Allowance, Promotion Review—You Really Showed Off, Kid

Zhang Anzai forced himself to stay calm under everyone's gazes. "Damn it, they did that on purpose, didn't they? Sounds like they're about to praise me, so why drag out the buildup for so long?"

After that whole string of evaluations, Zhang Anzai had nearly thought he was about to be dragged out and scolded as a negative example.

"However, the dungeon he received a middling rating in was the infamous [Folk Taboo: Midnight Mountain Peddler]." Xu Xinhai finally revealed the reason.

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room turned strange. Rather than envy or jealousy, everyone was mostly stunned.

"That dungeon can actually be cleared by humans?"

"And he even got a middling rating."

"Of course it was a middling rating. Doesn't that monster either run away or instantly kill you?"

No one seemed to care how much Zhang Anzai had actually contributed. The sour-grape types did not even have time to be jealous; everyone was too curious about how the dungeon had been cleared.

Xu Xinhai continued, "From your reactions, you all know how difficult that dungeon is. It is usually matched with newcomers, yet its difficulty is astonishing.

"And I should add that you may not have encountered this, but the Mountain Peddler within it does not appear in just that one dungeon. It also shows up in many advanced and even nightmare-level dungeons.

"But so far, even the full-time employees have gathered very little information about it. And Zhang Anzai..."

Even Zhang Anzai was dumbfounded. "So I'm actually that awesome? This monster is some kind of recurring guest star, and even high-level players can't handle it? Then why the hell does it go bully newcomers in beginner dungeons? What a bastard."

Xu Xinhai went on, "Since it was a newcomer dungeon, no recording was left behind. But everyone knows what that dungeon is like. Without administrator assistance, it is very difficult for players to clear it on their own.

"Moreover, after the dungeon ended, that newcomer gave Zhang Anzai a positive review. Clearly, he contributed a great deal to this mission."

Applause broke out in the room again. This time, it was much more genuine, with far fewer sour-grape types. Most people could only marvel, "Damn..."

Even Lin Zhao beside him was stunned. "The dungeon you got matched with last night was the Mountain Peddler? How did you clear it? Did you run into some insanely strong expert?"

Zhang Anzai turned to her and modestly replied, "Basic stuff. No big deal. That player and I, well, we helped each other succeed."

There was nothing wrong with that. The administrator side assisted the player side; he himself had played both client and contractor. Wasn't that mutual success? When working, the roles had to be clearly defined.

Next, Xu Xinhai announced something rather important:

"As encouragement, after internal discussion, we have decided to grant Jiang Pan a meal allowance of 300 points. Zhang Anzai will receive a meal allowance of 100 points, and this mission will count toward his promotion performance evaluation.

"In other words, Zhang Anzai only needs to complete half of his remaining promotion quota to become a full-time employee. I hope everyone follows their example and keeps up the good work. That is all."

The room applauded again, and Zhang Anzai clapped especially hard. "Wise leadership! May our leaders enjoy excellent health!"

He had not expected happiness to come so suddenly. "Sure enough, good people get rewarded. Clearing such a difficult dungeon wasn't for nothing."

With that matter settled, the meeting ended as well. It was already ten at night, time to get off work, and everyone dispersed.

Zhang Anzai had originally wanted to find some acquaintances and show off a little more, but his team leader called him away.

When one of their members was praised, the Dog-Head Team Leader acted as though he had personally accomplished the deed. After a round of meaningless encouragement and self-praise, one part praising Zhang Anzai was mixed with six parts bragging about himself, while the remaining three parts were just PUA to make Zhang Anzai keep working hard.

Zhang Anzai decisively switched into his "yeah, yeah, you're right" mode, hoping to leave sooner. Otherwise, even the good mood from receiving his reward would be ruined.

"Honestly, I'm impressed. Even in a company like this, the leaders are still the same kind of assholes. He probably worked his way up from being an administrator too. He should have been here for a long time, so how did he learn to act so much like an outside-world manager?"

Grumbling to himself, Zhang Anzai finally escaped and stepped outside. As he glanced toward their group's office, he saw Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao seemed to have run back to check on the dungeon's status. After confirming that nothing had gone wrong, she was about to leave.

"Oh, getting praised again?" Lin Zhao looked at him as though he had become a stranger. "You did something this big and kept it to yourself just so you could show off now?"

Zhang Anzai laughed at her slightly puffed-up expression. "I don't have that kind of weird hobby. Besides, I never planned to hide it from you. I was writing the work report right beside you this morning. You just didn't see it."

The two walked down the corridor and chatted for a while about the dungeon. "Tsk, it isn't easy for a newcomer to accept so quickly that they've entered an infinite-flow world. And they were even able to start figuring out how to clear it so fast. That's amazing."

Zhang Anzai secretly felt pleased. "Don't praise me. I'll start floating."

It truly was not easy to do something like that. Ordinary people were nowhere near as mentally resilient as they imagined themselves to be.

Perhaps they feared nothing in everyday life and had no obvious phobias, but in a pitch-black, utterly unfamiliar environment, instinctive unease would still arise.

Many people read webnovels every day and had already imagined all sorts of scenarios, but if they really encountered supernatural phenomena, their first reaction would definitely be panic.

Even if they could accept it, it would still be difficult to maintain the focus needed for exploration while excited.

Zhang Anzai was not worried. He had already prepared a cover story for the player side, as well as what he would tell others.

The most troublesome part of that dungeon was making newcomers adapt quickly, get into the right state, and sneak away silently. But the method of clearing it was not particularly difficult—just quietly run away.

He decided that he would tell everyone the player had a Class B Calmness talent and an exceptionally steady mindset, so under his guidance and callouts from a third-person perspective, the player had successfully escaped.

"So strong... I hope I get matched with an expert like that too. I don't want to guide another useless player even once." Lin Zhao sighed sincerely.

After joining the company, Zhang Anzai had not felt this relaxed in a long time. "Are you going for a late-night snack again?"

Lin Zhao had poor eating habits. Before coming here, she had stayed up almost every night, often working until midnight before sleeping until noon, so she had developed the habit of eating late-night snacks. Even after starting here—despite getting up at seven in the morning and becoming used to breakfast—she had not changed it.

"Yeah. I made plans with that senior from Group 4 we mentioned before. You..."

"Can I come?" Zhang Anzai asked.

"Huh?" Lin Zhao froze for a moment. She had invited Zhang Anzai several times before, but he had always been barely scraping by and reluctant to spend points on food, so he had never gone.

Still, the change was not strange now. "Oh, right, I forgot you got a 100-point meal allowance!" Lin Zhao gave him a look full of envy and resentment toward the rich.

Zhang Anzai said, "Haha, I'll treat you. You brought me dinner tonight, after all."

"That's what I was waiting to hear." Lin Zhao declared fiercely, "I'm definitely going to eat you broke."

The two headed toward the cafeteria, but Zhang Anzai was actually thinking, "Sure enough, this girl's personality is suited for socializing. A senior from Group 4, huh? Perfect. There's a lot I want to ask."