Departure

"Brother Fan, time is tight. I'll take you inside to an office to register first, then the three of us will head straight out to clear the Gray Domain."

Outside the East River Second Bureau Building, Wang Zhifan had just arrived when Chu Wei—a lovely young woman with light brown short hair, dressed in the Special Administration Bureau's black uniform—walked up and spoke to him.

Beside Chu Wei stood a teenager of around seventeen or eighteen, his face still boyish and immature. He was also wearing a black uniform and looked curiously at Wang Zhifan as he approached.

"Alright, you really are in a hurry."

Wang Zhifan had already talked with Chu Wei quite a bit on the way over and understood her current situation.

Simply put, with Gray Domain outbreaks becoming increasingly frequent lately, Chu Wei—a newcomer who had only been taken on one mission by her superior, He Qianqian—had been appointed temporary team leader because of her strength and performance. She had begun leading teams to clear some low-level Gray Domains within Dongjiang City.

Ordinarily, a clearing team was supposed to have at least five people, but the Bureau was overwhelmed and short-handed. Chu Wei, this temporary team leader, had only been assigned one helper, another newcomer who had just joined the Bureau. She was practically working alone.

Fortunately, the Bureau, like other Xia Kingdom institutions, had a tradition of hiring temporary workers. Chu Wei thought of Wang Zhifan, whom she had once fought alongside, and invited him over to help.

With time running short, the two did not chat much. Chu Wei quickly led Wang Zhifan into the first floor of the East River Second Bureau Building, where she rapidly filled out forms that had already been placed on a desk in an office, registered his personal information, and stamped them. With remarkable efficiency, he became a temporary worker for the Special Administration Bureau—the kind paid on a daily basis.

As soon as the registration was complete, Chu Wei briskly led Wang Zhifan to the parking lot beside the East River Second Bureau Building and boarded an Official Car. The teenager Wang Zhifan had seen at the entrance earlier was already seated in the back.

The moment Wang Zhifan sat down in the back seat of the Official Car, Chu Wei, who had just taken a seat in the row ahead of him, lowered her head and began examining a rectangular special device in her hand. It was not her phone, but some kind of specialized electronic equipment issued by the Special Administration Bureau.

"Driver, we're going to No. 329, Huotan Road, East West Suburb. Get us there as fast as possible."

Chu Wei tapped the special electronic device with her fingers, then raised her head and spoke to the driver in front.

"Alright. I know that area, but even at top speed, it'll take forty minutes."

The driver immediately turned his head slightly to answer her, while starting the car and steering it into the parking lot exit ahead.

Once the vehicle was on the road, Chu Wei turned around and began explaining the mission details to Wang Zhifan and the teenager in the back.

"Brother Fan, A Liao, the first Gray Domain we need to clear is around a shop on Huotan Road. According to the intelligence gathered by the Rank Assessor, a forest has already formed inside the Gray Domain. The Gray Domain Monsters there are all below Lv5, so the danger level is low, but there are over three hundred of them in total. We have to clear it out before two o'clock this afternoon, or there's a risk that the Gray Domain will solidify..."

"Once we enter, A Liao and I will deal with most of the monsters. Brother Fan, you'll stay near us and eliminate every monster that gets close..."

Chu Wei quickly explained the details of their first mission that day, allowing Wang Zhifan to further understand why she had invited him to help.

It turned out she was worried that she and her sole helper, the teenage A Liao, would face considerable danger during the Gray Domain clearing. One was a Summoner Class, and the other a Gunner Class. Neither was suited to letting monsters get close. Yet their superiors had imposed a time limit on the clearing mission, so the two could not slowly grind down the monsters inside the Gray Domain. They could only go all out, making it a good choice to invite Wang Zhifan, a melee class player, as a bodyguard.

"Sure. I'm good at cutting down monsters. As long as a hundred of them don't rush me at once, I can hold them off."

Wang Zhifan immediately agreed with Chu Wei's strategy. He believed that at his current level, he was fully capable of handling this sort of defensive role.

"Of course. I invited you because I know you're strong enough."

Chu Wei nodded at Wang Zhifan. They had worked well together before; otherwise, she would not have thought of him first at a time like this.

"Brother Fan, are you a high-level player? Are you Lv20?"

At that moment, the teenager in the back seat, A Liao, spoke to Wang Zhifan for the first time. He had been very curious about Wang Zhifan ever since seeing him at the building entrance, since Wang Zhifan was a helper his captain Chu Wei had strongly recommended and specifically brought in. His strength was surely impressive.

"Lv20... I'm only Lv2..."

Wang Zhifan suddenly felt a little speechless at A Liao's question. Although he was confident that his strength was no worse than that of some players with higher levels than him, his actual level was truly low. Lv2 was almost too embarrassing to say aloud.

Fortunately, Chu Wei knew his situation. When they first met, Wang Zhifan had only been Lv1. Later, when Investigator He Qianqian questioned him in the car, the moment he gave his answer, He Qianqian had basically stopped paying attention to him. His level was too low, and his class was Cannon Fodder Melee. He Qianqian believed he had only survived the Gray Domain by riding Chu Wei's coattails, while Chu Wei had been Lv6 at the time, with a powerful and promising class.

"A Liao, Brother Fan is around our level, but he's very strong."

Perhaps noticing the change in Wang Zhifan's expression, Chu Wei directly answered A Liao's question for him.

"Oh... Then why did you choose a melee class back then, Brother Fan? Hardly anyone chooses that kind of class. I've barely seen any melee classes when running Dungeons."

After asking about Wang Zhifan's level, A Liao followed up with another question.

"It mostly comes down to personal preference. I like melee combat, so I chose a melee class. But you're so young, and you're already working for the Bureau. Is there some reason for that? Are you still studying normally?"

Rather than let this curious teenager keep questioning him, Wang Zhifan turned the questions back on him.

"I'm still studying, but not at my old school. After I awakened as a player, I transferred schools. What we learn at the new school is very different from before, and much more interesting. Being assigned here to help was also arranged by the school."

A Liao, who was likely still underage, explained a little about his circumstances. It made Wang Zhifan realize that the emergence of players had already deeply affected many aspects of the Xia Kingdom, though ordinary people had few channels through which to learn about it.