Jian Li

Yan Fushou's shock was perfectly normal.

Though it was a civilian dungeon, he had not treated it casually. The two people he had sent were both top-tier players, and one of them even possessed a chosen talent—far stronger than Zhao Heng.

Yet those two people had actually failed to clear a civilian dungeon?

Hearing the director's shocked question, one of the two people standing before the desk—a man who looked like an overworked office drone—lowered his head in shame.

The other man, however, was an entirely different sort.

He had a round face and looked like an underage high school student. His long hair was tied into a ponytail, giving him the air of an edgy teenage boy.

At that moment, his face was full of arrogance. Though he had no grounds to stand on, he spoke with complete confidence in the face of the director's questioning.

"It's not my fault! The designer has something wrong with their brain!"

"...I can understand the dungeon's plot development. I can understand being constantly chased by that crazy woman. I can even understand nearly having to eat raw intestines with shit still in them. But hide-and-seek? That's just torturing people! How old are we? Why are we playing hide-and-seek?!"

"I was disgusted! It wasn't that I couldn't beat them."

"And I wasn't afraid of that big, strong old man either. I'm eighteen—why would I be scared of an old man? He just kept appearing and disappearing. He was a little hard to deal with, that's all."

"..."

He kept rambling on, endlessly making excuses.

Yan Fushou had long since grown accustomed to this subordinate's style. Through his stubborn denials and excuses, he pieced together the situation in the dungeon.

During this time, the other man also spoke up to add some details.

As Yan Fushou listened, his expression gradually turned strange. "What's the situation on the forums?"

The baby-faced high school boy was still stubbornly defending himself and did not listen to a word Yan Fushou said.

The other man had clearly checked the forums after leaving the dungeon, and he answered Yan Fushou's question.

After hearing him out, Yan Fushou leaned back in his chair, his brows knitting together. "So it wasn't an imitation, but an original S-rank civilian dungeon. And it's extremely difficult to clear. Even Zhao Heng and you two couldn't clear it... I misjudged it."

He suddenly realized that the civilian dungeon called [Resident Evil], along with the architect who had created it, was even more impressive than he had imagined.

"It's not that I couldn't clear it."

At that moment, the baby-faced high school boy argued again.

"Enough, Wei Yidong. We know you can clear it. Shut up."

Yan Fushou raised his head and pointed at the door. "And get out."

Wei Yidong muttered a few words and turned to leave.

But after thinking for a moment, Yan Fushou called after him again. "Wait. Go get Jian Li."

"What if she refuses to come? I can't beat her."

"Then die in front of her!"

"No!"

"Tell her the director wants to see her! It's an urgent matter! Get lost! Go!"

"Okay."

Ten minutes later.

The door opened. Yan Fushou looked away from the forum, rubbed his temples, and raised his head.

A girl who looked about the same age as Lu Xiu, around eighteen or nineteen, slowly walked in.

Her face was exquisitely beautiful, her features so delicate they seemed meticulously sculpted. Her contours were soft, her nose straight and fine, her lips pale and clean. Silver hair like moonlight condensed into strands fell smoothly past her waist, swaying lightly with her steps and making her clear black-and-white eyes seem even more limpid.

The girl was slender but not frail, her curves already distinct and her waist exceptionally narrow. She wore a simple white short-sleeved shirt, clean and neat, along with a black pleated skirt that fell to mid-thigh. Beneath the hem, her long legs were white as snow, gleaming faintly under the lights with the lustrous glow of the finest jade.

"What is it."

The girl stopped before the desk, looked at Yan Fushou, and asked.

Her voice was ethereal, but her tone was like stagnant water, utterly without fluctuation.

Yan Fushou was clearly already used to her temperament and got straight to the point. "Jian Li, there's a mission..."

Before he could finish, the girl named Jian Li shook her head directly. "Not going."

"Listen to me first. I'm not asking you to enter the SSS-rank dungeon [Island]. It's this."

Yan Fushou helplessly rubbed his hair, then turned the forum page before him toward her. "A new dungeon, and it's a civilian dungeon. It's called [Resident Evil]. Most players who have been there say it isn't simply difficult. Take a look and see whether you're interested."

"..."

Jian Li did not respond. She quietly looked at the translucent screen before her, its light reflected in her clear black-and-white eyes. Her expression remained blank, and it was impossible to tell how much she had taken in.

After a while.

Her slender fingers swiped through the air twice, opening a post with an extremely high number of replies.

Yan Fushou waited quietly, looking at the girl's snow-white hair as he sighed inwardly.

Honestly, whether it was Jian Li or Wei Yidong, they were both just children in his eyes.

If the world hadn't been gamified...

Jian Li suddenly looked away and said two words. "I'm going."

"Hm?"

Yan Fushou's thoughts were no longer coherent. He was just about to say something else.

But Jian Li directly pushed the forum window aside, then opened her system panel. Her fingertips tapped rapidly as she expertly found the instance library, paid the survival points, and entered an instance.

The entire process was crisp and decisive, taking less than five seconds.

The next moment, she turned into a cluster of white light and vanished from the office.

"..."

Yan Fushou looked at the empty office and rubbed his brow.

These troublesome children—on one hand, they made people feel sorry for them; on the other, they gave people headaches. When they didn't want to go, no amount of persuasion would work. But when they wanted to go, they made no preparations at all and went immediately.

She should at least have asked Wei Yidong, who hadn't cleared it, before going.

Forget it.

Yan Fushou lowered his hand and stopped thinking about it.

He had great confidence in Jian Li. If it was only an S-rank instance, clearing it definitely wouldn't be a problem.

Her personality, however, was a major problem.

Was she willing to go because Resident Evil was an instance with intense emotional stimulation?

...She really was a child.

Thinking about the troublesome children in the Strategy Group gave Yan Fushou more and more of a headache, so he simply stopped thinking about it. He reached out and pulled back the window Jian Li had just moved aside, then glanced once more at the forum full of complaints. Muttering to himself, he said, "I really didn't expect it. Such an impressive constructor actually appeared... They can even create S-rank instances from original work. We need to send someone to contact them several more times. Also, have someone search the ID database and see whether there's any record. It would be best if we could find them directly."

With that said, he shook his head, closed the forum window, and picked up the documents on the desk again.

There was no rush.

Although a constructor capable of creating S-rank instances from original work was impressive, it was still unknown what rewards their original instance would give. There was no reason for him, as the person in charge of the Strategy Group, to hurriedly make arrangements.

There were far too many matters more important than finding that constructor right now.

For example, the progress of clearing the SSS-rank instance, or instance arrangements for the frontline soldiers.

There were countless loose ends.

Compared with those matters, finding that constructor truly wasn't urgent.