Promotion

Chapter 33: Promotion

Because the old man's granddaughter was overly traumatized, she had already been carried out of the carriage, so no one witnessed this incredible scene.

In less than a minute, the old man discovered that his bleeding had stopped under the influence of the miraculous medicinal powder. Soon after, fresh, pink flesh began to grow; although the wound still looked ghastly, his life was no longer in danger.

Miraculous!

The old man looked up at his benefactor, his eyes filled with confusion, but even more so with gratitude. If not for him, this old life of his would have been forfeit right here.

"Rest well for a few days and you'll be fine!" Li Wei looked at the healing wound, and the stone in his heart finally dropped.

Just moments ago, in his desperation, he had suddenly remembered he still had one last bottle of Golden Sore Medicine. Since this item came from the Shadow Street story world, he hadn't known if it would have the same effect in the real world.

Now it was clear that the medicine was effective, but the result itself left Li Wei astonished. Combined with the fact that he had just crushed finger-shaped indentations into a metal handrail with his bare hands—feats clearly exceeding the conventional understanding of this world—Li Wei reached a startling conclusion: everything from Shadow Street remained effective in the real world.

However, the last time he returned to reality, his strength hadn't changed much at all!

Seeing that the old man was out of danger, Li Wei stood up and prepared to leave. It was clearly not the right time to stay; if the paramedics arrived, he wouldn't know how to explain the old man's rapidly healing wound to them.

It was wiser to slip away early.

"Young man, wait! What is your name?" Seeing his savior preparing to leave without a word, the old man grew anxious. He tried to sit up but felt dizzy from the blood loss, so he hurriedly called out.

As if he would leave his name.

Figuring out whether the powers from Shadow Street could truly be used in the real world was the priority, so Li Wei ignored the old man's shouts and walked straight out of the carriage.

A few minutes later, police cars and ambulances arrived late. Several people dressed as doctors rushed into the carriage and were stunned to see the old man sitting on the floor.

"Didn't they say there was an elderly man with a severe injury? Where is he?"

The kind-hearted people who had called for the ambulance also crowded around, only to find the man who had been on the verge of death sitting there as if nothing had happened.

"Is... is that him?"

Upon receiving confirmation from the crowd, the paramedics were also stunned. However, they still possessed basic professional ethics and quickly stepped forward to examine the old man. Before long, they reached a conclusion that left everyone in disbelief.

The old man only had minor abrasions and was in no danger of losing his life!

What the hell!

Although the onlookers were full of questions, seeing that the old man was fine, they didn't press the matter. When the granddaughter saw her grandfather had recovered, she wiped her tears and smiled. Perhaps only the old man himself understood what had actually happened.

"Grandpa, are you alright?" The young girl wanted to check the wound on his abdomen, but the old man pressed her hand down.

"We'll talk when we get home!" That was all the old man said.

Setting aside the handling of the accident, the old man didn't even go to the hospital with the medical staff. Instead, he boarded a black luxury sedan that had arrived shortly after and left the scene.

The police officers on duty were shocked when they saw the license plate of the black sedan. They stood at attention, their faces filled with awe, clearly recognizing the status of the person inside.

Inside the car, the old man dialed a number.

"Old Wang, it's me... Could I ask you for a favor? No... it's just a small matter. Help me look into someone..."

Li Wei stepped into the office building; exactly five minutes had passed.

From the accident scene, Li Wei had sprinted the entire way. He had covered the full three-kilometer distance in just five minutes. Not only that, but his body, which should have been exhausted after such intense exertion, was only slightly out of breath.

It was incredible. Li Wei knew that based on his current four attributes—Strength, Agility, Spirit, and Stamina—he had reached three times the level of an average person. Just now, while passing a parking lot, he had seen that no one was around and deliberately lifted a small car with his hands. Although it was only a dozen centimeters off the ground, it was a concrete manifestation of his strength.

However, this had indeed only happened after this return to the real world. How could the powers gained in Shadow Street be usable in reality?

Li Wei inadvertently used the internal energy technique of "inner vision" to check his Dantian. As a result, he saw a vortex of true energy rotating within his body. Without a doubt, this was the "Innate Skill" he had been cultivating.

If that was the case, then Precision, Shooting Mastery, Art of Stacking, and Eye of Perception should also be usable!

As if to verify his hypothesis, Li Wei followed the method from Shadow Street and cast the "Eye of Perception" skill on a building security guard.

"Human, Strength 4, Agility 3, Spirit 2, Stamina 3, Rating: G!"

It was just as he thought!

There was no need to test the other skills; they would likely work as well. But why?

Why could Shadow Street skills be used in the real world? Was it only him, or could everyone from Shadow Street do it?

Thinking of a massive crowd of "supermen" with enhanced bodies using various skills on the streets of the real world made Li Wei's scalp tingle. This was definitely not a good sign. If those with malicious intent relied on their own immense power to commit crimes, there would likely be no one in the real world capable of stopping them—not even the police or the military!

Another thing that concerned Li Wei was the suddenly surging number of people in Shadow Street. It had only been a few days since the last mission, and there were already newcomers with serial numbers in the tens of thousands. At this rate, the numbers would surely reach a million within a month.

If these million people were released into the real world, Li Wei couldn't even imagine the severe consequences.

But worry was just worry; Li Wei was no savior, and he couldn't manage that much. Even if such things happened, as long as he possessed unrivaled power, he imagined no one would dare to bully him.

Rushing into the office, Li Wei checked the clock on the wall. It was just right; he wasn't late.

However, there was a different atmosphere in the office than usual. Every gaze directed at Li Wei carried a sense of flattery, sycophancy, and even fawning. Not to mention others, even the front desk receptionist, Xiao Wang, who usually didn't even look at Li Wei, puffed out her full chest and winked at him.

What was going on?

Usually, Li Wei only saw this kind of look when a manager-level figure arrived, and it was certainly never directed at him. However, Li Wei didn't ask.

Just because he didn't ask didn't mean no one would speak!

The first one to lose her composure was the receptionist, Xiao Wang. She gave a charming smile first, then said to Li Wei in a voice so sweet it made his teeth ache: "Manager Li, good morning!"

Manager Li?

"Who?"

Li Wei instinctively looked back, but there was no one there. He looked at Xiao Wang again, and seeing her eyes were indeed fixed on him, he finally realized.

"Miss Wang, are you calling me?"

"Manager Li, you really know how to joke. Of course I'm calling you! And please, just call me Xiao Wang from now on!" Seeing Li Wei respond, she leaned in closer, and a wave of perfume instantly washed over him.

Upon asking, Li Wei learned that he had been promoted by the head office to be the manager here. How did this happen? Even if it were a normal promotion, they should have notified him first. And what about Fat Pig Zhang—no, Zhang Dequan—who was the manager before?

"Oh, right, Manager Li, people from the head office are here, waiting in your office!" The receptionist, Xiao Wang, pointed with a finger painted in bright red polish toward the room marked 'Manager's Office' and pursed her lips.

Li Wei nodded, thinking to himself that this was perfect; he wanted to see exactly why the head office had made this move.

Pushing open the office door, Li Wei saw a man and a woman sitting on the sofa chatting. When they saw him enter, they both shifted their gazes toward him.

"You..." Li Wei recognized a familiar face.

The woman was wearing a well-fitted professional suit, her long, jet-black hair neatly pinned back. Her oval face, devoid of makeup, featured large eyes that were fixed on Li Wei with a smile. There was a hint of worry in her gaze, but as soon as she saw Li Wei, that trace of concern vanished into thin air.

Who else could it be but Zheng Yutong?

It seemed she had also successfully completed her mission. That made sense; she was a C3-level powerhouse. Furthermore, in the plot world, Li Wei had killed the Undead army's supreme commander, Sand. With the Undead leaderless, they would naturally be crushed by the human army, thus completing the mission to Reclaim Dawn City.

Seeing that this woman was safe and sound, the stone that had been weighing on Li Wei's heart finally dropped. Because others were present, Li Wei only nodded at the beautiful woman before shifting his gaze to the other man.

"Huh!"

Another familiar face!

This man was the arrogant perpetrator who had been driving a luxury sports car and flipped a bus that morning. Clearly, his status was extraordinary; otherwise, how could he have been 'released' so quickly?

Li Wei remembered very clearly that this 'rich second-generation' had been taken into a police car in public. Even if his background was special, the speed at which the police had 'released' him was just too fast!

Setting aside Li Wei's internal thoughts, Zheng Yutong and the 'rich second-generation' (let's call him that for now) spoke up. It turned out both were management personnel from the head office—one an assistant, the other a marketing manager. Their purpose here was to announce the head office's latest appointment.

"Employee Li Wei has been diligent and responsible during his tenure, demonstrating outstanding ability. His last project budget proposal received praise from the head office. Furthermore, as the former branch manager Zhang Dequan has been missing for three days, the company has decided to appoint Li Wei as the manager of the T City branch!"

Fat Pig Zhang was missing?

Li Wei thought about it; he hadn't seen him for a few days, indeed. But Li Wei didn't care about the whereabouts of a man who was always working against him—perhaps he had jumped ship.

Zheng Yutong closed the appointment letter and handed it to Li Wei. Although she had countless questions she wanted to ask the man before her, she knew now was not the time.

"Thank you, Assistant Zheng... thank you, uh, who is this?" Li Wei put on a show of gratitude, but he realized he didn't know the 'rich second-generation's' name and got stuck for a moment.

"I forgot to introduce him. This is Guo Ming, the marketing manager from the head office!" Zheng Yutong stepped in to save Li Wei from the awkward situation.

"Nice to meet you, Manager Guo!" After a polite handshake with the 'rich second-generation,' Li Wei tactfully offered to treat them to a meal. Having worked for a few years, Li Wei had learned a thing or two about workplace etiquette and rules.

Manager-level salaries were quite high, so Li Wei appeared extremely generous, even though he thoroughly disliked the rich kid named Guo Ming.

To his surprise, the 'rich second-generation' didn't appreciate the gesture at all. He glanced at Li Wei before leaning in toward Zheng Yutong.

"Yutong, I came to this branch because you were coming. How about it? Do you have time now? There's a decent Italian restaurant nearby, and I'm very close with the head chef. Let's have lunch there..."

He clearly didn't take Li Wei seriously at all, and a row of black lines appeared on Li Wei's forehead.

"Young Master Guo, it is currently working hours. Also, please don't call me Yutong in the future; we aren't that close!"

This response made Li Wei feel great. Even a fool could see that this rich kid was trying to pursue Zheng Yutong, but unfortunately, she had no interest in him.

A flash of barely perceptible malice crossed Guo Ming's eyes, but he continued to pester Zheng Yutong, leaving Li Wei standing there feeling quite out of place. Honestly, he hated this Guo Ming. Based solely on his actions that morning, Li Wei had the urge to beat him up, but for now, he decided he should just step out for a while.

Thinking this, Li Wei prepared to turn and leave, but to his shock, Zheng Yutong, who seemed annoyed by the rich kid, made a move that left him stunned.

She walked over to Li Wei in a few steps and reached out to hook her arm through his.

"Young Master Guo, I forgot to tell you—I have a boyfriend!"