Bang!
The glass door slowly closed, shutting out the anxious gazes of Tang San and the others outside.
After upgrading to Lv3, the internet cafe had doubled in size.
What incredible spatial laws... It still looks exactly the same size from outside.
Qian Renxue narrowed her beautiful golden eyes slightly.
Hu Liena also dropped her seductive demeanor, a rare solemnity flashing in her foxlike eyes.
She could sense that, in this space, her charm skill could not even hypnotize a mosquito.
Only Xiao Wu looked around with open curiosity, her two fluffy rabbit ears twitching excitedly. "Wow, this place is beautiful! It's so much better than Shrek Academy's rundown wooden huts!"
"Ahem. Welcome to the Origin Internet Cafe."
Behind the counter, Lin Ye lounged lazily in his executive chair.
"Since you passed the system's strict bone structure scan, that proves your looks meet our minimum hiring standards! However..."
Lin Ye changed tack and spread his hands with perfect confidence. "I'm the boss! How could the boss personally do the grunt work of conducting interviews?"
"Please welcome our internet cafe's two star employees, who are also the chief interviewers today—Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong!"
Whoosh!
Two poised figures descended the spiral staircase from the second floor.
Zhu Zhuqing still wore her formfitting black stealth outfit, but now she had a little pink apron over it with "Origin cashier" printed on the front.
Beside her, Ning Rongrong swaggered along in an oversized leather jacket, a handwritten sign hanging on her chest: [Chief interviewer].
Smack!
Ning Rongrong slapped a thick stack of copies of the Origin Internet Cafe Employee Handbook onto the counter, planted her hands on her hips, and could not keep the corners of her mouth from rising.
Hahaha!
So these are Spirit Hall's young mistress and Holy Maiden?
In here, you both have to behave yourselves and be humble interviewees before me!
Ning Rongrong absolutely loved this intoxicating feeling of workplace bullying.
"Round one: the brutal workplace obedience test!"
Ning Rongrong pointed at Qian Renxue and Hu Liena. "I don't care whether you're a Holy Maiden or a young mistress outside. Here, your background means nothing! You have only one identity—an employee!"
"Now, listen to my first question. If shameless backseat gamers who have already been permanently banned press themselves against the glass door to sneak peeks at the big screen, disrupting our esteemed customers' browsing experience, how should you, as cafe attendants, handle them elegantly?"
Outside, Tang San and Dai Mubai, who had their faces pressed against the glass, shuddered in unison.
"Easy."
Hu Liena seductively brushed back the short hair beside her ear, her voice meltingly sweet. "Even without soul power, one look from me would make those two little boys obey and willingly get as far away as possible."
"Zero points!" Ning Rongrong ruthlessly marked a huge cross. "Using your sex appeal? This is a respectable internet cafe! Next!"
Qian Renxue frowned slightly. With her exalted identities as crown prince and young mistress, when had she ever dealt with street-level hooligans?
"Reform them with sacred words? Or... simply have the City Defense Army remove them?"
"Zero points for you too! An internet cafe needs efficient security. Calling the City Defense Army is beneath us!" Ning Rongrong shook her head smugly.
"Me, me!" Xiao Wu raised her hand excitedly, both rabbit ears standing straight up. "I'd charge outside and give each of them a perfect, devastating Eight-Stage Throw! Break their bones and toss them into Heaven Dou City's moat!"
Outside, Tang San clutched his neck in terror, while Dai Mubai backed away repeatedly in fright.
Xiao Wu! I sent you in to infiltrate them! Not to murder your own brother!
"Hmm... Violent, but it fits our internet cafe's spirit of fighting anyone who challenges us! Xiao Wu, ten points!" Ning Rongrong nodded in satisfaction.
"Next, question two."
Zhu Zhuqing, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke.
"One of a cafe attendant's core duties is providing customers with quality food and drinks! Tell me, if you were asked to prepare a bowl of Braised Beef Noodles, what would you do?"
Qian Renxue and Hu Liena exchanged bewildered looks.
Although Qian Renxue had visited many times in her crown prince identity and ordered a bowl of instant noodles each time, Zhu Zhuqing had always prepared them for her. She really had never paid attention to the process.
As for Hu Liena, an Archbishop personally cooked her daily meals. She did not even know what an ordinary iron pot looked like, let alone how to prepare instant noodles!
"Heat them with... pure angel sacred flame?" Qian Renxue ventured uncertainly.
"Or... charm the customer into preparing them themselves?" Hu Liena blinked guiltily.
"Ridiculous answers! Minus ten points!" Zhu Zhuqing coldly made two marks on the scoreboard.
"Ma'am! I know!" Xiao Wu proudly puffed out her chest. "Pour in freshly boiled water up to the line inside! Close the lid, weigh it down with something, and leave it for three and a half minutes! One second too long and they're mushy, one second too short and they're hard! Also, you must ask whether the customer wants a delicious sausage added!"
Fortunately, Tang San had carefully observed Zhu Zhuqing preparing noodles during his time as a backseat gamer. Otherwise, Xiao Wu really would not have been able to answer.
"Completely correct. True professionalism! Xiao Wu, twenty points!" Zhu Zhuqing nodded approvingly.
She could tell at a glance that this rabbit must have done plenty of practical meal preparation during her impoverished life at Shrek Academy.
"Yay! Brother San, I have a chance of coming first!" Xiao Wu waved excitedly toward the door.
Outside, Tang San was moved to tears.
That's my clever little sister!
My backseat gamer ticket is in the bag!
Qian Renxue and Hu Liena, meanwhile, looked grim.
They were Spirit Hall's two peerless prodigies, yet they had lost to a rustic country girl at a low-level skill like preparing instant noodles?!
"All right, that concludes the theory exam."
Lin Ye finally rose from the chair he had been lounging in and interrupted this surreal talent show.
"Being good at making instant noodles only proves you're suited to being a nanny! But to work as an attendant in my internet cafe, you need nerves of steel and decisive crisis management skills."
The Holographic Projector in the center of the ground-floor hall activated.
Bzzzt!
An ear-piercing electrical buzz rang out as a lifelike hologram of a Maelstrom Thug materialized in the middle of the hall. He stood two meters tall, his body studded with metal cyberware and his eyes glowing an angry red.
He sat in front of a simulated computer, furiously pounding the monitor and spewing foul curses. "Damn this game! Give me my money back! Or I'll smash this piece of junk!"
Lin Ye pointed at the thug and laid down the rules. "This is a troublesome customer showing early signs of becoming a cyberpsycho from playing games! Your task is to subdue him flawlessly within thirty seconds without using any soul power. Most importantly—you must not damage a single piece of the internet cafe's equipment, and you must also make him willingly pay five hundred Gold Soul Coins as compensation for the fright!"
Qian Renxue snorted coldly and stepped forward first.
Angelic pride ran through her veins. She strode straight up to the thug, attempting to suppress him with the authority of a ruler. "Stop! A mere commoner dares to shout and vandalize property in public? Do you understand your crime..."
"Get lost, bitch!"
The holographic thug had no interest in fighting fair. He immediately swung his heavy metal arm at her!
Qian Renxue blanched and instinctively dodged sideways.
Although she evaded the blow, the thug's fist grazed past her shoulder and hurtled dangerously toward the computer beside her!
[Beep! Warning! Internet cafe property threatened! Assessment failed!]
Qian Renxue stared in despair at the scoreboard as it lit up red. Spirit Hall's exalted young mistress had been eliminated.
Seeing this, Hu Liena approached with a seductive sway of her hips.
She made her voice syrupy sweet, attempting to soothe the raging beast. "Oh, handsome, why get so angry over a game? Why don't you come to the counter with me for an ice-cold Cola and relax..."
"Women only slow down my draw! Get lost!" The thug flipped the desk with a backhand sweep, sending shattered equipment scattering across the floor.
[Beep! Equipment destroyed! Assessment failed!]
Hu Liena froze on the spot, on the verge of losing her mind.
What kind of creature is this?! He won't even glance at my peerless beauty?! Is gaming the only thing in his head?!
Finally, only Xiao Wu remained.
Xiao Wu skipped over, completely at ease.
Seeing yet another challenger with a death wish, the thug roared, violently hoisting the heavy Holographic Alloy Chair to smash it down on Xiao Wu's head!
"Xiao Wu, watch out!" Outside, Tang San was so frantic that he rammed his head against the glass.
Yet Xiao Wu did not retreat.
At the critical instant, she deftly slid feetfirst, passing straight between the thug's legs!
She relied on the extraordinary flexibility of a hundred-thousand-year soft bone rabbit!
Using her momentum, Xiao Wu sprang up, her two long, shapely legs wrapping like supple chains around the vulnerable connection at the thug's mechanical neck!
Crack!
Using her own weight, Xiao Wu abruptly dropped backward.
The ingenious principle of leverage came into play!
The steel thug, over two meters tall, had no time even to react before she hurled him over her shoulder onto the floor!
He missed every piece of computer equipment and slammed into the empty aisle!
Before the thug could struggle, Xiao Wu expertly twisted his mechanical arm behind his back and planted a foot on him.
Smack!
Xiao Wu tilted her head adorably, pulled an official receipt from her pocket, and slapped it onto the thug's face with imperious confidence. "One set of damaged equipment and one frightened cafe attendant. Total compensation: five hundred Gold Soul Coins! Cash or card? If you don't pay, I'm taking your cyberware off today!"
Pinned beneath her foot, the holographic thug stopped struggling and uttered a humiliated reply. "I'll... pay."
Beep!
[Assessment passed perfectly! Zero property damage! Compensation successfully obtained!]
"Yay!"
Xiao Wu jumped up excitedly.
Behind the counter, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing exchanged a glance, then both awarded full marks.
"Clean and decisive, without a moment's hesitation. She's a genius born for the job of cafe attendant!"
Lin Ye clapped in satisfaction and announced with a smile, "I hereby declare the winner of the Origin Internet Cafe's first cafe attendant interviews—Xiao Wu! Congratulations! Starting today, you are an official employee here!"
Outside, Tang San and Dai Mubai hugged each other and sobbed with excitement, tears streaming down their faces.
"Boohoo! Our right to be backseat gamers... We finally got it back!"
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