When Li Ang opened his eyes again, he found himself seated in a chair. The chair was upholstered with soft blue fabric, its armrests grey and plastic. To his left was a window that wouldn't open. Through it, the wild scenery was rapidly receding—judging by the speed of movent and the window fra style, this must be a high-speed train.
"You look different!" Chaichai, who was hiding inside Li Ang, said in a deep voice. "Your current appearance is that of a middle-aged office worker with short golden hair, wearing a light purple suit, a green shirt, and a tie."
Li Ang had long ago instructed Chaichai that upon entering a script, it should imdiately describe his appearance to him so he could determine the identity of the role he was playing. Normally, Li Ang would have tried to remain calm and start by searching his pockets for any items containing personal information. But now, his attention was entirely on the other three individuals around him.
Next to him sat a Sword Wielder wearing Eastern Style Red Black Armor and a Yaksha Helt, a sword fastened at their waist. Across a wooden table were a girl draped in a Black Cloak with a tall, pointed hat, and a figure in Gothic-style gold and silver full-body plate armor.
To Chaichai and the train attendants passing by with their trolleys, all four individuals, including Li Ang, appeared to be ordinary office workers. Only they themselves were scrutinizing each other in silence. The four of them were seated at the rear of the train carriage, with not many other passengers around.
As they cautiously inspected one another, a System notification sounded.
[Phase One Objective: Arrive at Pacific Bank near Central City Station before 9:00 AM.]
[Ti Limit for the Task: None]
[Task Reward: None]
[Punishnt for Task Failure: None]
The four exchanged glances, and the girl with the pointed hat was the first to reveal her player ID.
[Logic of the Circle??Witch][Lv17]
With an example set, the others followed suit.
[Tinker??Sunset Gold Slter][Lv15]
[Remorseless Lake Light??Dusk Knight][Lv16]
[Mystery Delver??Li Rising][Lv15]
Transparent lettering displaying their IDs hung in the air. Li Ang, without changing his expression, leaned back and slumped into his chair. They're all acquaintances...
[Sunset Gold Slter] was a comrade of Black Trojan; they had added each other as friends previously in the square. [Dusk Knight] had taken part in an anomalous world mission with Li Ang before, but the mission was brief, and the Dusk Knight was reticent, so they were not well acquainted. As for this [Witch]... The Mystery Delver's mind-reading ability revealed she was also surprised to et . So, she must be the Witch from the Syndicate Organization who flew around on cleaning robots during the last mission in the Underworld.
I wonder how she got to know my player nickna, Li Ang thought, reaching for the breast pocket of his suit.
"It's 8:45 AM now." The Witch (who appeared to Chaichai as a well-dressed office lady) glanced at the electronic clock at the end of the train carriage and said indifferently, "Let's not waste ti then." She took out paper and pen from thin air and placed them on the table. "Let's all write down the task prompt we heard. After finishing, we'll show it to the others to prove we share the sa task objective and are companions in this mission. How about that?"
Li Ang nodded. Sunset Gold Slter glanced at Li Ang but said nothing. The Dusk Knight remained silent, reaching into his inventory and taking out a piece of parchnt.
Seeing that all three players had agreed, the Witch quickly wrote sothing down. The Dusk Knight followed closely behind. Li Ang took out a clump of soil and placed it on his knee. He then used the lapel of his suit jacket to cover the flashes of light from the Alchemy Array as he activated Alchemy to craft a piece of paper with writing on it. Sunset Gold Slter, in turn, reached out and grasped a water glass on the wooden table.
Once everyone had finished writing, the Witch, Li Ang, and the Dusk Knight held up their papers. Sunset Gold Slter released the glass. On its inner wall, a ring of tiny ice crystals remained, forming the words of the mission description.
Seeing that the mission was exactly the sa, all four of them inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did they greet each other amiably and begin to introduce themselves.
"There's a wallet in the bag I'm carrying." The Witch took out a business card from the wallet. "The card shows that I am a receptionist at the Pacific Bank. My na is the sa as my player nickna, Witch."
"Sa here," Li Ang said, taking out a business card from his jacket pocket, along with a brand-new train ticket. "The departure point is St. Ann's City, destination Central City Station. Estimated ti of arrival is 8:50 AM."
"I have several tickets for different dates, sa departure and destination points," Sunset Gold Slter shrugged, saying casually. "According to the disembarkation ti and mission objective description, Pacific Bank must be close to the drop-off point. It seems the System has arranged for us to be colleagues at the sa bank. We likely have good relationships, live close to each other, and commute on the sa train every day."
"So, we are just ordinary office workers?" Li Ang thought for a mont, stood up slightly, and looked around the carriage before sitting back down. "The other passengers in the carriage all seem normal. No one has extra limbs, an octopus head, or anything like that. So far, there's no sign of anything supernatural. Hmm... the mission objective is to arrive at Pacific Bank in Central City and start work. They aren't really going to make us work a full day as ordinary people, are they?"
"How could that be possible?" Sunset Gold Slter's mouth twitched. "That would be too easy. Given the System's usual MO, it will definitely set up all sorts of twisted trials."
Li Ang frowned and shook his head. "Damn it, kid, don't think office work is so simple!
"You slack off when the boss isn't looking, ruthlessly eliminate troubleso custors, and then have to destroy the evidence and dispose of the bodies without getting caught by surveillance.
"You earn a ager inco all day, then have to go to the underground black market to fight, work as a guard, or sell illegal dicine to make ends et.
"The bitter struggles of the working class—how could a city white-collar worker like you understand?!"
"What's with that tone of a senior lecturing a junior? And where in the world is there a working class with such a colorful life?!" Sunset Gold Slter blurted out, only now realizing how spot-on Black Trojan's assessnt of Li Ang was.
"...I have a newspaper here." The Dusk Knight, clad in full plate armor, interjected in a muffled voice, cutting off their frivolous banter. He pulled out a newspaper from his pocket. The newspaper was titled 'Central City Tis,' and its front-page headline read: 'Ascension Ceremony to be Held in Central City.'
The accompanying picture showed two figures on what looked like an arena platform, waving and smiling at the throngs of cheering spectators below. One was a bald, heavily bearded man in brown military garb and a steel helt, his forehead marked with a special symbol. The other was a kindly-looking old man with white hair and a white beard, draped in a white robe and holding a magic wand.
Coincidentally, all four players recognized them: Yuri and Gandalf.
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