Mark arrived at his workplace at 11:30 in the morning. The pastry shop was open, but he saw no customers inside.
"I thought you would skip work today." The manager's stern voice drifted into his ears as soon as entered the shop.
Mark awkwardly smiled at her. "I overslept last night. I'm sorry, ma'am."
The manager snorted and said. "Hmph! Go and change into your working clothes!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Mark quickly went to the staff room to change into his uniform.
As usual, the day was uneventful and they only had less than ten customers.
"Sigh! The company is about to fall into bankruptcy. Mark, you should prepare yourself. The company can no longer afford to pay their employees so we might lose our jobs." The manager said while shaking her head.
Mark was surprised to see her with that kind of expression. She had always maintained her strict face during work hours even in the worst situations. Seeing her look so worried was new to him. "You mean even you are not safe from this?"
"Many of our branches have already closed down. I believe we are among the few in the province that is still operating. Even managers like myself could end up losing our jobs." She let out another deep sigh. "It seems like I have to retire early."
"Is there really no hope for the company to survive?" Mark asked.
The manager shook her head and replied. "It's impossible. According to my superior, the company is now in debt and the higher-ups are starting to lose hope. The only way to get out of this trouble is to increase our sales, but that is only possible with a major marketing strategy. With the company's current funds, I doubt if they could still afford such heavy expenditure."
Mark frowned upon hearing this. If he lost his job, his only source of income would be his part-time job, but that wouldn't be enough to pay his bills and daily expenses.
Looking for a job is difficult nowadays, especially for college undergraduates like him. In his country, most companies require college diplomas from their applicants. He would have to spend a long time searching for another job if that happens.
While he was deep in his thoughts, the manager said. "Let's close the shop."
"O-Okay." They closed the shop earlier than usual. Mark returned to his home early, but he was not in a good mood after his recent talk with his manager.
Mark took off his shoes and jumped on the bed. "What should I do if I lose my job?" He mumbled.
He only had a few thousand dollars in his savings account and it won't last him long once he lost his job.
"I should ask my friends. Perhaps they can help me think of a way." Mark grabbed his phone. The first thing he noticed when he opened the messaging app was the group chat.
There were already dozens of messages and he was too lazy to read them all.
"Hey, guys! Wolf of the Grassland is back! Hahaha!"
"Yo, Mark! How was work?"
"Mark, how did you come up with this ign? Hahaha!"
Mark blushed in shame when he saw his friends making fun of his ign. 'I knew it! I shouldn't have given them my ign!' He thought.
"Mark, we'll send you a friend request later. Who knows? Maybe we were teleported in the same country."
Seeing this, Mark sent a reply. "Alright." He then told them about his situation and asked them if they could refer him to their workplace.
"Mark, I won't promise you anything, but you can send your resume to me. I'll try to look for a suitable job for you in our company." One of his close friends, John Dave, sent him a private message.
"Thank you, Dave!" Mark sent him a soft copy of his resume and documents.
"Just don't get your hopes up." John Dave said.
"Don't worry, I can work as a full-time delivery guy if worse comes to worst." Mark kept a positive attitude.
He chatted briefly with John Dave and his friends before preparing his dinner. He skipped lunch earlier so he decided to cook a big meal. Five years of living by himself taught him a lot of things and cooking was one of them.
While eating his dinner, a memory suddenly appeared in his mind.
He has been living alone for more than five years since his stepmother forced him out of the family. His father was a wealthy businessman and he was the owner of a multi-million dollar company. Since Mark was young, his father trained him as the heir of the family, but things suddenly changed when his stepmother came into the picture. Five years after their marriage, his father became ill and his condition worsened as years passed. He was no longer capable of leading the company so his stepmother took the role upon herself. She was a greedy woman who would do anything to achieve her goals. With her efforts, she soon gained full control of their company. Mark's father soon died and his stepbrother was surprisingly named as the heir of the family and the next CEO of the company. As for him, he was forced out of the family and was only given a few thousand dollars. At that time, Mark was certain that they had fallen into his stepmother's schemes. Until now, he believed that his father's death was related to his stepmother.
Mark recalled this memory and it made his mood even worse. The food no longer tasted good and he quickly lost his appetite. "What a bad day!" He muttered.
Mark checked the time.
5:55 p.m.
He grabbed the gaming headgear and put it on his head. He then lay down on the bed and turned on the device.
***
Mark logged in to the game. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in a lotus position.
"Player Information." He whispered.
Player IGN: Wolf of the Grassland
Cultivation: Body Strengthening First Level
Physique: Mortal
Qi: 39/100
Wealth: 463 Orbes
Vitality: 1.7
Endurance: 3.4
Strength: 1.8
Stamina: 1.7
Speed: 1.5
Spirit: 2.9
Cold Resistance: 0.3
Heat Resistance: 0.3
Damage: 0.5
7 points were added into his Qi which means that he had cultivated for 7 hours.
The firewood that he had collected last night was no longer burning. Only ashes and some half-burnt wood remained.
He glanced at the camp and noticed that some hunters had already woken up from their cultivation. He decided to take a short stroll to calm his mind.
"How was your rest, kid?" Kevin asked when he saw Mark walking nearby.
Mark was still in a bad mood so he just shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Are you still thinking about the encounter with the Green Wolves?" Kevin patted his shoulder.
Mark didn't want to talk about it so he replied. "Perhaps."
"You'll be fine. Go and eat your breakfast. We are leaving soon."
Mark nodded and took out some food from his storage bag. After cultivating for seven hours, he felt extremely hungry.
Thirty minutes later, Jason stepped out of his tent and shouted. "Pack up! We're heading out now!"
Hearing this, Mark stood up and mentally prepared himself for what was to come.