'Looks like there truly was something important in those items I returned. Let's hope she'll pay more attention to her surroundings from now on.' Those were Kirou's thoughts as he turned around and walked away, to continue his current rounds for the building.

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It was already 1 pm when Kirou finally went on his lunch break. After pa.s.sing by Secretary Yin that morning, Kirou spent the rest of his time, focusing on work. At least, that's what he tried to do.

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Everything was going great for the first hour after but that went south when a few of the guys from the security detail with nothing to do entered the office. After that, everyone started talking about Immortal Era. It wasn't surprising to find out that the security guards for a gaming studio would be interested in playing the same game as the company employees, but it was when you get to know how much of an addict each person was.

Unlike Kirou who's playing the game for fun, the other security guards were hardcore gamers, looking to conquer dungeons, slay monsters and setting records in-game. h.e.l.l, if Kirou wasn't hearing incorrectly, so far he was the only person in the room that even tried to go the lifestyle cla.s.s route.

"Man, I gotta tell ya. It wasn't easy taking down the elites for the northern highland with my party of three. They came at us in groups of six and we weren't even able to get a good moment of rest between each fight. If it wasn't because I came prepared, my party would have suffered a team wipe before we even made it to the material sp.a.w.n location." This was said by one of the more 'obsessed' members of the group. It seems like he was journeying in a plains map to find some random material sp.a.w.n area.

"Lucky you. I'm stuck in a volcanic area with a bunch of noobs still in beginner gear," said another with a grumble in his tone.

"Volcanic area? Wait, you're on the eastern continent? No way." This was pointed out by a third member person.

"What about it?" queried the second person in slight expectation.

"Gimme your coordinates. I'll lead my squad to get you and those noobs out safely," said the third person once again, getting a roar of laughter from the other members of the group.

Kirou looked on at this with a slight smile on his face. It seems like the members of his security detail are much closer than he initially gave them credit for. While he was staring at the security monitors while thinking about this, a familiar voice was heard from right next to him.

"You guys are awesome, I will admit, but I bet you guys aren't as awesome as our brother w.a.n.g here." Hearing his words caused Kirou, and the rest of the people in the room to face the source of the voice, Shang Yin.

"Come on, Shang Yin. He just started the game two days ago. I doubt he's even managed to get past the initial barrier yet." This was said by another member of the group. As for the 'initial barrier' that this person was talking about, it was getting to level 5, which normally takes a few days since most aren't able to accept quests that are generous with experience rewards just yet.

"Don't be so sure, Brother Huan. A few of us had a little discussion with him yesterday and found out he had already hit level 5 hours before he got to work," said Shang Yin to 'Brother Huan' or Huan Zhifeng.

"Impossible! It took me a few nights straight of hunting monsters to pa.s.s that barrier. How could he have done it so quickly?" Huan Zhifeng then turned to Kirou and spoke harshly, "It's fine if you want to brag, but that doesn't mean you can just say whatever c.r.a.p comes to mind."

Huan Zhifeng's words caused a few of the other guard members to nod their heads in agreement. They are all friends here, so it's fine to embellish stories here and there but such an unbelievable tale wouldn't sit well with them. In response, and to the group's surprise, Kirou didn't say anything and only smiled. It wasn't a normal smile either, but the smile one makes when they know something others don't. And he wasn't the only one. Shang Yin also had such a smile on his face.

"You sure about that, Brother Huan? I mean, you know our Brother w.a.n.g here ain't the sort to lie about something, especially something that can obviously be checked, right?" After saying this, Shang Yin had a weird smile form on his face, like that cat from the story, 'Alice in Wonderland.' "Plus, I'm the one who decided to share this with the rest of you. Would I be so bold in revealing it, without informing Brother w.a.n.g ahead of time?"

When Shang Yin said this, the other members of the security detail looked around at each other. While what Shang Yin just described was something the didn't want to accept, they also realized that he wasn't someone to make such a hole to dive into. If his words and current expression were anything to go by, it seems like what he said was the truth.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting weird, another member from the discussion on the previous day, Cho Jinxun, spoke up, "Since everyone is currently unsure what to believe, why don't we just check online? Did you forget that the gaming company behind Immortal Era made it so that you could look up the basic info of other players from their website?"

Following his words, one of the group members immediately logged on to the Immortal Era website and went to the character search section. This person then looked at Kirou before asking, "What's your in-game character name, Brother w.a.n.g."

With a schadenfreude smile on his face, he answered with a single word, "Kirou."

Getting the name, the member input the characters for his name and found the profile. When he looked at all the available information being displayed, the person whipped his head to look at Kirou so fast that the others swore they heard a snapping sounds.

"This....this.." the person couldn't help but stutter when looking between the info on his phone and back at the person himself, with a few thoughts running through his mind, 'Just what kind of monster is w.a.n.g Xu? Didn't he just start the game two days ago? I remember seeing Shang Yin giving him the gaming helmet myself and the registration date of this account says two days as well. What the h.e.l.l man???'

"Come on, Yang Xin. Out with it." Seeing the now identified Yang Xin stuttering while looking at Kirou in shock caused Huan Zhifeng to have a strange thought in his mind, 'It couldn't be, right?'

"Well..." started Yang Xin. He looked at Kirou and saw him nodding so he mustered up the courage to speak. "Well, Brother w.a.n.g isn't at level 5....."

These words caused the rest of the group to release the breath they didn't know they were holding. As for Huan Zhifeng, he even felt somewhat relieved that his thought was wrong. At least until they heard the rest of his statement.

"Brother w.a.n.g isn't at level 5. According to the website, Brother w.a.n.g is currently at level 10." Those words caused gasps of shock and awe to sound out in the office. Only Shang Yin was exempted from this. He made sure to look up Kirou's info on the previous day after he told them his level and cla.s.s and made sure to check this morning as well.

Shang Yin didn't have Kirou's in-game name but he did have the cla.s.s, race, and level, so that was good enough for him to do the search. He had that reaction when he first learned of it as well but now, he was just grinning like a fat cat that caught its plump prey.

As for Kirou, he was currently learning back in his chair without saying anything. While he didn't like the fact that he became the topic of discussion for the day, again, he didn't mind having the others find out about him either. It made blending much more fun for him, after all. Plus, he found the whole thing amusing.

Having heard Yang Xin's words, Huan Zhifeng took a look at the screen to confirm before approaching Kirou. When he got in front of Kirou, Huan Zhifeng did a 90-degree bow before opening his mouth, "I apologize for my harsh words from earlier, Brother w.a.n.g. I shouldn't have allowed my arrogance and ignorance to blind me to the fact that you were telling the truth."

"No worries, Brother Huan. I know how bad it sounds, to begin with. I was made very clear of that fact sometime this morning."

Following this, Huan Zhifeng also turned to Shang Yin and gave him a similar bow before speaking, "I'd also like to apologize to you as well, Brother Shang. Since it was something you spoke up about, I shouldn't have reacted like that, causing the whole situation to become awkward."

"It's all good, Brother Huan. We are all friends here. No need to be so polite with us. I expected that reaction from you from the start. I just wanted to share the shock I received both last night and this morning is all." Shang Yin had a sly smile on his face as he said that, which was seen by everyone in the room, Kirou included.

Hearing his words caused Huan Zhifeng to be silent for a few moments before a proverbial lightbulb lit up in his mind. A few veins started bulging on his head while Huan Zhifeng stared at Shang Yin and spoke softly, "So this whole thing was just a way for you to share the pain, huh? And you wanted to use me as the b.u.t.t of the joke in the process, huh?" Huan Zhifeng was trembling as he spoke those words.

While the rest of the group didn't hear everything, they knew enough to back away from Huan Zhifeng in order to give him some s.p.a.ce. As for Shang Yin, he was currently laughing his a.s.s off, acting completely oblivious to Huan Zhifeng's current mood. Kirou sat to the side and heard everything so he made a slight movement back with his seat.

Immediately after his movement, Shang Yin started fleeing the office, laughing, while Huan Zhifeng was chasing after him. "Shang Yin, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Get back here."

Besides the group of board members and studio gamers in the meeting, the rest were treated to the comedy stylings of Shang Yin being chased by an angry(?) Huan Zhifeng in the company parking lot. This lasted a few minutes before Huan Zhifeng lost all strength in his legs while Shang Yin was laughing at him from a distance.

"There's no way a guy as big as you can catch me, Brother Huan. Better luck next time." After saying this, Shang Yin started to walk away, only to trip on a 'conveniently' placed pebble on his path. His fall caused all the security guards and studio employees present to burst out in laughter while the perpetrator behind Shang Yin's fall walked away with a simple smile on his face.

'Consider that payback for ousting me before I was ready, Brother Shang,' thought the culprit as he walked.

Naturally, this was done by Kirou who was now heading out on his lunch break, only to pa.s.s by a girl in the corridor. At first, he didn't pay her any attention, but after a few steps, Kirou turned around to see her back profile entering an office. At first, he was surprised as he recognized the girl. Then, he shrugged it off and continued on his trip to the studio's cafeteria.

'Seems like this world is a whole lot smaller than I realized,' thought Kirou with a slight smile on his face. The girl he pa.s.sed resembled a certain elf he knows.