The Monday following the "Data Disaster" was fundamentally different. The whispers that followed Leo down the aisles weren't mocking anymore; they were a mixture of awe, suspicion, and fear. He was no longer the invisible intern. He was the guy who could pull miracles out of a hat, and in a corporate environment, miracles were often indistinguishable from threats.
Mark avoided his gaze entirely, burying himself in his work with a sullen intensity. Sarah, on the other hand, kept stealing glances at him, her expression a complex cocktail of gratitude and unease. She was thankful he'd saved her, but terrified by how he'd done it. No one could type that fast.
At 10:00 a.m., an email from Mr. Henderson's executive assistant landed in the inboxes of the entire department. The subject line was chillingly simple: Mandatory Meeting: Weekly Report Incident Review.
The team filed into the main conference room, a sterile glass box with a commanding view of the city below. Mr. Henderson sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his hands steepled. He was a man in his late fifties with a lean, predator's build and eyes that seemed to dissect everything they looked at. He didn't exude the petty tyranny of a low-level manager; he radiated an aura of absolute, unshakable authority.
He began without preamble. "The weekly report on Friday was submitted at 2:59 p.m. I'm told that approximately thirty minutes prior to that, the master file was completely and irrevocably corrupted. Is that correct, Sarah?"
Sarah visibly flinched. "Yes, Mr. Henderson. There was a… a technical issue."
"A technical issue," Henderson repeated, his voice dangerously soft. "And yet, a perfect report appeared in my inbox just before the deadline. A report that I'm told was reconstructed from scratch in under half an hour."
His piercing gaze swept the room before landing squarely on Leo. "Mr. Zhang. The new intern. You were the one who 'fixed' the issue, I believe?"
The air in the room grew thick. This wasn't a debriefing; it was an inquisition.
"Yes, sir," Leo said, his Poker Face skill activating automatically.
"Explain to me how," Henderson said, leaning forward. "The data compilation for that report takes, on average, ten to twelve man-hours. You claim to have done it in twenty-eight minutes."
Mark seized the opportunity to deflect. "It's what we've all been wondering, sir. It's… highly unusual."
The pressure was immense. Every person in the room was staring, their silent judgment a tangible force. Henderson wasn't just asking for an explanation; he was demanding Leo justify his own existence. A bead of sweat trickled down Leo's temple. His heart rate began to climb. Doubt, anxiety, and the primal fear of being exposed as a fraud began to cloud his thoughts.
Just as the pressure threatened to crack his composure, the world seemed to shift.
[Extreme psychological pressure detected. Forcing stress adaptation.] [System Override: Adrenaline and cortisol levels are being regulated.]
A profound, almost unnatural stillness settled over him. The frantic thumping in his chest slowed to a calm, steady rhythm. The cacophony of his own panicked thoughts went silent, replaced by a crystalline clarity. The intimidating figure of Mr. Henderson, the suspicious faces of his colleagues, the sterile tension of the room—they all lost their emotional weight, becoming mere variables in a complex equation.
[New Skill Acquired: Calm Mind (Lv. 1)] [Effect: Grants the user immunity to psychological pressure, intimidation, and panic. Allows for perfectly logical thought and emotional control during high-stress situations.]
Leo looked at Mr. Henderson, and for the first time, he wasn't seeing an intimidating boss. He was seeing a chess player who had just made a move. And now, it was his turn.
"I was fortunate, sir," Leo began, his voice perfectly modulated and devoid of any tremor. "When I first compiled the report, I noticed several inconsistencies in the source data sets. To be thorough, I had to clean and organize them locally before integrating them into the master template. When the main file was corrupted, I simply had to re-run the final integration from my cleaned source files. The process was still demanding, but it wasn't a full reconstruction from raw data."
It was a masterful explanation. It was technically plausible, highlighted his own diligence, and subtly hinted that the original files were a mess, thereby excusing the time it took him in the first place. It also didn't mention his supernatural typing speed.
Henderson's eyes narrowed, searching for any sign of deception. He found none. "And what is your theory on how the master file became corrupted in the first place, Mr. Zhang?"
This was the killing blow. Leo could feel Mark tense up beside him.
With his Calm Mind, Leo analyzed the chessboard. A direct accusation was clumsy. A denial was weak. Instead, he chose precision.
"I can't speculate on the exact cause, sir," he said calmly. "However, I can confirm the file was stable and fully functional when I saved it at 1:30 p.m. The corruption must have occurred on the server sometime between then and when Sarah tried to access it at 2:30 p.m. I imagine IT could pull the server access logs for that specific file during that one-hour window. That would likely give you a definitive answer."
The room went dead silent. Leo had just handed Henderson a loaded gun and pointed it directly at the saboteur, all without naming a single name. He had demonstrated loyalty to the company's process, offered a logical solution, and shown unshakable confidence under fire.
Mark looked like he was going to be sick.
Mr. Henderson stared at Leo for a long, heavy moment. A slow, thin smile touched his lips. It wasn't a warm smile, but it was one of approval.
"No," Henderson said, leaning back in his chair. "I don't think that will be necessary. We'll be upgrading our server security. See to it, Sarah." He stood up. "Meeting adjourned."
As the team filed out, a new notification popped up on Leo's phone.
[Quest Complete. You have survived an executive-level interrogation.] [Your composure under fire has left a significant impression.] [Reward: +200 EXP, +2 Wisdom Stat.] [Title Acquired: The Unflappable.]