Zhou Zhuang stood in the center of the room, still holding Angela's hand.
Time passed.
Finally, Angela spoke in an even, polite tone. "Manager… may I ask you to let go of my hand now?"
"Huh?" Zhou Zhuang snapped out of it, lowered his head, and discovered his right hand was still clasped around her small, cool fingers. He hurriedly tried to pull back—
—and failed.
Angela's grip tightened just enough to stop him.
He tried again, a little harder this time, and only then did his hand come free. Zhou Zhuang stared at her in confusion. Angela, meanwhile, looked as if nothing had happened, eyes half-lidded, expression serene.
Since Angela clearly had no intention of explaining that little "incident," Zhou Zhuang chose to cooperate with the unspoken agreement and turned the page as well.
After all, he hadn't exactly suffered a loss.
If anything… he'd come out a bit ahead.
Now that the immediate adrenaline had faded, the reality of it all hit: he was a Wing's boss in the City—one of the so-called "great" heads of industry.
It felt unreal in the way dreams feel unreal.
Like he might wake up in the next second, still in his old life—still struggling in society, still living that ordinary routine where one person eats their fill and the whole family doesn't starve.
Angela watched her Manager drift into a daze again and immediately understood: the aftershock of reality was doing a number on his mind.
"Manager," she called gently. "You have already become the company's Manager. Now, please take the first step of your role."
Zhou Zhuang, still half-afraid he was dreaming, jolted upright at her voice.
"Right—right. I'm the boss now. I have to take responsibility." He rubbed his face, trying to focus. "So, Angela… do I do it like the game? Assign work through the screen to employees? Or should I meet the Department Heads first?"
"No, Manager." Angela shook her head. "Your first step is neither meeting the Heads nor distributing tasks."
Her answer landed like a hammer.
"It is to go to the L Nest as it currently exists… and recruit employees."
"…What?!" Zhou Zhuang was stunned. He hadn't expected the opening move to be this big. "I have to recruit people personally? I know reality isn't the game, but if I have to do recruitment myself—uh… I'm afraid I won't manage to bring in even a handful by the end of the day."
Then another thought struck him.
"Wait. A Wing, by setting, should be the kind of place people would die to get into, right? Shouldn't I just be reviewing applicants?"
Zhou Zhuang sifted through what he remembered about the City's logic and suddenly felt this "first mission" might not be so impossible after all.
Angela's tone remained gentle, but she did not soften the content.
"Manager, I do not wish to discourage you, but I must clarify something. We currently exist in a state akin to stowaways." She paused, choosing an image. "Like a seed clinging to a seabird crossing an ocean, then falling into an unknown land."
"And we," she continued, "are like that seed—except the ocean we crossed was the sea between worlds."
She stopped for a beat, then added, "Also, based on the company system's scan of the outside world, and cross-referenced with the narrative framework you recall… our current position is the third day after the Seed of Light blossomed in the L Nest. The deviation from the original timeline is estimated to be less than 0.00046%."
Zhou Zhuang's scalp tingled.
Angela finished calmly, as if stating a weather report:
"Therefore, this moment is the best time to recruit employees. Because the AI that resembles me… will soon begin her plan."
The moment she said it, information surged into Zhou Zhuang's mind like a flood.
In the game, after countless cycles spanning what felt like a million years, the Seed of Light finally bloomed once the player—A—completed the fiftieth day's trial. Hope poured down over the City.
But the spectacle only lasted three days.
Because Angela—the one in the game, the infamous traitor ranked among the all-time great backstabbers—chose revenge against Ayin. She partnered with Garion, a "fun-loving" former Arbiter, and at the beginning of the fourth day, stole the remaining four-sevenths of the Light.
The City received an incomplete irradiation.
And some people—after being half-illuminated—fell into Distortion.
"Ah—why does it have to be this time point?!" Zhou Zhuang spun toward the door in a panic. "Then what are we waiting for? We move—now! Finish my first mission before the fourth day arrives!"
He took two hurried steps, then stopped dead.
His expression turned awkward.
He looked back at Angela.
"Um… how do I get out?"
"..."
Under Angela's guidance, Zhou Zhuang finally managed to leave the room. When he turned around, he saw the door now bore a plaque—Manager—as if the world itself was confirming his identity.
He nodded, then jogged after Angela, who was already walking ahead.
Her heels clicked crisply along the floor.
They were moving through a corridor wrapped in glass-like transparency. Through it, Zhou Zhuang saw scenes straight out of the game: the Control Team's break area under dim lighting, and what might have been the outlines of the other departments below.
"Might," because it was too dark to clearly see—only upper silhouettes, like shapes submerged in shadow.
"Angela," Zhou Zhuang called.
"Yes, Manager?"
"If you say reality is mostly consistent… does that mean our company also has the Department Heads, like the game?"
Angela stopped.
She turned back to face him.
Zhou Zhuang felt an inexplicable chill under her gaze and was about to speak again when she answered:
"Yes, Manager. Just as in the game, Lobotomy Corporation has the other ten Department Heads."
"Then shouldn't I meet them first?" Zhou Zhuang frowned. "Why recruit employees before that?"
"Because the other Heads are in dormancy," Angela said. "The company has not officially begun operations. The system's evaluation indicates that before opening, my assistance alone is sufficient to complete the preparatory work."
As she spoke, her eyes opened slightly—golden light flickering within them like a restrained flame.
Zhou Zhuang stared at those gold eyes and, without thinking, blurted out:
"You won't betray me like the game's Angela did… right?"
Angela paused, clearly caught off guard for a fraction of a second.
Then she answered, steady and direct:
"No, Manager. I will not betray you. As I said from the start, I am the only person you can trust unconditionally. Even if everyone stands against you… I will not hesitate to stand with you."
After she said it, a silence fell.
Zhou Zhuang didn't know how to break it.
In the end, he spoke first.
"Sorry, Angela. I shouldn't have judged you using the game's impression."
"It is fine," Angela said softly. "Caution toward unfamiliar kindness is reasonable. The days we will share are very long. I believe you will become a qualified Manager."
Then her smile returned—perfectly timed, perfectly composed.
"Now, we should continue. You do not have much time left to recruit."
"…Okay," Zhou Zhuang said.
TT2 accelerating…
"We've arrived, Manager." Angela stopped.
Zhou Zhuang stepped left to look ahead.
There was only a single wooden door standing in empty space—no wall, no frame, no support. Just a lone door, planted upright like a stage prop.
Baffled, Zhou Zhuang walked toward it.
Once he stood before it, he pointed at the door and asked, "This… is the passage to the City?"
"Yes, Manager."
Angela's tone left no room for jokes.
Zhou Zhuang sighed and forced himself to accept that this had to be some kind of "Anywhere Door" technology.
He squared his shoulders, reached for the knob, and prepared himself for the world beyond.
As the knob turned, his calm shifted into nervous excitement. He pushed the door open—
—and what greeted him was darkness.
No light. No view. Just a flat, unilluminated black.
"…Huh?" Zhou Zhuang blinked, incredulous. Did I open it wrong?
He shut the door, took a breath, then yanked it open again with force.
No change.
Still darkness.
"Manager, what are you doing?" Angela asked, watching him repeatedly open and close the door.
Zhou Zhuang froze and looked back at her. "Didn't you say this door leads to the City?"
"It does," Angela replied, and then—almost sweetly—added, "but we still need to complete the preparations before entering."
"Manager… you didn't think you could open this door whenever you pleased, did you?"
Her smile deepened just slightly.
Zhou Zhuang nearly choked on his own dignity.
At that moment, a mechanical device rose from the floor beside the door—about waist-high, humming softly.
Angela gestured toward it. "All right, Manager. The door is ready. Please place your hand on the device behind you for a scan."
Zhou Zhuang turned.
Sure enough, a scanner had emerged. He followed her instructions and placed his hand on it.
Ding.
The device beeped and sank back into the floor. At the same time, a ring of ever-shifting, mysterious symbols appeared around Zhou Zhuang's wrist—like a living seal that constantly rearranged itself.
Angela glanced at it and gave a small, satisfied nod.
"Manager," she said warmly, "you may now truly take your first step as a Manager."
She stepped aside, inviting him forward.
Zhou Zhuang placed his hand on the knob again.
"Please," he muttered, "no more slapstick."
He turned the handle.
This time, faint voices seemed to leak through the crack—many voices, layered and indistinct. As the door opened wider, the chatter sharpened into something real.
A soft breeze slipped through the gap, brushing his face.
Zhou Zhuang felt it—like the City itself was calling him.
He took one breath, then pushed the door open in one decisive motion, as if throwing open the cover of a new chapter in his life.
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