The system woke me at 6:00 AM with a notification that felt like a warning shot: [Host's Rest Period: Terminated. Antagonist's Counter-Move: Already in Motion. Recommend caffeine and paranoia.]
I opened my eyes to Lily's ceiling fan, which wobbled with the rhythm of impending doom. My phone screen glowed with three messages:
Bai Lianhua (via work chat @ 2:47 AM): "Enjoy your hollow victory. The board's reviewing Lin's hiring practices. You're a package deal."
Gu Chenyu (via text @ 3:13 AM): "Anran, we need to talk. Not about us. About Bai. She's dangerous."
Jiang Huai'an (via encrypted email @ 4:01 AM): "Café. 7 AM. Bring the token. She's activated the 'Scorched Earth' protocol."
[System Analysis: Bai's Move - "If I go down, I take the Host with me."
Target: COO Lin (Your advocate), Host (The "irregular hire"), and Jiang (The "complicit Chairman").
Success Rate: 34% (Low, but catastrophic if it hits).]
[Recommendation: Emergency meeting. Trust Jiang. For now.]
Lily rolled over, saw my face, and poured vodka into her coffee mug. "What fresh hell?"
"Bai's not transferring. She's setting fire to the whole department." I showed her the messages. "She's claiming Lin hired me as a 'favor' to Jiang. It's nepotism wrapped in a sex scandal."
"Do you have proof that's not true?"
[System Interjection: Technically, it is partially true. Jiang overrode Bai's veto. Lin was influenced by Jiang's interest. Host's qualifications: Legitimate. The narrative: Dangerous.]
I didn't need the system to tell me how bad this looked. In corporate warfare, the truth was just another piece of evidence to be twisted.
"Proof is what I'm getting at 7 AM," I said, pulling on the same black blazer from yesterday. It felt heavier, weighted by consequence.
---
Café Illusion at 7:00 AM was deserted, the windows dark. The token in my pocket grew warm, and the door unlocked itself.
Jiang waited at the back table, not with coffee, but with a laptop displaying live footage—Starlight's boardroom, currently empty. The timestamp showed 7:30 AM.
"She's meeting with three board members at 7:45," Jiang said without preamble. "Presenting 'evidence' that your hiring was a quid pro quo. My quid, Lin's pro, your quo."
"Is she wrong?" I asked, sitting across from him.
He met my gaze. "She's not wrong about my interest. She's wrong about your competence. But the board won't care about nuance. They care about optics."
[System Display: Board Member Profiles]
- Wang (65, Traditionalist): Hates "irregular" hiring. Loves protocol.
- Liu (52, Investor): Hates scandal. Loves profit.
- Zhao (48, Jiang's Uncle): Hates Jiang. Loves chaos.]
"Zhao is the problem," Jiang continued, reading my expression. "He's been looking for a reason to challenge my chairmanship. You and Lin are convenient collateral."
"So what do we do?"
[System Mission: The Preemptive Strike]
Objective: Beat Bai to the boardroom. Present counter-evidence so devastating her claims look like desperate lies.
Time Limit: 38 minutes.
Reward: [Corporate Immunity: Board-Level], [Jiang's Debt: +1], [Bai's Final Defeat].]
Failure: Termination, Blacklisting, Mom's Medical Bills: Unpaid.]
"That's not a mission," I said aloud. "That's a hostage situation."
Jiang's jaw tightened. "Welcome to my world." He slid a folder across the table. "This is what's not in the USB. The real reason Bai's desperate."
Inside: photos of Bai and Gu Chenyu in a hotel lobby, timestamped from six months ago—when we were still together. Emails showing her funneling Gu's company money into an offshore account. And a medical report: Bai was pregnant. Due in five months. Gu's name was on the father's line.
[System Shock: Antagonist's Motivational Shift - She's not just a homewrecker. She's a mother protecting her nest. Host's moral clarity: COMPROMISED.]
I stared at the report. "She's... pregnant?"
"And unmarried. In her family, that's social death." Jiang's voice was flat. "Gu won't acknowledge it publicly. She's fighting for a future her child can inherit. Your job is leverage."
"You're asking me to destroy a pregnant woman."
"I'm asking you to defend yourself." He leaned forward. "She wouldn't hesitate to destroy you. That's the game."
[Host's Emotional State: CRITICAL. Dr. Shen's Warning: "You could become Version 1.0." Current Risk: 34% (Rising).]
[System Recommendation: Use the evidence. Sympathy is a liability.]
I stood, pushing the folder back. "No."
Jiang's eyes narrowed. "No?"
"I'm not using a child's paternity as a weapon." I grabbed my token. "Find another way."
[Host's Choice: Reckless Morality. System Confusion: Updating...]
[Jiang's Devotion: 999+ → 999++ (He just fell harder).]
[Bai's Victory: Temporarily Assured. Board Meeting: Host will lose.]
I walked out, the café door chiming behind me. The morning air was cold, but my face was hotter—shame and fury mixing into something toxic.
[Mission Status: FAILED. But Host's Integrity: +100. Version 1.0's Fate: Avoided. For now.]
At 8:00 AM, my phone exploded. COO Lin was suspended pending investigation. My job was on "temporary review." And Bai's smug face was on Starlight's internal newsfeed, quoted as saying, "I just want to protect our company's integrity."
---
By noon, I was persona non grata. My access badge was restricted. My project was reassigned. Even the system went quiet, as if embarrassed by my choice.
Lily met me outside with a cigarette she didn't smoke. "You did the right thing."
"The right thing feels like unemployment."
"It feels like being human."
[Best Friend's Wisdom: Temporarily buffs Host's Resolve. Effect: +20. Duration: Until reality sets in.]
At 1:47 PM, Dr. Shen called: "Your mother's awake. She's asking for you."
I went to the hospital. Mom looked small in the ICU bed, but her smile was her old self. "Anran, what happened? You look like you fought a war."
"I did." I held her hand. "I think I lost."
"No." She squeezed weakly. "You chose. There's a difference."
[Mother's Intuition: Always OP. Host's Shame: -30. Clarity: +50.]
At 2:13 PM, my phone buzzed. Jiang: "Check your email. Now."
I did. A message from an anonymous source—not Jiang, not the system. Just a blank address with a subject: "The Board's Real Interest."
Inside: A video file. I opened it.
It was Bai. In the boardroom. Not presenting evidence against me—but confessing to the embezzlement, unprompted, tears real and messy. "I did it," she sobbed. "I stole from Chenyu Holdings. I framed Song Anran. And I did it all because Gu Chenyu promised he'd marry me if I made her disappear."
The video ended. A second email appeared: "She cracked. Someone showed her the medical report with Gu's denial note. She broke. She'll resign by 5 PM. You're safe."
[System Reboot: Emergency Protocol - Success?!]
[Entity Jiang's Method: Psychological warfare, not blackmail. He didn't show them the child. He showed her Gu's betrayal.]
[Host's Morality: Intact. Victory: Achieved. Jiang's Strategy: "Let the enemy destroy herself."]
At 4:47 PM, Bai's resignation hit the companywide email. At 4:48 PM, COO Lin was reinstated with an apology. At 4:49 PM, I was promoted to Senior Project Manager, effective immediately.
[Mission: The Preemptive Strike - COMPLETE (Alternate Route: Moral High Ground)]
[Reward: [Untouchable Status: Board-Level], [Jiang's Respect: +100], [Bai's Self-Destruction: Complete], [Ex's Regret: +15% (He lost his mistress and his leverage)]
[Level Up! Host is Level 8! New Skill: [Compassionate Destruction]: Win without losing yourself.]
At 5:00 PM, Jiang texted: "Café. 8 PM. You owe me a conversation."
I didn't owe him anything. But I owed myself an explanation for why his methods felt like salvation and his respect felt like more than a number.
At 7:47 PM, I walked into Café Illusion. Jiang was waiting, but not with coffee. With a file labeled "Version 1.0's Final Request."
"She left a message for you," he said. "For the Host who'd come after her."
He opened it. Inside, a handwritten note in elegant script:
"Don't become me. But don't forgive them either. Become something better. And if you can, save him from himself. He blames his code for my death. It wasn't the system. It was the weight of his guilt. Don't let him do it again."
[System's Final Message of the Day: Host is not a bug fix. Host is the upgrade.]
I looked at Jiang, at the man who'd built a digital ghost to save a stranger, who'd let me choose mercy over victory, who'd waited seven years for a second chance he didn't think he deserved.
"He's crying," I said aloud, though neither of us had moved.
[Observation: Jiang Huai'an's Devotion: 999+++ (He's not falling anymore. He's already fallen).]
[Host's Response: Unknown. But the token in your pocket feels like a key, not a kill switch.]
I took his hand. It was cold. I made it warm.
"Tell me about her," I said. "The real Version 1.0. Not the system."
He did.
[ Complete. Boss: Defeated. Morality: Intact. Romance: Loading...]
[Next Mission: Unknown. Host's Choice: Finally Relevant.]