wei immediately nodded.

"The Bureau of Management is short on people right now, so a lot of the hiring procedures have been simplified."

"Then congratulations. You found yourself a secure job."

Having confirmed that she had indeed joined the Special Administration Bureau, Wang Zhifan could not say he felt no envy. But he himself was not the type who liked being bound by too many restrictions, so his congratulations were sincere.