Lin Zhao suddenly didn't feel like caring about Zhang Anzai anymore. She didn't even want to talk to him for at least the rest of the morning, even though he'd treated her to breakfast.
And remembering that he'd claimed a meal allowance because of it only made her angrier.
Zhang Anzai understood how she felt. It was like being torn between not wanting your buddy to suffer and not wanting him to drive a Range Rover:
"Can't be helped. What can I say? I'm just that outstanding."
Now that he'd completed this mission, he was among the fastest to finish his probation in all of Group 7—possibly even among all the new hires.
He was already Employee 01 in Group 7, but that was just a number. The few dozen employees ahead of him, including Lin Zhao, had all joined at the same time as he had, yet he'd left them far behind. Everyone else had completed, at most, nearly half their probation requirements.
"But I'll probably be stuck here for a while. At least a day or two..." Zhang Anzai slumped over his desk, his head turned toward the screen.
That was right: the side effects of the Ox-Horse Liver-Exploding Pill had finally kicked in. When it said "weakness," it meant real weakness, from the inside out.
Zhang Anzai felt so drained that if he said he'd realized there was no point in working hard, and that the 500 points he'd earned last night came from some rich company lady, people would believe him.
Of course, the main reason was that the dungeon had put him under enormous mental strain, on top of the physical toll. He'd also had to split his attention and switch back and forth, which made it even more exhausting.
Fortunately, his efforts had paid off. He wouldn't have to worry about his performance for the next two weeks, and could slack off in the meantime.
That is, once he'd written his report.
"That player from last time again? They managed to clear such a complicated dungeon? What a find."
After such a complicated clear, Zhang Anzai had plenty of grievances to vent. So when Lin Zhao asked what kind of dungeon had earned him another above-average rating, he gave her a rough rundown.
Making wires by hand with an item, uncovering the mystery behind Chen Xing's mechanics, and surviving an entire night while fleeing from evil spirits—each of those feats made Lin Zhao envious.
"Players with high IQs really are impressive..." Lin Zhao watched another team of players who didn't look particularly bright and shut her eyes in despair.
"Let's not get carried away." Zhang Anzai calmly replied as he wrote his report.
Lin Zhao looked so envious she could've separated into two layers. Hearing him say that only made her angrier. "You got carried by a top player and you're still showing off?"
Zhang Anzai replied, "We explored the dungeon together, after all."
Truthfully, Lin Zhao knew that given the circumstances Zhang Anzai had described, even a smart, calm player couldn't have cleared it alone. The memory alterations alone would've been enough to trip up countless people.
Zhang Anzai also knew that this report of his would attract a lot of attention.
The rating was only above average, but the dungeon's difficulty was still terrifyingly high.
And this wasn't an isolated case. When the higher-ups heard that the player who'd cleared the Mountain Peddler dungeon last time was the same person, they'd be sure to pay close attention.
But it wasn't a problem. He'd already thought through what to say.
Along with the report, he was also submitting the personal information of the player [Fate Controller].
It listed only a name, with no image. The inheritance was recorded as True-Form Scissors, and the player had no skills or items yet. As for the talent, he'd made up a version.
He knew very well how the company evaluated players. Individual ability mattered, but inheritance carried more weight.
In fact, that was how a player's overall strength was composed. Individual ability could greatly aid exploration, but once a powerful inheritance developed, it could make up for almost any shortcoming.
But the inheritance he'd listed, True-Form Scissors, was rather ordinary.
So, despite the player's astonishing performance in these two dungeons, once he submitted this information, the higher-ups would see them as an intelligence-based strategist and wouldn't pay them much attention.
"The company doesn't have the authority to access players' personal information without permission. Even if they find my player account through internal channels, they'll still have to go through me.
"Even if they guess that the real inheritance is being concealed, that's the player's choice. They still can't do anything about it."
What Zhang Anzai had done was perfectly normal. They'd all been new hires once, and it wasn't easy to find a promising player. Who would go around bragging about finding one? What if your boss threw resources at them and tried to poach them from you?
Besides, promising players weren't stupid. An innocent man could get into trouble because of his riches. Inheritances could be stolen, so it was hardly unusual for players to conceal theirs.
"Settlement bonus: 260!" Zhang Anzai was rather surprised. Uploading player information didn't earn a bonus, so the points must have all come from the dungeon information.
"But I suppose it makes sense. I must've been the first one to clear this dungeon again. If someone else had cleared it, surely someone would've mentioned how awful it was by now."
Zhang Anzai let out a long breath. "Now I can afford to pay for those services..."
Having just accomplished another major task, Zhang Anzai knew his superiors would be keeping an eye on him. Their conversations would most likely amount to little more than a chat and a probe for information, but he still had plenty of important things to do.
"You finished lunch. You're not going straight back to work again, are you?" Lin Zhao watched Zhang Anzai polish off his meal in just a few bites.
But Zhang Anzai shook his head.
"After watching that dungeon last night, I think I might've been affected. I need to go to the Logistics Department. Also... I've earned quite a lot of Employee Points lately, so I bought a few things. I need to try them out in the training room."
At the first part of his answer, Lin Zhao immediately grew alert. "You've been contaminated?"
Zhang Anzai shook his head. "Not sure. It shouldn't be anything like a curse, probably just a bit of residual influence."
Lin Zhao nodded. "Be careful. Take care of it as soon as you can. I'll go save you a spot in the training room."
Zhang Anzai gave her an okay.
Lin Zhao wasn't going out of her way to do him a favor.
Being a new hire at the company was hard, but there were opportunities too. Everyone's circumstances were different. Not long after Lin Zhao had joined the company, she'd started making a special trip to the training room after lunch. Maybe she'd gotten something out of it early on.
Zhang Anzai said nothing more. After finishing his last few bites, he left the cafeteria and got on the elevator.
As it traveled upward, the screen displayed the different floors assigned to various departments.
Employees had different access permissions, and could only go to certain floors. As new administrators, they generally didn't visit many places apart from the floors for administrators.
Human Resources, Finance, and Internal Oversight had nothing to do with them at this stage.
The Archives and Planning departments knew a lot about the dungeons, which could actually help with their work. But without approval from a supervisor, they generally couldn't go to those departments.
The Logistics Department was an exception. It had the most employees, many different groups, and a wide range of responsibilities.
The cafeteria, for one, seemed to be run by them.
And the place Zhang Anzai was heading to now was also part of the Logistics Department.
The company's floors weren't numbered. They were always designated by function. Zhang Anzai stood in the elevator for a moment, and the screen displayed: "[Logistics · Medical Group]."
Before you continue