"Did she refuse?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded unsurprised.
"Yes, without a moment's hesitation," Qin Huaigui stood by the window, watching the heavy rain and the neon lights outside. "Mom, don't you find that strange?"
The woman laughed, "What's so strange about it? How could you not figure this out?"
"I... didn't think of it right away," Qin Huaigui felt his face flush, grateful that no one could see him at the moment.
"Think about it: why did she leave the company?"
"Because... she was ostracized, and there were those boardroom issues."
"You're wrong. She was able to leave the company because someone felt she was not essential, that it wouldn't matter if she left."
Qin Huaigui caught on, "Now they're begging her to come back because she's joined the Anti-Intrusion Team. The company needs her now."
"Exactly," the woman sneered, "Qin Xuezhong has always had a strong personality. When she was useless, they discarded her; now that she's useful, they're begging her to come back. What do they think she is? Did she look particularly unhappy today?"
"Yeah," Qin Huaigui nodded instinctively. "She was tense and had a pale face."
"Alas," the woman sighed, "the old lady is confused too. Acting like this towards Qin Xuezhong will only backfire."
"Mom, should I do something about it?"
"No need. Didn't I tell you last time? Just be a good assistant, build a good relationship with her, and watch the drama unfold." The woman's voice took on a tone of anticipation. "The world is about to change; Qin Xuezhong is the first piece on the board... Those who still see her as a pawn better be careful."
---
Qin Xuezhong, whose face looked quite bad, returned home.
Today, there were only two things that made her happy: one was winning a bonus of 1,000 credits, and the other was a free dinner.
However, that 1,000-credit bonus led to her being asked to join that Anti-Intrusion Team.
The free dinner came because the company wanted to promote and raise her salary.
This rollercoaster of a day made her deeply understand the words of a famous author from before her transmigration: every gift fate offers comes with a hidden price tag.
In her case, it wasn't just a price tag.
It was as if she picked up a plain popsicle, only to discover it was a 1,000,000-credit loan!
The only consolation was that she had decisively refused the company's proposal, and Qin Huaigui hadn't had any special reaction.
Next, she needed to make it clear to the company that she truly didn't want to participate in their adult games.
She was just a young person who had worked too many overtime hours and wanted to take it easy—that was all.
In a foul mood, Qin Xuezhong didn't know how to vent her frustration and finally decided to hop on the training simulator and fire a few shots.
Tonight, she didn't want to endure the frustrating anti-tracking training anymore, where a bunch of people stared at her, mirroring the reality of her daytime life.
In contrast, shooting at a few dummies and treating them as the fools who mess with the world for power and wealth sounded appealing.
This time, she still chose 100% realism, opting for a simple-looking handgun that had a minimalist beauty.
However, as she began training, she almost gave up.
It was too hard!
At 100% realism, the highest difficulty, all the targets appeared and disappeared very quickly.
Poor Qin Xuezhong didn't even figure out how to shoot, so how could she hit the targets?
Thus, she simply ignored all the targets and focused on learning how to shoot.
From loading the magazine, unlocking the safety, and grip to aiming, shooting techniques, and managing recoil, Qin Xuezhong learned everything from scratch.
Fortunately, she activated the complete beginner tips, allowing her to learn step by step.
If someone were to witness this scene in the virtual training ground, they would likely find it amusing.
—In the shooting range, countless dummies and targets darted back and forth, while at the shooting position, a girl was clumsily fiddling with her gun.
After getting somewhat familiar, she wasn't scared by the loud sounds of gunfire and the strong recoil; Qin Xuezhong started shooting.
The sensation of bullets pouring out was indeed quite relieving.
After firing a few magazines, she could barely manage to pull out the gun, reload, and shoot, but she soon grew bored.
Except for hitting a couple of times by chance, she hadn't hit a single target.
She was puzzled; couldn't the training simulator adjust the difficulty? How was she supposed to practice like this?
Just as she was about to log off to check the simulator instructions, a message popped up in the upper right corner:
[User "Unknown" invites you to join "Ten-Person Battle Arena (Urban Battlefield)"]
[Do you accept?]
Since she was feeling bored, she decided to try it out and see how others played.
Qin Xuezhong confirmed her acceptance.
The next second, the scene in front of her changed to… a restroom stall.
It looked like a public restroom in a mall, with signs against graffiti and the door covered in scribbles.
Her outfit had also changed to a sharp suit, complete with sunglasses, making her look like a secret agent or a cool office worker.
She even had a hat on that she couldn't take off.
She had no equipment except for a handgun tucked under her arm.
The training system interface displayed a one-minute countdown to game start, [00:59], which was continually decreasing.
A small chat box began showing text below:
[93: How come a level 1 player is here?]
[96: No idea, is it a bug?]
[93: Newbie? Can you see us? Say something!]
[99: I brought her in. This newbie has two records of 100% realism training.]
[97: No way? Really?]
[91: Was it a misclick?]
Qin Xuezhong didn't know how to type, so she tried to speak, "Uh... can you hear me?"
The chat box immediately showed:
[01: Uh, can you hear me?]
[93: Hahaha, you can't even chat? This is voice-to-text conversion.]
[96: …]
[93: The master 96 is now showing off his skills with perfect voice conversion, skipping the ellipsis!]
[91: Let's see who can take out the newbie.]
[93: I bet 10,000 credits.]
[92: Hurry up and place your bets; it's about to start.]
Qin Xuezhong chuckled at their teasing and didn't mind.
She noticed that all the other players had numbers starting with 9, while her number was 01.
If that number was a level, a level 1 newbie going up against high-level ranks? She was doomed. She resigned herself to just watching.
Thinking it might bring her good luck, she placed a 100-credit bet on "01 to win."
The competition rules were simple.
In the bustling urban area, 10 players would fight against each other until only one remained.
The only way to identify opponents was by the special hats each player wore above their heads.
To prevent anyone from hiding passively, the system required that each player must move more than 10 meters every minute, or they would immediately be disqualified.
At the same time, players couldn't shoot NPCs.
After understanding the rules, Qin Xuezhong thought that without even warming up her gun, she definitely couldn't compete in shooting skills against these top players.
Her only chance was her somewhat honed anti-tracking skills.
She decided to play defensively.
If she could hide well, like in those survival games from her previous life, perhaps she could survive until the end and take a shot when the time came. Maybe luck would be on her side.
So she started to act.
Walking out of the restroom, Qin Xuezhong felt that anti-tracking here seemed easier than expected. Unlike during training, where dozens of enemies and cameras were watching her, there weren't as many eyes here.
Qin Xuezhong thrived, seamlessly blending into the crowd and navigating through various visual blind spots.
The first to notice something was off was a hacker player.
In the game, this person would typically hack into the local surveillance system to observe all opponents, roughly locating their activity zones before venturing out to track them.
But this time, he only found eight players.
The remaining one seemed to be a ghost, never appearing on any camera.
After some time, everyone began to realize something was amiss.
The first five players to be eliminated were all above level 90, yet that level 1 newbie was still alive and well.
Five of them synchronously shifted their focus to Qin Xuezhong.
They realized that even from a god's eye view, they often lost track of her.
In the footage, that woman used every imaginable method to evade detection for anti-tracking.
For instance, in an open area, she was hiding behind a tall, burly man.
However, there were no other players around, and she had no reason to hide. It took a while for them to realize she was avoiding distant cameras.
[93: No wonder I couldn't see her on the cameras the whole time.]
[92: Which big shot's alternate account is this?]
[96: I wish I could add her as a friend…]
Throughout the process, Qin X
uezhong hadn't fired a single shot; she had evaded all dangers through exceptional positioning.
Until only two players were left in the game: herself and player 97.
Qin Xuezhong noticed this too.
She was secretly pleased; it seemed her luck as a newbie held out, and now it was time to go out and take a shot!
Then everyone saw player 01 suddenly accelerate.
Without player 97 realizing, 01 circled widely from his front and ultimately latched onto 97's tail.
The spectators were on edge.
A level 97 expert was being quietly followed by someone right behind him. If she fired a shot, it could kill him and secure victory.
But player 01 didn't shoot; instead, she continued closing the distance, moving through the crowd to within three meters of him!
Like a top predator enjoying the thrill of toying with its prey.
In reality, Qin Xuezhong thought, I don't know how to shoot; if I shoot from far away, I might miss, so I'll just get closer.
Once she was close enough, she pulled out her gun and loaded it.
—That movement left all the spectators dumbfounded.
Because everyone had prepared their weapons before entering, intending to avoid the fraction of a second delay and sound from loading that could disrupt the rapidly changing situation.
Who would've thought that this level 1 player hadn't even loaded her gun?!
A sharp "click" startled Qin Xuezhong—she had seen a player being shot earlier, where both players drew their guns almost instantaneously, turning and firing at each other in the blink of an eye, and hitting right between the eyes.
She didn't think she could draw faster than those experts.
So the bewildered Qin Xuezhong froze.
---
The player ahead, number 97, certainly heard the loading sound behind him. He didn't turn around but rather smiled wryly.
—That player 01 was truly a hidden master, getting so close without firing. The sound of loading was a mockery.
At this moment, he and the other spectators realized that because they dismissed her as a level 1 player, they had casually teased her, even placing bets, inadvertently provoking a major player.
This major player decided to spare a shot, giving them a top-notch performance instead.
The final loading sound seemed to say: "You're dead; I won't shoot. You can leave now."
He didn't turn; instead, he raised his hands in surrender and exited the game obediently.
---
[Competition ended, winner: 01]
(Due to the significant level disparity, you cannot gain experience.)
[Your bet: 100 credits]
[You won the bet: 1,000 credits]
Qin Xuezhong cheered; she couldn't believe she had actually won!
Though in the end, she was a bit confused as to why that guy left himself, perhaps he thought he wouldn't make it in time to shoot her? But winning was winning, so Qin Xuezhong didn't dwell on it.
1,000 credits! Plus the bonus from the morning, she had earned nearly two months' worth of rent in one day—what a delight!
As she was still figuring out how to exit the game, she received nine friend requests.
Some were lengthy, some were short, and many contained jargon from the training simulator. After studying them for a while, Qin Xuezhong finally understood what they were trying to say. The gist of it boiled down to four words:
"Big shot, take me."