The prompt from her interface glowed with a cold, unyielding blue, indifferent to her sudden spike in panic: [Go out and meet Liu Han to discuss a cooperation.]
Zhao Yuan stared at the words, her breath hitching in her throat. Cooperation? With the man whose subordinates had drawn weapons on her the second her doors appeared? Her mind raced back to the cold steel, the hostile glares, and the overwhelming sense of vulnerability before she had fled. The System wasn't just asking her to step outside her safe zone; it was asking her to walk straight into a pack of wolves.
She gripped the smooth edge of the counter, her knuckles turning white. She couldn't ignore the System—not when her survival depended on its rewards—but she wasn't about to march out there like a sacrificial lamb either.
"System," she whispered, her voice tight, "is there any guarantee of safety while I'm outside the threshold?"
A familiar, mechanical chime sounded in her head. [Custodian protection protocols remain active within a three-meter radius of the main entrance during official negotiations. Any hostile intent from external entities will result in immediate defensive counter-measures.]
Zhao Yuan let out a slow, trembling breath, narrowing her eyes before she scoffed. "Three meters is not enough. I am not going," she rejected with a huff, pausing her task before the system could start allowing other guests inside.
"System tasks are non-negotiable," the system announced coldly.
Rolling her eyes, Zhao Yuan held back the mocking laugh bubbling inside her. "Did you think I would do anything you asked just because I have been obedient these days?" she asked, sitting down carelessly with narrowed eyes. "Because if you did, then you were absolutely wrong."
Without giving the system a chance to issue a penalty or force her hand, she swiftly muted its notifications, bypassed the mission window, and pressed the home return button.
Showing back to her room, she felt relieved as she lay down, and she didn't have to wait long before she fell into a deep sleep.
Watching her, the system was confused and frustrated, before it sent an urgent message to Qiao Lu and Tom, asking them to do something about her stubborn rejection.
Tom was the first to receive the high-priority alert, but he found himself entirely unable to act—Zhao Yuan had previously restricted his administrative access to her private residential quarters. Meanwhile, Qiao Lu was tied up on set and would only see the notification hours later after he finished filming.
So, Zhao Yuan slept deeply, her mind drifting into a vivid dream of her previous home—the tranquil place she had been torn away from before being thrust into this harsh, apocalyptic world.
Looking around her quiet, familiar living room, a profound ache of nostalgia washed over her. She began to softly hum a comforting melody, only to freeze mid-note as a shadowy figure materialized before her.
A light, eerie smile and a gentle tilt of the head greeted her vision before a terrifying, invisible force shoved her backward.
She slammed back into reality, waking up with a sharp gasp as her eyes flew open. Her chest felt heavy, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs as a single, absolute command echoed through the very depths of her soul.
Obey!
It was an order so absolute that her spirit could not resist. Shaking off the lingering chills, she sat up, opened her control dashboard, and lifted Tom's entry restrictions to her room.
Observing her sudden shift in behavior, the system remained deeply confused, wondering if she had simply suffered a bad nightmare before flashing a crisp blue text box over her vision:
[Cooperate with Liu Han.]
Gazing at the message, Zhao Yuan was remarkably calmer now. She sat patiently on the edge of her bed, waiting for Tom to arrive.
A moment later, the door slid open. When Tom entered, he was greeted by an unusually quiet and composed Zhao Yuan, who immediately spoke up. "You are going out with me tomorrow," she announced, deciding to bring his imposing, unshakeable form along as her personal security when she faced Liu Han.
"What about meal times?" Tom asked calmly, calculating the operational schedule.
"I will upgrade," Zhao Yuan explained simply, thinking of the compound level upgrade she had been holding onto.
"How was everything today?" she continued, asking casually as if her intense defiance and sudden wake-up panic had never even happened.
"Good. I showed them where to do their tasks and how, and I also served them during the shift," Tom reported in his smooth, rhythmic voice.
"That's good. Go rest; I will initiate the upgrade tonight, and then we can leave tomorrow morning," she instructed dismissively.
Hearing her tone, Tom offered a single, precise nod before turning to exit her quarters. Zhao Yuan calmly watched his back disappear before standing up and walking straight into the bathroom.
Standing beneath the warm cascade of the shower, her gaze grew distant and reminiscent as her mind wandered back to a long-forgotten conversation with that person.
"Would you help them?" she had once asked after sharing a grim story about a broken, ruined world.
"Yes!" she had answered back then with starry-eyed enthusiasm. But now, after standing in the dust of this harsh reality, she didn't truly feel the same way anymore.
Yet deep down, she knew that person would not care about her changing feelings—because in the end, she had been chosen to execute this duty regardless.
Stepping out of the shower, Zhao Yuan felt a little calmer. She dried off, dressed in clean clothes, and climbed back into bed and activated the upgrade.
After all, tomorrow was going to be a very long day.