Dual Identities, Double Settlement

Zhang Anzai's player body was suddenly forced upright and pulled into a strange space.

Above him was a gray, murky sky, while his feet stood in endless pitch-black river water.

This was the river that bore reflections, and also the place where settlements were carried out.

Ripples spread across the river before him:

"Evaluation of this reflection exploration: Average."

"Boundary Walker, you have successfully explored a reflection for the first time and brought back a few things from it."

"Obtained: Old Dust x300"

"Rest time awarded: 7 days (you may enter early or spend Old Dust to extend it)."

"No additional gains were obtained during this exploration."

Looking at the words, Zhang Anzai calmed himself down. He had finally survived his first mission. Though the difficulty had been absurdly high and he had spent the whole time running without grabbing anything else, it did not matter much.

Because the most important reward after a beginner instance ended was not found inside the instance, but in...

"You, who have walked through a reflection of the past, have attracted the attention of certain mysterious beings."

When Zhang Anzai saw this, three enormous ripples suddenly appeared in the black water before him, and three strange figures quickly emerged from them.

Zhang Anzai knew this process. It was about to grant him beginner benefits, as well as his future game class.

The three figures were covered in black river water, leaving only their rough outlines visible.

On the left was a shriveled little old man leaning out of a cart filled with bamboo slips, half of which was exposed above the water. His face seemed to have several mouths.

"It has taken note of your ordinary talent and mediocre learning, but you are Calm and Composed and quick with your tongue. It is willing to pass on the Ability of False Words and Filthy Speech to you."

Zhang Anzai turned his head. "You came to give me something, so why are you insulting me too...?"

The one in the middle struck a particularly arrogant pose. Beneath his muscular body was a human chair formed by two emaciated people, yet his head resembled both an ox and a horse.

"It has taken note of your average ability, but your future holds promise. You are also Indefatigable, and it is willing to pass on the Ox-Horse Offering Shrine to you."

Zhang Anzai could not even be bothered to look at the strange black-jade shrine in its hand. "I know that sales pitch better than you do. My real body is trapped at the company, and now my player side has to get CPU'd too. I might as well consider becoming a wild monster..."

The last one finally looked much more normal. It was a tall, thin humanoid in a long robe trailing across the ground. Its proportions were strange from how skinny it was: over three meters tall, with two bamboo-pole-like arms holding out a long shovel toward Zhang Anzai.

"He has taken note of your ability to travel between two worlds. Though you have only just entered, you have long understood the Reflected World. He is willing to pass on the Ability to Excavate Past Relics to you."

Zhang Anzai raised his brows. "Here it comes!"

Having guided beginners through instances before, he was no stranger to claiming beginner rewards. There were two factors to consider when choosing a class: performance in the beginner instance, and one's existing personal panel.

The first two had clearly been drawn to his writing ability and his resistance to pressure.

But those two talents were only D-rank. They were not particularly rare traits either, so they probably would not attract anything impressive.

The last one, however, was clearly related to his identity as a Two-World Walker. A higher foundation meant better starting benefits. Zhang Anzai had two cheat codes in total.

"Then it's you!" Zhang Anzai reached out and touched the black, pointed shovel with a wooden handle, roughly two meters long.

Pop! As though bubbles had suddenly burst, all three figures turned into splashes and vanished.

Zhang Anzai turned to look at the shovel clenched tightly in his hand. The ripples below clearly displayed its information.

"[Past-Time Shovel] (0.1 Integrity) (An ancient and mysterious item that seems connected to the River of the Past that produces reflections. Each time you complete an exploration of the Reflected World, you may use it to excavate once and obtain an item from the past.)"

Zhang Anzai understood at once, pleasantly surprised. "So I get one extra blind-box draw every time an instance settles. This ability is great."

Nothing about this class was clear yet, and its ability did not seem especially useful. But as an administrator, he knew exactly how special the strange things produced in instances were.

In the early stages, everyone's class proficiency was low, and they often had to rely on items. Being able to obtain extra rewards every time gave him far more chances to grow than others.

Besides, this was only its base state. Once he increased its integrity through future explorations, it could receive all kinds of enhancements and develop all sorts of new abilities. A class granted by an A-rank talent surely would not have a low ceiling.

"Does this excavation depend on the instance's contents...? That peddler had so many things on him this time. The randomness is a little too high."

After considering it, he decisively stabbed the shovel into the water beneath his feet, then heaved it upward. The river water below was bizarrely dug open in a huge chunk, and something slowly floated up.

The excavation was complete. The Past-Time Shovel automatically turned into a black shadow and merged into Zhang Anzai's own shadow. No other abilities had been unlocked. They would probably only appear during the next settlement.

Zhang Anzai did not mind. He picked up the item he had excavated and saw that it was the pair of scissors hanging behind the peddler's back: an ordinary old-fashioned iron pair, with large handles and small blades.

Zhang Anzai picked them up, then saw their description:

"[True-Form Scissors] (D-rank) Scissors once used by a gifted craftsman. They can temporarily grant what they cut the appearance and even characteristics of the real thing. Paper flowers become real flowers, and paper butterflies can fly.

Perhaps you have a bold idea. Perhaps so long as your craftsmanship is good enough, an idea can become more than just an idea.)"

"Turning fake objects real... a youth-version Magic Brush Ma Liang?" Zhang Anzai did not have time to think further. The settlement was complete, and the settlement space ejected him on its own.

After a wave of dizziness, Zhang Anzai's consciousness fully returned to his real body at the company.

He unconsciously moved his stiff limbs, then checked the game interface on his phone.

"Player: Zhang Anzai"

"Old Legacy: [Past-Time Shovel] (0.1 Integrity)."

"Old Dust: 300"

"Skills: None"

"Item: True-Form Scissors (D-rank)."

"Talents: Two-World Walker (A-rank), Literati (D-rank), Indefatigable (D-rank)."

"Remaining rest time: 6 days 23:59."

Zhang Anzai let out a long breath. "I really am no longer just a mission system watching from the sidelines..."

Zhang Anzai still found it hard to suppress his excitement. His unique identity could bring him far too many things.

Not to mention, when he turned to look at the computer screen, he still had another settlement to complete.

"Mission work completed: [Midnight Door-to-Door Mountain Peddler] (Average)"

"Employee Points awarded: 300."

"This week's performance has been completed. Remaining work time settled according to mission performance: 11.7 days."

Employee settlements were much simpler, without so many miscellaneous rewards. After all, the company was above them, and it was stingy.

After calculating it, Zhang Anzai found that he still only had 300 Employee Points. It was not especially much, but his remaining lifespan had shot up dramatically. He would not need to worry until the middle of the week after next.

Looking at the employee page, he realized that player settlements and employee settlements were actually rather similar. With an Average evaluation, the player received a week of rest, while the employee gained seven days of work time. Both the points and Old Dust rewards were 300.

"Put aside whatever reason lies behind this for now. At least no one else can collect from both sides like I can." Zhang Anzai checked all his gains once more, let out a long breath, and decisively fell backward.

After being tormented by the ghosts in the instance and precisely controlling his energy between two bodies, Zhang Anzai was exhausted beyond belief. Forget Ox-Horse Marching Pills—even Saiyan Marching Pills would not work.

Lying on the bed, he fell asleep almost immediately.

"You succeeded!" Lin Zhao would not worry all night over Zhang Anzai, whom she had known for less than half a month, but when she woke the next day and saw him still sitting at his workstation, the joy on her face was genuine.

"Looking at you, did you not sleep all night?"

Zhang Anzai nodded tiredly.

Last night's strain had far exceeded his expectations. He was still somewhat exhausted, but at least he had survived. The gloom no longer filled his face.

"It's a new week! Show some drive, all right? You're not working for me—you're working for yourselves! Woof! Stop complaining that players are weak and missions are difficult. Giving you work means giving you an opportunity. If you won't do it, plenty of others will..."

The Dog-Head Team Leader was still barking away nearby, but Zhang Anzai had no intention of paying attention. Instead, he focused on the interface before him.

"[Player Binding Card] (Forms a deep cooperative relationship between you and a player, permanently making you that player's administrator for every exploration.)"

"Price: 150 Employee Points."

"Purchased [Player Binding Card] and used it on player [Fate Controller]."

Zhang Anzai smoothly picked up his phone and opened the game page:

"Accepted the binding invitation sent by Group 7 administrator 01."