He really hoped Zhou Yanxing wouldn’t notice.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jia had spotted the scrapes on Secretary Chi’s arm—no doubt from the scuffle with those people—and the guilt weighed even heavier on him.
“I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. I should’ve double-checked that email. Maybe then they wouldn’t have gotten away with it.”
“Don’t worry about it. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s normal. Besides, it didn’t cause much damage in the end.”
In truth, Xiao Jia had actually done the right thing.
Because of the players’ involvement, those people had entered the company under the guise of job applicants, and the NPCs naturally wouldn’t find anything amiss. Even Zhou Yanxing shouldn’t think it was strange.
After all, this world existed solely because of the players. Everything they did would be automatically rationalized.
So then…
Chi Zhan recalled what the System had said. Could Zhou Yanxing really be a bug?
But if he reported that to the System, would it do something drastic to Zhou Yanxing? Like erasing his memory, reformatting him, or worse—scrapping and remaking him from scratch?
And if that happened, would the Zhou Yanxing who came back still be the one he knew?
A storm churned inside Chi Zhan’s chest. He bid Xiao Jia goodbye, so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the way Xiao Jia suddenly became hesitant and fidgety.
Xiao Jia was stunned.
He hadn’t noticed at first, but when Secretary Chi turned to leave, he suddenly realized the shirt Chi was wearing looked oddly familiar—like the kind President Zhou usually wore.
And it was clearly not a perfect fit.
Had he just stumbled upon another explosive secret?!
Chi Zhan carefully changed clothes, folding Zhou Yanxing’s shirt neatly. After a long moment of deliberation, he decided to take it home and later buy a matching one to return.
After all, he’d already worn it. It wouldn’t be appropriate to send it back now.
Once home, the dull ache in his waist returned, forcing him to lie on his stomach again. He pulled up the OA system and checked—his medical leave had been approved for a week, and he could cancel it anytime once he was ready to return.
He picked up Zhou Yanxing’s shirt. The tag had been removed, so he used the embroidered logo near the hem to search on shopping platforms.
The result… nothing. No brand match.
Ding-dong—
A new message alert.
[Zhou Yanxing: Left already?]
Chi Zhan had just been thinking about asking him about the shirt. Before he could, Zhou Yanxing messaged again: the shirt was a private custom piece, not available in stores. He told Chi Zhan to bring it back to the office next time.
Chi Zhan could only reply with a polite “Got it.”
Then Zhou Yanxing added that Chi was to report to Doctor Cen every day—no slacking off. He’d be checking in on him.
“……”
Why did this feel like he was being micromanaged by a parent, despite being a full-grown adult?
Still, he replied,
[Got it.]
[Zhou Yanxing: Are you a broken record? Can you say anything besides “got it”?]
With perfect composure, Chi Zhan typed back,
[Yes.]
Message sent.
[Zhou Yanxing: ……]
Free, for now, from dealing with the Demon King Zhou, Secretary Chi finally felt at ease. It wasn’t like Zhou Yanxing would actually show up at his house to give him a beating.
He scheduled a home pick-up from the dry cleaners, then opened Doctor Cen’s WeChat to confirm his appointment for tomorrow.
Doctor Cen’s profile picture was an adorable little black cat, round glassy eyes and sharp ears—surprisingly cute.
Chi Zhan chuckled softly. Who would’ve thought Doctor Cen had such a charming side?
Doctor Cen replied promptly: “I’m free tomorrow morning.”
He followed up with a Word document listing pre-appointment instructions, each item clear and concise, with the clinic address listed in detail at the bottom.
Interacting with Doctor Cen always felt easy and pleasant.
As Chi Zhan was chatting with him, the robot vacuum glided to a stop in front of him and let out two beeps. In a babyish voice, it asked, “What happened today?”
Chi Zhan instantly caught the hidden meaning behind the System’s question. It wouldn’t have asked unless something had happened. Without batting an eye, he closed the chat window and replied, “Why do you ask?”
“Zhou Yanxing’s favorability just went up again.”
Chi Zhan figured that was probably because of his selfless contributions to the company—it had moved Zhou Yanxing, surely. But the System was visibly on edge.
“This isn’t normal. A target character developing feelings for an NPC? That’s not supposed to happen.”
“Since when do you say things like ‘not supposed to happen’? And how exactly did you reach the conclusion that he’s ‘developing feelings’?”
The System hesitated, clearly reluctant to answer. But Chi Zhan’s convincingly clueless expression managed to fool it again.
“Zhou Yanxing’s favorability level has now reached a frightening sixty. You’re way ahead of all other players. This isn’t normal.”
“You even say things like ‘frightening’? You’re really not like other systems, huh.”
“Have you noticed anything unusual while observing Zhou Yanxing? How does he treat the players?”
Unusual? There were too many red flags to count. He’d not only cursed at the players but even got a bunch of them arrested.
Chi Zhan didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked, “If you confirm there’s a bug, what happens to Zhou Yanxing?”
The System responded just as he’d feared.
“His program would be rewritten.”
Chi Zhan hesitated, then vaguely replied, “He’s… fine with the players, I guess. I’m not sure where the problem is. Maybe the players are just following the wrong strategy. But I think I know what to do now.”
At that moment, an image flashed through Chi Zhan’s mind—the pink crystal ball placed in the break room. For some reason, he instinctively avoided the most obvious conclusion.
…No way. He was an NPC. There was no way Zhou Yanxing could have feelings for him. That would be utterly absurd.
Lying to the System wasn’t easy.
He was afraid it would see through him. But luckily, the System didn’t seem to notice—perhaps because it wasn’t omniscient and couldn’t read the inner thoughts of every NPC.
The System spun in place a few times, then said, “You’ve recently encountered another target character.”
“What… what?” Chi Zhan stared in disbelief. “I thought Zhou Yanxing was the only target in this world?”
“There are four target characters in total. Zhou Yanxing is just one of them. According to the plot, they’re not supposed to cross paths too much in the early stages.”
