The office, once a theater of social warfare, was now Leo's sanctuary. The oppressive fluorescent lights seemed softer without the judging eyes of his colleagues. Outside the panoramic windows, the city began to sparkle, a sprawling galaxy of lights oblivious to the war being waged on the 47th floor.
Leo didn't dive into the data recklessly. Ms. Reed's trap wasn't just the volume of work; it was a test of intellect. A lesser employee would drown, presenting a cluttered, incomprehensible mess. Calm Mind engaged, Leo spent the first two hours doing nothing but thinking. He spread the project files across a virtual desktop, not reading them, but mapping their connections. He was hunting for the narrative, the single, powerful story hidden beneath mountains of raw numbers.
At around 9 p.m., he found it. A subtle but undeniable trend in market acquisition costs that contradicted the company's current expansion strategy. The previous presentation hadn't just been "insufficient"; it was telling the wrong story. It was hiding a failure. Ms. Reed knew this. She hadn't asked him to do the impossible; she had challenged him to find the truth and see if he had the guts to present it.
With his central thesis locked in, the real work began. The silence of the night was broken by a sound like furious rain—the impossibly fast staccato of his fingers on the keyboard. Fast Typing (Lv. MAX) wasn't just about speed; it was about flawless accuracy. Spreadsheets filled as if by magic. Complex pivot tables and data models materialized in seconds. What would have taken a team of analysts the entire weekend, he completed before midnight.
Now came the presentation itself. He opened the corporate slide template, its bland blue and grey an insult to the powerful story he was about to tell. He began structuring the deck, but his flow felt clunky. His mind knew the story, but his hands couldn't translate the complex data into clean, persuasive visuals. It was the one area where he was still just an amateur.
As his frustration mounted, a familiar blue screen flickered in his vision.
[User has demonstrated high-level data synthesis but is bottlenecked by presentation design skills.] [Analyzing user intent: The need to convey complex information with maximum clarity and impact.] [Requirement met. Unlocking new skill…]
[New Skill Acquired: Slides Expert (Lv. 1)] [Effect: Grants an intuitive understanding of visual hierarchy, data visualization, and persuasive design principles. Automatically suggests optimal layouts, color schemes, and chart types for any given data set.]
Suddenly, the bland template in front of him transformed. He no longer saw slides; he saw a canvas. His fingers moved with a new, fluid grace. A dense table of numbers was instantly replaced by an elegant waterfall chart that perfectly illustrated the financial drain. Vague bullet points morphed into a sharp, compelling roadmap. He wasn't just adding data to slides; he was crafting a visual weapon, each slide a perfectly aimed argument.
He worked through Saturday and into Sunday, fueled by vending machine coffee and the cold fire of the System's power. He didn't feel fatigue. The quest had consumed him.
By Sunday evening, it was complete. Fifty slides. Not a single one wasted. It was clean, brutal, and undeniably brilliant. It didn't just summarize the data; it built an irrefutable case for a strategic pivot. It was the presentation of an executive, not an intern.
As he saved the final file, a system notification appeared, glowing with a soft, golden light.
[Task Analysis Complete.] [Presentation Quality: Executive Grade] [Data Integrity: 100%] [Narrative Cohesion: 99%] [Overall Efficiency Score: 98% (New Record)] [Comment: A masterful blend of speed, strategy, and execution. You have exceeded all projected parameters for this quest.]
Leo leaned back in his chair, the first rays of Monday morning sun cutting through the darkness. He felt a profound sense of exhaustion, but it was overshadowed by a thrilling, predatory confidence. He had survived the impossible task.
Now, all that was left was to face the boss.