Qiao Li slammed his keyboard with all his might and sent in his resignation letter.
What kind of lousy company was this? He couldn’t stand working there anymore! Just because of some insignificant little matter, the company had deducted three whole months of his salary!
However, less than ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door of his tiny rented apartment.
“Qiao Li! It’s time to pay your rent! You haven’t paid rent for three months already! If you don’t pay up soon, don’t blame me for being heartless!”
Qiao Li froze and sighed.
He was unemployed again. Where was he supposed to get the money to pay rent?
Qiao Li rummaged through all the money he had hidden underneath his bed, then opened the door.
“Sister Chu, this is all I have for now. Could you please give me a little more time? I promise I’ll pay you the rest as soon as I have the money!”
Qiao Li handed the money to his landlady, Sister Chu, and clasped his hands together, trying to beg for a little mercy.
Sister Chu took the money and counted it. Although it wasn’t enough to cover the rent, she could at least tell that Qiao Li wasn’t the type of person who deliberately withheld rent despite having money.
The young man had been living in her apartment for quite some time, so she knew a little about his circumstances. Making a living on one’s own in a big city really wasn’t easy.
“Fine, but make sure you pay the full amount as soon as possible!”
Qiao Li nodded repeatedly. “Definitely! Definitely!”
After Sister Chu left, Qiao Li returned to his computer.
A new email?
It was from his former company.
“Qiao Li, I know you feel wronged, but who would’ve thought that the person you offended was someone from the higher-ups! I know you’re frustrated, and I also know you’re really short on money right now. There’s a job available as a game tester. Would you like to give it a try?
“You’ll be paid per completed assignment, and you can work from home. You can do it whenever and wherever you want. I guarantee it’s easy and straightforward!
“If you’re interested, feel free to contact me.”
Qiao Li stared at the email.
A game tester? Payment per assignment?
Why did it sound so much like those scams constantly advertised in QQ groups and WeChat groups?
Brother Shao had always treated him well at the company. He also knew that Qiao Li was genuinely poor and didn’t have much money. There was no reason for him to trick him.
Since that was the case… he might as well give it a try!
It wasn’t as if he could get any poorer than he already was…
Qiao Li completely overlooked the part about having offended someone from the higher-ups and immediately called Shao Dongyang.
The next day, a gaming pod was delivered to his door.
After setting it up, Qiao Li wasted no time climbing inside. He closed his eyes.
〖Hello, Employee A! This is the Service Main System. It is our great honor to serve you!〗
〖Would you like to accept an assignment?〗
Qiao Li slowly opened his eyes.
He was currently in a completely white space. A light screen floated in front of him, displaying his personal information.
[Name: Qiao Li
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Identity: Employee
Points: 0
Wealth Value: 10 RMB]
Qiao Li’s mouth twitched.
“Is there really a need to display the fact that I only have ten yuan left?”
He might be poor, but at the very least, he wanted to retain some dignity while being poor!
〖Would you like to accept an assignment?〗
Qiao Li waved his hand impatiently.
“Fine! I’ll take it!”
〖Randomly assigning an auxiliary system——Assigning System Zhanzhan——Assignment successful——We wish you a pleasant working experience!〗
As soon as the announcement ended, Qiao Li fainted.
By the time he woke up again, he was already in an unfamiliar setting.
First impression: A luxurious room so enormous that its boundaries seemed endless. It practically screamed wealth.
Second impression: Damn it! Was the floor he had slept on some kind of new soft flooring?
[H-Host… Host-sama?]
Qiao Li paused and mentally responded with a questioning, “Hmm?”
[I… I’m Auxiliary System Zhanzhan… It’s… It’s my great honor… to serve you!]
Qiao Li: “…”
“Y-You… Wh-Why are you stuttering?!”
Zhanzhan laughed sheepishly. A soft, childlike voice rang out.
[It’s my first time serving a host, after all! I hope Host-sama will be patient with me!]
“All right, enough of that. Introduce yourself. What exactly am I here to do? How much can I earn for completing one assignment?”
“That Service Main System of yours is seriously lacking intelligence. It only knows how to repeat the same sentence over and over…”
Qiao Li adjusted his expression and repeated in a completely mechanical voice, “Would you like to accept an assignment?”
[Ah… Host-sama, I’m very sorry for giving you such an unpleasant experience. The Main System does indeed have some shortcomings. I’ll report this matter to the higher-ups. Thank you very much for your feedback.]
[Now, allow me to introduce the details of your assignment.]
Perhaps because it had gotten used to speaking, Zhanzhan suddenly became much more fluent.
[Assignment Title: Billionaire’s Spoiling Love: CEO, Go Easy on Me
Salary: 200 Points × 100 RMB
Mission Requirement: 100 Plot Points
Difficulty Level: C]
“What are points used for?”
He could understand RMB. Wasn’t that just money?
But what could he do with points?
[Points can be exchanged for physical items. At the highest level, you can even redeem luxury villas and expensive cars!~]
Qiao Li paused.
“Isn’t this just like those ridiculous online games that trick people into downloading them? You can never accumulate enough points to reach the required amount, and the closer you get to the end, the harder it becomes to earn more!”
[Host-sama, our points are genuine and reliable! You can absolutely accumulate enough to redeem your rewards!~]
“Forget it, forget it. I’m only here to earn RMB anyway. I’m not interested in exchanging points for prizes!”
“You still haven’t told me what I’m supposed to do. What exactly are plot points?”
[Host-sama, our game is called Experiencing Virtual Happiness! Its main purpose is to let players experience the joys of a virtual world!
“To improve the gaming experience, players are assigned missions. They must follow the storyline and advance the plot to accumulate plot points. Once they have accumulated a total of 100 plot points, they can complete the mission!]
Qiao Li responded with an understanding “Oh.”
“To put it simply, I’m a guinea pig. I have to follow the storyline while testing whether the game is enjoyable and checking for bugs, right?”
[Host-sama is so clever! You’ve understood everything so quickly!]
Back when Zhanzhan had first undergone training, it had taken quite a long time to understand the concept. Another system had even needed to explain everything to it before it finally got the hang of things.
“Zhanzhan, right? Shouldn’t you be sending me the storyline?”
After all, Qiao Li had previously worked as a game designer. Although he hadn’t designed this particular game, he was at least somewhat familiar with how these things worked.
[Of course, Host-sama!]
As soon as Zhanzhan finished speaking, a book appeared in Qiao Li’s mind.
Its title was Billionaire’s Spoiling Love: CEO, Go Easy on Me.
[In response to popular demand and to satisfy the general public’s preferences, all storylines in this game are adapted from online novels in the real world. The host can choose to skim through the story to familiarize himself with the plot.]
“Quick reading!”
Billionaire’s Spoiling Love: CEO, Go Easy on Me.
Just as its title suggested, this was an unconventional Mary Sue story featuring an overbearing CEO.
A powerful male lead and a strong female lead, with a devoted one-on-one romance. This was the kind of overbearing CEO novel that was extremely popular across various websites and would always have an audience.
The female protagonist, Xi Mo Mo, was a student at X University. Her boyfriend had cheated on her for money, getting together with Xia Zhirou, the heiress of the Xia Group.
As for the female protagonist, she was actually the illegitimate daughter of the Xia family. She had grown up living with her mother and was only brought back to the Xia family after her mother passed away. However, she was completely unloved in that household. Practically everyone could bully and trample all over her.
One night, Xi Mo Mo got drunk at a bar. In a fit of anger, she hired a male escort, intending to give away her virginity.
However, she accidentally entered the wrong room and, through a series of unexpected coincidences, ended up sleeping with the male protagonist, Huangfu Yu, who had somehow been drugged.
The next morning, Xi Mo Mo deeply regretted what had happened. After tossing a thousand yuan at Huangfu Yu, she left.
The abstinent male protagonist, Huangfu Yu, not only felt that he had been toyed with but also found himself unable to forget the feeling of being with Xi Mo Mo. He immediately ordered his subordinates to gather all the information about the female protagonist within three minutes.
After discovering how tragic her background was, Huangfu Yu began standing up for her whenever she was bullied.
He drove his car, worth hundreds of millions, straight to the engagement party of her scumbag ex-boyfriend and the vicious female supporting character. Making an incredibly grand entrance, he publicly stood up for the female protagonist. Afterward, he simply dragged her off to register their marriage.
Once they were married, the two began living a sweet, lovey-dovey life together, enjoying their shamelessly affectionate relationship.
When the male protagonist’s family found out, they disapproved of the marriage because they looked down on the female protagonist’s background.
However, the male protagonist had already fallen deeply in love with her after spending so much time together. The female protagonist had even become pregnant with his child.
For her sake, the male protagonist turned against his own family. He was eventually driven out of the Huangfu Group by his relatives, becoming a fallen prince.
Throughout everything, Xi Mo Mo remained faithfully by Huangfu Yu’s side, never abandoning him. Relying on her own abilities, she managed to support their little family.
The second male lead, Shangguan Jue, had met the female protagonist by chance while working at a place before the main couple got together. He had just returned from abroad and immediately developed a favorable impression of her.
He was attracted to her seemingly innocent and unpretentious demeanor.
Later, he went abroad again. During his occasional short visits back home, he never saw her again and assumed that she no longer worked there.
However, after the male protagonist fell on hard times, the female protagonist returned to that same workplace to earn a living.
When Shangguan Jue visited the place again, he ran into her once more. As they spent time together, he gradually fell hopelessly in love with her.
Even after discovering that she was already married, he still couldn’t let go of his feelings for her.
Later, when he learned that her husband was actually his childhood friend, someone he had grown up with, he finally decided to help Huangfu Yu with everything he had.
Originally, he had been unable to help Huangfu Yu because of pressure from his family. But after learning the truth, he disregarded everything and did his best to lend him a hand.
Afterward, the male protagonist regained his strength, successfully reclaimed his group, and reunited with the female protagonist for their happy ending.
And he, as the game tester who would also be playing the role of the player, had been assigned the identity of none other than the overbearing CEO himself, Huangfu Yu.
Qiao Li opened his eyes with an indescribably complicated expression.
This plot was ridiculously cliché, and the writing was so painfully awkward that he could barely describe it. He suspected the novel had been written by an elementary school student.
The original novel described the scene like this:
“Huangfu Yu awoke in the middle of his nine-hundred-square-meter bed. He rose, swung his long legs over the side, and walked into the bathroom. Looking at his own charming reflection in the mirror, he chuckled softly. His smile carried thirty percent laziness, twenty percent nonchalance, and fifty percent indescribable handsomeness!”
Qiao Li silently climbed to his feet and glanced at his own “long legs.”
Even Yao Ming wouldn’t dare claim he could swing his long legs over the side and step down from this monstrous 30-by-30-meter bed!
So… had the author completely forgotten that human legs couldn’t possibly grow to thirty meters long?
Actually, the bed wasn’t even that enormous. It was only about ten times bigger than his tiny rented apartment…
Life was hard. Little Qiao was crying.
Qiao Li reluctantly made his way toward the edge of the bed. It took him a full five minutes of dragging his feet before he finally managed to climb down from the enormous mattress, which was about fifteen meters away.
The moment his feet touched the floor, he spotted the bathroom directly opposite the bed.
Qiao Li walked inside, intending to wash his face.
However, when he looked at the mirror, he saw several lines of text displayed across its surface:
“Please make the following facial expression: Thirty percent laziness, twenty percent nonchalance, and fifty percent indescribable handsomeness.”
Qiao Li: “???”
Are you seriously making things difficult for me, the Mary Sue male lead?!