Chapter Two: Troublemaking Friends and the Girl Next Door

It was understandable that Mengyan Gu chose to work at Illusion Corporation, because her situation was quite different from Hao Chen’s. Unlike Hao Chen, who came from a prominent family, Mengyan had no such background—at least, not anymore. She had been orphaned from a young age. Once, Mengyan had lived as the cherished child of a wealthy family, just like Hao Chen. But a tragic accident took the lives of her parents and older brother, leaving her alone in the world. To make matters worse, it seemed she had no other relatives; at least, no one had ever heard of her keeping in touch with any, and she herself didn’t seem to know of any family left.

Fortunately, her parents had been close friends with Hao Chen’s family, and so the young Mengyan was taken in and raised by them. This was the foundation of the deep familiarity and closeness between her and Hao Chen.

Tonight, as usual, Mengyan was working late alongside Hao Chen and Bill Andre. The trio’s tasks were much the same as always: maintaining the massive player database for the online game "Virtual World." Their primary job, naturally, was repair work.

The recent viral outbreak had hit Illusion Corporation hard, causing significant damage and losses. The virus hadn’t destroyed the player database outright, but had corrupted parts of it, resulting in a dire situation: some players’ accounts were severely damaged or missing data, while others were entirely unaffected.

This led to extreme imbalances in the game—many players found that all the weapons and equipment they’d spent countless hours acquiring had vanished overnight. For any online game company, such a loss would be immeasurable.

Upon realizing the extent of the problem, Illusion Corporation responded quickly. It announced an immediate, temporary suspension of the game’s operations, and dispatched its technical team to address the crisis.

But it wasn’t just a repair; it was a full overhaul. After this overhaul, the game would undergo a massive update. All players would receive compensation based on their character’s equipment and level, but the original data would not be preserved.

For any other online game company, this would be tantamount to suicide—wiping out all a player’s achievements would destroy trust overnight. But "Virtual World" was a singular masterpiece, unrivaled in its popularity and quality. Once the initial wave of opposition and protest passed, players began to resign themselves to the changes; the game was simply too beloved and irreplaceable.

What Hao Chen and the others were doing was processing the old data to prepare for this adjustment and compensation.

“Ahhh—!” Mengyan stretched widely across from Hao Chen, exhaustion etched on her face. “So tired! This has to be the busiest I’ve ever been since joining the company. There are just too many players—when will we ever finish processing all these accounts?”

She wasn’t alone in her sentiments; everyone working overtime in that office felt the same, all weighed down by the relentless workload, their bodies drained.

“What’s this, Mengyan? You’re tired too?” Bill grinned at her. “That’s rare! You’re usually the most energetic one on the team. Even you’re starting to complain?”

Hearing their conversation, the others paused their work and joined in the break, chatting amicably. The camaraderie in the office was strong, and when one person grumbled, others were quick to chime in.

“Forget Mengyan, I bet even the boss would collapse if he had to work overtime like this for days on end!”

“Exactly! If it wasn’t for the high overtime pay, I wouldn’t bother with this lousy shift,” someone sighed.

“I don’t get it, though. The company’s just going to re-archive all the data and hand out compensation, right? Why do we have to organize everything one by one? Not to belittle our efforts, but at our pace, we’d need our grandchildren to finish the job.”

“No kidding!” someone else agreed, getting up to pat Hao Chen on the shoulder. “But hey, Master Chen, you’re different from us. You’re just here for fun, right? Don’t tell me you actually need the overtime pay? And lately, the work hasn’t even matched your interests. So why are you suffering through overtime with us poor souls?”

“Yeah! Not only are you working overtime, you treat us to dinner every night. Sure, the overtime pay is decent, but with so many people eating at fancy restaurants on your tab, you’re barely breaking even. Have you developed a taste for suffering lately?”

The banter made it obvious how close everyone was. Only among friends could someone treat everyone to dinner and still be mocked for it—a circle of lovable troublemakers, no doubt.

Feigning outrage, Hao Chen shouted, “Damn you all, I buy you dinner and you repay me with mockery? Where’s your conscience?”

“I’m just being noble, you know! I never flaunt my background as a rich heir. I work hard to blend in with everyone. Where else will you find someone so selfless and virtuous?”

A chorus of jeers met his words; clearly, no one believed a word.

At that moment, Mengyan came up behind Hao Chen, hooked an arm around his neck, and squeezed playfully. “Don’t listen to this fool’s nonsense. He’s only doing all this because he needs a favor from me. That’s why he’s putting up with overtime and treating everyone to dinner. So if you’re grateful, thank me! If not for me, you wouldn’t be eating so well every night.”

Enlightenment dawned on the group. “So that’s it! Say, Master Chen, what favor do you need from Mengyan? Don’t tell us you’re finally giving up on all those girls who chase after you and turning your romantic ambitions toward her?”

“Who could resist their childhood sweetheart?” someone teased. “Back in the day, Master Chen was too young and naive, so he broke many hearts. But now that he’s grown up, he’s finally ready to fall for the girl next door.”

The pair exchanged a glance, then in perfect unison, pulled faces of disgust at each other. “Him (Her)? Not even as a concubine!” they exclaimed.

“What did you say, you brat (little vixen)?” they both shouted, voices overlapping.

“I’m young, rich, handsome, and charming! You should be so lucky!” Hao Chen protested indignantly.

“Hah! I’m naturally beautiful, talented, and graceful! You’re hardly good enough for me!” Mengyan shot back, not missing a beat.

Their synchronized bickering drew laughter from everyone. The two were such an entertaining pair—so alike even in their teasing. Honestly, no one would be surprised if they ended up together.

“You little troublemaker, if you hadn’t been an orphan, I would’ve strangled you and tossed you in the latrine back then, just to save the world from your mischief,” Hao Chen retorted.

“Ha! And if I hadn’t followed you around cleaning up your messes all these years, you’d have been thrown in jail and whipped a dozen times by now,” Mengyan fired back.

“Wait, what’s this about?” the others asked, curious now. They’d never heard stories of the pair’s childhood. Everyone knew they’d grown up together, but the details were a mystery. Had it not been for tonight’s exhaustion and rare chance to chat, no one would have gotten a peek at their secrets—not even Bill Andre.

“Hmph, what do you think? Hao Chen’s been a rascal since he was little—peeking at girls in the bath at three, making girls peek at him at four, sneaking into the widows’ village at five, barging naked into the women’s bathhouse at six, dressing as a girl to sneak into the ladies’ room at seven. The list goes on! Every time he got caught, I had to bail him out. Without me, who knows how many times he’d have died by now,” Mengyan declared. Her stories sounded outrageous, but her expression made you wonder if they weren’t true. The group was left in confusion—were her tales real or not?

Hao Chen, hearing himself slandered, spluttered, “You little liar! Don’t pin your own disgrace on me!”

“Oh, who cares whose stories they are? Either way, you both spied and were spied on. It’s mutual, isn’t it?” Bill Andre chimed in. “Besides, since you two can’t stand each other, why not just get married? Sacrifice yourselves, make everyone happy, and you can irritate each other for life. Sounds like a match made in heaven!”

“You shut up!” Hao Chen and Mengyan yelled, each giving Bill a punch. At their combined attack, the burly Bill clutched his chest and collapsed into his chair in mock agony.

While everyone was busy laughing and horsing around, no one noticed the sudden, erratic flicker that appeared on Hao Chen’s computer screen...