Absolute Death Game

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Xiao Buli took another look at Meatball. Over the past two days, it had been through quite a few battles, killing numerous creatures like itself. However, when he checked Meatball's attribute status, there was surprisingly no increase in any attributes or skills, nor any numerical changes, except for its Loyalty rising to 95 and gaining over a hundred points of Practical Experience. Other than that, it was exactly the same as when he had first captured it. Being unable to level up meant that as his own abilities improved, the pet would become less and less useful. It seemed that pets truly were only good as a support force for leveling up early in the game; later on, aside from serving as a one-time consumable, they didn't seem to have much use. This was probably why the man with the hood had said Taming Skills were not very useful in the later stages of the game.

At least in the early stages of the game, Taming Skills were quite helpful. If it wasn't for Meatball's assistance, it wouldn't have been easy to kill so many wild dogs.

(Well, might as well learn it for now) He was thinking this as he was about to close the pet's status panel when he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some changes after all in Meatball's stats. Meatball's original description was, 'It is your ally in battle, responding to your commands when in a good mood.'

Now it had changed to, 'It is your faithful follower, who will loyally execute any command that isn't particularly distasteful to it.'

It seemed that the higher the level of Taming Skills, the stronger the control over the pet.

As Xiao Buli was contemplating this, his phone's notification ringtone suddenly sounded.

He had set this ringtone himself, just ten minutes before the lunch break, which meant that lunchtime was about to start.

Upon hearing the ringtone, Xiao Buli stopped what he was doing and moved his character to a small hut on the ranch before logging off.

The other few players found safe areas to log off as well. Once the lunch break bell rang, Li Jian called everyone off their computers.

After nearly half a month, everyone had become very familiar with the company's routine. Following Li Jian out of the studio in single file, Xiao Buli, as usual, walked at the end. But when he stepped out of the studio, he was surprised to find Qin Shimoon waiting at the door, beckoning to him when he appeared, as if she had been waiting for him specifically.

Today, Qin Shimoon had changed into a different outfit, looking much more mature as if she was a different person altogether, with that typical business-like expression common in the workplace on her face.

"Is there something you needed, Miss Qin?" Xiao Buli asked directly.

Qin Shimoon nodded, "Yes, there is something I need to discuss with you. Please come to my office."

At the invitation from a beautiful woman, Xiao Buli was somewhat puzzled, but he didn't say anything and followed Qin Shimoon into the manager's office.

Qin Shimoon closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair behind her office desk, sizing him up with a scrutinizing gaze.

This made Xiao Buli chuckle, "May I know how I may assist you?"

Qin Shimoon's face was unusually serious as she nodded, leaning forward slightly, "There's something I need you to answer honestly and seriously. Mr. Xiao, have you ever had any history of mental illness?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Buli's first reaction was not anger, but a sense of ridiculousness. Why was she asking such a question all of a sudden? But then he became wary, knowing she wouldn't ask such a thing without reason, "Why do you ask?"

"Someone reported to me that you've been talking to yourself frequently while gaming, and it seems as if you're having a conversation with someone, yet there's no one around you..."

Talking to himself? Impossible, Xiao Buli thought, he certainly never had such a habit. He quickly realized the misunderstanding might have stemmed from his conversation with the man in the hood.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding. I wasn't talking to myself; I was discussing game content with someone else."

"Who?"

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"I don't know," Mr. Xiao answered honestly, "But you should know, right? Isn't he the guy who passed the interview with us?"

"Li Baocheng? Han Baiqiang? Or Sun Bin?" Qin Shimoon listed the names one by one, with a hint of sympathy on her face.

Mr. Xiao shook his head: "None of them. It's another guy."

"Another guy?" Qin Shimoon's face revealed a strange expression, "The thing is, there were only four new people this session, including you."

Mr. Xiao felt a sudden jolt in his heart upon hearing this. Only us four? That's not right; there was definitely a fifth person! Wasn't that guy with the hoodie one of them?

"There really wasn't a fifth person? But I've seen him several times, including on the first day I came here, and I even talked to him, just forgot to ask his name."

Qin Shimoon shook her head firmly, "Absolutely not, and besides the newcomers and your team leader, other people are not allowed to enter the newcomers' room so casually."

Now Mr. Xiao was truly confused. He had clearly seen that man; was the guy playing a trick on him? But what would be the point of that?

Could I really have developed a split personality? Just like the protagonist in the movie "Fighting Club" who, for some reason, split off another personality that would appear whenever I encountered difficulties?

No, that couldn't be right. Mr. Xiao was a very rational person and wouldn't easily jump to such far-fetched conclusions. He instinctively felt that there must be another problem.

Seeing his reaction, Qin Shimoon seemed to become unsure herself and then said very patiently, "Can you describe what this person looks like, then?"

Mr. Xiao had no choice but to recall and describe as best he could: "He's a guy in a black jacket, looks very ordinary, nothing memorable about him, oh right, he always wears a hoodie like he's afraid of the light, and he seems really familiar with the games."

As Mr. Xiao described the man's appearance, he watched Qin Shimoon's expression, which gradually turned into a very odd look.

"Damn, here it comes again," he faintly heard Qin Shimoon mutter.

"What?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Qin Shimoon waved her hand dismissively, but Mr. Xiao had already seen that she obviously knew about this guy. He felt a wave of relief—it wasn't his own problem then.

Qin Shimoon hesitated for a moment, seemingly considering how to explain. Her face suddenly showed a very sincere smile, "Oh, I remember now, the person you are talking about must be the chairman's nephew. He sometimes wanders into the company, and because he is a relative of the chairman, we can't really do much about him. It seems it isn't your problem after all. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding and for taking your time and causing you trouble. Let's leave it at that, I still have work to do, you can go now."

While she was speaking, Qin Shimoon had already picked up the phone and was no longer looking at him.

Mr. Xiao didn't know what to say upon receiving such an answer. After all this fuss, it turned out to be such an outcome. That such a large company could make this kind of foundational error left him speechless.

As he walked out of the manager's office and closed the door behind him, Mr. Xiao's mind suddenly stirred—something wasn't right. The man in the hoodie was dressed in clothes that looked like ordinary street market goods, the kind that cost a hundred or two per piece. How could the chairman's nephew be wearing something so shabby? And this didn't explain why no one else had seen this person; there had to be more to this.

He had intended to turn back and clear this up, but after a second thought decided against it. After all, he was just an employee; even if he was misunderstood, did the other party have any reason to explain anything to him?

With these thoughts, he headed toward the dining hall.