Departure

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

Outside Dongjiang Second Bureau Building, Wang Zhifan had just arrived when Chu Wei, a youthful beauty with short light brown hair and a black Special Administration Bureau uniform, walked up to greet him.

Beside Chu Wei stood a teenage boy of about seventeen or eighteen, his face still boyish. He too wore a black uniform and was watching Wang Zhifan approach with curious eyes.

"Alright. You people really are in a hurry."

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

Simply put, due to the increasingly frequent outbreaks of Ash Domains lately, Chu Wei, a newcomer who had only gone on one mission under her supervisor He Qianqian, had been appointed temporary team leader because of her strength and performance. She had begun leading teams to clear some low-level Ash Domains within Dongjiang City.

Under normal regulations, a cleanup squad was supposed to have at least five people. But the Administration was swamped and short-handed, so this temporary team leader, Chu Wei, had only been assigned one other newcomer who had just joined the Administration as an assistant. She was practically on her own.

Fortunately, like other Xia Kingdom institutions, the Administration had a tradition of hiring temporary outside workers. Chu Wei had thought of Wang Zhifan, whom she had once fought alongside, which was why she had invited him to help.

With time pressing, the two did not chat much. Chu Wei quickly led Wang Zhifan into the first floor of Dongjiang Second Bureau Building. In an office inside, she swiftly filled out the forms that had already been placed on the desk, registered his personal information, stamped them, and made him a temporary worker for the Special Administration Bureau with remarkable efficiency—the kind paid by the day.

As soon as registration was complete, Chu Wei briskly led Wang Zhifan to the parking lot beside Dongjiang Second Bureau Building. They got into an Administration vehicle, and the teenager Wang Zhifan had seen at the entrance was already seated in the back row.

The moment Wang Zhifan sat down in the back seat of the Administration vehicle, Chu Wei, who had just taken the seat in the row ahead of him, lowered her head to inspect a rectangular, unusual device in her hand. It was not her phone, but some special electronic equipment issued specifically by the Special Administration Bureau.

"Driver, take us to 329 Fire Altar Road in the western outskirts of Dongjiang. As fast as possible."

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

"Sure, I know the area. But even at top speed, it'll take forty minutes."

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

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

"Fan, A Liao, the first Ash Domain we need to clear is around a shop on Fire Altar Road. According to the intelligence gathered by the assessor, a forest has formed inside it. The Ash Domain monsters are all below Lv5, so the danger level is low, but there are more than three hundred of them in total. We have to clear it out before two in the afternoon, or there's a risk of the Ash Domain solidifying..."

"After we go in, A Liao and I will handle most of the monsters. Fan, you'll stay around us and take out every monster that gets close..."

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

It turned out she was worried that she and her only helper, the teenage A Liao, would face considerable danger during the cleanup. One was a Summoner, while the other was a gunslinger. Neither could let monsters get close. Yet their superiors had imposed a time limit on the mission, so the two of them could not slowly grind the monsters down inside the Ash Domain. They had to go all out. Inviting Wang Zhifan, a melee-class player, to serve as a bodyguard was therefore the better choice.

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

Wang Zhifan immediately agreed with Chu Wei's strategy. He believed that at his current level, he was more than capable of handling such a defensive role.

"Of course. I invited you because I knew you were strong enough."

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

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

At that moment, the teenager called A Liao, seated in the back row, spoke to Wang Zhifan for the first time. He had been very curious about Wang Zhifan ever since seeing him outside the building, because Wang Zhifan was the helper whom his captain, Chu Wei, had strongly recommended and personally sought out. His strength had to be impressive.

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

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

Fortunately, Chu Wei knew his situation. When they had 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 a disposable melee class. He Qianqian believed he had survived the Ash Domain by riding Chu Wei's coattails, while Chu Wei had been Lv6 at the time, with a powerful and promising class.

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

Apparently 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, Fan? Very few people choose that kind of class. I've hardly 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 close combat, so I chose a melee class. But you're so young and already working for the Administration. Is there a reason? Are you still studying?"

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

"I'm still studying, but not at my old school. Ever since I awakened as a player, I transferred schools. What we study 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 personal circumstances. It let Wang Zhifan know that the emergence of players had already profoundly affected many aspects of the Xia Kingdom, though ordinary people had few channels through which to learn about it.