I slay demons and monsters in a bizarre city.

Chapter 8 KMS Games Company
Li Changgeng's body was as stiff as a stone.

It seemed like dawn was approaching.

Was it all a dream?
That's so realistic!

The red countdown timer brought him into the game world of "Mythical Descent".

On the sea train to Black Sea City, in carriage 5, they encountered the monster Octopus Girl and the chainsaw-wielding killer Saw Demon who claimed to be from the Mythology Administration. After escaping death, they went to carriage 4 and met the so-called Skeleton Reaper.

After the green countdown started, it ended after twenty minutes, and he returned to reality.

I ran into Xia Mengmeng, a junior from my university days, in carriage number 4.

If it weren't for Xia Mengmeng, Li Changgeng might not have been able to return alive from the game world.

I wonder what it would be like to die in the game world, or if it would be like waking up from a dream and returning directly to reality.

Why is there a countdown?

Was I dreaming, or did I really travel into the game, or is there something wrong with my mental state?

It must be because I've been working too long and can't distinguish between dreams and reality anymore.

It's also possible that inhaling the mist caused inexplicable hallucinations.

After the eternal night, day and night alternate, and the city is not safe at night either.

Unless there are special circumstances, I generally don't wander around at night.

News media also frequently report that some horrific things often happen at night.

Many strange people and events cannot be explained by scientific accuracy and reason.

The computer keyboard started clattering.

Li Changgeng entered a series of codes and simply incorporated the storyline of being transported to the sea train by the countdown into the game's plot. After organizing and refining it for a while, he felt it was pretty good and had a strong sense of immersion.

I rubbed my sore neck. I needed to make the most of the daytime to get to the company; the game design proposal was due today.

Take your medicine first.

Li Changgeng swallowed two white pills.

Pick up your phone.

The wallpaper photo on his phone was taken when he and his sister Li Ying went to an amusement park.

"Hello, doctor, I am Li Ying's brother, Li Changgeng."

How is my sister doing?

"Oh, the situation has stabilized a bit, that's great. I'll settle the medical bills in the next few days. Okay, okay, thank you so much, doctor. I'll definitely go to the hospital to settle the bill this afternoon at the latest. Okay, thank you."

After hanging up the phone, Li Changgeng felt a great sense of relief. Fortunately, his sister's condition had improved and stabilized considerably.

Time is of the essence; I'm going to miss the next subway to the company.

Li Changgeng put on his gray plaid shirt, tied his tie, picked up his briefcase, and kicked the door shut behind him after leaving the house.

Shirts and ties are the most basic requirements for work attire at KMS Games.

But Li Changgeng had just left.

The Death card on the corner of the computer desk glowed purple, and Death's jawline tilted upward, making a gurgling sound—an eerie smile.

There were far fewer people in the subway.

It seemed unusually deserted, and people appeared wary of each other.

Those who got off the bus next to Li Changgeng all looked at him with strange eyes.

This made Li Changgeng think that his face wasn't clean.

Although he did indeed forget to wash his face.

Li Changgeng could clearly sense that fewer and fewer people were taking the subway, and he didn't know where they had all gone.

They're probably all staying home.

KMS Games. The LED screen displays the game company's name, along with a 3D image of a shapely young woman in a bikini posing seductively, the letters "KMS" distorted by the strain on her full bra.

The entire skyscraper was bought by the game company.

Li Changgeng, with his employee badge around his neck, entered the elevator and swiped his card.

Ding-dong, the red light on the 17th floor of the elevator is on.

His workplace was on the 17th floor. KMS Games had strict rules and regulations, even hierarchical systems. Ordinary employees could only move around on their own floor and did not have the authority to go to other places. If someone went to a place that did not belong to them without permission, the consequences would be very serious.

The company's working environment is pretty good.

The standard office space, along with 24/7 video and audio surveillance, ensures that every move an employee makes is monitored.

There's a reason for doing this; KMS Games learned a lesson the hard way years ago.

A "mole" within the company copied the core game code and sold it to a competitor at a high price, causing KMS to lose all its huge upfront R&D costs.

Li Changgeng had doubts about whether the company building actually existed.

Because the people here are too "procedural" and standardized.

He would always run into the same colleague at a specific time and place, and this colleague would always say the same opening line.

"Hey, Chang Geng! You have panda eyes, didn't you sleep well last night?"

In the open-air café next to the smoking room on the 17th floor, a colleague of Li Changgeng, whose name was unknown but whose employee number was 15, would always say this old, tired phrase whenever he ran into Li Changgeng in the café.

These people may be virtual digital beings with implanted special memories.

According to the game's design, if you "talk" to them, you are very likely to trigger a side quest.

Because Li Changgeng did not recognize this employee number 15, he never responded to him, only offering a perfunctory professional smile.

After Li Changgeng finished checking in, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop to get a cup of coffee.

He was holding a coffee cup and had just turned around.

Employee number 15 was looking at him with a big smile.

“I slept very well last night!” Li Changgeng preemptively said this time because he couldn’t remember how long this employee number 15 had been repeating the same thing to him.

Employee number 15 frowned, gave an awkward smile, and said, "Chang Geng, actually I wanted to ask, how is your sister?"

"It's alright, thank you!" Li Changgeng smiled lightly and left quickly. The morning meeting was about to begin, and whether the game he designed would work depended on today.

The conference room was on the 17th floor. When Li Changgeng walked into the conference room with his computer, the fierce-looking guard closed the iron door of the conference room.

At KMS Games, Lin Jiuge, the female manager of the R&D project, sat in the head seat with her legs crossed.

This is a woman with sharp eyes.

"Please sit down!" Lin Jiuge tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at Li Changgeng, who was furthest away from her.

There were more than 30 people in the conference room, but only Lin Jiuge was sitting; everyone else stood respectfully.

After receiving permission to sit down, everyone, including Li Changgeng, took their seats one by one.

Li Changgeng hadn't expected the meeting to be of such a high standard; this was the first time he had met Lin Jiuge.

This woman is absolutely stunning, so beautiful!
"Everyone here is an elite member of KMS. We aim to create the world's number one ultra-virtual reality stream-of-consciousness online game. The winner of this game design competition will receive a reward of one million!"

"After everyone has presented, we will hold up signs to discuss and reach a conclusion on the spot. Of course, we will still adhere to the principle of 'better to have none than to have bad ones'."

Lin Jiuge's gaze was firm. "Each of you has only three minutes to present the world view, core gameplay, and exciting plot of your game. We will begin our presentations one by one."

Li Changgeng was last in line. He listened attentively at first, but later found it very boring. The development of games worldwide had reached a bottleneck, and it was difficult to come up with anything new.

Fighting monsters, leveling up, and changing maps—that's all there is to it.

It was finally Li Changgeng's turn to report.

Li Changgeng stood up, straightened his tie, and knew this report was crucial.

……

(End of this chapter)