At 5:49 p.m., the spacious office was silent.
Chen Xu leaned back in his chair, a pen resting under his nose, staring at the computer screen as if pondering some difficult problem.
In fact, he was in a daze, about to get off work, thinking about where to eat later.
Old Tang, who was sitting behind him, leaned over and whispered, "Old Wang said he wants to take the new colleague out for dinner, don't forget."
A dinner gathering again?
Chen Xu felt a bit of a headache, hesitated for a second, and still said, "Got it."
Old Wang was their supervisor, a good boss in every way, except that he liked arranging dinner parties all the time, at least two or three times a month.
He usually avoided it if he could. But this time it was to welcome a new colleague, so it wouldn't look good if he didn't go.
Besides, he had found excuses to skip the last two gatherings; if he didn't go this time, Old Wang would probably mark it in his little notebook.
He felt a bit depressed at the thought that his two hours after work would be wasted at a dull and tedious dinner gathering.
It wasn't that he had any issues with his colleagues; rather, after work, he preferred to be alone.
Most importantly, after sending money home last week, he didn't have much left for his living expenses, and they always split the bill for dinner gatherings...
With a sigh in his heart, he thought it was bad enough that work was tough; after work, he couldn't even control his own time. He'd had enough of this life.
When could he get rid of these trivial things and live the life he wanted?
"Beep—"
"Language calibration complete, virtual dream device activated, starting identity verification—"
Chen Xu was startled by the sudden voice in his ear, his hand trembled, and the pen fell to the floor.
What was that sound?
In an instant, many thoughts crossed his mind; while bending down to pick up the pen, he glanced sideways at the colleagues around him, seeing nothing unusual.
It didn't seem to be a prank his colleagues had conspired.
Could it be an illusion?
Then, the voice sounded once more.
"Verification failed, entering visitor mode."
"Welcome to experience this product, manufactured by Xingyu Virtual Device Manufacturing Group, enabling you to experience one hundred percent virtual reality dreams. Numerous scenarios are available for you to choose from, allowing you to enjoy a splendid dream life."
Suddenly, Chen Xu felt parched, and besides the voice, a page appeared before his eyes, with an icon in the center, like a virtual computer desktop.
To verify it, he closed his eyes, counted a few seconds, and reopened them.
The page was still there, and the high-definition color icon in the middle was so conspicuous.
His heart raced.
.........
Before long, it was time to get off work, and Chen Xu was still caught in shock until Old Tang patted him, snapping him back to reality.
"Work's over, why are you spacing out?" Old Tang asked, puzzled.
"Nothing." He looked up; all the other colleagues had left. He quickly packed his things and said, "Let's go."
This time, the department's dinner gathering was at a nearby restaurant.
The advertising department had a total of eleven people, just enough to fill a table.
The new colleague was a young woman, and everyone was enthusiastic, not because she was particularly pretty but because with the year-end approaching, the advertising department would soon be extremely busy, so everyone was naturally happy to have another person to share the work.
Most of those present were young people, and the atmosphere quickly became lively.
The only discordant part was Chen Xu; he hadn't said much, appearing somewhat absent-minded.
The others didn't mind. During previous gatherings, Chen Xu had never been very talkative, so everyone was used to it.
After dinner, everyone dispersed as they still had work the next day and couldn't stay out too late.
After it ended, Chen Xu caught a ride back with Old Tang.
In the car, Old Tang suddenly asked, "Chen Xu, are you alright? Chen Xu, Chen Xu..."
He called several times before the dazing Chen Xu reacted, confused, "Huh?"
Old Tang looked more concerned and asked, "You've seemed preoccupied since after work. Did something happen?"
"No, just thinking about things."
Chen Xu gently tapped his forehead, lowered the window a bit to let the outside breeze clear his mind.
From the end of the workday until now, he had been contemplating the "virtual dream device," which explained his distracted appearance.
Old Tang looked at him and said, "Is it something at home? I have twenty thousand yuan in savings. You can use it first."
"No, it's not..." Chen Xu quickly clarified, "It's not that; I'm thinking about something else."
"Alright." Old Tang nodded, saying, "If there's really a problem, just let me know. Don't let pride make you suffer."
Chen Xu felt warmth in his heart and said, "Thank you."
Old Tang didn't say more and started the car.
Chen Xu felt quite lucky to have a friend like Old Tang. They graduated from the same university; Old Tang was five years ahead. They only got to know each other after Chen Xu joined this company.
Due to this connection, Old Tang usually took good care of him.
For Old Tang, he felt grateful, but even in difficult times, he didn't want to ask Old Tang for help.
Old Tang had just gotten married not long ago and was paying off a mortgage and car loan every month, facing no less pressure than he did.
......…
Over half an hour later, Chen Xu reached his rental place. The location was somewhat remote, requiring a ten-minute walk to the nearest bus station.
He rented a single room, about twenty square meters. It had only a single bed and a computer desk. Small as it was, it had its own bathroom and was sufficient for one person.
The key was its affordability; in this city, living costs were quite high, and rent was often the largest expense. Finding a place close to the company with cheap rent wasn't easy. He was lucky to find it.
He put down his briefcase, lay on the bed, and checked his phone, seeing the bank balance notification: 499.32 yuan, giving him a bit of a headache. There was still more than half a month until payday, and this was all he had left, which meant he could only tighten his belt to get by.
Then, he thought of the "virtual dream device" once more, a bit hesitant about whether to enter it.
This inexplicably appearing product, seemingly some kind of black technology or system, had no manual even after searching for a long time.
Normally, this device wouldn't appear on his retina but would show up only when he "activated" it, featuring only an icon that indicated, "Do you want to enter the dreamscape 'Survival Scenario'?"
When he focused on this line, a brief prompt appeared: one could choose an item or a companion to enter the dreamscape. It provided numerous items and character templates.
Additionally, he keenly noticed a hidden option to opt out of the dreamscape-provided items and instead copy an item from the real world or a real person to enter the dream.