I Became a Player?

Employee Information: Zhang Anzai.

Administrator Department, Class 10086, Group 7, ID 01.

Tasks Completed This Week: [Seeking Dao: Stealing Pills from the Tower Temple] (Mid-Low), [Ghosts: Water Ghost Seeking Life in Yangcheng Reservoir] (Low), [Folk Taboo: Old Grudges of the Ghost Opera House] (Total Wipeout).

Employee Points: 115.

Remaining Working Time: 5 hours.

Staring at the red and black screen displaying only five hours of remaining work time, Zhang Anzai, dressed in his "corporate slave" suit, could not muster a shred of joy.

The reason was simple; one look at the task page was enough to tell that the company he worked for was anything but legitimate.

Sitting beside him was Lin Zhao, a colleague from the same intake with long, ink-black hair and Employee ID 02. She leaned in, her voice crisp and hushed:

"Hey, Anzai, how much longer do you think that idiot is going to keep barking?"

Looking back toward the department entrance, a figure in a sharp, tailored suit—looking human enough at a glance—was currently yapping away.

This wasn't a metaphor or sarcasm; it was a literal description.

"Woof! Wolf culture! Do you understand wolf culture? Group 6 next door just brought out a high-rated instance! And us? Young people shouldn't always be thinking about rest; giving you work is for your own training..."

Perched atop the man's suit collar was the head of a rural dog, though it looked far more ferocious, with thick saliva dripping from its massive, gaping maw.

That was Zhang Anzai's department lead. The team leader of Group 7 in the Administrator Department. It was certainly wrong for him to have a dog's head, but it wasn't just him—the entire company was wrong.

Half a month ago, Zhang Anzai, who had graduated two years prior, was still working at a black-hearted game company, pulling all-nighters to revise a project plan just to satisfy some idiot boss's petty demands.

Having already considered jumping ship, he received an offer right at that moment.

"Ancient Shadow Record Game Company. Job Requirements: Operations Administrator. Monthly Salary: Dependent on work performance. Working Hours: No days off, all year round..."

Zhang Anzai's vision went black the moment he read that, and when he woke up, he was already inside this very office building.

Glass curtain walls, white lights, computer desks—everything looked no different from a normal office. Through the glass, one could even see the city outside.

The only problem was that there was no way out.

The situation was simple: this Ancient Shadow Record Game Company functioned much like the system of an infinite-flow horror game.

Internal departments like logistics, finance, and administration corresponded to functions like instance maintenance, reward distribution, and game guidance.

But the issue lay in their status. While players gained superpowers, fought monsters, explored, and looted gear in various bizarre folk-horror instances, these miserable employees were merely side-line assistants who could only promote within the company—and even that was incredibly difficult.

As new employees, they were mostly relegated to assigning tasks and spectating the players' explorations, unable to afford any powerful support items.

Whether they could meet the performance quota of bringing out a high-rated instance depended almost entirely on the caliber of the players they were matched with.

"How are things on your end?" Lin Zhao asked. Her luck with matchmaking was slightly better than Zhang Anzai's, though as fellow newcomers, it wasn't by much:

"I ran into a bunch of idiots again. They entered a folk-taboo instance, a paper-effigy shop. They didn't look at the warning signs at all and immediately got one of their own trampled to death by a paper horse made by the craftsman."

Most of the players they matched with were like this. Perhaps the protagonists of infinite-flow web novels had given them too much confidence, or perhaps life in reality was too comfortable and stable; most of these people were either noobs, arrogant, or both.

In the few instances Zhang Anzai had led previously, one required escaping from a water ghost, but the players were all landlubbers who panicked the moment they hit the water.

The other was even worse. He'd encountered a contrarian hipster who, upon being matched into the Ghost Opera House, started critiquing traditional opera, claiming it wasn't as good as the rap he listened to.

He was also bold enough to mess with the props, opening an umbrella backstage, which directly triggered a taboo and a rule-kill, resulting in a total wipeout for the entire group.

Zhang Anzai shook his head helplessly, his face pale: "I finally ran into a group that was somewhat normal. Managed a Mid-Low rating, but..."

Lin Zhao's expression turned serious: "You're running out of time, aren't you?"

That was correct. The "remaining working time" referred to how much longer these employees could survive within the company.

Once the time ran out, they would be forcibly laid off—killed, or sent into an instance to become a ghost NPC.

Zhang Anzai had just completed a Mid-Low level leading task, which was enough to cover half a week's performance quota.

However, he only had five hours left, and he needed to complete at least one more Mid-Low rated instance, or several Low-rated ones, otherwise, his life would end right there.

Clang—Clang— The mysterious, distant tolling of a bell echoed through the company. It meant they had survived another day and were entering the nine-hour night rest period that lasted until the next morning.

The two temporarily closed their screens and, like countless other employees, stood up to head out. Zhang Anzai's face remained clouded with gloom.

They weren't heading in the same direction. Lin Zhao said: "I'm going back to the dorm to open an instance. I'll finish mine as soon as possible. If you need anything, send me a message, and I'll transfer some points to you."

Zhang Anzai didn't say much. They both knew very well that after this night, there might not be a Zhang Anzai in Group 7 tomorrow.

But since arriving here, having seen a dog-headed team leader and bizarre instances, they knew they had no choice but to gradually grow accustomed to such things.

The company did not believe in tears; only performance and attendance were eternal.

Zhang Anzai walked through a cold corridor and returned to his dorm on the floor below.

This dorm was half the size of a standard studio apartment, containing only a single bed, a wardrobe, and a desk—it was even too small for a chair, forcing him to sit on the bed.

They had at least provided each of them with a window, but since entering the company, he had never been in the mood to enjoy the view.

This company truly had no days off; the dorms were inside the building, and if an instance led during the day hadn't concluded, one had to continue managing it on the office computer after returning to the dorm.

For someone like Zhang Anzai, whose working time was nearly up, he couldn't sleep; he had to work overtime.

Tossing his company-issued uniform jacket onto the bed, Zhang Anzai closed the door, turned on his dorm computer, and browsed the internal employee purchase page.

This was the only supernatural aspect of their existence as the artificial system for the reincarnation game. It was divided into several pages, allowing them to buy items using the employee points earned from completing tasks.

He first looked at the personal category, which contained many strange and mysterious items, resembling a player's shop.

There were Symbiotic Gu Insects that enhanced energy and triggered short bursts of physical power, Ghost Tattoos shaped like Horse-Face Yin Messengers that could modify the body, and all sorts of bizarre enhancement items and equipment.

Their dog-headed team leader had likely transformed himself into that state using some kind of item.

However, bottom-tier employees like them had no opportunity to consider self-improvement; most simply scrolled down, just as he did, to the personal supplies section.

"[Ox-Horse Marching Pill](Replenishes enough nutrition to sustain 24 hours of work and temporarily suppresses fatigue and the desire to sleep.)"

"Price: 10 Employee Points."

During break times, although the company provided an employee cafeteria, most people—unlike high-level employees like their team leader or top performers who achieved ultra-high quotas—used this stuff to fill their stomachs, just like him.

This was already an upgraded version; the original Ox-Horse Pill didn't have any refreshing effects and merely provided basic nutrition.

Swallowing the tasteless Ox-Horse Pill in one gulp, Zhang Anzai switched to the work page.

This was the section they browsed most frequently.

The biggest difference between them as administrators and the quest systems of ordinary games was that they could purchase auxiliary items here to assist players in their exploration.

For example, their most commonly used item: "[Level 1 Shadow Paper](Can leave behind hint information that does not involve critical dungeon exploration, expressed in the form of fables or poetry, not exceeding 20 characters.)"

"Price: 10 Employee Points."

Bottom-tier employees like them could basically only afford things like this.

Yet, the players were all so incompetent that this item, along with other small supplies in the same price range, was essentially meaningless—which was why high ratings were mostly dependent on player quality.

Of course, powerful auxiliary items existed; if one had enough money, an administrator could even purchase an Admin Proxy Talisman to teleport directly into the dungeon to assist.

Naturally, setting aside the price, bottom-tier employees like them were no different from ordinary people; if they actually went in, they would just be cannon fodder.

What Zhang Anzai had his eyes on was an item that had the potential to fundamentally change this situation.

"[Advanced Player Matching Order](Matches you with a new player possessing a Grade C talent or higher to initiate a dungeon.)"

"Price: 100 Employee Points."

That's right, work opportunities had to be fought for; wanted a high rating? Just pay your wages back to the company, and they would match you with a capable newcomer.

After buying this, Zhang Anzai was left with only five points, barely enough to do anything, but based on his current experience, fundamentally improving the player's level was the most likely way for him to survive.

More importantly, he only had five hours left, and medium-to-long dungeons were unlikely to be completed in that time. Among all dungeons, only a newcomer's tutorial dungeon was guaranteed to be short, so he had no choice but to buy this.

"Successfully purchased and used [Advanced Player Matching Order]. Waiting for player matching and character creation."

Seeing this notification, Zhang Anzai closed his eyes to wait.

"Ding!" A message notification sounded. Zhang Anzai opened his eyes, only to discover it wasn't coming from the computer, but from his phone.

The company provided them with work phones so they could work even when not at their desks.

It was past 10 PM, and a message at this hour was likely either useless work reports or the higher-ups barking again.

Zhang Anzai sighed and opened his phone, only to freeze in place.

Right there on his home screen, alongside his work apps, a brand-new application had appeared.

A black and orange icon with three bold characters: [Ancient Shadow Records]

"Holy crap! I've become a player!?"