Team Leader Li, You're Famous!

If all of a sound's physical properties were stripped away, how could it be described?

Li Qing had never considered such a question in his life.

For as long as he could remember, his world had been endless code and numbers. Those traceable patterns possessed an impeccable beauty, and Li Qing could easily identify the source of anything that stirred his emotions.

But this time, his "feelings" left him bewildered.

His eardrums had merely received vibrations in the air, so where had that warmth like a spring breeze, that rich fragrance like mellow wine, and the inexplicable tingling in his fingertips come from?

Li Qing felt as though he had become garbled code in an instant. His instinct for self-preservation made his entire body tense, and he immediately moved two coordinates away.

At the same time, his finger tapped a key on the light screen with a click.

Outside the instance, countless people's screens went black at once.

"...Oh? You cut off my livestream."

That deep, gentle voice expressed puzzlement.

Li Qing slowly raised his eyes to look at the person speaking.

The first thing he saw was a pair of long legs clad in black cargo pants, followed by a simple black tank top and the solid muscles beneath it.

Looking higher, he met a handsome face with sharply defined features.

The man was tall, and he looked down slightly at Li Qing, an indescribable tenderness in his deep-set eyes.

The ends of his black hair curled slightly, partly covering his left eye and lending him a somewhat melancholy air-if one ignored the golden light flickering behind those loose strands.

Anyone else, even the most hard-hearted monster, would probably have been unable to refuse him anything when he looked like this.

But the person standing before him now was Li Qing.

"The instance isn't open right now," Li Qing said coldly. "Who are you, and how did you get in?"

The man was impeccably polite. "I entered while the instance was open. Hello, I'm Gong Yao."

He extended his black-gloved right hand and bent slightly to bring his eyes level with Li Qing's, every inch a gentleman.

Li Qing lifted his chin slightly, making no attempt to conceal his probing, wary gaze.

The man named Gong Yao held that pose for a while. When Li Qing failed to respond, he straightened, looking a little hurt. "I think this is where you should tell me your name in return."

"Li Qing."

Out of courtesy, Li Qing gave his name.

Gong Yao smiled in satisfaction. "Hello, Li Qing."

Li Qing's behavior seemed to have given Gong Yao the wrong impression. With the easy familiarity of an old friend catching up, the man said, "You were on the roller coaster just now, weren't you? I saw you from here."

Excellent dynamic vision. But Li Qing judged that if he offered a polite compliment now, there was a 99% chance this man would pester him with another ten remarks.

His silence did nothing to stop the man from continuing cheerfully. "I saved you, you know. I was the one who cut the roller coaster's power."

"That was you?"

"Under those circumstances, you couldn't have left that death seat in time, could you?" the man continued, his obsidian-like right eye fixed expectantly on Li Qing.

"-Even an administrator can die."

His voice was still as resonant and gentle as before, but the atmosphere in the control room instantly tightened.

Li Qing's pupils contracted slightly.

But he showed no other emotion, merely saying evenly, "Actually, you had already confirmed my identity by your second sentence, yet you still chose to spend seven minutes talking in circles."

Gong Yao looked down at him, the corners of his eyes curving slightly. "Really? I thought that was a conversational technique."

"Then is your aim to receive a reward from me for saving my life? The roller coaster's rules wouldn't have killed me even if you hadn't cut the power, but I will compensate you."

"No, that's not what I meant."

Gong Yao looked at him helplessly, as though instructing a child who understood nothing, his face filled with an infuriating patience. "I mean, stopping the roller coaster could save your life, and it could save many more people, too."

He leaned forward slightly, his faintly moist, obsidian-like right eye gazing earnestly into Li Qing's eyes, and asked softly in an almost pleading tone, "So let's destroy this roller coaster for good, so more people can survive. Will you help me?"

Li Qing saw his own reflection in those pitch-black eyes, as unwavering as ever.

"You've misunderstood one thing," Li Qing said. "Players, monsters, instances-to me, there's no difference."

A pale yellow point of light gradually gathered beneath his fingertips.

"-Eliminating vulnerabilities and correcting errors. That's an administrator's job."

Gong Yao slowly straightened.

"I see..." he said softly, making no effort to conceal the regret in his voice. "It seems we can't reach an understanding. Negotiations have failed, so all that's left is-"

Bang!!!

A sharp crash rang out, and blinding sparks from scraping metal instantly lit up the entire control room!

At some point, a long blade had appeared in Gong Yao's hand, and it struck the yellow light screen that appeared at the same instant!

The blast of air from their collision lifted Li Qing's short white hair and the hem of his coat. It also swept aside the loose hair over Gong Yao's forehead, exposing a blazing golden eye that shone with an intimidating light!

[Shield energy: +50%]

Li Qing entered a string of commands with his left hand while reconnecting the light screen to the roller coaster controller's port with his right.

Several thoughts flashed through his mind-

Such powerful attacks.

Reserve the minimum energy needed to leave the instance through the administrator backend, and use all remaining energy to maintain the shield.

The minimum shield strength needed to precisely cancel out the attack is 79.9%. It can be maintained for thirty seconds.

Thirty seconds... that's enough.

Li Qing's left hand continued adjusting the shield value while his right typed another string of code. The densely packed text on the light screen moved so quickly it was almost a blur, yet every word registered clearly in his eyes.

-Found it.

[Repair command injection: 100%]

A faint cracking sound came from his left.

[System restart: 90%]

Energy is being consumed faster than projected. Gong Yao's blade... its attacks are still growing stronger.

[System restart: 99%]

No, the shield won't last until I withdraw. The margin of error is-

[System restart: 100%]

With a shattering crash, Li Qing's entire shield broke apart. At the same time, a tremendous mechanical roar came from outside the control room, and the roller coaster slowly started moving.

A terrifying pressure slashed down at that very instant!

Li Qing instinctively shut his eyes-

"..."

Nothing happened. There was only the rumble of the moving roller coaster and the clown's delighted shouts.

Li Qing's eyelashes trembled, and then he slowly opened his eyes-

Only then did he see the blade clearly. It was long and pitch-black, with a faint golden shimmer along its edge.

It had stopped an inch from his forehead.

Li Qing remained frozen before the blade for a moment, and a leisurely sigh drifted through the air.

Gong Yao withdrew his blade.

"Never mind. You've already achieved your goal. Anything more would just be meaningless slaughter."

He slipped his hands back into his pockets and lowered his eyes. "My blade doesn't like drawing blood, especially the blood of a beauty like you.

"I hope that if we have a chance to meet again, I'll see a little more humanity in those beautiful eyes of yours... Administrator."

The man gave a soft, resonant chuckle, turned, and walked out of the control room, disappearing onto the roller coaster platform.

Li Qing watched his retreating figure disappear, until the GM tool gave a clear beep, notifying him that the instance repairs were complete and he could leave the current plane.

Only then did he turn his gaze back to the panel, his fingertips trembling slightly as he entered the command.

My heart rate is 10% above normal.

Is this...

...what it feels like for a human to nearly die...?

By the time Li Qing returned to the maintenance system, it was nearly the end of the day shift.

Looking straight ahead, he walked directly to the technical department, knocked three times, then pushed the door open.

"The backend's initial coordinates failed to locate correctly again. Also, a player entered the instance during its cooldown period. I've copied the logs, so before you leave, please-"

"Don't leave yet!"

Zhang Qin turned around, his face lit with a strange excitement mingled with a little concern-

In short, it was the look of someone enjoying a spectacle involving an acquaintance.

He left his seat, pulled Li Qing over to his screen, and exclaimed, "Team Leader Li, you're famous!!!"