Yue Shi and Long Jianguo had a brief exchange regarding the proper way to manage the players.
Eventually, Long Jianguo left, lost in thought.
Yue Shi flipped through the company reports, wondering what kind of tasks he should find for those players to do.
The Snow Leopard trotted over to the window and crouched by the blinds, peering out at the street below.
The ghost drifted out, suspended in mid-air, and asked in a low voice, “You really taught the Mayor how to manage the players?”
Yue Shi didn’t look up, offering only a grunt of affirmation.
The ghost asked again, “Every player is a potential employee for you. Aren’t you afraid she’ll start competing with you for people now that you’ve told her how to handle them?”
Yue Shi’s voice remained flat. “Let her. It’s not like they’re some precious resource.”
“Then aren’t you worried that once she figures out the players’ true nature, she’ll turn around and use that knowledge against you?” the ghost pressed.
Yue Shi finally bothered to look up, giving the ghost a pointed look. “She’s no match for me.”
...
That afternoon, the official website of the Liming City Investigation Bureau released a notice.
The Bureau was expanding its recruitment!
The announcement was written very formally: “To address the increasingly complex urban security situation and strengthen the monitoring and control of danger zones, we are now publicly recruiting contract-based staff...”
Anyone with a sharp eye could tell something was off because the recruitment criteria were far too loose.
There were no restrictions on residency, education, or age, and no criminal record checks. Anyone could sign up, and positions would be assigned after passing an interview.
Such conditions would be unthinkable for an official recruitment drive in any other city, yet the Liming City Investigation Bureau had posted it just like that.
Many people were eager to try their luck, hoping to snag an iron rice bowl.
The players also took notice. Word spread like wildfire, and some players even started a new thread on the forum.
One reply read: “Is this some kind of new scam?”
Another player replied: “Doubt it. The info came from the Bureau’s official site. Official agencies should be reliable; maybe this will trigger a new plotline.”
Someone else analyzed: “The Liming City Investigation Bureau must be desperate for people if they’re hiring temporary workers from the outside.”
The thread’s popularity surged to the front page of the forum within half an hour. The comment section shifted from skepticism to discussing interview tips and then to forming groups to sign up together.
The Bureau naturally had its own ways to distinguish players from ordinary people. They couldn’t see the names floating above people’s heads like Yue Shi could, but an agency that dealt with supernatural incidents for a living always had special detection methods to tell players apart.
During the interviews, the examiners sitting behind the desks could pick the players out of the crowd at a single glance.
The first player to run to the Bureau to sign up was 【Da Feng】. He was an active figure on the game forums, the type to poke his nose into anything—if a manure truck drove past, he’d probably try to taste it just to see if it was salty or sweet.
He posted: “I just finished my interview at the Bureau and got hired! The whole thing took less than five minutes. The interviewer just asked a few random questions and then passed me. No hassle at all. Brothers, go for it!”
Hundreds of replies flooded into the thread.
Some congratulated him, while others accused him of bragging.
【Da Feng】 didn’t bother arguing. He simply took a photo of his employment notice and uploaded it.
The paper in the photo was blue, printed with the words ‘Employment Notice for Temporary Staff of the Liming City Investigation Bureau,’ and stamped with a red official seal.
Once the photo was posted, the voices of doubt died down significantly.
With 【Da Feng】 as an example, more players followed suit. They flooded in from every corner of the city, crowding the steps outside the Bureau’s main entrance in small groups, all intending to pick up a new profession.
Strategy threads on the game forum multiplied. People compiled common interview questions, analyzed which times had the shortest lines, and posted the shortest routes from respawn points to the Bureau.
However, they soon discovered that none of this mattered.
As long as someone was a player, they were guaranteed to be hired if they went to the Bureau for an interview.
Gradually, some people sensed that something was fishy, but as players, they loved fishy situations and were all eager to dive in.
One player posted a specific reminder: “Once you enter the Bureau, don’t let it slip that you’re a player. Don’t keep talking about things like ‘the game’ or ‘NPCs.’ Pretend to be an ordinary person and observe what the Bureau is actually trying to do first.”
Someone replied: “That goes without saying. Who would be stupid enough to call them NPCs to their faces when they have such high AI?”
Another replied: “Did you forget that incident where 【Ancestor Zuanfeng】 took off his pants? Some people really are that stupid.”
The comment section erupted in laughter.
【Da Feng】’s post was pinned and highlighted because he added more details.
He described his job duties; he had been assigned to the archives management group. His daily work consisted of scanning paper files into the computer, categorizing them, and archiving them.
He said the work was boring, but it was stable. Not only did he get a fixed salary, but he could also legally enter and leave various Bureau departments. He might even get his hands on confidential documents one day.
In the replies, people envied his good luck.
In reality, most players weren’t as lucky as 【Da Feng】.
As the first player hired by the Bureau, 【Da Feng】 was more like a billboard put up to attract more players.
After other players were hired, they didn’t get formal positions but rather various temporary roles. Their work generally involved patrolling, guarding, carrying supplies, and cleaning up scenes—assisting formal investigators in danger zones.
Only by performing well would they have a chance to become formal employees.
It looked like a trap-filled scheme, yet the players still threw themselves into the Bureau with relentless persistence.
This was because the Liming City Investigation Bureau had painted a very attractive picture. They told the players that once they became formal staff, they would not only have job security, various benefits, and a pension, but also the chance to access supernatural powers and cultivation techniques.
The players’ eyes lit up at that. Benefits and pensions didn't matter, but the cultivation techniques were the main point!
The things they had searched for so long in the game without success were now right in front of them—all they had to do was work hard.
Many players became like workhorses on a manic high, determined to work diligently for the Bureau.
On the very day they started, field missions were dispatched.
The mission: explore the danger zones around Liming City!
The Bureau gave each player a map marked with hazard levels and a set of basic equipment, including a protective suit, a portable detector, a first-aid kit, and a very sturdy, durable-looking crowbar.
The mission description was written very officially.
【Collect activity data on abnormal creatures within the danger zone】
【Mark surveyed safe routes to provide data support for subsequent large-scale cleanup operations】
After reading the mission description, the players had only one thought: “This is what a game should be like!”
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